Monday 28 June 2010

from 'Elegy in Exile'

They say my song is strange
because it has no echo.
They say my song is strange
because I never dreamed
myself awake on silks.
They say I disbelieved the prophesies,
and it was true,
and it is still and always true.


Adonis

J.H. Prynne

What is being concealed by these habits of idealisation? Simply, the class advantage that produces and supports this underlying remission of hard work in the enjoyment of daily life. The leisure is produced by ensuring that the supportive work required to produce lunch is done by others, who lack the refinement to cultivate these ideals of harmony because they are excluded by class barriers: they are not gentry, not literati, not educated, not rich. At root, the division between man and nature is indicated by a stratified money economy, and harmony is reserved for those who can afford it. Harmony is not a principle of nature, it is a function of money, and all further discussion should begin here.

J.H. PRYNNE : A BRIEF COMMENT ON 'HARMONY' IN ARCHITECTURE
XI'AN, P.R. CHINA, 23RD SEPTEMBER 2006 (pdf)

Sunday 27 June 2010

A Christmas Gift to You

Only another 180 days until Christmas! I can't handle the excitement!

A Christmas Gift To You (courtesy of The Internet Archive)

A selection of compositions originally released in 2005. No cover.

  1. New and Pristine Appliance Returns to Warehouse is a meditation on life after death. Sorry Arvo.
  2. Parallel Lives was my first attempt at writing for a quartet. At the the time, I thought it was really cool and radical, but now it just sounds juvenile.
  3. Untitled is an attempt to re-create the atmosphere of early electronic music. Sorry Karlheinz.
  4. Ashes Wither (a.k.a. 'I know a song that'll get on your nerves') displays my awesome D.J. skills during my minimalist period. Sorry Ozzy.
  5. Mare Nostrum is a love song, sung by the Moon to the oceans of Earth.
  6. Hoots! was an unused piece written for a play by Mike Mallett. Sorry Mike.
  7. Untitled 2 is a guitar, violin bow and delay pedal. Why has no-one else thought of doing that?
  8. Lachrymae is an attempt at an arrangement of the Dowland piece. Sorry John.