so here it worked, though. when these early avant garde fusion bands were in their artsy stage and ran the risk of doing something so bizarre it could very well turn out to be shit instead. but this is good. it was a close call, though; one false move and they would’ve blown it. gotta give em credit for taking risks like that.
Moves me to tears. As I listen to this music, I imagine myself turning into an animal or being one but which one ~~ or am I riding one ~~~ but which one?
Perhaps I would be riding the elephant while humming this exquisite music to him ~~ both of us soaring.
But again, which animal am I turning into while listening to this? Time will tell.
One day, someone will tell me how to upload it properly.
Phillip Glass and Ravi Shankar. Saw Anouska Shankar perform this live on the BBC Proms. Unable to find a copy. Her performance was spell-binding. The BBC should put it on YouTube. It should be shared.
the greatest conservative fear; that the wild and experimental spirit of nature lets everything new, unfamilar and strange, suddenly loose, the moment man has put everything under control and made himself and his society comfortable. ‘tradition’ is that stalwart attempt to seize this dynamic, or at least anticipate with some suspicion its inevitable approach, and be ready for it. but every age, every empire, every culture, overestimates its preparedness and place in this continuum, and in finally losing its footing, its timing (e.g., the sudden springing forth of the 12/8 meter below), becomes dizzied with disorientation and uncertainty. this most aptly characterizes the conservative ethos against unpredictable oddities and copiousness; the nervous attempt to substitute the immortality of his culture for the mortality of himself. to ‘keep a simple beat’, as it were, for cultures to come. but 4/4 is outdated.
i just want to say i know how hard it can be sometimes when everywhere you go there are desperate degenerates and nihilists and lesbian soccer players with purple hair demanding equal pay and determinists and immigrants and democrats and morons. our world is bursting at the seams with indecision and uncertainty right now, and things are changing really fast. i understand how confusing all this can be, and sometimes when i need a little support i find wisdom and guidance in the work of wilson phillips. i’d like to send this one out to all of you in these troubled times…