Saturday, December 31, 2011
between Scylla and Charybdis by les Niobides
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzS7XlPuXPY&feature=youtu.be
started off with a melody on upright bass
then added vibraphone, cymbals and piano
started off with a melody on upright bass
then added vibraphone, cymbals and piano
Friday, December 30, 2011
Thursday, December 29, 2011
La Lune est une Maîtresse Cruelle by les Niobides
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ353rNiiBg&feature=youtu.be
I composed this acoustic piece last night on my Martin in about 15 minutes.
It required two takes for the main rhythm and two takes for the twangy solo.
The title is borrowed from a painting of mine, which in turn was inspired by a
novel by Robert A. Heinlein
I composed this acoustic piece last night on my Martin in about 15 minutes.
It required two takes for the main rhythm and two takes for the twangy solo.
The title is borrowed from a painting of mine, which in turn was inspired by a
novel by Robert A. Heinlein
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Monday, December 26, 2011
The nature of desire Part I
One day when I was a student in Paris I was browsing thru the cinema section of the library in the Centre Pompidou and caught sight of this picture on the cover of a book.I couldn't stop staring at it or thinking about it. That afternoon I walked around in a daze and even went back the next day to look at it again.
I assumed it was a still from Bunuel's Diary of a Chambermaid, which has a similar scene with Jeanne Moreau, but I was mistaken.
Some twenty years later I discovered it's the French actress Arletty in Hotel du Nord.
Last week I was reading Truman Capote's infamous New Yorker article on Brando who spoke about his infatuation with Arletty so I looked her up and found the mysterious picture again.
Throughout my life certain images have had a similar power over me.
This picture did not interest me on the level it would for someone with a common foot fetish.
No, I think it represents something else entirely, namely the involuntary capitulation to beauty.
It is what empires have been fought over, what souls have been sold for. This elusive, ephemeral thing...beauty. It is the mad, eternally frustrating focus of my life.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Songeant de poisons et de glaives
To dream of poisons and daggers.
This piece was written hastily after dinner tonight.
I like the second half when I drop down an octave
and add the strings.
The title comes from a line in Baudelaire's Madrigal Triste
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqhIlN-7D8c&feature=youtu.be
This piece was written hastily after dinner tonight.
I like the second half when I drop down an octave
and add the strings.
The title comes from a line in Baudelaire's Madrigal Triste
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqhIlN-7D8c&feature=youtu.be
two new demos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V02amVEWU8c&feature=youtu.behttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvwaZyDjfKA&feature=youtu.be
This one features me on fuzz bass, drums and Hammond B3 organ.
It needs to be edited down some.
Friday, December 23, 2011
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Monday, December 19, 2011
Saturday, December 17, 2011
I've lived this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wz2bAByWyI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFa4ySkv9Dg&feature=related
pretty much my 4 years at the School of the Art Institute in 4 minutes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFa4ySkv9Dg&feature=related
pretty much my 4 years at the School of the Art Institute in 4 minutes
The Naked Maja by les Niobides
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUHCK8lU9Wg
my quasi neo flamenco piece
my quasi neo flamenco piece
Friday, December 16, 2011
Each Man Kills The Thing He Loves by les Niobides
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=O4RXTKUKe0w
my most Nino Rota like piece yet
my most Nino Rota like piece yet
Thursday, December 15, 2011
All the Lights by les Niobides
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSpwchunNuk&feature=youtu.beAnother song written on my Martin to which I added
a Nord Wave chime effect, cymbals and cabasa and lastly
vocals.
There are mysteries in this world which are best left unsolved. Take the puzzle box created by the French craftsman and toymaker, Philip LeMarchand -- the box which would come to be known (by the few who know of it) as the Lament Configuration. The box's very name echoes a small inkling of what it brings. But those that seek the box are not so easily dissuaded by a name, they are true "explorers of forbidden pleasure".
These are creatures that have walked the paths of carnal pleasure, of pure hedonism, and found them wanting. Such a person is numb to what our world offers and hungry for the offerings and songs of the other side. The promise the box holds is that of pleasures that only a handful have ever felt. Sensations that have no name in human language, much less a description. Sadly, most that seek out the box just simply seek to "feel" again.
The sad lesson that the box teaches those that solve it is an ancient one, be careful of what you wish for...
Most who seek out "pleasure beyond the senses" really have no idea of what exactly they seek, or how far such pleasures can take them. We, as humans and as creatures of this world, have formed an idea of what pleasure is, of what carnal knowledge brings and what wealth, power and such can promise. In our human arrogance we forget to think that this is a rather humble idea of the reality of pleasure, forged by life within our paradigm. Beyond our senses and beyond our limits there is more, so much more..."
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Things That Inspire Me
The photographers Filippo e Fausto TOMMASOLI
http://www.archiviotommasoli.it/category/gallerie-fotografiche/filippo-e-fausto
Bubblegum Blood by les Niobides
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aqw6PEE348k&feature=youtu.be
the title comes from a novel written by my late brother.
I'd like to think that if Bela Bartok made rock music it would
sound like this.
the title comes from a novel written by my late brother.
I'd like to think that if Bela Bartok made rock music it would
sound like this.
Le Rendez-Vous by les Niobides
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCF4z1StvDI&feature=youtu.be
One of my better melodies but I may redo the vocals. I did another
version with different lyrics that tells the story of meeting a woman
while looking at a painting by Breughel(his Icarus) and the romance that ensues.
One of my better melodies but I may redo the vocals. I did another
version with different lyrics that tells the story of meeting a woman
while looking at a painting by Breughel(his Icarus) and the romance that ensues.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Hell Job part I
I don't remember how many years ago this was. It's better I don't.
Most all of my hell jobs began with me coveting some very expensive
German camera. I would convince myself that I could endure nearly any
job for the few months required to raise funds for whatever lens, camera body
or other equipment I needed at the time.
There were of course certain jobs I wouldn't stoop to no matter how desperate
I was, such as a cashier or fast food employee(Hamburger University as it's known).
I answered an ad from one of those self storage facilities that are so ubiquitous these days.
How hard could working in a place like that be?
Somebody comes in once in a blue moon to check on their locker, pay a bill, clear out their stuff.
I pictured days spent with my feet up on the desk reading.
This storage facility was located off the highway around an industrial park.
The lady who gave me my job application was also the manager and only other employee there.
She was a White woman in her 60's, dressed in a mishmash of native American themed attire and resale bargain-ware.
I was actually hired on the spot and she gave me a tour of the place, beginning with her living quarters which was attached to the front office.
She explained that though her salary was modest she lived here rent free.
The fact that she was the width of a cheap veneer door away might present a problem to the goofing off I expected to be doing.
Back in her apartment she proudly showed me her "artwork"
The walls were covered with Native American embroidery that were beyond tacky. Scenes of the proud red man astride a horse with plenty of dream catchers tossed in for good measure.
I started feeling very sad for this woman who apparently had never been married and lived behind ugly office. Then I started feeling very sad for myself that I would soon be working here too.
It was a cold and windy late Fall day but she insisted on driving me around the whole place in
a golf cart. Every ten feet or so she would stop the cart in order to pick up some wayward trash that had lodged in the metal fence surrounding the place. So she would be explaining to me my duties and in mid sentence leap out of the golf cart to pick up a Styrofoam cup.
It seemed like an exercise in futility because all the trash from the surrounding warehouses ended up stuck in that fence.
I asked her why not just clean up the debris every few days instead of every half hour, which she expected of me.
It seemed to have never occurred to her.
"But what if the national manager shows up and the place is full of litter?"
"How often does he come here?" I inquired.
"Maybe once or twice a year."
"Does he just show up unexpectedly or do you have some prior notification?"
At a loss for words we returned to the office where she gave me my own set of keys.
Once home a few hours later I called her up to say I decided not to take the job after all.
Thankfully she didn't pick up and I left on message on the recording machine.
She almost immediately called me back and in a frantic voice demanded I return the key at once.
"Can't I mail them to you?"
"No, I have to have them right now!"
She acted liked I was in possession of the sole key to the Louvre.
"Alright, alright. I will drop them off tomorrow. I do expect to be paid for my training though."
I think she was with a customer the next day so I didn't have to engage in any small talk. I just slid the keys on the counter, turned around and walked out.
That job lasted about 90 minutes.
Most all of my hell jobs began with me coveting some very expensive
German camera. I would convince myself that I could endure nearly any
job for the few months required to raise funds for whatever lens, camera body
or other equipment I needed at the time.
There were of course certain jobs I wouldn't stoop to no matter how desperate
I was, such as a cashier or fast food employee(Hamburger University as it's known).
I answered an ad from one of those self storage facilities that are so ubiquitous these days.
How hard could working in a place like that be?
Somebody comes in once in a blue moon to check on their locker, pay a bill, clear out their stuff.
I pictured days spent with my feet up on the desk reading.
This storage facility was located off the highway around an industrial park.
The lady who gave me my job application was also the manager and only other employee there.
She was a White woman in her 60's, dressed in a mishmash of native American themed attire and resale bargain-ware.
I was actually hired on the spot and she gave me a tour of the place, beginning with her living quarters which was attached to the front office.
She explained that though her salary was modest she lived here rent free.
The fact that she was the width of a cheap veneer door away might present a problem to the goofing off I expected to be doing.
Back in her apartment she proudly showed me her "artwork"
The walls were covered with Native American embroidery that were beyond tacky. Scenes of the proud red man astride a horse with plenty of dream catchers tossed in for good measure.
I started feeling very sad for this woman who apparently had never been married and lived behind ugly office. Then I started feeling very sad for myself that I would soon be working here too.
It was a cold and windy late Fall day but she insisted on driving me around the whole place in
a golf cart. Every ten feet or so she would stop the cart in order to pick up some wayward trash that had lodged in the metal fence surrounding the place. So she would be explaining to me my duties and in mid sentence leap out of the golf cart to pick up a Styrofoam cup.
It seemed like an exercise in futility because all the trash from the surrounding warehouses ended up stuck in that fence.
I asked her why not just clean up the debris every few days instead of every half hour, which she expected of me.
It seemed to have never occurred to her.
"But what if the national manager shows up and the place is full of litter?"
"How often does he come here?" I inquired.
"Maybe once or twice a year."
"Does he just show up unexpectedly or do you have some prior notification?"
At a loss for words we returned to the office where she gave me my own set of keys.
Once home a few hours later I called her up to say I decided not to take the job after all.
Thankfully she didn't pick up and I left on message on the recording machine.
She almost immediately called me back and in a frantic voice demanded I return the key at once.
"Can't I mail them to you?"
"No, I have to have them right now!"
She acted liked I was in possession of the sole key to the Louvre.
"Alright, alright. I will drop them off tomorrow. I do expect to be paid for my training though."
I think she was with a customer the next day so I didn't have to engage in any small talk. I just slid the keys on the counter, turned around and walked out.
That job lasted about 90 minutes.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
With Heart At Rest by les Niobides
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbsPSsoZNGA&feature=youtu.be
This is another attempt of mine to interpret various poems I admire thru music.
These are the first two stanzas of Baudelaire's Epilogue
This is another attempt of mine to interpret various poems I admire thru music.
These are the first two stanzas of Baudelaire's Epilogue
Friday, December 9, 2011
Eternal Recurrence by les Niobides
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCCft8kP75w&feature=youtu.be
One of my more successful recordings.
This started out on my nylon string acoustic
over which I added bass guitar, Hammond B3 organ,
drums and vocals.
The idea of Eternal Recurrence comes from Nietzsche Birth of Tragedy
wherein he states, "The metaphysical comfort--with which, I am suggesting even now, every true tragedy leaves us--that life is at the bottom of things, despite all the changes of appearances, indestructibly powerful and pleasurable--this comfort appears in incarnate clarity in the chorus of the satyrs, a chorus of natural beings who live ineradicably, as it were, behind all civilization and remain eternally the same, despite the changes of generations and of the history of nations."
One of my more successful recordings.
This started out on my nylon string acoustic
over which I added bass guitar, Hammond B3 organ,
drums and vocals.
The idea of Eternal Recurrence comes from Nietzsche Birth of Tragedy
wherein he states, "The metaphysical comfort--with which, I am suggesting even now, every true tragedy leaves us--that life is at the bottom of things, despite all the changes of appearances, indestructibly powerful and pleasurable--this comfort appears in incarnate clarity in the chorus of the satyrs, a chorus of natural beings who live ineradicably, as it were, behind all civilization and remain eternally the same, despite the changes of generations and of the history of nations."
"My philosophy brings the triumphant idea of which all other modes of thought will ultimately perish. It is the great cultivating idea: the races that cannot bear it stand condemned; those who find it the greatest benefit are chosen to rule...I want to teach the idea that gives many the right to erase themselves - the great cultivating idea...Everything becomes and recurs eternally - escape is impossible! - Supposing we could judge value, what follows? The idea of recurrence as a selective principle, in the service of strength (and barbarism!!)...
To endure the idea of the recurrence one needs: freedom from morality; new means against the fact of pain ( pain conceived as a tool, as the father of pleasure...); the enjoyment of all kinds of uncertainty, experimentalism, as a counterweight to this extreme fatalism; abolition of the concept of necessity; abolition of the "will"; abolition of "knowledge-in-itself."
Greatest elevation of the consciousness of strength in man, as he creates the overmanWednesday, December 7, 2011
In the Realms of the Unreal by les Niobides
music inspired by the work of Henry Darger
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xcn1C52d5nI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xcn1C52d5nI
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Monday, December 5, 2011
A Shameful Day for Norway
I was quite shocked to read this story on several painting forums
http://artbabel.blogspot.com/2011/08/odd-nerdrum-sentenced-to-two-years-in.html
One of the few living masters of painting in our age of decadence was sentenced to two years in prison for alleged tax evasion.
It is for good reason that Christ himself considered tax collectors the lowest form of life.
A curse upon the vile bureaucrats responsible for this deed.
Caesar si viveret ad remum dareris
http://artbabel.blogspot.com/2011/08/odd-nerdrum-sentenced-to-two-years-in.html
One of the few living masters of painting in our age of decadence was sentenced to two years in prison for alleged tax evasion.
It is for good reason that Christ himself considered tax collectors the lowest form of life.
A curse upon the vile bureaucrats responsible for this deed.
Caesar si viveret ad remum dareris
Sunday, December 4, 2011
A Game of Patience by les Niobides
I forgot even doing this one. Rather proud of my improvising on the organ.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mmt28xIwZMI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mmt28xIwZMI
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Les Locataires
my favorite song from Gainsbourg's reggae period.
I think it would be easy to learn each part so I'm thinking of covering it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v04X8TfQUaQ&list=FLZaLfBus2OQtcS5Rv7qGY_Q&index=1&feature=plpp_video
I think it would be easy to learn each part so I'm thinking of covering it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v04X8TfQUaQ&list=FLZaLfBus2OQtcS5Rv7qGY_Q&index=1&feature=plpp_video
Lucy's Red Dress by les Niobides
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqU6gGFemTk
I wrote this uptempo piece very quickly last night on the Hammond B3.
It originally had a very rockin drum part then I decided to
do some subtle cymbals instead so as not to detract from the
female chorus.
It's the second song inspired by my on again off again girlfriend
from Poland who loves to wear red dresses.
I wrote this uptempo piece very quickly last night on the Hammond B3.
It originally had a very rockin drum part then I decided to
do some subtle cymbals instead so as not to detract from the
female chorus.
It's the second song inspired by my on again off again girlfriend
from Poland who loves to wear red dresses.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Thursday, December 1, 2011
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