Photo Sean Foley / Unsplash
âHonesty will illuminate Chinaâ
If Hard-Fi is sung about the delights of controlling citizens with a fair amount of sarcasm, then Roy Wang, lead singer of the Chinese boyfriend TFBOYS, does it sincerely - or at least with such visibility. By order of the Bank of China, Roy teamed up with other celebrities to record a song on the social credit system . This is the Communist Party's pilot program, which will maintain a âreport cardâ for all citizens of the country.
On how a person meets party expectations, the set of services available to him will depend. Metrics will take into account not only criminal and administrative offenses, but also things like content published by a person on social networks.
The direct name of the program is not mentioned in the song, however, the âmessageâ is understood from the context . The clip shows how people with a "high level of trust" gain access to services that are not available to everyone else - for example, bike rental or public libraries.
Paul Ruders, The Handmaid's Tale
The sci-fi novel " The Handmaid 's Tale " by Canadian writer Margaret Atwood tells the story of a future in which women live in powerlessness and actual slavery. Many are familiar with the plot thanks to the series that aired on Hulu in 2016. But few people know that the Danish composer Paul Ruders, even 16 years earlier, wrote an opera based on this work.
Stylistically, the work combines the influences of Alban Berg (known for the avant-garde operas Wozzeck and Lulu) and modern minimalists (such as Philip Glass and John Adams). The premiere of the work took place on the stage of the Danish Royal Opera in Copenhagen. The last production at the moment was carried out in 2019 on the stage of the Boston Lyric Opera under the guidance of the famous Anna Bogart . There is also an audio version released in 2001 on the Dacapo label.
Rolf Wallin, Elysium
Another sci-fi opera came from the pen of the Scandinavian composer - Norwegian Rolf Wallin. The action takes place in a 23rd century society controlled by transhumanists. Most people have implanted chips that allow them to express feelings and thoughts.
Photo Max Bender / Unsplash
This gadget has transformed the world order and created the appearance of utopia. As a reminder of how imperfect people used to be, a zoo on an isolated island contains a group of forty people who weren't microchipped. But not everyone agrees with the new technocratic system of life.
One woman voluntarily pulls out her own chip and enters the same âzooâ to learn more about human nature. The debut on the bridges of the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet Theater took place in 2016 - and so far the opera has not returned to the repertoire. Most likely, you will have to wait a few more years before the release of this work.
Between the buried and me
Between The Buried And Me, already ten years ago as âdesertingâ from metalcore to progressive metal, they are known for their long, conceptual albums. As a rule, the plots of their works are inspired by science fiction, and the last two-part opus of the collective is no exception. Automata I and II talks about the dystopian future, in which The Voice Of Trespass media corporation shows the dreams of real people live.
Photo Quinn Buffing / Unsplash
The protagonist of the album, whose name we will never recognize, sees a particularly personal dream in which he tries to find the disappeared members of his family. Together with him, an audience plunges into a nightmare, not yet realizing what they are subscribing to, but continuing to watch what is happening.
Cartoons
This group gained quite wide popularity in the late 90s - early 00x. The Petersburg team led by Yegor Timofeev was a kind of Russian response to music from the British Isles. In their work, the traditions of Western alternative and Soviet pop art crossed. This affected both the music and the lyrics. The texts of âCartoon Filmsâ preserved the romantic mood of the era of socialist realism, filled with irony and double meanings.
Photo Soviet Atrifacts / Unsplash
The song " For our next " from the second album - a great example of branded lyrics Timofeev. It half-jokingly shows the paranoid thinking characteristic of many in the post-Soviet world, where remnants of the Cold War intertwine with the reality of new, digital threats. The hero of the song is afraid of ânetwork octopusesâ and âstudents with built-in video camerasâ, while the rest of the city lives in blissfully oblivion and even âguards kissâ.
Hard fi
London is the city with the largest number of video surveillance cameras in Europe (although Moscow is already preparing to get around it), so the problem of the âbig brotherâ is quite relevant for its residents. On the other hand, it is practically useless to resist the spread of CCTV systems, which is why musicians suggest trying to get pleasure from it. Members of the British Hard-Fi team finally surrendered to the reality of ubiquitous video surveillance and shared their vision in the song " Stars Of CCTV " ("Stars of CCTV cameras").
At the beginning of the song, the cameras act as divine guardians. âEvery step I take has been taped so that someone upstairs can take care of me.â And then the process of constant video surveillance is likened to the process of filming. If we are constantly filmed, then we can act like movie stars. âWe are the stars of hidden cameras, make films on the streets, flickering lights, a camera, a motor: my life is the main attraction.â
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