motel de moka

I have been one acquainted with the night. / I have walked out in rain — and back in rain. / I have outwalked the furthest city light.

I have looked down the saddest city lane. / I have passed by the watchman on his beat / and dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.

I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet / when far away an interrupted cry / came over houses from another street, / but not to call me back or say goodbye; / And further still at an unearthly height / one luminary clock against the sky / proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.

I have been one acquainted with the night.

- Robert Frost.

ESG - Six pack
(Step Off / 2003)
Breakout - Planet Rock pt. 1
(Planet Rock 12″ / 2007)
Guru - When you’re near
(Jazzmatazz Vol. 1 / 1993)
Roam the Hello Clouds - Pretender’s hand
(Near Misses / 2007)
Dj Shadow - Dark days theme
(Dark Days single / 2000)

A relaxed Friday in here. Today I don’t have much time so I’m only uploading another short selection of tunes fitting the bipolar weather in my city these past days; sunny and green on daylight, damp and cloudy on moonlight. The 5 songs are supposed to fit in between these two landscapes, on one side, the sunny motown-esque pop/funk of ESG and Breakout’s amazing reinterpretation of Afrika Bambaataa’s hip hop classic and on the somber side of the spectre comes the electronic tingled jazz of Roam the hello clouds and Dj Shadow’s trademark blend of moody jazz, funk & hip hop samples. In the middle of the playlist I included a song from Guru’s Jazzmatazz project in an attempt to provide a common ground between the first set of tracks and the second ones, don’t know if it actually works, will try to sneak & drop some tonight at my brother’s birthday and use them guests as guinea pigs for future playlists. Have a good weekend everyone.

Photo credit: omnia

Mt Macedon Cemetery in Victoria, Australia is home to Peter Schipperheyn’s dramatic sculpture “Asleep”. It is one of the most intriguing and beautiful contemporary works of art I’ve come across in recent years. The beautiful contradiction between the young women’s vulnerability and the unsettling surroundings of the cemetery. The way her right hand lovingly grips the edge of the tombstone. It simply takes my breath away every time I look at it. The story goes that the artist was commissioned by a woman to make this sculpture and to place it on top of the grave of her late husband, Laurence. To me the sculpture is the perfect embodiment of one’s deepest emotions after the passing away of a loved one; to be there with them, to desperately hold on and to never let go.

Following this series’ previous entry Late Night Lullabies, this post continuous where we left off and heads into the darkest hours of night. I’ve tried to find the connection between this theme and the romantic and mystical undertone of the sculpture. The grace of her vulnerable sleeping body, the silent cemetery surroundings and the deep sorrow of losing a loved one. They became synonyms for the night’s serene, dreamy and tender ambiance.

May they be together forever. Asleep eternally.

Asleep by Peter Schipperheyn, 1987

1. Frode Haltli - Vals
   Passing Images (ECM, 2007)
2. Stars of the Lid - Another Ballad for Heavy Lids
   And Their Refinement of the Decline (Kranky, 2007)
3. Stefano Battaglia - Pietra Lata
   Re: Pasolini (ECM, 2007)
4. Winter Family - Garden
   Winter Family (Sub Rosa, 2007)
5. Pauline Oliveros - Suiren
   Deep Listening (New Albion, 1994)
6. Loren Connors - Suzanne’s Rain
   Night Through (Disc 3) (Family Vineyard, 2006)
7. The Marquis de Tren and Bonny Billy - 2/15
   Get On Jolly (Palace, 2000)
8. Christina Carter - Dream Long
   Lace Heart (Many Breaths Press, 2006)
9. Max Richter - Written On Sky
   The Blue Notebooks (FatCat, 2004)

Stream playlist

Harry Akst - guilty
Al Bowlly & The Ray Noble Orchestra - midnight, the stars & you
Eddie Condon - Darktown Strutters Ball
Al Bowlly - How could I be lonely?
Oscar Aleman - Limehouse Blues
Mezz Mezzrow Orchestra - sendin the vipers

Hearing jazz while doing breakfast. Cream cheese & bread. Or milk & those yellow box cheerios, but I’m not precisely fond of the milk’s flavor anymore… and I don’t think there’s any of those Cheerios left either way. Maybe f I have time, I could have some fruit too. Definitely no time for melon or pineapples. Mango? only one left and rotten already. Forget the fruit then. Jazz. The fascination for leisure and the bitter blow of the oars. Jazz as a syncopated buzzing of the arteries. As opulence. As rust. Jazz as prognosis or as a death rattle. The ecstasy before the collapse.

In its attempt to create a right to sue for “making available”, the RIAA has argued, at the oral argument in Elektra v. Barker, and more recently in its opposition brief in Warner v. Cassin, that the term “to authorize” in the preamble language of 17 USC 106 means that merely “authorizing” something is tantamount to “infringement”. This argument was recently repudiated by the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, in Latin American Music Co. v. Archdiocese of San Juan. - Recording Industry vs The People.

“Anarcho-syndicalism, side note”

01. Creeps on Candy - Dr O (at)
Wonders Of Giardia (Alternative Tentacles, 1999)
02. Dead and Gone - Trainwreck (at)
God Loves Everyone But You (Alternative Tentacles, 1997)
03. Noam Chomsky - Big Business And The General Population-A Nation Divided (at)
The Emerging Framework of World Power (Alternative Tentacles, 2003)
04. Pilot Scott Tracy - Take A Flight II (at)
We Cut Loose (Alternative Tentacles, 2006)
05. Zeni Geva - Heathen Blood (at)
Desire For Agony (Alternative Tentacles, 1993)
06. The (International) Noise Conspiracy - A Body Treatise (at)
Live At Oslo Jazz Festival (Alternative Tentacles, 2003)
07. Zolar X - Silver Shapes (at)
Zolar (Alternative Tentacles, 2004)

note: Okay, too many impressionistic posts, so here is an obvious and practical list. The relationship between music, IP ownership, international trade, and ultimately relationship between people. I always thought blog could be more than just “la la la” we bop our head today. It should be Something that bop hard, rock the boat and better world through more information. … maybe. In the list: Chomsky and Alternative Tentacles. Enjoy. PS. watch the video of famous TV argument.

See also: wiki

Photo credit: Michael Phelps

With this list we come to the end of this series. A series that travelled from the heavy artillery of psychedelic freak-outs all the way to the serene bliss of dark and tranquil drones and ambient. This final 60+ minute playlist is like reaching our final destination in space. A peaceful place that glows with ecstasy and breathes an almost religious serene ambience. This couldn’t have been better portrayed than by Rhys Chatham’s incredible “A Crimson Grail”. A highly emotional recording which was made in the Sacre Coeur in Paris with 400 electric guitars, together creating a massive spectral wave of resonating beauty. Only the latter part of the 29 minute track by Troum seems to be able to threaten the almost sacred ambience of the list. But soon afterwards Machinefabriek treats us with a heart-wrenching piece of droning ambient. Probably one of the most powerful pieces of his catalogue so far.

1. TwinSisterMoon - I Wish I Could Drown the World in Reverberation
   When Stars Glide Through Solid (Self released, 2007)
2. Rhys Chatham - A Crimson Grail, Part 1
   A Crimson Grail (Table of the Elements, 2007)
3. Troum - Sigqan Part 2
   Sigqan (Desolation House, 2003)
4. Machinefabriek - Zucht 2
   Zucht (Self released, 2006)

Stream playlist

Previous instalments:
Dark Stars in the Dazzling Sky pt.1
Dark Stars in the Dazzling Sky pt.2
Dark Stars in the Dazzling Sky pt.3
Dark Stars in the Dazzling Sky pt.4
Dark Stars in the Dazzling Sky pt.5

                     CAROLYN
              (overly cheerful)
          No, no, that's quite all right, dear.
          Your father and I were just discussing
          his day at work.
              (to Lester)
          Why don't you tell our daughter about it,
          honey?

Jane stares at both her parents, apprehensive. Lester looks
at Carolyn darkly, then flashes a "you-asked-for-it" grin.

                    LESTER
          Janie, today I quit my job. And then I
          told my boss to fuck himself, and then I
          blackmailed him for almost sixty thousand
          dollars. Pass the asparagus.

                    CAROLYN
          Your father seems to think this kind of
          behavior is something to be proud of.

                    LESTER
          And your mother seems to prefer I go
          through life like a fucking prisoner
          while she keeps my dick in a mason jar
          under the sink.

- American Beauty, 1999

“Lucky Love in Time of Down Economy”

01. Ronderlin - Three Times
The Great Investigation (Tomt Recordings, 2007)
02. The Velvet Underground - What Goes On
The Velvet Underground (1969)
03. The Savage Resurrection - Every little song
Savage Resurrection (Mod Lang, 1968)
04. John Fahey - St. Louis Blues (wiki)
The Legend of Blind Joe Death (Takoma, 1996)
05. Angie Heaton & The Gentle Tamers - Lucky In Love (web)
The Rumor Mill (Parasol, 2007)
06. The 1900s - When I Say Go (bf)
Cold & Kind (Parasol, 2007)
07. Mono in VCF - Escape City Scrapers (web)
Album 1 (Mono in VCF, 2007)

note : Second part in a series. This list has a completely retro feeling, giving that melancholic tone. Perfect to describe down economy right? And I am turning into dowdy social critic rather quickly with this series. War, love, money, everything that goes down the drain. Perfect set up for bluesy texture. The new groups aren’t that bad either, tho’ to be honest I haven’t really scanned thoroughly for edgier work. Anyway, comment away. I need idea for next in this series. - sq

see also: AC no.53, Cries From the Midnight Circus
image: [1, 2, 3] , porcelaine

“When I was young, I was extremely scared of dying. But now I think it a very, very wise arrangement. It’s like a light that is extinguished. Not very much to make a fuss about.”

– Ingmar Bergman (14.7.1918 - 30.7.2007)

Here I’m quoting Ingmar’s words again. This time I’m going to say: No, I’m so afraid of it.

It has been around me. From the death of Ingmar Berman, Michelangelo Antonioni, Wen Xing Yu (a famous and beloved local actor here), Max Roach, good friend’s uncle, and so on. And I just got to know that one of my good friends from high school who used to sat behind me, Tian, a really sweet girl, has left us 10 days ago… Cruely before I could wipe away the tears, I was told a guy who was also from high school has gone as well - while trying to stop a fight.

For a moment I don’t know what is going on, I’m kind of lost and confused. How ridiculous this summer is. All of this sudden disappearence is so unbearable. Like fallen stars, their fell on me one by one. The weight makes me scared. I couldn’t stop crying at night. Tian’s death, I have to say, finally made me realise completely what people mean by ‘cherish’. I haven’t been in contact with her for quite a while. Now I looked back on those sweet words that she wrote to me when we graduated more than 3 years ago, in the small booklet where she wrote: “Saisai, will you remember me? I will think of you, and remeber you, really!” Certainly. I do. I miss you, Tian.

Yet c’est la vie. And I don’t want it to sound too heavy and depressing. People coming and leaving, no matter how and when, who wouldn’t at the end - even if it’s not death. Life goes on, and everything will be ok.

May they all rest in peace.

1. Ingmars Zemzaris - Averte Faciem Tuam
(Miserere / 1996)
2. Erik Friedlander - The Wind Groans
(Maldolor / 2003 / Brassland)
3. Voice of the Seven Woods - The Journey
(The Journey / 2007 / self released)
4. The Blithe Sons - Morning at Night
(The Amazed Map / 2007)
5. Ryuichi Sakamoto - Dream
(Lack of Love / 2000)
6. Harold Budd - As Long As I Can Hold My Breath
(Avalon Sutre / 2000 / Samadhi Sound)

photo credit to longarmhair