to a current's ear --

lucile hadzihalilovic - innocence - 2004

sound from opening credits

title - emily dickinson - climate (fragment)

now light blue, now green, almost always pellucid

a still every 60 seconds from larry gottheim's fog line - 1970,
including first and last

the image of the railroad on the shore of the pond figures an ambiguity at the heart of walden. man-made power, the machine with its fire, smoke, and thunder, is juxtaposed to the waters of walden, remarkable for their depth and purity and a matchless, indescribable color - now light blue, now green, almost always pellucid. the iron horse moves across the surface of the earth; the pond invites the eye below the surface. the contrast embodies both the hope and the fear aroused by the impending climax of america's encounter with wild nature.

leo marx, the machine in the garden from chapter 1 of
scott macdonald - the garden in the machine - university of california press - 2001
(also see his a critical cinema: interviews with independent filmmakers - university of california press - 1988, volume 1, larry gottheim interview)


the cinema of attractions directly solicits spectators attention, inciting visual curiosity, and supplying pleasure through an exciting spectacle - a unique event, whether fictional or documentary, that is of interest in itself. the attraction to be displayed may also be of cinematic nature, such as the early close-ups just described, or trick films in which a cinematic manipulation (slow motion, reverse motion, substitution, multiple exposure) provides the film's novelty. it is the direct address of the audience, in which an attraction is offered to the spectator by a cinema showman, that defines this approach to film making. theatrical display dominates over narrative absorption, emphasizing the direct stimulation of shock or surprise at the expense of unfolding a story or creating a diegetic universe. the cinema of attractions expends little energy creating characters with psychological motivations or individual personalities. making use of both fictional and non-fictional attractions, its energy moves outward towards an acknowledged spectator rather than inward towards the character-based situations essential to classical narrative.

tom gunning - the cinema of attractions: early film, its spectator and the avant-garde - 1981
found in early cinema: space frame narrative - bfi publishing - 1990

(pellucid - admitting the passage of light; transparent or translucent
reflecting light evenly from all surfaces)

ron rice - chumlum - 1964
music - angus maclise
music director - tony conrad

soundtrack

(this is the first in the sound/music from film series)

univers du western - lonely are the brave

david miller - lonely are the brave - 1962
(landscape photography)

kirk douglas - john w. "jack" burns

whiskey

gena rowlands - jerry bondi

george kennedy - deputy sheriff gutierrez

walter matthau - sheriff morey johnson

carroll o'connor - hinton

william schallert - harry

bill raisch - one arm
(he was stand-in for burt lancaster)

cinematography by philip h. lathrop *
music by jerry goldsmith *
screenplay by dalton trumbo * from the novel brave cowboy by edward abbey

(number 9 of 500 detailing westerns)

first we must deal with the light of nature, then with nature of light

trees found in saul levine's note to patti - 1969

title from stan brakhage's a moving picture giving and taking book
frontier press - 1971

equivalent (series)

peter hutton - boston fire - 1979
peter hutton - new york portrait, chapter ii - 1980-81
alfred stieglitz - equivalent (series) - 1925-1931

by its own delicacy, caressed

more sluggish the snowy hive,
clearer the window’s crystal,

on a chair, a turquoise veil,
thrown there, carelessly, lies.



a tissue, self-intoxicated,
as if it never felt winter’s

touch, experiencing summer’s,

by its own delicacy, caressed:



and, if in icy diamonds

frost is eternally streaming,

here — it’s dragonflies flickering,

blue-eyed, living, and gone.

osip mandelshtam - the stone - translated by a.s. kline

silent version 1750-1950

new film in progress - due august in the silent version,
late 2009 in the sound version

cloud erosion

covers of erosion of the analogous eye by matt shoemaker
design by jim haynes

(recent drones floating in and around the art of memory)

- alio die - khen introduce silence - hic sunt leones - 2003
- alio die & werner durand - aqua planing - hic sunt leones - 2005
- alio die - aura seminalis - hic sunt leones - 2008
- alio die & aglaia - private history of the clouds - infraction - 2009
- william basinski - 92982 - 2062 - 2009
- aurélie brouet & constantin dubois - a.o.i. the odomez diary - nothing out there - 2009
- alvin curran - lost marbles - tzadik - 2004
- yannick dauby & wan-shuen tsai & christophe havard - village, vestige - le collombier - 2009
- gareth davis & steven r. smith - westering - important records - 2009


- stuart dempster - on the boards - anomalous records - 1986/2001
- taylor deupree - weather and worn - 12k - 2009
- dropp ensemble - safety - either/oar - 2009
- werner durand - the art of buzzing (excuse the delay vol. 1) - x-tract - 2004
- ambrose field & john potter - being dufay - ecm - 2009
- kiln - thermals - infraction - 2001/2005
- saito koji - beautiful - sem - 2009
- ingram marshall - fog tropes, gradual requiem, gambuh 1 - new albion - 1984
- ingram marshall - alacatraz - new albion - 1991
- michael northam - suhina - drone records - 2009
- nils økland - monograph - ecm - 2009
- giacinto scelsi - the works for double bass (robert black) - mode - 2007
- matt shoemaker - erosion of the analogous eye - helen scarsdale agency - 2009


- richard skelton (a broken consort) - box of birch - tompkins square - 2009
- richard skelton (a broken consort) - crow autumn part two - sustain-release - 2009
- richard skelton (carousell) - black swallow & other songs - sustain-release - 2009
- tamaru - figure - trumn - 2009
- yoshi wada - earth horns with electronic drone - emega point records - 1974/2009
- jozef van wissem - it is all that is made - important- 2009

trees from michelangelo antonioni's il grido - 1957
cinematography by gianni di venanzo

delicate and dreamlike: mikalojus konstantinas čiurlionis

mano kelias II
triptychs: my road - 1907

ziema I
winter: cycle of eight pictures - 1906-7

ziema V
winter: cycle of eight pictures - 1906-7

ziema VI
winter: cycle of eight pictures - 1906-7

tyla - 1905

fuga
(musical painting - other preludes and fugues)

ziema - 1907

sonata of the spring
pavasario sonata - allegro
(musical painting) - 1907

pavasaris II
spring: four pictures - 1907-8

aquarius
the zodiac: cycle of twelve pictures - 1907

virgo
the zodiac: cycle of twelve pictures - 1907

libra
the zodiac: cycle of twelve pictures - 1907

this is a small preamble to another very soon forthcoming... long awaited...

(many thanks to matt marble for introducing me to the fine wonders of mikalojus konstantinas čiurlionis, both in the realms of painting and music...)

hope that the stars know

window please watch the sun go
hope that the stars know it's time to shine.
daydream - be born on dark wings
let every sky sing this song of mine.
- townes van zandt


be here to love me: a film about townes van zandt - margaret brown - 2004

that my memories are melodies i do not wonder

lit upon a fine survey of broken memories
further antiquated melodies in the near

would long ago have become a star

that is, in fact, what i meant to say when i wrote you that what surprises me most in each pastel is the unity of feeling in which the object is every time contained; a unique, tempestuous breath of feeling, a unique gesture of passion has, in one fell swoop, moved it close to the heart; it's a total manumission... and still it is you, oh lover of earth and sky, that i sing! still the strength of your arms and the ineffable glory they take in their obedience to your sovereign heart, to your glorious heart, to your new and ancient heart, to your spring and summer heart, to your heart which, did it not contain that dazzling season of blossoms, would long ago have become a star...

rainer maria rilke's letters to merline 1919-1922 - page 49
photos of diane - 25 . 5 . 2009, to whom i write

i wish to speak

music exists to say things that words cannot say...

a refreshment for those who've run out of words.
for lost childhood...
to muffle the hammering of shoemakers.
for the time before we were born,
before we breathed
or saw light...

(which is why it is not entirely human)

images & text - tous les matins du monde - alain corneau - 1991

( for matthew )

à la recherche de la guitare perdue - la deuxième partie (please please please let me get what i want)

* additional guitar research *

(listening-music)

- oren ambarchi - persona - black truffle - 2000/2009
- oren ambarchi - suspension - touch - 2001
- oren ambarchi & johan berthling - my days are darker than your nights - häpna - 2003
- oren ambarchi - triste - southern lord - 2005

- vashti bunyan - just another diamond day - spinney records - 1970/2000
- vashti bunyan & animal collective - prospect hummer - fatcat records - 2005
- vashti bunyan - lookaftering - fatcat records - 2005
- vashti bunyan - some things just stick in your mind (singles and demos 1964 to 1967) - fatcat records - 2007

- johnny cash - the sun years (1951-1958) - rhino records - 1990
- johnny cash - the fabulous johnny cash - columbia records - 1958
- johnny cash - ride this train - columbia records - 1960
- johnny cash - orange blossom special - columbia records - 1964
- johnny cash - at folsom prison - columbia records - 1968
- johnny cash - johnny cash at san quentin - columbia records - 1969
- johnny cash - come along and ride this train - bear family - 1991
(includes ride this train, blood sweat & tears, mean as hell, ballads of the true west, bitter tears, america: a 200 year salute, from sea to shining sea, and the rambler)
- johnny cash - american recordings - universal - 1994
- johnny cash - american iii: solitary man - universal - 2000
- johnny cash - american iv: the man comes around - universal - 2002
- johnny cash - unearthed - universal - 2003 (includes n. young and l. cohen tunes and many others)
- johnny cash - johnny cash: personal file - columbia records - 2006

- leonard cohen - songs of leonard cohen - columbia - 1967
- leonard cohen - songs from a room - columbia - 1969
- leonard cohen - songs of love and hate - columbia - 1971
- leonard cohen - live songs - columbia - 1973
- leonard cohen - new skin for the old ceremony - columbia - 1974
- leonard cohen - death of a ladies' man - columbia - 1977

- ry cooder - paris texas - warner bros. records - 1985
- ry cooder & v.m. bhatt - a meeting by the river - waterlily acoustics - 1993
- ry cooder, jon hassell & ronu majumdar - hollow bamboo - waterlily acoustics - 2000
- ry cooder & manuel galbán - mambo sinuendo - nonesuch - 2003

- the cure - seventeen seconds - fiction records - 1980
- the cure - faith - fiction records - 1981
- the cure - pornography - fiction records - 1982
- the cure - disintegration - fiction records - 1989


- dirty three (mick turner) - ocean songs - touch and go - 1998
- mick turner - marlan rosa - drag city - 1999
- dirty three - whatever you love, you are - touch and go - 2000
- dirty three - she has no strings apollo - touch and go - 2003
- tren brothers (mick turner & jim white) - the swimmer - western vinyl - 2005

- nick drake - five leaves left - island records - 1969
- nick drake - bryter layter - island records - 1970
- nick drake - pink moon - island records - 1972
- nick drake - time of no reply - hannibal records - 1986
- nick drake - made to love magic - island records - 2004
- nick drake - family tree - island records - 2007

- bob dylan - bob dylan - columbia - 1962
- bob dylan - the freewheelin' bob dylan - columbia - 1963
- bob dylan - another side of bob dylan - columbia - 1964
- bob dylan - the times they are a-changin' - columbia - 1964
(too much politik in the early albums, but there are some darn nice tunes found here and there)
- bob dylan - bringing it all back home - columbia - 1965
- bob dylan - a tree with roots (complete basement tapes with the band)
- bob dylan - the bootleg series vol. 8: tell tale signs. rare & unreleased 1989-2006 - columbia - 2008
- bob dylan - together through life - columbia - 2009
(in addition to this list *)

- earth - hex; or printing in the infernal method - southern lord - 2005
- earth - legacy of dissolution - southern lord - 2005
- earth - hibernaculum - southern lord - 2007
- earth - live europe 2006 - southern lord - 2007
- earth - the bees made honey in the lion's skull - southern lord - 2008

- espers - espers - locust music - 2003
- espers - the weed tree - locust music - 2005
- espers - ii - drag city - 2006

- godspeed you black emperor - lift your skinny fists like antennas to heaven - kranky - 2000
- godspeed you black emperor - yanqui u.x.o. - p-vine records - 2002

- jimi hendrix - are you experienced - reprise - 1967
- jimi hendrix - axis: bold as love - reprise - 1967
- jimi hendrix - electric ladyland - reprise - 1967
- jimi hendrix - band of gypsys - capitol - 1967
- jimi hendrix - the cry of love - reprise - 1971
- jimi hendrix - crash landing - reprise - 1975
- jimi hendrix - nine to the universe - reprise - 1980
- jimi hendrix - live at woodstock - mca - 1999

- jolie holland - catalpa - anti- - 2003
- jolie holland - escondida - anti- - 2004
- jolie holland - springtime can kill you - anti- - 2006
- jolie holland - mexico city - anti- - 2008


- jesu - heart ache - dry run recordings - 2004
- jesu - jesu - hydra head records - 2004
- jesu - conqueror - hydra head records - 2007 (first track)

- grizzly bear - horn of plenty - kanine - 2004
- grizzly bear - yellow house - warp records - 2006
- grizzly bear - friend ep - warp records - 2007
- grizzly bear - veckatimest - warp - 2009

- l - holy ghost - vhf records - 1994/2005
- august born (ben chasny, hiroyuki usui [l]) - august born - drag city - 2006

- low (alan sparhawk) - long division - vernon yard recordings - 1995
- low - the curtain hits the cast - vernon yard recordings - 1996
- low - transmission ep - vernon yard recordings - 1996
- low - songs for a dead pilot ep - kranky - 1997
- low - christmas - tugboat records - 1999
- low - secret name - kranky - 1999
- low & spring heel jack - bombscare ep - tugboat records - 2000
- low & dirty three - in the fishtank - in the fishtank - 2001
- low - things we lost in the fire - kranky - 2001
- low - trust - kranky - 2002
- low - a lifetime of temporary relief - chairkickers' music - 2004
- low - the great destroyer - sub pop records - 2005

- john lurie (arto lindsay & marc ribot) - stranger than paradise - strange & beautiful music - 1984/1999
- john lurie - down by law - strange & beautiful music - 1987/1999
- john lurie - mystery train - milan records - 1989

- aaron martin & part timer - seed collection - mobeer - 2009

- mountains - sewn - apestaartje - 2006
- koen holtkamp - field rituals - type records - 2008
- mountains - choral - thrill jockey - 2009

- the muons - the well at land's end - jewelled antler library vol. 9 - 2002
(one of the great albums in the "listening-music" tradition)

- paul newman - cool hand luke as paul newman - plastic jesus - 1967 (banjo, but seems relevant)

- joanna newsom - here and there

- riz ortolani - cannibal holocaust - lucertola media - 1995
tracks - main theme, love with fun, end theme

- pillowdiver - sleeping pills - 12k - 2009

- benoît pioulard - précis - kranky - 2006
- benoît pioulard - temper - kranky - 2008

- marc ribot - marc ribot y los cubanos postizos - the prosthetic cubans - atlantic - 1998

- arthur russell - world of echo - audika - 1987/2004 (cello)
- arthur russell - love is overtaking me - audika - 2008

- sebadoh - spoiled (from an unmentionable, unspeakable soundtrack + sebadoh iii) - 1991

- sigur rós - svefn-g-englar - fatcat records - 1999
- sigur rós - ný batterí - fatcat records - 2000
- sigur rós - ágætis byrjun - fatcat records - 2000
- sigur rós & hilmar orn hilmarsson - angels of the universe - fatcat records - 2001
- sigur rós - () - fatcat records - 2002
- sigur rós - hlemmur - krúnk - 2003
- sigur rós - ba ba ti ki di do - emi/geffen records - 2004
- sigur rós - takk... - emi/geffen records - 2005
- sigur rós - sæglópur - emi/filter us recordings - 2006
- sigur rós - heima - xl recordings - 2007
- sigur rós - hvarf - heim - emi/xl recordings - 2007
- sigur rós - með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust - emi/xl recordings - 2008


- six organs of admittance (ben chasney) - dust & chimes - pavilion - 1999/2000
- six organs of admittance - dark noontide - holy mountain - 2002
- six organs of admittance - compathía - holy mountain - 2002
- six organs of admittance - school of the flower - drag city - 2005
- six organs of admittance - the sun awakens - drag city - 2006
- six organs of admittance - rtz - drag city - 2009

- the smiths (johnny marr) - the smiths - rough trade records - 1984
- the smiths - hatful of hollow - rough trade records - 1984
- the smiths - meat is murder - rough trade records - 1985
- the smiths - the queen is dead - rough trade records - 1986
- the smiths - the world won't listen - rough trade records - 1987
- the smiths - louder than bombs - rough trade records - 1987
- the smiths - strangeways here we come - rough trade records - 1987
- the smiths - rank - rough trade records - 1988

- smog - sewn to the sky - disaster records - 1990
- smog - julius caesar - drag city - 1993
- smog - wild love - drag city - 1995
- smog - kicking a couple around - drag city - 1996
- smog - the doctor came at dawn - drag city - 1996
- smog - red apple falls - drag city - 1997
- smog - knock knock - domino recording company ltd. - 1999
- smog - look now - drag city - 1999
- smog - 'neath the puke tree - domino recording company ltd. - 2000
- smog - dongs of sevotion - drag city - 2000
- smog - strayed - drag city - 2000
- smog - rain on lens - drag city - 2001
- smog - accumulation: none - drag city - 2002
- smog - supper - drag city - 2003
- smog - a river ain't too much to love - drag city - 2005
- smog - rock bottom riser - drag city - 2006
- bill callahan - diamond dancer - drag city - 2007
- bill callahan - woke on a whaleheart - drag city - 2007
- bill callahan - sometimes i wish we were an eagle - drag city - 2009

- kim doo soo - 10 days butterfly - p.s.f. records - 2007


- sunn o))) - monoliths & dimensions - southern lord - 2009

- david sylvian - brilliant trees - virgin - 1984
- david sylvian - alchemy: an index of possibilities - virgin - 1985
- david sylvian - gone to earth - virgin - 1986
- david sylvian - secrets of the beehive - virgin - 1987
- david sylvian & holger czukay - plight and premonition - venture - 1988
- david sylvian & holger czukay - flux and mutability - venture - 1989
- david sylvian - rain tree crow - virgin - 1991
- david sylvian - dead bees on a cake - virgin - 1999
- david sylvian - approaching silence - virgin - 1999
- david sylvian - blemish - samadhisound - 2003
- david sylvian & ryuichi sakamoto - world citizen - samadhisound / g.&p. essential music - 2005
- david sylvian (nine horses) - snow borne sorrow - samadhisound - 2005

- talk talk - it's my life - emi - 1984
- talk talk - the colour of spring - emi - 1986
- talk talk - spirit of eden - parlophone/emi - 1988
- talk talk - laughing stock - verve - 1991
- mark hollis - mark hollis - polydor - 1998

- tom waits - (marc ribot, etc. & some with none) - closing time - asylum records - 1973
- tom waits - the heart of saturday night - asylum records - 1974
- tom waits - nighthawks at the diner - asylum records - 1975
- tom waits - small change - asylum records - 1976
- tom waits - foreign affairs - asylum records - 1977
- tom waits - blue valentine - asylum records - 1978
- tom waits - heartattack and vine - asylum records - 1980
- tom waits & crystal gayle - one from the heart - columbia - 1982
- tom waits - swordfishtrombones - island records - 1983
- tom waits - rain dogs - island records - 1985
- tom waits - frank's wild years - island records - 1987
- tom waits - night on earth - island records - 1991
- tom waits - the early years, vol. 1 - manifesto - 1991
- tom waits - bone machine - island records - 1992
- tom waits - the early years vol. 2 - manifesto - 1993
- tom waits - the black rider - island records - 1993
- tom waits - mule variations - anti- - 1999
- tom waits - alice - anti- - 2002 (plus demo version)
- tom waits - blood money - anti- - 2002
- tom waits - real gone - anti- - 2004
- tom waits - orphans: brawlers, bawlers & bastards - anti- - 2006

- gillian welch - revival - almo sounds - 1996
- gillian welch - hell among the yearlings - acony - 1998
- gillian welch - time (the revelator) - acony - 2001
- gillian welch - soul journey - acony - 2003

- yo la tengo - blue line swinger from electr-o-pura - matador - 1995
- yo la tengo - i can hear the heart beating as one - matador - 1997 (a few nice tunes)
- yo la tengo - the sounds of the sounds of science - egon records - 2002
- yo la tengo - blue line swinger from prisoners of love / a smattering of outtakes and rarities - matador - 2005

- thom yorke - bridge school benefit, mountain view - 2002

- townes van zandt - flyin' shoes - tomato - 1978 (plus see previous list)

- imaginational anthem vols. 1-3 - tompkins square - 2008

(la deuxième means many more to come, but ideas always welcome)