The Panorama

Paul Verlaine: “Art poétique”

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Il faut aussi que tu n’ailles point
Choisir tes mots sans quelque méprise :
Rien de plus cher que la chanson grise
Où l’Indécis au Précis se joint.

– Paul Verlaine,
“Art poétique”

Tracks to Travel by

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Some pieces of music for acoustic enjoyment while on the road.

Immanuel Kant: Critik der Urtheilskraft (1794 Edition)

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Außerdem hängt der Musik ein gewisser Mangel an Urbanität an, daß sie, vornehmlich nach Beschaffenheit ihrer Instrumente, ihren Einfluß weiter, als man ihn verlangt (auf die Nachbarschaft), ausbreitet, und so sich gleichsam aufdringt, mithin der Freiheit anderer, außer der musikalischen Gesellschaft, Abbruch thut; welches die Künste, die zu den Augen reden, nicht thun, indem man seine Augen nur wegwenden darf, wenn man ihren Eindruck nicht einlassen will. Es ist hiemit fast so, wie mit der Ergötzung durch einen sich weit ausbreitenden Geruch bewandt. Der, welcher sein parfümirtes Schnupftuch aus der Tasche zieht, traktirt alle um und neben sich wider ihren Willen, und nöthigt sie, wenn sie athmen wollen, zugleich zu genießen; daher es auch aus der Mode gekommen ist.

– Immanuel Kant,
Critik der Urtheilskraft (1794 edition)

Jasmine Thompson

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Jasmine Thompson, a very young singer in London

Wise Blood

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As the name might already suggest

Yves Klein: “Le Vrai devient réalité”

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C’est ce silence si merveilleux qui donne la « chance » et qui donne même parfois la possibilité d’être vraiment heureux, ne serait⁠-ce qu’un seul instant, pendant un instant incommensurable en durée.

– Yves Klein,
“Le Vrai devient réalité”

Gregory Douglass

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Gregory Douglass, a singer/songwriter in Burlington, Vermont

Luiz Henrique Yudo

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Luiz Henrique Yudo is a contemporary classical composer

Nurvuss

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A fellow from Kansas who lives in London

Savage Furs

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This is a London band

Klaus Nomi

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A striking denizen of the New York underground of thirty years ago

The Wanderer

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cearo bið geniwad þam þe sendan sceal swiþe geneahhe ofer waþema gebind werigne sefan ·

– The Wanderer

Nico

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This playlist represents a tribute of sorts

Rachel Bespaloff: De l’Iliade

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La passion de la justice ne s’exprime que par ce deuil de la justice, et par l’aveu du silence. Condamner ou absoudre la force, ce serait condamner ou absoudre la vie même. […] Elle ne se juge elle-⁠même que dans la conscience qu’elle prend de son indicibilité.

– Rachel Bespaloff,
De l’Iliade

Pursuit Grooves

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Pursuit Grooves (the multitalented Vanese Smith), known on both sides of the Atlantic

Jules-⁠Amédée Barbey d’Aurevilly: Du Dandysme et de G. Brummell

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L’Ironie est un génie qui dispense de tous les autres. […] À la verité, n’est pas palais qui veut, mais on peut toujours être labyrinthe.

– Jules-⁠Amédée Barbey d’Aurevilly,
Du Dandysme et de G. Brummell

Soft Riot

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Soft Riot is a musical project initiated by Jack Duckworth

Jamie N. Commons

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With his rough voice and perfect Southern accent in performance

Edgar Allan Poe: “Von Jung, the Mystific”

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I truly think that no person at the University, with the exception of myself, ever suspected him to be capable of a joke, verbal or practical – […] when it was evident that the most egregious and unpardonable of all conceivable tricks, whimsicalities, and buffooneries were brought about, if not directly by him, at least plainly through his intermediate agency or connivance. […] The adroitness, too, was no less worthy of observation by which he contrived to shift the sense of the grotesque from the creator to the created – from his own person to the absurdities to which he had given rise. […] In no instance, however, before that of which I speak, have I known the habitual mystific escape the natural consequence of his manœuvres, an attachment of the ludicrous to his own character and person.

– Edgar Allan Poe,
“Von Jung, the Mystific”

Angelus Silesius: “Wer in dem Wirken ruht”

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Der Weise, welcher sich hat übersich gebracht /
Der ruhet wenn er laufft und wirkt wenn er betracht.

– Angelus Silesius,
“Wer in dem Wirken ruht”

Nocturnes

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In its first incarnation at least, this playlist was the work of a night, and it draws its character from the nocturnal hours; please feel free to share it or to keep it for yourself, as you wish.

Prabhu Edouard

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A tabla player and vocalist from southern India who’s made his home in Paris

Brian Petuch

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Brian Petuch is a young composer in New York

The Fires of August

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Πόλεμος πάντων μὲν πατήρ ἐστι, πάντων δὲ βασιλεύς, καὶ τοὺς μὲν θεοὺς ἔδειξε τοὺς δὲ ἀνθρώπους, τοὺς μὲν δούλους ἐποίησε τοὺς δὲ ἐλευθέρους. “War is the father of all,” said Heraclitus, and this August, the centennial of the outbreak of the First World War, offers a fitting occasion to reflect upon his dark idea. With … Continue reading The Fires of August

Sofia Gubaidalina

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“National Anthem” (Lana Del Rey)

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These three versions and one reversal of “National Anthem” may when taken together help to flesh out one’s sense of the original song and Del Rey’s own intention or aim – in no small part by virtue of their very divergences.

Nicolas Jaar and His Friends

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Over the last couple of years, Nicolas Jaar has been turning

Ben Carey

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A saxophonist, a composer, and an adept of the computer

Vassily Kandinsky: Punkt und Linie zu Fläche

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Durch das allmähliche Herausreißen des Punktes aus dem engen Kreis seines gewohnten Wirkens bekommen seine bis jetzt schweigenden inneren Eigenschaften einen immer mehr wachsenden Klang. Diese Eigenschaften – innere Spannungen – kommen eine nach der anderen aus der Tiefe seines Wesens heraus und strahlen ihre Kräfte aus. Und ihre Wirkungen und Einflüsse auf den Menschen überwinden immer leichter die Hemmungen.

– Vassily Kandinsky,
Punkt und Linie zu Fläche

Pride Weekend Playlists (I)

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The first of three playlists d’occasion

Bertolt Brecht: “Deutschland”

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Hörend die Reden, die aus deinem Hause dringen, lacht man.
Aber wer dich sieht, der greift nach dem Messer

– Bertolt Brecht,
“Deutschland”

Alexis de Tocqueville: Souvenirs

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Ici, l’imitation fut si visible que la terrible originalité des faits en demeurait cachée. […] Les hommes de la première révolution étaient vivants dans tous les esprits, leurs actes et leurs mots présents à toutes les mémoires. Tout ce que je vis ce jour-⁠là porta la visible empreinte de ces souvenirs ; il me semblait toujours qu’on fût occupé à jouer la Révolution française plus encore qu’à la continuer. […] On cherchait, en attendant, à se réchauffer aux passions de nos pères, sans pouvoir y parvenir ; on imitait leurs gestes et leurs poses tels qu’on les avait vus sur le théâtre, ne pouvant imiter leur enthousiasme ou ressentir leur fureur. C’était la tradition d’actes violents suivie, sans être bien comprise, par des cœurs refroidis.

– Alexis de Tocqueville,
Souvenirs

Stendhal: In a letter to his sister

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Un peu d’étude de l’homme moral apprend la rareté de cet état délicieux ; un peu d’étude de l’homme physique montre combien il est rare. Pour le produire, il faut un éréthisme (une chanterelle de violon lâche donne le ré, on la tend à son ton naturel, elle donne le mi, on la tend encore, elle donne le fa, mais bientôt elle se casse, elle est en éréthisme) ; voilà nos nerfs.

– Stendhal,
in a letter to his sister, August 1805

New Order

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Jules Michelet: From an entry in his journal, April 4, 1839

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rêver = créer

velle videmur Chaque époque rêve la suivante,
la crée en rêvant

avenir! avenir!

– Jules Michelet,
from an entry in his journal, April 4, 1839

Pop Noir

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A band from Manchester by way of Huntington Beach

Martin Heidegger: Sein und Zeit

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Entfernen besagt ein Verschwindenmachen der Ferne, das heißt der Entferntheit von etwas, Näherung.

– Martin Heidegger,
Sein und Zeit

Dan Tramte

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Currently pursuing a doctorate in composition and theory

Daisuke Tanabe

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A DJ and electronic musician in Tokyo

Ernst Jünger: “Lob der Vokale”

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Bei allen wesentlichen Begegnungen zwischen Menschen horchen wir durch die Wortbedeutung auf die reine Lautbedeutung hindurch. Wir erkennen den Feind besser an seiner Stimme als an dem, was er sagt. Aus diesem Grunde ist es schwieriger, in einem dunklen Zimmer zu lügen als in einem beleuchteten. Die feinsten Ohren hat die Furcht, wie denn auch die furchtsamsten Tiere Ohrentiere sind.

– Ernst Jünger,
“Lob der Vokale”

Guillaume Apollinaire: “L’Esprit nouveau et les poètes”

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Et de ces vérités il résulte le plus souvent la surprise, puisqu’elles vont contre l’opinion communément admise.

– Guillaume Apollinaire,
“L’Esprit nouveau et les poètes”

Karl Jaspers: Psychologie der Weltanschauungen

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Wenn ein Gehäuse als Gehäuse, als Züchtungsmittel durchschaut wird, so tritt Nihilismus auf; besonders dann, wenn keine positive Kraft das frühere Gehäuse sprengt, sondern bloße Wahrhaftigkeit und Kritik.

– Karl Jaspers,
Psychologie der Weltanschauungen

Yes the Raven

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A native of Belfast and a resident

George Herbert: “Outlandish Proverbs”

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Hee that lives in hope danceth without musick.

– George Herbert,
“Outlandish Proverbs”

Max Weber: Die rationalen und soziologischen Grundlagen der Musik

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Eben diese akkordfremden Töne sind nun aber naturgemäß, gerade durch den Kontrast gegen das akkordlich Geforderte, die wirksamsten Mittel der Dynamik des Fortschreitens einerseits, andererseits auch der Bindung und Verflechtung der Akkordfolgen miteinander. Ohne diese durch die Irrationalität der Melodik motivierten Spannungen gäbe es keine moderne Musik, zu deren wichtigsten Ausdrucksmitteln gerade sie zählen.

– Max Weber,
Die rationalen und soziologischen Grundlagen der Musik

Homer: Iliad

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ἄλλῳ μὲν γὰρ ἔδωκε θεὸς πολεμήϊα ἔργα,
ἄλλῳ δ᾽ ὀρχηστύν, ἑτέρῳ κίθαριν καὶ ἀοιδήν,
ἄλλῳ δ᾽ ἐν στήθεσσι τιθεῖ νόον εὐρύοπα Ζεὺς
ἐσθλόν, τοῦ δέ τε πολλοὶ ἐπαυρίσκοντ᾽ ἄνθρωποι,
καί τε πολέας ἐσάωσε, μάλιστα δὲ καὐτὸς ἀνέγνω.

– Homer,
Iliad

Peter Hollens

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Peter Hollens, of Eugene, Oregon, is a prominent beatboxer

Some Covers of “Applause” (Lady Gaga)

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A.P.P.L.A.U.S.E. – spelling out the word

John Milton: ΕΙΚΟΝΟΚΛΆΣΤΗΣ

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It hardly can be thought upon without som laughter, that he who had acted over us so stately and so Tragically, should leave the World at last with such a ridiculous exit, as to bequeath among his deifying friends that stood about him, such a peece of mockery to be publisht by them, as must needs cover both his and their heads with shame and confusion.

– John Milton,
ΕΙΚΟΝΟΚΛΆΣΤΗΣ

Garçon Garçon

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A new Australian duo

Georg Philipp Harsdörffer: Gesprächspiele

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Die Lieb in unsrem Leib / heist Ubel mancherley /
Bald ists ein schneidend Beil / bald gantz erstarrtes Bley.

[…] Es hafftet in der Lieb nicht viel Beständigkeit /
[…] Weil sein gar kurtzer Nam so manchen Wechsel leidt.

– Georg Philipp Harsdörffer,
Gesprächspiele

Christophe Ruetsch

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Though I chanced upon him to begin with on Soundcloud

“Strangelove” (Depeche Mode)

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This is a diverse playlist of various covers, mash-ups, and remixes – each is a homage – of Depeche Mode’s “Strangelove,” which surely remains one of the nineteen-eighties’ best anthems.

Hugo von Hofmannsthal: “Lebenslied”

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Ihm bietet jede Stelle
Geheimnisvoll die Schwelle

– Hugo von Hofmannsthal,
“Lebenslied”

Walter Benjamin: “Traumkitsch”

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Denn »Mißverständnis« heißt die Rhythmik, mit welcher die allein wahre Wirklichkeit sich ins Gespräch drängt.

– Walter Benjamin,
“Traumkitsch”

College

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Those who need a refresher course in electronica

A Long Playlist

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Please feel free to listen to this longer playlist in whole or in part at your leisure.

Gertrude Stein: In an interview with William Lundell

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Look here. Being intelligible is not what it seems. […] I mean by understanding, enjoyment. If you enjoy it, you understand it. […] If you did not enjoy it, why do you make a fuss about it?

– Gertrude Stein,
in an interview with William Lundell, November 1934

Adam Cuthbért

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Operating in the intermediate zone

Saelors

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Here in Amsterdam there’s a two-piece band

Andrew Marvell: “Musicks Empire”

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Victorious sounds! yet here your Homage do
Unto a gentler Conqueror then you;
Who though He flies the Musick of his praise,
Would with you Heavens Hallelujahs raise.

– Andrew Marvell,
“Musicks Empire”

Jonathan Nichol

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Jonathan Nichol plays the saxophone in Billband, but his solo repertoire

Telefon Tel Aviv

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This playlist features the music of the band

Angélica Negrón

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Angélica Negrón is a very active composer in New York

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon: De la Création de l’ordre dans l’humanité

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Le progrès de la société se mesure sur le développement de l’industrie et la perfection des instruments ; l’homme qui ne sait ou ne peut se servir d’un outil pour travailler est une anomalie, une créature abortive : ce n’est pas un homme.

– Pierre-Joseph Proudhon,
De la Création de l’ordre dans l’humanité

A Short Playlist

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The first one.

Nikita Quasim

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A short playlist of the compositions of Nikita Quasim

Henri Bergson: Matière et Mémoire

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La vérité est que mon système nerveux, interposé entre les objets qui ébranlent mon corps et ceux que je pourrais influencer, joue le rôle d’un simple conducteur, qui transmet, répartit ou inhibe du mouvement. […] Autant il y a de fils allant de la périphérie vers le centre, autant il y a de points de l’espace capables de solliciter ma volonté et de poser, pour ainsi dire, une question élémentaire à mon activité motrice : chaque question posée est justement ce qu’on appelle une perception.

– Henri Bergson,
Matière et Mémoire

Nick Pitera

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Nick Pitera can emphasize a vocal passage

Onra

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How to sample outmoded or discarded records from near and far

Nöi Kabát

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Női Kabát (the term, I’ve learned, means a “woman’s jacket” in Hungarian) is “a dark electronic three piece from London”

Leo Ornstein

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A playlist of some works by Leo Ornstein.

Whom by Fire (previously Caleb)

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Whom by Fire (known earlier as Caleb) is a duo hailing from Southend-on-Sea

Jean Cocteau: Le Coq et l’arlequin

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Sens. – L’oreille réprouve mais supporte certaines musiques ; transportons-⁠les dans le domaine du nez, elles nous obligeraient à fuir.

– Jean Cocteau,
Le Coq et l’arlequin

Songs

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If you like these songs, please repost, share, and whistle the playlist in whole or in part on the internet and on the street.

Jean Barbeyrac: An editorial remark in his translation of Grotius, Le Droit de la guerre, et de la paix

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Le pais des Etymologies est fort vaste, & présente bien des routes différentes, où chacun peut se promener à son aise.

– Jean Barbeyrac,
an editorial remark in his translation of Grotius,
Le Droit de la guerre, et de la paix

August Strindberg: From the last letter to Friedrich Nietzsche, December 31, 1888

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Carissime Doctor!

Θέλω, θέλω μανῆναι!

Litteras tuas non sine perturbatione accepi et tibi gratias ago.
Rectius vives, Licini, neque altum
Semper urgendo, neque dum procellas
Cautus horrescis nimium premendo
Litus iniquum.

Interdum juvat insanire!
Vale et Fave!

– August Strindberg,
from the last letter to Friedrich Nietzsche, December 31, 1888

Andi Kristins

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Andi Kristins, from Reykjavik and living in New York, is a singer, songwriter, and electronic musician

Robert Burton: The Anatomy of Melancholy

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Sicknes is the mother of modesty, putteth us in minde of our mortality, & when we are in the full career of worldly pomp and jollity, she pulleth us by the ear, and maketh us know our selves.

– Robert Burton,
The Anatomy of Melancholy

Melohouse

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There are a number of talented a cappella singers

Joachim du Bellay: “Hymne de la svrdité”

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Mais il est taciturne : ô bien heureux celuy
A qui le trop parler ne porte point d’ennuy,
Et qui a liberté de se taire à son aise,
Sans que son long silence à personne déplaise !

– Joachim du Bellay,
“Hymne de la svrdité”

Von Rosenthal de la Vegaz

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In The Netherlands there’s a DJ who’s in a class all his own

Paul Valéry: “La Conquête allemande”

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Tous les grands inventeurs d’idées ou de formes me semblent s’être servis de méthodes particulières. Je veux dire que leur force même et leur maitrise est fondée sur l’usage de certaines habitudes, et de certaines conceptions qui disciplinent toutes leurs pensées. Chose étrange, c’est justement l’apparence de cette méthode interne que nous appelons leur personnalité ! Il importe peu, du reste, que cette méthode soit ou ne soit pas consciente.

– Paul Valéry,
“La Conquête allemande”

Jennifer Left

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Jennifer Dalby, better known as Jennifer Left

James Thomson: “The City of Dreadful Night”

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The ear, too, with the silence vast and deep
Becomes familiar though unreconciled;
Hears breathings as of hidden life asleep,
And muffled throbs as of pent passions wild,
Far murmurs, speech of pity or derision;
but all more dubious than the things of vision,
So that it knows now when it is beguiled.

– James Thomson,
“The City of Dreadful Night”

George Santayana: “The Irony of Liberalism”

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Superstitions old and new thrive in this infected atmosphere; they are now all treated with a curious respect, as if nobody could have anything to object to them. It is all a scramble of prejudices and rumours; whatever first catches the ear becomes a nucleus for all further presumptions and sympathies.

– George Santayana,
“The Irony of Liberalism”

Matthew Arnold: “Stanzas from the Grande Chartreuse”

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Still the same Ocean round us raves,
But we stand mute, and watch the waves.

– Matthew Arnold,
“Stanzas from the Grande Chartreuse”

Chen Zhangyi

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In the music of this graduate of

Franck Christoph Yeznikian

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This playlist is dedicated to the works of the contemporary classical composer

Tripes

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The Hungarian band Tripes – currently a duo

John Arbuthnot: The most Wonderful Wonder, That ever appear’d to the Wonder of the British Nation

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Boy. […] They are so fickle in their Temper, that they resolve one thing this Minute, and the contrary the next; and their Hatred is so violent when provoked, that they will wish the most cruel Mischiefs even to themselves; nay, they go farther, and put themselves to Death.

Bear. Ridiculous Animal which pursues Annihilation […]

– John Arbuthnot,
The most Wonderful Wonder, That ever appear’d to the Wonder of the British Nation

Samm Bennett et al.

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Samm Bennett’s path has led from

Lady Gaga Live: Mainly Acoustic

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Currently, Lady Gaga is back again on tour in Amsterdam

Hannah Arendt: Über die Revolution

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Was das Herz hervorbringt, sind Kräfte, aber keine Gestalten, und diese Kräfte haben die Neigung, miteinander in Streit zu geraten. Durch dieses streitende Spiel seiner Kräfte erhält das Herz sich lebendig, und eindeutig wird es erst, wenn seine Kraftquellen versiegt sind.

– Hannah Arendt,
Über die Revolution

Pride Weekend Playlists (II)

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The second of three

Friedrich Hölderlin: “An die Parzen”

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Willkommen dann, o Stille der Schattenwelt!
Zufrieden bin ich, wenn auch mein Saitenspiel
Mich nicht hinab geleitet; Einmal
Lebt ich, wie Götter, und mehr bedarfs nicht.

– Friedrich Hölderlin,
“An die Parzen”

Forestears

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Forestears is a band in Brighton with at least one pun in its name

Neil Jansen

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A classically-trained euphonium player

Craig Yopp

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Craig Yopp is a singer in Sydney who, in some of his covers at least

“Bizarre Love Triangle”

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Today’s encounter with “Love Will Tear Us Apart” was unexpected, and I was struck, but not for the first time, how this song is one of those capable of evoking an entire period even decades later. Then, nearly automatically, I started to hum that other old hit, New Order’s “Bizarre Love Triangle,” which is even more … Continue reading “Bizarre Love Triangle”

Giacomo Leopardi: Pensieri

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Grande tra gli uomini e di gran terrore è la potenza del riso: contro il quale nessuno nella sua coscienza trova se munito da ogni parte. Chi ha coraggio di ridere, è padrone del mondo, poco altrimenti di chi è preparato a morire.

– Giacomo Leopardi,
Pensieri

Giuseppe Verdi: In a letter to Clara Maffei

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Copiare il vero può essere una buona cosa, ma inventare il vero è meglio, molto meglio.

– Giuseppe Verdi,
in a letter to Clara Maffei, October 20, 1876

French Cassettes

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The band French Cassettes – a group from San Francisco

The Musgraves

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A new band based somewhere in the Midlands

Charles Péguy: Note conjointe sur M. Descartes et la philosophie cartésienne

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Pour obtenir une mélancolie de cette profondeur incurable, aussi creuse et aussi mortellement gravée il fallait cette greffe et ce sauvageon, il fallait cette race et il fallait cette autre race, il fallait cette âme et il fallait cette autre âme et ce corps mortel, il fallait un virus aussi antique introduit dans un corps jeune et sain et il faut le dire sans défense.

– Charles Péguy,
Note conjointe sur M. Descartes et la philosophie cartésienne

Virginia Woolf: To the Lighthouse

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She did not know what they meant, but, like music, the words seemed to be spoken by her own voice, outside her self, saying quite easily and naturally what had been in her mind the whole evening while she said different things.

– Virginia Woolf,
To the Lighthouse

Marivaux: Les Sermens indiscrets

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Non pas, s’il vous plaît : ce seroit un meurtre ; il ne vieillira qu’avec le temps, et n’enlaidira qu’à force de durer : je veux qu’il n’appartienne qu’à moi, que personne n’ait que voir à ce que j’en ferai, qu’il ne relève que de moi seule.

– Marivaux,
Les Sermens indiscrets

Thomas Carlyle: “Epistles to the Literati”

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Of Nothing you can, in the long run, and with much lost labour, make only – Nothing.

– Thomas Carlyle,
“Epistles to the Literati”

Charles Baudelaire: In a letter to Sainte-⁠Beuve, January 24, 1862

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Quant à ce que vous appelez mon Kamtchatka, si je recevais souvent des encouragements aussi vigoureux que celui-⁠ci, je crois que j’aurais la force d’en faire une immense Sibérie, mais une chaude et peuplée.

– Charles Baudelaire,
in a letter to Sainte-⁠Beuve, January 24, 1862

Bronzino: “Capitolo de Romori”

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Quasì punto per punto, m’è interdetta
ogni quiete, anzi hò tanti dispetti
ch’e sarà facil, che mi dian la stretta.

– Bronzino,
“Capitolo de Romori”

Alexandre Weill: Qu’est-⁠ce que le rêve ?

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Le génie peut rêver, mais il se réveille toujours, même après la mort, surtout après la mort !

– Alexandre Weill,
Qu’est-⁠ce que le rêve ?

Heraclitus: Fragment Fifty-Three

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Πόλεμος πάντων μὲν πατήρ ἐστι, πάντων δὲ βασιλεύς, καὶ τοὺς μὲν θεοὺς ἔδειξε τοὺς δὲ ἀνθρώπους, τοὺς μὲν δούλους ἐποίησε τοὺς δὲ ἐλευθέρους.

– Heraclitus,
Fragment Fifty-⁠Three

André Breton: Manifeste du surréalisme

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Les mots, les images ne s’offrent que comme tremplins à l’esprit de celui qui écoute.

– André Breton,
Manifeste du surréalisme

Stephen Edwards

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Stephen Edwards is a young American composer nearly finished with his studies

Portico Quartet

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Jazz in London has been updated by the Portico Quartet

Hector Berlioz: “Astronomie musicale”

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C’est si cruel pour eux de voir l’astre de la gloire et de la fortune descendre incessamment à l’horizon. Quelle douloureuse fête que celle d’une dernière représentation !

– Hector Berlioz,
“Astronomie musicale”

Boogie Belgique

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It’s a very witty sort of dance music that Boogie Belgique makes

Franz Hessel: “Vorschule des Journalismus”

Types

Was ist das für eine Sippe oder Abart, die nicht suchen will, sondern immer nur finden? Wir Fatalisten des Zufalls glauben geradezu: Suchet nicht, so werdet ihr finden. Nur was uns anschaut, sehen wir. Wir können nur – wofür wir nichts können.

– Franz Hessel,
“Vorschule des Journalismus”

Pliny the Younger: In a letter to Maximus

Types

Possum ergo quod plurimis verbis, plurimis etiam voluminibus philosophi docere conantur, ipse breviter tibi mihique praecipere, ut tales esse sani perseveremus, quales nos futuros profitemur infirmi.

– Pliny the Younger,
in a letter to Maximus

Ludwig Wittgenstein: Vermischte Bemerkungen

Types

Die Musik, und gewiß manche Musik, möchten wir eine Sprache nennen; manche Musik aber gewiß nicht. (Nicht, daß damit ein Werturteil gefällt sein muß!)

– Ludwig Wittgenstein,
Vermischte Bemerkungen (from 1947)

Jakub Rizman

Types

With a conservatory training, in the hands of this Slovakian musician

Quintus Ennius: Iphigenia

Types

Otio qui nescit uti
plus negoti habet quam cum est negotium in negotio.
[…]
Incerte errat animus, praeterpropter vitam vivitur.

– Quintus Ennius,
Iphigenia

Giambattista Vico: Principj di scienza nuova

Types

[…] quanto è per essi, di questo Mondo di Nazioni di tante belle Arti dell’Umanità arrichito, & adorno vanno a fare la grande antichissima selva, per entro a cui divagavano con nefario ferino errore le brutte fiere d’Orfeo […]

– Giambattista Vico,
Principj di scienza nuova

Claude Lévi-Strauss: Tristes Tropiques

Types

Lieues après lieues, la même phrase mélodique chantait dans ma mémoire sans que je puisse m’en délivrer. Je lui découvrais sans cesse des charmes nouveaux. Très lâche au début, il me semblait qu’elle entortillait progressivement son fil, comme pour dissimuler l’extrémité qui la terminerait.

– Claude Lévi-Strauss,
Tristes Tropiques

New York, Downtown: Cazwell, Peaches, Lepore, and Vine

Types

Here’s a collective playlist that presents some of the music, satire, and humor circulating in one particular corner of downtown New York – the one where Cazwell, Amanda Lepore, and Sherry Vine are to be found (and Peaches too when she’s in town). It includes some of their music, some of their fun self-promotion, and some … Continue reading New York, Downtown: Cazwell, Peaches, Lepore, and Vine

Robert de Montesquiou: “Tu poses tes soucis…”

Types

Puisqu’il faut écouter, écoute donc, ô Guide !
Récolte, arbre savant, le fruit de tes bourgeons :
Nous fuyons les rancœurs de notre âme languide,
Et ne voyageons pas lorsque nous y songeons.

– Robert de Montesquiou,
“Tu poses tes soucis…”

Henry James: The Ambassadors

Types

He wasn’t there for his own profit – not, that is, the direct; he was there on some chance of feeling the brush of the wing of the stray spirit of youth. He felt it in fact, he had it beside him; the old arcade indeed, as his inner sense listened, gave out the faint sound, as from far-⁠off, of the wild waving of wings.

– Henry James,
The Ambassadors

Pär Lagerkvist: “Med smärta vaknar vi blommor till vårt liv på marken”

Types

Smärtsamt öppnar vi oss för den livgivande solen
och varelser som vi inte alls känner går kring bland oss
och talar om vår skönhet.
[…]

Sköna? Inne i oss själva är vi inte sköna.
Det är vi kanske när solen strålar över oss. Men inne i
oss själva råder det ständigt mörker.

– Pär Lagerkvist,
“Med smärta vaknar vi blommor till vårt liv på marken”

Valentin Stip

Types

Here is a playlist of some compositions by another associate

“Bizarre Love Triangle” (New Order)

Types

This is a second playlist (the first, from a few months back, is on the Youtube channel) featuring some noteworthy covers of that wonderful song from the nineteen-eighties, New Order’s “Bizarre Love Triangle.” “Every time I think of you I feel shot right through with a bolt of blue.”

Matthias Rascher

Types

The repertoire of the gifted amateur organist in Knetzgau

François de La Rochefoucauld: Réflexions ou Sentences et maximes morales

Types

Il y a des gens qui n’auroient jamais esté amoureux, s’ils n’avoient jamais entendu parler de l’amour.

– François de La Rochefoucauld,
Réflexions ou Sentences et maximes morales

Aulus Furius Antias: Fragments

Types

Omnia noctescunt tenebris caliginis atrae.
Increscunt animi, virescit volnere virtus.

– Aulus Furius Antias,
Fragments

Avant la Lettre

Types

A young band from Amsterdam, Avant la Lettre – the name’s French, but they perform entirely in English – has been breaking through this year with a number of live performances for Dutch radio and television, and a first album, Belief.

Son Lux

Types

One of the most interesting of young composers and musicians in New York

Gossip

Types

Next week, Gossip is coming to Amsterdam

Vauvenargues: Reflexions et Maximes

Types

La patience est l’art d’espérer.

– Vauvenargues,
Reflexions et Maximes

Stephen Dedalus

Types

Stephen Dedalus, a Joycean and a composer

Léon Daudet: Le Stupide XIXe Siècle

Types

Il y a un rythme intérieur, qui préside aux atteintes des émotions comme aux mouvements de la raison. Il est très sensible dans la musique, dans la sonate comme dans la symphonie, et aussi dans le développement psychologique de l’enfant, depuis le moment où il commence à parler, jusqu’à celui où il se met à conjoindre des concepts. […] La méconnaissance de ce rythme intérieur est un des solides piliers de la bêtise. C’est ce rythme intérieur qui donne, à la parole et aux écrits, leur portée, aux personnalités leur poids et leur ampleur, à la poésie claire, sa force magique.

– Léon Daudet,
Le Stupide XIXe Siècle

Soul Keita

Types

Soul Keita is one of Nicolas Jaar’s colleagues

Eli Lieb

Types

Although he’s since moved to Los Angeles, Eli Lieb visits the city in which his musical life began

Charles Lamb (“Elia”): “A Chapter on Ears”

Types

But those unconnected, unset sounds are nothing to the measured malice of music. The ear is passive to those single strokes; willingly enduring stripes, while it hath no task to con. To music it cannot be passive; it will strive – mine at least will – ’spite of its inaptitude, to thrid the maze; like an unskilled eye painfully poring upon hieroglyphics.

– Charles Lamb (“Elia”),
“A Chapter on Ears”

Daniel von Czepko: “Ie mehr zurücke, ie mehr vor sich”

Types

Wer morgen jünger ist als er vorgestern war,
Gehöret Heute blos in Weiser Leute Schaar.

– Daniel von Czepko,
“Ie mehr zurücke, ie mehr vor sich”

Three Pieces for the End of the Year

Types

A 2012 triptych.

Patrick Thomas

Types

Hailing from Dallas and currently residing in Nashville

Dirtmusic

Types

A trio comprising the Australian Hugo Race and two American counterparts

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz: In a letter to Christian Goldbach, April 17, 1712

Types

Musica est exercitium arithmeticæ occultum nescientis se numerare animi.

– Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz,
in a letter to Christian Goldbach, April 17, 1712

Jorge Luis Borges: “París, 1856”

Types

No han de salvarte, no, tus ruiseñores,
tus noches de oro y tus cantadas flores.

– Jorge Luis Borges,
“París, 1856”

The Shures

Types

Once again a trio

Michael Kiwanuka

Types

Whether Michael Kiwanuka is letting loose with his band or going solo

Isak Dinesen: In an interview with Bent Mohn

Types

To me, the explanation of life seems to be its melody, its pattern.

– Isak Dinesen,
in an interview with Bent Mohn, November 1957

Matthew Shlomowitz

Types

A young composer from Adelaide

Friedrich Nietzsche: Die fröhliche Wissenschaft

Types

Das Unerträglichste freilich, das eigentlich Fürchterliche, wäre mir ein Leben ganz ohne Gewohnheiten, ein Leben, das fortwährend die Improvisation verlangt: – diess wäre meine Verbannung und mein Sibirien.

– Friedrich Nietzsche,
Die fröhliche Wissenschaft

Oscar Wilde: In conversation with Robert Ross

Types

My dear Robbie, when I see a monstrous tulip with four wonderful petals in someone else’s garden, I am impelled to grow a monstrous tulip with five wonderful petals, but that is no reason why someone should grow a tulip with only three petals.

– Oscar Wilde,
in conversation with Robert Ross

Jornt Karel

Types

Jornt Karel is a musician and singer located in another corner of this country

Tona Scherchen

Types

Tona Scherchen is a present-day composer whose name, though not unknown

Fynn Farrell

Types

The London singer and songwriter

Stephen Carmichael

Types

Stephen Carmichael (Brisbane, Australia), with his striking performance persona

Shan Malaika

Types

Hailing from Geneva, Switzerland, she is

Ali Brustofski

Types

Ali Brustofski is a New York singer – her videos, very well filmed, are often set there

Nostromo 7

Types

Though the name of the band

Theodor Lessing: Der Lärm

Types

Wir sind entsetzlich laut und entsetzlich musikalisch geworden. […] Vielleicht sind die feinsten musikalischen Ohren in Stadtvierteln zu Hause, vor deren Getöse ein unmusikalischer Kannibale die Flucht ergreifen würde. […] Dieser moderne Mensch scheint so „nervös“ zu sein, dass ihn nur das ganz zarte oder das ganz laute Geräusch zu fesseln vermag.

– Theodor Lessing,
Der Lärm

Alexander Herzen: “Mein Lebewohl: Epilog zum Jahre 1849” / “Эпилогъ 1849”

Types

Und wie fliehen? Mit dem sich Entfernen, dem Kopfabwenden, dem sich die Ohren verstopfen, ist noch wenig geschehen. Das Schluchzen und der Schrei werden doch bis zu uns dringen – kann man denn schweigen? Schweigen, nie. […] Aber zu Wem werden wir sprechen? Wovon? Warum? Ich weiß es wahrlich nicht, aber ist es mächtiger als ich, ich kann’s nicht lassen.

И развѣ вдали мы не будемъ слышать стоны, развѣ можно отвернуться, закрыть глаза, заткнуть уши – преднамѣренно не знать, упорно молчать, т. е. признаться побѣжденнымъ, сдаться? Это невозможно! […] .⁠.⁠.⁠.А кому говорить?.⁠.⁠.о чемъ? – я право не знаю, только это сильнѣе меня.⁠.⁠.⁠.⁠.

– Alexander Herzen,
“Mein Lebewohl: Epilog zum Jahre 1849” / “Эпилогъ 1849”

Algernon Charles Swinburne: “To Walt Whitman in America”

Types

It sees not what season shall bring to it
Sweet fruit of its bitter desire;
Few voices it hears yet sing to it,
Few pulses of hearts reaspire;
Foresees not time, nor forehears
The noises of imminent years,
Earthquake, and thunder, and fire

– Algernon Charles Swinburne,
“To Walt Whitman in America”

Tiago Braga

Types

A pianist, singer, and – it’s becoming clear – a born presence on stage

Leone Hebreo: Dialogi d’amore

Types

SO. È adunque errore di tutti. PHI. In tutti non può essere errore, s’el medesimo amore non fussi errore.

– Leone Hebreo,
Dialogi d’amore

Gustave Flaubert: In a letter to Ernest Feydeau, November 29, 1859

Types

Peu de gens devineront combien il a fallu être triste pour entreprendre de ressusciter Carthage !

– Gustave Flaubert,
in a letter to Ernest Feydeau, November 29, 1859

Nicolas de Chamfort: Maximes et Pensées

Types

Le changement de modes est l’impôt que l’industrie du pauvre met sur la vanité du riche.

– Nicolas de Chamfort,
Maximes et Pensées

Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari: Qu’est-ce que la philosophie ?

Types

La sensation est contemplation pure, car c’est par contemplation qu’on contracte, se contemplant soi-⁠même à mesure qu’on contemple les éléments dont on procède. Contempler, c’est créer, mystère de la création passive, sensation. La sensation remplit le plan de composition, 
et se remplit de soi-⁠même en se remplissant de ce qu’elle contemple : elle 
est « enjoyment », et « self-⁠enjoyment ».

– Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari,
Qu’est-⁠ce que la philosophie ?

Hans Lodeizen: “Wandelend in de tuin ontdekte ik…”

Types

Wandelend in de tuin ontdekte ik
Bloemen wier lichte gratie ik
Bijna vergeten had als de muziek
Die ’s ochtends na het bal
door de tuinen
Zweeft; een herinnering
en meer niet.

– Hans Lodeizen,
“Wandelend in de tuin ontdekte ik…”

Giovanni Dettori

Types

A composer in Milan, Giovanni Dettori is well-known for

Robert Louis Stevenson: From the Dedication, Virginibus Puerisque and Other Papers

Types

Times change, opinions vary to their opposite, and still this world appears a brave gymnasium, full of sea-⁠bathing, and horse-⁠exercise, and bracing, manly virtues; and what can be more encouraging than to find the friend who was welcome at one age, still welcome at another?

– Robert Louis Stevenson,
from the Dedication, Virginibus Puerisque and Other Papers

Bill Ryan

Types

Bill Ryan is a contemporary classical composer, producer, and educator

Milosh

Types

Hailing from Toronto, Canada, but moving about frequently

Tristan Corbière: “Paria”

Types

– L’idéal à moi : c’est un songe
Creux ; mon horizon – l’imprévu –
Et le mal du pays me ronge…
Du pays que je n’ai pas vu.

[…]

Ma pensée est un souffle aride :
C’est l’air. L’air est à moi partout.
Et ma parole est l’écho vide
Qui ne dit rien – et c’est tout.

– Tristan Corbière,
“Paria”

The Vagary

Types

In Amsterdam there’s a four-piece band

Thomas Stearns Eliot: “The Waste Land”

Types

I sat upon the shore
Fishing, with the arid plain behind me
Shall I at least set my lands in order?

– T. S. Eliot,
“The Waste Land”

William Wordsworth: “Thanksgiving Ode, January 18, 1816”

Types

Inviting words – perchance already flung,
(As the crowd press devoutly down the aisle
Of some old minster’s venerable pile)
From voices into zealous passion stung,
While the tubed engine feels the inspiring blast,
And has begun – its clouds of sound to cast
Towards the empyreal Heaven,
As if the fretted roof were riven.

– William Wordsworth,
“Thanksgiving Ode, January 18, 1816”

Plato: Phaedrus

Types

Σωκράτης:
ἐγκαλυψάμενος ἐρῶ, ἵν᾽ ὅτι τάχιστα διαδράμω τὸν λόγον καὶ μὴ βλέπων πρὸς σὲ ὑπ᾽ αἰσχύνης διαπορῶμαι.

– Plato,
Phaedrus

Georg Simmel: Soziologie

Types

Gerade die Vielheit dessen, was das Gesicht offenbaren kann, macht es oft rätselhaft; im allgemeinen wird das, was wir von einem Menschen sehen, durch das interpretiert, was wir von ihm hören, während das Umgekehrte viel seltener ist. Deshalb ist der, der sieht, ohne zu hören, sehr viel verworrener, ratloser, beunruhigter als der, der hört, ohne zu sehen.

– Georg Simmel,
Soziologie

Goethe: In a letter to Carl Friedrich Zelter, June 6, 1825

Types

Ich kann nicht schließen, ohne jener überfüllten Musik nochmals zu gedenken. Alles aber ist jetzt ultra, alles transcendirt unaufhaltsam, im Denken, wie im Thun. Niemand kennt sich mehr, Niemand begreift das Element, worin er schwebt und wirkt, Niemand den Stoff, den er bearbeitet. Von reiner Einfalt kann die Rede nicht sein; einfältiges Zeug giebt es genug.

– Goethe,
in a letter to Carl Friedrich Zelter, June 6, 1825

James McNeill Whistler: “A Further Proposition”

Types

Scarcely a feature stays in its place, so fierce is its intention of “firmly” coming forth; and in the midst of this unseemly struggle for prominence, the gentle truth has but a sorry chance, falling flat and flavourless, and without force.

– James McNeill Whistler,
“A Further Proposition”

Edward Morgan Forster: “Pan”

Types

The universe cannot roll its eye without a socket. Outraged nature must have something to kick against.

– E. M. Forster,
“Pan”

William Hazlitt: “On Living to one’s-self”

Types

There is not a more mean, stupid, dastardly, pitiful, selfish, spiteful, envious, ungrateful animal than the Public. […] The idea of what the public will think prevents the public from ever thinking at all, and acts as a spell on the exercise of private judgment, so that in short the public ear is at the mercy of the first impudent pretender who chooses to fill it with noisy assertions, or false surmises, or secret whispers.

– William Hazlitt,
“On Living to one’s-⁠self”

Pride Weekend Playlists (III)

Types

The last of the three

Le Peep

Types

Le Peep, an evidently one-off musical collaboration

Heinrich Blücher: “Fundamentals of a Philosophy of Art – On the Understanding of Artistic Experience”

Types

We time and we space in the world, but as a nuisance, as a task – but through art this is turned into a joy, into play: we enjoy it. Our ability to space and to time are actively turned into something transcendent and we are made masters of time and space – masters of space in painting and masters of time in music – and of tine and space that becomes meaningful.

– Heinrich Blücher,
“Fundamentals of a Philosophy of Art –
On the Understanding of Artistic Experience”

Andy Lange, Andrew Garcia, Josh Golden, and Chester See

Types

Andy Lange is a pop musician in Los Angeles; a songwriter, a singer, a musician (several instruments), and a producer all in one, he has single-handedly been creating some very pleasing music over the last few years, recently in conjunction with fellow musicians Andrew Garcia, Josh Golden, and Chester See. This playlist aims to showcase his … Continue reading Andy Lange, Andrew Garcia, Josh Golden, and Chester See

Malcolm de Chazal: Poème

Types

Seul
Le
Feu
Peut
Lécher
Sa
Propre
Langue.

– Malcolm de Chazal,
Poèmes

Nathaniel Hawthorne: “The Fountain of Youth” / “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment”

Types

Age, with its miserable train of cares, and sorrows, and diseases, was remembered only as the trouble of a dream, from which they had joyously awoke. The fresh gloss of the soul, so early lost, and without which the world’s successive scenes had been but a gallery of faded pictures, again threw its enchantment over all their prospects. They felt like new-⁠created beings, in a new-⁠created universe.

– Nathaniel Hawthorne,
“The Fountain of Youth” / “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment”

Knalpot

Types

Knalpot is an Amsterdam band that embraces sound technology yet eschews

Thomas De Quincey: “War”

Types

How came it into any man’s heart, first of all, to conceive so audacious an idea as that of a conspiracy against war?

– Thomas De Quincey,
“War”

Karl Wolfskehl: “Der Priester vom Geiste”

Types

Aus kraft wurdest du unkräftig, weil du dich nicht überwinden konntest, zerschelltest du träumend deine waffen. Immer ja will das höchste über sich selber triumphierend hinausschreiten: jeder gipfel will abgrund werden einem neuen gipfel.

– Karl Wolfskehl,
“Der Priester vom Geiste”

“Tonight bring all your friends because a group does it better”

Types

A “Heavy Metal Lover” medley for New Year’s Eve and beyond.

Landon Gadoci

Types

Singer and pianist from Austin, Texas; one who knows well how to convey inward feeling.

Cornelia

Types

Cornelia (Cornelia Dahlgren) is a young Swedish singer and master of the remix

Ørjan Matre

Types

Ørjan Matre is a young composer in Norway

Fitz Hugh Ludlow: “The Proper Use of Grandfathers”

Types

The true use of ancestors is not slavish; we do not want them for authority, but for solace. If my grandfather could come back, he certainly would be too much of a gentleman to sit down on my hat or put his feet on my piano; and how much less would he crush my convictions or trample on my opinions! […] What roars of laughter would applaud his recollection of jokes uttered by some playmate of his boyhood. They would seem so droll to us at the distance of a hundred years, though a contemporary might have uttered them without raising a smile on our faces.

– Fitz Hugh Ludlow,
“The Proper Use of Grandfathers”

Nguyên Lê

Types

Since the 1980s the Parisian jazz guitarist

A Mixtape for Midsummer (July 2014)

Types

Halfway through the year 2014 it is, and thus high time to assemble several remarkable pieces, whether albums, EPs, mixtapes, sets, or single tracks into a summa æstatis in order to explore the varieties of shade and sunlight there are in summertime – including its stillnesses and sadnesses – in search of some musical semi-shelter.

Else Lasker-Schüler: “Mein blaues Klavier”

Types

Ich habe zu Hause ein blaues Klavier
Und kenne doch keine Note.

Es steht im Dunkel der Kellertür,
Seitdem die Welt verrohte.

Es spielten Sternenhände vier
– Die Mondfrau sang im Boote –
Nun tanzen die Ratten im Geklirr.

Zerbrochen ist die Klaviatür.⁠.⁠.⁠.⁠.⁠.⁠.
Ich beweine die blaue Tote.

Ach liebe Engel öffnet mir
– Ich ass vom bitteren Brote –
Mir lebend schon die Himmelstür –
Auch wider dem Verbote.

– Else Lasker-Schüler,
“Mein blaues Klavier”

Detroit Swindle

Types

Lars Dales and Maarten Smeets, an Amsterdam DJ duo specializing in house music

Shakespeare: The life and death of King John

Types

So foule a skie, cleeres not without a storme

– Shakespeare,
The life and death of King John

Nicolas Jaar (II)

Types

This is a second playlist of Nicolas Jaar’s music

Daphne Guinness

Types

Known for her couture, the English heiress Daphne Guinness is less often recognized for

Daniel Rhode

Types

Together with his friend Adam Cuthbért

Auguste Blanqui: L’Éternité par les astres

Types

Même monotonie, même immobilisme dans les astres étrangers. L’univers se répete sans fin et piaffe sur place. L’éternité joue imperturbablement dans l’infini les mêmes représentations.

– Auguste Blanqui,
L’Éternité par les astres

Ilpo Jauhiainen

Types

Ilpo Jauhiainen is a cosmopolitan Finn

Lope de Vega: Famosa de Fvente Obeivna

Types

Antes que ignoran mas siento por esso,
por no se reduzir a breue suma,
porque la confusion con el excesso,
los intentos resuelue en vana espuma;
y aquel, que de leer tiene mas vso,
de ver letreros solo está confuso.

– Lope de Vega,
Famosa de Fvente Obeivna

Martin Luther: In a letter to Hieronymus Weller von Molsdorf, November 6, 1530

Types

Est nonnunquam largius bibendum, ludendum, nugandum, atque adeo peccatum aliquod faciendum in odium et contemtum Diaboli, ne quid loci relinquamus illi, ut conscientiam nobis faciat de rebus levissimis, alioqui vincimur, si nimis anxie curaverimus, ne quid peccemus. […] Utinam possem aliquid insigne peccati designare modo ad eludendum Diabolum, ut intelligeret, me nullum peccatum agnoscere ac me nullius peccati mihi esse conscium. Omnino totus decalogus amovendus est nobis ex oculis et animo, nobis, inquam, quos sic petit ac vexat Diabolus.

– Martin Luther,
in a letter to Hieronymus Weller von Molsdorf, November 6, 1530

Edgard Varèse: In conversation with Gunther Schuller

Types

I don’t care about reaching the public as much as I care about reaching certain musical-acoustical phenomena, in other words, to disturb the atmosphere – because, after all, sound is only an atmospheric disturbance!

– Edgard Varèse,
in conversation with Gunther Schuller, early 1960s

Max Stirner: Der Einzige und sein Eigenthum

Types

Wie so bettelhaft wenig ist Uns verblieben, ja wie so gar nichts! Alles ist entrückt worden, an nichts dürfen Wir Uns wagen, wenn es Uns nicht gegeben wird: Wir leben nur noch von der Gnade des Gebers. Nicht eine Nadel darfst Du aufheben, es sei denn, Du habest Dir die Erlaubniß geholt, daß Du es dürfest. Und geholt vom wem? Vom Respekte! Nur wenn er sie Dir überläßt als Eigenthum, nur wenn Du sie als Eigenthum respektiren kannst, nur dann darfst Du sie nehmen.

– Max Stirner,
Der Einzige und sein Eigenthum

17 Hippies

Types

The band 17 Hippies was first formed in the mid-nineties in Berlin

Hart Crane: “Chaplinesque”

Types

The game enforces smirks; but we have seen
The moon in lonely alleys make
A grail of laughter of an empty ash can,
And through all sound of gaiety and quest
Have heard a kitten in the wilderness.

– Hart Crane,
“Chaplinesque”

The Soft Moon

Types

This band makes “music for the end of the world,” and though the term

Jan Kerckhofs

Types

From Antwerp, Belgium, this singer and songwriter

Samuel Beckett: L’Innommable

Types

Cela, dire cela, sans savoir quoi.

– Samuel Beckett,
L’Innommable

Hess Is More

Types

Over the last several years, under the moniker

Stéphane Mallarmé: “Variations sur un sujet”

Types

Vestige de sacrifice, le risque suffit au désintéressement.

– Stéphane Mallarmé,
“Variations sur un sujet”

Sir Philip Sidney: The Countess of Pembrokes Arcadia

Types

Vaine is their paine, who labour in Despaire.

– Sir Philip Sidney,
The Countess of Pembrokes Arcadia

Paul Verlaine: “Art poétique”

Types

Il faut aussi que tu n’ailles point
Choisir tes mots sans quelque méprise :
Rien de plus cher que la chanson grise
Où l’Indécis au Précis se joint.

– Paul Verlaine,
“Art poétique”

Tracks to Travel by

Types

Some pieces of music for acoustic enjoyment while on the road.

Immanuel Kant: Critik der Urtheilskraft (1794 Edition)

Types

Außerdem hängt der Musik ein gewisser Mangel an Urbanität an, daß sie, vornehmlich nach Beschaffenheit ihrer Instrumente, ihren Einfluß weiter, als man ihn verlangt (auf die Nachbarschaft), ausbreitet, und so sich gleichsam aufdringt, mithin der Freiheit anderer, außer der musikalischen Gesellschaft, Abbruch thut; welches die Künste, die zu den Augen reden, nicht thun, indem man seine Augen nur wegwenden darf, wenn man ihren Eindruck nicht einlassen will. Es ist hiemit fast so, wie mit der Ergötzung durch einen sich weit ausbreitenden Geruch bewandt. Der, welcher sein parfümirtes Schnupftuch aus der Tasche zieht, traktirt alle um und neben sich wider ihren Willen, und nöthigt sie, wenn sie athmen wollen, zugleich zu genießen; daher es auch aus der Mode gekommen ist.

– Immanuel Kant,
Critik der Urtheilskraft (1794 edition)

Jasmine Thompson

Types

Jasmine Thompson, a very young singer in London

Wise Blood

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As the name might already suggest

Yves Klein: “Le Vrai devient réalité”

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C’est ce silence si merveilleux qui donne la « chance » et qui donne même parfois la possibilité d’être vraiment heureux, ne serait⁠-ce qu’un seul instant, pendant un instant incommensurable en durée.

– Yves Klein,
“Le Vrai devient réalité”

Gregory Douglass

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Gregory Douglass, a singer/songwriter in Burlington, Vermont

Luiz Henrique Yudo

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Luiz Henrique Yudo is a contemporary classical composer

Nurvuss

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A fellow from Kansas who lives in London

Savage Furs

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This is a London band

Klaus Nomi

Types

A striking denizen of the New York underground of thirty years ago

The Wanderer

Types

cearo bið geniwad þam þe sendan sceal swiþe geneahhe ofer waþema gebind werigne sefan ·

– The Wanderer

Nico

Types

This playlist represents a tribute of sorts

Rachel Bespaloff: De l’Iliade

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La passion de la justice ne s’exprime que par ce deuil de la justice, et par l’aveu du silence. Condamner ou absoudre la force, ce serait condamner ou absoudre la vie même. […] Elle ne se juge elle-⁠même que dans la conscience qu’elle prend de son indicibilité.

– Rachel Bespaloff,
De l’Iliade

Pursuit Grooves

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Pursuit Grooves (the multitalented Vanese Smith), known on both sides of the Atlantic

Jules-⁠Amédée Barbey d’Aurevilly: Du Dandysme et de G. Brummell

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L’Ironie est un génie qui dispense de tous les autres. […] À la verité, n’est pas palais qui veut, mais on peut toujours être labyrinthe.

– Jules-⁠Amédée Barbey d’Aurevilly,
Du Dandysme et de G. Brummell

Soft Riot

Types

Soft Riot is a musical project initiated by Jack Duckworth

Jamie N. Commons

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With his rough voice and perfect Southern accent in performance

Edgar Allan Poe: “Von Jung, the Mystific”

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I truly think that no person at the University, with the exception of myself, ever suspected him to be capable of a joke, verbal or practical – […] when it was evident that the most egregious and unpardonable of all conceivable tricks, whimsicalities, and buffooneries were brought about, if not directly by him, at least plainly through his intermediate agency or connivance. […] The adroitness, too, was no less worthy of observation by which he contrived to shift the sense of the grotesque from the creator to the created – from his own person to the absurdities to which he had given rise. […] In no instance, however, before that of which I speak, have I known the habitual mystific escape the natural consequence of his manœuvres, an attachment of the ludicrous to his own character and person.

– Edgar Allan Poe,
“Von Jung, the Mystific”

Angelus Silesius: “Wer in dem Wirken ruht”

Types

Der Weise, welcher sich hat übersich gebracht /
Der ruhet wenn er laufft und wirkt wenn er betracht.

– Angelus Silesius,
“Wer in dem Wirken ruht”

Nocturnes

Types

In its first incarnation at least, this playlist was the work of a night, and it draws its character from the nocturnal hours; please feel free to share it or to keep it for yourself, as you wish.

Prabhu Edouard

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A tabla player and vocalist from southern India who’s made his home in Paris

Brian Petuch

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Brian Petuch is a young composer in New York

The Fires of August

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Πόλεμος πάντων μὲν πατήρ ἐστι, πάντων δὲ βασιλεύς, καὶ τοὺς μὲν θεοὺς ἔδειξε τοὺς δὲ ἀνθρώπους, τοὺς μὲν δούλους ἐποίησε τοὺς δὲ ἐλευθέρους. “War is the father of all,” said Heraclitus, and this August, the centennial of the outbreak of the First World War, offers a fitting occasion to reflect upon his dark idea. With … Continue reading The Fires of August

Sofia Gubaidalina

Types

“National Anthem” (Lana Del Rey)

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These three versions and one reversal of “National Anthem” may when taken together help to flesh out one’s sense of the original song and Del Rey’s own intention or aim – in no small part by virtue of their very divergences.

Nicolas Jaar and His Friends

Types

Over the last couple of years, Nicolas Jaar has been turning

Ben Carey

Types

A saxophonist, a composer, and an adept of the computer

Vassily Kandinsky: Punkt und Linie zu Fläche

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Durch das allmähliche Herausreißen des Punktes aus dem engen Kreis seines gewohnten Wirkens bekommen seine bis jetzt schweigenden inneren Eigenschaften einen immer mehr wachsenden Klang. Diese Eigenschaften – innere Spannungen – kommen eine nach der anderen aus der Tiefe seines Wesens heraus und strahlen ihre Kräfte aus. Und ihre Wirkungen und Einflüsse auf den Menschen überwinden immer leichter die Hemmungen.

– Vassily Kandinsky,
Punkt und Linie zu Fläche

Pride Weekend Playlists (I)

Types

The first of three playlists d’occasion

Bertolt Brecht: “Deutschland”

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Hörend die Reden, die aus deinem Hause dringen, lacht man.
Aber wer dich sieht, der greift nach dem Messer

– Bertolt Brecht,
“Deutschland”

Alexis de Tocqueville: Souvenirs

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Ici, l’imitation fut si visible que la terrible originalité des faits en demeurait cachée. […] Les hommes de la première révolution étaient vivants dans tous les esprits, leurs actes et leurs mots présents à toutes les mémoires. Tout ce que je vis ce jour-⁠là porta la visible empreinte de ces souvenirs ; il me semblait toujours qu’on fût occupé à jouer la Révolution française plus encore qu’à la continuer. […] On cherchait, en attendant, à se réchauffer aux passions de nos pères, sans pouvoir y parvenir ; on imitait leurs gestes et leurs poses tels qu’on les avait vus sur le théâtre, ne pouvant imiter leur enthousiasme ou ressentir leur fureur. C’était la tradition d’actes violents suivie, sans être bien comprise, par des cœurs refroidis.

– Alexis de Tocqueville,
Souvenirs

Stendhal: In a letter to his sister

Types

Un peu d’étude de l’homme moral apprend la rareté de cet état délicieux ; un peu d’étude de l’homme physique montre combien il est rare. Pour le produire, il faut un éréthisme (une chanterelle de violon lâche donne le ré, on la tend à son ton naturel, elle donne le mi, on la tend encore, elle donne le fa, mais bientôt elle se casse, elle est en éréthisme) ; voilà nos nerfs.

– Stendhal,
in a letter to his sister, August 1805

New Order

Types

Jules Michelet: From an entry in his journal, April 4, 1839

Types

rêver = créer

velle videmur Chaque époque rêve la suivante,
la crée en rêvant

avenir! avenir!

– Jules Michelet,
from an entry in his journal, April 4, 1839

Pop Noir

Types

A band from Manchester by way of Huntington Beach

Martin Heidegger: Sein und Zeit

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Entfernen besagt ein Verschwindenmachen der Ferne, das heißt der Entferntheit von etwas, Näherung.

– Martin Heidegger,
Sein und Zeit

Dan Tramte

Types

Currently pursuing a doctorate in composition and theory

Daisuke Tanabe

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A DJ and electronic musician in Tokyo

Ernst Jünger: “Lob der Vokale”

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Bei allen wesentlichen Begegnungen zwischen Menschen horchen wir durch die Wortbedeutung auf die reine Lautbedeutung hindurch. Wir erkennen den Feind besser an seiner Stimme als an dem, was er sagt. Aus diesem Grunde ist es schwieriger, in einem dunklen Zimmer zu lügen als in einem beleuchteten. Die feinsten Ohren hat die Furcht, wie denn auch die furchtsamsten Tiere Ohrentiere sind.

– Ernst Jünger,
“Lob der Vokale”

Guillaume Apollinaire: “L’Esprit nouveau et les poètes”

Types

Et de ces vérités il résulte le plus souvent la surprise, puisqu’elles vont contre l’opinion communément admise.

– Guillaume Apollinaire,
“L’Esprit nouveau et les poètes”

Karl Jaspers: Psychologie der Weltanschauungen

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Wenn ein Gehäuse als Gehäuse, als Züchtungsmittel durchschaut wird, so tritt Nihilismus auf; besonders dann, wenn keine positive Kraft das frühere Gehäuse sprengt, sondern bloße Wahrhaftigkeit und Kritik.

– Karl Jaspers,
Psychologie der Weltanschauungen

Yes the Raven

Types

A native of Belfast and a resident

George Herbert: “Outlandish Proverbs”

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Hee that lives in hope danceth without musick.

– George Herbert,
“Outlandish Proverbs”

Max Weber: Die rationalen und soziologischen Grundlagen der Musik

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Eben diese akkordfremden Töne sind nun aber naturgemäß, gerade durch den Kontrast gegen das akkordlich Geforderte, die wirksamsten Mittel der Dynamik des Fortschreitens einerseits, andererseits auch der Bindung und Verflechtung der Akkordfolgen miteinander. Ohne diese durch die Irrationalität der Melodik motivierten Spannungen gäbe es keine moderne Musik, zu deren wichtigsten Ausdrucksmitteln gerade sie zählen.

– Max Weber,
Die rationalen und soziologischen Grundlagen der Musik

Homer: Iliad

Types

ἄλλῳ μὲν γὰρ ἔδωκε θεὸς πολεμήϊα ἔργα,
ἄλλῳ δ᾽ ὀρχηστύν, ἑτέρῳ κίθαριν καὶ ἀοιδήν,
ἄλλῳ δ᾽ ἐν στήθεσσι τιθεῖ νόον εὐρύοπα Ζεὺς
ἐσθλόν, τοῦ δέ τε πολλοὶ ἐπαυρίσκοντ᾽ ἄνθρωποι,
καί τε πολέας ἐσάωσε, μάλιστα δὲ καὐτὸς ἀνέγνω.

– Homer,
Iliad

Peter Hollens

Types

Peter Hollens, of Eugene, Oregon, is a prominent beatboxer

Some Covers of “Applause” (Lady Gaga)

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A.P.P.L.A.U.S.E. – spelling out the word

John Milton: ΕΙΚΟΝΟΚΛΆΣΤΗΣ

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It hardly can be thought upon without som laughter, that he who had acted over us so stately and so Tragically, should leave the World at last with such a ridiculous exit, as to bequeath among his deifying friends that stood about him, such a peece of mockery to be publisht by them, as must needs cover both his and their heads with shame and confusion.

– John Milton,
ΕΙΚΟΝΟΚΛΆΣΤΗΣ

Garçon Garçon

Types

A new Australian duo

Georg Philipp Harsdörffer: Gesprächspiele

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Die Lieb in unsrem Leib / heist Ubel mancherley /
Bald ists ein schneidend Beil / bald gantz erstarrtes Bley.

[…] Es hafftet in der Lieb nicht viel Beständigkeit /
[…] Weil sein gar kurtzer Nam so manchen Wechsel leidt.

– Georg Philipp Harsdörffer,
Gesprächspiele

Christophe Ruetsch

Types

Though I chanced upon him to begin with on Soundcloud

“Strangelove” (Depeche Mode)

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This is a diverse playlist of various covers, mash-ups, and remixes – each is a homage – of Depeche Mode’s “Strangelove,” which surely remains one of the nineteen-eighties’ best anthems.

Hugo von Hofmannsthal: “Lebenslied”

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Ihm bietet jede Stelle
Geheimnisvoll die Schwelle

– Hugo von Hofmannsthal,
“Lebenslied”

Walter Benjamin: “Traumkitsch”

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Denn »Mißverständnis« heißt die Rhythmik, mit welcher die allein wahre Wirklichkeit sich ins Gespräch drängt.

– Walter Benjamin,
“Traumkitsch”

College

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Those who need a refresher course in electronica

A Long Playlist

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Please feel free to listen to this longer playlist in whole or in part at your leisure.

Gertrude Stein: In an interview with William Lundell

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Look here. Being intelligible is not what it seems. […] I mean by understanding, enjoyment. If you enjoy it, you understand it. […] If you did not enjoy it, why do you make a fuss about it?

– Gertrude Stein,
in an interview with William Lundell, November 1934

Adam Cuthbért

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Operating in the intermediate zone

Saelors

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Here in Amsterdam there’s a two-piece band

Andrew Marvell: “Musicks Empire”

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Victorious sounds! yet here your Homage do
Unto a gentler Conqueror then you;
Who though He flies the Musick of his praise,
Would with you Heavens Hallelujahs raise.

– Andrew Marvell,
“Musicks Empire”

Jonathan Nichol

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Jonathan Nichol plays the saxophone in Billband, but his solo repertoire

Telefon Tel Aviv

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This playlist features the music of the band

Angélica Negrón

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Angélica Negrón is a very active composer in New York

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon: De la Création de l’ordre dans l’humanité

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Le progrès de la société se mesure sur le développement de l’industrie et la perfection des instruments ; l’homme qui ne sait ou ne peut se servir d’un outil pour travailler est une anomalie, une créature abortive : ce n’est pas un homme.

– Pierre-Joseph Proudhon,
De la Création de l’ordre dans l’humanité

A Short Playlist

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The first one.

Nikita Quasim

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A short playlist of the compositions of Nikita Quasim

Henri Bergson: Matière et Mémoire

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La vérité est que mon système nerveux, interposé entre les objets qui ébranlent mon corps et ceux que je pourrais influencer, joue le rôle d’un simple conducteur, qui transmet, répartit ou inhibe du mouvement. […] Autant il y a de fils allant de la périphérie vers le centre, autant il y a de points de l’espace capables de solliciter ma volonté et de poser, pour ainsi dire, une question élémentaire à mon activité motrice : chaque question posée est justement ce qu’on appelle une perception.

– Henri Bergson,
Matière et Mémoire

Nick Pitera

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Nick Pitera can emphasize a vocal passage

Onra

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How to sample outmoded or discarded records from near and far

Nöi Kabát

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Női Kabát (the term, I’ve learned, means a “woman’s jacket” in Hungarian) is “a dark electronic three piece from London”

Leo Ornstein

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A playlist of some works by Leo Ornstein.

Whom by Fire (previously Caleb)

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Whom by Fire (known earlier as Caleb) is a duo hailing from Southend-on-Sea

Jean Cocteau: Le Coq et l’arlequin

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Sens. – L’oreille réprouve mais supporte certaines musiques ; transportons-⁠les dans le domaine du nez, elles nous obligeraient à fuir.

– Jean Cocteau,
Le Coq et l’arlequin

Songs

Types

If you like these songs, please repost, share, and whistle the playlist in whole or in part on the internet and on the street.

Jean Barbeyrac: An editorial remark in his translation of Grotius, Le Droit de la guerre, et de la paix

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Le pais des Etymologies est fort vaste, & présente bien des routes différentes, où chacun peut se promener à son aise.

– Jean Barbeyrac,
an editorial remark in his translation of Grotius,
Le Droit de la guerre, et de la paix

August Strindberg: From the last letter to Friedrich Nietzsche, December 31, 1888

Types

Carissime Doctor!

Θέλω, θέλω μανῆναι!

Litteras tuas non sine perturbatione accepi et tibi gratias ago.
Rectius vives, Licini, neque altum
Semper urgendo, neque dum procellas
Cautus horrescis nimium premendo
Litus iniquum.

Interdum juvat insanire!
Vale et Fave!

– August Strindberg,
from the last letter to Friedrich Nietzsche, December 31, 1888

Andi Kristins

Types

Andi Kristins, from Reykjavik and living in New York, is a singer, songwriter, and electronic musician

Robert Burton: The Anatomy of Melancholy

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Sicknes is the mother of modesty, putteth us in minde of our mortality, & when we are in the full career of worldly pomp and jollity, she pulleth us by the ear, and maketh us know our selves.

– Robert Burton,
The Anatomy of Melancholy

Melohouse

Types

There are a number of talented a cappella singers

Joachim du Bellay: “Hymne de la svrdité”

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Mais il est taciturne : ô bien heureux celuy
A qui le trop parler ne porte point d’ennuy,
Et qui a liberté de se taire à son aise,
Sans que son long silence à personne déplaise !

– Joachim du Bellay,
“Hymne de la svrdité”

Von Rosenthal de la Vegaz

Types

In The Netherlands there’s a DJ who’s in a class all his own

Paul Valéry: “La Conquête allemande”

Types

Tous les grands inventeurs d’idées ou de formes me semblent s’être servis de méthodes particulières. Je veux dire que leur force même et leur maitrise est fondée sur l’usage de certaines habitudes, et de certaines conceptions qui disciplinent toutes leurs pensées. Chose étrange, c’est justement l’apparence de cette méthode interne que nous appelons leur personnalité ! Il importe peu, du reste, que cette méthode soit ou ne soit pas consciente.

– Paul Valéry,
“La Conquête allemande”

Jennifer Left

Types

Jennifer Dalby, better known as Jennifer Left

James Thomson: “The City of Dreadful Night”

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The ear, too, with the silence vast and deep
Becomes familiar though unreconciled;
Hears breathings as of hidden life asleep,
And muffled throbs as of pent passions wild,
Far murmurs, speech of pity or derision;
but all more dubious than the things of vision,
So that it knows now when it is beguiled.

– James Thomson,
“The City of Dreadful Night”

George Santayana: “The Irony of Liberalism”

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Superstitions old and new thrive in this infected atmosphere; they are now all treated with a curious respect, as if nobody could have anything to object to them. It is all a scramble of prejudices and rumours; whatever first catches the ear becomes a nucleus for all further presumptions and sympathies.

– George Santayana,
“The Irony of Liberalism”

Matthew Arnold: “Stanzas from the Grande Chartreuse”

Types

Still the same Ocean round us raves,
But we stand mute, and watch the waves.

– Matthew Arnold,
“Stanzas from the Grande Chartreuse”

Chen Zhangyi

Types

In the music of this graduate of

Franck Christoph Yeznikian

Types

This playlist is dedicated to the works of the contemporary classical composer

Tripes

Types

The Hungarian band Tripes – currently a duo

John Arbuthnot: The most Wonderful Wonder, That ever appear’d to the Wonder of the British Nation

Types

Boy. […] They are so fickle in their Temper, that they resolve one thing this Minute, and the contrary the next; and their Hatred is so violent when provoked, that they will wish the most cruel Mischiefs even to themselves; nay, they go farther, and put themselves to Death.

Bear. Ridiculous Animal which pursues Annihilation […]

– John Arbuthnot,
The most Wonderful Wonder, That ever appear’d to the Wonder of the British Nation

Samm Bennett et al.

Types

Samm Bennett’s path has led from

Lady Gaga Live: Mainly Acoustic

Types

Currently, Lady Gaga is back again on tour in Amsterdam

Hannah Arendt: Über die Revolution

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Was das Herz hervorbringt, sind Kräfte, aber keine Gestalten, und diese Kräfte haben die Neigung, miteinander in Streit zu geraten. Durch dieses streitende Spiel seiner Kräfte erhält das Herz sich lebendig, und eindeutig wird es erst, wenn seine Kraftquellen versiegt sind.

– Hannah Arendt,
Über die Revolution

Pride Weekend Playlists (II)

Types

The second of three

Friedrich Hölderlin: “An die Parzen”

Types

Willkommen dann, o Stille der Schattenwelt!
Zufrieden bin ich, wenn auch mein Saitenspiel
Mich nicht hinab geleitet; Einmal
Lebt ich, wie Götter, und mehr bedarfs nicht.

– Friedrich Hölderlin,
“An die Parzen”

Forestears

Types

Forestears is a band in Brighton with at least one pun in its name

Neil Jansen

Types

A classically-trained euphonium player

Craig Yopp

Types

Craig Yopp is a singer in Sydney who, in some of his covers at least

“Bizarre Love Triangle”

Types

Today’s encounter with “Love Will Tear Us Apart” was unexpected, and I was struck, but not for the first time, how this song is one of those capable of evoking an entire period even decades later. Then, nearly automatically, I started to hum that other old hit, New Order’s “Bizarre Love Triangle,” which is even more … Continue reading “Bizarre Love Triangle”

Giacomo Leopardi: Pensieri

Types

Grande tra gli uomini e di gran terrore è la potenza del riso: contro il quale nessuno nella sua coscienza trova se munito da ogni parte. Chi ha coraggio di ridere, è padrone del mondo, poco altrimenti di chi è preparato a morire.

– Giacomo Leopardi,
Pensieri

Giuseppe Verdi: In a letter to Clara Maffei

Types

Copiare il vero può essere una buona cosa, ma inventare il vero è meglio, molto meglio.

– Giuseppe Verdi,
in a letter to Clara Maffei, October 20, 1876

French Cassettes

Types

The band French Cassettes – a group from San Francisco

The Musgraves

Types

A new band based somewhere in the Midlands

Charles Péguy: Note conjointe sur M. Descartes et la philosophie cartésienne

Types

Pour obtenir une mélancolie de cette profondeur incurable, aussi creuse et aussi mortellement gravée il fallait cette greffe et ce sauvageon, il fallait cette race et il fallait cette autre race, il fallait cette âme et il fallait cette autre âme et ce corps mortel, il fallait un virus aussi antique introduit dans un corps jeune et sain et il faut le dire sans défense.

– Charles Péguy,
Note conjointe sur M. Descartes et la philosophie cartésienne

Virginia Woolf: To the Lighthouse

Types

She did not know what they meant, but, like music, the words seemed to be spoken by her own voice, outside her self, saying quite easily and naturally what had been in her mind the whole evening while she said different things.

– Virginia Woolf,
To the Lighthouse

Marivaux: Les Sermens indiscrets

Types

Non pas, s’il vous plaît : ce seroit un meurtre ; il ne vieillira qu’avec le temps, et n’enlaidira qu’à force de durer : je veux qu’il n’appartienne qu’à moi, que personne n’ait que voir à ce que j’en ferai, qu’il ne relève que de moi seule.

– Marivaux,
Les Sermens indiscrets

Thomas Carlyle: “Epistles to the Literati”

Types

Of Nothing you can, in the long run, and with much lost labour, make only – Nothing.

– Thomas Carlyle,
“Epistles to the Literati”

Charles Baudelaire: In a letter to Sainte-⁠Beuve, January 24, 1862

Types

Quant à ce que vous appelez mon Kamtchatka, si je recevais souvent des encouragements aussi vigoureux que celui-⁠ci, je crois que j’aurais la force d’en faire une immense Sibérie, mais une chaude et peuplée.

– Charles Baudelaire,
in a letter to Sainte-⁠Beuve, January 24, 1862

Bronzino: “Capitolo de Romori”

Types

Quasì punto per punto, m’è interdetta
ogni quiete, anzi hò tanti dispetti
ch’e sarà facil, che mi dian la stretta.

– Bronzino,
“Capitolo de Romori”

Alexandre Weill: Qu’est-⁠ce que le rêve ?

Types

Le génie peut rêver, mais il se réveille toujours, même après la mort, surtout après la mort !

– Alexandre Weill,
Qu’est-⁠ce que le rêve ?

Heraclitus: Fragment Fifty-Three

Types

Πόλεμος πάντων μὲν πατήρ ἐστι, πάντων δὲ βασιλεύς, καὶ τοὺς μὲν θεοὺς ἔδειξε τοὺς δὲ ἀνθρώπους, τοὺς μὲν δούλους ἐποίησε τοὺς δὲ ἐλευθέρους.

– Heraclitus,
Fragment Fifty-⁠Three

André Breton: Manifeste du surréalisme

Types

Les mots, les images ne s’offrent que comme tremplins à l’esprit de celui qui écoute.

– André Breton,
Manifeste du surréalisme

Stephen Edwards

Types

Stephen Edwards is a young American composer nearly finished with his studies

Portico Quartet

Types

Jazz in London has been updated by the Portico Quartet

Hector Berlioz: “Astronomie musicale”

Types

C’est si cruel pour eux de voir l’astre de la gloire et de la fortune descendre incessamment à l’horizon. Quelle douloureuse fête que celle d’une dernière représentation !

– Hector Berlioz,
“Astronomie musicale”

Boogie Belgique

Types

It’s a very witty sort of dance music that Boogie Belgique makes

Franz Hessel: “Vorschule des Journalismus”

Types

Was ist das für eine Sippe oder Abart, die nicht suchen will, sondern immer nur finden? Wir Fatalisten des Zufalls glauben geradezu: Suchet nicht, so werdet ihr finden. Nur was uns anschaut, sehen wir. Wir können nur – wofür wir nichts können.

– Franz Hessel,
“Vorschule des Journalismus”

Pliny the Younger: In a letter to Maximus

Types

Possum ergo quod plurimis verbis, plurimis etiam voluminibus philosophi docere conantur, ipse breviter tibi mihique praecipere, ut tales esse sani perseveremus, quales nos futuros profitemur infirmi.

– Pliny the Younger,
in a letter to Maximus

Ludwig Wittgenstein: Vermischte Bemerkungen

Types

Die Musik, und gewiß manche Musik, möchten wir eine Sprache nennen; manche Musik aber gewiß nicht. (Nicht, daß damit ein Werturteil gefällt sein muß!)

– Ludwig Wittgenstein,
Vermischte Bemerkungen (from 1947)

Jakub Rizman

Types

With a conservatory training, in the hands of this Slovakian musician

Quintus Ennius: Iphigenia

Types

Otio qui nescit uti
plus negoti habet quam cum est negotium in negotio.
[…]
Incerte errat animus, praeterpropter vitam vivitur.

– Quintus Ennius,
Iphigenia

Giambattista Vico: Principj di scienza nuova

Types

[…] quanto è per essi, di questo Mondo di Nazioni di tante belle Arti dell’Umanità arrichito, & adorno vanno a fare la grande antichissima selva, per entro a cui divagavano con nefario ferino errore le brutte fiere d’Orfeo […]

– Giambattista Vico,
Principj di scienza nuova

Claude Lévi-Strauss: Tristes Tropiques

Types

Lieues après lieues, la même phrase mélodique chantait dans ma mémoire sans que je puisse m’en délivrer. Je lui découvrais sans cesse des charmes nouveaux. Très lâche au début, il me semblait qu’elle entortillait progressivement son fil, comme pour dissimuler l’extrémité qui la terminerait.

– Claude Lévi-Strauss,
Tristes Tropiques

New York, Downtown: Cazwell, Peaches, Lepore, and Vine

Types

Here’s a collective playlist that presents some of the music, satire, and humor circulating in one particular corner of downtown New York – the one where Cazwell, Amanda Lepore, and Sherry Vine are to be found (and Peaches too when she’s in town). It includes some of their music, some of their fun self-promotion, and some … Continue reading New York, Downtown: Cazwell, Peaches, Lepore, and Vine

Robert de Montesquiou: “Tu poses tes soucis…”

Types

Puisqu’il faut écouter, écoute donc, ô Guide !
Récolte, arbre savant, le fruit de tes bourgeons :
Nous fuyons les rancœurs de notre âme languide,
Et ne voyageons pas lorsque nous y songeons.

– Robert de Montesquiou,
“Tu poses tes soucis…”

Henry James: The Ambassadors

Types

He wasn’t there for his own profit – not, that is, the direct; he was there on some chance of feeling the brush of the wing of the stray spirit of youth. He felt it in fact, he had it beside him; the old arcade indeed, as his inner sense listened, gave out the faint sound, as from far-⁠off, of the wild waving of wings.

– Henry James,
The Ambassadors

Pär Lagerkvist: “Med smärta vaknar vi blommor till vårt liv på marken”

Types

Smärtsamt öppnar vi oss för den livgivande solen
och varelser som vi inte alls känner går kring bland oss
och talar om vår skönhet.
[…]

Sköna? Inne i oss själva är vi inte sköna.
Det är vi kanske när solen strålar över oss. Men inne i
oss själva råder det ständigt mörker.

– Pär Lagerkvist,
“Med smärta vaknar vi blommor till vårt liv på marken”

Valentin Stip

Types

Here is a playlist of some compositions by another associate

“Bizarre Love Triangle” (New Order)

Types

This is a second playlist (the first, from a few months back, is on the Youtube channel) featuring some noteworthy covers of that wonderful song from the nineteen-eighties, New Order’s “Bizarre Love Triangle.” “Every time I think of you I feel shot right through with a bolt of blue.”

Matthias Rascher

Types

The repertoire of the gifted amateur organist in Knetzgau

François de La Rochefoucauld: Réflexions ou Sentences et maximes morales

Types

Il y a des gens qui n’auroient jamais esté amoureux, s’ils n’avoient jamais entendu parler de l’amour.

– François de La Rochefoucauld,
Réflexions ou Sentences et maximes morales

Aulus Furius Antias: Fragments

Types

Omnia noctescunt tenebris caliginis atrae.
Increscunt animi, virescit volnere virtus.

– Aulus Furius Antias,
Fragments

Avant la Lettre

Types

A young band from Amsterdam, Avant la Lettre – the name’s French, but they perform entirely in English – has been breaking through this year with a number of live performances for Dutch radio and television, and a first album, Belief.

Son Lux

Types

One of the most interesting of young composers and musicians in New York

Gossip

Types

Next week, Gossip is coming to Amsterdam

Vauvenargues: Reflexions et Maximes

Types

La patience est l’art d’espérer.

– Vauvenargues,
Reflexions et Maximes

Stephen Dedalus

Types

Stephen Dedalus, a Joycean and a composer

Léon Daudet: Le Stupide XIXe Siècle

Types

Il y a un rythme intérieur, qui préside aux atteintes des émotions comme aux mouvements de la raison. Il est très sensible dans la musique, dans la sonate comme dans la symphonie, et aussi dans le développement psychologique de l’enfant, depuis le moment où il commence à parler, jusqu’à celui où il se met à conjoindre des concepts. […] La méconnaissance de ce rythme intérieur est un des solides piliers de la bêtise. C’est ce rythme intérieur qui donne, à la parole et aux écrits, leur portée, aux personnalités leur poids et leur ampleur, à la poésie claire, sa force magique.

– Léon Daudet,
Le Stupide XIXe Siècle

Soul Keita

Types

Soul Keita is one of Nicolas Jaar’s colleagues

Eli Lieb

Types

Although he’s since moved to Los Angeles, Eli Lieb visits the city in which his musical life began

Charles Lamb (“Elia”): “A Chapter on Ears”

Types

But those unconnected, unset sounds are nothing to the measured malice of music. The ear is passive to those single strokes; willingly enduring stripes, while it hath no task to con. To music it cannot be passive; it will strive – mine at least will – ’spite of its inaptitude, to thrid the maze; like an unskilled eye painfully poring upon hieroglyphics.

– Charles Lamb (“Elia”),
“A Chapter on Ears”

Daniel von Czepko: “Ie mehr zurücke, ie mehr vor sich”

Types

Wer morgen jünger ist als er vorgestern war,
Gehöret Heute blos in Weiser Leute Schaar.

– Daniel von Czepko,
“Ie mehr zurücke, ie mehr vor sich”

Three Pieces for the End of the Year

Types

A 2012 triptych.

Patrick Thomas

Types

Hailing from Dallas and currently residing in Nashville

Dirtmusic

Types

A trio comprising the Australian Hugo Race and two American counterparts

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz: In a letter to Christian Goldbach, April 17, 1712

Types

Musica est exercitium arithmeticæ occultum nescientis se numerare animi.

– Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz,
in a letter to Christian Goldbach, April 17, 1712

Jorge Luis Borges: “París, 1856”

Types

No han de salvarte, no, tus ruiseñores,
tus noches de oro y tus cantadas flores.

– Jorge Luis Borges,
“París, 1856”

The Shures

Types

Once again a trio

Michael Kiwanuka

Types

Whether Michael Kiwanuka is letting loose with his band or going solo

Isak Dinesen: In an interview with Bent Mohn

Types

To me, the explanation of life seems to be its melody, its pattern.

– Isak Dinesen,
in an interview with Bent Mohn, November 1957

Matthew Shlomowitz

Types

A young composer from Adelaide

Friedrich Nietzsche: Die fröhliche Wissenschaft

Types

Das Unerträglichste freilich, das eigentlich Fürchterliche, wäre mir ein Leben ganz ohne Gewohnheiten, ein Leben, das fortwährend die Improvisation verlangt: – diess wäre meine Verbannung und mein Sibirien.

– Friedrich Nietzsche,
Die fröhliche Wissenschaft

Oscar Wilde: In conversation with Robert Ross

Types

My dear Robbie, when I see a monstrous tulip with four wonderful petals in someone else’s garden, I am impelled to grow a monstrous tulip with five wonderful petals, but that is no reason why someone should grow a tulip with only three petals.

– Oscar Wilde,
in conversation with Robert Ross

Jornt Karel

Types

Jornt Karel is a musician and singer located in another corner of this country

Tona Scherchen

Types

Tona Scherchen is a present-day composer whose name, though not unknown

Fynn Farrell

Types

The London singer and songwriter

Stephen Carmichael

Types

Stephen Carmichael (Brisbane, Australia), with his striking performance persona

Shan Malaika

Types

Hailing from Geneva, Switzerland, she is

Ali Brustofski

Types

Ali Brustofski is a New York singer – her videos, very well filmed, are often set there

Nostromo 7

Types

Though the name of the band

Theodor Lessing: Der Lärm

Types

Wir sind entsetzlich laut und entsetzlich musikalisch geworden. […] Vielleicht sind die feinsten musikalischen Ohren in Stadtvierteln zu Hause, vor deren Getöse ein unmusikalischer Kannibale die Flucht ergreifen würde. […] Dieser moderne Mensch scheint so „nervös“ zu sein, dass ihn nur das ganz zarte oder das ganz laute Geräusch zu fesseln vermag.

– Theodor Lessing,
Der Lärm

Alexander Herzen: “Mein Lebewohl: Epilog zum Jahre 1849” / “Эпилогъ 1849”

Types

Und wie fliehen? Mit dem sich Entfernen, dem Kopfabwenden, dem sich die Ohren verstopfen, ist noch wenig geschehen. Das Schluchzen und der Schrei werden doch bis zu uns dringen – kann man denn schweigen? Schweigen, nie. […] Aber zu Wem werden wir sprechen? Wovon? Warum? Ich weiß es wahrlich nicht, aber ist es mächtiger als ich, ich kann’s nicht lassen.

И развѣ вдали мы не будемъ слышать стоны, развѣ можно отвернуться, закрыть глаза, заткнуть уши – преднамѣренно не знать, упорно молчать, т. е. признаться побѣжденнымъ, сдаться? Это невозможно! […] .⁠.⁠.⁠.А кому говорить?.⁠.⁠.о чемъ? – я право не знаю, только это сильнѣе меня.⁠.⁠.⁠.⁠.

– Alexander Herzen,
“Mein Lebewohl: Epilog zum Jahre 1849” / “Эпилогъ 1849”

Algernon Charles Swinburne: “To Walt Whitman in America”

Types

It sees not what season shall bring to it
Sweet fruit of its bitter desire;
Few voices it hears yet sing to it,
Few pulses of hearts reaspire;
Foresees not time, nor forehears
The noises of imminent years,
Earthquake, and thunder, and fire

– Algernon Charles Swinburne,
“To Walt Whitman in America”

Tiago Braga

Types

A pianist, singer, and – it’s becoming clear – a born presence on stage

Leone Hebreo: Dialogi d’amore

Types

SO. È adunque errore di tutti. PHI. In tutti non può essere errore, s’el medesimo amore non fussi errore.

– Leone Hebreo,
Dialogi d’amore

Gustave Flaubert: In a letter to Ernest Feydeau, November 29, 1859

Types

Peu de gens devineront combien il a fallu être triste pour entreprendre de ressusciter Carthage !

– Gustave Flaubert,
in a letter to Ernest Feydeau, November 29, 1859

Nicolas de Chamfort: Maximes et Pensées

Types

Le changement de modes est l’impôt que l’industrie du pauvre met sur la vanité du riche.

– Nicolas de Chamfort,
Maximes et Pensées

Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari: Qu’est-ce que la philosophie ?

Types

La sensation est contemplation pure, car c’est par contemplation qu’on contracte, se contemplant soi-⁠même à mesure qu’on contemple les éléments dont on procède. Contempler, c’est créer, mystère de la création passive, sensation. La sensation remplit le plan de composition, 
et se remplit de soi-⁠même en se remplissant de ce qu’elle contemple : elle 
est « enjoyment », et « self-⁠enjoyment ».

– Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari,
Qu’est-⁠ce que la philosophie ?

Hans Lodeizen: “Wandelend in de tuin ontdekte ik…”

Types

Wandelend in de tuin ontdekte ik
Bloemen wier lichte gratie ik
Bijna vergeten had als de muziek
Die ’s ochtends na het bal
door de tuinen
Zweeft; een herinnering
en meer niet.

– Hans Lodeizen,
“Wandelend in de tuin ontdekte ik…”

Giovanni Dettori

Types

A composer in Milan, Giovanni Dettori is well-known for

Robert Louis Stevenson: From the Dedication, Virginibus Puerisque and Other Papers

Types

Times change, opinions vary to their opposite, and still this world appears a brave gymnasium, full of sea-⁠bathing, and horse-⁠exercise, and bracing, manly virtues; and what can be more encouraging than to find the friend who was welcome at one age, still welcome at another?

– Robert Louis Stevenson,
from the Dedication, Virginibus Puerisque and Other Papers

Bill Ryan

Types

Bill Ryan is a contemporary classical composer, producer, and educator

Milosh

Types

Hailing from Toronto, Canada, but moving about frequently

Tristan Corbière: “Paria”

Types

– L’idéal à moi : c’est un songe
Creux ; mon horizon – l’imprévu –
Et le mal du pays me ronge…
Du pays que je n’ai pas vu.

[…]

Ma pensée est un souffle aride :
C’est l’air. L’air est à moi partout.
Et ma parole est l’écho vide
Qui ne dit rien – et c’est tout.

– Tristan Corbière,
“Paria”

The Vagary

Types

In Amsterdam there’s a four-piece band

Thomas Stearns Eliot: “The Waste Land”

Types

I sat upon the shore
Fishing, with the arid plain behind me
Shall I at least set my lands in order?

– T. S. Eliot,
“The Waste Land”

William Wordsworth: “Thanksgiving Ode, January 18, 1816”

Types

Inviting words – perchance already flung,
(As the crowd press devoutly down the aisle
Of some old minster’s venerable pile)
From voices into zealous passion stung,
While the tubed engine feels the inspiring blast,
And has begun – its clouds of sound to cast
Towards the empyreal Heaven,
As if the fretted roof were riven.

– William Wordsworth,
“Thanksgiving Ode, January 18, 1816”

Plato: Phaedrus

Types

Σωκράτης:
ἐγκαλυψάμενος ἐρῶ, ἵν᾽ ὅτι τάχιστα διαδράμω τὸν λόγον καὶ μὴ βλέπων πρὸς σὲ ὑπ᾽ αἰσχύνης διαπορῶμαι.

– Plato,
Phaedrus

Georg Simmel: Soziologie

Types

Gerade die Vielheit dessen, was das Gesicht offenbaren kann, macht es oft rätselhaft; im allgemeinen wird das, was wir von einem Menschen sehen, durch das interpretiert, was wir von ihm hören, während das Umgekehrte viel seltener ist. Deshalb ist der, der sieht, ohne zu hören, sehr viel verworrener, ratloser, beunruhigter als der, der hört, ohne zu sehen.

– Georg Simmel,
Soziologie

Goethe: In a letter to Carl Friedrich Zelter, June 6, 1825

Types

Ich kann nicht schließen, ohne jener überfüllten Musik nochmals zu gedenken. Alles aber ist jetzt ultra, alles transcendirt unaufhaltsam, im Denken, wie im Thun. Niemand kennt sich mehr, Niemand begreift das Element, worin er schwebt und wirkt, Niemand den Stoff, den er bearbeitet. Von reiner Einfalt kann die Rede nicht sein; einfältiges Zeug giebt es genug.

– Goethe,
in a letter to Carl Friedrich Zelter, June 6, 1825

James McNeill Whistler: “A Further Proposition”

Types

Scarcely a feature stays in its place, so fierce is its intention of “firmly” coming forth; and in the midst of this unseemly struggle for prominence, the gentle truth has but a sorry chance, falling flat and flavourless, and without force.

– James McNeill Whistler,
“A Further Proposition”

Edward Morgan Forster: “Pan”

Types

The universe cannot roll its eye without a socket. Outraged nature must have something to kick against.

– E. M. Forster,
“Pan”

William Hazlitt: “On Living to one’s-self”

Types

There is not a more mean, stupid, dastardly, pitiful, selfish, spiteful, envious, ungrateful animal than the Public. […] The idea of what the public will think prevents the public from ever thinking at all, and acts as a spell on the exercise of private judgment, so that in short the public ear is at the mercy of the first impudent pretender who chooses to fill it with noisy assertions, or false surmises, or secret whispers.

– William Hazlitt,
“On Living to one’s-⁠self”

Pride Weekend Playlists (III)

Types

The last of the three

Le Peep

Types

Le Peep, an evidently one-off musical collaboration

Heinrich Blücher: “Fundamentals of a Philosophy of Art – On the Understanding of Artistic Experience”

Types

We time and we space in the world, but as a nuisance, as a task – but through art this is turned into a joy, into play: we enjoy it. Our ability to space and to time are actively turned into something transcendent and we are made masters of time and space – masters of space in painting and masters of time in music – and of tine and space that becomes meaningful.

– Heinrich Blücher,
“Fundamentals of a Philosophy of Art –
On the Understanding of Artistic Experience”

Andy Lange, Andrew Garcia, Josh Golden, and Chester See

Types

Andy Lange is a pop musician in Los Angeles; a songwriter, a singer, a musician (several instruments), and a producer all in one, he has single-handedly been creating some very pleasing music over the last few years, recently in conjunction with fellow musicians Andrew Garcia, Josh Golden, and Chester See. This playlist aims to showcase his … Continue reading Andy Lange, Andrew Garcia, Josh Golden, and Chester See

Malcolm de Chazal: Poème

Types

Seul
Le
Feu
Peut
Lécher
Sa
Propre
Langue.

– Malcolm de Chazal,
Poèmes

Nathaniel Hawthorne: “The Fountain of Youth” / “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment”

Types

Age, with its miserable train of cares, and sorrows, and diseases, was remembered only as the trouble of a dream, from which they had joyously awoke. The fresh gloss of the soul, so early lost, and without which the world’s successive scenes had been but a gallery of faded pictures, again threw its enchantment over all their prospects. They felt like new-⁠created beings, in a new-⁠created universe.

– Nathaniel Hawthorne,
“The Fountain of Youth” / “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment”

Knalpot

Types

Knalpot is an Amsterdam band that embraces sound technology yet eschews

Thomas De Quincey: “War”

Types

How came it into any man’s heart, first of all, to conceive so audacious an idea as that of a conspiracy against war?

– Thomas De Quincey,
“War”

Karl Wolfskehl: “Der Priester vom Geiste”

Types

Aus kraft wurdest du unkräftig, weil du dich nicht überwinden konntest, zerschelltest du träumend deine waffen. Immer ja will das höchste über sich selber triumphierend hinausschreiten: jeder gipfel will abgrund werden einem neuen gipfel.

– Karl Wolfskehl,
“Der Priester vom Geiste”

“Tonight bring all your friends because a group does it better”

Types

A “Heavy Metal Lover” medley for New Year’s Eve and beyond.

Landon Gadoci

Types

Singer and pianist from Austin, Texas; one who knows well how to convey inward feeling.

Cornelia

Types

Cornelia (Cornelia Dahlgren) is a young Swedish singer and master of the remix

Ørjan Matre

Types

Ørjan Matre is a young composer in Norway

Fitz Hugh Ludlow: “The Proper Use of Grandfathers”

Types

The true use of ancestors is not slavish; we do not want them for authority, but for solace. If my grandfather could come back, he certainly would be too much of a gentleman to sit down on my hat or put his feet on my piano; and how much less would he crush my convictions or trample on my opinions! […] What roars of laughter would applaud his recollection of jokes uttered by some playmate of his boyhood. They would seem so droll to us at the distance of a hundred years, though a contemporary might have uttered them without raising a smile on our faces.

– Fitz Hugh Ludlow,
“The Proper Use of Grandfathers”

Nguyên Lê

Types

Since the 1980s the Parisian jazz guitarist

A Mixtape for Midsummer (July 2014)

Types

Halfway through the year 2014 it is, and thus high time to assemble several remarkable pieces, whether albums, EPs, mixtapes, sets, or single tracks into a summa æstatis in order to explore the varieties of shade and sunlight there are in summertime – including its stillnesses and sadnesses – in search of some musical semi-shelter.

Else Lasker-Schüler: “Mein blaues Klavier”

Types

Ich habe zu Hause ein blaues Klavier
Und kenne doch keine Note.

Es steht im Dunkel der Kellertür,
Seitdem die Welt verrohte.

Es spielten Sternenhände vier
– Die Mondfrau sang im Boote –
Nun tanzen die Ratten im Geklirr.

Zerbrochen ist die Klaviatür.⁠.⁠.⁠.⁠.⁠.⁠.
Ich beweine die blaue Tote.

Ach liebe Engel öffnet mir
– Ich ass vom bitteren Brote –
Mir lebend schon die Himmelstür –
Auch wider dem Verbote.

– Else Lasker-Schüler,
“Mein blaues Klavier”

Detroit Swindle

Types

Lars Dales and Maarten Smeets, an Amsterdam DJ duo specializing in house music

Shakespeare: The life and death of King John

Types

So foule a skie, cleeres not without a storme

– Shakespeare,
The life and death of King John

Nicolas Jaar (II)

Types

This is a second playlist of Nicolas Jaar’s music

Daphne Guinness

Types

Known for her couture, the English heiress Daphne Guinness is less often recognized for

Daniel Rhode

Types

Together with his friend Adam Cuthbért

Auguste Blanqui: L’Éternité par les astres

Types

Même monotonie, même immobilisme dans les astres étrangers. L’univers se répete sans fin et piaffe sur place. L’éternité joue imperturbablement dans l’infini les mêmes représentations.

– Auguste Blanqui,
L’Éternité par les astres

Ilpo Jauhiainen

Types

Ilpo Jauhiainen is a cosmopolitan Finn

Lope de Vega: Famosa de Fvente Obeivna

Types

Antes que ignoran mas siento por esso,
por no se reduzir a breue suma,
porque la confusion con el excesso,
los intentos resuelue en vana espuma;
y aquel, que de leer tiene mas vso,
de ver letreros solo está confuso.

– Lope de Vega,
Famosa de Fvente Obeivna

Martin Luther: In a letter to Hieronymus Weller von Molsdorf, November 6, 1530

Types

Est nonnunquam largius bibendum, ludendum, nugandum, atque adeo peccatum aliquod faciendum in odium et contemtum Diaboli, ne quid loci relinquamus illi, ut conscientiam nobis faciat de rebus levissimis, alioqui vincimur, si nimis anxie curaverimus, ne quid peccemus. […] Utinam possem aliquid insigne peccati designare modo ad eludendum Diabolum, ut intelligeret, me nullum peccatum agnoscere ac me nullius peccati mihi esse conscium. Omnino totus decalogus amovendus est nobis ex oculis et animo, nobis, inquam, quos sic petit ac vexat Diabolus.

– Martin Luther,
in a letter to Hieronymus Weller von Molsdorf, November 6, 1530

Edgard Varèse: In conversation with Gunther Schuller

Types

I don’t care about reaching the public as much as I care about reaching certain musical-acoustical phenomena, in other words, to disturb the atmosphere – because, after all, sound is only an atmospheric disturbance!

– Edgard Varèse,
in conversation with Gunther Schuller, early 1960s

Max Stirner: Der Einzige und sein Eigenthum

Types

Wie so bettelhaft wenig ist Uns verblieben, ja wie so gar nichts! Alles ist entrückt worden, an nichts dürfen Wir Uns wagen, wenn es Uns nicht gegeben wird: Wir leben nur noch von der Gnade des Gebers. Nicht eine Nadel darfst Du aufheben, es sei denn, Du habest Dir die Erlaubniß geholt, daß Du es dürfest. Und geholt vom wem? Vom Respekte! Nur wenn er sie Dir überläßt als Eigenthum, nur wenn Du sie als Eigenthum respektiren kannst, nur dann darfst Du sie nehmen.

– Max Stirner,
Der Einzige und sein Eigenthum

17 Hippies

Types

The band 17 Hippies was first formed in the mid-nineties in Berlin

Hart Crane: “Chaplinesque”

Types

The game enforces smirks; but we have seen
The moon in lonely alleys make
A grail of laughter of an empty ash can,
And through all sound of gaiety and quest
Have heard a kitten in the wilderness.

– Hart Crane,
“Chaplinesque”

The Soft Moon

Types

This band makes “music for the end of the world,” and though the term

Jan Kerckhofs

Types

From Antwerp, Belgium, this singer and songwriter

Samuel Beckett: L’Innommable

Types

Cela, dire cela, sans savoir quoi.

– Samuel Beckett,
L’Innommable

Hess Is More

Types

Over the last several years, under the moniker

Stéphane Mallarmé: “Variations sur un sujet”

Types

Vestige de sacrifice, le risque suffit au désintéressement.

– Stéphane Mallarmé,
“Variations sur un sujet”

Sir Philip Sidney: The Countess of Pembrokes Arcadia

Types

Vaine is their paine, who labour in Despaire.

– Sir Philip Sidney,
The Countess of Pembrokes Arcadia