brettworks

thinking through music

October 26, 2010

  • Ordinary Affects and The Ethnography of Everyday Experience

    If you are interested in ethnography, a remarkable study that might interest you is Kathleen Stewart’s Ordinary Affects (Duke U. Press, 2007).  Stewart is an anthropologist who teaches at the U of Texas, Austin, and her book is finely tuned ethnographic study of everyday life–her life, in fact.  One aim of the book is to render… Continue reading

  • Jaron Lanier on Technology: Music and MIDI

    Jaron Lanier, an American computer scientist, musician, and author, is pretty cool in my book.  In his recent manifesto, You Are Not A Gadget, he makes a strong case for probing how technology reduces us as the creative humans that we are, muting the “cultural anger” we need to come up with new tools that do… Continue reading

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  • Flying Lotus and The Density Of Musical Information

    There has been a lot of well-deserved hype surrounding Flying Lotus’ latest record,Cosmogramma.  Lotus (aka Steven Ellison) is one of the leading figure on L.A.’s experimental instrumental hip hop scene, blending beats with experimental textures. His live performances are intense, visceral and physical, and the music has a great, pounding weight to it.  On Cosmogramma, there… Continue reading