The Kieslowski Haikus

Based on Kieslowski's "Three Colors" trilogy:

Blue

Remember music...
Is composition loss or love?
Love’s more than one song.

White

Huh? Huh?? No! No! No!
OW! OW! OW! HEY! Oh. Hmm...
AH HA! HA! HA! HA!

Red

Brother, where art thou?
A retired judge, his muse
Oh, Coen Brothers, you’re toast.



copyright 2011 Dan Coffey

A Note on the Blog's Intent

To those of you who have recently been directed to this blog to get the playlists for the Papers for the Border podcast, I wanted to say that the podcast info is only one aspect of the blog. I also intend to post writings on literature, film, and music. So, when you see the next post, don't be taken aback.

We have reached the borders of Poland

Someone on a Polish Peter Hammill forum had this to say regarding Podcast #8 (loosely translated through Google): "Hammill has some connection with the feast of "devil Satan?". There was a smiley face after the comment, which I'm pretty sure translates into English as a smiley face.

No, "Michael Sh.". That wasn't the point of the broadcast. Just going with the Halloween vibe. It was all in (serious) fun.

"Booty" replied with a comment to the effect that the playlist was interesting, so that's something.

Papers for the Border #8 ~ The "Hammillwe'en" Special

Podcast first uploaded/broadcast 10/30/11. Here is the link: http://pftb.libsyn.com/. (It's also available in the iTunes store.)

The new -- Halloween Edition -- of Papers for the Border is alive! Alive! Episode #8: Hammillwe'en. Where we spend just over two hours exploring the darker side of the dark side of the artist known as Peter Hammill. Depressing? Hell no! Spinetinglingly unsettling and perhaps a little disquieting? Right on! Enjoy!

There are many wordless pieces of music herein, but the lyrics of the songs that aren't can be found at the lyrics section of Peter Hammill's website.The program for this episode is as follows:

1. Dark Matter (6:56) from the solo album Sonix (Fie, 1996)
2. Darkness (11/11) (7:00) from the Van der Graaf Generator album The Least We Can Do Is Wave (Charisma, 1969)
3. Fogwalking (4:05) from the solo album A Black Box (S-Type/Virgin, 1980)
4. Gog / Magog (In Bromine Chambers) (17:40) from the solo album In Camera (Charisma, 1974)
5. A Ritual Mask (3:53) from the solo album Loops and Reels (Fie, 1992)
6. Masks (7:00) from the Van der Graaf Generator album World Record (Charisma, 1976)
7. Usher: selections from the solo album The Fall of the House of Usher: Deconstructed and Rebuilt (Fie, 1999)**
1. Architecture (Act Two) (3:40)
2. The Sleeper (Act Two) (3:18)
3. I Shun the Light (Act Two) (3:45)
4. She Is Dead (Act Five) (6:43)
5. Beating of the Heart (Act Six) (5:19)
6. The Haunted Palace (Act Six) (4:21)
7. I Dared Not Speak (Act Six) (2:56)
8. She Comes Towards the Door (Act Six) (1:06)
9. The Fall (Act Six) (3:19)

8. The Bells The Bells (4:08) from the solo album Loops and Reels (Fie, 1992)
9. The Tower (interlude from "In the Black Room") (2:44) from the solo album Chameleon in the Shadows of the Night (Charisma, 1972)
10. White Dot (6:22) from the solo album Singularity (Fie, 2006)
11. The Music of Erich Zann (24:58) Composed (1979) by John Geist (b. 1949) for quartet and narrator. Performed by Kronos Quartet with Peter Hammill at The Barbican, London, 22 July 1994. Text by H. P. Lovecraft.***
12. The Wipe (1:51) from the solo album A Black Box (S-Type/Virgin, 1980)

* Loops and Reels was originally self-released by Hammill on cassette.

** The original Fall of the House of Usher album was released in 1991 on the Some Bizarre label.


***You can follow along with the text of  "The Music of Erich Zann" here

PFTB Podcast #7 ~ Playlist & Links

1. Swedes ~ Chris Corsano ~ Blood Pressure (Hot Cars Warp, 2006)

2. Initially This ~ Fred Frith, Carla Kihlstedt, Stevie Wishart ~ The Compass, Log, and Lead (Intakt, 2006)

3. Boogie ~ The Red Krayola ~ Hazel (Drag City, 1996)

4. Spane ~ Derek Bailey, John Butcher, Oren Marshall ~ Trio Playing (INCUS, 1995) http://www.efi.group.shef.ac.uk/labels/incus/incusc28.html


5. The Wire ~ Steve Lacy ~ Dreams (Saravah, 1975)

6. The Salome She Always Threatened to Turn Into ~ Ashtray Navigations ~ Blues and Authentic River Songs (n/a, 2002)

7. Ballad ~ Fe-Mail and Carlos Giffoni ~ Northern Stains (Important, 2006)

8. Arnhem 6

9. Arnhem 7

10. Arnhem 4 ~ Maja Ratkje and Jaap Blonk ~ MAJAAP(Kontrans, 2004)

11. Of Strange Attractors ~ Maja Ratkje and Jaap Blonk ~ Post-Human Identities (Kontrans, 2005)

12. Mini Four ~ Sylvie Courvoisier, Joelle Leandre, Susie Ibarra ~ Passaggio(Intakt, 2002)

13. Fossils Come Alive! ~ The Curtains ~ Make Us Two Crayons on the Floor (Yik Yak, 2003)

14. My Love for You Has Turned to Life ~ MV & EE with The Bummer Road ~ Mother of Thousands (Time-Lag, 2006)

Papers for the Border #5 Tracklist & Notes

Here is what was played in the fifth episode of the Papers for the Border podcast, which was made available starting December 14, 2010:

1. "It's Still '56" ~ Richard Buckner ~ Impasse-ette (Overcoat, 2002)
2. "Anti-Sex Anti-Wiretapping (Made in Taiwan)" ~ s/t ~ God (Little Enjoyer / Gameboy, 2005)
3. "Contextual Part 3" ~ Laminal ~ AMM (Matchless, 1969/82/94)
4. "Bug Day" ~ The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall ~ The Fall (Beggars Banquet, 1984)
5. "Slide 9" ~ AFCGT ~ AFCGT (SubPop, 2010)
6. "Eclipse" ~ Ancient and Modern ~ Aki Onda (Phenomena, 2003)
7. "Opium War" ~ Radio Experiment, Rome, February 1981 ~ Robert Wyatt (Rai Trade, 2009)

Looking back on these songs nine months later, I'm finding it difficult to figure out what I was going for. I remember that the "Anti-Sex..." song was the nucleus; I really wanted to include a part of that sprawling recording. While researching the recording, I came across a review that likened the musicians known as "God," Leif Erik Sundström & Bryan Eubanks, to another group of improvising musicians near to my heart, AMM. So I decided to throw an AMM recording into the mix, to see how it stood up next to the previous track.


The final two tracks were simply cuts from albums that I had obtained a week or two before putting together the podcast, and thought they were perfect for PftB. The Wyatt track got me thinking about war, and so when I was looking for a short opening song (I was originally going to include the Henry Cow song, "War"), i thought of the Richard Buckner track. Recorded in 2002, but containing, apparently, a much older recording, I believe this is Buckner's unusually subtle way of making a statement regarding the Iraq War. The AFCGT album was sent to me by a friend, and I found myself fascinated by "Slide 9".


Why the Fall? Well, The Wonderful & Frightening... had just been re-released in an "omnibus" edition, and I realized that it was the one Fall album I'd never really given a chance. Ever since my discovery of the band around 1994, I'd written this album off as unadventurous and boring. When I'm wrong, I am very wrong. "Bug Day" "goes out to," as they say -- and this episode is dedicated to -- Matt O'Neal, a professor of entomology at Iowa State University, and a close friend of mine, as well as my son's godfather. Matt is in the process of discovering the skewed genius of Mark E. Smith and the Fall.


And, before you know it, there goes an hour. Thanks for listening and reading.

Papers for the Border Podcast #6

The latest PftB podcast can be found on iTunes, and here.

It consists of five tracks:

1.  "Friendly Galaxy" by Sun Ra, from the album Disco 3000 (Art Yard, 2009). Originally released in 1978 on the Saturn label.
2. "HOIB 2" by Hubbub, from the album HOIB (Matchless, 2004).
3. "Missouri Couple seeks Law Against Hunting + Drinking: : Dean St." by Ecstasy Mule, from the album Ecstasy Mule Contemplate Hunting & Drinking When the Rainbow is Enuf (Batterie, 2008).
4. "The Long Hot Summer," Charlotte Moorman, Jackson Mac Low, and others, from Cello Anthology (Alga Marghen, 2007). Performance recorded in 1964.
5. "A Black Mass Part 1," Amiri Baraka and the Sun Ra Myth Science Arkestra. from A Black Mass (Son Boy Records, 1999). Play written in 1965, recorded in 1968.