Preface
"As bugles blared their strident notes, Turnus waved
the standard on
Laurentum's citadel, spurred
his eager horse, and clanged his sword and
shield.
At once, all hearts were thrown in turmoil. In the anxious
tumult, Latium swore loyalty; the young men
raged for war."
Vergil - "The Aeneid" (translated by Shadi Bartsch)
Texts
From Recent Arrivals
May 6, 2022
AD: The Seattle Sound - Amy Denio
an introductory instrumental
then a tour through 90s street scenes
of which
the music
is a proper part
as are
the
machine noises
of carefreer days
cars
in tubes of air
buzz like hornets
the singing
bridge
seems such a friendly place
The Surrogate - Tom Swafford
violin drum set
not played for pretty
high energy attack mode
Solitude - Steve Peters [from With My Back to the Wall]
cycles of four
gently disrupted
wrong word
nudged
is
better
Down in New Orleans - Doug Kolmar [from So Said Life]
travel writing for song
like a picture book
photo journalism
with commentary
Recorded
April 30, 2022
Ben - Michael Jackson [from Ben]
super saccharine
so tasteful
its wasteful
("...such words as it were vain to close...") - J. K. Randall - J. K. Randall [from Open Space 1]
the cruddy recording quality
focuses the earbrain
on the qualities
of time and weight
where the piece lives
the whole
is an
essay on time and weight
explored in segments
defined by
what's in them
pitchwise
mostly
but time and weight
are also used
to differentiate them
though
it
pitch
is
the overall distinguisher
of this
from
anything else
they gotcha
comin' and goin'
putting on blues face
inhabiting that costume
in its electric power guise
a type
of clown
Banned Telepath 11 Seattle - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey [March 24, 1987]
time for strings
guitar and violin
an in-depth study
of
certain strings
at certain frets
at a mistuning
that brings
out
a low vocal chant
from within
the guitar's innards
invites
tonal vivisection
not a steady beat
not
continuous
but
they have been known in these parts
might
come visit
the cats love my violin playing
they wouldn't
if
they knew
liberated intonation
the strings
left alone
to find their own happy places
geetar cuts
from a particular
music interest point of view
this is a very strong tape
what is
that point of view
that
(one that)
values care cooperation
focus
music within the music
i.e. what the players are saying to
each other in sounds
as much or more than
to the outside
the
walls
future listener
we are a fly on the wall
microphones
are spies
from the future
as soon as what one is doing
becomes
in the mind of the one doing
a certain any kind
of what one might be doing
that one knows
and has
internalized
a theory about
or
created an internalized
theory about it
spoils the broth
to just that extent
or recorder of some kind
put the violin away
strum some strums
to lead us out
while the piper
does his piping
May 1, 2022
It's Not Too Late - T. Bone Burnett [from The Criminal Under My Own Hat]
neo-Weill
blues-derived
nonblues
to be performed in film
noir shadow
stage lights
smoky scrim
Banned Rehearsal 474 (Eisenbrey Mix) - Pete Comley, Isaac E, Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Anna K, Aaron Keyt, Neal Kosály-Meyer [November 22, 1997]
we'll all march apart
taking gatherment
in:
KGDK Radio
Parade of the Gastropods
(slime crawlers)
and Mollusks
(armored mud men)
geoduck mud splort
mammoth bones
elk yell
I think we're here now
by Valve
with guest star
Uncle
W
big foot
such a raucous parade!
drums drums drums
Rainbow
Bridge 17 km
let's go
to the cleaners
it's been a long day
for the toddler
still quite blatty
Keith resist scalarly
trombone blasting
just comes across as farty
frenetic
stressed
suffers
from mutually destructive agendi}
Jimmy Dean - The Humidiflyers [from Humidiflyers 2002]
eight years old
12 years old
growing up
then and now
sweet sixteen
a verse every four years
Consider the Birds 1 - Keith Eisenbrey [February 3, 2007]
a regular pulse
whose sound shifts in curves
scanning a landscape
data bits
a gnomic curiosity
as one might find
in some
Ye Old Shoppe somewhere
some pulses
have more than one sound to
them
some
have only one sound to them
May 2, 2022
String Quartet #1 - Ales Friedl - Mivos String Quartet [from Open Space 38]
transforming continuous modes of transformation
each note and each
ceasing of a note
builds and attaches
accretes
wheeling
spaces
alternating with actively slick surfaces
for careful
dancing
bare bones arrangement
guitar tambourine 2 voices
Particles of the Infinite Pt. 1 - Alex Anthony Faide [from Particles of the Infinite]
twisty figures of various dimensions
play rooftop leaping games
Pawles Wharfe, Fvb 113 - Giles Farnaby - Claudio Columbo [from The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book]
stylistic constraints
are not different logically
from any other
kind of compositionally limiting choice
the intention
is always
to focus on what is not constrained
Stella, Quam Viderant Magi - Peter Philips - The Tudor Consort, Peter Walls [from Cantiones Sacrae Quinis Vocubus]
as the meter of the text is laid over the top of itself
in imitation
a whole other meter emerges
the compound meter
of
renaissance choral polyphony
harpsichordists
who had learned to read figured bass
at sight
over-learned
and began to show off
what they could do
left to their own devices
String Quartet in C Major, Op. 20 #2 - Franz Joseph Haydn - The Kodály Quartet
likewise
a chamber music
in which all the parts were written out
in full
allowed the inner parts
a way to gain independence
freedom
from the actuality
of continuo construction and
regimentation
while
still keeping within
its voice-leading
constraints
opened up floodgates
of fancy figuration
composition
deep diving
into the obscurer corners of keys
this one
is very learned
the upside out world
of
polyphony
1
ambiguity kept away
sunny and brightly lit
one thing at a time
woops
scared his
own self there
back off Carl
2
music
be warm out
the ice cream is melting
it's a
good thing
everything lines up
or the flavors would run
3
where the ingenue
pours her heart out to the moon
disclosing
a passionate
Romantic Heroine Heart
ready
for murder
should it come to that
4
time for clowns
to do the cleaning
5
relies on melodic charm
all phrases must balance
passion
counts to four
composition
is intended
to display
the
pianistic gifts
Waltz in A-flat Major, Op. 69 #1 - Frédéric Chopin - Alfred Cortot (1943)
the pulse
has its own pulse
sweep of waltzing bodies
Hyena Stomp (take 2) - Jelly Roll Morton and His Red Hot Peppers [from Jelly Roll Morton and His Red Hot Peppers, Chicago Days]
performative laughing
a clown type
Hell Hound on My Tail - Robert Johnson [from The Complete Recordings]
here
"blues"
is treated as a synonym
for "troubles"
falling down like hail
this song was anthologized in the
Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz
and was an example in a music
history class I had back in the 70s
when it was a mere 40 years old or
so
Without Your Love - Billie Holiday [from Lady Day, The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia]
nested similes
within the title hook
Dark Shadows - Charlie Parker [from The Complete Savoy and Dial Master Takes]
the vocal line flows down a chromatic sequence
with an insouciance that
belies the overt sense of the lyrics
the piano sounds like it's cramming
words into the margins
School Days - Chuck Berry [collected from Neal Kosály-Meyer's Bo's Milieu]
the lyrics are the captions for what the guitar is doing
here's the
school bell
here's the coin right into the slot
Joy Joy Joy - Little Richard [from The King of the Gospel Singers]
takes the three syllables of Joy Joy Joy
as just one iteration
on
a carefully calibrated
slow and bumpy
portamento
The Crystal Ship - The Doors [from The Doors]
world of art weary
hip
laid back
psychedelic
background track
Cut Three - Anthony Braxton [from Saxophone Improvisations Series F]
some episodes descend in blocks
some breaths move from block to block
some episodes move sets of blocks
steps between breaths
are
taken carefully
neo-Doors opening
and that's it
got some sounds
Young Love - Janet Jackson [from Janet Jackson]
drum beat
up front
funky staccato guitars
and horn hits
strings and horns
trading quick licks
name of song
repeated
as part of the structure of the beat
circular
lyrics
without history or future
Day-in Day-out - David Bowie [from Never Let Me Down]
has the big beat
and some of the staccato hits
but has a thicker
feel
and the vocal isn't scrubbed clean of all rough edges
guitars
are allowed their moment to squeal
apparently circular lyrics
and
the name of song as a rhythmic part
but the circularity is not as
unambiguous
mostly nonsense lyrics
except for the first word or two
of each
verse
Oboe Quartet in F Major, K. 370 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Philharmonia Virtuosi [from Musical Evenings With The Captain, Volume 2]
galant in style
and in how the parts relate to each other
full of
pleases
and thank yous
and if you will allows
and by your
leaves
2nd part of the first movement
begins with a fine learned
figure
pulled from who knows where
Banned Rehearsal 634 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Neal Kosály-Meyer [March 22, 2002]
we seem bummed and weary
an ever so mercifully brief period of time
in which we attempted to be a combo of sorts
I think it may have
persisted 3 or 4 sessions
[NB more than that]
Karen does what she
can to energize the proceedings
problem:
we all have an idea
about what that music might go like
so
we imitate that
instead of inventing something else entirely
Neal moving off
cornet
was a good idea
opens it up
a troubled session with
fully engaged parts here and there
May 4, 2022
Track 3 - The Capitol Steps [from O Christmas Bush]
lame topical humor
overlaid on familiar tunes
we will breathe magically
perpetual emptying
constant point of
reference
melodic thoughts
suspended from it
in cadential tonality
the key is a unifying frame of reference
that is established
by the logic of the pitch figuration
as
it develops
here the drone prefigures
and observes
everything
in immediacy
In a Landscape - John Cage - Melissa Walsh [recorded live at The Chapel Performance Space, Good Shepherd Center, Seattle, on May 25, 2012]
pretty
but distant
can't see the mud
Gone Home - Anxious Arms [from Never Was]
plugging in to power source
stand-in for strong speaking
simulacrum of impact
amplifier music
Banned Rehearsal 1047 - Jennifer Chung, Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Steve Kennedy, Aaron Keyt [March 14, 2022]
dog howls usher us in
frogs keep us company
while we walk down
Banned Rehearsal Street
taking in the sounds
the Otamatone bird
just is rude
it gels after sitting
the dogs wish us well
as
we journey further
here's a squeaky toy for them
Quodlings Delight, Fvb 114 - Giles Farnaby - Claudio Columbo [from The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book]
how a composer conceptualizes what they are up to
and the norms they
work under
that is
their music-intellectual culture
have an
irrecoverable impact
on the music
irrecoverable
because of
our own conceptual overlays
which can't be jettisoned
Franklin Street Blues - Dumaine's Jazzola Eight [from Really The Blues]
trumpet plays the melody more or less straight
clarinet playing the
singer's gesticulating hands
then they trade solos
if the blues
are troubles
the music blues
is an outlet to express and publicize
them
Patty On The Turnpike - Hobbs Brothers [from Evans 78s]
verse comes in on an interesting beat
like dance call fiddle playing
shave and a haircut
six bits
Meeting at the Building - Lead Belly [from Where Did You Sleep Last Night, Lead Belly Legacy Volume 1]
each verse replaces the first word
with another
makes it easy for
kids to learn
interesting things happening
between her final consonants
especially her drawn out Ns
and certain sounds in the band behind
her
A Taste of Honey - The Beatles [from First Live Recordings, Volume 1]
a working band
playing the bars
Prelude in B-flat Major - Lockrem Johnson - Keith Eisenbrey [recorded at the Tintinabulary on March 18, 2022]
pretty good
but I think it could be lighter fleeter
and more exact
on the few simultaneities
especially at the end
Jamrag - John Lennon and Yoko Ono [from Live Jam]
turn on the fire hose and spew
the band
pros all
don't
really deal with it all that well
do their best to make it music
as they would any other day
neither is a particularly good idea
and the combination is a mess
a conflict of purpose
the band
is out for fun
and Yoko is out for blood
Pigs on the Wing (part 2) - Pink Floyd [from Animals]
the demoral tag
1999 - Prince [collected from Dave Marsh's The Heart of Rock & Soul]
that dance club sound
has hollow moments
between bits
of
which
there is a rhythm
structural articulation
inside the
beat
less prominent as it goes along
Banned Rehearsal 117 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Anna K, Aaron Keyt, Neal Kosály-Meyer [March 24, 1987]
simultaneous verbal sense
is not sense
it is sensual
simultaneous playback
in the old days
was cumbersome
now it's software
what is the desired material of music
acoustic signal
end product
transportable
as
magnetized media
or other information storage media system
it is
possible to assimilate multiple acoustic environments simultaneously
there they are
we are helpless in their presence
ear brain
just does it
trying to communicate
colored sheets
a spit on
which a salmon was roasting
Heart's Sorrow's Blessing
when the
rejoicing ends
it is all your fault
there really is another way
play with power
Neal explains
what the most abstract system of philosophy tastes like
a mixture of root beer and Vicks Formula 44 Cough Syrup
Aaron
sings
Anna reads aloud
someone #A plays the guitar
someone
#B
perhaps me
plays the violin
sounds oddly enough like a
busy office seems
not-uncooperative independencies
as continuous
and thick as it all is
there are few
true
simultaneities
when paths do not share the sense of time progressing
each with
the other there
can be no shared times
incommensurable time-warps
certainly interacting
affecting each other
relating to each
other
but having no times in unison
so to speak
a model for
community
each part distinct
independent
non-destructive of
each others part
allowing expression from within
and exterior
input
as long
at least here
as it is brought in by a member
strange how the explicit message
of imported presence
is so
easily obscured
while the diaphragm message
of the carrier of it
the rhythm of its speech sound
is not so easily obscured
Anna laughs
San Diego Sundae
by Aaron and Neal}
Canon - Johannes Pachelbel - English String Orchestra, William Boughton [from Meditations for a Quiet Night]
the bass line gets tiresome quickly
at least they take it at a pretty
good clip
Banned Rehearsal 475 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Anna K, Aaron Keyt, Neal Kosály-Meyer [December 13, 1997]
we begin with solemn piano tones
and electric guitar
asking
questions
and helping
there is a harmonious feedback growth
from the guitar
a bit too much for the device
but not too bad
the chimney is whacked with a fleshy mallet
possibly a hand's heel
the plow wheel discovers its tones
a round robin session
in
which
various of us
cycled in and out of the studio
there
are bells on the doorknob
that jingle
upon activation of the door
function
the electric guitar elephant
has entered
some go
hog wild
on the drums and keys and horn
big drums
bang bang
boom
vigorous scrubbing on the skreepkee
{from my journal entry of October 21, 2005:
begins with a single thought line
shared among piano guitar and another
plucking builds from below
a static space halfway through is very
still
Postscripts
Skaldmud's Doodle Gallery
more listening journal doodles from 1988
