“As a young teenager, Blue Cheer scared me because older teenagers told me that a dog at a Blue Cheer concert dropped dead from the sheer volume of their amplification! Hell, their guitarist only left the group when he went deaf!” exclaimed Julian Cope in his appreciation of the band. “The only raucous, LOUD and …
Novalis once wisely wrote, “Philosophy is really homesickness: the urge to be at home everywhere.” This same truth is found much more deeply in music and poetry. 2020 – 2021 will be remembered as the homesickness years. We were separated from loved ones and quarantined inside our homes and, during this trauma, some of us …
Grantchester Meadows” (Pink Floyd)Opening with one minute of chirping morning skylarks and buzzing flies, Roger Waters perfectly sets this idyllic scene with his acoustic guitar, pastoral lyrics, quiet singing, and, around the 4-minute mark, the sound effects of a flowing stream and flying geese panning across the stereo. “Misty morning whisperings and gentle stirring soundsBelie …
I was born on May 15, 1948 in the small town of Melton in Suffolk, England. I studied painting at the nearby Ipswich Civic College and at the Winchester School of Art from 1966-1969. I explored abstract expressionist painting and wrote poetry. 1975. I was walking across a crowded intersection and was struck by a …
Comus is considered a debauched and decadent god of nocturnal revelry, son of Dionysus (in Greek mythology) or Bacchus (in Roman mythology), the god of drunkenness and wine. Comus is the character whose name is the title of a masque written by the poet John Milton presented in 1634 at Ludlow Castle in Shropshire, on …
Pink Floyd ~ “Cirrus Minor” (1969) Opening with one minute of dawn songbirds from the BBC sound effects library, David Gilmour’s slowly strummed acoustic guitar, Richard Wright’s misty organ, and Roger Waters’ poetic lyrics set the scene as David Gilmour sings about a pastoral spring paradise (“in a churchyard by a river, lazing in the …
Interview by Mark Lager What were your first experiences that made you decide to become musicians? Eva: I really don’t know if I decided to become a musician, it is just a path that is part of my life. Since I was a child I have enjoyed listening to music and I have found myself …
In Germany circa 1969, the new generation was radically changing German music away from the bland pop Schlager songs of the past towards a psychedelic rock partially influenced by the American and British counterculture, especially Pink Floyd’s first two records Piper at the Gates of Dawn and Saucerful of Secrets. Conrad Schnitzler (a musique concrete …
“Footsteps in the Snow” (Claude Debussy)Written by French composer Claude Debussy on December 27, 1909, this piano prelude is perhaps the quintessential piece of classical music concerning winter (alongside Franz Schubert’s Winterreise.) The slow, soft tones move from D minor to E minor to F minor–a melancholy, moody tune. “Heart of the North” (Basil Kirchin)Where …
Crisis creates art and prosperity leads to tastelessness. This has recurred throughout history. The most recent example was how mortgage fraud of the late 1990s/early 2000s and the United States housing bubble of 2001-2005 coincided with the rising popularity of reality TV. Reality TV features people whose own privileged lives share little to no resemblance …
