Tag Archives: Music
Posts which show music or refer to music making
I NEVER BEEN GLID BEFORE
When I was 16 and at college, 50 years ago, there was a question you asked to see if a person was cool or not.
You would ask “What’s yer favourite Gong album?”
Any name given, from Camenbert Electrique (my favourite), to Angel Egg or Flying Teapot would do.
But “Who’s Gong?” would not do. Uncool.
Here they are from that time, long ago. Daevid Allen, the lead singer, was central; he was the pivotal figure over many years and band members.
So I was pleased to hear this from 2024…
They were a thing of a time and place, the place was France, and the time was the 70’s.
But it’s good to hear that the spirit lives on.
So what’s yer favourite Gong album?
the world naturally swings
Working with art as research has convinced me that all that we make as art already exists in the world, in its actual material structure. All we do is find it and reveal it. It is in the physical nature of paint, in music theory and music making, in our bodies in performance, in the vibrations in the air that make sound and in the wind in the clouds making patterns.
Below, swing reveals itself in the act of moving a shaker.
Take a Little Time To Sing
Alice Russell in full voice.
Citizens
“I could be you, and you could be me. And this we learned we would be free…”
A call to sing together…..
Citizens of planet earth don’t get caught in the act
Don’t strive to destruction the flash it’s just that
There’s something behind these walls, something under the sheets I say
A truth that’s been locked in way down in me
You’ve got to get up , around your space
And take a, take a little time to contemplate
Will we ever see what it’s like behind these walls
And are you, are you still moving up every-time you fall, you fall
Think a little about what you got
Stop , think a little about what you got
And start again
I could be you, you
And you , you
You could be me , me
And I , I , I could be you , you
And you , you
You could be me , me
I could be you, you
And you , you
You could be me , me
And I , I , I could be you , you
And you , you
And this we learned we would be free
Overwhelming
This post is a complement to the previous post here about the physical and emotional response to viewing great original art. We could say art is a collaboration between our phenomenal and emotional world and as such, as sentient beings, one would assume this may have the capacity to connect with us phenomenally and emotionally. In simple terms, it can move us. The last article about scientific evidence of the impact of seeing an original painting reminded me of a track by Idles, shown below which is a tongue-in-cheek defence of being moved by art. Stendhal Syndrome is a description of a reaction to viewing art in which a person faints or becomes delirious. It is named after the writer Stendhal. The man with the beard moving through various art galleries is Adam Devonshire, Idles bassist.
In 1817 Stendhal had a visceral reaction to being in Florence surrounded by exquisite art and architecture.
He commented “I reached the point where one encounters celestial sensations . . . Everything spoke so vividly to my soul. Ah, if I could only forget. I had palpitations of the heart, what in Berlin they call ‘nerves’. Life was drained from me. I walked with the fear of falling.”
The syndrome is not a diagnosable illness but is a phenomenon described by an Italian psychologist in 1979 based on their experience of tourists responding to art, particularly in Florence.
In an article in The British Journal of Psychiatry by Gary Woods here Joe Partridge, songwriter and singer for Idles is quoted as saying that an experience in a Valencian gallery in Spain, rendered him awestruck, tearful and ‘captivated to the point of nausea’.
When I lived in London and visited the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery regularly I recall having a strong emotional and embodied reaction to seeing the actual brush strokes of artists like Monet and Turner. It did make me feel lightheaded like I was going to swoon. It surprised me.
Maybe the difference between the painting and the reproduction is the knowledge that one is witnessing the embodiment of the moment the paint was put on the canvas. In a reproduction, one cannot perceive this. The experience of seeing the reproduction is lesser, in that knowledge accompanies sensation and perception that tells you this is a copy of many copies. The original seems more like a live experience.
Joe and Idles value the live experience and in this video below towards the end, Joe is overwhelmed by the experience of being there. Enjoy this astonishing performance.
How Should We Create Things?
An article featuring Brian Eno talking about playfulness and creativity
Hi Ren
Came across this…
It is at once hard work and relaxing, at least at the end, where Ren does relax. It ‘mak mi wep’ as they say.
Posting regularly evades me ‘cos I feel like I have to put some thing up that ticks boxes for hits or likes or comments, but, it induces angst, and like Ren at the end learns to relax, go with the flow and see where we go, I’ll be more relaxed about posting and just put up stuff and see what happens.
This tho’. Man, it’s a work of art, and angst, and so even as I write and find myself with Ren again, the ocean from whence we came makes me wet.
This tho’. Man it works at so many levels. It is black comedy, virtuoso performance, pain and perforative, in it’s sonics and it’s lyrics, switching from the bible to Brecht to Shakespearic street talk to confessional to rap at it’s best and British, the kind of multicultural mixed race mixed gender mixed ability thing we do so well, like all the other places that do that well likewise.
And he’s Welsh.
So Ren, Diolch yn Fawr.
Moving Space 