Here is a melody that’s been rattling around my head for weeks. In hopes of exorcising this ear worm, I recorded a couple tracks in GarageBand, added a few compression filters, normalized the waveform, and mixed-in an old cowbell recording. You can download this piece of mediocrity here:
From Solaris (MP3), 1:34, 1.4 MB
My friend Abi posted this curious video on her blog Heat Eat Review. Here, I echo it again:
Dmitri Shostakovich, Vladimir Ashkenazy, and my bit crusher:
I found Chris Marker’s early film “La Jetée” on YouTube. This short 26-minute film is the inspiration for Terry Gilliam’s “Twelve Monkeys.” Although “La Jetée” was made in 1962, its narrative technique feels very ahead of its time. The entire film is constructed from still photographs, sound effects, and narration. Without using moving images, Chris Marker tells a profound story of memory, loss, and love.
This weekend, I discovered the films of Chris Marker. His film “Sans Soleil” is most certainly a work of genius, and I look forward to working my way through his other titles. Anyway, here are some Chris Marker related links:
Chris Marker’s Blog:
http://www.chrismarker.org/
An essay on Chris Marker in Senses of Cinema:
http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/02/marker.html
The first four minutes of “Sans Soleil”:
M. Ramirez arrived at my house with an Edirol R-09, and recorded Jon and me playing some licks. I chopped the session into tracks; my favorite is the final track (#6). You can download the session here:
The Mike Ramirez Sessions, 01.2009:
Piano: Victor Hanson-Smith
Violin: Jon Lidbeck
Vocals: Victor Hanson-Smith and Jon Lidbeck
