Week 23 6/14/2020

Always forward.

                                      

That which has been possible in the past remains viable moving ahead, but it is necessary to engage foresight rather than cling to infantile idea and emotion.  

Week 35 9/1/19

Creativity is far more rare than commonly understood.

This is because there is value on the one hand, and price on the other.  What is the cost of freedom in a free culture?  What is that which is priceless worth?

Time Past. Time Present. Time Future.

Time present and time past. Are both perhaps present in time future. And time future contained in time past. If all time is eternally present.

from BURNT NORTON (No. 1 of 'Four Quartets') by T.S. Eliot

Published on Feb 15, 2016

Filmed among modern ruins in Caroline du Nord.
Arranged and Performed by Moderan
Vocal by Dr. S.G. "Trashpile" Hunter, Antiquary.

Words & Music © by David Bowie
from "The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars" (1972)

Licensing: Harry Fox Agency

TINTORETTO MUSIC
CHRYSALIS MUSIC GROUP INC DIGITAL ONLY
EMI MUSIC PUBLISHING LTD.

To Rise Above

The artist chooses, and afterwards the only choice is forward.

This is transcendence: to rise beyond circumstance and obstacle, ridicule and contempt.

And this is expression, as opposed to pretension, which is defined by attachment.  Attachment to the self, to recognition, and to the lesser things, wealth and personal power. These have no significance beyond themselves.

The way of the artist is elevation.  Above, beyond.

Media Fog

Artists of integrity are never less than honest brokers of cultural information.

Artistic communication is often shadow-play, nevertheless, yet artists direct the attention to the places where they dwell, either toward light or darkness.

This understanding is the responsibility of the audience-- but it is not always present.

Simulacrum, or State Otherwise

Popular innovations are few.

For commercial purposes, and particularly in terms of musical forms, the rule is imitation, and thus works and performances are relegated to genre.  In the arts, this is indefensible.

There is no breathing room in such narrow confines. Survival is one thing, and commercial viability is another. But to create, really innovate on an individualistic, heightened level of awareness, one must break away altogether, even if no form exists in which to function.

Such forms, which are as yet unimagined, must be made real.

Wild Cry, Left at Great Distance

It is misleading to suggest culture is in a state of decline.

Popular culture is perpetually in a state of decline, based, as it is, upon the notion of "living only for the moment".  Forward-thinking is anathema in such conditions, which are always characterized by absurd emotionalism, squandered passion, insipid vainglory, and the stale idea that some ill-defined, nebulous "we" are "all in this together".

I am interested in art produced by individuals, for individuals.  In composition, it is always my goal to expand, not limit, and elevate consciousness.

This, at all times, defines my perspective on the modern world.

Order of Progress

The way of the artist is that of the individualistic gesture.

Of course this is existential rebellion, in opposition to the common, the mundane, and the self- righteously complacent everywhere manifest in contemporary culture at all times.

Who will think, rather than be told, will reach beyond the surface of appearances.  For the artist as composer, this is the critical choice between music that now exists and sounds that must instead be brought into being.

Atmospheres for Imaginary Settings

Cultural conditioning sets limits that define music.

Certainly in free societies this does not have to be the case, and with knowledge and percipience come broader, more critical perspectives than those associated with predictable musical content.

In point of fact, very few listeners, songwriters, and composers take an interest in expansion beyond the generalized commercial and academic horizons, not because audiences would have no interest in such endeavors-- a lack of interest in musical genres and fashions, even the so called "refined" ones, declines precipitously as the listener moves further beyond adolescence-- but because the knowledge of advanced aural compositions, their aesthetics, and their purposes have yet to articulated properly to the public at large.  Ambient music, as defined by Brian Eno and others, has indeed been established as such, and with intellectual clarity according to its character.

But it is what I would call the sonic setting composition that is different in nature than ambient music, engaged, as it is, with the perceptions and consciousness of the listener, and created according to an entirely different paradigm. This requires analysis accordingly, and ultimately, a kind of introduction, via informed artists and individuals, into the broader cultural setting.  Otherwise one need expect no more than the perpetuation of the state of things in the musical arts.

Commission

The Black Mountain School project creates sound environments.

These sound environments are designed to complement diverse settings by replicating the paradigms of spontaneously occurring aural phenomena, both "natural" and "man-made".  As such, these works are not predicated upon concepts that are traditionally "musical", but rather upon the perceptual qualities of active listening and passive hearing.  Such perspectives are associated with apprehension of tones, patterns, and myriad variations of sonic impressions, some based upon aesthetic constructs of the visual arts.

Peculiar methods and techniques necessary to compose sonic atmospheres of this nature originate solely with the Black Mountain School project and continue to be developed in our studio.  While the listener may detect a host of artistic influences, these are unavoidably displaced in the course of the work by the intent and goals of the compositions and recordings.  In objective terms, the discriminating listener will find no other "experimental" or "mainstream" productions that are analogous to the work of Black Mountain School.

Were it otherwise the case, the project would have no purpose, and no raison d'être.

Fusion

Underground  minimalism.

These musical efforts have their origins in underground rock dating back to the late 1970's through the early '90's, when small music clubs proliferated in the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S.  Magazines like Trouser Press, Matter, and the New Music Express gave some coverage to the scene, and ultimately some bands were esteemed by music critics and grew to be popular and successful in the mainstream.  My musical interests tended toward the experimental and improvisational, as reflected in the aforementioned journals' comparisons of recordings by groups I worked with to the Doors and the Velvet Underground.  Such press coverage was minimal; the groups were insignificant, except that they provided a great deal of experience in performing and recording, expanding my awareness of both cultural and technical ideas and processes.

As to nostalgia, that would be absurd.  I do recall one evening after a long rehearsal, relaxing and listening to an album titled Evening Star by Robert Fripp and Brian Eno, and becoming aware, with sudden certainty, that this music was, in terms of heightening intellectual and emotional awareness, far superior to anything possible with rock, jazz/fusion or otherwise, and that beside it rock and roll was, at best, boring. 

That moment made all that is under consideration here possible.

Upon Reflection

While designing a work of manipulated sounds the interest is focused on the process, and in large part it is the case that what might be generously called the composer's perspective-- fed by the familiar works that directly or indirectly influence the outcome of the sound design-- is not very apparent over the course of that process.  Later, following a number of times spent listening, some of those influences come to mind.

There are some basics informing all these Black Mountain School works, from general elements of sound and production to specific pieces.

Generally speaking, along with such works as Eno's Music for Airports and On Land, it is possible to perceive the impact of a variety of musicians and albums upon the sound and production qualities.  Among them are Pink Floyd's Ummagumma, Wendy Carlos' Sonic Seasonings, Roxy Music's For Your Pleasure, and the "atmospheric" qualities of such diverse albums as Miles Davis' Kind of Blue, Close To The Edge by Yes, Green River by Creedence Clearwater Revival, Azimuth by the group of the same name, Nat Adderley's Calling Out Loud, and a variety of tracks by The Doors, David Bowie, and The Velvet Underground.

Quite likely there are some elements of The Three Stooges in there as well.