Monday, June 1, 2020

"The creator has a master plan, Peace and happiness for every man"

-- Farrell Sanders/ Amos Leon Thomas Jr.


Note to self and everybody else: What to say?

Peace Energy. Mindfulness. Thoughtfulness.
like when our fathers passed--
energy transfer...

Mescaline. LSD. Simplicity.
Sonic Boom. Spiritualized.
Rock 'n' roll. The Blues.
Listen.

Authenticity. Positivity.

Love and Light.

Time is Now. There is no past. There is no future. There is no “they.” Only you. And me. And all of us. Other “yous.” Almost eight billion of us, our brothers and sisters, all borne from the same stuff, all spinning on this same damn *one and only* beautiful blue boat together. Kindness. Vulnerability.

All together now. Just listen.

All uphill from here. A view from space and we’re all just ants, and some greater force is pulling up the roots, destroying our homes, our livelihoods we've worked our whole lives for.

Telling us *something.*

Change is Now. Slow down. Engage. Life is not one hurried news-clip interaction after another. Life is not one too-short appointment after another. Life is not worrying about putting someone else out. Their time is not more important than your time.

Soak it in –-
the sun, the heat, the cold, the breeze, the smells, the colors, the sounds,
the time in someone else’s presence, whether you like that person or not. Soak it up. Learn from it. Teach them something. Walk in their shoes. Have them walk in your shoes. Laugh about it. Laugh at yourself. Laugh with someone else. Life. Laughter. Joy. Humility. Understanding.

A Jewish "proph"et once told me he couldn't wait for us humans to all cross-breed. Til we're all shades of white, yellow, red, brown, black and every shade inbetween.
What color am I, really? What shade are you?
I don't care, do you?
When we can finally get over *this thing* and move on to a more advanced, collective humanity. The *next concerning thing.* "Hey climate change, can you give us just one more century?"

Time is Short. Get over yourself.

Think of all the things we know now that we didn't know just fifty years ago. Think of all the things we still can't explain. Think of all the great ideas still to come.

Remember Pascal's Wager? *just Believe*

Honesty. Love. Understanding. Everything else is distraction. No more room for ignorance or hate. Hate implodes. Compassion grows.

It's not too late.

Live in this moment. Then the next one. Breathe.

I was wrong about 9/11.

You said it would take two years to get out of the Coronavirus? Now it's 20.
The new Zero Zero. Begin, again.

check:
Tuluum Shimmering Sister Ray Meets China Cat Sunflower Uptown (may 2020)
Tuluum Shimmering Air > May The Long Time Sun Shine Upon You (august 2018)
Tuluum Shimmering Linus And Lucy (October 2017)
Tuluum Shimmering New Ghosts, The Creator Has A Master Plan, A Love Supreme (september 2015)
Tuluum Shimmering Dark Star (Tranquility Tapes) September 2014
Minamo & Moskitoo Superstition (12k 2045) may 2020
Federico Durand Alba (12k 2046) may 2020
Kassel Jaeger Jim O’Rourke In Cobalt Aura Sleeps (editions Mego 272) may 2020
Golden Retriever and Chuck Johnson Rain Shadow (Thrill Jockey 512) may 2020
France Jobin Death Is Perfection, Everything Else Is Relative (editions Mego 276) may 2020
Jefre Cantu-Ledesma Door With No Sign (Looking Glass 8) may 2020
Field Works Ultrasonic (Temporary Residence Ltd. 342) may 2020
Brett Naucke & Ryley Walker I Am Aware We Do Not Save One Another Very Often (bandcamp) may 2020
Kyle Bobby Dunn Selected Ambient Expansion Pack (bandcamp) may 2020
CV & JAB Landscape Architecture (Editions Basilic 02) may 2020
Tuluum Shimmering Eight Miles High (bandcamp) May 2020
Tuluum Shimmering Bird Song (bandcamp) April 2020
Tuluum Shimmering Black Satin (bandcamp) April 2020
Tuluum Shimmering A Horse With No Name (bandcamp) April 2020
Tuluum Shimmering Five From The Vault (bandcamp) march 2020
Rafael Toral AER 7 G : Instruments (bandcamp) April 2020
Animal Hospital Fatigue (Whited Sepulchre) April 2020
Shy Layers Compositions For Loud Music (Longform Editions 49) April 2020
Penelope Trappers Gnostic State (Longform Editions 50) april 2020
Inoyama Land Fuku-Ura (Longform Editions 51) April 2020
Ruven Nunez Within Dreams, Without Dreams (Longform Editions 52) April 2020
VA Isolation (Touch) April 2020
William Basinski + Richard Chartier Something From the Pink House (bandcamp) April 2020

Also, just finished Tea Obreht's Inland (2019) -- highest recommendation! (I'm not even a fan of historical fiction. I don't think anyway).

Monday, May 4, 2020

"It's all up in the air, girl/ it's like a snare, girl/ in all its manifestations"

--Thurston Moore

Spent the majority of April listening to Sonic Youth. Particularly their post Dirty-era, which I largely abandoned at the time—between their side-projects, experimental self-released material and their more accessible Geffen albums—it was tough to keep up. Turns out, their career had a pretty great second half. The jams sound more mature, some in line with their longer-form “verse-chorus, verse-chorus, NOISE shred” pieces of the past while others embraced a new, more concise, albeit still somewhat “anti-pop song” style—both of which maintained the band’s patented anthemic apathy and aggression edge, and totally hit the sweet spot.

BRETT'S PICKS VOLUME ONE (1994-2009: post Dirty-era):


BRETT'S PICKS VOLUME TWO (1994-2009: post Dirty-era):


BRETT'S PICKS VOLUME THREE (1994-2009: post Dirty-era):



Added "to-do" playlist projects: Sun Araw, Tuluum Shimmering and Psychic Ills (and yet, another crucial loss, Tres Warren RIP):



check it out:
Marina Rosenfeld and Ben Vida Vertice (Fridman Gallery 01) april 2020
The Green Kingdom Residence On Earth (Past Inside The Present) April 2020
Home Diaries series (whitelabrecs)
Asuna + Tomoyoshi Date + Federicl Durand In The Open (Dauw) April 2020
Élodie Le Nid D'Ivoire (La Scie Dorée 2419) January 2020
Psychic Ills' "Never Learn Not To Love" b/w "Cease To Exist" (Sacred Bones 248) April 2020
Howling Hex, The Knuckleball Express (Fat Possum 1725) April 2020
Alva Noto's "A Forest" (Noton 48) April 2020
Sun Araw Rock Sutra (Sun Ark 60) April 2020
Felicia Atkinson Everything Evaporate (Shelter Press 121) April 2020
Cornershop England Is A Garden (Ample Play 129) march 2020
Corey Fuller Sanctuary (self-released) march 2020
Maggi Payne Arctic Winds (Innova 2010, reissued by Aguirre) March 2020
Derek Rogers Immersions (We Know Better) march 2020
Portable The Transit of Mercury (Khoikhoi 05) march 2020
Velvet Desert Music Vol. 2 curated by Jorg Burger (Kompakt 416) march 2020

Also finished reading Trust Exercise by Susan Choi and Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa—both pretty good, but if I had to recommend one, I suppose it’d be Yoko Ogawa’s Memory Police, if, for no other reason, than its ability to convey long-arc, many-layered and often frightening themes of loss in such a beautifully simplistic and calming language.

Wednesday, April 1, 2020

"Once in a while you get shown the light/ in the strangest of places if you look at it right"

--Jerry Garcia/ Robert Hunter

More projects: the sea & cake, kiln, verve, zelienople…
finished reading Jenny Offill’s Weather (Alfred A. Knopf, 2020)

Sunday, March 1, 2020

"all the blowing themselves up motherfuckers will realize the minute they die that they were suckers"

--Julian Cope.

Unfortunately we lost two good ones this month (title of this blog post in no way related).
First, the passing of Andrew Weatherall,


then David Roback?



Projects still unfolding:
Kompakt Pop Ambient 20 year redux, Autechre, 12k, Longform Editions, Stephan Mathieu, 24 hour playlist…
On the horizon: Zelienople, Sun Araw, Golden Retriever & Chuck Johnson…
Further investigation: somesurprises’ ‘somesurprises,’ Matthew Halsall’s ‘Oneness,’ Califone’s ‘Echo Mine,’ Close Lobsters’ ‘Post Neo Anti: Arte Povera in the Forest of Symbols.’

listening...
Six Organs Of Admittance - Companion Rises (Drag City 777) february 2020
Vladislav Delay - Rakka (Cosmo Rhythmatic 11) February 2020
crys cole – Beside Myself (Students Of Decay 123) february 2020
Chuck Johnson - Balsams (Vin Du Select Qualitite 21) July 2017
Botany - Fourteen 45 Tails (Longform Editions 47) February 2020
Nicola Ratti – Continental (Students Of Decay 121) July 2019
Britton Powell – If Anything Is (Catch Wave Ltd. 005) February 2020
Beatrice Dillon - Workaround (PAN 106) February 2020
Michael Grigoni & Stephen Vitiello – Slow Machines (12k 2044) February 2020

Saturday, February 1, 2020

"I'm wrapped up in hope/ I'm wrapped up inside/ You give me the waves/ Oh you give me life and light"

Ahh, an old fave, the legendary Wolfgang Press... (the whole 4AD/ Ae/ Pop Ambient/ January thingy... ;)
Managed to read about a dozen books in 2019, among the favorites?
There, There Tommy Orange
Nickel Boys Colson Whitehead
My Year of Rest and Relaxation Ottessa Moshfegh
Fleishman Is In Trouble Taffy Brodesser-Anker
Where'd You Go Bernadette? Maria Semple
Recursion Blake Crouch
Dopesick Beth Macy
Just Kids Patti Smith
As far as records go... I didn't listen to as much new stuff as usual, I've been trying to sift through the wreckage of a mid-2018 iTunes crash which has me parsing back through my entire collection to try and retrieve old faves and discard stuff that really shouldn't be taking up any more of my time. But these stuck out:
Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared? Deerhunter
Soundings Simon Scott
From Here to Eternity Kyle Bobby Dunn
Sunrise, Looking East Danny Paul Grody
Tracing Back the Radiance Jefre Cantu-Ledesma
Constellation in Still Time Rafael Toral
Reducing the Tempo to Zero Ben Vida
Haalea Olli Aarni
Abate Fetel Alex Cobb
Agora Fennesz
Mount Carmel M. Grig
...Stereolab reissues... I left a lot of shit on the table, I hope to return as I try to stay committed to the process.
and, songs? well...
"Courtyard" Mercury Rev feat. Beth Orton
"On the Wall" Chromatics' Jesus & Mary Chain cover
"Suburban Junky Lady" Royal Trux
"New Atlantis" Efdemin
"Dragon Country" Bill MacKay
"No One Here is a Stranger" Bill MacKay & Katinka Kleijn
not enough... I know.
other faves in 2019: humility, sincerity, humor, love, empathy.
My January, 2020 (not much):
Simon Scott "Emergency Exit" (Touch)
Pale Saints The Comforts of Madness 30th Anniversary Re:Masters (4AD 0159 CDX)
Oval "Eksploio" (Thrill Jockey 515)
Oval Scis (Thrill Jockey 514)
Jeff Parker & The New Breed Suite For Max Brown (International Anthem 29)
and reading Maria Gainza's Optic Nerve (Catapult, 2019, orig. 2014)

Saturday, January 4, 2020

"the radio plays the sounds we made/ and everything seems to feel just right..."

January is for revisiting old 4AD records, Autechre and Kompakt’s Pop Ambient series… <3

VA – Pop Ambient (Kompakt CD 155) november 2019
VA – Thousands of Eyes in the Dark (Ghostly International 345) november 2019
Jim O'Rourke - To Magnetize Money and Catch A Roving Eye (Sonoris 16) November 2019
Beck - Hyperspace (Universal JAP) november 2019
Coldplay - Everyday Life (Parlophone - Third Man) november 2019
Gene Clark - No Other [Deluxe Edition] (1974_ 4AD, 2019) November 2019
Stereolab - Margerine Eclipse [Expanded Edition] (Duophonic/ Warp) February 2004/ November 2019
Stereolab – Sound Dust [Expanded Edition] (Duophonic/ Warp) September 2001/ November 2019
Circaea – The Bridge Of Dreams (Faraway Press 33) june 2019
Arp – Ensemble – Live! (Mexican Summer 277) December 2019
Olli Aarni - Haalea (Longform Editions 41) December 2019
Vitiello & Molly Berg, Stephen – I Drew A Fish Hook, and It Turned Into A Flower (IIKKI 10) November 2019
Sean McCann – Puck (Recital 69) November 2019
Ben Vida – Reducing The Tempo To Zero (Shelter Press 108) December 2019
Royal Trux – Quantum Entanglement (Fat Possum 1728) november 2019
Andrew Pekler – Sounds from Phantom Islands (Faitiche 20) November 2019
Slowdive - Golden Hair (Live) (Sonic Cathedral 117, Singles Club #10) November 2019

Saturday, November 16, 2019

"I stood up and I said yeah/ I spoke up and I said hey/ I stood up and I said hey, yeah, yeah yeah..."

I wrongly panned the Flaming Lips' Soft Bulletin in Alternative Press at the time of release, due mostly to the shift away from their guitar-based records and the absence of Ronald Jones (who filled in as the perfect foil for Johnathan Donahue's woozily trebly guitar sound). I was cool with Zaireeka -- what a great concept -- but now it seemed Wayne Coyne was relying too heavily on the songwriting of Steven Drozd, busily turning into a caricature of himself as this 'weirdo from Oklahoma!' billed as 'midwestern art genius,' who got just lucky enough to slip through the cracks to get funded on the backs of (Pops/Papa) Warner Bros. In hindsight, good for him/ them -- Wayne really was sorta an asshole the few times I got to spend a few minutes with him, but Michael Ivins is a sweet dude! For the most part, though, this is/ was the Lips' last great record, released 20 years ago now(!). I rescind my review (authored under the name Michael Segal, (thanks, Mike!, sorry, Mike) around issue #129-132 somewhere, if you have a copy)... highly recommended!

newer shit i have been digging &/or trying to take the time to check into/ check out:

Jefre Cantu-Ledesma – Tracing Back The Radiance (Mexican Summer 256) July 2019
I Jahbar - Inna Duppy SKRS Soundclash (Bokeh Versions 27) July 2019
Sun Araw & Mitchell Brown – Fluid Array (Longform Editions 31) July 2019
Ride – This Is Not A Safe Place (Wichita 570) august 2019
Pan American – Nightbirds (Longform Editions 33) august 2019
Bitchin Bajas – Demeter (Longform Editions 34) august 2019
Deathprod – Occulting Disk (Smalltown Supersound 360) October 2019
Stereolab - Cobra & Phases Group Play Voltage In The Milky Night [Expanded Edition] (Duophonic_Warp)
Stereolab - Dots & Loops [Expanded Edition] (Duophonic_Warp)
Stereolab - Emperor Tomato Ketchup [Expanded Edition] (Duophonic_Warp)
Pita – Get On (editions Mego 269) October 2019
Chromatics – Closer To Grey (Italians Do It Better) October 2019
Kim Gordon – No Home Record (Matador 1379) October 2019
Theodore Cale Schafer – Patience (Students Of Decay 122) October 2019
Ohio – Upward, Broken, Always (12k 2042) September 2019
VA – Total 19 (Kompakt CD154) September 2019
Saariselka – The Ground Our Sky (Temporary Residence) October 2019
Vetiver – Up On High (Loose 251) October 2019
VA – Place Language (Facture) October 2019
Pan American – A Son (Kranky) November 2019
Rafael Toral – Constellation In Still Time (Room 40) November 2019
Matt Valentine - Preserves (Beyond Beyond Is Beyond) November 2019
Ohio – Interludes (12k 3021) October 2019
Marcus Fischer – On Falling (12k 2043) October 2019

Moon Diagrams – Trappy Bats (“Wipeout Meets Jefre Cantu-Ledesma) (geographic north 54) august 2019
Luxembourg Signal, The - Are You Numb (ReMixes by Robert Hampson) October 2018
Bill MacKay & Katinka Kleijn – STIR (Drag City 756) October 2019
Alex Cobb – Abate Fetel (bandcamp) august 2017