Crow: Light

One listen.

I was wanting to write about another song today when I wrote this earlier. Decided on this song… I don’t know why. I think it was mostly due to not doing many songs with vocals. I’m not sure as to how well I covered the song though. This does describe it, sure, but it might be a little too far away.

Crow’s “Light” is from My Kind of Pain.

I hope you enjoy.

A low hum which guitar comes out above, playing light notes. Percussion approaches, tense and dark, along with bass, and the guitar continues. Vocals float and drift, and seem more a sound than something clear. More guitar hums and stretches and soon it all changes. There’s a greater thrust; a drive before it pulls back to darkness once more.

The second guitar hums and stretches, and moves through time whilst the vocals become a bit more clear, but still indistinct. Once more the instruments rise and drive, and then they unleash into a torrent of rage, massive, swirling and scraping. The vocals howl before it hits a sort of pause point.

A return to the main pattern, but a little lighter. A bit more tense, though also quiet. It flows on in beats and stays in its darkness. The vocals return, seemingly more distant, but also closer, in a dark night. Everything takes off once more, swirling in a fury that reaches for something greater; something of a release, perhaps.

All grows in intensity, and pushes on, continues thundering forward before everything stops and grows quiet as the song ends.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1457: Olympic Sweater

Sweat, just pouring out. Too much coffee and not enough liquid. sweating heavily, letting all the heat out, waiting for the heat to get back in. Might end up cold, don’t wanna be cold right now. Don’t wanna be hot either. Want to be in that nice middle space where it’s all nice and pleasant.

But what is pleasant? How can it be pleasant? How do we reach pleasantness? Where do I find such a thing, and is it even worth looking for?

I don’t know. I know I’m meant to be editing at the moment. I’m meant to chip away at the stone and turn the featureless into something featuring features, but I don’t know if I will be. Too much of not enough, and not enough is often too much.

I’m sitting here. I’m sweating. I’m filling the room with my sweat and my odorous sweat scent, and I might be fine right now, but who knows how long it’ll be before I start needing to swim. Didn’t even know I had that much in me, but I guess this is where my true potential has always been. It just took a series of inopportune happenings to come to fruition, or something.

So now I can be an Olympic sweater. Just let loose in a focused and dedicated manner. See who can out-sweat the other, and it’ll always be me, for I am too apathetic to stop. I’m beyond embarrassment. Your judging cannot hurt me. Can’t do me in. I’m invincible, because I’ve been judged enough to reach a point where I do not have the energy to give a shit. So I’m not worried about the inundation and I’m not worried about the aroma. I’m not bothered by its pungent engulfing eventually reaching me, because I just don’t care. My sole duty is to be the best and I can do that by simply not moving around too much, and letting everything loose and coming out.

I do know, however, that once this is all over, I will have to probably drink a lot of water. Might need a rehydration tablet, or something. Sure I can get a sponsorship for that and then I’ll be a bit more set. You know, one of those ones where I show up in the ad and you see my sweating all done and I’ll say something like “Nothing like a hard day of sweat to really work up a thirst and drain you”, and then you’ll see one of the tablets dropped into a nice glass of water and it’ll dissolve, and then I’ll have a sip and make the refreshing noise as sculling wouldn’t look too professional or charming. You don’t want to see that on tv when you’re trying to advertise a rehydration tablet. Besides which, there’s not much that’s considered professional or charming about sculling, anyway. Kind of can be repulsive, if admirable at the best of times, but I’d rather be professional about a product endorsement.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 07:00:69

I think I did alright with this one. All sorts of silly, but it doesn’t spent much time repeating and stretching, which is nice.

Written at work.

 

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Nobuo Uematsu: Sealed Door

One listen.

I did a few checks on this one to see if I’d written it before. Yesterday I found out that I wrote about “Brink of Time” (“時の最果て”) twice, so I combined them into one piece. Been a bit zealous in my checking since. Perhaps overzealous.

I think I was trying to do better than I did yesterday. I mean, I’m always trying to do better, but I felt I dropped the ball yesterday and really wanted to correct, and I’m not sure if I was successful, but I’m happy with my attempt. That said, I didn’t move around enough. Sort of got stuck a bit.

Nobuo Uematsu’s (植松 伸夫) “Sealed Door” (“封印の扉”) is from Chrono Trigger‘s soundtrack, Chrono Trigger Original Sound Version. Whilst the soundtrack is mainly Yasunori Mitsuda’s (光田 康典) work, Nobuo composed some of its tracks.

I hope you enjoy.

Keys come in, fragile and perhaps lonely. Gloomy. Strings follow soon and there is another scaling in the background. A dramatic punctuation, and it’s all weighted. Weighted heavily.

A sort of loop before continuing on, getting across a sense of heaviness still, perhaps pushing it further down. Some sounds then pull away and a little light in the gloom, but more a continuing hope of sorts in this thick darkness. Perhaps it’s a moment of dedication, and the strings return and push it on back down.

A return to the start and that hope and dedication remains. There remains a pushing onward despite how hopeless things seem, and then when it gets back to that lighter section there’s curiosity. Mystery and the questions that may come, and naturally some answers by only pushing through. Even when the strings return again, it remains, but it’s faint as there is hope, but it needs the right action and time.

The sounds fade and the song ends.

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Yasunori Mitsuda: Schala’s Theme

One listen. Thought I could write about the song well enough and didn’t. Just kind of summarised and didn’t do much digging in. It’s a fairly simple piece with a lot to grab onto and I didn’t grab onto it.

Yasunori Mitsuda’s (光田 康典) “Schala’s Theme” (サラのテーマ”) is from Chrono Trigger‘s soundtrack, Chrono Trigger Original Sound Version.

Percussion ringing and moving in a silence, moving back and forth. Not quite swaying. Strings lower through the percussion, and when they reach a base, another set of light percussion comes in. Soon those strings move again, along with something that could be woodwind; could be something else.

There’s a drama here that repeats; a weight of innocence, or purity, or kindness, or all. And it leads into a silence of just percussion before coming back with the flicker of a harp.There is urgency, and there is weight. The weight of decision, of pushing against, of trying to push on. And once more it’s just percussion before everything fades and the song ends.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1456: Like any Other Another Day

So a couple of dead days but otherwise I’ve kept on going. Hoping I can get another review or two done this week. Hoping to keep up the momentum.

What has happened? Usually my bursts don’t last this long. Am I… improving?

No. Impossible.

But it’s another day like any other another day, and the sun is out and it’s all sorts of cold, but it’s a nice cold. It’s a nice day. It’s a day to walk in the dark and try and get places, and I did over two buses, and maybe it’ll be another day of that tomorrow too. Maybe it’ll keep on going, and that would be fancy, or not.

It’s a day to get stuff done, and boy golly am I looking forward to getting stuff done. A few rambles, a few rants, and maybe some words. Some words that make sense. The right ones to find among all the rubbish. The wrong ones to include so everything gets cluttered and obscured, and soon it’ll all reveal itself as it normally does, or something.

I need to take a bunch of photos and I’ll be taking them this afternoon. They’re going to be for something happening in a few days and I’ve tried to get some and they haven’t turned out, so I need to work out the how of how to take these, because I’ve no idea. Actually, I do have an idea, but I don’t know how to go about doing it… except I probably know more than I think I do and it just spirals out and away from the main point of this.

It’s a good day to be moving and perhaps it’s a good day to be working, but I’d rather be on the move. I’d rather not be stationary. I’d rather keep driving and “look” for myself, or “search deep” within. You know, those sorts of things. Things that I don’t need to do, but strongly desire to to.

Also keep on writing. Definitely a good day to keep on writing. Churn out those words, write in a blank book, find where all the threads lie and if they can be tied back together, or if it is far too late for that kind of thing. A lot of searching and working out and driving and feeling some sort of ennui creep into my life, though it was not there and really I was finally in a position for success and didn’t like it as it was not the success I wanted, which to be fair, I get that, but at the same time, not acceptable in the slightest.

But here I am at work and I’m going to get through the day. I’m going to find all the points that matter and, hopefully, I’ll connect them together and that will be that, and life will go on and I’ll head on home and take those photos that I need to take, and it’ll lead into a pleasant evening.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 05:53:68

Good speed and the writing was okay. Would’ve preferred an exploration on the idea of not hitting writer’s block and being surprised, but that’s not how it turned out.

Written at work.

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Whitewater Spread

I was over at Cape Banks this morning to get some specific photos. Ended up quite rewarded by the massive waves I was expecting, and so took a bunch more photos than I’d planned, including the one below.

This is my submission into the three hundred-and-thirty-sixth Lens-Artists Photo Challenge. The theme for this one is “Only One Picture“.

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

Tina

Patti

Ann-Christine aka Leya

John Steiner

Sofia Alves

Anne Sandler

Egídio

RitvaS

This one is curated by Leya. The next one is curated by Sofia.

I recommend joining the community and participating in the challenges. They’re pretty straightforward, allow room for interpretation, and provide a good way to think about photography in general. If not, however, then at the very least you should check out what others submit to the challenges.

I hope you enjoy.

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Mark Sparling: See You at the Top

One listen.

Did much better than the last song of Mark Sparling’s I covered. I do feel that, perhaps, this does rely on just description too much, but I also think I got across a good idea of the song.

Mark Sparling’s “See You at the top” is from A Short Hike (Original Soundtrack), the soundtrack for A Short Hike. This is the Short Hike version of the song.

I hope you enjoy.

A rich rise of synth as other sound calmly flutters back and forth. More sound comes in, and it’s all spreading this rich sort of wonder. Eventually a thumping comes in and new sound flutters and flickers, and the thumping remains steady, and whilst firm, it doesn’t feel harsh.

The sounds that are there at this point come together in a harmony and playfulness, and they progress with a lightness in them, and perhaps a bit of a breeze too. It’s all easy stuff and it’s like adventure is guiding the way. Some more percussion comes in and soon the thumping stops, or rather changes a little, and it’s a peaceful moment.

The thumping resumes but fades out and the more recent percussion comes to the forefront. It seems the whole set is going to fade away, but sounds change direction to something a bit more relaxed; a bit more peaceful, gentle. A bit more smooth, and light, and dreamy. A bit more peaceful. The adventure relaxes.

Keys are more apparent at this point (if they are indeed keys) and they help build that relaxing calm, but soon everything begins to pick back up. The thumping returns, distant but present and the sounds build; some with a pitter-patter; others with a bit more of a firm step. They all hit their maximum point early and keep things light. They keep going, swaying with forward momentum, then pull back once more.

Keys take the focus and flow and flourish in breezy moments, and everything fades out as the song ends.

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Melt-Banana: 3+5

I remember listening to this quite soon after it came out and bouncing off of it. Felt I’d gotten all it had to offer after the second listen. Wasn’t sure how to write about it. Kind of started just before Eunoia came out, or at least started preparing. At some point after Eunoia was released I began to wonder if it was louder than 3+5. Checked and saw that it was. Not by much, but I still found it noticeable, and I was going to include something about that in this review, but kept it to the Eunoia review instead as it was more appropriate to do so.

I’d had a very rambling draft that repeated the same paragraph with different words two or three times. Thought it’d be easy to edit and get out of the way, and it was… except I rewrote a good chunk of it today. I’m happy with how the review turned out, but I feel it could be much stronger and much more varied. I kind of summarised and I feel that going into the details here would’ve served for a better review.

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.

So the first thing to get across is that Melt-Banana’s 3+5 is relentless. From the opening squeals forming into song on “Code” to the final thrust of energy in “Seeds”, Melt-Banana don’t do much in the way or resting. The album is constantly on, constantly maximised, and constantly fascinated with sound. It’s also short, and length is where Melt-Banana quite appreciably held back.

3+5 is as much of song as it is of sound. Cyclic progression keeps each song structured; everything holds together nicely, even if it seems it’ll turn to mess. The sounds used have a particular kind of noisy sheen to them; they sound produced as though for some sort of pop, but with all the layering they blend into a thick mass. Still, a good deal of clarity cuts through, and that’s part of why the album can be a bit much at times. You have this mass that at is one thing and many clear pieces all at once smashing into you. If you’re not in the right mood for it, the songs kind of blur into each other; the demarcation of tracks becomes more a suggestion that doesn’t matter, and it’s easy to tire of the release.

And that pretty much covers it. What else is there to say? Melt-Banana do what they do and they do it damn well. They treat their art like art. They’re quite willing to experiment and warp their stuff into familiar structures. What is in 3+5 can be incredibly rewarding if you’re in the right frame of mind to immerse yourself into its abrasive flood of smoothed intensity. Otherwise, it’s easy to bounce off of it, and perhaps justifiably so.

This is an album unwilling to endear itself to the listener. It requires listening to it on its own terms, and exists in a state of being both incredibly appealing and highly off-putting. As such, it’s as easy to want to further dig into as it is to feel done with it after a listen. But when you’re in the right mood, you’re hearing a lot, and all that intensity peels back a bit. The songs reveal themselves a bit more, and don’t feel so full-on. 3+5 can feel like a lot to take in. When it works it’s not, and instead, it feels like a wondrous exploration of sound, melody and song.

Had the album been longer, Melt-Banana would’ve created something likely more tiring than enjoyable, regardless of mood. It is quite a singular album in how it doesn’t really slow down, doesn’t stop, and doesn’t minimise. It is the most Melt-Banana album Melt-Banana could make at this time.

3+5 is obvious, and perhaps expected. It’s very much a Melt-Banana album, but Melt-Banana have never sounded cynical. This album is no exception. They’re still exploring, still growing, and still putting out quality releases. There’s still a fascination with sound and how it works as music, and how it works as something to progress upon the established. So it’s obvious, but it’s obvious that it’d sound familiar whilst moving forward.

If you’re in the mood for it, 3+5 solid gold fun the whole way through.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1455: How Valentine’s Day Came to be

So yesterday it was Valentine’s Day, but it’s also Valentine’s Day today, even though it was yesterday. Go figure.

Anyway, I figured I’d write about how Valentine’s Day came to be.

You see, way back in the dawn of time, before people, before animals, there was an event. This event led to many things and is often considered something important, but I won’t go into it as it’s not important for this bit of writing.

So there it was, and over time things changed. A grand nothingness led to things coming into play, and motions and movements, and then reactions upon reactions and decisions, conscious or otherwise, were made. This all led to a series of other things. Eventually formations bordering on recognisation until they were recognisable came to be, and slowly, yet surely, a number of other things formed and things became more recognisable and distinct.

Many millennia passed and some might consider that period of millennia passing as uneventful, but if it weren’t for that time, we wouldn’t be here. We wouldn’t have reached having a day known as Valentine’s Day. Sure, the minutiae doesn’t matter all that much, but, cumulatively, it all matters.

So there was a lot of things, and gradually functions and motion and movement and all of those other things that always sound great to say, and our little planet settled down, and then more things started happening. More reactions, and eventually things got cool enough to support a greater form of life beyond super basic. From there, oceans formed, vegetation grew, biota expanded and diversified, and increasing more and more forms of life came to life, and it was all quite wonderful and lovely and all sorts of fascinating.

Life got more complex and different forms and variations came through, taking advantage of whatever it could, and subsequently creating opportunity for other organisms, and so on and so forth. It was as though a long dance with many steps, weaving in and out of complexity and speed, and creating a trail that could be followed to some sort of presentation of the wondrous, but all very much a mundane process. But it all kept on moving and changing, and slowly, yet surely, the planet became much richer in what it had.

Of course, not all times were good, but life has a way of being opportunistic, especially in times when it must, and so it kept bouncing back after each time we’d consider a setback. It kept on going and it kept on coming forth, and eventually, through it all, it persevered. It kept on going and spreading outward, and rebounding and surviving and spreading, for life is resilient, and eventually through all the change and evolution it had, we came to a point where what we consider to be the first forms of the modern human, homo sapiens, came to be.

After that it all became a bit of a blur, and in that blur is how Valentine’s Day came to be.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 09:43:34

This was a struggle. Lack of sleep coming in again. Throwing things into disarray.
Could this have been better? Yes. I feel I was trying to get to the conclusion without taking the path.

Written at home.

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Cut Down Whilst Reaching

I don’t like seeing stuff like this. I get that there are reasons why someone might cut a tree back, but I don’t see why it’s necessary to be this severe. It’s deeply concerning as it shows a lack of care for the environment, and it sticks out so much more than just cutting back some branches and letting the rest of the tree be.

I hope you enjoy.

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