Is it just me, or is this semester going by faster than a bullet train to Vegas? We’ve already reached the point of no return, where the first (and second) onslaught of midterms form the bread around a homecoming sandwich. And it’s not slowing down. Grab hold of something sturdy, ’cause it’s time to keep charging through.

As any student has figured out by now, life can be hectic here; it’s another reason they call it Madtown. And on Sunday, we reached a strange limbo, a “what now”? feeling in the space between homecoming shenanigans and the bitter reality of being a student. There is no time for a “Sunday Morning” playlist at this point, the weekend is already gone.

In that midterm limbo, all signs point to the psych ward, leading me to pursue a playlist I’ve been waiting to do for some time now: A diagnosis, treatment and release program for the student pushed to the brink of madness.

It is no coincidence that the music gravitates towards a sci-fi electronic-y realm. “Standard” instruments and structures can’t get a grip on losing your grip quite like the sound of a malfunctioning computer … in a blender.

Go ahead and channel the seasonal funk into a menacing blast of hysteria, and then continue with life as usual. These songs will push the edge of “normalcy” in a strange period where not even the climate knows what it’s doing anymore. The point this week is that we’re all a little crazy, and it’s time to hear what that can sound like.

“No Origin” – Prefuse 73

Let’s begin our journey to insanity with some simple clapping and chanting. Wait, no, we’ll slow-groove to some beaty vocal synths. Never mind, speedy electro beats make the ticket, followed with something smoother. Wrong again.

Escaping any definition, the first 30 seconds are a trip. I don’t know if some type of mental disorder produced such a jumbled sound, but whatever it is, also seems to provide the sufferer with musical savant symptoms, if not a touch of ADD.

Prefuse 73 uses the symptoms to his advantage through an ability to take sounds almost at random, splicing together a Frankenstein track of mad proportions. How he maintains the continuity in the track is beyond me. All I know is, it works.

“54 Cymru beats” – Aphex Twin

You know that voice in your head? What if all that voice did was yell warped electronic onomatopoeias at you? “Who! Poing! Zing!” Something would definitely feel odd, to say the least, unless it was all you had ever known. I’m beginning to think this is the case with Aphex Twin.

Endless layers of sound effects, now with a sci-fi mask, mimic the Prefuse 73 track on a x10 intensity factor. “54 Cymru Beats” is neither the most, nor least, accessible track in Aphex’s beat bag, but jagged skips, hoots and velocity make it one of the more schizophrenic.

“Dying for the Night” – Mathhead

If you lost your head to the Aphex track, I cannot recommend this song. However, if you are maybe a little wired before a Calc midterm and not operating heavy machinery, dive right in. This one takes another x10 jump up the scale.

“Dying for the Night” sounds like a mind trying to solve an impossible equation. For a while, number and variable travel in a different direction while you struggle to keep all the information in order. Now and again, a moment of clarity interrupts the confusion where it all makes sense. Here, the breaks take the form of dancy drum & bass. But the equation requires multiple steps back into a mental wilderness, eventually rewarding the listener with a smooth conclusion.

“Inertiatic ESP” – The Mars Volta

A bit of a vanity pick, this remains one of my favorite songs of the fast-slow-fast form. It feels more put together than the previous tracks, but it still holds the sound of a mind falling apart in nearly every element of the song.

To pull a single track from any Mars Volta album is to lose the greater part of the story in their complex concepts. “Inertiatic ESP,” in the context of De-Loused in the Comatorium, is a seminal point in the story of a man in a drug-induced coma, who upon waking … well, I won’t spoil the ending for you. In the context of this playlist, it serves therapeutic utilities by breaking down with the hope of putting it all back together

“Assassins” – Lightning Bolt

Lead-heavy and noisy as hell, “Assassins” will smack you in the face unawares, just for a reality check. Bam! But it doesn’t do much good, because that voice is back, and now it’s garbling in the background like another instrument flying over a rhythmic bass riff and frenetic drumming. Truth be told, the Lightning Bolt breed of noise-rock is what I originally tried to base this list around, mainly for its invigorating aggression.

The East coast duo (that’s right, duo!), produce more noise than a kid on his first pots-and-pans drumset, and they do it fiercely without regard for an eardrum’s fragility. Any repressed feelings should be taken out here and now, before it’s too late.

“Best Friend’s Arm” – Pavement

Somehow, it just feels necessary to include this song somewhere in this list. A truly spontaneous gibberish freak-out, it could be the perfect eruption to conclude a midterm. Finished with all the cramming, there’s nothing left to do but pound your head a little and embrace the little maniacal voice in the back of your brain.

That voice finally reveals itself not as your conscience, not as Jiminy Cricket, but as Stephen Malkmus having some fun with a microphone. It’s loud and obnoxious, but not for too long, as it breaks into a swaying delirium. Even the instruments seem to be confusedly asking “what did he just say”? It’s doubtful that Malkmus himself knows, and does it really matter? He’s embracing his inner maniac to the fullest.

Joe Nistler ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in Italian and journalism. Tell him what you think the theme for his next playlist should be!