Preface
"Mr. Pipp's Valentine.
This elegant production was painted on a sheet of paper with a lace border, and presented a singular mixture of sentiment and improbability, viz. -- a little boy in a species of undress which the police would certainly prohibit from becoming the general fashion, riding in a car, like an enormous periwinkle shell turned topsy-turvy, upon wheels, and drawn by two pigeons - a proceeding of which every thinking mind must admit the impracticability, since the atmospheric resistance of the birds' wings could never afford sufficient fulcrum to draw so large a vehicle with any momentum, especially with cowslip collars and rosebud traces.--[See Proceed. of Chawturmut Lit. and Scien. Inst., pg. 30.] A church with a pointed spire and two windows was seen in the distance, perfecting this tasteful composition of protestant mythology. At each corner were intricate red loops, like mud-worms in convulsions, termed true lovers' knots; and below were eight exquisite and novel lines, of which we present the reader with the termini, leaving him to fill them up as he pleases: -- 'heart--smart,' 'languish--anguish,' 'flame--name,' 'you be mine--Valentine.'"
from The Comic Almanack, 1st Series, 1835-1843
Texts
Recorded
Sonata in C Major, Kk. 329 - Domenico Scarlatti - Pieter-Jan Belder
fortepiano the segments are separated
by clear breaks
this tonality
is in this segment
that other
is in that other
Waltz in A Major, S208a - Franz Liszt - Leslie Howard
genteel and polite
Album for the Young, Op. 68 - Appendix (Excerpts) - Robert Schumann - Florian Uhlig
using the simplified pianism of pedagogy
to think about music's small
moments
without bravura static
unexpected verbal drama
an arrangement of Ode to Joy
his odd relation to repetition
is connected to his fondness
for
curtailed phrases
Improvisation on Two Norwegian Folk Tunes, Op. 29 - Edvard Grieg - Håkon Austbø
to
those two Norwegian Folk Songs
as
Mr. Monk
to
Summertime might be
or
as Monsieur Liszt
to
some aria he liked
and he
liked plenty of them
what was it
in the culture of its time
that prompted this
(quite skillful)
(quite entertaining)
bauble?
every sonority is a tangle
every figure a knot among the tangles of
sonorities
one thing that continues to astonish about Scriabin
is just how easily
those crazy sounding figures
fit under the hands
simpler for
hands
than for notation
every melodic motion
has its accompanying waft of fragrance
the figures gradually display their common bones
No-One Else But You - Louis Armstrong and His Savoy Ballroom Five [from Hot Fives and Sevens]
each
with different music-words
the music says different
word-things
in each figure
I Won't Say I Will (Incomplete) - Sarah Vaughan [from Sarah Vaughan Sings George Gershwin]
off
on wrong foot
Roll Over Beethoven - The Beatles [from The Beatles Anthology]
George did a pretty good Chuck Berry there
Together, We Two - Rusty Dedrick Orchestra [from Irving Berlin All By Myself: Notable Compositions 1926-1933]
a dance number for winds and vibraphone
guitar keeps it moving
Thunder Road - Bruce Springsteen [from Live at The Roxy]
in the person of an imagined audient
to feel their inner oppressed hero
a means of outing a common voice
Everybody - Madonna [from Madonna]
this music is a dance
of which the words
are a demand
to
abandon control
and dance to it
a direct address
to every body
unconvinced
by the patterning of song parts
Matthew Mark Luke and John - Gustav Holst - King's Singers [from My Spirit Sang All Day]
manners of melodic lines from the past
I'm Confessin' [from New Orleans Traditional Jazz Legends Vol. 3]
a music can represent a place
in the sense
of being its ambassador
to the outside
an example of a style
Anthem - Goodness [from Goodness 1995-1998]
the angry boredom
of suburban living
a call to action
Polaris - Scurvy Bastards [from Battle Born]
belief in basso piratical
performative manliness
Songbird and Stillness - S. Eric Scribner [from Soundforms/Multiples]
sounds have locations
of various apparent magnitudes and fuzziness
hence
forms
in order to imagine a universe
with no us in it
we must first keep
quiet
pay attention
to what's left of it
that isn't us
Track 4 - Peterman [recorded live at Victory Lounge, Seattle, July 6, 2013]
the mumble mouth shout
as a text delivery device
seems like armor
against people taking what they say
non-aesthetically
the
shouting
is a signifier of its inclusion in a performance
Don't Black Out - Your Mother Should Know [recorded live at The Skylark, Seattle, March 1, 2018]
amplification
is a means of becoming a presence
in a room of
unending conversation
Ghosts in Dusty Town - Steve Layton [from No Mind]
an added element
might confirm aspects
of the prior elements
such as
a sequence of harmonies
does such a method
also
deny
nonconforming aspects?
Vanessa, Act IV, Scene 2 - Samuel Barber Metropolitan Opera Orchestra & Chorus, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Eleanor Steber, Nicolai Gedda, Rosalind Elias, Giorgio Tozzi, Regina Resnik
orchestral song
as intermezzo
such a strangely oozing music this is
quite the weepy ensemble
gets more than a bit kinkyweird
Baubles, Bangles, and Beads - Bill Evans [from Some Other Time / The Lost Session from the Black Forest]
as precise as to each moment within the beat
as to
the
downbeat
this bass player is truly out there
as a 12bar blues
with a Texan brag in it
weary with itself
I Remember California - REM [from Green]
Noirmericana
our darkening outlook
stark stare
keep your
head down
times like these
Bolivia - Marcella Illanes [from The World Sings Goodnight]
I suppose the intent of this album
was to put infants to sleep
hence
the monotony of its presence
its uniformly engineered
sound
That's How You Like It (feat. Jay-Z) - Beyoncé [from Dangerously in Love]
never violate the logic of the groove
disaster looms
dancers might
trip
or flip
Before Your Mitred Bustling Bloom - Christian Asplund [from Viola]
soap mirror squiggling
scrubby scrubby
pesky little fellow
skitter scattery
music of a surface
!ping!
Let Me Be - Star Anna [from Go To Hell]
the weight of blame blues
I Want Jesus - Brenda Ray [from Original Songs/1950s Music]
campfire singalong
church camp
Starting Now - Tom Baker Quartet [from Begin Again]
it fits sideways
Untitled - Wayne Shorter [from The Classic Blue Note Recordings]
the style of audio engineering
rampant
at any one era
is a
fashion statement
these folks could sure play
this music
is each of theirs
all
ways
all times
Going Underground - The Jam [from Nancy's Mix]
this music shivers in its greatcoat
She Watch Channel Zero!? - Public Enemy [from It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back]
using a rapid loop of two syllables
as an articulation between
stanzas
shewatchshewattseewat
Rain/Any Time Any Place - Janet Jackson [from Janet]
tempo di make-out
recorded thunder lacks its presence
Days - David Bowie [from Reality]
narrow
cramped
heavily roofed
On My Own - True Bugs [from 25 Songs]
guitar strums
hold the words in place
Wanderlust - Cumulus [from I Never Meant It To Be Like This]
song
in a caldron
of drums and synth
Matchbook - Strung Out [from Black Out the Sky]
strummed and plucked
tips of fingers across
twanged from beneath
lesser urban
Too High - Bad Hug (w/Bree O'C) [from Dirt Cult Records You Don't Have to be Cool]
confessions of a user
Ain't No Way - Aretha Franklin [from Lady Soul]
a cyclic sequence of harmonies
that allows ample space
for two
vocalists
and choir
to sing transparently
A Lock - Dan Sedia [recorded live at Bard College March 18, 1983{?}]
I remember this performance well
blew my mind
music stripped
of all
but the names
of digits
in
irregular rhythm
ends at eighteen
by a sudden jump
I Ain't Tha 1 - N.W.A. [from Straight Outta Compton]
complaining to the guys
at the bar
about
the mercenarious
conduct
of their ladies
Method Man -Homegrown Version - Wu-Tang Clan [from Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)]
obsessed with his accessories
possession is self
Stardust - Glenn Tate [from Days of Wine and Roses]
bathed in candlelit décor
Notebook A: IV hardscrabble - J. K. Randall [from Open Space 22]
comes on strong
does its thing
then stops
Not Sure Yet - Cornelius Dufallo, Patrick Derivaz [from Bass Violin]
with loops
a small ensemble
can become a large one
if
it can put up with
the cumulative structure
of development
enforced
by looping
Sing For Me - Christina Aguilera [from Lotus]
verse sets up the chorus
like a recitative to an aria
or
as
in classic Broadway practice
subject matter
is the first person persona
of the star brand
Compline - Megan Ihnen [from Sleep Songs - Worldless Lullabies from The Sleepless, volume 2]
a line that concerns itself
with pitch composition
much of this would work quite well on clavichord
Baby Sister - Dolly Parton [from Just Because I'm a Woman]
society of the downtrodden
sentimental moralism
Red Carpet - J. K. Randall, Rachel Ruh [from Inter/Play]
that out of doors feel
of the ambient space
but
an echoey sort of place
such as a culvert
or garage
belowground
where the twelveness of our music
is laughed
upon
earmind hears intervals
(as
the residue of its constituent nodes
upon each other)
the ear
cannot
this may not be a coherent music
but it is very like
being with a
music
that is cohering
perhaps a chapel space?
are concrete echoes
different than stone
echoes?
anxiety
about the number of folks in this session
only 2?
there are sure a lot of wind instruments
in play
as it goes along
reeds and flutes
no brass as yet
mostly I'm Ok with 2
a huge J. K. sized sneeze
we're getting real here folks
actual whistles
now I count 3
just how many Jim Randalls
are we talking about
here?
I hear doors
this dance swaggers
bad boy
breathless brag
On Me - Nirvana [from Unplugged in New York]
this track sounds warm and inviting
armorless
Deck The Halls/Silent Night - Whitney Houston [from One Wish: The Holiday Album]
now this
is kind of fabulously icky
seduction by Christmas
carol
the move
to round yon virgin
is an odd one
but admirably
tasteless
wanders into orgiastic medleyism
Change - Taylor Swift [from Fearless]
cheerleader for
girl power
hopeful
Melanoma - Swearin' [from Surfing Strange]
these chords persist
in ways not simple to cycle
until Godzilla
smash drums
fill a separate space
neatly constructed
Mothra Wakes - Bret Hart [from Dubble Thud]
improvising a sound track
that needs no film
loops with effects
upon the pitch bend
Mothra wanders off
Hear My Call, Here - The Staple Singers [from Written in Their Soul, The Stax Songwriter Demos]
simple pattern arrangement
between guitar and the singers
Smokes - ? and The Mysterians [from The Best of ? and The Mysterians]
each verse
same words
Atlas Eclipticalis with Winter Music 831211 630 PM (continued) - John Cage - New Performance Group - John Cage
the music
of music's negative space
these sounds
are tiny cracks
through which
the music behind
them
pokes
a sliced specimen
of a music
happening
for no reason
the activity
does excite questioning listening
no fault there
Smokestack Lightning - Soundgarden [from Ultramega OK]
rural urban
the befouled interior
not a downtown classy music
J'ay le rebours (1555) - The Baltimore Consort [from La Rocque'n'Roll]
song accompanied by lute
keeps the whole
at a person to person
intimacy
there is no crowd in this
Code Name 6 - Frieze of Life [from Nuclear Frog Pond]
building a tonality
from the bed
of a new Rhein
Billy Jones-Duncan - Sacajawea Elementary Students [from Digital Dreams]
segments delineated
by inclusion/non-inclusion
of designated
parts
stutter coda
Sexxx Dreams - Lady Gaga [from Artpop]
with commercial music
sex sells
so
make the music
carry
as explicit a text payload
as can be got away
with
caveat:
this song
could be heard
as having a subtext
of critique
as to
its shallow means
but barely
Finnegan's Wake - The Science of Deduction [from Alternative Works]
the missing apostrophe
has been found!
(now the blue milk's
really upset)
the idea seems to be
to make music of the text
by inflicting a
beat
upon its recitation
A Child's Question-August - PJ Harvey [from I Inside the Old Year Dying]
clear voice
in front of a murky sounding band
 |
| The Key to the Highway |
Heartland - U2 [from Rattle and Hum]
our staring sky
and ungraspable expanse
Z Domoviay - Bedřich Smetana - Itzhak Perlman [from The Art of Itzhak Perlman]
a missive
from the National Pride era
Track 16 - Eckstein Middle School Students [from Mach 6]
showing off the drummers' toolkit
music designed to affirm its players
O.O.C. - Mariah Carey [from E=MC2]
this music
is a fashionable place to be
high end
buy in
Take Your Money To Your Grave - Smokestack and the Foothill Fury [from Lone Buffalo]
sniping across the front lines of class warfare
Someone Else - Choke the Pope [from Who Cares]
hopeless suburban rage
Requiem for a Mannequin - Pete Comley
robots for clothing display
the man that fits in clothes
not their
fault
they were made to fit in clothes
so
we honor their
passing
the man that fits in the old clothes
with a music
of
holding still
as long as it takes
to fit in clothes
the vault doors
are secured
to the last of them
there's Earwicker's Donnerwetter
the waves
of fitted clothes
buzz by
on the highways
above our heads
evening chorus
of naked frogs
nice job Pete!
Goldstaub (continued) - Karlheinz Stockhausen
how is this music different from
say
Atlas Eclipticalis with Winter Music?
as a listen?
these sounds
sound like
they were intended
to sound
arbitrary
pure
of prior habit
AEwWM:
those sounds
sound like
their entire existence
is arbitrary
bound together
in arbitraritude
they have a position
regarding you
they are against it
person
lingua-syntactically
is an open variable
these sounds
are meant
to not mean
Cage:
to question meaning
Stockhausen:
the re-invention of
man
through the mocking
of
our back-projected
primary
idiocy
proving progress
by comparison
to an invented
primitive
past
Nice Work If You Can Get It - Canadian Brass [from More Greatest Hits]
the intro stanza
of a Broadway number
could be left
the
instrumental arrangements thereof
and few would miss it
Same Train - Robert Shaw Festival Singers [from Amazing Grace]
to romanticize any people's past
is hazardous moral ground
Poor Lil Rich - 50 Cent [from Get Rich or Die Tryin']
it is important to this music
that you hear what's in it
it
consists of its ingredient list
tags left on
For Rebecca - Solvents [from Manresa Castle]
so sincere
that recorded in the basement sound
you can hear the
paneled walls
and plug-in reverb
Beside Ourselves - Greg Sinibaldi, Jesse Canterbury [from Ascendant]
feeding a caldron of reverberance
Big Sky - Bad Luck [from Four]
big drums
for big sky
bowel boom mood
thunder of ghastly
hooves
art-prog out-jazz fusion
Diabelli Recomposed (theme and first variation) - various composers and soloists [from live stream May 11, 2023]
this project
(shared by Jessi Harvey)
amused me
because I
wrote one myself once
this first one is fulsome and earnest
Dinah (take 2) - Thelonious Monk [from The Complete Columbia Studio Solo Recordings]
no nicety
is much cared for
Libera Nos. Salva Nos. - Cambridge Singers [from Brother Sun, Sister Moon]
fills its space
with sweet incense
this music is a scent
New Weather: I. Wind and Tree - Edward T. Cone - Mimmi Fulmer, Jeffrey Farrington
the piano part
is part of the acting
of the voice part
the whole
is in character
throughout
Lucifer - Jay-Z [from The Black Album]
the world
as projected from this track
is likely
no closer
to quotidian existence
in the hood
as
a movie of same
might be
or
as intimate relations
as projected from a
song
might be
amplification of an aspect
is not the whole
valuable
as that aesthetic image
might be
I Don't Want To Get Adjusted To This World - Rachel Harrington [from City of Refuge]
americana/roots/country/stringband
is a comfort food music
for a
significant portion
of our greater community
an escape
from
the hyper-pumped world
of getting along
Cobalt Blue - Dawn Clement [from Tempest/Cobalt]
chords can fall into place
along the notes of a line
without losing
their syntactical primacy
Track 6 [from Unknown Christmas Album]
the melody itself
is perfectly fine
it's the arrangement
and
smarmy performance
that makes me queasy.
In Session at The Tintinabulary
June 13, 2026
Banned Rehearsal 1153 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Steve Kennedy, Aaron Keyt
In a rare out-of-Tintinabulary appearance
we gathered in a garden
in Madison Valley
(Noisegarden)
and did what we do
June 14, 2026
Dunlap's Creek - Keith Eisenbrey
Postscripts
Drops
Music by Barkin and Others
another collection of musics that have found their way into my fingers over the years
music by Elaine Barkin, Anne Gorrick, Neal Kosály-Meyer, Carson Farley, Doug Palmer, Kam Morrill, Leanna Keith, Richard Johnson, and Emily Doolittle
Keith Eisenbrey, piano and clavichord
Neal Kosály-Meyer, voice
recordings of my compositions (and more!) can be found at keitheisenbrey.bandcamp.com - free to download or stream
