Preface
"The god comes wheeling down,
Does not disguise himself, so great the pride,
The confidence of his splendor. But he aids it,
Smoothing his hair, making the robes fall even,
The golden border showing; and he carries
In his right hand the wand that makes men slumber
Or rouses them to wakefulness: the sandals
Glitter around his ankles."
- Ovid "Metamorphoses" (translated by Rolfe Humphries)
Texts
Recorded
March 14, 2020
Darkness on the Edge of Town - Bruce Springsteen [from
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Live 1975-1985]
Text on a page arises from thought in a mind, and though it has a reasonable reading can be unreasonably read. As it is here. There is an interval between the reasonable and the unreasonable, an interval along a line between reason and un.
Cello Concerto op. 104 (selection) - Antonín Leopold Dvořák [from
Naxos The Very Best of Dvorak]
(the slow movement)
Concerto-ness: two or more stand at a distance or entwine their parts, as each mirrors the other and their entwining and their standing at a distance.
Think Accessories - Operation ID [from
Legs]
Sneaking around with sudden bright lights. Then we take a ride, go into a sketchy place. Spaceships are there. Skittery little things aren't they? Ride back out quick.
Corollaries Omnibus - Keith Eisenbrey
awesome fades in
fade in
awe
in
some fades
they come forward each at their time and at their pitch
to witness the hum of still distant or distant again comings or goings
an anatomy of chaos
March 15, 2020
Sonata in E minor, K. 98 - Domenico Scarlatti - Pieter-Jan Belder
artifice as, nearly, an end in itself
were it not for
nothing can be so revealing
Dream (Live 1982) - Stevie Nicks [from
Bella Donna]
pop: a style of performance in which song is buried in show.
Riu, Riu, Chiu - Boston Camerata [from
A Renaissance Christmas]
popped up: that is: was the old practice so gussied up with production value?
The Kustard King - Whiting Tennis [from
Three Leaf Clover]
self inflicted nostalgia vibe icky sound all for an I could have told you so
Draw You Close - Your Mother Should Know [live at SkyChurch November 2011]
not a finished song, but to its credit it clearly inhabits its song space.
not pop.
The Main Part - India Glover [from
Pup Demo]
verse: a private communication
chorus: public
songwriterly self-referentiality (the song to itself)
diggin' it.
Sonata in C minor, K. 99 - Domenico Scarlatti - Pieter-Jan Belder
I think Scarlatti would have loved the way phonograph records can get stuck. But he would want to compose with where the partitions of his figures get independently, variously, stuck.
obvious: some figures cadence within themselves, others don't.
codetta summary
Soft Palate - David Hicks, James Kelly, J. K. Randall [from
Inter/Play]
equal parts
forthrightly, scrapy, and snarky
We have a quick auto-response to follow where led. Everybody looks where the first looks, in turn, to not be left alone.
The familiars having been got over it then gets down to business with familiars in the unfamiliar.
the pronunciator works on pronunciation
(riddle me this:
How does a noun become a nun? By pronouncing pronunciation.)
holding pattern
until a new matter
is what
leave room
for what the matter is
(don't) dance so close
your brother (I heard that) has become a different man
bold pat
bald pat
balding pat
balding pattern
holding pattern
holding pat
hold pat
bold pat
Racing In The Street - Bruce Springsteen [from
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Live 1975-1985]
When heard live, after it has been intimately learned in the comfort of one's own vinyl, is it the same song at all, or a memory of it? They are singing along too.
Piano Quintet in A Major, Op. 81 (selection) - Antonín Leopold Dvořák [from
Naxos The Very Best of Dvorak]
must have loved Schubert.
Color Me Black - White Orange [from
White Orange]
intense pressure
music between metal plates
Pink Floyd reference: (set the controls for the heart of the sun)
Gradus 297 - Neal Kosály-Meyer [September 2016]
While he was telling of what he would do I was shedding a tear for old Ireland, so I didn't hear of what he would do to the pitch set battalions of old Ireland.
Does a "combination" of __ include the intervals between those of __ of which the combination is possible of what can be combined? Mutually boned.
A collection always returns to itself (trapped)
the further we go the more subtle the distinction might be between rung and rung. If order is stipulated then ordinality is an unquestionable fact, as is distance along enumeration. O the eons!
March 16, 2020
Sonata in C Major, K. 100 - Domenico Scarlatti - Pieter-Jan Belder
kitten on keys game there
mouse chase
attack paw
Angel (Live 1982) - Stevie Nicks [from
Bella Donna]
song for enjoyment of a specific voice
person lifted into voice, a kind of possession
voice possessed
Outrage - Stuart Dempster, William O. Smith
Leaving parts of themselves along the way
like loops
sticky loops
doing with people in a space what would be done later by electronic means.
Wisconsin Blue - Whiting Tennis [from
Three Leaf Clover]
covered up, not shown enough to be heard clearly
lazy songwriting
Superwizard - Ancient Warlocks [from
The Superwizard 7" Single]
no fat on this one
lean and tense from outer space
Forest of Thorns - Your Mother Should Know [live at SkyChurch November 2011]
chaotic opening is a winner
(altar call: genre gambit)
James Brown already won that game.
Mr. Kerosene - Dræmhouse [from
Only Friends EP]
veiled, but not covered up.
The threat is seen quite clearly.
compositional. solid.
March 17, 2020
Sonata in A Major, K. 101 - Domenico Scarlatti - Pieter-Jan Belder
direct repeat:
structural echo?
structural emphasis?
phraseological time warp?
that is: using balance A:B as reference, then with AA:B, A is both balanced by B and not balanced by B. Its balance is activated.
Orange Dots, Pasted - David Hicks, James Kelly, J. K. Randall [from
Inter/Play]
Pitch freak is, I understand, the name of the game. We love notes (musical events of singular moment) because we can single each of them out as an entity. Pitch is a ready-made cross-reference among these singular items of study. They are good about holding still, so that we can listen at it closely, in grains.
March 18, 2020
Respect Yourself - Bruce Willis [a
Rescued Record]
Drumming is at the root of this, as a music. Every sound plays a part, even the solo vocalist.
Czech Suite, Op. 39 (selection) - Antonín Leopold Dvořák [from
Naxos The Very Best of Dvorak]
as sold in shops
Movement Exercise #1 for Blindfolded Ensemble - Beth Fleenor [from
Seattle Jazz Composers Ensemble Vol. 1]
One of the bounds within which this plays is the obligation to play well, to make the means invisible. Not so much as though the puppet strings aren't there as that they don't matter so long as the actual pursuit is agreed upon.
Banned Rehearsal 918 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Steve Kennedy, Aaron Keyt, Neal Kosály-Meyer [September 2016]
here, playing well is neither encouraged nor enjoined
it is tolerated if it doesn't showboat much
allow ample room for hints of quiet doings
nearly inaudible is AOK.
composition as: establishment of a specious structural hegemony over a time span.
March 19, 2020
Sonata in G minor, K. 102 - Domenico Scarlatti - Pieter-Jan Belder
B follows A in more than one sense
i.e. not just follows after but tracks it either in whole or in part
aspects of A track into B, which becomes a new A for a new B.
That's the basic move.
After The Glitter Fades (Live 1982) - Stevie Nicks [from Bella Donna]
NB: sorry, it never does. It gets in the water. glitter is evil.
This Land Is Your Land - Bruce Springsteen [from
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Live 1975-1985]
Bruce is trapped in the same stadium must be filled quagmire as Stevie Nicks, but has a bit more room to stray, just because he's a man and a bigger draw, I suppose. He still can't help gussying it up with production value and new chords. Did it need improvement?
Legends Op. 59 - Antonín Leopold Dvořák [from
Naxos The Very Best of Dvorak]
episodic, a sequence of affects
relies on the pattern of returning material to tie it together (Schumann's game)
just enough to imagine a story behind it
Sweet Angel - Your Mother Should Know [live at SkyChurch November 2011]
comes with its own preamble
one chorus must be a guitar solo
a brief one
Lion Storm - Ancient Warlocks [from
Ancient Warlocks Live Vol. #1]
a strong rope pulled taut
Sonata in G Major, K. 103 - Domenico Scarlatti - Pieter-Jan Belder
devious contrapuntal relations
he knows more ways through the maze
than you do
Wade The Water to My Knees - Lucille Holloway and Basers [from
Art of Field Recording Vol. 1]
heterophonic clapping rhythm
sparks on the river
Wie schön leuchtet die Morgenstern - Boston Camerata [from
A Renaissance Christmas]
o give me more of that old Renaissance meter play!
Symphony #9 (selection) - Antonín Leopold Dvořák [from
Naxos The Very Best of Dvorak]
(the Going Home movement)
an operatic moment with hints of Mendelssohn's midsummer and Mussorgsky's Volga sunrise. The purpose of the little episode that isn't the big tune is to modulate back into the episode that is the big tune.
the backstory is hinted at in the middle bit.
Wet Petition - Yuni [formerly in Taxco] [from
Slow Charade]
technological means toward a more branded sound.
Spokane Steam Plant Chimney Stomp - Karen Eisenbrey and Keith Eisenbrey [September 2016]
what fun!
how we kept from laughing I know not.
I don't know if you can still go in the room under the long open chimney in the current configuration of the restaurant there. A pity, if not.
Sonata in G Major, K. 104 - Domenico Scarlatti - Pieter-Jan Belder
several ways to get to the bottom of the keyboard
then some other ways to not move much at all
March 20, 2020
Leather and Lace (Live 1982) - Stevie Nicks [from
Bella Donna]
(sexual politics of the music industry as it comes out on this end)
Addressing A for the benefit of B presumes a skew of the fandom curve toward B.
Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel [collected from Dave Marsh's
The Heart of Rock & Soul]
Addressing A for the benefit of A (sort of), or playing Cyrano for everyman's mixtape of sexual braggadocio. Does that trick ever work?
quality instrumentals though. the money spent shows.
". . . the robes fall even,
The golden border showing"
Two Waltzes, Op. 54 (selection) - Antonín Leopold Dvořák [from
Naxos The Very Best of Dvorak]
lazy gracious then briefly (while the old folks aren't watching) more physically flirtatious, then quite openly sultry
Each waltz or trio is a way that a couple might be together, dancing, framed by elegance.
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - Your Mother Should Know [live at SkyChurch November 2011]
see you in a dingy bar someplace soon
Gradus 298 - Neal Kosály-Meyer [September 2016]
each musician's composing improvising listening analyzing narrating ear can activate a devious scheme
devious because, ultimately, inscrutable
must be accepted as an object immediately, while it occupies its span of experience
Analysis as a musical activity is a tool for discovering the ear behind the noise. We can hear what the ear is thinking because the playing of what we hear is the thinking of the ear.
Sonata in G Major, K. 105 - Domenico Scarlatti - Pieter-Jan Belder
fingery figurations are (of a piece with) the mechanics of the action
all those levers and plectra and key balances
balance - metrical, rhythmical, or of a lever - is a mechanism
Stop Draggin' My Heart Around (Live 1982) - Stevie Nicks [from
Bella Donna]
the guitar part plays the part of the A (in being addressed)
what A says back (a thankless role)
is the guitar played by the B singer here?
acting out sexual politics for the benefit of _?
Reading: Luke II 3-8 - Boston Camerata [from A Renaissance Christmas]
woyse meyn
woyse guys
Romance in F minor, Op. 11 - Antonín Leopold Dvořák [from
Naxos The Very Best of Dvorak]
poetic in how it fills out its pitch space
[it sounds like the piano has its lid down, muffled]
The keyboard writing is quite fine, and quite clearly post Haydn/Mozart, in that it evokes a heterogeneous ensemble rather than, say, a lute or a blended choir of like voices.
Sleeping By Myself - Eddie Vedder [from
Ukulele Songs]
long line melody
takes you right along
sets you down at the end
(nice!)
Otter Song - Bicycle Face [from
Wonders of Female Strength]
a delight
it is positive positive
like like
In Session at the Tintinabulary
March 15, 2020
Maple Leaf 200315
I was up early so I put the microphone out early to listen to the birds.
March 16, 2020
Meadowbrook Pond 200316
Up early again I drove to a nearby wetland park to hear more birds.
Postscripts
fired with love's urgent longings 1 of the
first stanza concerning this dark night and its
now to discuss the about which love's urgent
** ** **
pitch in a swamp is a bird on a cattail
an embodiment of the absence of itself
an image of duration bereft
