I’ve long had a soft spot for bioconservatism, and been suspicious of the “dark side” of technological advances. But I’ve also had a sense that, in the end, this unease has to give way to reconciliation, lest one be “left behind.” I think the Canadian band Our Lady Peace captures that sensibility well in its album “Spiritual Machines,” which was inspired by Ray Kurzweil’s book The Age of Spiritual Machines (and which features excerpts of Kurzweil speaking). I criticized Kurzweil in my first article, but I like a lot of this CD. Here’s the video for “In Repair,” a song on the album. . . .Oli Goldsmith’s “pop surrealist” images are about as lyrical as the lyrics are inscrutable:
Yes, the song’s pretty urgent, dark, and confusing–but so are the issues it’s dealing with (in an admirably artscience-y way). And if you want a more upbeat OLP song, just try Where Are You.