Some time ago, in an interview for the Journal of Electromusical Inquiries, Kerban reminisced: “Nights of Bus. Nights of Cinesa at Manoteras. Nights of Cinesa at Manoteras plus Bus. Nights of Destino. Nights of Wrong Way, Maravillas and other Malasaña dives. Nights of Wild Thing. Nights of Siroco and Mondo (of course!). Nights of ‘tercios’, … Continue reading Our Emotional State of Choice
“From a distance, the forms, techniques, and building materials of music may seem to be cumulative, like a technological tradition. But music is not a branch of technology, though it is affected by technological developments. It is more like philosophy, which may also give a superficial impression of being evolutionary. Each apparently new idea in … Continue reading Ethnodebate
“Another plugin. Granular synthesis now.” “It sounds amazing.” “Yes. Versatile, fun. And easy to use. I’m worried about the usual stuff.” “…” “Where does one find the composer? Or the composer’s identity, more specifically? This vanishes behind the technical and aesthetic sovereignty of the work tool, of the instrument.” “…” “And I also perceive a … Continue reading Easy to Use
“The last room of the ‘Anarchy of Silence’ exhibition is taken up with a 2007 realization of ‘Lecture on the Weather,’ with John Ashbery, Jasper Johns, and Merce Cunningham among the reciters. I sat for a long time in the gallery, listening to the grim swirl of sound and observing the reactions of visitors. Some … Continue reading Our Poetry Now Is the Realization that We Possess Nothing
“Marvelous phenomenon, stasis in musical discourse. It reigns supreme over genres, styles and schools of thought. The art of sound expanding not only in space but in time, crystallized in eternal instants that neither move forward nor cease their advance. Minimalist object of study of minimalism. But not only of minimalism. The variation form (a … Continue reading absent tonics
We don’t have much gear. We create music in the most sterile of studios, following the most sober of compositional procedures. Keyboard and mouse, and headaches, and meticulous stubbornness (or stubborn meticulousness). Apart from the music that comes out of our headquarters that does get to see the light of day, we find (we feel) … Continue reading Social Memedia
“I felt free. Perhaps overwhelmed by an excess of compositional possibilities. I am suddenly reminded of the Russian Suprematists, but such a comparison does not seem appropriate here: do I set off from the conceptualization of a negative space that, in this case, I actually choose to fill? (First, is the distinction between negative space … Continue reading if gravity binds, other forces must surely repel
“When we at cosmic lithium speak of a ‘gritty rendition’ (on a laptop, one might add), we are not mistaken. Underneath the froth of the primordial reverb lies formal conciseness: down-to-earth dream pop-rock, or sedimented sand. The extended harmonies might be inescapable, though: do away with them too and ask yourself where Alison, her cigarette, … Continue reading dry sand
—A ver, tal y como yo lo entiendo… —Pagas tú la próxima. —… O se les ha ido la pinza, o han sido torpes, torpes, torpes a la hora de gestionar su plan de trabajo, o les ha podido la vaguería, vamos. Pero it is done. —Mm, mmm… ¿Cuánto ha sido entonces? —Dos años y … Continue reading kern
“LINE AND FISH Approaching it in one way I see no essential difference between a line one calls ‘abstract’ and a fish. But an essential likeness. This isolated line and the isolated fish alike are living beings with forces peculiar to them, though latent. They are forces of expression for these beings and of impression … Continue reading Line and Fish
cosmic lithium :) 