Knausgaard’s Buddhism

Reading Book 6 of My Struggle. Karl Ove stumbles upon the essence of Buddhism, though he doesn’t acknowledge it as such. Like Korzybski’s “the map is not the territory.” “A world without language was a world without categories, where every single thing, no matter how modest, stood out in its own right. It was a world without history, in which only the moment existed. A pine tree in that world was not a “pine,” nor was it a “tree,” but a nameless phenomenon, something growing up out of the ground, which moved when the wind blew.”

Tao Lin

I love Tao Lin‘s Twitter style, especially his “I recommend…” tweets. Like: “I recommend avoiding insane culture and people who mock and ridicule other people”

Bill Frisell

The older I get, the more I keep looking back trying to figure out where I come from, and why. And the more I look back, the more information it gives me to move forward.
Bill Frisell

Foreigner

At the gym today, the soundtrack was 100% young white male post-Strokes rock. It was so bland and formulaic, the lyrics so forced and shallow, that when a song by Foreigner — Foreigner! — came on, it seemed fresh, human, real.

Siouxsie and the Banshees, “Painted Bird” (1982)

In the early 1980s, when I was the guitarist in The Nebulas, one of my main inspirations was John McGeoch’s work in Magazine and the Banshees. Not only his playing, which was and still is some of the most inventive in all of pop/rock, but his skill at orchestrating a song — or an entire album — with his wildly varied guitar sounds. He did this to some extent in Magazine, but there he was sharing space with Dave Formula’s excellent keyboard arrangements. The Banshees were a guitar-bass-drums outfit, so John’s layered guitar parts usually featured the hooks; they carried the songs, instrumentally meshing with Severin’s simple but crucial basslines (check out the Severin-McGeoch harmonies opening “Cascade”) and Budgie’s propulsive drumming. In fact, I consider Ju Ju one of the greatest guitar albums ever, not because of “guitar hero” showoff pyrotechnics, but precisely because of McGeoch’s inventiveness in orchestrating the … Read more

Leonard Cohen

Just finished reading Matters of Vital Interest: A Forty-Year Friendship with Leonard Cohen by Eric Lerner. And it was a beautiful friendship, and thanks to “Old Eric” for sharing it with us. Buddhism isn’t really as mysterious and complicated as it seems; the “enlightenment” people chase is no big deal. Their Roshi couldn’t simply tell them this, but toward the end I think they “got it.”

Leon Russell/Joe Cocker, “Delta Lady” (1969-70)

If you had been leafing through Rolling Stone in 1970, this A&M Records ad for the latest Joe Cocker single might’ve caught your eye: The visual pun stuck in my mind; years later I googled and found the image (it doesn’t seem to be online any more). The song, written and recorded by Leon Russell the year before, fits in two traditions, which can also be thought of as two fantasies: 1. Back to the Garden, which in ’69 would’ve meant Eden/Woodstock, Nature. Please don’t ask how many times I found you Standing wet and naked in the garden… The country vs. the city (countless songs about this at the time) was a big part of the Garden myth: There are concrete mountains in the city And pretty city women live inside them And yet it seems the city scene is lacking I’m so glad you’re waiting for me in … Read more

Twyla Tharp

Someone has done it before? Honey, it’s all been done before. Nothing’s really original. Not Homer or Shakespeare, and certainly not you. Get over yourself.
Twyla Tharp

Brian Eno

Stop thinking about artworks as objects, and start thinking about them as triggers for experiences.
Brian Eno

MOTU DP10

Keeping a close eye on the soon-to-be-available Digital Performer 10 upgrade from MOTU. I’ve kept my copy of DP upgraded (through most versions) since DP3, I think. Like the program, like the company (hey — they’re local!), and I think it’s an excellent platform for mixing. But for composing, I really need to have the freedom and speed you get with MIDI regions — which DP lacks. Maybe the new Clips are a harbinger of Object-Oriented MIDI in the timeline? Peter Kirn at CDM talks about DP 10’s new features in the context of the DAW universe: DP10 adds clip launching, improved audio editing to MOTU’s DAW