"There was only one man in the room, and he was leaning out of window as far as he could without overbalancing himself, endeavouring, with great perseverance, to spit upon the crown of the hat of a personal friend on the parade below. As neither speaking, coughing, sneezing, knocking, nor any other ordinary mode of attracting attention, made this person aware of the presence of a visiter, Mr. Pickwick, after some delay, stepped up to the window, and pulled him gently by the coat tail. The individual brought in his head and shoulders with great swiftness, and, surveying Mr. Pickwick from head to foot, demanded in a surly tone what the - something beginning with a capital H - he wanted."
Charles Dickens - from "The Posthumous Papers of The Pickwick Club"
Texts
Recorded
December 2, 2023
Étude in E-flat Major, Op. 10 #11 - Frédéric Chopin - Garrick Ohlsson
the key
is a composite of situations
within
an array of keys
Mirage - Charles Ives - Paul Sperry, Irma Vallecillo
a sensibility
formed in the age of sentimentality
Fourth Sonata - Lockrem Johnson - Lockrem Johnson
1
restless business
difficult to grasp for long
but
stubborn
2
distracted
on a dull indoor day
3
evening avians
slide across the sky
waves lap
the
gravel beach
we
will storm the morning's sandcastles
Well You Needn't - Thelonious Monk [from The Complete Blue Note Collection]
quirkily drawn figures
kept short
clipped speech
Rip It Up (Take 1) - Little Richard [from Here's Little Richard]
that jump-right-in opening
took some work
Your Cheatin' Heart - Ray Charles [from Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music]
a light touch on ornaments
the backup singers
sing the line
then Ray taps it
with his magic song wand
a workshop
for common fluency
Blue, Green, Gray and Gone - Sarah Vaughan [from Sarah Vaughan with Michel LeGrand]
quite the ornamented melisma
on green
heavy arranger's hand
on the payoff
The Tenth World - Joni Mitchell [from Don Juan's Reckless Daughter]
percussion
provides play of light
on the surface
massaged
by a hundred kittens
a singer
singing in their own language
they are producing
syllables
that group into words
imitating language
barnyard sounds in play
a lively forest
Goodbye, Old Paint - Mike, Peggy, and Penny Seeger [from American Folk Songs for Children]
what the song
is about
is uncertain
but
parts of it
may be about death
Trailways Bus - Paul Simon [from Songs from The Capeman]
passengers on the move
everyman no more
only
each or any man
anonymous was not a woman
but everyman is
how might a dramatic work with music
be imagined
so that
the
drama
is generated
by the song form
You're Missing - Bruce Springsteen [from The Rising]
a poem
is incapable of capturing the truth
of anything
any
more
than a lens
can capture
an image
or
that a
microphone
can capture
a sound
a poem
is an
inscription
a graffito
an act
Being Cauliflower - Steve Layton & Improv Friday [from Shared Circle]
I look like a brain
a thinking cauliflower
brilliant
Don't Blame Me - Taylor Swift [from Reputation]
the high tech
production value added
manufactured perfection
occults the song
Quartet I - Sascia Pellegrini [from 7 Percussion Impossibilities]
you
will only be given the tour once
so attend closely
to
every detail
this dude
was clearly clueless
Hello, Goodbye - The Beatles [from Anthology]
the guitar track
is different than
the originally released version
Oddfellows Local 151 - REM [from Document]
pay close mind
to the underbrush
the mood message
beneath
the rumor itself
Keep On Singin' My Song - Christina Aguilera [from Stripped]
snuggles up to the song
gospel
according to personal aspiration
voice dancing
impressive actually
Lightness of Bleeping - Bruce Hamilton & Friends [from Mash Hits Volume 1]
playing with toys
in a heap
everybody strives
to make the
heap
sound good
clean
faultless
Wintering In The Dark - Greg Sinibaldi [from Ariel]
episodes of voice leading
as voice leading episodes
are generally
experienced
appear
within the roil of partials
low dynamic waves
in the hi hat
tap tap tap
then
persists steadily throughout
it
is not a flat surface
responds to the ongoing rhythm
of
experienced voice leading episodes
Let Me Sleep Beside You - David Bowie [from Toy]
in story teller mode
second person direct address
Galliarde: The Widow's Mite - Anthony Helborn - Tielman Susato Krummhorn Gesellschaft [from The Glory of The Krummhorn]
what a fun dance!
reconciled
to the presence
of consciousness
patterns
within the pitches' space
Butt Sax - Tyrannosaurus Grace [recorded live at The Rat and Raven, Seattle, August 9, 2012]
being
the bad boy
bad girl
the female vocalist
is fully into it
Rx For A Scrambled Egg and Peanut Butter Sandwich - Amy Denio [from The Big Embrace]
the world
is spinning around my eyes
each
on their own
circle
Space Oddity - Star Anna [from Live at Rimbert Illustration]
this song's space
must be prepared
with care
Smooth Criminal - Michael Jackson [from Bad]
voice
as percussion
played with the hands
its own strobe
effect
Track 7 - Peterman [recorded live at The Blue Moon, Seattle, October 4, 2012]
one of the songs they did really well
it scares me to think
showcase
for their two
(quite distinct)
vocalists
as such
Early Richard - Camarones Orquestra Guitarristica [from Feeexta]
the in-between night
Virgo's Groove - Beyoncé [from Renaissance]
full contact dance mix
Karelia Suite, Op. 11 - Jean Sibelius [from 100 Greatest Classics]
such happy peasants
tripping down the lane
bespewing flowers right
and left
bunnies smiling
shiny noble knights
of impeccable
manners
festival day
with puppet shows
and jousting
Track 7 - Black Plastic Clouds [recorded live at The Sound Effects Café, Seattle, October 26, 2012]
they find a groove
they's jammed to
before
keep it short
The Lover Is Always Alone - Prom Queen [from Doom Wop]
adventures
with high-end-living
fantasy
Tageslichtspielschock (Daylight-Show-Shock) - Eric Nathan [from Missing Words]
notes contain vectors
if it contains a vector
it's a note
how can a melody be thought to be?
Noh strikes
segments
hinge
at dynamic high points
sounds
like a recollection
The Bridge Is Over (Red Alert Version) - Boogie Down Productions [from Criminal Minded]
taunting
trash
talk
Royal Hotel - Robin Jackson and The Caravan [from Dust Diaries]
romance novel scene
circular narrative
under the bridge
Passages - Lures [from There's No Pressure]
lines
are bisected
by pitch shift
articulation
divides
but multiplies
strength
Chicory - Jessica McCann, Benton Roark - Re:Naissance Opera [from Music from The Apocrypha Chronicles]
drum strike
awakens the time being
which
considers
leisurely
whether to open their eyes
slowly whispered words
are more portentious
than clearly spoken
ones
I Could Never Take The Place of Your Man - Prince [from Sign O' The Times]
bloodless
until the long guitar solo
doing soloing
Get That Feeling - Freddie & The Screamers [from I Ain't Crazy]
raunch blues
beneath the radar of civil propriety
a specter haunts
the low down night
Boxing Gloves - Shelby Earl [from The Man Who Made Himself A Name]
a place
from which to turn
and begin
launch stability
Trouble (explicit) - Doug Kolmar [from So Said Life]
when we call American Slavery
our "original sin"
we are not just
eliding our genocide
of the Indian nations
we are also
buying into the idea
that absolution
is the proper solution
Bell Piano Piece - Tildy Bayar
concerns
the exact comparison
of those
bell sounds
and
those
piano sounds
||{"piece"
implies a physical object,
"movement"
could be
more accurate as a term}||
a wide field of possibilities
Track 8 - The Tailenders [from High Dive]
this
is what we put together
to do this with
show and tell
with beer
band trading cards NFTs
not fair
this is a strong song
convincingly sung
Good With Me - Emily Stranger [from Labor of Love]
bad girl
good girl
temptation
Track 7 - The Hunting Club [recorded live at The Sound Effects Café, Seattle, October 26, 2012]
several notions
of how the song might be sung
working it out in
real time
and in sequence
in short
it keeps morphing
to something new
without going back
this part
is where
the coaster-car
is chain-hoisted
to the top of the track
we
stop
up here
where the view is
Roll On Columbia, Roll On - Kate Power, Steve Einhorn [from Roll Columbia]
and the Klickitat too
imperial aspiration
shiploads of plenty
Strengur Zona - Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir - Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir, Kent Olofsson [from Strengur]
highway
vacant of all our thoughts
here to there
departed
sirens
devouring winds
scraped bare
to fragile stone crust
seethes
into contact
with the icy blackness
out there
Under Land - Triptet [from Figure In The Carpet]
mixtures
of timbres and pitches
curated
to keep stillness
lively
tightly bound
limited move sets
to be acceptable
as music
obeisance
must be paid
to
the generic qualities
feeling trapped
Electrical Storm - Robin Holcomb [from One Way Or Another]
if a song
is a domicile
how is it decorated
where is it
located
who lives in it
is a song a domicile
or a room
how narrow is it
Track 7 - Andrew James Robison [recorded live at The Blue Moon, Seattle, October 4, 2012]
each line
is intoned
on a single pitch
dipping down at the
end
with alleluias
(pronounced whoa-o-o-o)
heavy accent on
the line's start
We Are Possessed - Gaytheist [from Let's Jam Again Soon]
if the goal
is to fill a room
why use the trappings of rage?
catch that chord
criss cross
applesauce
playings
with sayings
War Love - St. Paul de Vence [from St. Paul de Vence]
song arrangement
as a performance practice
importing
studio
recording tropes
as compositional decisions
Telesnow - Charms [from Human Error]
late night
set not adjusted
per instructions
so synthy
so pedally
Letter - Mikey and Matty [from And It Came To Pass/Not To Stay]
lines descend
no upspeak considered
Haunt Me - Red Ribbon [recorded live at The Blue Moon, Seattle, October 4, 2012]
so I'll remember
Forget About Life - Alvvays [from Antisocialites]
more descending lines
but
it does strive
toward pushing
upward
under condominium signs
Leaving Town - Steve Peters [from With My Back To The World]
a guitar song
breathes its figurations
acceptable repetition count
(a sensibility)
Jiu-Jitsu - Swingset Showdown [from Short Bus Ruckus]
specializing in novelty songs
for the immaturing mind
Vertical Sunset - CEP [from Drawing the Target Around the Arrow]
repeatability
or perhaps
nearly so
the nearly so
or
the not absolutely so
is an edge
Evacuate Now - Tom Swafford [from Rough Spaces]
alarms
are ringing
bowing science
lots of frog
Yiju - Byron Au Yong [from Yiju]
on the stage side of the lights
shadow puppet music
Weissnichtwo - Tomten [from Cremation Songs]
loudness
as in loudness wars:
the problem
is not the desire
to make things audible
but
the fact
that there are ways to
accomplish that
and also
preserve dynamic range
the urge to
squish everything
into the same little box
or conceptualizing the
audio field
as a little box
when it can be vast
Rumba disintegrada - Eric Flesher
forward momentum
under variable environmental resistances
and
power depletion
Red Sky's Warning - Low Hums [from Low Hums]
western sky
long highway
Evil Twin - Ephrata [from Ephrata]
emotional distance
and denial
Psalm 23 in Old American Style - Jeremiah Lawson
supple strophes
with an Amen
Song 8 - Youth Rescue Mission [recorded live at The High Dive, Seattle, April 6, 2012]
song
as a physical struggle
such a weight to move
from place
to place
Kids - Bad Cop/Bad Cop [from Warriors]
mannered presentation
80s throwback
Sinfonia 3 (clavichord) - Keith Eisenbrey - Keith Eisenbrey
explains itself plainly
a pleasant stroll
A Promise to Keep - Brandi Carlile [from Bear Creek]
how our life journeys
fit
into the common culture
so
we can know
how to consider ourselves
living the aspirational life
nothing left to lose
insoles in my
shoes
Wasted Days, Wasted Years - Anxious Arms
monster truckery
energy spew
for fun
and beer money
Other Dogs - Cowgirls, The [from Compilation]
doesn't seem to depend
on actually circling back around
if it
seems as though
it could
or
might have
that is
sufficient
Piano Phasing - Kristogger Zegers - Ann Cummings and a host of others
resource use
as expression
we'll borrow some of Bach's notes
so we can tell the press
it's meaningful and important
and classical
this rubs me as wrongheaded
because
it
wipes out the reason
I play piano:
its capability
of being
clear
transparent to thinking
neither Bach
nor this activity
seem to be doing anybody any favors
altogether too many fists
flailing
for my taste
hey kids
we have all these pianos
lets pound on them all at once
now we'll do it again
instruments put
to their lowest and worst use
the fact
that the resulting sound
on occasion
is unique
is
immaterial
tending to evaporate
into desperation
unwieldy
melting pyramids
constant habits
beat progeny
the problem
with accompanied poetry readings
is
that the
idea of a duet of equals
is a difficult concept
for many of them
it
becomes a frustrating exercise
in parallel play
on a hook
on the wall
hangs a key
In Session at The Tintinabulary
December 3, 2023
Surrey - Keith Eisenbrey
22 arrangements into the song-book
and I have yet to spend more than an
hour or so
on any of them
December 4, 2023
Banned Rehearsal 1089 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Aaron Keyt
we find ways to problematize mechanical pulse generation
bugging the bug
as it were
at one point
its googly eyes came off
and dropped
into the marimba stand
it was gruesome
Postscripts
Drops
Keith Eisenbrey 7: 1995-2001
During our years of chaos (parenting), keeping my hand in the game writing short pieces - and one big break-through.
Keith Eisenbrey 6: 1988-1994
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 2014
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