Blogger blogging near Seattle
Looking like it will be a damp and dreary day. A lovely day for ducks, methinks. Which often makes me think of this song by the British electro-pop duo, Lemon Jelly.
I do find the song delightfully charming. I’m deeply grateful to John Richards at KEXP for introducing me to this song, along with so many other great ones.
Music, a deeply critical part of my life. I use it to reflect my mood or change it. It gives me energy, focus, feeds sadness. Such a powerful thread interweaving my whole life.
I’ve been streaming Kaki King the past few days. Her music covers such a wide range of topics and styles. She has plenty of pieces that give me energy and focus, important things since my studies are demanding plenty of both lately.
Pieces like this have been today’s loops:
Explore more about my relationship with music here.
Here’s my daily playlist built on my current interests and foci.
This is part of my morning musical focus. Ambient, triphop, and such are styles I’ve long delighted in. From back in the early days of electronic music. I find the graphics accompanying this to be cool, too.
I discovered Tom Ashbrook this week (Spotify’s algorithms can do good work) and wanted to share this with you all.
bodies in motion
light moving across my ears
seducing my soul
I discovered Xavier Rudd years ago, but during the quarantine, I’ve started binging his music. I find his music fills me with joy and with hope. Check out one of my current favorites.
Listening to Rufus Du Sol, reminded how much I enjoy electronic music and one of my regrets: when I had the chance to study music formally, I opted not to. Insecurities spoke too loudly, drowning out passion. I loved studying music theory, exploring the way audio elevations interact with each other. Memories of improvisation workshops, and the compliments I received for my commitment to rhythm.
Now, though, my poetry echos my musical tastes. Symmetry, rich harmonies, layers, textures, all blending into something far greater than the sum of the parts.
The difference between music and poetry: in poetry words flow in single streams. Together, yet alone; they can’t interact. Several words flowing together at the same time create a pile of textual vomit. Music allows multiple people singing multiple lines simultaneously with their interaction making them greater. Much the way different colors blend into new colors, different feelings, telling a story with each dab.
I often play with the idea of restarting this path. Of exploring all that can be done with today’s computers, today’s sampling gear, today’s synthesizers. I could create words, sung, standing upon each other, blurring, blending into something greater, into something beyond whatever could be imagined. Words building upon words, interweaving with tones, textures and rhythms, pushing through feelings, ideas, the power of souls intermixing and exploding with something more powerful than any human element could be, do, express on it’s own.
With all this, when I was younger I listened to music deeply, richly. I listened to the chords, the words, exploring what the composer communicates with that interplay. Did the pleasant, kind words take on irony with the minor or diminished chord interwoven? Words stacked with changing chords, showing tension, motion, landing on a major chord, resolution, release.
Then there’s the blending of older music, ancient music, such as Enigma, taking ancient chant, interweaving new tones and auditory textures, creating something linking the ancient with the rising sun, with a newness of being, something that both exists from antiquity and yet is brand new.
Lesson: passions drive live, make it beautiful. Explore them fully, deeply, richly. Humanity needs no more bitter business people, soul’s stripped of joy. No, we need more passion, joy, aliveness.
Bring that into being, my friends.
Here is the song by Rufus Del Sol that got me going. Enjoy!
I know that I mostly post poetry, and more specifically haiku, here. However, music also holds a dear spot in my soul. So, discovering this video today thrilled me in many ways (I grew up on a regular diet of Simon & Garfunkle), and I wanted to share it with all of you.
It’s a version of Simon & Garfunkle’s “America” done by the Swedish duo First Aid Kit. Check out who’s in the audience.
Probably best know for “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised“, Scott-Heron hugely influenced Rap and Hip-Hop. His work captured the array of emotions describing the urban black culture of the moment.
piano’s motion
notes dancing upon the wind
rain gently falling
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I’ve been exploring music on YouTube for years. I’ve found the YouTube Music feature pretty lackluster, but that’s probably mostly due to my eclectic musical tastes and interests.
Lately, I’ve been obsessing about a couple musical things. First, the Hang Drum. Imagine a steel drum that’s much more portable. I find them rather ethereal and lovely. I particularly like the video below. The music is delightful, and the imagery stunning. My favorite combo on the platform. Here’s a playlist I’ve started, and will add to as I go forward.
Another recent musical obsession: these long playing live streams. I’ve been bopping in and out of the one below for months…maybe years.