mesmerizing
John Luther Adams (1953-), Four Thousand Holes (2010)
Taka Kigawa (piano), Chris Graham (percussion), live, New York, 2017
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lagniappe
reading table
This road—
no one goes down it,
autumn evening.—Matsuo Basho, 1644-1694 (translated from Japanese by Robert Hass)
more
Kaija Saariaho (1952-), Petals (1988; cello and electronics); Imke Frank (cello) and Gary Berger (live electronics), live, Switzerland (Winterthur), 2011
not the same old stuff
Maja S. K. Ratkje, live (performance begins at 1:30), Norway (Kristiansand), 2013
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lagniappe
reading table
Happy (106th) Birthday, Elizabeth
From the few states I have seen I should now immediately select Florida as my favorite. I don’t know whether you have been here or not—it is so wild, and what there is of cultivation seems rather dilapidated and about to become wild again. On the way down we took a very slow train from Jacksonville here. All day long it went through swamps and turpentine camps and palm forests and in a beautiful pink evening it began stopping at several little stations. The stations were all off at a tangent from the main track and it necessitated first going by, then stopping, backing up, stopping, starting again—with many puffs of white smoke, blowing of the whistle, advice from the loiterers around the station—all to throw off one limp bag of mail.
—Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979), letter to Marianne Moore, January 5, 1937
not the same old stuff
Éliane Radigue (1932-), L’Île re-sonante (2000)
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lagniappe
random sights
last night, Oak Park, Ill.
not the same old stuff
Dana Jessen (bassoon), Points Against Fields (Sam Pluta), live, Chicago, 2016
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
So many sounds, made by so many people, we’ll never hear, no matter how much we listen.
*****
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
tonight in Chicago
She’ll be at Stony Island Arts Bank.
Sarah Davachi (1987-), “As the Morning,” 2014
art beat: other day, The Guggenheim (New York)
Agnes Martin (1912-2004), Untitled #5, 1998
three takes
Mica Levi, “Love” (soundtrack, Under the Skin)
Oliver Coates (cello and electronics), live, London, 2014
***
Stargaze, live, Netherlands (The Hague), 2016
***
Recording, 2014
sui generis
Sculpture, “Untitled,” 2016
**********
lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill. (Trumpenstein)
*****
baseball: Chicago Cubs
. . . Cleveland leads this World Series 3-2, but it feels very close—like, as close to tied as it can be without being, you know, actually tied.
—Thomas Boswell, Washington Post, 10/31/16
Repetitive?
Yes.
Boring?
Not to these ears.
William Basinski, Watermusic II, 2003
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago (Columbus Park)
*****
baseball: Chicago Cubs
Now, it’s onto Cleveland, with a confident team, a DH in [Kyle] Schwarber, [Aroldis] Chapman knowing he’s capable of going longer than two innings, and a “Rocky’’ tape stuffed in their equipment bag.
“The boys are feeling real good right now,’’ said [Anthony] Rizzo, who was impersonating Rocky Balboa with shadow-boxing before the game, even playing the “Rocky’’ theme as his walk-up music before his first at-bat. “We had a good time in here before the game. We’re going the bout. We’re going the distance.
“We’re bought in.
“And we believe in it.’’
—Bob Nightengale, USA Today, 10/31/16
what’s new
Banabila & Machinefabriek, “Kaleidoscope,” 2016
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago (Columbus Park)
*****
reading table
Whenever I sleep
with my socks on
I have bad dreams—Yosa Buson (1716-1783), translated from Japanese by W.S. Merwin and Takako Lento
