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Week 760: “Retrace” by Lusine
Manage episode 453146764 series 1375605
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In the seventh century BCE, the Latin cities of Rome and Alba Longa were on the brink of war.
From what I can tell, it was mostly a territorial pissing contest; the two cities were geographically close enough that there were no religious or ethnic disputes to speak of. It seems to have been more of a “this region ain’t big enough for the two of us” thing.
The armies lined up, but before the battle commenced, a messenger came over to the Alban side, sent by Roman king Tullus Hostilius. The gist of the message was: instead of a bloodbath that will likely kill many people who are related by blood (again, the cities were geographically quite close) why don’t we just have three soldiers from each side face off against each other? Winner takes all.
Both sides were fine with this, but here’s where the story gets strange enough that you have to question whether it’s true.
Each side had soldiers who were triplets. The Roman set was known as “the Horatii” while the Alban triplets were “the Curiatii.” So naturally, this war would be settled the way all wars should be settled: a showdown between identical siblings.
The three-on-three battle was intense. The Roman triplets quickly injured all three Albans, but two of the Roman triplets were slain in the process. It was down to one healthy Roman against three injured Albans. The remaining Roman made a quick and clever decision: he ran.
He ran knowing that he would be pursued by the others. But, injured as they were, it wasn’t long before pursuing him left the three Albans weakened and separated. At which point the remaining Roman triplet stopped running, strolled back, and easily slew all three Albans.
Not sure what the moral of this story is. There may be none, or there may be several. But I’m hoping that by this point you’ve picked up the link to this week’s song.
What makes this a beautiful song:
1. Fierce triplets. The three-against-four rhythm is strangely both driving and soothing.
2. In the opening seconds, it’s hard to tell what kind of rhythm Lusine is establishing in the track, as a chopped-up sample in the background doesn’t seem to fit with the slow 4/4 time signature implied by the consistent kick and snare.
3. The vinyl crackle gives a hint of sonic antiquity.
Recommended listening activity:
Playing an intense game of three-person rock paper scissors.
The post Week 760: “Retrace” by Lusine appeared first on Beautiful Song Of The Week.
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