Preface
 |
| The Election at Eatanswill |
Hablot K. Browne (Phiz) - from "The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club"
Texts
Recorded
November 26, 2022
En atendant vostre venue - Johannes Ockeghem - Blue Heron, Scott Metcalfe
purpose of song
to beautify verse
set it yet further apart
a higher sphere of
saying
Sr. Jhon Grayes Galiard, Fvb. 191 - William Byrd - Claudio Columbo [from The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book]
square corners aren't a thing here
that a thing can be
Suite in D minor, BuxWV 234 - Dieterich Buxtehude - Keith Eisenbrey [recorded November 23, 2022]
I wonder if there is a way to filter out the extreme low end to get rid of the thumping sound that comes through
these are phrasing puzzles
full of tiny
pieces
solution not obvious
because
it will need to be personal
and specific
to the instrument used
if you're accustomed to Bach's large-scale suites
these
pieces seem impossibly brief
but they rival Webern in intensity of expression
stops frequently to point out the delightful sights
with exuberance
Impromptu in C minor, Op. 90 #1 - Franz Schubert - Alfred Brendel
fills itself in
sequentially
carefully
but in large movements
parts are added
until it wakes
unjolted
every moment
a breath
from dread awareness
November 27, 2022
Weary Blues - Louis Armstrong's Hot Seven [from Hot Fives and Sevens]
it's a right cheerful weariness
is there some aspect of how these solos go
that we are coerced into analyzing them
in respect to the underlying changes
and not to their fellows
?
heavy verticality
Everybody's Truckin' - Smokey Wood [from Allen Lowe's Turn Me Loose White Man]
with what solidity the melody sits on top of the beat
the solos
comparable to
their fellows
by means of the cyclicity of the chords
upon which they each sit
Bongo Beep - Charlie Parker [from The Complete Savoy and Dial Master Takes]
the fly wheel
has bumps to it
gets a shove each time
Music for Violin, Cello, and Piano - Earle Brown - Matthew Raimondi, David Soyer, David Tudor
pointillism
a de-hierarchization of vertical from horizontal
no path through
is obligatory
Back In Your Own Back Yard - Billie Holiday [from Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia]
some of swing
is an undercover hyper-specification
of the weights of times
between
broadens vertical moment
to engulf
a portion of the horizontal
into
itself
in its turn
smears the vertical moment
into the horizontal
Remember - Sarah Vaughan and Billy Eckstine [from The Irving Berlin Songbook]
due to the use by Benjamin Boretz
of a performance of this song as an example
in
"Language ,as a music"
this song
about remembering a romance
is
for me
a song
about music
and meaning
and magic
and language
and the tight little knot they
stimulate in the ear
Just For You - Aretha Franklin [from The Electrifying Aretha Franklin]
a valentine proposal
flute solo for extra class
Prelude in F Major - Lockrem Johnson - Keith Eisenbrey [recorded August 26, 2022]
I made another take of this after this
this one doesn't float
could make it dreamier at the end
I need to learn to take many more oodles of time
Road Block - Janis Joplin with Big Brother and the Holding Company [from In Concert]
little bit of crazy to finish it up
When I Live My Dream - David Bowie [from Starting Point]
he plays a cartoon prince charming
and convinces
Let's Pretend We're Married - Prince [from 1999]
the long intro holds interest
with carefully inserted detail
burst sounds
markers
that progress
all the hippies sing together
Entos 3 (side 1) - Anna K, Neal Kosály-Meyer, David M, Marcia Z [July 18, 1987]
programmed learning limits creative results?
but useful perhaps
for overcoming
mental hurdles
a long line became shorter
then lengthened out again
an image
of the pattern of something in front of you
Dance Music for Composers Orchestra - Lenny Picket - New York Composers Orchestra [from First Program in Standard Time]
sound track to a sleazy noir film that I would love to see
it seems regular
though it probably isn't
though it may likely be
we'll never know
not entirely
certain whether
all the duds remain
on their respective bods
Anything - Janet Jackson [from The Velvet Rope]
lots of shimmer and shiver
temptress as the tempted
doesn't stray from
seductive whisper
We Could Make Believe - Glenn Tate [from Some of My Favorite Love Songs]
an unironic attitude toward the song
in character
Preludes 5-8 - Ken Benshoof - Keith Eisenbrey [recorded live at University Temple United Methodist Church, March 17, 2007]
not just an established key
but a fully formed sensibility as to the key
The Spring - Robin Jackson and the Caravan [from Dust Diaries]
lots of words in a highish baritone
with a peculiar slurring of consonants
to
smooth the line
glottals kept away
Banned Rehearsal 936 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Steve Kennedy, Neal Kosály-Meyer [June 5, 2017]
the porch gets more street noise than the patio does
sound with no urgency
other than its own
at its moment
there is no going on
nor having come from
where
incursions of postmodernity
absolution through abandonment
we are
ultimately responsible to the sounds we bring to the table
whatever their
provenance or toxicity
is music as such ever simply a sound like any other
without baggage
silliness as a mode of aggressive contempt
why such heckling
Totem 48 - Sascia Pellegrini [from Totem V]
inside
where this sound is
tight spaces
labyrinth of blind curves
terminal
enclosure
industrial experimentation
Praeludium, Fvb 192 - John Bull - Claudio Columbo [from The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book]
opens the pitch world
steps back
Royal Palm Special - Leecan and Cocksey [from Allen Lowe's Really The Blues]
the guitar commentary front and center
the mouth harp solo working hard to
hold its own
Business After Midnight - Original Yellow Jackets [from Allen Lowe's That Devilin' Tune]
shoved along in a crowd
pushed to the party
whoosh
I guess now we're here
It Never Entered My Mind - Frank Sinatra [from Allen Lowe's Turn Me Loose White Man]
a letter from the leave-ee to the leave-or
written in a contritely silken voice
Seventy-Six Trombones - Meredith Wilson [from The Music Man, Original Cast Recording]
horns of every shape and kind
Americana to the masses
a report from a traveler through American song
musical journalism
Wang Dang Doodle - Koko Taylor [from Neal Kosály-Meyer's Bo's Milieu]
how may songs out there use the phrase "all night long"?
Goodbye Don't Mean I'm Gone - Carole King [from Rhymes & Reason]
soft-core domestic complexity
Swallow My Pride - Ramones [from Leave Home]
street domestic
personal
the city impinges
Dancing With Tears In My Eyes - X [from Under the Big Black Sun]
west coast urban
is a different flavor of urban
filtered through all that
empty space between
Madam Butterfly, One Fine Day - Giacomo Puccini [from 100 Greatest Classics]
extracting numbers from operas that aren't quite built that way
is a strange
pastime
a stretch of music can be wonderful in its context
but perplexing as a
stretch of music all by itself
Just Friends - Morgana King [from This Is Always]
rhythm of rhymes
discovered diphthongs
the song is a song to sing
not ever not
a
performance
identity of singer
with the I of the song's text
explicitly denied
Frogphobia (Japanese) - Shonen Knife [from Brand New Knife]
cosmopolitan urban
that is
accepted
and indoors
Lamb of God 050517 Final B - Keith Eisenbrey - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey [recorded at Jack Straw Productions, Seattle, May 17, 2005]
I love the way the contour of the melody
traces the relation
of God and us
up
and down
mercy ascending and descending
earth and heaven
but without being
obvious
Family of Four - Tom Baker Quarter [from Look What I Found]
offset balance
quiet thread
goes silent
Chaotic Heart - Your Mother Should Know [recorded live at Rat and Raven, Seattle, August 9, 2012]
desire to blow away
as one has been blown away
synth play
finding little enjoyments
ponds and pebbles
Banned Rehearsal 1055 - Jennifer Chung, Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Anna K, Steve Kennedy, Aaron Keyt, Neal Kosály-Meyer
the ferry boat carries our backyard to the far shore
we travel intact
the
pipes are calling
the engines continue to chug
a brittle surface is broken
through for passage
sometimes the dishes rattle
surfaces rub and squeak
life
on board
between were and will be
video games can be found on the upper
passenger deck
A Toy, Fvb 193 - Traditional - Claudio Columbo [from The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book]
a miniature
perhaps
as seen by an adult
Oedipus Rex - Igor Stravinsky - The Opera Society of Washington, Igor Stravinksy, George Shirley, Shirley Verrett, Donald Gramm, John Reardon, Loren Driscoll, Chester Watson, John Westbrook
an uncomfortable world
manly bluster
syllabic drumbeats
stone carved into
stubborn curves
tight corners
awkward narrows
sudden crossroads
malevolent
orchestra
playthings of the Gods bound in bands of irony
New East St. Louis Toodle-oo - Duke Ellington [from Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz]
sly
narrow
streets
dark and damp
Polka Dots and Moonbeams - Claude Thornhill [from Allen Lowe's That Devilin' Tune]
relaxed
indoors
quiet lighting
warm company
one-finger piano tune (mostly)
Godchild - Miles Davis [from Birth of the Cool]
in flight
wing tilt
soaring swallow play
no gust that can't be handled
My Desire - Little Richard [from The King of the Gospel Singers]
floating tenor
effortless embellishments
Your Mother Should Know - The Beatles [from Magical Mystery Tour]
what exactly is it that your mother should know?
was she a scholar of hits?
were there hits
in the same sense
then as now?
Did Paul care?
performed as colorlessly as possible
Spider and I - Brian Eno [from Before and After Science]
short tethered journeys
and back
but there is no away
that back can be got to
from
within the woven web
Why Not - Orbaneja [from Orbaneja]
bass drums
horns and keys
perhaps two saxophones and a trumpet
doing a
fusion-funk thing
Entos 3 (side 2) - Anna K, Neal Kosály-Meyer, David M, Marcia Z [July 18, 1987]
imparting information
seedpod words
the voiced consonant G as in God
is mostly
noise and very quick
is there time to actually pick up the voicedeness of it
or is it
that
in contradistinction the unvoiced consonant C
as in
contradistinction
the voicedness of the word
begins
prior to the vowel
and not
coincident with it
and the noise
of the consonant
is more smoothly elided
with the vowel
than with the unvoiced consonant
passive aggressive composition
don't have the right to change the poem
the mental gymnastics of juggling all the words
now it's a mistake
as young people
we often
out of insecurity
grab onto a determinate model
of how to get from A
to B
but holding fast to that determinate model of personal progress
runs a
significant risk of mere success
there you are at B
so what
pass through the unexpected door
analysis
as an image of what?
fascination
curiosity
but you
prefer do you?
after tonight follow the recipe
good to the Western ear
Reva's House - Los Lobos [from Kiko]
standard practice
open with an isolated track
that will persist throughout
a
guitar figure here
verse form
to some extent
is articulated by this figure's
presence
absence
or variation
Track 8 [from Eisenbrey 2002]
probably Haydn
a Menuet
string trio
from what I presume to be souvenir
recording from a chamber music camp my Mom was at in 2002
Preludes 5-8 - Greg Short - Keith Eisenbrey [recorded live at University Temple United Methodist Church, March 17, 2007]
his music is strongest when he doesn't try so hard to make it big and important
and bombastic
for instance #7 is quite sweet
Red - Taylor Swift [from Red]
list of is likes:
is like this
is like that
magazine quiz spillover
Banned Telepath 56 Anchorage A - Aaron Keyt [June 10, 2017]
song birds and some soughing sounds
a bit of traffic
the song birds are near
and far
I hear distant footsteps
perhaps some voices
Sinfonia in C Major - Marianne Anna Katharine von Martinez - Seattle Baroque Orchestra [October 2, 2022]
originality was valued in a limited way
good taste was paramount
one could
indulge in originality
in order to be delightful
but not to be disruptive
galante court-culture music
as a social decoration
like fine hangings
gentle syncopation
He Rose From the Dead - Blind Lemon Jefferson [from Allen Lowe's Turn Me Loose White Man]
no more than needed to incise the song with clarity
the verse structure is
loosely circular
size of song and size of performance perfectly matched
Honky Tonk Train - Meade 'Lux' Lewis [from Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz]
explicit picture of the rhythm that drove across America
finding all the
irregularities in the constancy
Nightmare Allen - Allen Eager [from Allen Lowe's That Devilin' Tune]
the smooth ride of a fine automobile
the scene whizzes by
Mean to Me - Judy Garland [from Alone]
a verse on long E
then a verse on long I
chorus a mix
then back to E
Judy gets it
quite the punch by the band during the instrumental
verse tune
rises in pitch
chorus tune descends
I'm Getting Sentimental Over You - Bill Evans, Jim Hall [from Undercurrent]
two minds
one hocket
immediate music
the instrumental solos fight through a dense swamp
they finally fade back for
the vocal
constancy of volume must not be seriously modulated
Mother and Child Reunion - Paul Simon [from The Essential Paul Simon]
due to the particulars of my age
it wasn't the Beatles' break-up that first
rattled what pop-sensibility I had
it was Simon and Garfunkle's.
Paul's first album, which opens with this song, appeared when I was hanging out with my much cooler friend Mike, playing chess, listening to S&G, Cat Stevens, Cheech and Chong, and the like, risking our necks with ropes on the sides of clay ravines.
the first intimation that my upcoming youth
was not to be on the
same planet that "youth" had occupied in the heady 60s
confusing times to be thirteen
Career Opportunities - The Clash [from The Clash]
does not overstay
nor overfancify
I've Known No War - The Who [from It's Hard]
there is perhaps no band
to which the practice of clean engineering
did such
an immense disservice
it snips the balls off their sound
Solid Action - U-Men
rhythm cage
advertising phrase for the kind of movies preferred
Roll of the Dice - Bruce Springsteen [from Human Touch]
in default sell the song mode
filler
pointless
beating over the head with a
lackluster hook
Gradus 21 - Neal Kosály-Meyer [July 16, 2002]
some strange static cycles through in one channel
comes and goes
seems to be
part of the sound file
sun spots no doubt
some new notes are inside the old
notes
some are not
some may be both
he is beginning here to take fairly
lengthy pauses
Cage leaking in through theory
the outside world hallucinates between notes
music is a mode of social awkwardness
Real Emptiness is a Tranquil Sea - Jarrod Powell - Jessica Kenney [from Stonehouse Songs]
musical calligraphy
wisdom poetry
so many crazy monkeys
Forest of Thorns - Your Mother Should Know [recorded live at Rat and Raven, Seattle, August 9, 2012]
time for the altar call
wallow in wail
I ain't buyin' what you're sellin'
Siren - Charms [from Human Error]
disruption relies on regularity as ground
patterns of the sound (big) is a
put-off and a hold-in
Sinfonia 3 - Keith Eisenbrey
one of the prime interests I have in music theory
is
as fodder
for speculative
obtusions from within its workings
Postscripts
Skaldmud's Doodle Gallery
some listening journal doodles from 1991
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