Alaska in Winter.

You know when you discover that song, a song you can play over and over again and it doesn’t get old? For me that song is unquestionably American electronic band, Alaska in winter’s Berlin. Taken from the album Holiday, the song combines minimal house, synths and bass to create something almost haunting. The song has repetitive electronic thumping throughout it which generates a bizarre feeling of struggle. The unusual vocals are dominating yet unobtrusive (I am well aware that it is a contradiction of terms) but I think Brandon Bethancourt, front man of Alaska in Winter, has produced a song that is almost purely instrumental. The vocals are barely understood and operatically sung, that it’s as if it’s a form of instrument. Bethancourt wrote the album Holiday in Berlin, Germany. The progressive electronic music scene was an obvious influence on his music. Ultimately Bethancourt created a captivating, spectacular song which will undoubtedly rule at the top of my itunes playlist.

A blog dedicated to ME.

After the sudden realization that I was the only one not blogging, I thought it wise to take it upon myself to give it a go. I will begin by introducing myself, my name is Romy van den Broeke and I’m a student at Brighton University. I study Humanities, which is an extraordinary course, and I am now in my second year. The course entails aspects of philosophy, history, politics and sociology. The strenuous search for a course that suited me, as this one does, was a long and tiresome process. Our tutors focus on the cultivation of a scholar’s mind, which enables one to air and develop thoughtful and valid opinions, and by studying such an expansive range of theorist and philosophers we develop a consciousness of the world we live in. The transition into second year gives one the opportunity to specialise in a field they are particularly interested in, ranging from racism to globalisation, from self and society to war and politics. I chose self and society. It covers feminism, Marxism, moral theories and more. The first semester, which unfortunately is rapidly coming to a close, focused on us and the society we live in. We commenced the second year with a thorough examination of human life and behaviour, discussing the moral issues surrounding the matter of birth, for example, IVF, surrogacy and abortion. At this stage we have also covered themes such as sexuality, the ‘medicated self,’ effects of a capitalist society, and will predictably end the semester looking into the moral concerns surrounding the subject of death.

This blog is going to be the perfect outlet for me after intense seminars, but also to discuss less political, ‘heavy’ things, such as my fabulous housemate Mrs Adam Cable.

Anyway, that is all for now!