"Pogo: My everlovin' word!
Churchy: We's gone make our livin' as
the newly revived dyin' folk singers!
Beauregard: Zam! Zam!
P: My land!
C: 'is your land'! Wanna be in the
act?
B: We'll be bigger'n the four weevils ... get a load of
this!
C and B (singing) {To the tune of Ma Graney's Cremation}:
We're going to blank some verse today
That has never been blunk
before...
And every time we make a rhyme
It figures against the
score.
Yeah, man! Yeah man! Yeah, yeah, and oog...
We'll think in
terms both big and black
And blank and blankety tragic.
With staring
eyes we'll ride the skies
In search of hophead magic.
What we say will be fair fraught
With a fright of utter meaning...
And
near the night we'll dig the sight
Of the Pizza tourist Leaning...
We'll bring guitars, disdain cigars
And, sighing, eschew shoes.
We'll
hit a string and numbly sing
Those big old blank verse blues.
{Churchy holds up a sign: 'Youth! How Sad!'}
We rise! We rise! To fall again,
Setting blazes in our hair...
To
make a light for this, our night,
This swooning, sweet despair..."
Walt Kelly - from "Hijinks from the Horn of Plenty: The Complete Syndicated Comic Strips, Volume 8"
Texts
November 4, 2023
Étude in C Major, Op. 10 #7 - Frédéric Chopin - Garrick Ohlsson
busy street on fast-forward feet flying
Fantasiestück in F minor, Op. 12 #5 "In der Nacht" - Robert Schumann - Eric Le Sage
gusty
about time for a lyric tale
let's hope the roof stays on
Circus Band - Charles Ives - William Sharp, Stephen Blier
gung ho
Ivy League
life grabbing
Nice Work If You Can Get It - Thelonious Monk [from The Complete Blue-Note Recordings]
key strike
so that
the pitch bends
or perhaps
that's
just time at Monk's command
rough runs
or we don't hear as quickly
as he
Miss Ann (take 1) - Little Richard [from Here's Little Richard]
a complaint in blues
Mr. Record Man - Willie Nelson [from ...And The I Wrote]
sincerity cosplaying
it's just his manner in song
He Ain't Comin' Home No More - Nina Simone [from High Priestess of Soul]
similar
but there is an edge to it
so watch your fingers
Seems Like I Gotta Do Wrong - Ray Charles [from A Message From The People]
dignity
Talk To Me - Joni Mitchell [from Don Juan's Reckless Daughter]
addressed to guitar
or other muse
Love and Passion - Sarah Vaughan [from Brazilian Romance]
a problem with albums
we think of them as containing a certain kind of
thing
which colors our pre-conception
of what's about to happen
it anticipates experience
The Kicking Mule - Mike, Peggy, and Penny Seeger [from Animal Folk Songs for Children]
dance band novelty song
Killer Wants To Go To College - Paul Simon [from Songs from The Capeman]
wandering point of view
The Fuse - Bruce Springsteen [from The Rising]
patriotism
a deceptive muse
overblowing it is a problem
We Spun the Stars on a Summer Night - Steve Layton & Improv Friday [from Shared Circle]
left channel right channel effects
may not quite disappear
if you
face them sideways
ear to the wind
why headphones bug me
I can't turn my head within the sound's space
it follows my head
clamped on
we continue our slow sinking
this music rewards standing up and walking
about inside it
to hear it properly
Golden Age - Star Anna [from Soundtrack]
tone poem
a long way yet to go
Meditation 4 - Sascia Pellegrini [from Meditations]
meditative:
conducive of a state of being
named meditation
in
which
one meditates
that is
one in which
one considers
ones state of being
a meditation
need not be meditative
one might have
im-meditative meditations
to consider a state of being
difficult to consider
states of being
without motion
an oxymoron?
is the pool responding to forces out of intention's control
or is it a
being speaking?
We Wish You a Merry Christmas - The Philadelphia Brass Ensemble [from Festival of Carols in Brass]
Lightnin' Hopkins - REM [from Document]
music is a mode of experience
from the standpoint of anyone hearing it
that mode
is a state of being
a bubble
a
distinguishable thing
The Voice Within - Christina Aguilera [from Stripped]
message from the sisterhood
vocal projection control
two voices in
one
as though
singing it twice
seamlessly
let 'er rip
Ms. Christina!
22 - Taylor Swift [from Red]
playing
going out dancing
as a dance
Prostrate Before a Periwinkle - Amy Denio [from The Big Embrace]
poly-duet of reeds
with light percussion
Shadow Man - David Bowie [from Toy]
an advice
concerned with
dealing with
a mode of being
Mr. Headtrip
Goin' Down the Road - Bob Dylan [from A Tree with Roots]
romanticizing the great American wanderer
freedom or misery
dressed up as heroic
aspirational
Ave Maria - London Symphony Orchestra [from Songs for the Holidays]
the chord progression
of a performative piety
more of an Advent
thing than a Christmas thing
When I Fall In Love - Glenn Tate [from Some of My Favorite Love Songs]
poignance
homogenous sound
all parts fit all parts
mode of
mood
Point of Egress (Instrumental) - Chris Brokaw [from Stories]
a calling card
hello this is me
what I
can do
have
done
Untitled - Red Ribbon [from Freaks Only]
simple means
brilliance results
Church Girl - Beyoncé [from Renaissance]
witness type
turns sour
what one says
must conform to the
brand
I Am The Walrus - The Beatles [from Anthology]
just the song
without the psychedelic static
the lyrics are plenty
I Know Him So Well - Whitney Houston [from Whitney]
coming to a musical comedy ready self realization
in show closing anthem
mode
Ghosts - The Jam [from The Sound of The Jam]
you've been blokesplained
Cave Dwellers - Red Ribbon [from Time Is Running Out]
stuck
Sparks Fly - Waxahatchee [from Out In The Storm]
band's echo space
close to our ears
but with a long narrow hall
behind it
the melody is a solid
makes no concession to the words
which are strung out on it
one by one
I'm Gonna Lose Again - Robin Holcomb [from One Way Or Another]
art lounge
Rosamunde-Overture - Franz Schubert [from 100 Greatest Classics]
innocent charm may not avail
but will do for now
fashionable pit
orchestra clichés
( ) - Greg Sinibaldi [from Frieze of Life]
slow seepage under pressure
advantage taken of seams
and
inclusions of differing resistance
the tune bit that opens
less
the skeleton key to decipherment
than a keyhole
through which
entry is gained
methodical occupation
individuals set up shop
space allowed within
which lets the space
at the end
remain familiar
as though still within
Electroplate - Black Plastic Clouds [from Electroplate]
carrying a private argument
into the public sphere
There's No Pressure - Lures [from There's No Pressure]
but there is a weariness that weighs down
Love Blind - Robber's Roost [from Rage & Reason]
a letter
to disclose how one feels
Mir Stanke le - Bulgarian State Radio & TV Female Vocal Choir, Philip Koutev [from Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares]
vertical pitch stations
ornamented paths between
Canopy - Pete Comley [from Lost City Music Volume 2]
birdish twitters
Come To Me (Bjork) - Prom Queen [from Covers]
arachnid come-on
take care of all your problems
draped heavily
over the background
Tear Shaped Bruise (Your Mother Should Know) - Dead Bars [from Dream Gig]
one of Neal's songs
making it big
Panel - Michael Bisio, Matthew Shipp [from Flow of Everything]
deceptive
not a flat surface
as seems
from a special
angle
not easy
going in
or out
quiet grove
at the heart of it
Mothers of the Disappeared - U2 [from The Joshua Tree]
pretentious fade in
so we know it's a meaning burdened event
swaying to the warm glow of moral thoughts
Guurmu - $.99 Dreams [from Brood of Bau]
cyclic as a background concept
without facts of its own on the surface
even where the surface assembles itself
in a cyclic image
it
isn't the guiding cycle
subsisting
Like I Do (feat. Josiah Johnson) - Shelby Earl [from The Man Who Made Himself A Name]
halves of parallel dialogs
split screen
wildly massed strings
So Said Life - Doug Kolmar [from So Said Life]
a song speaking to a situation
might speak secretly
to
another
a sentimental sermon
Tears of God - Los Lobos [from By The Light of The Moon]
but to be fair
sermons are for congregants
broadcast message
for those who hear it
critiquing what you haven't heard
is
pretense
Leaving - St. Paul de Vence [from St. Paul de Vence]
puppy dog eyes
I was wrong
poor me
soulfulness porn
Sometimes the Moon - Shallow Lenses [from War Poems]
and we want to say something worth saying
sometimes a sermon is worth
saying
and Lord knows there's need for comfort
all mad scene
all the time
Cyrano De Berger's Back - X [from See How We Are]
for theater buffs
Mother - Byron Au Yong [from Yiju]
culturally specific
several other sides of mother
than we are
accustomed to
Be Cool - Three Fingers [from Stocking Stuffers]
another sermon
but pretty cool
Mesa & Plain - Steve Peters [from With My Back to The World]
a flexible membrane of cyclicity
Paid in Full (Mini Madness) - Eric B. & Rakim [from Paid in Full]
new dimensions
new values
it's so fresh
Skinhead - Cowgirls, The
caricature
Hey, Myla - Mud On My Bra [recorded live at The Sunset Tavern, Seattle, April 18, 2017]
let's go!
lots of cowbell
~~~-~~~~---~~~~~~---~~~~~~~~~(Rojahn Remix) - Lost Chocolate Lab [from (Previously) Clean]
we are being washed clean
inside and out
Another Part of Me - Michael Jackson [from Bad]
imagine
if you can
hearing his voice
without seeing him move
in your head
a villain in their lair
Lightning Pass My Way - Low Hums [from Low Hums]
gots his glow on
perturbations signal articulation
beginnings of
the end
Track 7 - Strange Like Us [recorded live at The Sunset Tavern, Seattle, April 18, 2017]
the recording doesn't do justice
to how well this group sounded live
specifically
their vocals mixed together live
into something
new in the room
on the recording
they are more distinct than they
were live
and a toybox full of tricks at the end
I had forgotten
Straußmanöver (Ostrich-Maneuver) - Eric Nathan [from Missing Words]
is a collection of similars
what an album is
or
could it be
a scrapbook
was it composed
as a set
or to be performed as a
set
certainly to be performed
without regard to set inclusion
specifics
an illustrated list of each thing to be heard in its
turn
Bye Bye Baby - Ramones [from Halfway to Sanity]
four Bs three ys two es and an a
BBBByyyeea
sisterly advice from the future
repeat till learned
Track 7 - Sun Dummy [recorded live at the Victory Lounge, Seattle, April 27, 2017]
such a weary voice
Part IX - Alex Anthony Faide [from Particles of The Infinite]
bright clean magic
sparkles moves like dream games
regions come
and go so seamlessly here
Piano Concerto (last Movement) - Edvard Grieg [from 100 Greatest Classics]
has all the gestures of a piano concerto
a series of moments
and
with flags waving
here's The National Pride Tune Bird
to inspire
us all
with fervor and fire
Which Side Are You On - Ian Bell, John Teske [from Embers of Discontent (first mix)]
altar call
conscription
threat posture
ostracism
or
worse
Dream Gig - Alone in Dead Bars [recorded live at the Victory Lounge, Seattle, April 27, 2017]
keep on dreamin'
6 or 7 Miles After - Jostaberry [from Hello Turbine]
nice sounding drums
joined by electric Muppets
tune lost in words
words lost in turn
Violin Concerto in G minor, Op. 26 (2nd movement) - Max Bruch [from 100 Greatest Classics]
boor'zhwah sentiment
looks back at the mess they made
and assures
themselves
it was all for the best
lullaby lullaby
sweet dreams
Track 6 - Youth Rescue Mission [recorded live at The High Dive, Seattle, April 6, 2012]
a public service message about water
a song desires close attention
hard to do in venue
small sounds get lost
What The Hell - Chastity Belt [from I Used to Spend So Much Time Alone]
a recording allows the possibility
of designing a venue to the song
Labor of Love - Emily Stranger [from Labor of Love]
words
collected from the scenaria
of internal monologs
Elizabethan Serenade - Ronald Binge [from 100 Greatest Classics]
what
pray tell
is Elizabethan about this?
{NB: ah! Elizabeth
the more recent!}
squarely in 19th or early 20th Century's light opera
territory as best I can tell
bandstand favorite somewhere
Track 6 - The Tailenders [recorded live at The High Dive, Seattle, April 6, 2012]
many parts are present
but misbalanced
feedback issues
falls
apart behind the hum
sCraps - Gaytheist [from Let's Jam Again Soon]
aggressively filling space
bring a snorkel
Departure of a Leaf - Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir - Lương Huệ Trinh [from Strengur]
approaching
in telescoping waves
blooms in blooms
face to
face
the ledge narrows
theme and variations
as a dramatic procession
pulled back into
line
round the corner
the full horror appears
turn back
retrace
Track 6 - Curtains For You [recorded live at The High Dive, Seattle, April 6, 2012]
singing
is a method of vocal projection
so that one can be heard
at a distance
roaring
(not heard here)
seems loud
but carries less detail
Dream Fever - Charms [from Human Error]
when bands are led by gearheads
gear head
dead head
Aura - Benton Roark - Re:Naissance Opera [from Music from The Apocrypha Chronicles: Mycologue Imprints]
film scenes in an exhibition
the soundtrack tone-poem
all the
literal ingredients
Forever In My Life - Prince [from Sign O' The Times]
texts and backing texts
begins to sound like a rehearsed line
two
readings
dancing with each other
Peggy Loucura - Camarones Orquestra Guitarristica [from Live in Natal]
shake your head up
you'll feel better
medical discombobulation
by prescription only
Books and Pills - Porn Bloopers [from Blooper Reel]
thrashing
for the physical release of it
Samantha and Steve - Tom Varner [from Sound Vespers]
human sized
human aware
tightcast
much of that
is out on the lawn by this time
they fall back
in languorous liquidity
serenading the passersby
sweet song
for slumber's solace
we trudge out into the planet
metallic jets
become drumheads
and marbles
an aural phantasm of frogs forms
and speaks
lots to say
life in the bog
nobody knows
the trouble I've been
a fresh crew approaches
chatting amiably
which voice to follow
attempt the voice less followed
recorded right here
in a space in space
from a place
infectious accelerando to release
Wild Red Roses - Karin Blaine [from Modern Day Living]
in the form of a folk song
Lollipop (Ode to Jim) - Alvvays [from Antisocialites]
I'll be good daddy
suburban teeny pop
playing some of the same
games as Ms Swift
Unresolved - James Falzone [from So Far Still]
fipple flute!
a melody worth following
Madrigali, "Six Fire Songs On Italian Renaissance Poems": V. Luci serene e chiare - Morten Lauridsen - Polyphony, Stephen Layton
lines tumble over each other like kittens
HM Evolved - Tyrannosaurus Grace [from Much More Than a Story]
he might have used words in this song
but I could not make them out
Up The Flagpole - CEP [from Drawing The Target Around The Arrow]
a slow throb
Wyoming - Tom Swafford [from Rough Spaces]
problem with naming a piece Wyoming
is that I immediately think about
the place
and the word
and forget what I'm here for
tempo of a hog auctioneer
I Don't Let The Little Things Get Me Down - The Young Fresh Fellows [from The Men Who Loved Music]
backhanded blues
Give Myself To You - Specyphi
practiced guitar playing
Track 7 - Arbor Towers [recorded live at Victory Lounge, Seattle, July 15, 2017]
big sound to attract attention
mumble back into the sound
then big
again
back to mumble
We Miss You And Wish You Well - Lori Goldston [from High and Low]
expressive changes upon a melodic idea
ways to extend a final
cycle back with new changes
Advance (12" vocal version) - Boogie Down Productions [from Criminal Minded]
projected toughness
an essential brand marker
a turnaround
on the fear of others
lines packed between strong beats
on
one and four
patterns square up politely
in 2s 4s and 8s etc.
if they don't
start over
Out of Sight - Shannon Stephens [from Pull It Together]
self deceptions
from self help land
a hanger
to decorate
with alternate readings
King of Viridia - Tomten [from Cremation Songs]
inside the psychedelic opening tone poem
we find a song
sounding
vaguely 80s
or vaguely Doors-ish
with some piano pounding
Soundbox 1 - Marina Alberto, Omar Willey, Carlos Snaider, Leanna Keith, Heather Bentley [streamed January 29, 2022]
don't let this guy say grace at Thanksgiving
not arguing the facts of
his case necessarily
but the stance from which they are spoken
it
bugs me
pushes buttons
alarms sound
but enough of that
a pulse fabric is spread irregularly
cycling
a region with a pulse terrain
as it
(disdain porn)
period applause pause
ivories tickled
strings picked
a comfortable evening with close
friends
drop on by anytime
leave when you must
or wish
applause pause
a new kind of plucked string sound
and light percussion
something
with a bit of
across the pond
to it
and viola
applause pause
turn the page
this guy again
a hiccup away from wingnut conspiracy purveyance
applause pause
harp or like instrument
an electric plucked string enters
we are
in a lovingly tended garden
applause pause
poet dude and viola
disdain is not profundity
just
close-mindedness
applause pause
poet dude again
playing the role of soloist
the other noisemakers
instantly accompanimentalized
lingosplaining
why so
acquiescent?
conversation made futile
vastly better
every moment when loud guy
isn't vocalizing
language casts a shadow on music
applause pause
end
thanks guys
a sunnier but harsher late Stravinsky
reeds being overtly reedy
stochastic does not equal haphazard
it is a strict mathematical point of
view
or place of hearing
our emotional states
have a star power problem
over enamored of
big names
for their bignamesness alone
the field
even with
the emotional range of inquiry
is huge
if sliced finely enough
Some Girls - Madonna [from MDNA]
Max Headroom's angry daughter
technoid carapace
using one's bully
pulpit
(pussy pulpit?)
to open pop addled minds
just a
little
Columbia Talkin' Blues - Carl Allen [from Roll Columbia]
Mr. Guthrie
writing Rooseveltian agitprop
plastics
Three Summer Pieces - Emily Doolittle - Laurel Swindon, Amanda Lowrey
instrument = character
that is
instrument
if and only if
character
but
not character
if and only if
instrument
character can be
of characters
or inside
one
that is
a way to think of chamber music
as distinct from
orchestral (massed) music
a theater of instruments
how many folks
are on stage matters
suddenness at any time
is character-driven
how Nielsenish!
Fanfare for Double Brass Sextet - Milton Babbitt [from Erik Carlson - Slowly Expanding Milton Babbitt Album]
Siegfried's partisans
have taken to arguing nits and picking iotas
we do not mention the orangutan
the meager fare of fans
holding forth in their echoing circles
I'll Show You Mine - Rachel Harrington [from Makin' Our House a Honkytonk]
what temptation is about
What Is Mine - Ephrata [from Ephrata]
inventing a sound
as a style
for a brand
on the rack
at the music consumption store
for the soundtracks
of your
life
A Long Awakening - Motoko Honda
where does music fit into folks' day-to-day today?
for this question
I can't go by my experience
as I am likely an outlier
this
is
honestly
quite pretty
attention is paid to voices
and sheen
dreamy sparkle dust
In Session at The Tintinabulary
November 3, 2023
Sinfonia 7 (midi) - Keith Eisenbrey
when I workshopped this on clavichord I made quite a few amendments from my
first draft
mostly cutting out unnecessaries
November 5, 2023
Brentford - Keith Eisenbrey
This week's devotional arrangement
November 6, 2023
Banned Rehearsal 1087 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Steve Kennedy, Aaron Keyt, Neal Kosály-Meyer
it was great to have all of the most active crew members in attendance
it seems like it has been a while
November 7, 2023
Sinfonia 7 (clavichord) - Keith Eisenbrey
and here it is on clavichord
piano is next
Postscripts
Drops
Keith Eisenbrey 6: 1984-1988
Working with narrative forms, both explicit and implicit, playing games with memory, and finding ways to set texts.
Keith Eisenbrey 5: 1984-1988
My first years back in the Puget Sound area, working with the experience of repetition and with relationships between the vertical and horizontal pitch realms.
Keith Eisenbrey 4: 1983-1984
Finishes up the music I wrote while I was in New York (state) under the ostensible supervision of the academic world.
Keith Eisenbrey 3: 1982-1983
Written in Red Hook, NY, and Malabar, FL, as I was beginning to think about thinking about music.
Keith Eisenbrey 2: 1981-1982
What occupied my time toward at the end of my undergrad days and in the year before I went east for a while.
Keith Eisenbrey 1: 1979-1981
Keyboard works I composed while an undergrad at the UW.
All are free for download.
Skaldmud's Doodle Gallery
listening journal doodles from 2012
