ok!
-------
she makes a double lifeshe makes two from one and oneshe makes a perfect system every dayshe makes it workshe stands there in the doorway of her mother's houselooking at the grass and sky and at where they meetnever thinking thoughts like"that's so like a line"or"the difference is so powerful"or"which way shall i take to leave?"
my mind turns to my breathonemy mind watches my breathtwomy mind turns and watches my breaththreemy mind turns and faces my breathfourmy mind faces my breathfivemy mind studies my breathsixmy mind sees every aspect of the beauty of my breathsevenmy mind watches my breath soothing itselfeightmy mind sees every part of my breathninemy breath is not indifferent to itselften
she never thinks of possibilityor of how probably it is that they have come togetherthose thoughts never enter her mindnor do thoughts of sportsshe has no desire to improve her musclesfor her piano playing is the only mysteryit's so beautiful and how they do it no one knows
she gets catalogs of every sort in the maileverything imaginable is picturedshe finds her way among the pictures without hesitationshe is not afraid of happinessshe is entirely without shamethe numbers are made of rubber or something like thatthey stretchthey never lose their shapethey are agelessthey don't need repairthey need attention and respect
she thinks about two things that i know ofone is elevation and that comes clothed in light so to speakshe loathes the darkshe sleeps in lightshe likes highnessfour thousand one hundred twenty-eight feet herefour thousand two hundred eighteen feet thereand the body of the house itselffourteen dollars and twenty-eight cents hereforty-eight dollars and twelve cents there
the other is proportionscoincidence isn't a mystery to herthe margin is always wide enoughforty-two or forty with twenty is always sixty-two or sixtyand i mean forty-two with twenty can be sixty as well as sixty-twoand the other way aroundjust as ten and twenty can be twenty-two or thirtyor twelve and twenty can be thirty
she stands there in the doorway of her mother's house and thinks these thoughtsthat fourteen dollars and twenty-eight cents is more attractive than fourteen dollarsbecause of the twenty-eightno one likes or dislikes zeroesand that forty-two or forty is fixed in some way
she thinks about her father's ageshe does the calculations one more timeshe remembers sixty-twothirty and some number is sixty-twoand that number with ten is forty-twoshe remembers forty-tworemembers is the wrong wordshe dwells on forty-twoshe turns and faces itshe watches itshe studies itit is the keythe mystery of the balances is therethe masonic secret lies therethe church forbids its angels entry therethe gypsies camp thereblood is exchanged theremothers weep thereit is night there
thirty and some number is sixty-twoand that number with ten is forty-twothat number translates now to thenthat number is the answerin the way that numbers answerthat simple notiona coincidence among coincidencesis all one needs to know
my mind turns to my breathmy mind watches my breathmy mind turns and watches my breathmy mind turns and faces my breathmy mind faces my breathmy mind studies my breathmy mind sees every aspect of the beauty of my breathmy mind watches my breath soothing itselfmy mind sees every part of my breathmy breath is not indifferent to itself
she waked at tenshe remembers tenshe left the dark at tenshe waked in lightso forty-two or forty or forty-four is fixedfourteen dollars and twenty-eight cents is more attractive than fourteen dollarsit's just that waythe firmness of it is a consolation
three men have loved herone a decade on the averageuncertainties are wrongin this scene there is one shotgiordano bruno comes to mindwhoever he is
she is in the doorway of her mother's houseshe faces southwe see it two waysfirst is the house behind herand the great northern constellationsshe looks away from difference and discrepancymagnetic northtrue norththe north star pathit's too like the calculationsexcept that ten and forty-two are fixed togetherwe are looking westshe is on the right edge of the shotshe is earthwe are the sun
people are gathered in the backyardthis is the celebration of the changing of the lightthey do it as often as they can in summerthey come to talkthey pass the timethey soothe their thoughts with lemonadethey say things likeshe never had a stitch that she could call her own, poor thingandharold's still president over at the bank, ain't he?andnow if i was doing itandshe didn't cook much, never really had the time, you knowandi wouldn't say that, not at allthey are the planets in the scheme of thingsgiordano bruno shot
the problem is the arcthe changing angle of the shotit defies geometrydrawings of geocentric solar systems when you meet them in the booksmake us avert our eyesheresy is heresywe make one great weird curvefrom the east edge of the backyardlooking westshe is on the right edge of the shotacrossfollowing the equator of the backyardto the west edgelooking east
now she is on the left edgeat some point midway we faceboth looking at the centerthe center is between usexcept that for the purpose of the shotor the interests of economyshe doesn't move
she is standing in the doorway of her mother's housethe doorway to the back porchthe backyard is the southbehind her the great northern constellationrises in the majesty of its architecturewell, maybe that's a little too muchlet's just say thatcontradictions are behind herand in the backyardgodthis set of circumstancesthat is indescribablewith our geometry
a picnic of sortsa celebration of the changing of the lightand we glide through that chaos facing herwatching herstudying hernot circling her, remembercircling, but not circling hershe is circlingwe are circling
now she is on the left edgecaught still in her accounting of those three decades silentlyshe is so beautifula "pre-industrial" equation
god, this is sentimental
this is the hour of the mystery of the barnswallowsonewhere do they go in daytime?twodo they never rest?threewhen you buy them in the store, made in chinaon the end of stringsthey do exactly what they do alivefourhow is that possible?
the idea of the changing center is not in anything we makeour toy is run downon the other end of coursethe chinese are said to not take picturesat least not of the outside
six of onetwo times three of onefive plus one of onenine minus three of onehalf a dozen of another
it would be perfect ifas we made the great curvethrough the heavens of the backyardprovidentially or accidentallydepending on your point of vieweach of the planets would move exactly in the pathand at the speedand with the purpose of the expressionof the other idea
maybe that's too much to wish
giordano brunoi think they burned himhe was too positivefight fire with firein this shot he is wrong about the larger orderwhatever that meansthere is just the sun and earthand some center that they shareall other facts in this heaven:one has climbed the treetwo are eating watermelonone always says it's getting lateone succeeded at the plantone works at the bankthe specialiststhey are just (dirt lines?) seen wrong
sundown, onethe time it disappearsgloaming, twothe twilight duskcrepuscule, the twilight, threethe half-lighttwilight, fourpale purplish blue to pale violetlighter than dusk bluecivil twilightuntil the sun is up to six degrees below horizonenough light on clear days for ordinary occupationsnautical twilightuntil the sun is up to twelve degrees below horizonastronomical twilightuntil the sun is eighteen degrees down more or lessclair de lune, fivegreener and paler than duskdusk, sixredder and darker than clair de lune
dear georgewhat's going on?i'm not the same person that i used to be.
― half-worm inchworm tapeworm (donna rouge), Friday, 24 August 2012 22:24 (eleven years ago) link
those closing lines!
thanks!
― jed_, Friday, 24 August 2012 22:26 (eleven years ago) link
nb: it is not perfect, there's a few lines i'm not sure of. the above is based on the 'private parts' version, though i consulted both the 'private parts' and 'perfect lives' versions - there's a couple of minor differences between the two.
― half-worm inchworm tapeworm (donna rouge), Friday, 24 August 2012 22:26 (eleven years ago) link
fucking love this piece of music so fucking much i just can't express it in words. it should be expressed in hugs & smiles and nodding sagely at twilight.
― one dis leads to another (ian), Friday, 24 August 2012 22:27 (eleven years ago) link
who's this "george"?
i feel the same way ian. i want to share it with everyone i know and don't know.
― jed_, Friday, 24 August 2012 22:31 (eleven years ago) link
i once read the entirety of 'the park' aloud to my bf. i was a choked-up mess by the end.
― half-worm inchworm tapeworm (donna rouge), Friday, 24 August 2012 22:32 (eleven years ago) link
i would totally take that as a marriage proposal.
― jed_, Friday, 24 August 2012 22:39 (eleven years ago) link
I put The Backyard on a mix for gf just a few hours ago.
― Trip Maker, Saturday, 25 August 2012 00:57 (eleven years ago) link
The Park vs The Backyard POLL
(and thanks v much for the lyrics - have looked for them on internet before but to no avail)
― bidfurd, Saturday, 25 August 2012 09:50 (eleven years ago) link
Bob Ashley, David Behrman, Chris Mann and Alvin Lucier give a FREE concert in honor of John Cage at The New School on September 7 at 7 pm. 66 West 12th Street.
― one dis leads to another (ian), Friday, 7 September 2012 19:59 (eleven years ago) link
if only i knew before now i could have taken time off work :(
So, has anyone read the Kyle Gann book on Ashley? Came out in November apparently... wanting to order it from Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Robert-Ashley-American-Composers-Kyle/dp/025207887X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367108789&sr=8-1&keywords=kyle+gann+robert+ashley
― i guess i'd just rather listen to canned heat? (ian), Sunday, 28 April 2013 00:26 (eleven years ago) link
The design looks Chinese.
― _Rudipherous_, Tuesday, 4 February 2014 19:13 (ten years ago) link
:(
― scott seward, Tuesday, 4 March 2014 03:19 (ten years ago) link
;__;
It would be a thrill to make work at least half as good as he did
― continually topping myself (flamboyant goon tie included), Tuesday, 4 March 2014 03:33 (ten years ago) link
so so so so sad. I feel like some of the deepest connections I have made on this website have been over The Record. This record. THE Record! All of his records! Ian, Joe, Plax, others - all in my thoughts now. Robert Ashley, I Love you.
― i lost my shoes on acid (jed_), Tuesday, 4 March 2014 04:01 (ten years ago) link
:/
― Michael F Gill, Tuesday, 4 March 2014 04:24 (ten years ago) link
oh man :-/
― original bgm, Tuesday, 4 March 2014 04:26 (ten years ago) link
yah sad faces
― Lamp, Tuesday, 4 March 2014 04:31 (ten years ago) link
Pretty much speechless.
― Oblique Strategies, Tuesday, 4 March 2014 04:36 (ten years ago) link
salute!
― Milton Parker, Tuesday, 4 March 2014 05:09 (ten years ago) link
in the beginning there were rocks and on those rocks with harder rocks we learned to make a million bruises to spell out things like 'we were here' and 'watch your water' -- they only moved it, the idea of bruises adding up to something, from rocks to skin
― Milton Parker, Tuesday, 4 March 2014 05:12 (ten years ago) link
pale purplish blue to pale violetlighter than dusk bluecivil twilight
― the tune was space, Tuesday, 4 March 2014 05:32 (ten years ago) link
― bamcquern, Tuesday, 4 March 2014 05:50 (ten years ago) link
Sad news to wake up to. RIP
― Ward Fowler, Tuesday, 4 March 2014 07:25 (ten years ago) link
― the ghosts of dead pom-bears (a passing spacecadet), Tuesday, 4 March 2014 09:14 (ten years ago) link
:-(
― xyzzzz__, Tuesday, 4 March 2014 09:47 (ten years ago) link
RIP Mr Ashley, you made some amazing music.
― emil.y, Tuesday, 4 March 2014 12:55 (ten years ago) link
didn't wanna open this thread
RIP
― sleeve, Wednesday, 5 March 2014 15:33 (ten years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBU8vLIJbSE
I'm glad someone's finally put this version of 'The Backyard' on youtube so I can share it with everybody and maybe someone can explain to me why it kills me every time.
― Merdeyeux, Thursday, 6 March 2014 00:48 (ten years ago) link
I know the NYT can take its time for an obit on occasion but this is getting embarrassing for them
― Milton Parker, Thursday, 6 March 2014 19:12 (ten years ago) link
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/07/arts/music/robert-ashley-opera-composer-who-painted-outside-the-lines-dies-at-83.html?_r=0
― Milton Parker, Friday, 7 March 2014 08:10 (ten years ago) link
You are slain because of the tabla playing, which is virtuosic and passionate and threatens to explode out of the not-that-simple repetitive pattern but doesn't explode so much as slide around it and through it and into simpler and simultaneously more complicated patterns and because that combined with that text and Ashley's reading of it is just too fucking much.
― Three Word Username, Friday, 7 March 2014 09:41 (ten years ago) link
Very titanically
― plax (ico), Friday, 7 March 2014 20:38 (ten years ago) link
My perfect introduction to Robert Ashley-- though I didn't know it was him til years later-- was in a car in San Francisco when I was 20. My older brother (then a San Franciscan) had driven me up to Muir Woods and we were stuck in traffic on the way back, all the way over the Golden Gate bridge. We channel surfing and we suddenly hit upon a station playing "Private Parts" and were too transfixed to change channels. My brother was dismissive, he said it was typical San Francisco listening. I asked him what genre it was and he said "acid jazz, I think?" (Later, when I heard real acid jazz: "if this is acid jazz, what was that talking guy?") It was so moving on first listen how such emotional highs and lows were created in such a static sonic environment. I wish I had kids so I could play this music for them
― continually topping myself (flamboyant goon tie included), Friday, 7 March 2014 21:03 (ten years ago) link
I asked him what genre it was and he said "acid jazz, I think?"
People say the funniest things part x6382462691
― xyzzzz__, Friday, 7 March 2014 21:56 (ten years ago) link
http://blog.frieze.com/robert-ashley-1930-2014/
― Milton Parker, Wednesday, 12 March 2014 23:20 (ten years ago) link
Live perf of Automatic writing on the 30th at Cafe Oto (where else?).
Wanna go but it does clash with another recital :-(
― xyzzzz__, Friday, 14 March 2014 16:39 (ten years ago) link
I should go to that. I missed the Ashley weekend they had there in 2012 and I've been annoyed at myself since.
― a peace sign that sent numerous young children into tears of joy (Merdeyeux), Friday, 14 March 2014 16:54 (ten years ago) link
http://www.brooklynrail.org/2014/05/music/four-episodes-from-robert-ashleys-vidas-perfectashttp://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/19/arts/music/vidas-perfectas-spanish-version-of-a-robert-ashley-opera.htmlhttp://www.brooklynrail.org/2014/05/music/on-robert-ashleyhttp://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/15/arts/music/robert-ashleys-work-lives-on-at-the-whitney-biennial.html?_r=0http://www.brooklynrail.org/2014/05/music/contrapunctual-music-for-spoken-words-only
― Milton Parker, Wednesday, 21 May 2014 03:22 (ten years ago) link
I want to say something about myself: I am not sitting on a bench next to myself, whatever that means.
― Britain's Sexiest Cow (jed_), Friday, 31 August 2018 22:52 (five years ago) link
started listening to the new(ish) version of Improvement and was totally floored by The Airline Ticket Counter - I never really gelled with the 1992 recording but this one seems to find an emotionally affecting quality while still being weird and not like anything else
this opera was staged in Melbourne in 1993 under the musical direction of Robert Ashley - I was visiting and picked it out of a festival programme at random as the most interesting-looking thing on offer - I was 19 and completely bemused by it but the images and atmosphere stayed with me - though I subsequently forgot the name and details - in the Internet age I made some failed attempts to work out what I had seen - then twenty years after the event I was getting into Automatic Writing and reading more about Robert Ashley and made the connection, it was a super-satisfying revelation
amazingly, there is footage of that production on the internet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaO5WMzp3OQ
― the least famous person you were surprised to discover (emsworth), Tuesday, 22 December 2020 20:36 (three years ago) link
Very much enjoyed this footage and your backstory, thank you
― Adoration of the Mogwai (Deflatormouse), Tuesday, 22 December 2020 21:25 (three years ago) link
https://vimeo.com/321877684
the performance the new recording is from is on vimeo and its pretty fabulous, i watched it the other night and i am currently obsessed with the the recording. my favourite part, turning over in my head, is the description of the dance studio from 'Left-Handed Golf': "The Arcade, / an enormous gallery, filled with people, / light filtered through the glass above, / two stories high, a block long, / without rain, perfect temperature forever / on stone pavements made beautiful with use. / A cathedral, secular, just big enough. / Royal chambers on the second floor. / Secret stairways, gold lettered windows, / locked doors. The studio itself, / vast hardwood, perfect in tongue and groove, / the likes of which, etcetera. The Arcade / builder, Worth, knew what he was up to.”
― plax (ico), Tuesday, 5 October 2021 15:36 (two years ago) link
also very excited to realise that the account that published that has many full performances of later operas from the kitchen (Dust, Celestial Excursions) so worth checking for anyone who like me didn't know filmed versions existed.
― plax (ico), Tuesday, 5 October 2021 15:42 (two years ago) link
Yeah, between that (absolutely wonderful) "Improvements" and the previously unreleased realization of "Foreign Experiences" that came out last year, I've been pleasantly surprised at how much I've gotten out of hearing multiple realizations of these pieces.
Looks like there's a new version of "el/Afficionado" coming later this month as well. Never really connected with that one despite the "Eleanor" cycle on the whole being some of my favorite music of any kind, so I'll be especially curious to hear it.
― New York Review of Wooks (swim), Tuesday, 5 October 2021 18:10 (two years ago) link
looking at the timing my guess is that the new production of Improvements was intended to inaugurate a celebration of ashley that has been railroaded by the thing that's railroaded everything. excited about these new recordings as i haven't heard Foreign Experiences either.
― plax (ico), Tuesday, 5 October 2021 18:28 (two years ago) link
Oh! "Foreign Experiences" is maybe an acquired taste but it's one of my favorite weird corners of that cycle, absolutely saturated in the 70's west coast milieu of "divorced guys reading Castaneda", which tbf may or may not be something you're up for. Both of the versions available from Lovely are great, but I have a special fondness for the 2006 CD version that's just Sam Ashley and Jackie Humbert bc Sam's delivery is just so relentlessly freaked out and seething, boiling over with bad vibes in a way that ratchets up the psychic claustrophobia of the piece to a paranoid fever dream.
And as for the more recent productions, no idea whether there was any larger plan there but I'm really happy to see that many of the people (e.g. Tom Hamilton) who were involved with his ensemble have taken an active role in ensuring the survival of the work and mentoring another generation of interpreters.
― New York Review of Wooks (swim), Tuesday, 5 October 2021 22:00 (two years ago) link