Brambles – “Salt Photographs”
Charcoal
Another subdued album of what might be called ‘enhanced chamber music’ from the label that owns that space, Serein. This song, the longest on Charcoal, combines atmospheric noise and percussion with delicate and precisely-placed strings and keyboards. I love the transition and slow build, like a cross between early A Silver Mt Zion and label-mates Nest — a nearly flawless ambient work. (serein)
Never did men wear greater breeches or carry less in them of any mettle whatsoever.
Some of the more awkward illustrations from an old Chinese book of animals
One sometimes gets the impression that deconstruction is a kind of game that anyone can play. One could, for example, invent a deconstruction of deconstructionism as follows: In the hierarchical opposition, deconstruction/logocentrism (phono-phallo-logocentrism), the privileged term “deconstruction” is in fact subordinate to the devalued term “logocentrism,” for, in order to establish the hierarchical superiority of deconstruction, the deconstructionist is forced to attempt to represent its superiority, its axiological primacy, by argument and persuasion, by appealing to the logocentric values he tries to devalue. But his efforts to do this are doomed to failure because of the internal inconsistency in the concept of deconstructionism itself, because of its very self-referential dependence on the authority of a prior logic. By an aporetical Aufhebung, deconstruction deconstructs itself.
Bach – “Ei! wie schmeckt der Coffee süße”
BWV 211, the “Coffee Cantata”
Ei! wie schmeckt der Coffee süße, / Ah! how sweet coffee tastes!
Lieblicher als tausend Küsse, / Lovelier than a thousand kisses,
Milder als Muskatenwein. / smoother than sweet muscatel.
Coffee, Coffee muss ich haben, / Coffee, I must have coffee,
Und wenn jemand mich will laben, / and if someone wants to treat me,
Ach, so schenkt mir Coffee ein! / ah! my cup with coffee fill! (wiki)
Bergen to Oslo; original quarter-terabyte 7-hour movie here
I would like to believe that hashish persuades nature to permit us — for less egoistic purposes — that squandering of our existence that we know in love. For if, when we love, our existence runs through nature’s fingers like golden coins that she cannot hold and lets fall so that they can thus purchase new birth, she now throws us, without hoping or expecting anything, in ample handfuls, toward existence.
WWI slides found in an antique Verascope (more Found Film here)
Enhanced and stabilized footage of early 20th century London
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.
Transparent brain (Nature)
What is this, Alcibiades? Are we to have neither conversation nor singing over our cups; but simply to drink as if we were thirsty?
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.
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
Phantogram – “Make a Fist”
Nightlife
Somehow combines the mystical, rhythmic insight of Gang Gang Dance with the best aspects of today’s electropop. Every buzz, echo, tomtom, and break in this song is placed with extreme care and precision, manifesting in unremitting urgency and variation. (insound)
