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Microthought: On Musical Means To Ends
There’s a man who walks the subway train each night asking for money by way of wayward singing of a song. “Fee-lings” he begins, nodding to that old standard but the riffs turn to his hunger: “I’m hun-gry” in a monotone, and then the proposed solution– “I like chi-cken” –exhaling a single harmonica tone. “I like… Continue reading
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On Shameless Plugs: Evernote
For a long time I used the yellow note pad app on my Apple phone to write these blog posts. But every once in a while I deleted notes accidentally. The problem: that little trash can icon is right next door to the email icon! Touch the trash by mistake and your note is gone–without… Continue reading
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Notes On Music Distillations
Hieronymus Brunschwig’s The Book of the Art of Distillation, circa 1500. (Source: Wikipedia) The music speaks for itself, yet I still feel a need to respond to it. One way to respond is to copy it–internalizing the parts of the music that resonate with me and use them in my own work somehow. Another more… Continue reading
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Sonic Distillation: On Nosaj Thing’s “Eclipse/Blue”
Four chords on the floor sequenced guitar, synth arrows held voice, resolves late. Continue reading
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On Another Kind Of Wonder (part III)
My recent recording Another Kind Of Wonder is now available on Spotify. Go here to listen. Continue reading
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On Lessons From A Recent Musical Project
The trick is to work swiftly and then stop just before you completely figure out what it is that you’re doing. Continue reading
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On Influence And Voice
This is a post about influence and voice. It’s about how each of us is influenced by one another–by other writers, musicians, teachers. By voice I don’t mean our actual speaking voices (though those can have their influence too). I mean that something in the character and essence and presence of each of us that… Continue reading
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Insect Thrumming As Deep Music: On David Rothenberg’s “Bug Music”
“One sound can be enough if it repeats enough enough enough times so the meaning becomes subservient to the sound”–David Rothenberg, Bug Music (114) There is a powerful idea behind David Rothenberg’s spirited recent book, Bug Music: How Insects Gave Us Rhythm And Noise, which is this: listening to the rhythmic and buzzing sounds of… Continue reading
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On Musical Systems And Four Tet’s Good Musical Sense
“I don’t want to sound like anybody else.” – Kieran Hebden I have written previously on this blog about the music of Kieran Hebden (aka Four Tet). Hebden not only has good musical taste but also a thoughtful and unique approach to using technology to create his work. In this video from Red Bull Music… Continue reading
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From Faucet-Playing To Prepared Drumsets: On The Musicking Of Glenn Kotche
I recently watched an entertaining commercial for, of all things, Delta Faucet, that features percussionist Glenn Kotche playing faucets in a musical way. As he turns on the taps one by one, water streams out of them and strikes inverted pots, pans, and colanders to produce sustained pitches. With the help of a few overdubs,… Continue reading
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