krautprogrock by sonja berlin-jones
WARNING - this is not a minimal piece of music - it evolves, it builds, it swerves, it rises, it falls, it has moments of greatness, and moments of otherness.
Oh lordy Sonja, not another bloody album today. Somewhere in America there's a big black box the size of Silicon Valley that's full of all my music - and a man in a Bandcamp office with a button on his desk just waiting for the order to press it and send it all to oblivion, followed by an email to me saying they're sorry but they've mislaid all my albums - but at least they've now got some spare room to store everybody else's albums.
Well at the present rate it wouldn't take me long to do them all again. But I was going to take a few days off after my previous album. After publishing it I put my posher clothes on and toddled off to Harbour Lights to see the 12-30pm showing of the new David Cronenberg film. I sat in the front row, as per usual. There was one person in the third row. Two people somewhere in the middle of the cinema. It was Screen One, the really big one, and about four of us in it. I do hope Harbour Lights can survive. We watched the ads. Towards the end half of the screen started to haze over with a red mist. We thought it was just the adverts. But then the film started and the red haze continued to obscure the picture.
About four minutes into the film the screen went dead, the lights came up, there was some lovely jazzy music. We watched a few seconds of adverts. Still the mist. That was it. So a refund and a few free film tickets later I walked back home - witnessing a mass shoplift from Sports Direct - at first I thought it was the city's half marathon, but no one was in shorts - first the shoplifters trotting past me, then about eight faster store staff. Then some teens started runing in the same direction, just to see the outcome I guess.
There's anarchy afoot, I feel it every time I go out. Perhaps that's why I decided to make this album - by my standards a very anarchic piece indeed.
I admit that over the years I've sometimes released a piece of music which I've known is shit, and which I've been confident that anyone else hearing it would think is shit. That's where we all agree. What's interesting (to me) is that I sometimes also release things which I really think are brilliant and accessible - and these pieces are never popular (by my v low standards of "popular") - whereas I also often release pieces of music which I'm nothing like as fond of, but which do have something about them, and chances are that these pieces are the ones that will hit the spot with any passers-by.
I think this afternoon's piece of music is one of those things - I am aware of its positives, but it's not something I'd choose to listen to for pleasure. "One On Treasure Island" is the sort of thing I listen to for pleasure. However experience has taught me that this album will be one of my popular ones. Obviously, now that I've said that, people will go out of their way to shun it. It's good to be contrary. Truly. But the next time it happens I won't mention it - I'll just smile to myself and nod and then shake my head, wondering where you all came from - somewhere out there is another equally confused Bandcamp musician who has got all my fans.
.......
recorded this afternoon, photo from Harbour Lights Southampton lunchtime today
nothing is distorted, nothing is wrong