The glut and surfeit of the sorts of new music I am interested in writing about is ridiculous. My resolve to focus primarily on releases from the current year flickers and wavers, as I am continually revisiting, or coming for the first time, to music from the past several years that merits a word or two.
I surrender weekly to the tug away from simply spending time with the newest releases. I am going to surrender as well to the pleasure in this, and let go of the pressure I apply to myself to somehow manage a brisker pace, fewer listens, shorter pieces. I didn't launch a blog to knuckle under to the petty tyrannical voices that drive us through academia, wage-slavery and whatever other real and hallucinated demands we chafe under.
So if you revisit here, you can expect to see me reel back to works lost in the overwhelming tide of small imprint, limited edition, heard thrice and seldom reviewed, shelved and vaguely valued releases [ the DNA of EAI] the indefatigable duo of Pinnell and Olewnick may or may not have alerted you to. The Wire, among other like sources of consumer news, can keep one current with 250 word avant-bytes, essentially Tweets about the hemorrhage of CDRs, cassettes and Lossless downloads available for the junkie's futile satiety. I am going it slow, listening longer, and reminding myself what music is for me- that's finally ineffable, but as Katagiri Roshi said, you have to say something- and why I write here- to try and turn a little light on in the room I am listening in.
The remaining point I wish to make concerns length and scope- I am increasingly drawn to considering several works/projects in a piece of writing, and with many improvisers the collaborations and configurations they are involved with necessitates stretching out, and, of course, more time in discovery and immersion.
Katagiri Roshi had a knack for growing magnificent orchids that surprised some of his students. For something to flourish, he said to one such astonished student, you must give it care and attention for a long time. If I am unable to do that here, I would as soon let the words go into the aether, more time for listening. I did that with my blog zero some years back.
We gain nothing, from where I sit, by glut, whether it is in copious releases, conspicuous consumption, or prolix writing. I hope my remaining time with crow acquaints or reacquaints you with some good music, turns a little light on.
The photos are of musicians I hope to write about soon enough.
4 comments:
Nice post Jesse.
Hey Jesse, Derek from The Wire here. Enjoying reading CWNM (just been reading you on motubachii). Would like to drop you an email, is there someway I can reach you? I'm derek@thewire.co.uk
Jesse, your words here mirror many of the questions i have been wrestling with over recent months. Next year, to mark the second anniversary of daily posting I plan to scale down activity at TWE to two or three posts a week and begin work on something about as far in the other direction as possible.
I think there is definitely a need for regular, brief writing that casts light on otherwise unheard corners of our music. Even in our marginal world there are trendy areas that get covered a lot, and giving a little space to the untrendy, even if not a lot of time could be allocated to doing so, is a good thing to do.
That said, the appeal of taking one's time, to write at length and in detail after much listening, as you do, is very appealing.
Well sed; an inspiring venture all round
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