To continue on the issue of music, I find that it creates a mood, experience, connection that is beyond one's own self. Through emotional appeal, imagery, storytelling, mood, or any number of performative elements we enter into an emotional experience that draws from our own feelings, but is it's own entity.

The musical group, The Books, create a distinct genre of aleatoric music (a term adopted by the band themselves). Compiling seemingly random sound bytes from a wealth of collected recordings, some gathered by the band themselves by carrying around a recorder, with elements of verse sung by the band, and set to background music played mainly on violin or cello and guitar introduce rhythm.

The music itself is hard to describe without listening to it. The song "Enjoy Your Worries, You May Never Have Them Again" first sets a mood with it's title and somber tone, I begin thinking of worries, fears, and wonder how can I possibly enjoy them? One anectode is a woman explaining, "Because I just wanted... He kept calling me at night, all hours of the night, calling my husband, my brother, calling me every day. He's after me and I was devestated. I was without a job, without a salary, I was trying to get unemployment and I was told the first kicks in after a few weeks. And I was busy looking for another job and I also have a heart condition, I told him I have a heart condition. I said here take a few dollars, I'm sorry this happened to you, but just leave me alone, I'm not the person who deposited your..." CRASH! The song continues to pick up pace, and close with a much more light hearted string piece and a man saying, "All the music is a rainbow." The song, and the rest of their work, is interesting because it invites active participation on the part of the listener to sort out the segmented bits.

Upon my listening, I am forced to think. The emotions involved are complicated, but heavily involved. I don't feel readily invested in the story because I have no connection with the person who said it, but on the other hand I have a desire to be more observant, to find where the stories come from, to find the meaning of what I'm hearing. I am drawn in to another world, only to find out it is my own.