Music with No Boundaries and Moon in Experimental
Philosophy Now
For any future being to like the past, the present must sit unencumbered.
Nonetheless, a perfect partaking of said present will only be acknowledged in the future as the past.
Surely, a future without a reliable past can only come undone upon reaching its time.
Mystical discoveries will only confuse; was that a saint or the equivalent of an orange orchard on steroids?
Horses in waiting will acknowledge few masters without an outside incentive.
A grove in the desert will wait for as long as it takes as it is always in the present.
Yet, an army on the march cannot abide the lack of war.
Without a future, there will be no one. and nothing, to cherish the past.
Dressed for the Weather
While mountains are crawling inward
I’m drawn to the sound and the smell.
Carefully climbing backward,
I couldn’t wait for you
to tell if the method in the madness
brought about by shadows tossed
proved strength in determination –
could move the future from the past.
Launching hopeful through the night scree,
waving torch-encrusted wings,
pouring forth with dour energy –
lending substance to the shallow things.
With movement born from a reckless past
I devour what daylight brings.
The totaled moments move at last
and the spirit in me sings.
With the freedom of creation,
and my last cast to the droning hum –
growing flush in celebration,
I embrace what I’ve become.
Thrift Stores
Thrift stores are wonderful. They’re a multi-win. Paying pennies on the dollar for something that’s lightly used; stuff gets re-used instead of finding a new home in a trash dump; the stores are able to employ people who might otherwise have trouble finding meaningful work.
I’ve noticed a disturbing trend over the past few years though. People are “donating” broken electronics – stuff that’s truly unusable. Instead of disposing of the broken stuff in an ethical manner, they’re dumping their trash on thrift stores (none of which have the personnel or facilities to be testing every piece of electronics that comes their way). So, the store employees waste their (and the store’s) time stocking junk. Customers waste their time buying something that doesn’t work, or doesn’t work well. The fact that the broken stuff is returnable is hardly a positive, as it means more time wasted for the customer. And now the thrift store has to deal with disposal. All because some (quickly becoming far, far too many) people can’t be bothered to do the right thing in the first place.
Now, take that last sentence and expand it over everything those people do. It isn’t hard to see that a dishonest attitude about broken stuff walks hand-in-hand with their attitudes about the rest of their lives.
Things
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Maudlin is an emotion for soloists.
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A few of the WIPS I talked about last October are now on line.
The Sampson – Carroll album Crepuscular Stirrings is here.
The cover of I Don’t Remember is here.
Ocean, with Sara Ayers, is here.
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Collusion will be your epitaph.
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Playlist 12-09-2022
Klaus Schulze: X
Oingo Boingo: Gratitude
Steve Hillage: Canterbury 1979
Asia Minor: Crossing the Line
David Harrow: The Succession
Harald Grosskopf: Synthesist
Taj Mahal Travelers: Stockholm 1971
Michael Bruckner: Klaustrophilia
Works In Progress
Current WIPs
CREPUSCULAR STIRRINGS: An album of commercially unreleased Sampson – Carroll material that was recorded over a period of years. I’ve been revisiting the original mixes this year and adjusting where deemed necessary. As soon as I can tame some wayward bass frequencies in one of the pieces the album will go to Bandcamp. Unless I find something else that needs addressing. Which I hope I don’t as this collection has been a LONG time in the works.
SUBSTANTIATING NIGHTMARES: An electronic piece of adventuresome atmospherics. Almost there.
I DON’T REMEMBER: Cover of the Peter Gabriel song, this one is sorta close to completion. Except I may succumb to re-recording the vocal.
PAINTING THE SIDEWALK: I’ve learned a lot regarding mixing over the last few years. The object here is to bring some clarity without losing the original mix density. This is likely to be a long-running WIP.
OCEAN: A collaboration with Sara Ayers. It’s in the final tweakings phase.
NO SMALL LOSS: Another electronic piece of adventuresome atmospherics that’s almost there.
BEWILDERMENT (LOST IN A CONTINENT OF): Early stages for this one – only a piano track and rough / demo vocal.
Five Alive
There’s a well-protected place in my psyche for avant-rock music. I also have a strong appreciation for Western (usually European) music that incorporates styles, scales, etc. from regions like North Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Asia. Not that I can discuss the technical aspects of those scales and styles, but they definitely resonate with me.
When avant-rock artists connect with musicians from those regions, it feels like heaven on earth. In my mind, this meeting of French and Korean is especially noteworthy. Ladies and gentlemen: PoiL Ueda.
Have You Heard (and Watched)… ?
That Was Only Yesterday
It was going to be “today’s playlist” but I kept thinking I’d be adding to it and that never happened. I just got too busy with stuff that didn’t have headspace for someone else’s music.
I find it interesting that this list starts out in an electronic/space/Berlin School manner, quickly moves to avant-prog/art rock, back to electronic/space, and ends in a post-rock/drone manner. I’m not really aware of how much my listening crosses genres unless I keep a list like this.
Also, it’s unusual that what I listened to was released during the last 13 years. I’m normally more spread out over the decades than that. At least, it feels like I am.
Kubusschnitt: The Core (2022)
Unit Wail: Retort (2013)
La Coscienza di Zeno: La Coscienza di Zeno (pt 2) (2018)
Martin Stürtzer: Dyson Sphere Alpha (pt 3) (2021)
Palancar: Final Theory, Vol. 1 (2018)
The Silent Ballet, Vol. 13 (2009)