Ted, you are a bright light in a land of too many dim/ burnt out old bulbs! Love what you bring to this platform and the world. Keep it up. This is essential for my 4 year survival prognosis 🙏🏽👍🏽😘 xoxo apd gsb ‘83
Haha! Perhaps you’re lactose intolerant to the cheesy state of music and movies? A healthy dose of the three B’s may help. Bach, Brahms, and Beethoven. These sounds are pure in ingredients and nutritious for the soul! Take a good long walk in nature to then get it moving. Focus on the songbirds to drown out the popular culture toxins in the system. Follow up with a nice bath or sauna session. Delete Netflix. I’m rambling at this point, but thank you for the laugh!
Well this shitty little ditty made my day! Hilarious. Witty & wonderful. Go whisk up your meta-muse-cil, put the canon "Leck mich im Arsch" in B-flat major by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on the record player, and give yourself a toast! Well played, sir.
I sent the link to your poem to my daughter, a writer, poet, and Creative Writing Professor at a small "Liberal" Arts University. Liberal is in quotes because they seem to have lost the meaning of their mission
Hi - I'm a singer/songwriter from near Lake Tahoe in California. I've been lurking on Substack for months, trying to evaluate it as a platform for a serialized album release.
I figure Ted's charming, attractive and erudite audience is probably full of informed opinions on the topic - any thoughts? Thanks!
[P.S. My band is called Radio Nowhere. We sound a little like Tom Petty's band playing Duran Duran's instruments. Music here for anyone who's curious: https://on.soundcloud.com/tQJ4UwmDBSSV3zx98 ]
Hi MB, I listened to your band on SoundCloud. Love it. Can we chat about our new platform https://www.goodtunes.music/artists ? We've worked really hard to create something of value for Artists and fans. We've proven the model for both and are getting ready to scale with a bunch of orgs (worldwide) beginning this month. We're also have a two-page spread in this month's issue of SPIN. I'd love to share more. bill@goodtunes.music
Hi Bill - I appreciate that you took the time to head over to SC and check it out. Thx! Sounds like you guys are up to something cool, and I'd be interested to hear more about it if you'd like to share. radionowhere@gmail.com
I've been following an indie artist from the Los Angeles area for the last 2 years and recently trying to nudge her to come over to Substack. Migrate everyone off Facebook to this platform
This is an interesting concept. I'm all up in singer/songwriter world and haven't any data at all. Myself, I barely use substack. I'd like to follow your research and progress. if you're on X or Facebook, I'm @debsvalidation; on bsky it's @debewing
Hey, thx Amy! The band name actually dates to 2004 - it grew out of my tendency to take solo songwriting road trips out into the Nevada/CA/Utah desert, where the radio reception faded to nothing. I must admit i was a little bummed when Bruce came out with his song a few years later - at least it's a great song ;)
Today is the 90th anniversary of Elvis Presley's birth. It's also the 15th anniversary of my first date with the woman who is now my wife (coincidentally, we got engaged four years later on August 16).
On my Substack, there is no artist I have written more about than Elvis. Three of my essays form a kind of informal trilogy. The links are here for anyone who is interested (one day, I would love to use these as a basis for a book on Elvis).
I had a brief scan of the articles. I am supposed to be working so will have to return to them at the weekend. Any reason they stop before the Comeback Special? I'd be interested to read your take on the Memphis period.
Thanks for taking a brief look at them. No reason in particular why they stop before the Comeback Special. I'll probably at some point tackle the special and the Memphis sessions of '69. I limit myself to one Elvis essay this year - I'm toying with writing this year about his movie music from '60 to '64, mostly to point out the gems and to wrestle with its legacy (which is mostly not good and understandably so).
Thank you for the reply. Agreed the movie period is fascinating, a case of digging out the diamonds from the dirt! I'll keep an eye on your Substack going forward.
One of our fears about Al is that we might no longer recognize if a piece of writing came from a machine or a human being.
In the midst of re-reading Paradise Lost it struck me: here’s the antidote to AI. Why? Because it sounds so good. We read this poem, not for its story line but for the sheer magnificence of the language: rhythm, internal rhyme, sustained sound effects, striking juxtapositions. We are experiencing a well-tuned mind at work.
Much of English writing has lost all sense of sound effects. Poetry and the study of rhetoric can tune our ear, open us to new beauties, it can tune out AI.
Thanks for being an honest broker! We need more, and I hope our cult grows and flourishes, regardless of externalities. Three cheers to critical thinking!
Hi Ted — I’m a big fan and paid subscriber, but this is my first-ever comment. I wonder whether you’d have any interest in discussing medieval music.
When I was a teen, my career goal was “early music scholar.” I started out as a lutenist focused on the late-16th century, but my principal interests bifurcated into early 17th-c music (especially Monteverdi) and the weird-ass mannerist stuff from the late 14th century. But I dropped out of the PhD program at UC Berkeley to play in bands. I wound up working with many artists (Tom Waits, PJ Harvey, Tracy Chapman, Courtney Love, Jon Hassell, Julieta Venegas, and blah blah.) I was also a music journalist and the longtime editor of Guitar Player magazine. But 40 years after dropping out, I’ve circled back to the late medieval stuff.
I imagine you already know a great deal about the topic, but it’s SO fascinating to consider the repertoire from a modern musical perspective. It predates functional harmony — there are no “chords” or “chord changes” as we think of them. Thirds and triads were considered unstable dissonances. Some compositional choices were more numerological than musical. Composers like Senleches and Solage concocted music whose dissonance and rhythmic complexity would not be equaled until the late 19th century. But when we listen today, we can’t help mentally imposing our harmonic language in ways the composers never intended. It’s an exquisite tension.
I was a student during an era that focused on historical accuracy. When David Munrow “popularized” some of the most abstract medieval music. Nicolas Harnoncourt and Cathy Berberian were creating exquisite renditions of Monteverdi operas. Roger Norrington was recording Beethoven symphonies with strictly historic instruments. For the first time since 1750 we were hearing Bach played close to the way that … Bach heard Bach. I too was focused on period accuracy.
But now, as an old guy, I’m more interested in the aforementioned tension between ancient composition and modern perception. Two year ago I released an album of 14th-century music played note-for-note from the medieval manuscripts. (I emphasize “manuscript” because the repertoire preceded the printing press by some 50 years.) But instead of using period instruments, I used electric guitars, keyboards, digital sound design, etc. Here’s a taste if you’re curious.
The entire album (Falling Through Time: Music of the 14th Century by Joe Gore) is on the streaming services. To my astonishment, David Robertson, who heads the conducting department at Juilliard, chose to rearrange my album for full orchestra, and we got to perform it in 2024 with the Utah Symphony under his baton. (I still can’t believe that happened!)
It’s a topic I suspect you, with your wide-focus musical knowledge, could delve into with fresh and fascinating insights. (And of course, I’d be beyond honored if you ever wanted to discuss.)
Finally, thanks for your always fascinating and valuable work!
You the same Joe Gore of early ‘80s SF band Big City? Greetings if you are and greetings just the same if you're not! Interesting project you describe. Congratulations.
I’ve had Harnoncourt’s Brandenburger 1,5 and 6 (well not sure if it’s 1) for 40 years and last week I heard the Orchestra of the Antipodes do #5. It sounded so fresh!!! I thought they’d thrown every historical reference away to just make it open and happening. Now I read they play on period instruments… I’m gonna check your stuff when my wife isn’t sleeping next to me.
Hee hee. Well, music doesn’t get much more dramatic than the #5. My god, I’ve been listening to that harpsichord cadenza for half a century, and it still startles me every time. I’ll definitely check out the Antipodes version!
Very cool project. The film was the perfect accompaniment but I found it distracting so went back and just listened. Is there a rock equivalent of Downbeat's Blindfold Test? It would be fun to sit some record execs down and play them this music.
Thanks, Su! Well, if you know any music industry execs, sure! I think most people would have no idea what the fuck it is, because it doesn’t conform with the aural image that even the musically educated have about medieval music. So complex … so dissonant … so frickin’ weird!
I guess you’re right but to me the album clearly demonstrates its lineage. But then, I do listen to a lot of medieval music. Just got back from a tour in Spain and on my off days visited all the medieval cities I had time for :)
I got a mini trampoline for Christmas. I've been coming home from work and jumping to my favorite songs. I cannot tell you how much of a mood booster this is. I make priority lists of things I want to do or learn based off of my energy levels. What is more satisfying than writing goals down in big beautiful cursive and checking them off with an ink pen?
Today's goal is putting my knee-high wader/hiking boots on and walking through the reserve behind my house. I want to jump in the creek and play in the snow. I will then come home, put my space heater on, and hole away in my little music space. These are my thoughts right now!
Last night I dreamt I was in a car with Vladimir Putin. I don’t know where we were going, or even who was driving, but I remember telling him all about my Uncle Sandy.
Vladimir seemed nice. He listened when I talked and he asked questions, which showed that he had been paying attention.
My Uncle Sandy was married to my mother’s sister, May. They lived in an old, three-storey house by a river. The house was built of stone, blackened over the years until it looked as dark as the inside, which never got any light no matter where the sun was positioned in the sky.
Uncle Sandy was a thief and a wife beater.
Aunt May was a timid little thing who smoked endless cigarettes and laughed nervously whenever anyone spoke. They had a son, John, who would one day die of a drug overdose. I never liked him, but when I went to his funeral, I broke down in tears at his open grave. Uncle Sandy wasn’t there, I’ve no idea what happened to him.
Aunt May had remarried by this point, to another wife beater. They had a son called Peter. I don’t know what happened to wife beater number two or Peter, but Aunt May died of cancer.
I didn’t tell Vladimir much of this, just talked mostly about Uncle Sandy. I described him as a big, scary guy.
He is a corrupt, homicidal evil sociopath. There are innumerable good sources for this opinion - trying reading some of the books or essays by Professor Timothy Snyder (Yale history professor). He qualifies as a monster in my book - just ask the civilians in Ukraine (the ones who are still alive, anyway).
Okay, right off the bat: he's "evil?" How is that? Right now, the US and Israel are running a genocide in Gaza. This is not in dispute--it never should have been, and by now even staid outfits and organizations like Amnesty International, who were quick to condemn the Russian invasion in 2022, have called it genocide. Finally. And that genocide IS evil. The word "sociopath" has a concrete, actual meaning, and Putin does not fit it. "Sociopath" is often used carelessly, simply as a catch-all pejorative, and that's what you did here. Bibi Netanyahu does, however, fit the definition, and what can we say about the entire political class in the US, along with their conspirators and acolytes and apologists in the media, and academia, always in support of war and Genocide?Like Timothy Snyder, whose book, "Bloodlands," is filled with inaccuracies, deliberate omissions, and lies? Here is Clara Weiss' opening statement of her five-part review of Snyder's execrable book:
"Even within the scope of an extensive review, only a portion of the falsifications, lies and distortions of history at the hands of Timothy Snyder could be addressed. The abundance of errors in his citations, the mistranslations and misrepresentation of scholarly works—all of these would be sufficient to disqualify any chapter in Bloodlands from even passing an undergraduate course."
For anyone interested in reading this review, simply go to the WSWS (World Socialist Web Site), type in "Timothy Snyder" in the search bar, and scroll down to the relevant article. On the way down are other interviews with historians, real ones, not right-wing neocon fake ones cashing in on their Ill-gotten celebrity, who also discuss Snyder's sub-standard work. I highly recommend reading the review--it's first-rate criticism.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 was a final response by the Russian Federation (not just Putin--despite the lies and propaganda out there, Putin is NOT a dictator who just does what he wants with the RF), to the endless provocations of the US. In the words of the journalist Patrick Lawrence, the invasion was "regrettable but necessary." The US wanted the proxy war, provoked it, and got it. And is losing it. The US' stated goal right after the invasion began was to weaken Russia. These are words of war, and indeed, we now know that the war was on track to being ended a couple months after it began, but the US sent Boris Johnson to Kiev to tell then-President* Zelenskyy to stop with the talks and continue the war, assuring him Ukraine would prevail. He was wrong. Upwards of 500,000 thousand dead Ukrainian soldiers later, the war grinds on, with the US demanding that Ukraine lower the conscription age to 18.
And, as far as dead civilians are concerned, the Russians have gone out of their way to spare civilians, a fact noted by our military. That's something "we" NEVER do. Indeed, the entire US/Israeli goal in Gaza is to exterminate all civilians, but in all US wars, the survival of civilians is barely an afterthought.
*Zelenskyy, as of May of last year, is no longer the legitimate President. His term expired, and he canceled elections. In effect, he's a dictator. No matter, the US runs the show there ultimately.
Based on its investigations into events in the regions of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Sumy, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine has concluded that war crimes have been committed in Ukraine.
"Based on its investigations into events in the regions of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Sumy, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine has concluded that war crimes have been committed in Ukraine.The Commission has documented violations, such as the illegal use of explosive weapons, indiscriminate attacks, violations of personal integrity, including executions, torture and ill-treatment, and sexual and gender-based violence. It also found that the rights of children have been violated.
On a visit to Ukraine in June 2022, the Commission observed first-hand the damage that explosive weapons with wide-area effects caused to residential buildings and infrastructure in populated areas, including schools and hospitals. A number of the attacks that the Commission investigated were carried out without distinguishing between civilians and combatants.
“We were struck by the large number of executions in the areas that we visited,” Erik Møse, chair of the Commission, said. “We are concerned about the suffering that the international armed conflict in Ukraine has imposed on the civilian population.” He added that the Commission is currently investigating executions in 16 towns and settlements, and has received credible allegations regarding many more such cases. Common elements to these crimes included the prior detention of the victims and visible signs of execution, such as hands tied behind backs, gunshot wounds to the head, and slit throats.
Witnesses provided the Commission with consistent accounts of ill-treatment and torture carried out during unlawful confinement. Some of the victims reported that after initial detention by Russian forces in Ukraine, they were transferred to the Russian Federation and held for weeks in detention centres, where they were subjected to torture and other forms of ill-treatment." This is from the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner. Tim, if you seriously think Russia has gone out of their way to spare civilians, after bombing hospitals, schools, theaters housing hundreds of children and civilians, and power stations, and torturing and murdering hundreds of civilians in Bucha, you are either delusional or being paid directly or indirectly by Putin's government. After the video of Putin interrogating the heads of his government department, on Feb.21, 2022, suggest they are all afraid of him. The fact that politicians, journalists and others who criticize him very often end up murdered or die suddenly under suspicious circumstances (including Aleksei Navalny, Sergei Yushenkov, Anna Politkovskaya, Aleksandr Litvinenko, Natalya Estemirova, Boris Nemtsov, Mikhail Lesin, Boris Berezovsky, Stanislav Markelov, Anastasia Baburova, and Yuri Shchekochikhin) not to mention Sergei Magnitsky (who died, while unjustly imprisoned, of fatal neglect) and Sergei Skripal (who was poisoned as ordered by Putin and would have died without excellent British medical care) would seem to justify their fear. Civilians who dare to criticize his military action in Ukraine are arrested and often imprisoned.
I am using sociopath to mean someone who shows no evidence of a conscience or empathy for others and deliberately seeks to harm others who are not a physical threat. Someone who orders the murder of journalists, political opponents, and other civilian critics and orders the prolonged imprisonment of innocent people like Evan Gershkovich and Brittney Griner as political pawns to be exchanged for his murderers and other criminals certainly shows an extreme callousness that fully justifies labelling him a sociopath. If you choose to believe that leaders who order murders (of people who are not terrorists or criminals) repeatedly over a 20+ year period, other than in a state of war, are not sociopathic, or are not evil, I must disagree.
A correction: The above quote from Clara Weiss' review of Timothy Snyder's book "Bloodlands" is in fact the opening statement from Part 5 of the review. I apologize for the mistake. Here are the first two paragraphs of her opening statement in Part 1 of the review: (Published on December 1st, 2022)
"In April, Basic Books published a second edition of Timothy Snyder’s 2010 book Bloodlands, advertising it as the “essential historical background to the war in Ukraine.” The extraordinary role that Snyder is playing in justifying the imperialist proxy war against Russia in Ukraine and the alliance of US imperialism with the Ukrainian far right make it imperative to investigate this work more closely.
Since the beginning of the war in February, Snyder has appeared countless times on television, has published multiple pieces in the New York Times and the New York Review of Books and has spoken at numerous academic events. In his appearances, Twitter threads and other writings, he has buttressed US imperialist war propaganda against Russia with historical distortions and lies, ranging from false claims of “genocide” to an alleged “hunger plan” by Putin and the existence of a “fascist regime” in Russia. As the WSWS has documented, his Twitter threads have repeatedly sought to deny or downplay the role of Ukrainian fascists both in contemporary Ukrainian politics and the army and in the annihilation of 900,000 Ukrainian Jews during the Nazi-led Holocaust in World War II."
Thank you, Ted. I am a 26 year old composer and I am currently writing my first opera (without commission). Two years ago I wrote a song cycle wherein I adapted poems by Robinson Jeffers to music for voice. I will try to fund a tour of that work this year and will share through my Substack how people may contribute. Here is an example of a song from the cycle “Birth-Dues” via my Substack: https://ethankosssmith.substack.com/p/vulture
I just wanted to mention Dame Cleo Laine, wife of the late Sir John Dankworth, who is still going strong at 97 years old. Her performance with a peak-form Ray Charles in the 1975 Norman Granz recording of Porgy and Bess, I can't see ever being bettered. The wail at the end of 'My Man's Gone Now' sends a shiver down your spine. Her concert recordings at Carnegie Hall are also pretty legendary. Long may she stay with us.
I met Cleo and John when I was waitressing in my early twenties.... they had played at the Ambler Music Festival not far from the restaurant. He was very funny and she was amazing... such a presence. They were kind and friendly. Long live Cleo, RIP JD.
Hi all. Have been racing through lots of fiction recently and am looking to change tack for a short while. In that regard, if anyone has any recommendations for books about Louis Armstrong I'm all ears. See also Nina Simone. Thanks.
In return I heartily recommend recent Booker Prize winner Orbital by Samantha Harvey and Untold Lessons by Maddalena Vaglio Tanet!
The 3 books on Louis Armstrong by Ricky Riccardi are very good. The latest one is not out till next month and it covers the early years (they were published in reverse order of Pops' chronology). "Pops" by Terry Teachout is also very good although he then wrote a terrible book about Duke Ellington.
Hmmm... I'll plug myself! I released an album a few weeks back called ZOiD Vs Musicians Vol 2. 13 tracks, each featuring a different musician improvising over electronics. https://zoid.bandcamp.com/album/zoid-vs-musicians-vol-2
I'm the Managing Editor of a books-and-culture newsletter on Substack, the Washington Review of Books, that comes out twice a week. We aim to keep our readers informed about good books, good essays, good criticism, good poems, good commentary, and really anything good and worthwhile that might otherwise get lost in the wash. A lot of great work in those areas goes unnoticed and underappreciated simply because no one is there to recommend it, and we want to make sure that something as essential as books and culture generally, and criticism specifically, continues to get the attention it should and find its audience. Morten Jensen made a comment a couple years back to the effect that the critic is someone carrying on their education in public—we're trying to be explicit about that (my editorial commentary is an example of it) and inviting as many people as possible along for the ride. And we throw in some jokes too so the whole thing goes down easy.
If that sounds interesting to you (and I would hope it does if you appreciate The Honest Broker, as I very much do), please check us out at https://www.washingreview.com/.
Hi Steve, I just published my first book Flourishing in Community: A Theology of Togetherness, in which I try to promote what I call flourishing-producing togetherness, something I believe is sorely needed in our divisive society. Perhaps you might review it for you newsletter. It is available through my publisher Wipf and Stock or on Amazon. https://wipfandstock.com/9798385222322/flourishing-in-community/
Just found out that I’m getting a book published this fall. And one of the selling points was that I had something published on The Honest Broker!
Heck yes congrats Chris!
👍🎉 Great news, Chris! Book title, Publisher? Keep us posted!
Will do. Rowman and Littlefield. Hopefully out this fall under the title “Uncharted Territory”
Great title, look forward to reading it!
👍🎉 Way to go, Chris! Book title, Publisher?
Congratulations!
A ha! I was wondering where the new podcast episodes went. lol Congrats
Great news and look forward to the info when it's published. Substack is such a good community.
fantastic!! Congratulations!! Book title and theme?
congrats!
Congratulations!
That's huge news! Congrats, Chris!
Ted, you are a bright light in a land of too many dim/ burnt out old bulbs! Love what you bring to this platform and the world. Keep it up. This is essential for my 4 year survival prognosis 🙏🏽👍🏽😘 xoxo apd gsb ‘83
I regret to report that I have creative constipation. My words are irregular and I need some meta-muse-cil.
Haha! Perhaps you’re lactose intolerant to the cheesy state of music and movies? A healthy dose of the three B’s may help. Bach, Brahms, and Beethoven. These sounds are pure in ingredients and nutritious for the soul! Take a good long walk in nature to then get it moving. Focus on the songbirds to drown out the popular culture toxins in the system. Follow up with a nice bath or sauna session. Delete Netflix. I’m rambling at this point, but thank you for the laugh!
Hahaha. Inspired by the response, I wrote this shitty little ditty! https://www.whitenoise.email/p/creative-constipation
Well this shitty little ditty made my day! Hilarious. Witty & wonderful. Go whisk up your meta-muse-cil, put the canon "Leck mich im Arsch" in B-flat major by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on the record player, and give yourself a toast! Well played, sir.
I sent the link to your poem to my daughter, a writer, poet, and Creative Writing Professor at a small "Liberal" Arts University. Liberal is in quotes because they seem to have lost the meaning of their mission
Thank you!!
Inspired by the response, I wrote this shitty little ditty! https://www.whitenoise.email/p/creative-constipation
HA! Pretty good meter!
That's very a-muse-ing.
I understand this. When I get it, my input/output has been off-balance. What have you been reading/listening to?
Inspired by the response, I wrote this shitty little ditty! https://www.whitenoise.email/p/creative-constipation
Have you tried getting AI to write it for you?
Hi - I'm a singer/songwriter from near Lake Tahoe in California. I've been lurking on Substack for months, trying to evaluate it as a platform for a serialized album release.
I figure Ted's charming, attractive and erudite audience is probably full of informed opinions on the topic - any thoughts? Thanks!
[P.S. My band is called Radio Nowhere. We sound a little like Tom Petty's band playing Duran Duran's instruments. Music here for anyone who's curious: https://on.soundcloud.com/tQJ4UwmDBSSV3zx98 ]
Hi MB, I listened to your band on SoundCloud. Love it. Can we chat about our new platform https://www.goodtunes.music/artists ? We've worked really hard to create something of value for Artists and fans. We've proven the model for both and are getting ready to scale with a bunch of orgs (worldwide) beginning this month. We're also have a two-page spread in this month's issue of SPIN. I'd love to share more. bill@goodtunes.music
Hi Bill - I appreciate that you took the time to head over to SC and check it out. Thx! Sounds like you guys are up to something cool, and I'd be interested to hear more about it if you'd like to share. radionowhere@gmail.com
Intrigued by your songwriting and warmed by your voice. Great stuff!
That's so cool - thx for checking the music out, Bibi - really appreciate it!
This is awesome. On my second listen. Keep it up!
Great - thx so much for listening David (at least twice ;) - grateful that you liked it and took the time to tell me so!
I've been following an indie artist from the Los Angeles area for the last 2 years and recently trying to nudge her to come over to Substack. Migrate everyone off Facebook to this platform
Definitely down with getting everyone off FB. I've been weighing Substack against Patreon for my purposes, leaning towards releasing here.
Please don’t!
Hmmm...please don't release on Substack? Be interested to hear why not, if you feel it's not a good idea
No, don’t get everyone off FB and on here… this is a blessed alternative to the FB soup!
This is an interesting concept. I'm all up in singer/songwriter world and haven't any data at all. Myself, I barely use substack. I'd like to follow your research and progress. if you're on X or Facebook, I'm @debsvalidation; on bsky it's @debewing
Thx, Deb - I'll hook up with you on bsky
Cool stuff! Is your name from Springsteen's 2007 song? Either way, super cool!
Hey, thx Amy! The band name actually dates to 2004 - it grew out of my tendency to take solo songwriting road trips out into the Nevada/CA/Utah desert, where the radio reception faded to nothing. I must admit i was a little bummed when Bruce came out with his song a few years later - at least it's a great song ;)
Clicked it, loved it right away. Nice slippery groove on the opening song. Hope Ted likes it too and plugs the daylights out of you. Go hard!
Paul, thx so much for checking it out! “Slippery” groove - dig that!
Followed your SoundCloud, MB. 'Katydid' was my childhood nickname! Enjoyed the stripped-back acoustic arrangement on that song! All the best.
Hey, that’s great, Katydid ;) - thx so much!
Today is the 90th anniversary of Elvis Presley's birth. It's also the 15th anniversary of my first date with the woman who is now my wife (coincidentally, we got engaged four years later on August 16).
On my Substack, there is no artist I have written more about than Elvis. Three of my essays form a kind of informal trilogy. The links are here for anyone who is interested (one day, I would love to use these as a basis for a book on Elvis).
https://www.listeningsessions.ca/p/elvis-1958-farewell-to-the-young
https://www.listeningsessions.ca/p/an-elvis-for-everyone
https://www.listeningsessions.ca/p/an-elvis-for-himself
And it’s the 78th anniversary of David Bowie’s birth!
That's right!
I had a brief scan of the articles. I am supposed to be working so will have to return to them at the weekend. Any reason they stop before the Comeback Special? I'd be interested to read your take on the Memphis period.
Thanks for taking a brief look at them. No reason in particular why they stop before the Comeback Special. I'll probably at some point tackle the special and the Memphis sessions of '69. I limit myself to one Elvis essay this year - I'm toying with writing this year about his movie music from '60 to '64, mostly to point out the gems and to wrestle with its legacy (which is mostly not good and understandably so).
Thank you for the reply. Agreed the movie period is fascinating, a case of digging out the diamonds from the dirt! I'll keep an eye on your Substack going forward.
Thanks so much - glad we connected!
Paradise Lost: The Antidote to AI?
One of our fears about Al is that we might no longer recognize if a piece of writing came from a machine or a human being.
In the midst of re-reading Paradise Lost it struck me: here’s the antidote to AI. Why? Because it sounds so good. We read this poem, not for its story line but for the sheer magnificence of the language: rhythm, internal rhyme, sustained sound effects, striking juxtapositions. We are experiencing a well-tuned mind at work.
Much of English writing has lost all sense of sound effects. Poetry and the study of rhetoric can tune our ear, open us to new beauties, it can tune out AI.
AI may be able to generate poetry, and perhaps some good poetry.
But if I know it was written by AI, all meaning is lost, as art is mostly the process.
It was always about how human beings interpret the world, life and the creative process that followed in their heads.
Thanks for being an honest broker! We need more, and I hope our cult grows and flourishes, regardless of externalities. Three cheers to critical thinking!
Hi Ted — I’m a big fan and paid subscriber, but this is my first-ever comment. I wonder whether you’d have any interest in discussing medieval music.
When I was a teen, my career goal was “early music scholar.” I started out as a lutenist focused on the late-16th century, but my principal interests bifurcated into early 17th-c music (especially Monteverdi) and the weird-ass mannerist stuff from the late 14th century. But I dropped out of the PhD program at UC Berkeley to play in bands. I wound up working with many artists (Tom Waits, PJ Harvey, Tracy Chapman, Courtney Love, Jon Hassell, Julieta Venegas, and blah blah.) I was also a music journalist and the longtime editor of Guitar Player magazine. But 40 years after dropping out, I’ve circled back to the late medieval stuff.
I imagine you already know a great deal about the topic, but it’s SO fascinating to consider the repertoire from a modern musical perspective. It predates functional harmony — there are no “chords” or “chord changes” as we think of them. Thirds and triads were considered unstable dissonances. Some compositional choices were more numerological than musical. Composers like Senleches and Solage concocted music whose dissonance and rhythmic complexity would not be equaled until the late 19th century. But when we listen today, we can’t help mentally imposing our harmonic language in ways the composers never intended. It’s an exquisite tension.
I was a student during an era that focused on historical accuracy. When David Munrow “popularized” some of the most abstract medieval music. Nicolas Harnoncourt and Cathy Berberian were creating exquisite renditions of Monteverdi operas. Roger Norrington was recording Beethoven symphonies with strictly historic instruments. For the first time since 1750 we were hearing Bach played close to the way that … Bach heard Bach. I too was focused on period accuracy.
But now, as an old guy, I’m more interested in the aforementioned tension between ancient composition and modern perception. Two year ago I released an album of 14th-century music played note-for-note from the medieval manuscripts. (I emphasize “manuscript” because the repertoire preceded the printing press by some 50 years.) But instead of using period instruments, I used electric guitars, keyboards, digital sound design, etc. Here’s a taste if you’re curious.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zD88LRiBRbY
The entire album (Falling Through Time: Music of the 14th Century by Joe Gore) is on the streaming services. To my astonishment, David Robertson, who heads the conducting department at Juilliard, chose to rearrange my album for full orchestra, and we got to perform it in 2024 with the Utah Symphony under his baton. (I still can’t believe that happened!)
It’s a topic I suspect you, with your wide-focus musical knowledge, could delve into with fresh and fascinating insights. (And of course, I’d be beyond honored if you ever wanted to discuss.)
Finally, thanks for your always fascinating and valuable work!
You the same Joe Gore of early ‘80s SF band Big City? Greetings if you are and greetings just the same if you're not! Interesting project you describe. Congratulations.
Yep, that was me, several lifetimes ago. I admire your memory! :)
I’ve had Harnoncourt’s Brandenburger 1,5 and 6 (well not sure if it’s 1) for 40 years and last week I heard the Orchestra of the Antipodes do #5. It sounded so fresh!!! I thought they’d thrown every historical reference away to just make it open and happening. Now I read they play on period instruments… I’m gonna check your stuff when my wife isn’t sleeping next to me.
Hee hee. Well, music doesn’t get much more dramatic than the #5. My god, I’ve been listening to that harpsichord cadenza for half a century, and it still startles me every time. I’ll definitely check out the Antipodes version!
Very cool project. The film was the perfect accompaniment but I found it distracting so went back and just listened. Is there a rock equivalent of Downbeat's Blindfold Test? It would be fun to sit some record execs down and play them this music.
Thanks, Su! Well, if you know any music industry execs, sure! I think most people would have no idea what the fuck it is, because it doesn’t conform with the aural image that even the musically educated have about medieval music. So complex … so dissonant … so frickin’ weird!
I guess you’re right but to me the album clearly demonstrates its lineage. But then, I do listen to a lot of medieval music. Just got back from a tour in Spain and on my off days visited all the medieval cities I had time for :)
I’m totally jealous of your trip! At least I’ve been to Avignon, which was sort of a “home base” for late 14th-century avant-gardism, during the Papal
Schism, when there were popes in both Rome and in France. Anyway, I so appreciate your interest in my
project! ♥️
That's what I thought - I see by your pic ,yup - Joe the Git-Picker
C’est moi. :)
I got a mini trampoline for Christmas. I've been coming home from work and jumping to my favorite songs. I cannot tell you how much of a mood booster this is. I make priority lists of things I want to do or learn based off of my energy levels. What is more satisfying than writing goals down in big beautiful cursive and checking them off with an ink pen?
Today's goal is putting my knee-high wader/hiking boots on and walking through the reserve behind my house. I want to jump in the creek and play in the snow. I will then come home, put my space heater on, and hole away in my little music space. These are my thoughts right now!
Last night I dreamt I was in a car with Vladimir Putin. I don’t know where we were going, or even who was driving, but I remember telling him all about my Uncle Sandy.
Vladimir seemed nice. He listened when I talked and he asked questions, which showed that he had been paying attention.
My Uncle Sandy was married to my mother’s sister, May. They lived in an old, three-storey house by a river. The house was built of stone, blackened over the years until it looked as dark as the inside, which never got any light no matter where the sun was positioned in the sky.
Uncle Sandy was a thief and a wife beater.
Aunt May was a timid little thing who smoked endless cigarettes and laughed nervously whenever anyone spoke. They had a son, John, who would one day die of a drug overdose. I never liked him, but when I went to his funeral, I broke down in tears at his open grave. Uncle Sandy wasn’t there, I’ve no idea what happened to him.
Aunt May had remarried by this point, to another wife beater. They had a son called Peter. I don’t know what happened to wife beater number two or Peter, but Aunt May died of cancer.
I didn’t tell Vladimir much of this, just talked mostly about Uncle Sandy. I described him as a big, scary guy.
Which pretty much describes Putin, right?
Huh? Putin isn't big, and he ain't scary. Propaganda has turned him literally into a monster to be feared.
He is a corrupt, homicidal evil sociopath. There are innumerable good sources for this opinion - trying reading some of the books or essays by Professor Timothy Snyder (Yale history professor). He qualifies as a monster in my book - just ask the civilians in Ukraine (the ones who are still alive, anyway).
Okay, right off the bat: he's "evil?" How is that? Right now, the US and Israel are running a genocide in Gaza. This is not in dispute--it never should have been, and by now even staid outfits and organizations like Amnesty International, who were quick to condemn the Russian invasion in 2022, have called it genocide. Finally. And that genocide IS evil. The word "sociopath" has a concrete, actual meaning, and Putin does not fit it. "Sociopath" is often used carelessly, simply as a catch-all pejorative, and that's what you did here. Bibi Netanyahu does, however, fit the definition, and what can we say about the entire political class in the US, along with their conspirators and acolytes and apologists in the media, and academia, always in support of war and Genocide?Like Timothy Snyder, whose book, "Bloodlands," is filled with inaccuracies, deliberate omissions, and lies? Here is Clara Weiss' opening statement of her five-part review of Snyder's execrable book:
"Even within the scope of an extensive review, only a portion of the falsifications, lies and distortions of history at the hands of Timothy Snyder could be addressed. The abundance of errors in his citations, the mistranslations and misrepresentation of scholarly works—all of these would be sufficient to disqualify any chapter in Bloodlands from even passing an undergraduate course."
For anyone interested in reading this review, simply go to the WSWS (World Socialist Web Site), type in "Timothy Snyder" in the search bar, and scroll down to the relevant article. On the way down are other interviews with historians, real ones, not right-wing neocon fake ones cashing in on their Ill-gotten celebrity, who also discuss Snyder's sub-standard work. I highly recommend reading the review--it's first-rate criticism.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 was a final response by the Russian Federation (not just Putin--despite the lies and propaganda out there, Putin is NOT a dictator who just does what he wants with the RF), to the endless provocations of the US. In the words of the journalist Patrick Lawrence, the invasion was "regrettable but necessary." The US wanted the proxy war, provoked it, and got it. And is losing it. The US' stated goal right after the invasion began was to weaken Russia. These are words of war, and indeed, we now know that the war was on track to being ended a couple months after it began, but the US sent Boris Johnson to Kiev to tell then-President* Zelenskyy to stop with the talks and continue the war, assuring him Ukraine would prevail. He was wrong. Upwards of 500,000 thousand dead Ukrainian soldiers later, the war grinds on, with the US demanding that Ukraine lower the conscription age to 18.
And, as far as dead civilians are concerned, the Russians have gone out of their way to spare civilians, a fact noted by our military. That's something "we" NEVER do. Indeed, the entire US/Israeli goal in Gaza is to exterminate all civilians, but in all US wars, the survival of civilians is barely an afterthought.
*Zelenskyy, as of May of last year, is no longer the legitimate President. His term expired, and he canceled elections. In effect, he's a dictator. No matter, the US runs the show there ultimately.
Based on its investigations into events in the regions of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Sumy, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine has concluded that war crimes have been committed in Ukraine.
"Based on its investigations into events in the regions of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Sumy, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine has concluded that war crimes have been committed in Ukraine.The Commission has documented violations, such as the illegal use of explosive weapons, indiscriminate attacks, violations of personal integrity, including executions, torture and ill-treatment, and sexual and gender-based violence. It also found that the rights of children have been violated.
On a visit to Ukraine in June 2022, the Commission observed first-hand the damage that explosive weapons with wide-area effects caused to residential buildings and infrastructure in populated areas, including schools and hospitals. A number of the attacks that the Commission investigated were carried out without distinguishing between civilians and combatants.
“We were struck by the large number of executions in the areas that we visited,” Erik Møse, chair of the Commission, said. “We are concerned about the suffering that the international armed conflict in Ukraine has imposed on the civilian population.” He added that the Commission is currently investigating executions in 16 towns and settlements, and has received credible allegations regarding many more such cases. Common elements to these crimes included the prior detention of the victims and visible signs of execution, such as hands tied behind backs, gunshot wounds to the head, and slit throats.
Witnesses provided the Commission with consistent accounts of ill-treatment and torture carried out during unlawful confinement. Some of the victims reported that after initial detention by Russian forces in Ukraine, they were transferred to the Russian Federation and held for weeks in detention centres, where they were subjected to torture and other forms of ill-treatment." This is from the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner. Tim, if you seriously think Russia has gone out of their way to spare civilians, after bombing hospitals, schools, theaters housing hundreds of children and civilians, and power stations, and torturing and murdering hundreds of civilians in Bucha, you are either delusional or being paid directly or indirectly by Putin's government. After the video of Putin interrogating the heads of his government department, on Feb.21, 2022, suggest they are all afraid of him. The fact that politicians, journalists and others who criticize him very often end up murdered or die suddenly under suspicious circumstances (including Aleksei Navalny, Sergei Yushenkov, Anna Politkovskaya, Aleksandr Litvinenko, Natalya Estemirova, Boris Nemtsov, Mikhail Lesin, Boris Berezovsky, Stanislav Markelov, Anastasia Baburova, and Yuri Shchekochikhin) not to mention Sergei Magnitsky (who died, while unjustly imprisoned, of fatal neglect) and Sergei Skripal (who was poisoned as ordered by Putin and would have died without excellent British medical care) would seem to justify their fear. Civilians who dare to criticize his military action in Ukraine are arrested and often imprisoned.
I am using sociopath to mean someone who shows no evidence of a conscience or empathy for others and deliberately seeks to harm others who are not a physical threat. Someone who orders the murder of journalists, political opponents, and other civilian critics and orders the prolonged imprisonment of innocent people like Evan Gershkovich and Brittney Griner as political pawns to be exchanged for his murderers and other criminals certainly shows an extreme callousness that fully justifies labelling him a sociopath. If you choose to believe that leaders who order murders (of people who are not terrorists or criminals) repeatedly over a 20+ year period, other than in a state of war, are not sociopathic, or are not evil, I must disagree.
Yes - all you outline must have occurred ,so why does any of that evil change what Putin is ?
A correction: The above quote from Clara Weiss' review of Timothy Snyder's book "Bloodlands" is in fact the opening statement from Part 5 of the review. I apologize for the mistake. Here are the first two paragraphs of her opening statement in Part 1 of the review: (Published on December 1st, 2022)
"In April, Basic Books published a second edition of Timothy Snyder’s 2010 book Bloodlands, advertising it as the “essential historical background to the war in Ukraine.” The extraordinary role that Snyder is playing in justifying the imperialist proxy war against Russia in Ukraine and the alliance of US imperialism with the Ukrainian far right make it imperative to investigate this work more closely.
Since the beginning of the war in February, Snyder has appeared countless times on television, has published multiple pieces in the New York Times and the New York Review of Books and has spoken at numerous academic events. In his appearances, Twitter threads and other writings, he has buttressed US imperialist war propaganda against Russia with historical distortions and lies, ranging from false claims of “genocide” to an alleged “hunger plan” by Putin and the existence of a “fascist regime” in Russia. As the WSWS has documented, his Twitter threads have repeatedly sought to deny or downplay the role of Ukrainian fascists both in contemporary Ukrainian politics and the army and in the annihilation of 900,000 Ukrainian Jews during the Nazi-led Holocaust in World War II."
Thank you, Ted. I am a 26 year old composer and I am currently writing my first opera (without commission). Two years ago I wrote a song cycle wherein I adapted poems by Robinson Jeffers to music for voice. I will try to fund a tour of that work this year and will share through my Substack how people may contribute. Here is an example of a song from the cycle “Birth-Dues” via my Substack: https://ethankosssmith.substack.com/p/vulture
I just wanted to mention Dame Cleo Laine, wife of the late Sir John Dankworth, who is still going strong at 97 years old. Her performance with a peak-form Ray Charles in the 1975 Norman Granz recording of Porgy and Bess, I can't see ever being bettered. The wail at the end of 'My Man's Gone Now' sends a shiver down your spine. Her concert recordings at Carnegie Hall are also pretty legendary. Long may she stay with us.
I met Cleo and John when I was waitressing in my early twenties.... they had played at the Ambler Music Festival not far from the restaurant. He was very funny and she was amazing... such a presence. They were kind and friendly. Long live Cleo, RIP JD.
Hi all. Have been racing through lots of fiction recently and am looking to change tack for a short while. In that regard, if anyone has any recommendations for books about Louis Armstrong I'm all ears. See also Nina Simone. Thanks.
In return I heartily recommend recent Booker Prize winner Orbital by Samantha Harvey and Untold Lessons by Maddalena Vaglio Tanet!
The 3 books on Louis Armstrong by Ricky Riccardi are very good. The latest one is not out till next month and it covers the early years (they were published in reverse order of Pops' chronology). "Pops" by Terry Teachout is also very good although he then wrote a terrible book about Duke Ellington.
oop, glad you asked. I have three literary nonfiction books to recommend (just posted this!) https://folkworks.org/review/all-they-will-call-you-after-and-before-the-plane-wreck-at-los-gatos/
Hmmm... I'll plug myself! I released an album a few weeks back called ZOiD Vs Musicians Vol 2. 13 tracks, each featuring a different musician improvising over electronics. https://zoid.bandcamp.com/album/zoid-vs-musicians-vol-2
available on purple vinyl!
only 5 left out of 100 :)
Family affair....love this. Purchased Module Bone!
After listening more...purchased the album!
Amazing thanks Bidi!
Followed! That album art is amazing! Fun sounds <3
Thanks! Hand drawn by NYC artist Shane Ingersoll 😁
Just wanted to wish a Happy New Year to everyone in the Gioia-verse !!
The way the world’s accelerating, sticking around for each other seems a bright path through it all — and what a terrific crew Ted’s gathered here 🌍🪩
I'm the Managing Editor of a books-and-culture newsletter on Substack, the Washington Review of Books, that comes out twice a week. We aim to keep our readers informed about good books, good essays, good criticism, good poems, good commentary, and really anything good and worthwhile that might otherwise get lost in the wash. A lot of great work in those areas goes unnoticed and underappreciated simply because no one is there to recommend it, and we want to make sure that something as essential as books and culture generally, and criticism specifically, continues to get the attention it should and find its audience. Morten Jensen made a comment a couple years back to the effect that the critic is someone carrying on their education in public—we're trying to be explicit about that (my editorial commentary is an example of it) and inviting as many people as possible along for the ride. And we throw in some jokes too so the whole thing goes down easy.
If that sounds interesting to you (and I would hope it does if you appreciate The Honest Broker, as I very much do), please check us out at https://www.washingreview.com/.
Hi Steve, I just published my first book Flourishing in Community: A Theology of Togetherness, in which I try to promote what I call flourishing-producing togetherness, something I believe is sorely needed in our divisive society. Perhaps you might review it for you newsletter. It is available through my publisher Wipf and Stock or on Amazon. https://wipfandstock.com/9798385222322/flourishing-in-community/