Category Archives: THOUGHTS

shift happens

shift happens

i made this mix to help whoever do whatever, especially work, focus, relax or travel. i tried to play music that was new to me, or a recent favorite.

with love from sunny berlin! download 320 (1.12G) | download 128 vbr (514.9M)

tracklist:

1.trois gymnoédies – I & lent et douloureux / the miracle – aldo ciccolini & gabriel tacchino / jeanne lee0:00
2.fantasia on nanbu ushi-oi uta – naoharu yamakawa (shakuhachi) & yuji mori (koto)3:07
3.visiting song – dorothy carter10:35
4.soumanaro – soundioulou sissoko12:40
5.christina – depiano & orch. beguen band17:25
6.marry me – winston riley20:38
7.don’t know – delroy wilson22:38
8.jazz semai – koy yolu24:40
9.kometostai.aintreallynootherwaytoputitro – knxwledge28:27
10.jahara – teebs29:38
11.heavy mood – dj shadow32:37
12.malkauns – don cherry33:56
13.divine mother – cosmic sounds of gandharva47:35
14.flower of love – kaygisizlar49:32
15.question love answer – adrian orange and her band52:18
16.seat in the kingdom – crumb brothers57:36
17.mama na mwana (mother and child) – jean bosco mwenda1:00:00
18.al ouda el mensiyyi – fairuz1:02:56
19.lam phuthay – molam lao1:06:02
20.j’ai ecrit ton nom – joseph lacides1:12:24
21.part 4 – yatha sidhra1:16:15
22.al khadem – el khirani charki1:23:05
23.dam maro dum (take another toke) – kronos quartet and asha bhosle1:28:20
24.sanjina – orchestre régional de kayes1:32:52
25.golden girls – devendra banhart1:38:48
26.all the things – traumprinz1:40:12
27.tulpa ovi – robag wruhme1:49:17
28.space is only noise if you can see – nicolas jaar1:53:20
29.lemen yeweshal – alemayehu fanta1:58:55
30.rekon – knxwledge2:03:26
31.absence heard, presence felt – quantic2:05:19
32.medo hane – dawit guebreab2:08:17
33.why can’t we live together – timmy thomas2:13:36
34.jah works – the gladiators2:18:02
35.caution – bob marley and the wailers (mixed by lee scratch perry) 2:21:22
36.fu manchu – desmond dekker2:23:59
37.virgenes del sol – los siderals2:27:03
38.our love will still be there – the troggs2:29:48
39.insirâf tuwayyari masrâr (my little bird secret charm) – nassima2:32:52
40.husenek fa masher (“my love is more than the sweet perfume…”) – abdel karim el kably2:39:59
41.family – wildlife freeway2:40:34
42.all my trials – nick drake & gabrielle drake2:43:49
43.what’ll ya do/what’ll ya say? – michael hurley2:45:40
44.asar – morin khuur2:50:28
45.lalla maymouna sultan gnawiya – mahmoud guinia2:52:53
46.bhairavi – khamisu khan2:57:12
47.ghost – the acid2:59:47
48.spirit parade – dm stith3:03:49
49.bhajan de jugalapriya – lakshmi shankar3:06:08
50.track 2 – el khirani charki3:10:02
51.eltsuhg ibal lasiti – the daktaris3:14:23
52.a woman will do wrong – helene smith3:19:23
53.merry go round – the equatics3:21:54
54.gisela (lion rock) – fitz gore3:24:33
55.drum machine, cello, headwrap – prefuse 733:30:07
56.catch feelings – c. scott3:36:11
57.everything means nothing to me – elliott smith3:38:49
58.driving – sibylle baier3:41:07
59.awaleen eshqam tu boodi – ahmad zahir3:43:33
60.ağıt – yabancilar3:48:10
61.krishna krishna – alice coltrane3:52:00
62.line extension – oval3:57:04
63.nomusa – ndikho xaba & the natives3:59:59
64.rest your self – herman chin loy4:08:38
65.arise black man – alton ellis4:11:27
66.sorrow tears & blood – fela & afrika 704:14:49
67.declamation pt. 3 – sun ra & his arkestra4:24:57
68.here comes the family – family of percussion & archie shepp4:35:50
69.bring out the best – ohbliv4:43:26
70.thanks vision – toro y moi4:47:03
71.sunset in golden horn – mogollar4:50:46
72.hebebeb (zrag) – noura mint seymali4:54:51
73.a man is like a tree – albert ayler4:57:55
74.war is over – joe gibbs & the professionals5:02:21
75.2 anotha – dibia$e5:06:02
76.giant steps – john coltrane5:08:17
77.saya temokoto – boubacar traore5:12:57
78.manha de carnaval – antonio carlos jobim & luis bonfa5:17:27
79.raga jhinjhoti – shivkumar sharma / hariprasad chaurasia5:20:24
80.sahara – baligh hamdi & magid khan5:29:27
81.mi parcela – la sirga soundtrack5:34:07
82.reason or rhyme – bryan ferry orchestra5:38:07
83.god bless the child – billie holiday5:42:19
84.sheftha ghir b-nedhra – hamid zahir5:45:10
85.norvis junior – norv style beat5:57:06
86.mokeru mufinu – batucadeiras de rincon5:59:46
87.timbales y bongo – mongo santamaría6:02:21
88.roda da samba – afro brazilian rhythm band6:09:30
89.five for paul – max roach6:11:28
90.maddalam keli – ritual percussion of kerala6:17:31
91.a quality of seven (mridangam) – zakir hussain6:27:33
92.blue anthem – terry riley6:31:03
93.no drums – tim hecker6:34:23
94.hichki – dhodhe khan6:37:42
95.who you are – pearl jam6:41:38
96.play with fire – takkhalha6:45:21
97.universal spiritual revolt – tyrone washington6:47:28
98.ngillatun – traditional songs of the mapuche indians6:55:42
99.lamai nyaljor – ritual music for the tibetan monks6:57:36
100.kwaku baah – ma haba7:03:02
101.grass dance song – pat kennedy, clyde heavy runner, kenneth old person & aloysious weaselhead7:06:42
102.te na ko mai ra te atua (and the lord says) – ‘Inano Cultural Arts Theatre, Teau Glassie7:10:30
103.stroudwater, psalm 46 vv 1 & 2 – Donald MacLeod & Congregation7:13:29
104.gün ola devran döne – fikret kizilok7:16:52
105.mwashah – hamza el din7:19:41
106.dilerim sen (rast sarki) – udi hrant kenkulian7:23:18
107.splits are parted – amen dunes7:26:11
108.raga kalavati – shankar jaikishan & rais khan7:29:54
109.djoukou – stanley murphy & les grands colombias du peuple7:33:59
110.it’ll all be over – supreme jubilees7:43:20
111.neverending math equation – sun kil moon7:46:13
112.karen – the go-betweens7:49:00
113.spanish bee – the brian jonestown massacre7:53:03
114.shâh batha’i – yâru maliri7:56:33
115.el dzair – cheikha remitti8:05:11
116.syria: bedouin song and dance – deben bhattacharya8:12:00
117.vinaayagaa – kunnakkudi vaidhyanathan8:14:19

people

work all day and all night there is no end in sight of people working women men no dif fer en c e

is is is done.

i finally finished collaging is is, the book of collage that i’ve been working on for the last 3 years! now i just need to sequence it. it was quite an arduous process full of surprises. i was very present for all of it and i hope that is conveyed. universe produced this book through me via many serendipities. i’m excited to share it once it’s completely together, and hope you enjoy it! i intend to sell copies of it and will get it produced somehow, so stay tuned!

freedom throughout the universe!

i’ve been looking for the song sampled at the end of quasimoto’s ‘jazz cats pt. 1’ for a few years now, and i finally found it, thanks to this review of the Soul Jazz record titled ‘Black Fire! New Spirits!’. It’s by Tyrone Washington, and the song is called ‘Universal Spiritual Revolt’. Let’s do it!

secret secretions

Engraved illustration of the "chariot vision" of the Biblical book of Ezekiel, chapter 1, made by Matthäus Merian (1593-1650), for his "Icones Biblicae" (a.k.a. "Iconum Biblicarum").

Engraved illustration of the “chariot vision” of the Biblical book of Ezekiel, chapter 1, made by Matthäus Merian (1593-1650), for his “Icones Biblicae” (a.k.a. “Iconum Biblicarum”).

from shisha to spaceships, capitalism is the exploitation of secret, serendipitous or stolen concepts, objects, entities or abilities, often through slavery, for the secret enrichment of a self or sect. sharing is therefore adominable to capitalism (unless that sharing is sanctioned by a sovereign) because it reveals the foundation of capitalism, which is not greed as is often supposed, but rather secrecy. capitalism is not and never has been opposed to the gross and or meticulous transfer of wealth or objects, even in secret, provided their transfer is sanctioned by a sovereign (often via the method of taxation). it is opposed to open sanctimonious secrecies (ie tax free), which it therefore forbids via force. secrecies then are clubs that require the illusion of an often opiated egalitarianism, ie fraternity (instead of humanity or cosmic unity). make no mistake that a customer is a patron that patronizes an establishment, males created and continue to create the systems that stoke secrecy, while referring to prostitution as ‘the oldest profession’. the state regards men as property, while men regard women and land as property, sometimes in combination like the concept of ‘virgin land’ which is then deflowered by slavery. the word ‘lord’ etymologically stems from ‘the guardian of the loaves’. it was women who invented agriculture, but men who invented the systems that exploit it. bank accounts are secret. business transactions are secret. meetings are secret. profits are secret (though publicly posted, but created via accounting and secret offshore entities). technologies are secret. prayer is secret. great effort is invested to maintain this secrecy. the maintenance of the secrecy or remoteness of a source is in turn what enables capitalism. churches continue to exist because they fancy themselves as the middlemen between the masses and god, but their secret is that they are unnecessary as all are the same: the image of god (image being another arabic insight (like coffee and algebra) that has been exploited by the capitalist west for profit, stemming from the latin ‘imago’ but referencing ‘imitation’ which stems from the hittite ‘himma’). This correlation also reflects on the church and/or spirituality as partner with capitalism and the method it maintains to conceal its secrets (money, ideas, ideals, faith, libraries, etc). without churches, no state; without state, no churches. without body, no time, without time no body. without cosmic unity, aka atemporal extropy, no thing. therefore, the concept of radical honesty (or free unity) is antithetically radical to capitalism. the roots of a plant or tree as an idea are both secret through being unexposed, and the foundation of the plant’s ability to replicate, though both the roots and the leaves participate in realizing hidden energies (the roots by finding food in the ground and the leaves through the quantum mechanics of photosynthesis). symbolically, it makes sense that the shamanic world tree has its roots in the air, and is not uprooted but rather inverted and circuit bent. if we knew our true history, we would ask permission from power no longer. if you see the buddha on the road, kill him!

rastafari voices

we watched part of this last night and were both transfixed and kind of flabbergasted. i appreciate aspects of rastafarianism, but their reliance on the bible creeps me out. the vhs pastels radiate though! see what you think for yourself. and read the emperor!

dance space

julian weber performing at the twenty dancers for the xx century event that boris charmatz put together at the soviet war memorial.

carnival of cultures

one of my favorite strange events in berlin is ‘karneval der kulturen’, or carnival of cultures. i shot a number of videos on my camera while i was there a month ago which hopefully helps to explain why the event is so bizarre. what i appreciate most about it is the lack of separation between parade and spectator. it’s really easy to enter the procession and follow a group, and is even quite acceptable. the event is functionally a spectacle devoted to the idea of a cosmopolitan multiculturalism, one which ignores the obvious and deep history of imperialism and exploitation. but mainly, it’s a party and most people seem happy. there was one situation that i thought i recorded on my camera but alas did not, in which a man flashed some sort of passport at the palestinian participants and then threw water at them and subsequently his water bottle. there was a brief pulse towards confrontation that was quelled through intrusion of other participants and spectators, but a bike was nearly thrown. i’m glad that no one was hurt, but the incursion was both terrible and completely unnecessary. the streets get trashed, vendors sell whatever the idea of culture and/or heritage means to them to the throng, and the throng swarms and buzzes about, unfettered by police or lack of points of sale. i enjoy engaging in intentional spectacle as boundaries are quickly redrawn. i don’t normally take many photos of people’s faces, but there is an inherent permissiveness involved in performance. some of the performers for various cultures were simply stand-ins who wore the costume yet were not of that heritage (or at least seemed not to be). but everyone had fun. many danced.

A.C.A.B.

the only difference that i can perceive in the exacting of worldwide police tactics is whether or not police are allowed to actually shoot to kill or not, and how many times they are allowed to shoot (or torture) without censure or contract termination. many of the most brutal police receive promotions, much in the same manner that the most ruthless (ie anti-human) financial traders get the highest bonuses. otherwise, the police and military (and markets) exist primarily to reinforce the coercion inherent in the concept of the state, a coercion that increasingly relies on violence as a means of conquering peace. it isn’t long in the duration of a police action before the same police that brutally arrest someone in an unprovoked manner call in back-up to quell the growing crowd that has amassed as an audience to the total dehumanization of an individual member of the pre-crowd that has been chosen as a scapegoat simply to emphasize what could happen to anyone if they find themselves on the wrong side of the police. this happened down the street from me on saturday. a concerned person finds themselves with only one means of defense: the camera. the camera allows an accurate depiction of the progression of events and a truer recording of history. i must note that before roughly 2009 the police in berlin dressed mainly in green. there must have been an e.u. directive of some sort that mandated the new color choice, one that falls in lock step with the rest of the fiat world, black and blue. i must also note that societies that rely heavily on unjustified and unjustifiable (in a humanist way) police tactics are often those whose currency is backed only by credit and sleight of hand, or whose power system is undemocratic and despotic. these police systems become defacto occupying forces on behalf of the ‘property’ owners, namely those with roles in the production and maintenance of credit who control both the dissemination of macro-financing and the flow of materials and ideas that challenge the legitimacy of such a technocratic (and often plutocratic) ruling structure. in this way, the phrase ‘all cops are bastards’ rings true, in that they do not protect people from each other, but rather protect the rights of private property and its supposed holders from the people who give that same property value by trading their time and energy for it. i mean this more in the sense that police, as guardians of the state, no longer reflect the will of the people, but rather the will of a hierarchy that relies on the propagation of myth and lie for its power, the myth being that we as people require a state to govern us, and the lie being that its currency as a tool is worth the value that it purports to contain. when these assumptions are challenged, the most common response by the state is violence against people brought by people paid with the state’s currency (one that is inherently a false promise) seemingly in order to reinforce the state’s legitimacy to do so, which serves in effect to corrode the state’s legitimacy in the hearts of the people.

happy 40 july

this really needs no introduction, and is simply amazing, though i wish what he was singing was more accurate. the sentiment sticks, which is really what matters. this song has floated around my head for days.  

why quit social media?

my last twitter post

i could write a longer essay on my sentiments regarding social media, but since i’ve quit twitter, instagram and linkedin i feel much better! sometimes i think of things to post or thoughts to digitally socialize, but then i write them down and keep them to myself. instead of positing my feelings, how about some questions: is it helpful to read everyone’s thoughts all of the time? who does digital sharing really serve? which filters have we internalized and which are external? is it more beneficial to forget one’s digital trail, or does one’s digital trail enable predation? is social media actually social, or is it anti-social? does the feeling of being understood on a mass level subvert class cohesion in the form of actionable demands and goals? is refusal the only form of protest? what does digital privilege suggest about physical privilege? is everyone on the internet, or is this simply an illusion? what is the relationship between refusal and acceptance? is enlightenment possible? what does reification mean to you? what is mind control, and how is it applied on a mass scale? is it possible to apply mind control on a mass scale? why do we have cravings that are actually toxic to our bodies or psyches? are there positive cravings? what is the difference between satisfying a craving and satisfying a need? are basic human responses, like discovery, creation and love being co-opted by multi-national corporations? are states necessary? how does one overcome self, especially when one is convinced that self is of paramount importance? how does one explain the history of state/corporate collusion without coming across as a total asshole? can history be understood? what does it mean to synthesize?

wow-pow-wow

i ordered this collection after being recommended it while i was dj’ing some american indian music at the bottom of the hill. i’m thankful to whoever it was that told me about it, these records are fantastic, and in their original shrink wrap from 1972. don’t sleep! i have no idea how many sets they have, but even though they’re mono i highly recommend this collection. and only $50 for 23 records! so far the peyote record is my favorite. if you only want to try one at a time, get that one. american indian music is like tribal house music, except without houses.

the myth of the eternal return

this book by mircea eliade opened up my face. time as a circle, an ouroboros, is an idea that i’ve often returned to, but this work offered a significant cross-reference of cultures that all operated within the framework of time being cyclical rather than linear. if we are to imagine the sun as moving away from some universal center and the planets trailing behind it, not in perfect circles but rather perfect flowing spirals, the linearity and cyclicality of time can be commingled. this book doesn’t state that per se, but that’s where my thinking is at.

fragile fingers

my father-in-law collected stamps as a child. he is persian and lived in iran before the revolution.. this collection of stamps is stunningly beautiful! i love the aesthetic sense many of these stamps display.

the antique blacks

i haven’t been able to stop listening to this record, i’ve been spinning it twice a day at least. sun ra lets his space flag fly, and gets souled out on this aug 17,1974 recording, live in philadelphia. highly recommended. i was thinking about sun ra in relation to mlk jr and malcolm x on mlk day. on one hand, there’s no comparison. sun ra was a musician and weirdo, but just as sincere as x or mlk. mlk jr preached non-violence, from a christian lens, whereas malcolm x spoke of liberation and black power, but within the context of the planet. sun ra stated that he was from saturn and was liberating people’s souls through music. which style is the most compelling/necessary?

hip hope

trance send dental

trance send dental was created using field recordings recorded during my travels in europe in 2007. the raw audio was then chopped into loops and manipulated with ableton live, establishing the feeling of organic impossibility like a surreal dream state.