Eclectopia Blog

"Bloom is an endless music machine, a music box for the 21st century. You can play it, or you can watch it play itself."

~Brian Eno 

"Inspiration is cheap. Bliss is expensive."

~Peter Gabriel

This is bliss for your iPhone and it's cheap, but I digress.

 Brian Eno is a genius.

Eno has changed the course of music in the 20th and now in the 21st century. Most musos would agree that that is now fact. He was a vital part of glam rock, invented ambient music and brought it to popular music status, is responsible for the careers and reputations of countless influential bands (Talking Heads and U2 among them), is world renown for his innovative studio production, and has influenced the visual arts with his interactive installations. He's simply a giant of our time.

Plus, he's really funny.

Eno has been my musical north star ever since Evening Star, the second album he wrote with guitarist Robert Fripp. In short, he is a very special figure in my personal musical development and thinking.

That's why I was delighted to learn that Eno and collaborator Peter Chilvers have three new apps for iPhone available from iTunes. These fall under yet another innovative idea: generative music. I debated whether or not to get these, but I tend to buyer's regret in reverse. That is, I end up not buying them and then regretting it. I was not going to let these Eno gems get away.

Eno and Chilvers have done all the work for you. You just have to play. Or choose not to. It's all good.

Bloom does what it says: you can create or you can just listen. Turn it on and soft piano like synth sounds begin to hover. Touch the screen and a single note sounds and a corresponding circle forms like a water drop which continues out until it fades. It's very Zen-like. Do something or not, it matters not. Bloom offers some parameters for the user, such as selection of sounds, time of delay and even a practical sleep timer.

Trope seems to be more advanced than Bloom in some ways. The sounds, more akin to Neroli, are more complex and the images vary a lot more. A good companion in a noisy, crazy world.

Air is like your personal mixing station of Music for Airports. Peter Chilvers and Irish singer Sandra O'Neill have taken the basic concepts of Eno's seminal ambient work and placed them at your fingertips and imagination.

In short, I like all three, but you may just want to try them one at a time. Think about it: an automatic composing machine or a creative outlet or some background music? It's up to you.

I do recommend headphones (or ear buds) or a speaker system to fully appreciate these magic apps.

Sometimes in Zen 

we say, "Do nothing." 

But, in doing nothing, 

everything is done. 

I often get puzzled looks or questioning comments by close friends and loved ones.

When I brought home Duff McKagan's memoir, It's So Easy (And Other Lies), my wife let me know that my literary standards were really slipping: "Who is this guy? Why would you want to read this book?" She was appalled by the man on the cover. He was so rough and dirty looking.

She was right. Duff looks like the life he has lived. He is a clear product of his environment and the hard living in the madness that was Guns ' n' Roses, but his is a story of accountablity and redemption.

Here's the interview I did in November of 2011.

Funny thing is this: while Green Day were introducing GnR (sans Axl, of course), Duff and company were waiting in the wings.

"Who's the tall one?" came my wife's query. "That's Duff McKagan. The guy I interviewed" was my reply. Pause, then,

"He's kind of good looking." Well, well, well.

Then came the bomb:"Why did you want to read his book?" I can't win.

Along with singer Myles Kennedy,Duff and the boys went on stage and played a really strong set. They could tour without the hassle of Axl's childish antics.

The brightest heaven of invention!"

~Shakespeare

Guitarist Robert Fripp knocks another one out of the ballpark again.

Although I do consider myself a professional musician, what Fripp is talking about here is beyond the expectations (both player and audience) of the professional. To be honest, I'm not quite sure if I've ever had the experience(s) of which he is speaking, but I will relate my own which may come closest to his.

There have been moments while playing music that I cannot quite capture in words. The closest I can come to describing is that the barrier between myself and the music was let down for a precious few moments. The guitar, music, and myself were all one and there was no distinction between them. Maybe it's music's reward for keeping the course despite all the setbacks and obstacles. Maybe it's something else. I don't know.

I believe that all musicians search for these type of experiences and consequently, when they do not come when we call them or surely feel we need them, this often sets up a path of self-destruction of drugs, egotism, and mindless indulgences of every kind. This is all a search in vain for the experience when music gives us the nod of approval and lets us fly for just a moment.

"KC at The Savoy, NYC, in 1981 set a standard in live performance. This was the high spot of that Crim, IMO.

The working player of long experience, of many and frequent and constant journeyings to modest accommodations in modest forms of transportation, to a variety of performance spaces, might enjoy in one week's full work perhaps two or three shows which are a little-more-exceptional than the remaining four or five shows, the average-exceptional for a band of international standing. And, once in a while for any King Crimson, a total clunker.

Life–changing performances and experiences, if we're lucky, might fly by once every two or three years; although once in seven years is enough to keep us engaged in our particular sphere of activity. An experience of this intensity confirms our confidence that we are, indeed, doing what we need to do; and doing what we should be doing in life.

The professional player is unwise to anticipate more than the merely-professional; although a superbly-professional achievement is itself considerable. But it is not enough to be superbly-professional: professional norms and standards tend to become a limitation rather than a springboard.

The greater the professional achievement, the greater the limitations and expectations from representatives of commerce; the greater the demands of fans for repetition of music that has made their lives so happy; and often, for those players with social aspirations, the constrictions and conditions that accompany a large mortgage, equestrian facilities, and the expectations placed upon a rock star by their community.

King Crimson 1981 is a rare example of a group with four players of outstanding professional accomplishment, a degree of public acclaim and acknowledgement, sufficient success to attract attention to itself and its work, and insufficient success to attract overwhelming attention, that managed to escape the limitations of professionalism. This band had its own Good Fairy, the same Good Fairy as in 1969 IMO. I knew them both.

 As in 1969, the Good Fairy visited for a while, did its work, gave its blessing and enabling power, then departing to meet its other responsibilities and leaving the players to their own devices. We did the best we could. It is a folly to expect a Good Fairy to hang around forever. It is not in a hurry, but is traveling at great speed.

The six performances at the Savoy in NYC was/were the high spot of this King Crimson.

One life-changing, life-directing performance in two or three years is good fortune already; and one life-changing performance every week for a month, profoundly unlikely. Four successive life-changing performances in two nights is impossible.

The fifth and sixth performances on the third night were only exceptional-plus. So, sometimes the impossible is possible, but this needs a Good Fairy, magic, a sprinkling of fairy dust, the presence of the Muse, or however we might describe the miraculous entering our lives, even the lives of rock groups working in popular culture; giving us a taste of what a creative life might actually be.

Clearly, this is a subjective account. But what do I care of that? The life of the working player is mostly wretched, and professional success confers the opportunity to continue on with this mostly wretched life. What kept me going, was when Music lent over and whispered in our ear.

The professional conditions at the time were such that to make one album, Discipline, we contracted to make three. Discipline had the juice, the next two were hard-work with high-spots. The focus of King Crimson 1981 was the Savoy. Live performance, as with gardening, is an ephemeral art; if we can escape the restrictions of professionalism and craft. These recorded performances do not, and cannot, convey the experience of a hot date with the Muse. They are also drawn from bootlegs, so they're not even quite love letters; perhaps best regarded as postcards from the edge.

Sometimes when we step off the edge, we fly away.

I told a friend recently that working in radio has really forced me to be able to concisely articulate my thoughts. Opening up a mic and speaking to an audience requires that one communicates in crystal clear terms. That didn't (doesn't) come naturally to me, but I have improved.

But on the flip side, I now talk way too much. My head is brimming non-stop with ideas and my mouth can't seem to shut off. Even my wife says that I interrupt television viewing with my incessant chatter.

How then to find a balance? Mr. Fripp has these thoughts about being present to our lives. Sounds simple, right? Not at all.

" The Guitarist Inside at 21.15. How to become present, quickly, to a collected state? Presence confers greater effectuality in the world of function, of acting on materiality and things. If we are not present, we are not, so anything we do does not really happen: it only contributes more stuff and activity to the world of stuff and activity. When we are present, something may happen. Presence itself is not enough. Being present is the beginning: it is only a beginning, but a very good and necessary beginning.

Then to circulating, with presence. [Circulating is a Guitar Craft idea where single notes are passed from person to person in a circle.]

Personal presence is individual. It strengthens our connection to ourselves and the material world, but does not inevitably connect us to other people, living, sentient and conscious beings, and the unity of all there is. For this, we need a developed feeling life. Bringing our attention to the centre of the breast, we strengthen Wish, our need to enter the world of the Good, the Real and the True, the unconditioned world of Consciousness, Creativity and Love.

Our feeling of Wish confirmed and strengthened, this is blended with the presence of life in our body; and this is maintained while circulating a pattern around the Circle for an extended period of time. On this occasion, 48 times around the Circle.

The pattern is held by the mind. The mind enables us to extend our engagement with the time stream, to expand our Present Moment, connect with what is ahead, what is past and what is now, and hold them in an ongoing Moment. But if we are not present, there is no present moment: a Present Moment is, after all, a Moment of Presence."

Silence is a great factor at GC seminars. Often, conversations would suddenly cease or become whispers. At times, the silence was the result of respect for our fearless leader and other times, there was a comfortable gravitas to the silence. A silence of communion, I might say. From the RF diary again:

"Silence visited shortly after breakfast began. How to describe this, the visit of a good and continuing Friend to the Guitar Circle?

There is no end to possible description because there is no end to Silence. If I were able to know what there is within Silence, it would not really help very much in terms of description. The good news: it is simpler to experience Silence, to dwell inside it for a while, than to talk about it. The extent to which we may dwell-inside Silence is governed by our capacity to simply be present. In a word, be." 

We all know people who are caffeine-fueled chatter boxes. They can wear us down if we let them, but we have to know that sometimes it's our turn to close the mouth and stop the babble.

Especially true for radio people.

"Punk is never having to say you're sorry."

Found this terrific documentary on progressive rock from the BBC. You have to admire the Beeb for being so in-depth on such an esoteric subject.

What is funny is that, after the inevitable fall of prog rock, the musicians, who were "ousted" by punk rock, sound apologetic.

Don't be silly.

Prog rock had its bad moments just like every musical style that's come and gone, but prog rock was (is) still some of the most exciting music ever made. These are wonderful musicians who made amazing music.

So, I hold my prog rock banner high and make no apologies.

In 4/4 or

11/8.

“Artists talk a lot about freedom. So, recalling the expression "free as a bird," Morton Feldman went to a park one day and spent some time watching our feathered friends. When he came back, he said, "You know? They're not free: they're fighting over bits of food.”  ― Silence: Lectures and Writings 

The John Cage centenary is this year with loads of concerts and events celebrating this American icon.

Like him, love him or hate him, John Cage has had a profound effect on music. That is a fact despite the clouds of controversy which once encircled the composer. Perhaps the clouds of doubt still hover, but first let us begin with what he accomplished.

Starting in the late '30's, Cage began a long career in which he invented the prepared piano, "ambient" or even "new age" music, the multi-media event, chance music, a pioneer in electronic music, electro-acoustic instrument combinations, vastly contributed to percussion literature and techniques, influenced the development of modern dance and nearly aspect of what we call modern music. Whew!

I say to people that if you think you have thought of a new idea, don't worry, John Cage was already there. His catalog is a virtual field guide to 20th century music. It is like the source of a very long river with ever expanding tributaries.

This was NOT done without controversy or even anger.

It's hard to imagine now (or is it?) that at the premiere of Cage's 4'33"- a piece that consists of only indications of durations of "silence"- that the audience in 1952 in Woodstock, NY (an artistic community by the way) was so shocked by the lack of music that one person stood up and stated, "Good people of Woodstock. I think we need to run these people out of town."

Personally, I never understood the uproar over a piece that had only silence written as it's score. While I think it's a perfectly original idea and charming,  I don't think it's Cage's best piece, but rather a starting point for a more Eastern way of looking at both life and art, which to Cage, were one in the same.

Was Cage trying to anger people? No, just get them to open up their minds a little. In that way, Cage to me was a bit naive at times. As one example, in one of his pieces, he has a player blow a plastic duck whistle in a pan of water. You can just imagine the sound. It's extremely funny, though I doubt the composer intended it as such.

So, Cage at 100: what is revealed so many years later? 

Listening to the So Percussion John Cage Bootleg CD, I thought that some of Cage's works sound a little dated. Imaginary Landscape No. 1, however innovative in 1939, speaks of its time. Samplers, software and synths are so sophisticated now that the piece sounds quaint, like an early attempt at a string quartet by a fledgling composer.

Is it music? In a strict definition of the term, no. Some of the pieces I would call sound pieces or sound poems. Cage called it "organized sound." 

A great example is a piece called Inlets. Does the piece require the same virtuosity of a Rachmaninoff piano concerto?  Of course not, but the creativity is stellar. It's as if Cage is saying that interesting and enriching sounds are all about us, we just have to stop and listen.

Some pieces I think are best left for the recording studio as opposed to live performance. A live audience MUST be engaged by the performers and to expand their minds is one thing, but to expect them to be enthralled by the sounds of water gurgling around conch shells is asking quite a lot.

The naivete of John Cage reminds of Chancey Gardener, as fabulously portrayed by Peter Sellars in Being There. Cage seemed to be unfazed by the absolutely vicious attacks from critics, musicians, composers and the public who declared him a charlatan with all the rage normally associated with fanaticism. He never seemed bitter, hurt or discouraged by his detractors.

I love that. 

I also love this quote: "Our intention is to affirm this life, not to bring order out of chaos, nor to suggest improvements in creation, but simply to wake up to the very life we're living, which is so excellent once one gets one's mind and desires out of its way and lets it act of it's own accord.”

Extra stuff: 
There's so many Cage celebrations that I suggest you Google for one near you.

Or even better: create your own Cage concert.

Why, just recently I fused the ideas of Brian Eno (whose clear reason to create was inspired by Cage) and Cage by taking samples of "Music for Marcel Duchamp" and created this at SoundCloud.

You don't have to go with the family on the usual vaco if music is your thing. Make music your vacation with the fabulous summer music camps being offered by the Full Moon Resort in New York. It seems they are offering something for everyone this year: song writer's, guitarists, and I'm very pleased to see a camp focused on female artists.

Having attended the Three of a Perfect Trio camp last year, I can tell you that it was quite an experience. The facility is nestled in the Hudson Valley in the Catskill Mountains, so the vibe is relaxed and mother nature is her usual spectacular self.

If you watch this video carefully, you may see your humble blogger enjoying himself. I had an incredible experience.

Think about it.