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Emptiness in Full Bloom

Reflections on Zen Master Dogen’s “Flowers in the Sky.”

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“Toward full IDM sound”

01. Baden Powell – Bassamba
Solitude On Guitar (1971)
02. Andrew Hill – Siete Ocho
The Blue Note Years, Vol. 5: Avant Garde 1963-1967 Disc 1 (1999)
03. Corcovado – Everything But the Girl, Everything But the Girl
Red Hot + Rio (1996)
04. Raul Midon – Devil May Care
State Of Mind (Pid, 2006)
05. Mônica Salmaso (part. Pau Brasil) – Logo Eu
Noites de Gala, Samba na Rua (Biscoito Fino, 2007)
06. Dj Krush – Escape (feat. A.S.A.)
Kakusei (Tristar, 1999)
07. Photek - Axiom
Modus Operandi (2000)
08. Venetian Snares – Twelve
Infolepsy EP (Coredump, 2005)
09. The Dining Rooms – Fatale
Ink (Schema Italia, 2007)

Note: A temperamental list. I keep shifting the songs and they wouldn’t stick together. Anyway, this is a part of “elegant” project, searching for playlist that capture the idea of elegant. The basic idea is to move away melody from the foreground and stay dry to make the rhythm section prominent. Changing texture balance by removing the usual mid-range instruments. So instead of melody-harmony with drum in the background, it’s melody-rhythm with harmony filler reduced as much as possible. I am not sure if it works or not, but I like it. I load up the list with bunch of songs full of delicate patterns. Overall I am trying to find that tension between seemingly chaotic and harsh IDM/DnB vs. warm vocal. Another way of arriving at new sounds that is not “indie rock” this, indie rock that. The new elegance? I put the balance back together at the end. k comment away.

see also: the secret reality of dreams, IDM (wiki)
image: [1, 2, 3, 4], [1, 2], [1, 3]

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1. Don’t wish for perfect health. In perfect health, there is greed and wanting. So an ancient said, ” Make good medicine from the suffering of sickness.”

2. Don’t hope for life without problems. An easy life results in a judgmental and lazy ind. So an ancient once said, “Accept the anxieties and difficulties of this life”.

3. Don’t expect your practice to be clear of obstacles. Without hindrances the mind that seeks enlightenment may be burnt out. So an ancient once said, “Attain deliverance in disturbances”
- Zen Master Kyong Ho [1849-1912], in Thousand Peaks

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“Improved Lunch Pop. What is Indie No.1.”

01. Kings Of Convenience – Know How (featuring Feist)
A Brokedown Melody Soundtrack (Brushfire Records, 2006)
02. Meiko - How Lucky We Are (MySpace)
Meiko (Meiko, 2007)
03. Fujiya & Miyagi – Cassettesingle
Transparent things (Deaf Dumb & Blind, 2007)
04. I Am Kloot – The Same Deep Water As Me
I Am Kloot (Echo UK, 2003)
05. Mouse on Mars – Booosc (wiki)
Vulvaland (Too Pure, 1994)
06. Sun Ra – 21st Century Romance (wiki)
The Night of the Purple Moon (Atavistic Records, 1970)
07. Nina Simone – Marriage Is For Old Folks (wiki)
I Put A Spell On You (1965)

note: Lunch Pop. This list is not as brutally minimalist as the picture suggest. It was the first picture I find in flickr that I like. The content is tone downed, made for conversation list. It’s somewhat background tunes, but good enough for headphone lunch listening. “This is what indie pop sounds like” type of songs that I try to post more often, playing with usual definition of “indie rock”. Enjoy.

see also: Delicious Lunch, The Lunch Trip
image : Frengo

Lou Reed – vicious
(Transformer / 1972)
Brigitte Bardot – contact (Booka Shade edit)
(Dj Kicks : Booka Shade / 2007)
Glass Candy – Geto Boys (Demo)
(Unreleased)
The Clash – lost in the supermarket
(London Calling / 1979)
Gorillaz – kids with guns (hot chip remix)
(D-sides / 2007)
Wakimbizi – hallo hallo (latin mix)
(Raha / 2005)

- Dental caries at age 12.
- My mother told us that chewing Gum wrapped round your heart and you died if you swallowed it.
- Falling asleep with chewing gum on my mouth once or twice.
- I’m the one that your mother kept complaining about for hiding chocolates under her mattress.
- I lick your desk candy and put it back on the basket when you’re not watching.
- It was the lollipop which kept me dancing till dawn that night.

Photo(s): Sinsong, Nao, Hanny B, Ahmed Zahid.

Photo credit: Sir Richard Bishop as photographed by Mark Sullo

Last week’s part one featured some excellent electric guitar playing in various styles. It was a reference to Sir Richard Bishop’s fantastically titled album While My Guitar Violently Bleeds (released on Locust Music earlier this year, make sure to get the vinyl version if you have a record player, just for the beautiful artwork alone) although it did not have anything to do with the actual record itself. This second part however explores the sound of acoustic guitar instruments and comes a lot closer to what you’ll find on that album.

The mood throughout this mix remains somewhat reserved but offers several moments of clarity. Like the track from William Eaton’s self-titled album from 1978 which has luckily been reissued on the Japanese label Em last year. A quite remarkable document of a truly unique artist. The mix ends with the breathtaking (and lengthy) improvisation of Paul Metzger on modified banjo. I remember listening to this track well over a year ago when I received a phone call that my grandfather had just passed away. So as you can imagine this track is more than just music for me.

I must also say hats off to Locust Music for doing such a great effort in finding and releasing terrific music, particularly in this genre, but also in other genres. Not only did they release While My Guitar Violently Bleeds this year but also Paul Metzger’s excellent latest album called Deliverance and several other great albums. Their back catalogue includes artists like Henry Flynt, Steffen Basho-Junghans, Josephine Foster, Espers, Tetuzi Akiyama and many more. Definitely one of those labels to watch closely if you happen to enjoy this mix.

1. Sir Richard Bishop – Zurvan
   While My Guitar Violently Bleeds (Locust, 2007)
2. Alexander Turnquist – White Out
   Faint at the Loudest Hour (VHF, 2007)
3. James Blackshaw – Skylark Herald’s Dawn
   Sunshrine (Digitalis, 2005)
4. Wooden Spoon – Untitled 1
   Wooden Spoon 2 (Foxglove, 2007)
5. Robbie Basho – Eagle Sails the Blue Diamond Waters
   Venus in Cancer (Blue Thumb, 1969)
6. Jack Rose – Spirits in the House
   Jack Rose (Archive, 2006)
7. Jozef van Wissem – Propemticon
   Stations of the Cross (Incunabulum, 2007)
8. William Eaton – Track 1
   Music by William Eaton (Em, 2006)
9. Paul Metzger – Untitled 3
   Three Improvisations On Modified Banjo (Chairkickers’ Music, 2005)

Stream playlist

1.) Billie Holiday – Gloomy Sunday
(Ken Burns Jazz/2000)
Bjork – Gloomy Sunday
(Stormy Weather/1999)
2.) Billie Holiday – Don’t Explain
(Ken Burns Jazz/2000)
Billie Holiday – Don’t Explain (Dzihan and Kamien Remix)
(Verve Remixed, Vol. 2/2003)
3.) Billie Holiday – Fine and Mellow
(Ken Burns Jazz/2000)
Nina Simone – Fine and Mellow
(Nina Simone at Town Hall/1959)
4.) Billie Holiday – God Bless the Child
(God Bless the Child/1994)
Blood, Sweat, and Tears – God Bless the Child
(Blood, Sweat, and Tears/1969)
5.) Billie Holiday – Solitude
(Ken Burns Jazz/2000)
Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington - Solitude
(The Great Summit – The Complete Collection: Deluxe Edition/2000)

6.) Bille Holiday – Ain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do
(God Bless the Child/1994)

It’s the holidays and what better homage to the season than to regale in the classic melodies of the greatest Holiday in music? Misery loves company as is exemplified above. For every Billie classic, there is someone who covered it in their own way; and so, for each solitary tune there is a partner. Bessie Smith originated “Ain’t Nobody …” but I wanted to leave that song to Lady Day alone; for all of the company around her, none could compare to the partner for which she longed and loved the most: opium, heroin. It was that addiction to which her version of the song referred; it is that self-inflicted solitude which resonates strongest through her tracks and is at the base of her emptiness. So a little Holiday cheer — or just Holiday — to bring in the season. Enjoi.

photo credit: solitare miles I Wished on the Moon