Ice cubes are small, roughly cube-shaped pieces of ice, conventionally used to cool beverages. Ice cubes are often preferred over crushed ice because they melt more slowly; they are standard in mixed drinks that call for ice, in which case the drink is said to be "on the rocks."
Ice cubes are produced domestically by filling an ice cube tray with water and placing it in a freezer. Many freezers also come equipped with an icemaker, which produces ice cubes automatically and stores them in a bin from which they can be dispensed directly into a glass. Ice cubes out of a tray are generally longer and thinner, requiring less force to remove them from the tray and thereby reducing the likelihood of the cube becoming stuck in the dispenser.
There are also dedicated ice-maker machines used to produce ice cubes for laboratories and academic use. Ice cubes are also produced commercially and sold in bulk; these ice cubes, despite their name, are often cylindrical, and may have holes through the center. An interesting characteristic of commercially made ice cubes is that they are completely clear, lacking the clouding found in the center of domestically made ice cubes.
Cloudy ice cubes result when water is frozen quickly, or when the water is high in dissolved solids. When water is cooled to its freezing point, and ice starts to form, dissolved gases can no longer stay in solution and come out as microscopic bubbles. However, as ice floats in water, once there is enough ice to form a layer on the surface, the ice layer traps all bubbles within the ice cube. Commercial ice-makers use a flowing source of purified water to make ice with cooling elements at the bottom, allowing the bubbles to be washed away from the top as the cube grows.
Melting ice cubes sometimes precipitate white flakes, commonly known as "floaties". This is calcium carbonate which is present in many water supplies and is completely harmless.
Ice cubes can also be crushed or sheared into irregularly-shaped flakes, adding an interesting aesthetic effect to some cocktails. Crushed ice is also used when faster cooling is desired, since the rate of cooling is governed by the number and average radius of the ice particles.
A-Trak just released the second installment of his freakish electro house and southern hip-hop hybrid experiment.
This is nutty stuff. I don't think it always works, but when it does, it's brilliant. It's well mixed, it's kind of weird, and it's a joy for a mashup, hip hop, and electro lover like myself. Hell, I've made hip-hop mashes with the Siriusmo remix of Bag Raider's Shoot Stars too!
Highly recommended if you're of my musical persuasion, but not for everyone. Then again, if you don't agree with my musical tastes, why are you reading my blog?
For today, we've got the latest Bruno Mars single and two mashups. And what do you think? John Lennon girl. Sexy or not?
In other news, I'm finally about to graduate from college. Being the age I am makes me wonder what kind of music I'll be listening to when I'm middle aged or older. Will I keep up with the latest music? Or will I resort to listening only to what I know and love? Time will tell.
OK I've resisted posting this for a few weeks. Here's why.
I hate Metallica.
I post too many mashups as it is.
It's ... yet more Lady Gaga.
But despite all of these hurtles to leap over, I like this mashup. And at The Worst Beatle, it's my duty to provide you with the best music. So it would be positively criminal to deny you this fabulous "guilty pleasure".
So today, after listening to an offbeat mashup between Kid Cudi and Snoop Dogg's That Tree and M.I.A.'s Paper Planes, I realized why mashups get such a bad rap.
Even listening to pleasant combinations can feel cheap.
But this is one of the better mashup albums -- probably the best so far this year. The secret is that the dark, sparse production of the xx highlights Biggie's famous delivery.
I got to admit: it made me appreciate the xx debut more. And isn't that the point of mashups? To recontextualize music so that we appreciate it more.
Mashups are not a trend. Mashups follow the same principle that virtually all modern music follows: arrange and master a collage of samples. Rather than sampling individual sounds, a mashup takes a lazier approach. Put hip hop acapella X with looped instrumental Y. The mashup, being the laziest modern music form, is also one of the most entertaining. Take away the cloying singing and godawful lyrics of Owl City, and "Firefiles" becomes a damn good electro pop song, with The Postal Service plagiarism less apparent. The Hood Internet takes an even lazier approach with "Blowin' Money At The Deli" -- is there any hip hop acapella that would sound bad over that Delorean track?
I've been a big fan of The Hood Internet for years. They were really the first great A+B mashup artists.
Actually, The Hood Internet is composed of two Chicago hipsters, DJ STV SLV and ABX.
I've always thought ABX had a much better ear -- his mashups just fit together.
DJ STV SLV is more concerned with eating Beef 'n' Cheddars at Arby's and Twittering on his Macbook.
Now ABX just took Ludacris' newest single (which is pretty much a straight up stripper anthem) and buttf****d it senseless by putting a Sega Genesis-influenced dubstep track by Joker & Ginz under it.
It's really when the bass drops at 0:40. OMG. The chipmunk sound with the stripped down percussion isn't really my thing....
I don't really like KiD CuDi. He has a recognizable voice, sure, and his indie/stoner persona makes him an alt favorite. While other rappers talk about bangin' Pac, he talks about bangin' MGMT. Big deal.
1st strike against CuDi: the alternating caps. Please. Are you 14? Is this your instant messenger screen name?
2nd strike: The only reason he's hot is because of a Crookers remix. Day 'n' Nite was the big track of 2008. Where's your big track of 2009? Huh?
Alright. CuDi is growing on me a little bit. I'll admit it. (OK I'm a huge CuDi fan.)
Autotune was bigger than ever, regardless of what Jay-Z declaired. Kings of Leon got huge. Country fans had a critically-acclaimed Brad Paisley album to cherish, indie fans had their Animal Collective LP and EP. Boom Boom Pow was Big Big Bucks. Lady Gaga became a sort of modern day Madonna. Drake made the most successful mixtape ever.
Let DJ Earworm, mashup artist extraordinaire, take you through the Billboard Top 25 for 2009.