two takes
Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943), Prelude in C-sharp minor
Sergei Rachmaninoff, piano roll
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Sun Ra (1914-1993), recording, 1980
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lagniappe
found words
Potentially fatal
dangers lurk in
your backyard—AOL
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taking a break
I’m taking some time off—back in a while.
Life as a criminal-defense lawyer involves travel to many glamorous destinations. Just this week, for instance, I went to Lisbon, Ohio (pop. 2,821), where I whiled away a sunny morning at the federal prison.
Bon Iver, “Lisbon, OH” (Bon Iver, 2011)
[Justin] Vernon composed the instrumental as he was writing letters to his friend Ian Wallace serving three years in prison in Lisbon, Ohio. . . . [H]is pal ended up in jail as a result of attempting to blow-up two university buildings for the Earth Liberation Front.
Feeling too good for TV keeps getting harder.
The Handsome Family, “Far From Any Road”
True Detective (2014), theme song
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Live, England (Lochside Theatre, Castle Douglas), 2008
No matter where you are, new sounds are just around the corner.
Marcos Balter (1974-), Strohbass (2011), Shanna Gutierrez (bass flute) and Ryan Muncy (baritone saxophone), live, Evanston, Ill., 2011
what’s new
Where would Western civilization be without the invention of the three-minute pop song?
Dream Chart Top 40 Songs: May 2014 (5/24/14)
Happy (100th) Birthday, Sonny!
Sun Ra (AKA Herman “Sonny” Blount), May 22, 1914-May 30, 1993, keyboard player, composer, bandleader, singular spirit
Today, celebrating his centennial, we revisit a few favorites.
Sun Ra All Stars (SR, keyboards; Don Cherry, pocket trumpet, vocals; Lester Bowie, trumpet; Archie Shepp, tenor saxophone, vocals; John Gilmore, tenor saxophone; Marshall Allen, alto saxophone, percussion; Philly Joe Jones, drums; Clifford Jarvis, drums; Famadou Don Moye, drums, percussion), live, Germany (Berlin), 1983
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Sun Ra & His Arkestra, live, Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival, 1974
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Sun Ra Arkestra (SR, piano; June Tyson, vocals; John Gilmore, tenor saxophone, et al.), “Springtime Again,” live, Rome, 1980
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Sun Ra (piano) & Walt Dickerson (vibraphone), “Astro” (Visions, 1978)
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lagniappe
radio
WKCR (Columbia University): Sun Ra all day—tomorrow, too.
what’s new
M.I.A. & The Partysquad, “Double Bubble Trouble” (directed by M.I.A.)
Some people behave strangely in their own living rooms. Others do it on national TV.
Van Morrison, Sinead O’Connor, The Chieftains, “Have I Told You Lately,” live (Late Show with David Letterman), 1997
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lagniappe
art beat
Garry Winogrand (1928-1984), New York, 1969
beyond category
John Zorn, Book of Angels (excerpts); Uri Caine, piano; Masada String Trio (Mark Feldman, violin; Erik Friedlander, cello;* Greg Cohen, bass); live, France (Marciac), 2008
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lagniappe
reading table
There’s a line in Tarkovsky’s Solaris: we never know when we’re going to die and because of that we are, at any given moment, immortal.
—Geoff Dyer, “Diary,” London Review of Books, 4/3/14
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*It’s all related: Erik’s the son of photographer Lee Friedlander, whose work is often featured here.
music clip of the day 