Stuck on a Frownapilago

**Frownland** · 11-02-2016, 02:47 AM

whoa

Imagine how strange
we all are

in

comparison

to the

versions of ourselves

that live in
alternate realities

The Batlord · 11-02-2016, 02:49 AM

**Frownland** · 11-02-2016, 02:53 AM

**Frownland** · 12-20-2016, 11:48 PM

Beyond Silence: The Lesser-Known Works of John Cage

Not enough people know about John Cage except for the fact that he wrote 4'33", and only about a quarter of those people know about the philosophy behind the piece (nevermind agreeing with it or not, that's a discussion for another time). So I'll be doing a series that will include at least one part (gotta account for laziness) focusing on one of Cage's many other pieces. We'll start off with

Credo In Us (1942)

Self-described by Cage as a "satire on America", Credo In Us is a piece that encompasses a lot of prominent elements of John Cage's style over the years. Written for one pianist, two percussionists, and one performer on electronics, the piece utilizes a lot of interesting instrumentation. The piano involves a lot of hand muting on the strings (on a grand piano, obviously) and using the piano itself as a percussive instrument. The two percussionists play tin cans, buzzer, tom tom, and muted gongs. The electronics include a phonograph and a radio. The music used on the phonograph is recommended by Cage to be something classical, but whatever recording is used is up to the performer.

The radio is something that comes up quite a bit in Cage's work. It makes the music indeterminate because what is played on radio stations themselves is beyond the performer's control, making each performance unique. The aleoteric nature of Cage's music echoes the Zen philosophy of one of his mentors, D. T. Suzuki, as the music mimics nature's chaos. The piece advises not using news stations.

The conventional performance of the piece (there are many interpretations and some student performances that are...clunky) starts off with swells of romantic classical music from the phonograph that gets interrupted by heavy, metallic drums and a frantic piano melody line. The crazy, dark, dramatic relationship between the piano and percussion is what makes this one of my favourite Cage pieces. The piano takes a solo and plays a cowboy song that leads to another heavy interlude. Various piano lines take a solo and is sparsely joined by the rest of the performers for a really pounding, intense effect. The radio becomes more prominent as the piece goes on as the piano carries on with the simple style that it presents throughout the piece. There are two more extended piano solos, one that's more of a jazzier one and the other a poppier sounding one.

The piece was originally performed with Merce Cunningham, who choreographed the dance to be solo, with two performers, and with three performers alternately throughout the piece. There is one video of a solo dancer doing the piece, but the performance isn't that great, so I won't embed it.

This is always one of the first Cage songs that I show to people who only know about 4'33", not only because it gives a round idea of what to expect from Cage when you can hear him, but because it's badass. You can hear echoes of this album to a great degree in the tribal elements of The Residents' The Big Bubble. It's a stellar piece. You should check it out. Check out different versions, too.

Yes, this was painted by John Cage.

Ol’ Qwerty Bastard · 12-21-2016, 05:10 AM

john cage is a meme

innerspaceboy · 12-21-2016, 06:16 AM

Loved this feature! I'm really looking forward to the rest of the series.

This also serves as a reminder that I really need to read more of my copies of Silence, For the Birds, and Empty Words.

Thanks!

**Frownland** · 12-21-2016, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Qwertyy

john cage is a mbeme

Quite.

Quote:

Originally Posted by innerspaceboy

Loved this feature! I'm really looking forward to the rest of the series.

This also serves as a reminder that I really need to read more of my copies of Silence, For the Birds, and Empty Words.

Thanks!

You might like this. It has an interview in there that I got some of the info for the review from and also some really great music. Like, extremely great music.

innerspaceboy · 12-21-2016, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frownland

Quite.
You might like this. It has an interview in there that I got some of the info for the review from and also some really great music. Like, extremely great music.

Thanks! I'll give it a listen!

**Frownland** · 12-28-2016, 01:10 PM

Some Thoughts on Albums from 2016 That Rocked My World

I don't want to do a full list and review clinic of all of my favourite albums from this year, so I'll be dropping short reviews occasionally. A lot of these albums fall under the "why the **** is no one on MB talking about this except me?" category, so take note.

Moor Mother - Fetish Bones

Death Grips-inspired noisy hip-hop madness that jumps back and forth between sound collage, pounding industrial rhythms, and spaceship-esque noises, all buried under Camae's confrontational delivery of abstract lyrics. Probably my favourite of the year overall. Perfect listening for when you're drunk with a loaded AK.

Paul Jebanasam - Continuum

Breathtakingly beautiful and almost cinematic drones that really grab your focus and make anything that you do while listening to it feel incredibly important. This album is incredibly evocative and the music tells a story in a way that I rarely hear instrumental music accomplishing.

Merzbow, Keiji Haino, Balázs Pándi - An Untroublesome Defenselessness

If you didn't shout "holy ****!" and run naked down the streets upon hearing about this album's existence, let me tell you why you should have. First off, these men are gods, plain and simple. Second, it is everything that a fan of these artists could want from them and more. Mainly, all of these ideas seem fresh. I was worried that it would be somewhat derivative of their other works both together and separate, but they accomplished to form a new kind of roaring, huge, ugly beast, bashing your skull in with a mace.

The Beatloads - The Beatloads

Ja, it's one of mine. To date, I consider this my "pop" record due to it being more accessible than my other landmine riddled albums. Some songs are hypnotic, some are fun and goofy, some are spastic no wave nonsense, all of them are great. I even try to sing a little on it. I'm really proud of it, check it out.

Syrinx - Tumblers From the Vault

This one is cheating because it is a comp of Syrinx's work from 1970 to 1972 but **** it. This is some massively excellent free folk type ambient prog stuff. It's very ahead of its time and has a groove to boot.

**Frownland** · 03-16-2017, 12:13 AM

Y'all heard, right?

Jesus Isn't So Sure About You Guys Anymore

11-02-2016, 02:47 AM	#61 (permalink)
Frownland SOPHIE FOREVER Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: East of the Southern North American West Posts: 35,541	whoa Imagine how strange we all are in comparison to the versions of ourselves that live in alternate realities __________________ Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth. d e a f b o x

11-02-2016, 02:53 AM	#63 (permalink)
Frownland SOPHIE FOREVER Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: East of the Southern North American West Posts: 35,541	__________________ Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth. d e a f b o x

12-20-2016, 11:48 PM	#64 (permalink)
Frownland SOPHIE FOREVER Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: East of the Southern North American West Posts: 35,541	Beyond Silence: The Lesser-Known Works of John Cage Not enough people know about John Cage except for the fact that he wrote 4'33", and only about a quarter of those people know about the philosophy behind the piece (nevermind agreeing with it or not, that's a discussion for another time). So I'll be doing a series that will include at least one part (gotta account for laziness) focusing on one of Cage's many other pieces. We'll start off with Credo In Us (1942) Self-described by Cage as a "satire on America", Credo In Us is a piece that encompasses a lot of prominent elements of John Cage's style over the years. Written for one pianist, two percussionists, and one performer on electronics, the piece utilizes a lot of interesting instrumentation. The piano involves a lot of hand muting on the strings (on a grand piano, obviously) and using the piano itself as a percussive instrument. The two percussionists play tin cans, buzzer, tom tom, and muted gongs. The electronics include a phonograph and a radio. The music used on the phonograph is recommended by Cage to be something classical, but whatever recording is used is up to the performer. The radio is something that comes up quite a bit in Cage's work. It makes the music indeterminate because what is played on radio stations themselves is beyond the performer's control, making each performance unique. The aleoteric nature of Cage's music echoes the Zen philosophy of one of his mentors, D. T. Suzuki, as the music mimics nature's chaos. The piece advises not using news stations. The conventional performance of the piece (there are many interpretations and some student performances that are...clunky) starts off with swells of romantic classical music from the phonograph that gets interrupted by heavy, metallic drums and a frantic piano melody line. The crazy, dark, dramatic relationship between the piano and percussion is what makes this one of my favourite Cage pieces. The piano takes a solo and plays a cowboy song that leads to another heavy interlude. Various piano lines take a solo and is sparsely joined by the rest of the performers for a really pounding, intense effect. The radio becomes more prominent as the piece goes on as the piano carries on with the simple style that it presents throughout the piece. There are two more extended piano solos, one that's more of a jazzier one and the other a poppier sounding one. The piece was originally performed with Merce Cunningham, who choreographed the dance to be solo, with two performers, and with three performers alternately throughout the piece. There is one video of a solo dancer doing the piece, but the performance isn't that great, so I won't embed it. This is always one of the first Cage songs that I show to people who only know about 4'33", not only because it gives a round idea of what to expect from Cage when you can hear him, but because it's badass. You can hear echoes of this album to a great degree in the tribal elements of The Residents' The Big Bubble. It's a stellar piece. You should check it out. Check out different versions, too. Yes, this was painted by John Cage. __________________ Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth. d e a f b o x

12-28-2016, 01:10 PM	#69 (permalink)
Frownland SOPHIE FOREVER Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: East of the Southern North American West Posts: 35,541	Some Thoughts on Albums from 2016 That Rocked My World I don't want to do a full list and review clinic of all of my favourite albums from this year, so I'll be dropping short reviews occasionally. A lot of these albums fall under the "why the ** is no one on MB talking about this except me?" category, so take note. Moor Mother - Fetish Bones Death Grips-inspired noisy hip-hop madness that jumps back and forth between sound collage, pounding industrial rhythms, and spaceship-esque noises, all buried under Camae's confrontational delivery of abstract lyrics. Probably my favourite of the year overall. Perfect listening for when you're drunk with a loaded AK. Paul Jebanasam - Continuum Breathtakingly beautiful and almost cinematic drones that really grab your focus and make anything that you do while listening to it feel incredibly important. This album is incredibly evocative and the music tells a story in a way that I rarely hear instrumental music accomplishing. Merzbow, Keiji Haino, Balázs Pándi - An Untroublesome Defenselessness If you didn't shout "holy !" and run naked down the streets upon hearing about this album's existence, let me tell you why you should have. First off, these men are gods, plain and simple. Second, it is everything that a fan of these artists could want from them and more. Mainly, all of these ideas seem fresh. I was worried that it would be somewhat derivative of their other works both together and separate, but they accomplished to form a new kind of roaring, huge, ugly beast, bashing your skull in with a mace. The Beatloads - The Beatloads Ja, it's one of mine. To date, I consider this my "pop" record due to it being more accessible than my other landmine riddled albums. Some songs are hypnotic, some are fun and goofy, some are spastic no wave nonsense, all of them are great. I even try to sing a little on it. I'm really proud of it, check it out. Syrinx - Tumblers From the Vault This one is cheating because it is a comp of Syrinx's work from 1970 to 1972 but ** it. This is some massively excellent free folk type ambient prog stuff. It's very ahead of its time and has a groove to boot. __________________ Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth. d e a f b o x

03-16-2017, 12:13 AM	#70 (permalink)
Frownland SOPHIE FOREVER Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: East of the Southern North American West Posts: 35,541	Y'all heard, right? Jesus Isn't So Sure About You Guys Anymore __________________ Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth. d e a f b o x