23 April 2008

Still better than Sanjaya



Our art correspondent Miranda pointed me to this lovely entry at boingboing.net about the "scientifically" created World's Worst Song. Here's a description of what you can expect:
The most unwanted music is over 25 minutes long, veers wildly between loud and quiet sections, between fast and slow tempos, and features timbres of extremely high and low pitch, with each dichotomy presented in abrupt transition. The most unwanted orchestra was determined to be large, and features the accordion and bagpipe (which tie at 13% as the most unwanted instrument), banjo, flute, tuba, harp, organ, synthesizer (the only instrument that appears in both the most wanted and most unwanted ensembles). An operatic soprano raps and sings atonal music, advertising jingles, political slogans, and "elevator" music, and a children's choir sings jingles and holiday songs. The most unwanted subjects for lyrics are cowboys and holidays, and the most unwanted listening circumstances are involuntary exposure to commercials and elevator music. Therefore, it can be shown that if there is no covariance--someone who dislikes bagpipes is as likely to hate elevator music as someone who despises the organ, for example--fewer than 200 individuals of the world's total population would enjoy this piece.

Some actual lyrics:
Yom Kippur! Yom Kippur!

Self-Reflection and atonement!

Yom Kippur! Yom Kippur!

Do all your shopping... at Wal-Mart!


While some have noted that it sounds like They Might Be Giants and others claim that it's "not as horrible as anything by the Red Hot Chili Peppers" (ouch!) I can unironically appreciate the complexity here. It truly is a work of art. That being said, I don't see myself "rocking out" to this on a regular basis after my second listen. (Sure, it's cute now, but in four hours when you catch yourself humming "Labor Day! Labor Day! Do all your shopping... at Wal-Mart!" you will want to start punching children.)

If you're truly demented and enjoy making enemies, it's also available on iTunes... and modifible as a ringtone.

You've been warned.


Komar & Melamid and Dave Soldier - The Most Unwanted Song.mp3

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Enough with the Sanjaya bashing already. Get a life! I think Sanjaya is sounding quite good. Here's a sample of him earlier this month on the radio in support of a performance for music programs in Seattle area schools:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd7L9x6o9hE