And now it's time for you to hear "Island of Doom" by Agnes Obel from her upcoming release "Myopia" out on February 21, 2020. She says, "The song is made up of pitched-down piano and cello pizzicato and vocals, all choirs are pitched down and up...In my experience when someone close to you dies it is simply impossible to comprehend that you can’t ever talk to them or reach them somehow ever again."
Destiny made her way and found you in a room, They told me, they told me: To undo the rule of mind and body, And nature laughed away as their voices grew. They told me, They told me: “Clean out the room and bury the body”. But I know you with a heartbeat So how does the night feel? When the lights fade out When the lights fade out When the lights fade out But now it’s gone, it’s gone, it’s gone. But now it’s gone, it’s gone, it’s gone. “Haven’t walked for days though I wanted to” You told me, you told me: “For with every move the feeling follows”, “In nature’s empty face, I am of little use”, You told me, you told me: “I’m just another fool for the earth to swallow”. But the road through mines will lead you back, and I will be with you Before the road of your mind will eat you up, on your island of doom Where the voices have all gathered up, to a choir of fools But I know my mind will reach you there, and I will be with you. Oh I know you with a heartbeat So how does the night feel? When the lights fade out When the lights fade out When the lights fade out And now it’s gone, it’s gone, it’s gone And now it’s gone, it’s gone, it’s gone. Why you wake me up today? Why you wake me up today? One two three four five.
Oh, it's been a long time since Zero 7 released any new music and here is "Swimmers" featuring Jem Cooke on vocals...melancholy/ambient jazzy goodness.
Do you know We are the young ghosts In reverse Our stories unfold Moving slow We’re just killing time And we know This fear is a crime Surrender to your love Surrender to your heart Surrender We are swimmers Caught in the tide Pitch black river Shadows and light Into the night Beautiful swimmers Losing the fight A constant river Shadows and light Into the night Coming home We’re shaking the grass All alone So far from the path Do you know I see you so clear Yes I know It’s happening here Surrender to your love Surrender to your heart Surrender
Artist Ben Turnbull's work powerfully and pointedly addresses the epidemic of gun violence in the United States. Speaking to the penchant Americans have for fetishizing and worshiping fire arms, he uses the lids of old lift-up school desks to carve hidden reliefs of hand guns and semi-automatic weapons...the kind that are used repeatedly in the regular mass shootings that plague our our schools and country, the kind that conservatives and Republicans refuse to do anything to try to curtail or stop.
Ambient outfit Hammock have released a lovely song called "In The Shattering Of Things" which appear on their new album "Silencia" due out November 15, 2019.
I love how celebrity event planner Bronson Van Wyck has outfitted his loft in Manhattan. The mix of eclectic, antique, fun, and a splash of modern (check out that dining room light fixture...*gasp*) really works. Lots of intriguing colors, textures, shapes. I love spaces that feel fascinating, that make you want to really study each object, find out where each treasure came from...
Exquisite, achingly beautiful and agonizingly intense music. This is "Breathing Out," the last movement of Six Lethargies, a 70-minute orchestral piece by singer-songwriter-and-now-composer Keaton Henson (previously here, here, and here).
"Six Lethargies is a six part, long form work for string orchestra, written by musician, composer, writer and visual artist Keaton Henson. The album explores themes of trauma, empathy, mental illness, and the relationship between music and emotion. It was created intensively over three years, during intense episodes of the very themes it explores. He used his personal experience to plot out six distinct elements of trauma, anxiety and emotional difficulties. Unable himself to read or write music, Henson first created maps of his personal experience, using complex linear drawings and paintings which he then translated into themes and melodies. A common theme throughout his work is always the element of emotion and vulnerable honesty; he shares the darkest and most complex parts of his personal experiences via his art, leading to work of breathtaking emotional resonance. By contrast, Henson himself is generally reclusive, revealing little else of himself, wherever possible avoiding interviews or public appearances. As the Six Lethargies project began to take shape, Henson reached out to neuroscientists, psychologists and music theorists, to learn more about the acute relationship between music and emotion, and specifically its effect on us physiologically. ‘Thrill engineer’ and bio-data expert Brendan Walker worked closely with Henson to investigate this relationship and developed software to monitor electrodermal activity (EDA) in order to create a real time visual representation of the link between feelings, anxiety and music. In fact, when Six Lethargies made its stunning sold out debut at London’s Barbican in July 2018, a portion of the audience were hooked up to ‘galvanic skin response monitors’, which read their anxiety levels in real time whilst listening to the performance, this in turn was fed to the lighting desk and it was this that controlled the colour and intensity of the venue’s lighting rig. As a result the audience were effectively watching how they were feeling while listening to the music, and as a result this amplified the emotional response of the audience to the music. Known for his past struggles to perform live due to anxiety disorders, Henson himself watched from the sidelines as the audience reacted to an Orchestra performing the work with lighting controlled by their emotions. This show marked the first new work by Henson for several years, he had released a number of indie/folk albums in previous years – resulting in plays on Radio 1 and huge critical praise, but due in part to the challenges posed by this growing renown and constant demands for him to perform live and appear publicly he had instead decided to retreat from the public eye, disappearing from the world of music and art. However, following the success of the Barbican event, performances at Sydney Opera House and the National Concert Hall Dublin followed. These shows were immersive, measurable experiences which showed how music can physiologically affect the body. They also illustrated how anxiety can be monitored and how it’s triggers could be potentially monitored or predicted, perhaps even eventually controlled, an important factor to consider when dealing with anxiety. The success of these shows led to the recording of the Six Lethargies album, recorded earlier this year with the Liverpool Philharmonic at The Friary in Liverpool. Through its six movements the finished recording conveys both a personal, internal experience but it also seeks to create the possibility of a similar physiological response in the listener. Six Lethargies is a profound and intense musical experience, but it is also, completely tonal, musical and ultimately an enjoyable listen on various levels. In spite of its subject matter and meticulous design, it is music that can be listened to as you would Henson’s compositional heroes such as Vaughan Williams, Elgar, Barber and Pärt. However, it can also be listened to as a cathartic and purgative experience, unbroken from beginning to end, taking the mind and body through a series of peaks and troughs and eventually leaving it in a stimulated but calm state."
from thankfolkforthat.com, https://thankfolkforthat.com/new-release-video-keaton-henson-breathing-out/
English ceramic artist Sophie Woodrow creates gorgeous little dream figures who remind me so much of the nature and animal spirits from Miyazaki films like "Spirited Away." Each one is an intrigue, but as a group, they have great impact. Together, they look like they just stepped from the other side and are waiting with curiosity, ready to interact, to help...
"Oh, By The Way" is my digital scrap book of things I like, things I would share with a close friend and say: “Oh, by the way, do you know of this artist/ clothing or interior designer/ model/ singer/ actor/ gorgeous man… or, have you seen this video/ photo/ film... or heard (or do you remember) this song/ band... or, read this book/ poem/ inspiring quote... or, visited this place/ museum/ restaurant/ famous building... or, have you heard of this amazing new scientific discovery?”
I am dedicated to posting the positive, the fascinating, the beautiful, the interesting, the moving, and the inspiring and uplifting. Sometimes I post cultural as well as personal observations, milestones, and remembrances. And just like life, all of these things may often have a bit of melancholy or even sadness in them, which is what makes our time here so lovely and bittersweet and precious.
Some of the photos, art, poetry, and prose are my own original work, credited with my initials, JEF. When it isn't, I always try to post links to the original source material, but often I find photos on the web that are not linked or other material that is not sourced. In these instances, I post them without malice since it is assumed that such things, by being globally posted on something as uncontrollable as the internet to begin with, are in the public domain. If you identify the source of an image that is not linked, please politely let me know (without accusing me of theft, please) and I will be happy to provide a link. If you are the owner of an image and would prefer it be removed, I am happy to do that as well (again, without accusing me of theft , please).
I hope to inspire and entertain my readers with things that inspire and entertain me. There is a startling amount of beauty and creativity in the world and it enriches us all to participate in it.
All-time Favorite Films
2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick)
After Hours (Hysterical, hair-raising ride through NYC at night)
Amelie
American Beauty (Alan Ball)
Baraka (Stunning, transcending—the "spiritus mundi" on film)
Belle et Bete (Cocteau)
Big Sleep, The (The epitome of film noir)
Bringing Up Baby (Hepburn & Grant—the epitome of screwball comedy)
Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover, The (Greenaway)
Crash (Cronenberg—DIFFICULT subject, not for everyone)
Don’t Look Now (Nicolas Roeg—ultimate modern gothic horror)
Drowning By Numbers (Greenaway)
Easy Rider
Edward II (Derek Jarman)
Erendira (From magic realist Marquez’ brilliant short story)
Eyes Wide Shut (Kubrick's last film)
Fearless (Jeff Bridges—life and death)
Funny Bones (Leslie Caron, Jerry Lewis, and the brilliant Lee Evans)
Holiday (Hepburn & Grant)
Howard’s End (The ultimate statement of the unfairness of class systems)
