"To be loved like that makes all the difference. It does not lessen the terror of the fall, but it gives a new perspective on what that terror means. I had jumped off the edge, and then, at the very last moment, something reached out and caught me in midair. That something is what I define as love. It is the one thing that can stop a man from falling, the one thing powerful enough to negate the laws of gravity." Paul Auster (Moon Palace)

Friday, May 15, 2026

Ulver - nemoralia, 2017

"opening track “Nemoralia” is every inch the crowning jewel its location implies it should be. Musically, it’s one of the most quintessential tracks on the album; the groovy bass line, the rich synths, the atmospheric vocals which move between sweet allure and chilling mystery. Everything about it is 100% what makes this album work, and work well. Conceptually, the track is chock full of references and clever juxtapositions that lead us around and around its main theme. Is that theme the historical events described, their cultural referents or something all together alien to both? The trick is not to try and answer that question but rather let it soak into you as you listen again and again. First, “Nemoralia” itself is a Roman ritual to the goddess Diana. It wouldn’t surprise you to learn that, on top of being the goddess of the moon, she’s also the goddess of the hunt and the wolf, fitting in beautifully with Ulver’s history and namesake. The festival itself was also called “The Festival of Torches”, explaining the opening lines but did not take place on “the 18th to 19th of July”, as the track’s chorus says. Instead, those are the dates of the “Great Fire of Rome”, when the infamous Nero burned down the everlasting city in the fires of his madness. Torches and fire mingle together as the moon rises above, blending celebration, ecstasy, divinity, and destruction into one heady mix of meaning and imagery."

Neil Young - see the sky about to rain live at massey hall, 1971

"It never rains but it pours eh? A good decade and a half after taunting us with tales of boundless archive treats and multiple disc box sets Neil Young seems to have finally decided that we’ve been patient enough. Mere months after releasing the awesomely good Live At The Fillmore East (with Crazy Horse) he now brings us this historic gig from 1971 in its entirety. Boy, was it worth the wait..."

Thursday, May 14, 2026

My Morning Jacket - just one thing demo, 2004

“Just One Thing (Demo)” is an early, stripped‑down version of the My Morning Jacket song, released on November 23, 2004 as part of the compilation Chapter 2: Learning: Early Recordings, B‑Sides, Covers, Y Mas. It was written and produced by Jim James, featuring his signature lo‑fi, intimate home‑recording style."

A-ha - summer moved on, 2000

"The longest same-pitch vocal note in a song that made the UK’s Official Singles Chart was set at 20.2 seconds (eight measures), as performed by A-ha frontman Morten Harket (Norway) on “Summer Moved On”, the band’s No.33 hit from 2000. Harket’s lung-busting effort starts at 3 minutes 12 seconds on the word “ask”. “Summer Moved On” was taken from A-ha’s 2000 album Minor Earth, Major Sky."

As we sit at the wall of the ego

As we sit at the wall of the ego, and say the mantra, listen to the mantra, hearing the word to the best of our ability, and returning to the word faithfully day by day, this very simple, childlike work, inner work that we come to love, this very simple, childlike work has a transformative effect. It is changing the way the wall is. It changes our ego doesn’t destroy the ego, because we need an ego. But it transforms the way this part of our psyche, the ego, operates. ( Breakthrough, by Laurence Freeman ) https://wccm.org/