"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)

Thursday, July 9, 2026

Pink Floyd - hey you, 1979

"The scene begins with Pink trying to claw out of his freshly completed wall. The scene then switches to Pink's concert-goers, all of them with a blank and vacant look on their faces. These are the people "Standing in the aisles with itchy feet and fading smiles" that Pink is trying to reach out to. Next is a shot of empty infirmary beds followed by a view of two empty chairs in a white room. A motionless Pink fades into the chair on the left, with his nude wife fading into the right chair a short time later. After turning her head to look at her unresponsive husband, she fades out of the scene, which shifts to a montage of rioting scenes, with people tipping over cars and throwing Molotov cocktails at riot police. After the montage, a hand is shown clawing at a window (the colour version of this is actually shown at the end of "The Trial") followed by a large group of maggots (the "worms" eating into Pink's brain). After a shot of Pink in an infirmary bed and his screaming wife superimposed over the image, the scene takes back to the riot, where a long line of police officers hold back a mob of rioters who have barricaded themselves behind a pile of desks and mattresses. The scene ends with Pink against his wall, having given up on finding a way out."

Electric Light Orchestra - it's over, 1977

"It's Over" is a song recorded by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). It is the second track from the LP Out of the Blue. It was the last single to be lifted from the album and was released exclusively in the United States, becoming a minor hit. The orchestral beginning was actually the end of "Mr. Blue Sky" reversed."

Acid House Kings - i write summer songs for no reason, 2005

"The up-tempo songs (such as the disco-fied "Tonight Is Forever" and the rollicking "I Write Summer Songs for a Reason") are lighter than the breeze and almost all kitted out in heart-pounding swooning choruses."

Tuesday, July 7, 2026

Crosby Stills Nash And Young - find the cost of freedom, 1971

"At the time of these concerts in mid-1970, many songs included on the eventual album had yet to be released as part of the combined and individual work of the four principals. Crosby's "The Lee Shore" had been recorded during the sessions for Déjà Vu but would not appear until the band's 1991 box set, and his controversial ménage à trois composition "Triad," which had been recorded but not released by his former band The Byrds, had been recorded by Jefferson Airplane on their Crown of Creation album but this is the first issued performance by Crosby himself. "Love the One You're With" would be the hit single taken from Stephen Stills, Stills's debut solo album, released later that year. "Chicago" by Nash would appear on his Songs for Beginners released in 1971, the same year as 4 Way Street, while "Right Between the Eyes" would later appear as a demo on his box set Reflections. "Don't Let It Bring You Down" and "Southern Man" by Young would be released on After the Gold Rush, his third album also released later that year. Young's "On the Way Home" had appeared on the final Buffalo Springfield album, Last Time Around, but with a lead vocal by Richie Furay rather than Young. Stills' "49 Bye-Byes/America's Children" medley interpolates the only top ten hit by Buffalo Springfield, his song "For What It's Worth." The band did include both sides of what was at the time of the shows their new record, the single "Ohio" and its B-side "Find the Cost of Freedom."

Sunday, May 31, 2026

The Radio Dept - always a relief live in seoul, 2016

"The band is notoriously slow-releasing music and rarely gives interviews, cultivating a sense of mystery and ensuring they never compromise their art for commercial pressure"

Galaxie 500 - blue thunder, 1989

"Blue Thunder was Galaxie 500’s second single and contains the love-it-or-hate-it w/sax version of the title track. I fall very heavily on the love side!"

Sigur Rós - flugufrelsarinn, 1999

"Post-rock, as it is called, is a kind of alternative rock that contains harmonies, melodies, instrumentation, and rhythms that are completely different than what everyone’s definition of rock music is. Whereas there are many bands working in the genre, even some who don’t consider themselves to be part of the said genre at all, one of the most successful is Sigur Rós."

Bob Dylan - talkin new york, 1962

"Talkin' New York" is the second song on Bob Dylan's eponymous first album, released in 1962. A talking blues, the song describes his feelings on arriving in New York City from Minnesota, his time playing coffee houses in Greenwich Village, and his life as a folksinger without a record deal. The lyrics express the apparent difficulty he had finding gigs as a result of his unique sound, with a character in the song telling Dylan: "You sound like a hillbilly; We want folk singers here."

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/

Sunday, May 10, 2026

Pink Floyd - young lust, 1979

"a blues-inflected hard rock number in E minor, approximately 3 minutes, 25 seconds in length. The song was composed by David Gilmour, who also provided lead vocals with backing vocals from Roger Waters during the chorus, who wrote the lyrics."

A-ha - velvet, 2000

"Originally, "The Sun Never Shone That Day" was to be released in Norway instead of "Velvet", but it was later decided that "Velvet" would also be released in Norway."

Pet Shop Boys - the squadron, 2005

"After the crew members debate their next steps ("Stormy Meetings"), they settle in for the night ("Night Falls"). As they sleep, however, a squadron of intercepting battleships approaches. Alerted to this, the crew prepares to defend themselves ("Full Steam Ahead") — a battle they know they are doomed to lose unless they can persuade the crews of the approaching ships to join them in revolution. As the squadron bears down on the Potemkin ("The Squadron"), its crew members signal, "Join us!" After a few tense moments in which it appears a battle is inevitable, the other crews stand down, agreeing to join the revolution ("For Freedom"). The Potemkin — and the revolution — is saved."