"In the Borough especially, there still remain some half dozen old inns, which have preserved their external features unchanged, and which have escaped alike the rage for public improvement, and the encroachments of private speculation. Great, rambling, queer, old places they are, with galleries, and passages, and stair-cases, wide enough, and antiquated enough, to furnish materials for a hundred ghost stories, supposing we should ever be reduced to the lamentable necessity of inventing any, and that the world should exist long enough to exhaust the innumerable veracious legends connected with old London Bridge, and its adjacent neighbourhood on the Surrey side."
Charles Dickens - "The Posthumous Papers of The Pickwick Club"
Texts
Streaming
October 2, 2022
Early Music Seattle - Seattle Baroque Orchestra - Silenced Voices
Alexander Weimann, Tekla Cunningham, Katy Ambrose, Burke Anderson, Christine Wilkinson Beckman, Matthew Hudgens, Courtney Kuroda, Todd Larsen, Anna Okada, Kristin Olson, Elisabeth Reed, Lindsey Strand-Polyak
Sinfonia in C-major - Marianne Anna Katharina von Martinez
Sonata in G-major, op. 2/1 - Cecilia Maria Barthélemon
Overture to ‘Trionfo della Fedeltà - Maria Antonia Walpurgis
Grande Fantasia with 6 Variations, op. 10 - Amélie-Julie Candeille
Concerto for violin in A-major, op. 3/3 - Maddalena Laura Sirmen
This was a wonderfully played concert of excellent music by late 18th and early 19th Century composers who were each and all new to me. I really want to get a good look inside Herr Wiemann's fortepiano to see how the damper mechanism works.
Recorded
Pavana and Galliarda, Fvb 170 and 171 - Thomas Morley - Claudio Columbo [from The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book]
that compound meter rhythm
of dotted half, quarter, half
not only
consists of three distinctly lengthy durations
but also
has
embedded within it the seed of a slower simple meter in two
Sonata in G Major, Kk. 201 - Domenico Scarlatti - Pieter-Jan Belder
the same music but now from the far side
then pulled tighter
wind
it up and it dances busily
John Brown's Dream - DaCosta Woltz [from Allen Lowe's Turn Me Loose White Man]
square dance calling to banjo and fiddle
game master pre-D&D
Without Your Love (take 1) - Billie Holiday [from Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia]
a lyrical clause that can be placed in new setting
among new words that
act upon it
and placements within the chordal structure
and rhyme
patterns
in that sense
a cyclic chord change such as jazz
constructs verses of
is really just part of the rhyme scheme and
operates thusly
Klacto-veeseeds-tene - Charlie Parker [from The Complete Savoy and Dial Master Takes]
which works pretty well as an expounding of how this music functions the way
it does
it is a music of chord rhymes
and chords being chords and
not words in a human language
a composer can be quite clever with them
More Than You Know - Blossom Dearie [from Blossom Dearie]
and which procedure can include quite sophisticated melodic glosses
in
profusion of polyphony
just piano, electric guitar, bass, and drums on
this one
a chord in this music is a sound with many faces
Paulsby - Stevie Wonder [from The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie]
like as if for a hot scene
of dance clubs
and doing shots
Getting Better - The Beatles [from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]
the backing vocals provide ironic commentary
tells the truth over the
Eastern sounding instrumental
then proceeds as before
with magical
mantra thinking
Memory of a Free Festival - David Bowie [from Space Oddity]
as annoying as the announcement at the opening is to me
its
ostentatiously modest pretension
somehow deflates what would otherwise
be the hyperidealistic imagery that follows
could be an interesting foil
to Don McLean's American Pie
I end up enjoying this song quite a
lot in spite of myself
By This River - Brian Eno [from Before and After Science]
in cadential tonality
Fuxian voice leading is essential
to hold
the balance of vertical and horizontal pitch sets in conversation
this music operates differently
in that
the sense of
verticality
is independent of the horizontal
more or less
automatically
almost categorically
Hong Kong - Screamin' Jay Hawkins [from Frenzy]
generously
just working with the sounds he heard
but uncomfortably
racist in the way that any caricature of ethnicity is
The Swan of Tuonela - Jean Sibelius [from 100 Greatest Classics]
is that the conductor moaning along
ick ick ick
settle down we'll
be in this mood for a while
The Big Muddy - Bruce Springsteen [from Lucky Town]
working class rocker desperately seeking a rootsier roots
at least he
doesn't try to goose it into an arena anthem
he just sings it straight
within the static sound
lets the song be the song
Interlude: On Line / Empty - Janet Jackson [from The Velvet Rope]
for radio play
the various interludes and songs are separate tracks
in 70s prog
they would not be
but they seem to function much
the same way
or
they are properly a part of a different origin
story
coming from the dance hall DJs scene
duration
from within the endurance of it
is the time perceived as
having elapsed
since a moment that occurred
from outside the
endurance of it
it is the memory of having endured a span of time
terminated at some other moment
outside of that endurance
any moment can host many durations
while enduring
we can
follow the sound
as it engenders a room in the room
Insomnia Can Kill You - Peter Fedofsky [from The City of Good Neighbors]
an internal dialog couched as advice to a self
Side by Side - Your Mother Should Know [recorded live at The Comet Tavern, Seattle, July 29, 2012]
there is something perverse to me
in trying to say something in such a
manner
that it can't be grasped
from within the social milieu
into which it is voiced
Song 2 - Strange Like Us [recorded live at the Sunset Tavern, Seattle, April 18, 2017]
a song about sexual harassment
per what they announced
but the
presentation
as energetic as it is
loses any sense of being about
anything
other than being a particular sort of energetic
it is
probably easier to understand on a studio recording
but surely
punk of all things
is a live music genre first
Banned Telepath 88 Union Bay - Jennifer Chung [June 18, 2022]
birds up close
and motors down far
some passersby
proximities of sounds
a jet's sound twists as it passes through
the masses of air to earth
a runnerby hoofing by
a talkerby
talking by
a flicker hammers short periods of pounds
notes packed more wallop back then
or were allowed to
in intimate
conversation
Mama You Don't Know How Long - Long Cleve Reed and the Downhome Boys [from Allen Lowe's Really the Blues]
play it boys while I sing it
the accompaniment shifts with the telling
reverts to a default vamp when the vocal breathes
comes back out
into its own while the vocal sings
When They Ring the Golden Bells - Arthur Cornwall [from Evans 78s]
sacred drinking songs for weepy drunks
And That's for Sure - Allen Eager [from Allen Lowe's That Devilin' Tune]
hot cool
Tadd's Delight (alternate take) - Miles Davis [from 'Round About Midnight]
the accentuation of the syncopation instructs a meter upon the meter
Rough Lover - Aretha Franklin [from The Electrifying Aretha Franklin]
another version of Julie Brown's I Like 'Em Big and Stupid
Prelude in F Major - Lockrem Johnson - Keith Eisenbrey [recorded September 30, 2022]
that'll work
We're All Water - John Lennon and Yoko Ono [from Some Time In New York City]
hippie profundity
a pronouncement over a beat
an excuse to shred
since there's really nothing left to do but spew
I Fought The Law - The Clash [from The Clash]
the old song with the volume turned up
doesn't otherwise transform the
song into a new experience
if anything it loses sharpness
Life - Flipper [from Generic]
bass line on the open strings
loose on the bridge
80s profundity
is an ironic critique of hippie profundity
Assembly Rechoired 29 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey [June 11, 1987]
this may have been the Bickleton trip wherein we retrieved Karen's drumset
there we were
and there it most certainly is
as well as some
little plucker
either Marilyn's mini-guitar
or a ukulele
it
seems to have more oomph than a uke
nope
it's a violin
we
must have brought it along
unless I'm completely bonkers
and we
were back in Seattle by then
but
we would have been in Bickleton
for the picnic
which would be near Flag Day
which all fits
together
improv tip:
it's OK to dink around on something until it becomes a
sound
getting it right away is not required
Karen has moved to guitar for a moment
we explore the quiet sounds
another:
even when you've found a good one
its OK to try something
else
exploration trumps performance
I have moved to the drums
and Karen remains on guitar
an acoustic
and that organ they had is activated
that confirms the location as
Bickleton
after we get the ballgame out of our systems we disintegrate
interesting
he assumes they're all men
he's preachy
but he
should at least be inclusive
the problem with didactic lyrics
is
that they are so often just poorly written and clumsy
he's no Charles
Wesley that's for certain
One Week - Shonen Knife [from Brand New Knife]
an extreme Western
this is much better writing
and a much stronger
song than some of their others
saying
oneweekoneweekoneweekoneweekoneweekoneweek
over and over
until it becomes quacking
The President Is Not to Blame - The Humidiflyers [from The Humidiflyers Fall 2002]
a mood moment
Sputnik Love 04 Mixdown 01 - Keith Eisenbrey [February 20, 2007]
a lively texture of bloops beeps and scratches
a synoptic analysis of
the original sample
synaudic?
Lend Me An Ear - O-Face [from Shrug Life]
another McAbee cousin of mine was in this band
second cousin once
removed
that is
one set of my great grandparents
was the
same
as one set of his great-great-grandparents
{it occurs to
me that my kids and I would also fit this definition
so:
but sharing
no other more direct familial relationship
per stirpes}
Banned Telepath 55 Anchorage - Aaron Keyt [May 8, 2017]
a wind roaring that's it then
Aaron almost says something
Blue Cloud - Doug Haire [from Western Stoner]
winch hoisting something
or a chain hoist winching something
three
minutes dense with sound
A Medley, Fvb 173 - William Byrd - Claudio Columbo [from The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book]
the opening chord is repeated twice within the first moments
each
iteration indexing a new rhythmic/metrical fulcrum
Woke Up With The Blues In My Fingers - Lonnie Johnson [from Allen Lowe's Turn Me Loose White Man]
and so they play the blues
both parts
they may have the blues in
them
but they play pretty sweet
While We Dance Til Dawn - Joe Green's Vibraphone Dance Orchestra [from Evans 78s]
from that sentimental americana that persisted through to Lawrence Welk and
company
entertainment for sensitive tummies
Laura - Sidney Bechet [from Allen Lowe's That Devilin' Tune]
crooning for all he's worth
quite the strident vibrato
it would be
interesting to sample that
and overlay it
with a sample of Bonnie
Guitar's country alto vibrato
now for the dance
and we'll finish
up on an operatic high
Funny (But I Still I Love You) - Ray Charles [from Ray Charles]
the guitar player comments from within the keyboard figures
like an
eloquent elbow
Gospel Plow - Bob Dylan [from Bob Dylan]
trying out all the musics he had heard
he seems more interested
I
think
in the ways of doing songs
than in what those songs might be
within their native milieus
Sweet Maria - The Billy Vaughn Singers [a Rescued Record]
more Lawrence Welk ready sentimentality
Why Oh Why - The Babysitters [from The Greatest Songs of Woody Guthrie]
egregiously grandfatherly
Pinhead - Ramones [from Leave Home]
the directness of the rhymes
matches the stripped down sound
the
extraneous never made it in
gabba gabba hey
or
has all been
swept into the coda
Over - Bonnie Guitar [from Dark Moon and other Country Favorites]
see above
her vibrato is a show of its own
Muskrat - Mike Seegers [from Animal Folk Songs for Children]
a song to cuss out a beast
then jaybird and peckerwood and rooster
all wondering why they're not dead or tired
tomcat too
wonder it ain't gone
more into song as a document
than Mr.
Dylan is
a different flavor of scholar
#!_@ You Tonight - The Notorious B.I.G. [from Life After Death]
intimate sex talk as an open letter
Gradus 20 - Neal Kosály-Meyer [July 1, 2002]
we have moved on now to the fourth A up
it has been said
that one
cannot step in the same river twice
which is not true
in the sense
that one could name the river the same river
and thus step in it
twice
but this is cheating
or not
thusly
cheating
if a word is not a term
and not cheating if words are terms
so
if words are free of firm definition
with no absolute
equivalence of a word to its reference
then the same river can't be
stepped in
because it
the reference
has slipped free
same
demands a comparison
and one cannot merely step into a
comparison
all this
being apropos
or not
of a session
in which the activity is limited
to repeated pressings of a single key
so
one can't hear the same note
because that is a comparison
and comparisons are silent
one can
however
engage in
the activity of comparing
and experience oneself so doing
as part
of active hearing
and here we bring to a close this our muddleheaded
raving
how anything is sung or done
not so much what
a music of manners
sound from a tightly clenched grin
Chaotic Heart and Forest of Thorns - Your Mother Should Know [recorded live at the Comet Tavern, Seattle, July 29, 2012]
phrases heard at every dive bar set ever
thanks guys
we got two
more
thanks for comin' out
Aging - Quinn Mason - loadbang [from Quiver]
an Art song for voice and winds
you can tell it's Art
because the
lyrics are carefully enunciated
in round
well-formed
completely educated tones
and the mood matches the instrumental
accompaniment
like a head and a pillow
rather than like a head and
a basket
Banned Telepath 88 Tintinabulary - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Aaron Keyt [June 20, 2022]
approximately on the 38th Bannediversary
we are breezes and wafts
the world passes by
it growls at us ignoredly
the birds make
their own fusses
but the jets each growl in their own voice
a prop
job
and a jet set
we have a noisy sky
so we murmur amongst
our kind
travelers crisscross our sound world
dogs bark
Pavana and Galliarda, Fvb 174 - William Byrd - Claudio Columbo [from The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book]
stasis becomes intensely directed
a probing eye
Going Places - Venati & Lang [from Allen Lowe's That Devilin' Tune]
worlds apart and moving fast
propelled
the view can't persist
now it's gone
Who's Taking Care of the Caretaker's Daughter - Cliff Edwards [from Evans 78s]
imaginable on a stage for light comic entertainment
small circuit
winks and nudges
over the kiddies' heads
The World Can't Stand Long - King's Sacred Quartette [from Goodbye Babylon]
more small circuit entertainment
but a different small circuit
and
probably for radio and record sales as well
we hear commerce's possibly
pernicious effect on our music
Santa Bring My Baby Back to Me - Elvis Presley [from Elvis' Christmas Album]
last song on his Santa side
which album's second side being carols and
sacred songs
echoes the cultural disjunction around Christmas USA
There Will Be Peace In The Valley (For Me) - Little Richard [from The King of the Gospel Singers]
the electric organ and chime sounds are to die for
his voice has a
wonderful lightness to it when he needs it
he's a hella singer
Pleasant Valley Sunday - The Monkees [a Rescued Record]
suburban dream
with an attitude of vintage hippie piety
flip side
to Penny Lane
in the states
we were riding on a breaking crest
in Great Britain
they were emerging from a damp sump
hence
the different attitudes
watch TV
an old WWII film from the Pacific Theater
then out of
sight deals
room for 3 rifles
the Jackson Five Story
played
by the Osmond Brothers
Zorro
starring John Wayne
Don't Worry About The Government - Talking Heads [from Talking Heads: 77]
in the best of all possible worlds
the correct
irony-aware
response
is to nod knowingly
Jesus, We Want to Meet - Christopher Parkening [from Simple Gifts]
nylon string guitar to steel string guitar
like different stops on a
harpsichord
In Session at the Tintinabulary
October 7, 2022
Prelude in B-flat Major - Keith Eisenbrey
my 2011 composition
Postscripts
Skaldmud's Doodle Gallery
some listening journal doodles from 1990
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