Twittering Machines

Anton Webern
The Path to the New Music

Recommended reading. From a series of 16 lectures given by Webern in 1932/33 in a private home in Vienna. Transcribed by Dr. Rudolf Ploderer, edited by Willi Reich, translated by Leo Black.

Finally I must point out to you that this is so not only in music. We find an analogy in language. I was delighted to find that such connections also often occur in Shakespeare, in alliteration and assonance. He even turns a phrase backwards. Karl Kraus’ handling of language is also based on this; unity also has to be created there, since it enhances comprehensibility.

And I leave you with an old Latin saying:

S A T O R
A R E P O
T E N E T
O P E R A
R O T A S

“The earliest known appearance of the Sator square was found in the ruins of Pompeii which was buried in the ash of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD…The Sator Square is a four-times palindrome, and some people have attributed magical properties to it, considering it one of the broadest magical formulas in the occident.” form WIkipedia

On 15 September 1945, during the Allied occupation of Austria, Anton Webern stepped outside his house to smoke a cigar despite the curfew in effect so as not to disturb his sleeping grandchildren. He was shot dead by an American Army soldier.

- 68 – (4″ x 44) – petit corona – “bombone” (rated ’92′)
- 88 – (5″ x 52) – robusto – “robust” (rated ’90′)
- cg4 – (5 5/8″ x 48) – corona gorda – “white horse” (rated ’92′)
- f9 – (6 1/4″ x 44) – lonsdale – “finesse” (rated ’90′)
- 2 – (5 1/4″ x 52) – belicoso fino – “and crowned of thorns” (rated ’90′)
- 888 – (6 3/4″ x 48) – churchill -”necessary and sufficient” (rated ’91′)
- 4/2g – (7 1/2″ x 49) – double corona – “church” (rated ’91′)

* ratings by Cigar Insider

From the Illusione Series (oh baby) – 100% Nicaraguan tobacco blended from first generation Corojo ’99 and Criollo ’98 seeds with a Cafe Colorado wrapper and a cuban style triple cap. Made at the Raices Cubanas factory in Honduras. This is the 7 / 90 and above sampler from New Havana Cigars and even though I’ve only smoked one, the 88, I’d highly recommend giving this a try if you like delicious, complex and utterly satisfying smokes.

Yum.

Max Dalton
Ten Great Years
Giclée print on ultra premium paper
Measures 16 x 21.3 inches
Limited edition of 500
Price $59.99

MINDstyle Manny Pacquiao “Pac-Man” Figure

The first boxer in history to win ten world titles in eight different weight divisions. The greatest fighter, ever?

Albert Ayler
Spirits

Spirits is Albert Ayler’s 2nd LP (by release date) recorded on February 24, 1964 in New York City and originally released on Debut/Denmark (as was his first recod My Name is Albert Ayler from 1963) in 1964. This is the UK release from Transatlantic Records from the same year (not to be confused with Spirits Rejoice on ESP from ’65). For the US version on Arista / Freedom (1975) the title was changed to Witches & Devils. Featuring the Albert Ayler Quintet – Ayler on tenor sax, Henry Grimes and Earle Henderson on bass, Norman Howard on trumpet and Sonny Murray on drums performing Ayler’s “Spirits”, “Witches and Devils”, “Holy, Holy” and “Saints”.

I think its fair to call this music spiritual music. You can hear traces of New Orleans, blues, bebop, R&B, marching bands, hymns and ballads all devoured, digested and reformed. Ayler was one of two people along with Ornette Coleman that Coltrane asked to play at his funeral and if you listen close you can hear him lift your spirits. I’d call that magic.

Brave little soldiers all. Bagged and waiting to give their lives for the cause. Farewell CDs, welcome PREX store credit. Viva la vinyl!

Pierre Klossowski (1905 – 2001)
L’enlèvement de Roberte, 1993
Résine peinte et bois, 250 x 130 x 90 cm. © Collection of Denise Klossowski

Did you know that Pierre Klossowski made sculptures based on his faint life-sized colored drawings? Until recently I had no idea which is not really a surprise since he only made a handful of them with the help of sculptor Jean-Paul Réti and they were only exhibited a handful of times, most recently in 2006 at the Whitchapel Gallery, London along with works by Hans Bellmer.

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Jerry Lee Lewis
High School Confidential

Sometimes a single is the perfect size. The last Sun Records 45 to be released with a picture sleeve and they went out with a bang. 1958 from the movie of the same name starring the disembodied head of Jerry Lee Lewis, (l to r) Diane Jergens, Russ Tamblyn, Jan Sterling, John Drew Barrymore, and Mamie Van Doren (in a truly impressive brassier).

(he looks like he’s about to do something evil, no?)

Servus® Men’s Supersize Black 5-Buckle Rubber Overboot

Somewhere along the line rubbers, galoshes, the overshoe got a bad rap. They became uncool, a fashion statement you did not want to make under any circumstances. I’m no sociologist and this is clearly deserving of a peer-reviewed paper but my guess is rubbers were looked at as being a cheap and not so elegant way of warding off inclement weather conditions. It’s a shame too because rubbers strike me as an utterly sensible solution especially when dealing with traveling through heavy snow and rain only to end up indoors. I’m particularly partial to the heavy duty buckle version as it adds that manly, Frankensteiny feel.

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Cecil Taylor
Live at the Cafe Montmartre

Before Unit Structures and Conquistador!, both from 1966, you have go all the way back to 1962 to find another Cecil Taylor record. Recorded live in Copenhagen on November 23, 1962 and featuring Taylor on piano, Jimmy Lyons on alto sax and Arthur “Sunny” Murray on drums, Live is another slice of pure unadulterated mind-cleansing loveliness. The story goes Henry Grimes had another gig so they made due without his bass and perhaps in part because of this paired down and 4-year younger ensemble we get a somewhat kinder gentler record. The story also goes that in between 1962 and ’66, Taylor spent time washing dishes and living on food stamps because he’d decided to stick to his musical vision which apparently was a few years ahead of its time for some, and still ahead of our time for others.

There is sheer beauty, clusters of sounds over which Jimmy Lyons plays dare I say at times melodically? while Sonny Murray ravages his kit and looks ahead to freer forms. There are certainly moments of trio playing that are damn-near bop-like but I should stress these are moments, like glimpses of the past that soon disintegrate into Taylor-led-soundfields.

This LP represents a selection from the longer live session that occurred on November 23, 1962 at the Cafe Montmartre (other bits were released on Innovations, Trance (Black Lion Records) and What’s New) and it took another 14 years before you could hear more of that evening on one double LP titled Nefertiti, The Beautiful One Has Come released on Arista in the US. And it took another 26 years to hear this night in its complete form on Revenant, a triple LP of the same title released in 2002. The Revenant LP includes two side-long untitled tracks which did not appear on the Arista release and, shhh, you can still find new copies which I plan to do asap.

Cecil Taylor & Tony Oxley
AILANTHUS / ALTISSIMA
bilateral dimensions of 2 root songs

I also wanted to mention, and thank Bill Stry for the reminder, this July 2010 limited edition vinyl-only release from Triple Point Records -

This deluxe collector’s item has been issued in a very limited, numbered edition—475 copies worldwide—on vinyl LP only.

A 2-disc gatefold set, the record features the cream of the duo’s two runs at the Vanguard last year, and includes exclusive original poetry by Cecil Taylor and paintings by Tony Oxley. In addition to celebrating Mr. Taylor’s 80th year, this release honors Mr. Oxley’s 70th birthday just before the performances occurred.

AILANTHUS / ALTISSIMA is being sold in numbered order: Items #1-50 for direct sale at performances; #65-475 are being offered for internet sale.

While I have not heard this (yet), Bill comments: “These recordings are based on live sets from the Village Vanguard in 2008; I was able to go to fours sets of the sixteen sets. The quality of the recordings and the performance is excellent. My only gripe and it is minor, is that the mix overlaps the piano and percussion too much; the actual soundstage of the live event was much more left piano and right percussion.” I think I could live with that and would surely like to live with this. The set is priced at $110 + shipping.

Cecil Taylor
Unit Structures

I wonder why I turn to Cecil Taylor when I need a mental cleansing? It’s happened before, and it just happened again. Perhaps its because this is thoughtful music or maybe this music is the result of a purposeful thoughtlessness or it could be that its a product of both simultaneously. Thoughtful thoughtlessness. What ever the case, and there’s an infinite number of reasons not just the measly few guesses I’ve offered, I enjoy Cecil Taylor’s Unit Structures as much as I enjoy almost any record albeit in a different way and for different reasons.

Unit Structures ranks among the top of Taylor’s fairly massive output according to people who get paid to write such things. While I’m in no position to agree or disagree seeing as I’m not familiar with Cecil Taylor’s entire recorded catalog or all of the music surrounding 1966 when this record was released, what I can say is I find this record completely captivating from the first notes blast to the last. Cecil Taylor piano & bells, Eddie Gale Stevens Jr. trumpet, Jimmy Lyons alto sax, Ken McIntyre alto sax, oboe & bass clarinet, Henry Grimes and Alan Silva bass (simultaneously), and Andrew Cyrille drums.

OK I’ll come clean. I read some reviews of Unit Structures while writing this up and found a bunch of people on Amazon that believe Cecil Taylor is a fraud. That he’s just pounding out meaningless sounds record after record. And this made me angry at first, do we really need a public display of such willful ignorance?, but then I figured, fuck ‘em. Misery loves company and I’m no lover of misery. These easily frightened timid people should try coming to this music with a blank slate, preconceptions and baggage aside. You need to just listen. I’ve also seen Unit Structures described as challenging music and this is probably what they’re talking about and why I come to rely on it when I do.

Here are some lovely challenging words from the liner notes, written by Cecil Taylor:

“Rhythm-sound energy found in the amplitude of each time unit. Time measurement as isolated matter abstracted from mind, transformed symbols thru conductor, agent speaking in angles; a movement vacuum death encircling act, defining nothing Pythagorean desert a waste land lie deafness before ultimate silent arena senses ride naked in souls.”

“What used to be continues begging/memory contained ‘constructs’ growths growing aligned with orders of perception, a vision holding first awarenesses: how it was to be then – one saw to feel the tastes in association. In performance the body is tool of mind feel nerves and muscle speak all beings in suspension nerve on coition a wedding an aisle – Poets live to eat spirits commingle.”

“Where are you Bud? . . . Lightning . . . now a lone rain falling thru doors empty of room-Jazz Naked Fire Gesture, Dancing protoplasm Absorbs.”

While I was browsing through this past Sunday’s New York Times Magazine I hit page 13 and a full-page advertisement hit me back -

The ad is for “the revolutionary Brennan” which is “one man’s brilliant idea for a lifetime of music.” And I thought, clever. They must be very clever if they can afford a full-page ad in the Sunday New York Times Magazine.  And while the rest of the hi-fi world has packed up their stuff and shuffled off to Vegas for CES, Martin “the face behind Brennan”, stayed warm and cozy at home and took out a full-page ad in the Sunday Times Magazine instead (I checked the CES Exhibitor list and alas, no Brennan).

The Brennan is sold direct online starting at $539 plus P&P. So, what is a the Brennan? Let’s refer to the ad – “The Brennan JB7 is a CD player with a hard disk that stores up to 5,000 CDs”. Simple, straight forward and no reference to the typical audiophile information anywhere on the entire page with the possible exception of the single reference to “60 Watt” in the “Key Features” list which, as presented, can arguably be considered positively anti-audiophile. Other key features include “Plays MP3 downloads – future proof” and “Clock with alarm”.

There’s no information about the type of amplifier, D/A converter, music library software, no detailed info on the number of inputs or outputs (we are told you can connect it to your existing hi-fi and you can backup to external USB hard disk) and no information about how the Brennan JB7 actually sounds. Brilliant. And no messy cover art or liner notes to contend with. We are told that “CDs are a great way to listen to music but they are also inconvenient, inaccessible and a bit of a chore.” Really? Damn! We’ve outgrown the 74 minutes+ at a clip CD convenience? That’s really it isn’t it. Convenience.

But does this message really work? It’s impossible to know for sure since Brennan is a private company but a) they can afford a full-page color ad in the Sunday NY Times Magazine (2010 cost = $107,075) so they’re either well-funded, make a healthy non-audiophile profit (or both) or spend money they don’t have. They also claim 700% growth in 2009 on their website and add “Coping with that rate of growth is a bit of a headache though – we have to book production months in advance. We bought the entire global inventory of the vacuum fluorescent display used in the JB7 at the end of 2009 – we literally could not make any more.” Brilliant.

the Brenna JB7
photo credit: from their website and yes, that is a copy of Orwell’s 1984

The Brennan is also small, cute and comes in two colors. I thought this bit was especially endearing – Martin the physicist/computer engineer/silicon chip designer confesses, “In the end my computer got a virus and the music files were lost – I still had the originals thankfully.” Martin flays himself on the stake for the Brennan.

Just one futher note which falls into the “I told you so” category. Again from their Times ad:

“I feel like a teenager all over again – thank you Brennan”

Music as time-machine. Brilliant.

Luciano Berio / Cathy Berberbian
Sequenza VI, Chemins II/III, Epifanie, Folk Songs

“She has a unique witches’ Sabbath of sounds…” Darius Milhaud

Indeed, a unique witches’ Sabbath of sounds and Ms. Berberian uses them to full effect on “Folk Songs” the main reason I was so excited to find this lovely boxed collection. The other is its led by the composer himself, Luciano Berio who was also Ms. Berberian’s husband when he arranged these ‘Folk Songs’ in 1964 just for her. “Folk Songs” was originally scored for voice and seven instruments (voice, flute, clarinet, harp, viola, cello, and percussion) and that’s how it’s presented here. They were also arranged for large orchestra by Berio in 1973.

“In this suite, those who know Berio as avante-garde composer ranking with Pierre Boulez, Luigi Nono and Karlheinz Stockhausen will discover him in unaccustomedly light mood.”

So this is what Berio-lite sounds like? Contrary to the title, these are not all strictly speaking folk songs – “Black is the Color of My True Love’s Hair” (Nina Simone’s version is also splendid) and “I Wonder as I Wander” were written by Kentucky folk singer and composer John Jacob Niles and Berio himself wrote two others. The liner notes claim that Berio wrote these songs for Berberbian but some wise-assed scholars point out that this would have been difficult seeing as he didn’t meet her until two years after he wrote them. Ah, love has the power to transcend time or re-write history or both.

One thing that ties most of these 11 songs from the United States, France, Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan together, beyond Berio and Berberian, is love. Crazy love, mad love, passionate I’m outta my head (over you) love. And its consequences and contradictions “he with no spouse seeks one, and he with one wishes he had none” from Joseph Canteloube’s Chants d’Auvergne (not to mention the fact that Berio and Berberian’s marriage was nearly over by the time they first performed this piece in public).

Berberian discovered the last song “Azerbaijan Love Song” herself on an old 78rpm record which she transcribed by sound since its mainly sung in Azerbaijani a language she didn’t speak. There are many things to love about this record including the mad love it portrays so madly.

“Lalalalala…Love makes even the wisest mad, and he who loves most has least judgment. The greater love is the greater fool.” from Berio’s self-penned Folk Song “Ballo”

But this music isn’t for everyone – what is – and some prefer other performances of Berio’s “Folk Songs”. I have a few including Dawn Upshaw’s on the CD Osvaldo Golijov: Ayreon [Deutsche Grammophon B000ASDG9E] and Jard Van Nes with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Richard Chailly [London 425 832-2]. While I enjoy these as well, I wouldn’t recommend passing the Berio / Berberian by. You may have to set aside some baggage to fully immerse yourself but as I see it that’s our only job as listeners.

Oren Ambarchi & Scott Horscroft / Hado Ho
19 Guitars / Sonic Wave 2002, Stereo action

Split 12″ from 2006 from the Textile Records Vynile Serie (there’s 6 others) finds Oren Ambarchi on guitars and Scott Horscroft electronics & processing for the A Side’s serene chatter through clickety clack space sounding like a slice of something larger and more complex removed and distended to reveal its inner workings over time. Another guitar player playing guitar so it sounds nothing like guitar. Simply lovely.

Warning: watch out for the B Side. No really, watch out for the B Side because Hado Ho’s (i.e. Takehito Nakazato) chards of electronic noise sound as if they want to rip you and your speakers to shreds. Simply ferocious. And a lovely 1-2 punch of a split LP with tasty cover art by Marie Caillou.

H.P. Blavatsky
Isis Unveiled

Matthew’s comment got me thinking – What ever happened to the occult? I mean it got so cheap, so cheesy so cultish, no? Once upon a time, the occult was so happenin’: artists, musicians, poets, philosophers, composers, politicians, businessmen, writers, thinkers and tinkerers all had some connection to it. Admittedly some more and some less but it seemed as if the evolutionary powers of the occult were gaining momentum, gaining a foothold along with dreams and the subconscious to transform us so that our new us would look at the old us as we look at monkeys. No offense meant.

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