tumblr_mjdapqQII41qzv802

Black Moth Super Rainbow – “Forever Heavy”
Dandelion Gum

I wrote off BMSR long before this album came out, finding much of their output only partially accomplishing what it sets out to. Looks like they got their ducks in a row, because this excellent opener is a truly glorious combination of wah-wah synth, UFO noise, and the guy’s distorted voice. If a robot did mushrooms, this is what it would hum. (insound)

He had the appearance of a caryatid on vacation; he was supporting nothing but his reverie.

Les Miserables

What is this, Alcibiades? Are we to have neither conversation nor singing over our cups; but simply to drink as if we were thirsty?

Plato, The Symposium

tumblr_mkdzmapXYs1qzv802

Hildur Guðnadóttir – “Leyfðu Ljósinu (prelude)”
Leyfðu Ljósinu

This astonishing piece is the work of one Icelandic woman, performed live and without any post-production. Its delicate beginning only hints at the tonal richness of the rest, in which her cello and voice (looped and layered) intermingle in otherworldly, spine-chilling fashion and gradually build to a near-frantic conclusion. The best modern chamber music I have heard in years. Listen to the whole thing here.

Vocabulary: Faerie Fault Edition

galloon: a decorative piece of braid or trimming for clothes or furniture, often silver or gold
ob-, re-, in-, sub-sequent: types of streams, determined by surrounding erosion patterns
inselberg: a hill that rises abruptly from an otherwise flat plain (German: island-hill)
auricule: the exterior portion of the ear, or a certain flower resembling a bear’s ear
cryptogamous: of or relating to a now-obsolete taxonomy of seedless organisms
weirdsma: made-up word indicating interesting geological formations
antinomy: laws or philosophical positions apparently in contradiction
orogeny: mountain formation, often by folding or thrust faulting
interfluve: the raised land separating two adjacent river valleys
rutilence: a glow or glitter, usually reddish, warm, or golden
rebec: a lute-shaped but violin-like string instrument
westering: moving or tending towards the west
apologue: an allegory or moral tale
vug: a crystal-lined cavity in rock