Michael John Ciszewski

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Tue, 18 Jun 2013 04:12:47 -0400

"Life becomes easier when you learn to accept an apology you never got."

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 17:34:41 -0400

““Life becomes easier when you learn to accept an apology you never got.””

- Robert Brault

momalibrary: Envelop from an ACT UP mailer -ds

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 17:06:41 -0400

momalibrary:

Envelop from an ACT UP mailer -ds

Pocket Symphonies: Loose Ends: U2, Wilco, and Kanye

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 15:55:57 -0400

Pocket Symphonies: Loose Ends: U2, Wilco, and Kanye:

pocketsymphonies:

U2 is admirable as hell, they’ve released some of the greatest songs in (modern) rock history, and they still give a shit about putting out new music that tests their own limits. They’re arguably music’s best, most dedicated stab at “biggest band on Earth.” However, their career is nearly four decades old, and, well, I’m trying to put a finger on what exactly U2 means and what exactly U2 is doing in the contemporary moment.

I still want you to be reading my somewhat burgeoning music blog. Check me out, friends!

If my life had a opening credits sequence, it would very simply...

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 22:00:00 -0400

If my life had a opening credits sequence, it would very simply be a montage of me doing mundane things (i.e. checking Facebook, doing my hair, buying coffee, riding the T, paying the delivery guy for my Japanese food, texting, making my bed/arranging throw pillows) ALL set to “Freakum Dress.”

"I had an extremely slow-dawning insight about creation. That insight is that context largely..."

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 19:40:00 -0400

“

I had an extremely slow-dawning insight about creation. That insight is that context largely determines what is written, painted, sculpted, sung, or performed. That doesn’t sound like much of an insight, but it’s actually the opposite of conventional wisdom, which maintains that creation emerges out of some interior emotion, from an upwelling of passion or feeling, and that the creative urge will brook no accommodation, that it simply must find an outlet to be heard, read, or seen. The accepted narrative suggests that a classical composer gets a strange look in his or her eye and begins furiously scribbling a fully realized composition that couldn’t exist in any other form. Or that the rock-and-roll singer is driven by desires and demons, and out bursts this amazing, perfectly shaped song that had to be three minutes and twelve seconds — nothing more, nothing less. This is the romantic notion of how creative work comes to b, but I think the path of creation is almost 180º from this model. I believe that we unconsciously and instinctively make work to fit preexisting formats.

Of course, passion can still be present. Just because the form that one’s work will take is predetermined and opportunistic (meaning one makes something because the opportunity is there), it doesn’t mean that creation must be cold, mechanical, and heartless. Dark and emotional materials usually find a way in, and the tailoring process — form being tailored to fit a given context — is largely unconscious, instinctive. We usually don’t even notice it. Opportunity and availability are often the mother of invention. The emotional story — ‘something to get off my chest’ — still gets told, but its form is guided by prior contextual restrictions. I’m proposing that this is not entirely the bad thing one might expect it to be. Thank goodness, for example, that we don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time we make something.

”

- David Byrne, How Music Works

"We are the ones who say it to their faces, and we have a unique responsibility."

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 18:59:00 -0400

“We are the ones who say it to their faces, and we have a unique responsibility.”

- Tracy Letts, 2013 Tony Awards

pocketsymphonies: BECK - “DEFRIENDED” The first new Beck in...

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 22:08:51 -0400

pocketsymphonies:

BECK - “DEFRIENDED”

The first new Beck in five years means it’s high time I reminisce a bit.

Besides my sincere penchant for well-made pop music, I’d say my musical taste is predominantly indie/alternative-oriented. For that, I must credit Beck. As a kid, I was familiar with “Loser,” his 1994 slacker anthem breakthrough, but I had no idea who Beck was (nevertheless how eclectic an artist he is) until the lead-up to the release of his underrated 2005 LP Guero, produced by Odelay gods The Dust Brothers. Those were my early digital music-conniseur years, and I was a member on a Beck message board when tracks from the album started to leak in unfinished versions. All I needed was a taste of lead single “E-Pro” and follow-up, “Girl,” to be completely, utterly hooked. I bought his complete discography, hunted rare singles in the now shuttered Times Square Virgin Megastore, and the rest, I suppose, is (personal) history.

Following the release of his Nigel Godrich produced follow-up to Guero, The Information, I saw Beck in concert at the legendary Landmark Loews Theatre with my mother in her hometown of Jersey City, New Jersey. The place smelled rather intensely like weed, but I had no idea what that was at the time. That was my first ‘adult’ concert-going experience. I was pretty hooked on his experimental combination of classic song structures and humorous-yet-thought provoking lyrics during these formative years of my musical preferences.

And so, it is with great pleasure that I welcome this brand-new, fully-produced Beck single, “Defriended,” his first recorded material since 2008’s Danger Mouse-produced Modern Guilt. Beck’s last release, 2012’s Song Reader, came in the form of a book of sheet music that he’s only just begun performing live. According to Rolling Stone, he’s got two albums in the works—an acoustic LP much like the early One Foot in the Grave, and a proper follow-up to Modern Guilt. “Defriended,” however is being released this summer as a one-off single.

I read some comments on the YouTube video comparing this track to work by Animal Collective. While the track’s percussion and lithe, liquid vocals could be compared to their wild, patchwork aesthetic, there is no way in hell that this track is anything but Beck at his post-millenial best. He’s sobered up a lot since the turn of the century, but he’s still pushing boundaries twenty years into an unbelievable career. Considering comparisons ranging from Dylan to Prince, at this point, I may make it a personal crusade to insist on Beck’s singularity as an essential, genre-defying tour de force. Tour de force—I said it.

So, get with it, check out his discography (start with either Odelay or Guero) and enjoy, “Defriended,” above!

Beck’s a favorite. It’s a lengthy post, but it’s a bit about me through the lens of my taste in music.

pocketsymphonies: PROOF - SUMMER PLAYLIST #1 A big list to kick...

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 11:59:41 -0400

pocketsymphonies:

PROOF - SUMMER PLAYLIST #1

A big list to kick off the summer with. It’s designed for the shuffle button, so let it go and enjoy some new favorites alongside older gems from indie to electronic.

Here’s a playlist I made! Check out my new blog, too!

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Sat, 01 Jun 2013 16:53:03 -0400

pocketsymphonies: Beyoncé continues the near-unbearable cock...

Sat, 01 Jun 2013 14:57:56 -0400

pocketsymphonies:

Beyoncé continues the near-unbearable cock tease that is the release campaign for her upcoming album by performing new track “Standing on the Sun,” last night in Belgium.

I say near-unbearable because the music has, thus far, been pretty spectacular. “Grown Woman” headlines the Timbaland revival of late, gliding past even the best grooves from Justin Timberlake’s The 20/20 Experience. However, as with most Timbaland jams, “Woman” lacks a powerful, classic pop song structure. Now, with “Standing on the Sun,” she delivers just that big time.

Written with Sia, “Standing on the Sun” was recently previewed in the 90-second ad for her H&M swimwear line. Those 90-seconds sounded pretty good, but the track in its entirety is a wonder to behold, with Bey’s powerful, sensual vocals riding the ebb and flow from verses to surging chorus. The song’s biggest moment, however, has to be Bey’s Jamaican dancehall-infused rap verse. Reminiscent of early smash “Baby Boy,” with Sean Paul, the verse allows Bey a giddy Sasha Fierce moment away from the more legato vocal lines that make up the rest of the track.

Now, if only she’d release some of this material officially. In the meantime, check out “Standing on the Sun (Live)” above!

Hey, so I’m going to take a stab at writing a music blog now, because I kind of have to. More to come. I promise. Accountability.

Are you scared of adulthood?

Fri, 31 May 2013 12:19:53 -0400

Ezra Koenig: It’s a natural feeling, a lot of people remain confused by it, probably up until the point where they die. Those questions don’t go away, especially questions about purpose. Are you living the right kind of life? Are you doing what’s best for you? Those are questions people wrestle with forever.

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Fri, 31 May 2013 00:05:15 -0400

newmuseum: Daniel Joseph Martinez’s Museum Tags: Second...

Sun, 26 May 2013 14:40:53 -0400

newmuseum:

Daniel Joseph Martinez’s Museum Tags: Second Movement (Overture) or Overture con Claque – Overture with Hired Audience Members 1993 Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art is on view as part of “NYC 1993: Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star”, closing today.

newmuseum: Drawing Restraint 7, originally shown in the 1993...

Sat, 25 May 2013 10:10:30 -0400

newmuseum:

Drawing Restraint 7, originally shown in the 1993 Whitney Biennial, follows three “sailors” played by mythological satyr characters traveling in a limousine heading toward Manhattan. One of the characters chases his own tail while the other two engage in various wrestling holds, each trying to restrain the other’s head. The goal of this fight is to make a drawing on the roof of the limousine, but their attempts are continuously erased each time the car passes over a bridge or through a tunnel. The battle ends when one of the satyrs has his horns ripped off—a distinct metaphor for emasculation—and the entire cycle starts over again.

”NYC 1993: Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star,” closing this Sunday, attempts to capture a specific moment at the intersection of art, pop culture, and politics.

sfmoma: SUBMISSION: wrestling warmup #1 - Ben McNutt

Fri, 24 May 2013 21:08:47 -0400

sfmoma:

SUBMISSION:

wrestling warmup #1 - Ben McNutt

meninthistown: Autumn tones.

Fri, 24 May 2013 11:54:00 -0400

meninthistown:

Autumn tones.

ptrslbrmn: “Scenic Cold” Katy Perry’s Hot and Cold...

Sun, 19 May 2013 13:58:21 -0400

ptrslbrmn:

“Scenic Cold”

Katy Perry’s Hot and Cold and Beirut’s Scenic World - a mashup by Rostam Batmanglij

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Sun, 19 May 2013 13:44:39 -0400

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Sun, 19 May 2013 13:39:18 -0400