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Bruise Blood: Not Remixing But Reimagining Steve Reich’s “Music for Pieces of Wood”
Bruise Blood: Reimagining Steve Reich’s ‘Music for Pieces of Wood’ (Transgressive Records) is a wonderful example of a practice of musical interrogation I have noticed popping up here and there over the years in contemporary acoustic and electronic music circles. Instead of merely sampling the past by taking a sonic photo of a musical moment,… Continue reading
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The Composer
The process sometimes begins by imagining an impossible place remote overlooking the ocean in Malibu or Majorca or Milos. The house is white concrete, all square corners and panorama glass. The sunlight falls into empty interiors leaving rectangular shadows that lengthen as the afternoon ticks by. The wind sings through open windows, the ocean below churns… Continue reading
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Interesting Musicians
Have you noticed that the interesting musicians make sounds unlike everyone else? Have you noticed that the interesting musicians move you in ways not measurable? Have you noticed that the interesting musicians devise one-off musical systems? Have you noticed that the interesting musicians use old instruments in novel ways? Have you noticed that the interesting… Continue reading
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Performance Notes: Imagining A Perfect Musical System
I imagine a perfect musical system would begin by asking me questions. What are you feeling today? What is on your mind? Where do you want to go? How do you want to be? Then the system would generate a series of sound sets based on my mood and my imagination. These sound sets would… Continue reading
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Talking About Musical Time
J. and I were talking about musical technique of a sort, maybe something more. We were talking about the feel of another drummer’s time, about how in tiny ways it sounded wonky. He plays louder instead of stronger I say making gestures like clouds. J. reaches for a conclusion already formed. His playing doesn’t have… Continue reading
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