finding resonance: April 2009

Blank Canvas

Last night, I hung out with my old friend Justin from temple. He's a painter, hoping to forge a career in the arts, both teaching and painting. I was lucky enough to get a peak at the evolution of his work over the past few years (maybe more?) on this cool site.

He talked about, and I agreed, how daunting it can be to create art in the face of unequivocal open-endedness. The possibilities are literally limitless! And that can be overwhelming, no? But also liberating of course.

Our conversation reminded me of a quote (see below) posted by a sound artist on Transom's fascinating and poetic forum about the creative possibilities of radio, and the unfortunate demand in public radio for "LITERALness."

The most challenging aspect of cultivating “new” space (or anything new, for that matter) is the absence of time for reflection.
- Galen Joseph Hunter

My favorite radio makers are ones that embrace open spaces, both real and imagined. Their work inspires a sense of wonder and humility and reverence for the void (or whatever you want to call it). And I think this is so because they not only set aside time for reflection themselves, but also make art about that very notion/impulse.

Melodramatic Popular Song

I've been pretty disappointed with the quality of Ben Folds' output since his Sunny 16 EP six years ago. I'm left wondering if I've grown out of my love for him, or if his songs are actually less inspired than they used to be. Yesterday he released his latest album, which is actually a compilation of University A Capella groups singing some of my favorite Folds songs (Not the Same, Boxing, Selfless, Cold, and Composed, Army...) The Wall Street Journal wrote about it this weekend.

I was feeling cynical about the effort after reading the WSJ article, and even after hearing "Not The Same" performed by The Spartones from Greensboro, North Carolina on the BF myspace page.

But then I watched this video of The Spizzwinks (?) singing "Landed," and most of my ill-will towards Folds and the new A Capella album evaporated.

Stella

Finally, a great piece of writing about Stella.

Then watch this if you haven't already.

Then check this out.

Michael and Michael Spoof the Billy Bob Thornton Interview from Michael Black on Vimeo.

Now I'm catching up on the Michael and Michael have issues blog.

I can't fall asleep, btw.

Wanting to Believe in That Person

I was so taken by this video that I went to My Brightest Diamond's website to check if she might be coming to the area anytime soon. Turns out she'll be performing, solo, at a place in Detroit called The Yes Farm on 4/25! The show's proceeds (donations from those in attendance) will go towards installing permanent electricity at the venue.

MY BRIGHTEST DIAMOND in series: Live From Other Music from Dig For Fire on Vimeo.

The Yes Farm, according to their blog, is "a group committed to living and creating in Detroit. We believe the arts play an important role in the community and we seek to bring art into the lives of the people and places around us. Our goal is to establish a permanent location for artists to live and work. In this location we would like to host workshops and events, and have space for visiting artists to create in. We also hold a deep commitment to ecology and would like to grow food, and create artistic open spaces in our neighborhood."

I'm totally going. You should too!

Middle Cyclone

“The prison girls are not impressed, the ones who have to clean this mess. They’ve traded more for cigarettes than I have managed to express.”

It's now only every so often that I actually buy an album, usually via Itunes. Last week I got Neko Case's latest, Middle Cyclone. Sasha Frere-Jones wrote this about it recently. A great read.

Atoms, Motion & and the Void

Now that I'm pretty much settled back into the D, I'm gonna steer this blog back towards its original function of highlighting "sounds and chronicles from the world we walk in."

Not only is Atoms, Motion & the Void the best podcast title I've ever heard, but it's also one of the best, certainly the most original and moving, audio series I've ever come across. But I don't think its fair to only compare this stuff to other podcasts/audio. It's so moving and evocative that it transcends the medium, I think.

I was introduced to the Sleeves saga when Re:Sound devoted an entire show to Sherwin Sleeves and the character's creator, writer/producer/stay-at-home dad, Sean Hurley. I think that might be the best introduction to the project.

I find Atoms, Motion & The Void to be timeless in a way few other things are.

You can and should subscribe to the AMV podcast on Itunes. It will lull you to sleep and remind you why stories are the best thing we have.