Big Dead: Bone White Branches

Posted on February 16, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

This is a review where I think I would’ve done better saying more.
If not, then at least being more expressive with what I was saying. I think this reads like a summary missing parts.

Most of my interview and review work now appears on Culture Eater.
My colleague and I set up a Patreon to further develop Culture Eater as a source of good quality arts coverage from both ourselves and our contributors.

We’re looking at what we can give to supporters as we don’t want to set up a one way relationship, so suggestions are welcome. Podcast Eater is one of the things we’ve got going and (aside from the next few weeks) new episodes are available through there first.

Please consider supporting, or at least sharing the Patreon page with others. Please also check out what our wonderful contributors are contributing.

I hope you enjoy.

—

Whilst most of Big Dead’s Bone White Branches is a relaxed affair, two tracks have a different approach: “First/Last” and “Petrichor”.

“First/Last” is the album’s most direct song. It starts off gentle, albeit more driven in sound than other tracks. As it progresses the song feels like it grows in sound until it hits a saturation point. It then suddenly pulls back to a soft close.

Whilst “First/Last” sounds different to the rest of the album, it holds the same kind of cinematic feel. It feeds off from “Prelude” in a way that feels natural, and the combination of the two make for a great way to open an album.

“Petrichor” sounds frenetic without necessarily being frenetic. It starts starts off with a fast drum beat alongside notes with notes that sound like they’re oscillating. The instrumentation increases and diminishes as required whilst maintaining a breezy feel in each section. Eventually the song reaches a point where it almost seems like its rising, or at least reaching out.

Like a few of Bone White Branches‘ songs, “Petrichor” goes on a journey, though this one has some more locations along the way.

Outside of “First/Last” and “Petrichor” (and a section of “Crooked Smile”) the songs are more gentle. The instrumentation often remains light and the vocals have a kind of “flowing” quality. There’s a strong rhythmic focus as well as a strong sense of space that helps get the cinematic feel across.

Bone White Branches feels like a lot of time and thought went into its creation. Instead of crafting something that sounds like busywork, Big Dead produced a rather beautiful record. It’s one that seems to drift on by in the same way that clouds do when you’re watching them. In fitting with the gentle, relaxed nature, many of the songs have a sense of slowness to them which helps emphasise melody and flow.

With all that said, I don’t feel as though I have the right words to do Bone White Branches justice. The best way that I can describe it is that it’s sublime.

Bone White Branches is available here.

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1224: Pushing Into Starting

Posted on February 16, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

Starting today has being a rather difficult endeavour and yet I am still trying to push on into the getting started part. Sometimes it is a process when really instead of thinking about how to start I should just start. Should just get it out of the way.

In part I think it is due to wanting to push away and tear everything down and really move forward, but the way to do that is not necessarily through thinking about how to start due to a concern of repeating myself over and over. Really the way to start is to just start.

Maybe the starting should be overthinking and through there I can unravel the whole mystery and finally find the way forward.

Maybe I’m still overthinking.

I don’t think this is some sort of block so much as it is self-sabotage and truly it is the worst way to go about things.

Anyway, I think I need to find some sort of purpose in all of this and then go from there. That will help me get moving on with whatever this is and then move on with whatever comes next.

I need to read something.

I need to distract myself some more so as to put everything int pressure mode, but pressure mode is already here and my saying that means that I am ignoring the current pressure and so therefore I am pressure cooking my face off in the hopes that the greatest great thing of all time comes forward and I’ll never have to worry about being the best of everything ever again.

Now this is all tricky stuff but I think I can manage. I think I can get on top of things and take them to where they need to go and I think that if I can do that I can get on with other things and… well, I think I’m just falling back on old habits here, and old habits have a habit of sticking around far longer than necessary. Therefore I should throw them out and track the trajectory of that thing so that I can write a report and that would be more productive than this.

Maybe I should finish those reviews that are a bit back up at the moment. That would be a good idea. That will have to come after this, however, as this is the single most important thing that I can be doing at this present moment as it prolongs the inevitable.

On a more serious note, it makes sure that I am focused and in being focused I am getting at least one thing done. From one thing comes other things and so I’ll just keep on pushing and keep on growing and keep on trying to get somewhere that is away from old habits.

Maybe I just need to tell them to go away, somehow. Tell them to go away by not relying on them so much.

Then again, they are quite comfortable.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 06:33:19

Fast, not great. Probably would’ve been better had I slowed down. I can hit five-hundred words at a fast pace pretty comfortably; I don’t need to keep trying to go faster right now.

Written at home.

Posted in Life | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Springborne: Memoria

Posted on February 15, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

One listen, but had a few restarts.
I was thinking about scrapping this and starting again as I feel I’m not saying enough about the song. I think I didn’t say enough due to the strong familiarity I have with the original song and how that may have impacted this version which I think is a pretty good version. I decided not to, however, and I’m not sure why.

Springborne’s “Memoria” is from Beyond the Mist, a Final Fantasy IX tribute album.

I hope you enjoy.

—

Strings draw out and seem to search for something with form. As they do some sort of chime quietly vibrates and too seems to search. It is not long until form reveals itself.

Keys ring out whilst the strings accentuate, and soon percussion comes in, slow and steady. More strings draw and flutter, a sudden flourish of keys and a soft moment reveals itself. A breath.

Suddenly all begin to rise and then another moment for breathing. Here the beat remains steady and all is mysterious, perhaps dire. All is delicate and fragile and things seem to wind down more and more, and there is a moment of happiness, but it is distant.

What is left gives way for guitar looking out, reaching and hoping and soon strings meet it and help reach further, as do a light touch of chimes, but before any answers are reached the sounds stop and the song ends.

Posted in Music | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1223: Wasting Time

Posted on February 14, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

Having one of those days where everything is requiring extra effort. Such is the way of some things, I suppose. Could be worse. Could be better, but could be worse.

Sitting here, thinking of the leaves. Sitting here, thinking of the air. Thinking of the fact that I’ll need to go walking soon so as to take something up to the post office. Thinking about how I need to do that sooner rather than later. Maybe it won’t happen today. Maybe it will happen another day. However, the sooner, the better and so I should probably get on with it. Get it out of the way and then worry about other stuff later, or sooner.

Then again, I could take care of the many other things I need to take care of but that will have to wait. I will have to clear the proverbial table and get on with other things for the time being and in doing that I can then get on with other, other things and all that other stuff.

I can deal with the rain, though thankfully that has decided that it is time to relent and so it has relented and now I am here and in its halting its being present and active I am now rendered with less excuse for not doing anything, and I don’t quite like this. I wish it hadn’t happened as now I have to actually do things. I cannot sit here and weakly ruminate on stuff; I actually have to be active and be someone who will get some things done. I can’t let the day go to waste more than I already have.

It is a shame but this is the way that life coils around and slaps itself sometimes and that is something I have to accept. If I don’t, then what am I to do? There is only so much time in the day and there is only so much life to live, but that is okay sometimes. I just wish that today I had a bit more wiggle room than I do now, which is to say I currently have very little. Still, all things considered I think I can get away with just a little bit more.

Then again the more I think about putting things off or actually facing them the more my body becomes a sack of liquid contained by the skin which does not seem to become liquid and so now I am just kind of here, not quite sitting. I’m here and I slosh about only when I am able to somehow manipulate something that still passes for the idea of muscle, but I am going nowhere.

There is no progress and there is no movement, but sometimes that’s the way things go and so that’s something I need to deal with. I’ll need to reconstitute myself through the power to believe, but maybe I’ll worry about that later. There are things that I should probably think about.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 05:49:95

This one’s okay. I tried to stay away from some of the stuff I’ve written far too much about, but wasn’t entirely able to here.

Written at home.

Posted in Life | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Justin Thornburgh: Sweet Dreams

Posted on February 14, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

One listen. I heard the song last night, decided to write about it and so the below now exists. I think in this particular instance it would’ve been better if I were more familiar with the song, though likely what affected the writing here was more thinking about what some of the song was rather than thinking of the whole picture. Had I switched off I think overall the below would’ve covered more of the song.

Justin Thornburgh’s “Sweet Dreams” is from Beyond the Mist, a Final Fantasy IX tribute album.

I hope you enjoy.

—

Possibly a music box plays out whilst something underneath seems to warp into reality. A last note and a warm synth spreads out from underneath and covers all. It encompasses a grand space and holds a peaceful moment before waving a little as something a feeling off, then grows in intensity.

Suddenly it stops and keys play out something small and peaceful. They play with the idea of resting, then they continue on for a moment. Something ominous stretches long and reaches out and the keys return, spaced and distant; almost too distant to stay with the sound. The ominous sound fades away, leaving something humming to fade out as the song ends.

Posted in Music | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Spencer Nilsen: Time Forgotten

Posted on February 13, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

One listen here, but had a few early restarts.
I don’t think right now was the best time to write as I need to head out very shortly and I think that pressure affected what I wrote. I also feel like I was struggling to keep up, perhaps due to trying to capture more than what I could.

Spencer Nilsen’s “Time Forgotten” is from Ecco: Songs Of Time, an album compiling re-recorded songs from the first two Ecco the Dolphin games.

I hope you enjoy.

—

Woodwind crests over a low hum. The hum fades, the woodwind plays carefully, a strike and the hum returns for a moment. Something seems to respond to the strike and it soon finds its own place as the sounds establish a form and flow. For a moment all sounds seem like they will be washed away by something large, but instead the formation continues in a barren space.

Percussion fills out and all continue on. The percussion picks up once more and grows in intensity, then pulls back and the sounds become fuller and more dramatic. Around each other they move and flow and find the part that is theirs. It is a steady movement that keeps its space more in the background, but it is there.

Suddenly another rising and the sounds grow greater in scope. It is almost a flourish of bits and pieces working together to reach across and and create what they must, and they are wide and full.

Once more space returns and something akin to an earlier moment is found, and it is steady, and something rises out and away. One more strike and the sounds settle and stop as the song ends.

Posted in Music | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1222: Ascending Later

Posted on February 13, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

Alright so I need to knuckle down but I’m just knuckling up and I don’t even know what that means. However, what I do know is that I am here and not there and we’re not going down this path again as this path is a dangerous one and as such it is not one I want to go down.

I need to look more inward and try and peel away the skin and all that other stuff and really get to the bottom of things. I need to find out what lies at the centre of it all and then see if I can go beyond there. See if there’s something far beyond the centre of the centre. It is possible that I will be led to something but I don’t know if I want to be led to something. I think I’d much rather just sit here and not worry about all the internalising and trying to get to a raw, pure version of myself that reveals all and removes all the anxiety as I come to terms with my existence and then truly ascend to a higher plane of existence.

I don’t want to do that as I like being here. I like the banality of life as there are the small moments that we treasure and those moments carry through time, even if they are forgotten. Those things are worth experiencing and so therefore there will be no ascending today.

Tomorrow may be a different story, however. Maybe it will be tomorrow in where I go through this lengthy process and ascend and then I will be wherever I will be and I’ll need to deal with that. Maybe I will spend my time trying to assist others in ascending too, but maybe that would be unfair. Maybe it is best that this is something that people reach on their own.

These are questions that perhaps I don’t need to worry about now. I might have an eternity later and if it turns out that I do, then I can start asking these questions then. I can try and work out what I need to work out at that point and if I can do that, then I know where to go next.

Of course there could be no working out, but rather endless debate that resolves nothing. Then again, maybe the lack of resolution is not the point, but rather the exploration of intent and pathways and meaning, for that can allow for some sort of growth beyond whatever growth I thought I went through, and so therefore that is what I should be considering. Maybe there should be no considering at all and just let everything happen. If the continual rumination happens, then so be it. If a clear answer is divined, then so be it.

Now that I think about it, this is far too much thinking that I want to do and so I’m just gonna keep sitting here. No ascending later.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 06:27:01

Decent speed. The writing is okay. Could’ve been better in a few places, I think. That said, I think the idea I almost explored is worth exploring.

Written at home.

Posted in Life | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ginger and Rosemary

Posted on February 12, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

This photo was influenced by this week’s Lens-Artists photo challenge.

I saw the challenge a few hours ago, thought it was something I would not be able to do as getting somewhere that would allow me to cover it would be difficult due to time constraints over the next week. Then I thought about what was in my backyard.

I dug out some ginger and rosemary, put them together and took the below photo. I tried to lightly interweave some of the ginger’s roots into the rosemary to see if I could get the two bits of plant to sit together. The combination could be seen as evocative of a heart if you consider it an abstract or purely symbolic representation, though that’s more in terms of form than actual constituent elements.

This is my submission into the two hundred-and-thirty-sixth Lens-Artists Photo Challenge. The theme for this one is “East meets West or North meets South“.

From a brief look, it appears there’s debate surrounding the origin of ginger, though it likely was from an Eastern society. Currently the earliest mention of rosemary is on cuneiform stone tablets which (I believe) originates from The Ancient Middle East (which is also known as The Near East from what I remember). It also has roots in Egypt.

This said, Rosemary is also associated with some Mediterranean countries and England. As such, I feel this photo meets the challenge.

The host of the Lens-Artists challenges cycles weekly between the following people:

Week 1 – Tina

Week 2 – Patti

Week 3 – Ann-Christine aka Leya

Week 4 – Amy

Week 5 – John Steiner

Week 6 – Sofia Alves

Week 7 – Anne Sandler

Week 8 – Guest host

Donna of Wind Kisses joined the Lens-artists team this year. It will be good to see how we can interpret her challenges.

Amy is curating this one. The next one is guest-curated by Bren of Brashley Photography.

I recommend participating in the challenges. They’re open enough to allow for a fair bit of thinking about approach and closed enough to keep focus on meeting the theme of each one. If you don’t participate, you should still check out what others of the Lens-Artists community are submitting.

I hope you enjoy.

Posted in Photography | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1221: A Rambling About Caring

Posted on February 11, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

The heat is back on but I’m sweating through it. I’m letting my body do what it needs to do in order to get through a day where the temperature is up rather than down and I a here having to deal with it as there is no choice and so I need to get on with it and all that stuff.

You know, it’s kind of interesting on how people will avoid having to think about certain things. It’s interesting that people will work hard to reject the idea of having views that may support discrimination. It’s also interesting that people will work hard to avoid having to discuss things such as depression and suicide and all those fun things.

There is nothing wrong with having your worldview challenged, and there is nothing wrong with taking in new information that may lead to you having better and healthier views.

I feel that saying this in such a wide and open way may not be the best thing, but fuck it; I’m not overly fussed. We often sink into our views and opinions and find a point where we stop growing. We often ask how someone is without actually giving a shit, and we often avoid the possibility that someone we know may be suffering. I could say that this is a selfish thing, but to be honest, I don’t know.

See, on one hand I can understand the desire to pretend that everything is okay, and I can understand the desire to not want to have to think that you may not be right in a situation, or not be right about your beliefs. However, I think that actively avoiding it is far more harmful.

We are alive for only so long and so we should always try and grow and develop where we can. There is so much out there that we don’t know and there is so much out there that we can do to diminish creating more hurt, and we don’t. We pretend things with people we know are okay and when things might not be okay we pretend that they’re not as bad as they may be.

I think that, if you ask someone how they are, you should mean it and you should be ready for the possibility that someone is not okay. You should be ready to listen to them. If you’re just exchanging pleasantries then, well, why are you asking? Do you care, or are you just going through the motions?

How much do we care about discrimination? Do we care at all, or do we pretend to care? I can only imagine that there’s plenty of people who say they care and then when it comes to things that challenge our views they change their tune. There are things we are all responsible for; the largest is being better people.

I think that there’s more we can do. We shouldn’t burn out, but we should take better care of each other.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 07:57:63

If this seems angry, it is because it is.

Written at home.

Posted in Life | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Road into Vegetation

Posted on February 10, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

Just some road stretching off somewhere into the distance.

Getting this photo took a few attemps due to shadow in the distance as well as a few cars coming along. I probably could’ve gone a bit easy on the contrast in processing, but I think this worked out okay.

I hope you enjoy.

Posted in Photography | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment