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Notes On Fredrik Sjoberg’s “The Fly Trap”
“Know that then everything flies, absolutely everything. A thousand commentaries. An entire apparatus of footnotes.” – Fredrik Sjoberg Fredrik Sjoberg’s delightful The Fly Trap is two books in one: a story of the author’s experiences catching flies–specifically, hoverflies–on a remote island in Sweden, and a life history of the expeditions and writings of entomologist, naturalist,… Continue reading
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On Twitter And Thinking
You may well know this already, but I’ll say it anyway: Whether you broadcast or receive, Twitter can be a compelling tool for thinking. Reflecting on its virtues, a few points come to mind: Twitter is brief. One hundred and forty characters is just enough of a text allotment to say one thing and then… Continue reading
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On Hiromi’s The Trio Project
This past Sunday I went to see the jazz pianist Hiromi and her Trio Project play at the Blue Note Jazz Club. The pianist’s bandmates were Simon Phillips on drums and Anthony Jackson on electric bass. The musicians’ playing was virtuosic and as an ensemble they were super tight–almost telepathically so. I sat behind Hiromi… Continue reading
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Reflections On Several Musical Projects: Thinking About What Worked (For Now)
Reflecting on some recent musical projects of mine, I noticed a number of techniques and strategies I used to build them: I used my own (sampled) sounds. I’ve written here before about my frustrations with making electronic music. But using my own sounds makes the process personal and somehow more sensible. I improvised a performance… Continue reading
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On Musical Analogies: Notes On Design
There’s a lot to think through in this video that features the designers Dieter Rams of Braun and Jonathan Ive of Apple. In the first part we hear Rams enumerate his ten principles of good design. Good design should be: innovative, essential or useful, aesthetic, understandable, honest, unobtrusive, consistent in every detail, long-lasting, environmentally friendly, and… Continue reading
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On Philippe Petit’s “Creativity: The Perfect Crime”
“When is something worth pursuing? I think when the outcome advances the efforts of humanity.” – Philippe Petit In his recent book, Creativity: the perfect crime, Philippe Petit reveals the elements, flows, techniques, and routines of his very long career as an artist. Petit is high-wire walker, juggler, magician, lock-picker, and all around street entertainer,… Continue reading
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On Pacing, Saying Something, And Music
I’ve been thinking about pacing. In running, pacing is a matter of speed: take the wrong pace–a pace that’s too fast or too slow–and you’ll soon be in trouble. Good pacing is a matter of listening to your energy level and adjusting accordingly. As you warm up, your pace can increase considerably, as if in… Continue reading
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On Music For Thought: Dub (Re)Mixing As A Metaphor For Mindfulness
After reading Paul Sullivan’s excellent Remixology (Reaktion Books, 2014), a history of dub music and dub aesthetics from Jamaica to their infection of electronic musics in cities and scenes around the world, it struck me that remixing is an interesting metaphor for cultivating mindfulness. Dub pioneers such as Lee “Scratch” Perry, King Tubby, The Scientist, and… Continue reading
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Lessons From An Interview With John McPhee
In an interview with The Paris Review, John McPhee discusses ideas about writing process and structure. Here are some highlights: “The fundamental thing is that writing teaches writing.” “Structure is not a template. It’s not a cookie cutter. It’s something that arises organically from the material once you have it.” “Ideas occur, but what I’m doing,… Continue reading
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Notes On Richard Powers’ “Orfeo”
“The use of music is to remind us how short a time we have a body.” -Richard Powers Richard Powers’ recent Orfeo is a troubling yet inspiring study of the power of music to shape a person’s life for both good and bad. The novel is the story of Richard Els, an elderly composer. Though… Continue reading
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