484 entries for 2021

[Journalism helps you learn about the world and understand what's around.]

Caetano Veloso: O Leãozinho

From Caetano Veloso (1986). I’m overwhelmed by the simplicity of this little tune: just voice and simple guitar patterns can vividly paint an entire scene, with this bright, lilting mood. The singing and accompaniment are rhythmically fused in a way that makes it natural to embody. It was written for Caetano’s sister Maria Bethânia, whose hair may resemble a lion’s mane. The percussive clicking might be unique to this version of the song. See the lyrics for a translation.

Frédéric Chopin: Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23 (1835)

A live performance (with hands as the focal point) of a friend and pianist from Italy playing this masterpiece, followed by an analysis explaining what makes certain parts of this piece stand out from other repertoire. I enjoy this fluidity of being able to talk about music that one performs, to help other people hear what’s going on and find their way in.

Kidi Band: Gimme Gimme (2016)

Another release from Kidi Band (featured in #022). I initially didn’t make the connection that this was the same group, so they truly managed to captivate me twice—it became distracting to do anything else and I just wanted to listen. I tend to avoid ‘loud’ music, but this reminds me that it’s possible for me to enjoy it. Thoughtful, complex, and emotional. My favourite moments: How Long with busy, intricate, active drumming in the midst of graceful, expansive, widening sung phrases, plus a polyphonic polyrhythmic sundae in the middle; the rhythmic singing in Mountain, feeling like a collective rhythm machine with sudden metric changes; Fever Driver’s dense, rich texture, heavily lilting from side to side (or maybe in circles) might get you high.

Lessons from a Feline Gaze

My former professor started writing in public recently and managed to describe transcendence in what we, here on the Internet, refer to as a “cat picture”. I’m fond of lenses that help us see the sublime in ordinary experiences. There is so much we can learn from animals and nature, such as paying attention to our natural reactions and inhibitions. Feels also like a kind of oblique strategy.

Here is Stella, instructing us on how to look at something we’ve never seen before. As our resident cat-comedian with a gift for irony, she is wondering whether this item — a conductor’s baton — can be worked in as “A” material for her next vaudeville show. The baton is also about to become a tooth sharpener, but we’ll explore that in a moment. Here, Stella is elevating attention itself into an art form, and teaching us to do the same. If that idea doesn’t resonate with you, please find your inner still-point and a moment to drink in her lucent, emerald gaze.

Let's talk about Thanksgiving with your liberal mom....

[Frame it as a dream because in some cases people like to make dreams come true.]

Maybe waiting implies an attachment to what comes 'after' whereas being present has no distinctions.

'How can I be present?' - A conversation with Casey Sokol

[To be in the present of one note versus one phrase versus one movement versus one concert versus one lifetime.]

[I'm not depressed, I'm bored. Bored as in not interested in anything. Interested as in not having a direction for my energy.]

[Pain is a sensation. Suffering is the negation of that experience.]

How I Produce a Podcast

[The easier it is, the more likely people will do it: write the introduction email so that they don't have to.]

[If they're excited about something and remind you to bring it up later, ask them right away.]

[If they receive a second wave of ideas after the interview ends, ask permission to record again.]

Let's talk about society, laws, and two phrases....

[Representatives should not make any decisions, and rather simply vote the way a majority of the constituents in their district wants.]

[By the time a law has been passed, a majority of people have already changed their thinking: it's not a leading indicator but an enforcement mechanism.]

[Societal change happens in your skull.]

A Pedagogy of Improvisation

My hope is just that reading these snippets may remind you of things you have forgotten, and that you can reconnect with thise oleasurable memories.

[He was there listening to his little kid play music. His enjoyment transfered to me and increased mine. His listening supported my listening. I was able to give something back to my dad.]

[Sound and silence are complementary. Take equal care when playing either.]

[Rests are less the absence of something and more the presence of nothing.]

[What people call random might simple be too complex to explain.]

[Instead of telling me what 'root' meant, he asked me what I know about roots. When I explained that plants have roots and hold up the rest, he made the connection with roots of a chord that 'supports' the other notes.]

[When I asked which G should I play, he suggested that I try all of them and see which one I was happy with.]

Sam Gendel: Cold Duck Time

From Satin Doll (2020). space hyper jazz bebop swing squeal sax glitch loop vibe. The rest of the album is comprised of quirky interpretations of jazz standards.

Little Simz feat. Obongjayar: Point And Kill

From Sometimes I Might Be Introvert (2021). Makes body move, and if your eyes are open, the visuals are sublime. Words and rhythm fit like a glove. Feeling an unapologetic artistry through fashion and music. Concludes with a sudden change to African instruments but with the same time feel.

El Masreyeen (المصريين): Bahebek La (بحبك لا)

From بحبك لا (1977). The warmth in this funky disco gem from Egypt goes straight to your shoulders. A simple composition with slight contrast between sections, yet it stays interesting throughout. “I love you, no; I need you, yes.”

Kidi Band: So Good (2021)

Has lots of cool things that I like in jazz and indigenous music, but as if an indie rock band did it. There are stereo effects, hocket-like devices, odd meters, and highly rhythmic singing throughout. So many tracks with an individual charm: the polyphonic ending of Mary (Merry) with crunchy harmonies; Burn It Up‘s intricate interlocking rhythms in multiple voices with wild vocal bending, all in a five-meter polyrhythmic time feel; Man of Endless Motion‘s heavy head-banger groove, again in five-meter, with cascading interlocking vocal interjections; the incessant intense rhythmic vocals in Free Will; Ingomar is like a complex Rube Goldberg machine that sings in seven; Go On has a wicked African three-against-two time feel; Across the Sea lilting triplet feel, pleasant yet precise.

Brian Lovin

This personal portfolio has some affordances to make it interactive like a web app, and participatory like a social network: people can ask anything, comment on writing or bookmarks, say which apps they use. There are also some ‘evergreen’ resources like this digital security checklist and app dissection blog.

Demonstrates that we can construct spaces for community within a context that’s often highly individual, and without asking people to create accounts (sign in with Twitter, data stored on Firebase); like a purpose-built room with specific and relevant activities.

Hosting one’s own ‘Ask me Anything’ reminds me of Pat Metheny’s Question and Answer.

Would be nice to have RSS feeds for each ‘type’ as opposed to for writing only. The list presentation is unfortunately Designed to disappear.

See the source code for how it’s made.

[Seek and you will not find, because seeking strengthens the ego.]

The moment you are like a hollow bamboo, the divine lips are on you, the hollow bamboo becomes a flute, and the song starts.

[Indifference is key: the same energy that becomes doubt can become trust; through indifference, you no longer pay attention to or cooperate.]

[A child who holds their father's hand neither trusts not doubts: they are undivided, not missing anything.]