Music. It always (but never really) changes me.

I have been listening to two things. First, early 1900's composers like Schoenberg, Strauss, with some mid 1900's as well(i.e. Karlheinz Stockhausen and Giacinto Scelsi) Second is stoner-doom-metal. My current favorites being Wiht and Horn of the Rhino.

The most apparrent comparison I can make is the interest in tone. Perfecting the quality of each note/chord/cluster/sound. Really, this is not tone at all. Timbre, or the quality of a musical note or sound that distinguishes different types of sound production(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timbre), is what I mean.

Yes, I did just cite Wikipedia. Fuck you.

The composers of those eras of interest, and the downtuned sound most doom bands profess is a sound obsessed with expressing/changing/creating a very specific shape-colored sound. Either by playing a completely unrecognizable cluster of notes that is derived from a completely different musically theoretical way or simply putting fatter strings on your guitar and using very specific amplification parameters, the goal is similar.

And, now, where they both differ is dynamics. In fact, all modern music has completely lost all sense of dynamics whatsoever... We can blame this on the loudness obsession in audio production today and throughout history. Or, we can just say that dynamics are not a marketable aspect of music, and have somehow been pushed out of interest by flooding the (this sickens me as I type it) 'music-market' with over-produced, simple and repetitive ( to the point of insulting) 'songs'.

Here are some examples of all that I have mentioned:

I was going to post some Lady Gaga, because she is a fucking demon from the depths of a plastic sweatshop factory made of chicken nuggets. But, I will spare you the indecency.

If there are certain sounds that are always explicitly appealing...

Sometimes, I get dizzy when the scrollbars freeze. I hate that. My world is so warped and wrapped in stratifications. It's like the worst, most unhealthy rotting leaves that make the most un-malleable clay. Blue glowing metals and liquid crystals that are paid all in blood...

This was supposed to be poetic.

I have been listening to The Incredible String Band. I don't know much about them personally. She says they are Hobbits. They remind me of my uncles and aunts and cousins. When my whereabouts were a bit more dependent on what my parents were doing, I used to go visit them during annual summer family reunions, which usually consisted of a hundred or so three-to-eighty-year-old individuals picknicking, camping, yelling, card-playing, guitar picking, wailing, singing, hollering, getting-poison-ivying, bear chasing, creek dweelling, etc... The reunions were some of the most personally defining times of my life. There were mountains climbed, properties destroyed, badminton battles, too much soda, and all the sewage-filled creeks for to hunt for crawdads in in the entire universe.

The ' String Band's music reminds me of that. It carries a seemingly unintentional self-searching, and simple clarity that being young and surrounded by community and family fosters. I think it is because so much of their lyrics deal with very deep spiritual things, and the music is very simply composed and layered. It is fun, and serious, and purposeful, but always human. Much like arming a twelve year-old with a sling shot. Inevitably a bird will die, and hopefully someone will learn that what they do has meaning and affect.

I'll try and let them speak for themselves.

I thought this was relevant. It is in the description for this video on the youtube page:

"FAIR USE NOTICE: These pages/video may contain copyrighted (© ) material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such material is made available to advance understanding of ecological, POLITICAL, HUMAN RIGHTS, economic, DEMOCRACY, scientific, MORAL, ETHICAL, and SOCIAL JUSTICE ISSUES, etc. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior general interest in receiving similar information for research and educational."

I paint.

These are sum paintings. Look at them. Here is a link to the album if you want full-res copies I guess. All of these were scanned using my shitty HP deskjet printerscannercopier deathmachine. Therefore, they are all much bigger than this in real life. Well, that is to say that the scanner cuts off lots of them. YAY!





These two are part of one piece.




This is a paint on a woodburned portrait of Jesus.


This a tree and a hand done in crayon.




This is glitter.


Glitter gets fucking everywhere...




Those are pieces of tin foil.








This is a paintbrush.

This is what I mean, I think.

Authority does not allow you to experience real personal consequence. You are only accountable for as far as your actions are punishable. For example if I steal from food from a grocery store, they are out a few dollars, and my gut is filled. But, the cashiers who let me walk out of their with that few dollars are possibly in jeopardy, because stealing is illegal. Not too mention what would have happened to me if I were caught... The employees involved are now required to appeal their actions to the those in charge, and those in charge are now required to appeal their actions to those superior. All this is happening simply because I didn't adhere to a piece of this hierarchy. Instead of exchanging food for a piece of paper I took it. In this scenario myself, the would be culprit, gets off scot-free, and the unobservant cashier is the one who will take the hit. Is this fair? This idea of, consequence; equals and opposites, applies very clearly in such a rigid hierarchical system, and living in such a system, we are all familiar with this idea of consequence. No one is really required to say who was wrong or who was right. We all know I was wrong, and yet so is the cashier for their negligence. But, not those who are 'in charge.' This is not to say that any personal moral conflict in this kind of situation is non-existent. It just isn't necessary, and is easily ignored.

But what if this hierarchy is removed? Are we then left to mill around hitting each other in the face because we don't know we cant? The obvious answer is no. And to assume otherwise is to ignore something innate in every person. The reason that assumption is made; that removing rules results in chaos is that because of the rules we need not have any personal idea of consequence or responsibility. What Anarchism aims to do is free us from that hierarchy. Those oppressive social mechanizations that force us into tiny inhuman niches where our only purpose is to produce. The ability to act freely. Liberation. To be human, and work together towards a mutual goal. Solidarity. The freedom to experience real choice, real consequence, and real responsibility. To live.

LISTEN!

Here is some more free music... Since the stuff I make myself is usually un-listenable by most spoiled and consumerism trained discerning ears... I suspect that all is fail as far as this goes, but I will try anyway. Just extract the folder, and double-click the LISTEN.m3u file in there. If you can't handle it... Then, put down the mouse and back away from the computer slowly.

HEY!

I said hands off the mouse, and BACK. AWAY. No one needs to get hurt.

FEATURING! BassNecter?!, Torche!, Capsule!, ummm... Something else? Just listen, and explore.

HERE IS SOME FREE MUSIC!

I was bored the other night and made what I though to be the most excellent playlist. Here it is in a nifty .zip archive! Just extract the folder, and open the lrn2playlist.m3u file inside in any media player (I think...). If you have problems let me know!

Featuring! King Crimson, Einsturzende Neubauten, Polvo, Gorillaz, Converge, Fear Factory and more!

It's feels like what I am.

Hums, and trills, or spills!
Waves, in perfect frequencies,
Fed into me.
And, down, deeply.
It grows to show,
I am a part of these,
Vibrations, and lives. The trees.
Seas; "the gathering green"!
Hands clasped, against or for.
Its all the same; giving.
Touch.
This is how I know I will be, and not be specifically one or two, but always everything.

FEATURING Exiles from Larks's Tongues in Aspic.