D'Écriture - Sal Christ

Gratitude on this Memorial Day

Mon, 28 May 2012 11:17:57 -0600

To my late friend, Julian, thank you.

To the many family members and friends that have served and are serving, thank you.

For those of us that know your absence on a day to day basis, Memorial Day is not just a day to say thank you. We thank you every day that you’re gone, every day that you’re back, and every day in between. We worry during the days of your absence when nothing is certain, we sigh great sighs of relief when you finally returned, and we long and grieve for you when/if the permanency of that absence IS certain.

There is little more to say today, save for the acknowledgement that the path of the warrior—regardless of whether or not we agree with its motivations and intentions—is a brave one with high risk.

SoundCloud Gems: Basement Tapes

Mon, 21 May 2012 19:56:47 -0600

SoundCloud Gems: Basement Tapes:

Oh, hello, surfer rock. You don’t sound like the Beach Boys? Awesome…My latest in 303 Magazine features L.A.’s Basement Tapes.

“Lullaby (The Cure Cover)” ~ Editors Back when I was...

Fri, 18 May 2012 05:39:23 -0600

“Lullaby (The Cure Cover)” ~ Editors

Back when I was still scuffing about with my film career, I saw the music video for “Bullets,” a staggering track from Editors’ debut albumand instantly fell for the band. I was in London the day their second record dropped two years later and fondly recall the poster-plastered walls of the Underground advertising the new release—it was somehow a piece of home that I discovered thousands of miles away.

In any case, this is a lovely cover of the old Cure standby.

SoundCloud Gems: Anomie Belle

Mon, 14 May 2012 20:13:00 -0600

SoundCloud Gems: Anomie Belle:

Check it—my latest in 303 Magazine features Seattle songstress, Anomie Belle. If trip hop or post-rock or dark synth has a place in your music library, you’ll probably dig Anomie Belle. She’s toured with Tricky, Little Dragon, and The Album Leaf and collaborated with a bunch of others, so she most definitely deserves a listen.

“Ain’t No Sunshine (Bill Withers Cover)” ~...

Sun, 06 May 2012 11:14:53 -0600

“Ain’t No Sunshine (Bill Withers Cover)” ~ Anomie Belle

One of the most beautiful covers of the Bill Withers gem…a darker, trip-hop meets classical rendition. This is this week’s Sunday Slowdown tune.

“Tallulah” ~ Company of Thieves An Aussi friend of...

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 10:01:06 -0600

“Tallulah” ~ Company of Thieves

An Aussi friend of mine passed this band on to me via mixtape a few years back and while they’re sometimes a little poppier than I like, the horn section in this song nails me every time. I haven’t had the opportunity to see them live yet, but I highly recommend them.

Internet Icons Are Merely Universal Traffic Signage

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 06:01:55 -0600

An acquaintance of mine asked a really great question on Twitter last week about why we use the “favorite” feature on Twitter—he uses it more as a bookmark and I explained that, for me, it’s a “a non-verbal way of saying, ‘I’m in like with you,’ insofar as you agree with/like said thought.” Amidst this conversation was the somewhat late hullabaloo over Gmail’s redesign (I say late because the redesign leaked in October and has been available for usage for some time now) and its utilization of symbols over text in the new interface. While I don’t think the Gmail redesign deserves discourse, the trend toward universal virtual “signage” is worth a moment or five.

Over the last couple of years, we’ve seen a surge of icons/emoticons/shorthand takeover text conversations—even online. Suddenly, we have the usual code emoticons, hashtags, the reblog/replay icon, stars (which serve to favorite, bookmark, and flag for later usage), and the ubiquitous heart. They all mean different things to those who use them and yet they all somehow communicate the same thing, “I’m in like with you.”

I use the starring feature in Google reader a lot, usually as a flag to come back to X-post because 1) I just really dug the post or 2) I want to reference something of it in a blog post of my own (or other project.) I also use the star as a “favoriting” tool in Twitter, but not necessarily just to denote that I like the tweet…it serves to say that I connected with what was shared, that I connected with the tweeter, or to denote that I like the anecdote, but it’s not necessarily something I’d share with my followers. Other platforms offer other options…Tumblr’s heart (i.e. like) “button” is a tricky one for the fact that it doesn’t always equate to finding something positive in what’s being said (much like Facebook’s “liking” feature.) Even tagging can have a social aspect to it beyond optimized search—it can be part of an inside joke between friends or a collection of thoughts tied to a general consensus.

Like traffic signage, these icons provide guidance along the virtual roads of the internet age. Google’s transition to icons over text is merely a contribution to and acknowledgement of the non-verbal line of universal communication that comes with signage—no matter how one is using said signage.

While starring or “hearting” a blog post or won’t do the justice that a written comment will, but both signal the same message: we share a common line of connection and understanding.

Matt Kiser: The Blueprint: A Five-Point Plan for the Future of Media

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 21:38:00 -0600

Matt Kiser: The Blueprint: A Five-Point Plan for the Future of Media:

matt-kiser:

At SPIN, we believe that magazine-grade music journalism on the Web is the future of our business; premium content pays in other words. If that sounds scary in a world of Demand Media and SEO wizardry, just look at what Bill Simmons has done with Grantland.

This post is inspired by a…

I couldn’t agree more with what’s said here.

“Award Tour” ~ A Tribe Called Quest Tribe will...

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 08:47:25 -0600

“Award Tour” ~ A Tribe Called Quest

Tribe will always have a place in my speakers so long as I can hear and/or feel the beat.

“Bittersweet Symphony (Verve cover)” ~ When the...

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 07:52:15 -0600

“Bittersweet Symphony (Verve cover)” ~ When the Saints Go Machine

Happy cover Friday.

“Lights Out (Instrumental)” ~ Blue Sky Black...

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 08:55:45 -0600

“Lights Out (Instrumental)” ~ Blue Sky Black Death

Blue Sky Black Death remains one of my top listens when it comes to music I’d take with me anywhere. The Seattle duo continues tweaking the definition of instrumental hip hop to the extent that I would classify some of their records as genres of their own distinction (such as last year’s Noir and it’s remix twin NOIR + VIOLET.) This particular track is the result of a collaboration with South African/NYC-based hip-hopper Jean Grae and is a delicious escapade both in its instrumental form and the original.

Happy Sunday slowdown.

Language-Libbage: A Series

Sat, 07 Apr 2012 11:02:25 -0600

I’m in love with my thesaurus, with lyrical music in languages other than my first, with slang underground and above ground, and with transmogrifying vernacular until it resembles something more appropriate. The language of storytelling is as much in the story and how it’s told as it is in the verbal lens through which it flows.

A friend of mine recently boffed my continued interest in expanding upon my rubbish comprehension of the Italian language, stating that it was/is a dead language. Adding to this was a later conversation we had pertaining to a translation of one of his recent blog entries from Italian to English—there was a phrase I couldn’t/didn’t “get” and while he explained it, he also remarked that “saying one thing while meaning another” was a problem of the Italian language. I responded that it’s a “problem” in every language.

Too frequently, what may be spoken and transmitted in one language doesn’t fully diffuse via another, alters a story’s understanding or meaning in the long run—both positively and negatively. While we still access the gist of what’s being said, nothing compares to understanding the tale as it was first intended. Regardless, sometimes the ~~beauty~~ splendor of a tale is in its vocabulary.

I want to play around with a series of posts devoted to jargon, patois, lingo, and whatever else you want to label linguistic libbage* as, if for no other reason than to indulge my wordy vice. These posts will probably include literary hip-hop/rap, posts devoted spectacularly obscure verbiage, conversation redux, and who knows what else.

*Yes, “libbage” is a bit of a made-up word on my part, but wholly applicable.

“Sailin’ On (Bad Brains Cover)” ~...

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 05:30:16 -0600

“Sailin’ On (Bad Brains Cover)” ~ Moby

Considering the fact that Bad Brains is a hardcore punk meets reggae meets metal band, Moby’s cover of their tune, “Sailin’ On” speaks to the versatility of good songwriting. A spectacular, sweeping version of the tune, Moby takes all in my book.

The Dystopian Remix Age: Post-Postmodernism?

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 06:41:51 -0600

Last year, I interviewed Max Tannone—the DJ responsible for layering Radiohead with Jay-Z several years ago—about his musical projects and how he came to start “mashing” sounds. The most telling part of the interview was Tannone’s remark that “mash up” was derogatory and that “remix” was a better way to describe what he was doing—even if the stratification was a messy one. Why was this so important?

Remixing has evolved into a process applicable well beyond the borders of music and is propelling the current cultural movements away from postmodernism toward something else. Remix is essentially a tweaked redux to the point where the new entity is simultaneously the sum of all of its parts and yet separate from them—defined and then re-defined. The debate over the legality of remix (and perhaps social acceptability of such) is seen in the patent law debates, instigation of the Creative Commons license, APIs, and the globalization of “sharing,” in general. Who owns what? Can ideas and thoughts be owned? (Take a look a user/privacy policies at Facebook or Google and tell me what you think.) Patent law, copyright, and intellectual property rights are the direct result of postmodern thought: everything is individual.

In this way, the notion that nothing is universal (or community-owned perhaps) and everything is subjective/individual is the acknowledgement of postmodernism. However, in doing so, our acknowledgement of that notion is universal and therefore defeats a “definitive” of postmodernism. It’s also invited a little modernism back into the art world, insofar as people are “remixing” for the sake of novelty. While something new is created, what is new is fashioned together from pieces of diverse origin that are somewhat globally-recognized. One could posit, even, that the remix movement/culture is a reaction to postmodernism.

Add to this dystopianism and its entrance into popular confabulation and the result is a 21st century version of doublethink. (If you don’t know that term or where it came from, please find a copy of George Orwell’s “1984” as soon as possible.)

What I mean when I assert dystopianism are some of the ideas purported by Orwell (and many other authors of the genre)—Big Brother, government/organization ownership, and so on. Technology has allowed us to decrease the gap in understanding how universal, but unique the human experience can be and a great many positive things have come about. On the other hand, given the discussion of who owns thoughts and ideas and how much power or influence an organization (including the government) should have, technology and its many minions is a negative entity…Hence, the doublethink. (And hence the hearkening back to postmodernism with its subjectivity assertions.)

If one considers the ideal world of remix, everything is shared and built upon in an arena of coexistence—everyone is an owner, much in the same way a co-op operates or even communism (on paper) is supposed to work. Even digital journalism has joined the conversation, contributing to the discourse about the importance of crediting your online sources (whether this is important and valid or not is another discussion.) But again, this doesn’t account for human nature, which history shows includes greediness.

So here we are…postmodernism still exists, but viewing it through the lens of the current world complicates things. Yes, ideas and life experience are subjective, but our recognition of this is universal—remix is both an acknowledgement of and reaction to this. Legalese bolsters postmodernism, but clouds the current outlook with very technical yet passive dystopian obstacles—government agencies and large corporations own a hell of a lot of our personal thoughts and anecdotes and whatever else we choose to blather on about. Remix challenges these legalities both literally and culturally.

Is this the direction postmodernism is going? If so, what the hell are we going to call it since it isn’t exactly postmodernism (not that postmodernism dares definition)?

This Is Your Song...

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 10:15:09 -0600

Personal soundtracks and mixtapes are intensely personal experiences—both in the making and in the listening. I’ve spent hours upon hours putting together mixes for others and mixes for myself, even if its merely for the hours upon hours I might trek through the city on foot or languish on a bicycle along the river that runs through our metropolis. Over time, certain songs become tightly threaded to certain individuals or moments or periods in one’s life.

In one of my recent columns for 303 Magazine, I briefly described the first time I ever listened to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon while driving to the city late one night—it was sublime in a way that language is incapable of doing justice; in short, I ended up high as a kite by the time I reached my destination without having imbibed a thing—all from listening to that record. Neither the memory nor the sensation has ever faded from memory.

Much like that drive all those years ago, I’ve attached songs and scores to people and moments I’ve shared with people…still, it’s the moments that never were and the songs that stain the helpless longing for what never came to be that haunt me most. We know these songs: tracks that set the tone for funerals and memorial services, whimsy that conjures memories out of the dust of years past, and musicians whose name plastered on a marquee instantly arouses the face of the deceased.

There remains one person in my life for whom there is no song. When living, he was my song and between us we shared a lifetime of tunes—too many to declare just one as his and just one as mine. In the decade since his passing, too many records have come and gone during the ups and downs of bereavement; grief and its music is a silent, internal thing—felt, but not spoken. I can pick off dozens of tracks whose notes served to guide through the unending nights and pushed through the days upon days upon days. There are songs for rebuilding, for celebrating, for passing the time…but these remain for my life and not his.

So for now, he remains a song-less wonder and his memory a vast library of singles and EPs and soundtracks not originally released.

For those whose life has been touched with loss, what songs would you bequeath the dead? To give them a song of their own that would somehow honor who they were to you and yet honor the impact their memory has had on your life in the meantime?

“Clubbed to Death” ~ Rob Dougan Revisiting an old...

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 07:52:45 -0600

“Clubbed to Death” ~ Rob Dougan

Revisiting an old favourite.

Drawing the Line of Personal Privacy Online: Where is it?

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 00:11:30 -0600

The more that I work as a journalist and as a writer, the more I feel the need/desire to censor myself—even just for personal space reasons. I’m a public person for the sole fact that I work in journalism, so boundaries between personal and professional have to be in place to some degree…you have to maintain some level of personal and professional integrity.

The internet was born and came of age after I was born, so the compulsion to share everything and anything about oneself is something I thankfully lack. However, I have struggled at times in deciding what to share of my personal life on this blog and other social media platforms—what do you share that will connect with your readers? What do you share to build some sense of a relationship/friendship with said readers? After all, social media is about and is formed around community, is it not?

Still, I try to keep my personal life out of it…most of the time.

This doesn’t exactly happen when it comes to writing about music. Music is such a visceral experience and the joy in sharing music with others revolves around that innate relationship we all have to music—removing personal experience just isn’t possible. I have the wonderful consequence of listening to some amazing sounds, boomeranging conversations with some prolific songwriters and composers, and at the end of the day teem with an intangible resulting spark.

My work in the industry has undoubtedly led to relationships and friendships that I wouldn’t trade for anything…you find your people where you find your people. What I ~~haven’t~~ wasn’t prepared for (who knows why? It’s the music industry, right?) were groupies (theirs, not mine.) Groupies are different than hardcore fans (All groupies are fans, but not all fans are groupies.) and the lack of distinction between what is appropriate to share and what is far too personal to blast to “public” people IN PUBLIC has me wondering what the hell happened.

Am I just behind on a trend that I find appalling? Or am I the weirdo that looks at the trend of over-sharing personal information as a voluntary violation of personal privacy? Granted, it’s not just groupies that do it…I guess that everyone wants the fifteen minutes of fame that Warhol guaranteed all those years ago. Or perhaps I’m still wrapped up in Marshall McLuhan’s “the message is in the medium.”

So where do you draw it? How personal is too personal? How personal is not personal enough?

And what is the kicker in setting those boundaries?

Transitioning From Print to Digital: A Word from 303 Magazine

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 19:31:00 -0600

Transitioning From Print to Digital: A Word from 303 Magazine:

Last Friday, one of the magazines I write for announced that after seven years, it will discontinue production of its print publication and move fully digital (which is sad, but exciting!) What this means for all of us at 303 is yet to be seen, but our editor-in-chief, Laura Standley, addresses the transition while pulling no punches in the post above. If you like what I write or support what 303 does or even if you just like to support local publications or whatever digital media you consume, please give the post some love and attention. We are only as good as the community of which we’re a part and that includes our readers.

Sunday Slowdown “Blue Room” ~ Chet Baker This...

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 10:31:05 -0600

Sunday Slowdown

“Blue Room” ~ Chet Baker

This weekend has required some mellower tunes for living to. Though jazz can be rambunctious and spirited, the more languorous collection of notes à la a fine trumpet and strutting bass or cello is more my style…at least this weekend.

So, let me present one of my favorite Baker tunes.

Sucking: The Most Important Thing About Writing

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 11:35:31 -0600

Everyone has their own opinion about what makes for good writing: what you should pay attention to in terms of delivering to your readers, formatting, style, and a million other bullshit boundaries that are supposed to elevate your writing on this mythical pedestal, magically illuminating it in all its prodigious potential.

What they don’t tell you is that your writing should suck—to someone. If you’re not pissing someone off with your content or overusing footnotes as part of your style or breaking the rules, you’re not writing well.

And is it not true that fecund writers such as Dostoevsky or Adrienne Rich or Walter Benjamin would not be nearly as prolific without the biters?