I had almost given up hope with my interview with Alamaailman Vasarat after a several month lacuna, but suddenly got a little flurry of responses the last couple of days. If the pace keeps up for two more questions I might be able to launch that piece quite soon.
I have other ideas I'm mulling over. The challenge is going to be finding time/energy to write them. This spring I have course releases to get two books finished, which is great, but it comes with pressures to write a lot and then writing more in my free time seems less like relaxation :-). I've been thinking I'd like to do a mini-reviews piece on several releases that labels sent me but I never found time/enthusiasm to write full reviews for.
Your courageous embarking on a Hip Hop Nereffiad also set me thinking about what I could do that might aspire to the regions of the Nereffidesque. I don't fancy a genre history right now. But then I wondered: what about an "ambient alphabet", with album and/or artist and/or label and/or sub-genre entries for each letter? Could turn into what would effectively be a guide to the genre, but would give me a lot of flexibility on what to write about each time and how much to write (a blog post could be one letter - there are lots of artists beginning with A - or several - X and Z are looking thin). It could also give me a space to write some things I've had lurking in the corners of my mind (like "why would any sane person listen to drone?") without feeling like they have to be whole articles. Sound like a worthwhile idea? I've actually started sketching a possible outline, but for reasons mentioned above can't promise I will actually get to putting flesh on it in the near future.
FYI, I still have two CDs that were sent to me by the artists that I promised to review but still haven't got around to it. So that will be in the works at some point fairly soon.
I also still plan to add more to that '70s piece that was presented as a series but still only has one (the Bob Carpenter review). After I do the two reviews of CDs I have, I could probably knock out the next '70s piece fairly quickly since I've had three-fourths of the next piece written for a long time now.
Also, it occurred to me I could do a quickie mixtape recipes piece by using some playlists I've already compiled, for use in times when there's a lag of nothing new for the blog. But for it to be 'quick,' I had planned to just embed some of my 8Tracks mixes, and add a little something about the artists. Does anybody object to having an 8Tracks mix embedded into the blog? Otherwise, it would turn out to be not so quick after all, by the time I hunted around for samples of audio or video to link to.
I don't have a problem with an 8Tracks mix, but it would hinder my ability to listen to it. So I guess the question is whether you would be concerned that other folks would have the same issue and wouldn't get the full benefit of the piece.
BTW, something I've been meaning to suggest for a while: would it be useful to others (it would to me) to have a thread here on emusers that gets updated with a link every time a new MiG piece is posted? I go to emusers daily, but to MiG every now and then (and don;t really use RSS), so sometimes I don't discover right away that new pieces have been posted unless they get mentioned here. I also wonder if everyone who visits emusers casually realizes there is MiG.
Possible traffic ahead: my institution's alumni association just circulated a request for stories about faculty hobbies/passions outside their teaching for promotional use. I sent a note telling them about MiG, so if they run it it may generate some traffic.
Yeah, I think a thread to post news of new MiG pieces here on emusers is a great idea, too.
Good PR for MiG, GP! Hope it leads to some new readership.
Craig, why would your ability to listen to an 8Tracks mix be hindered? (EDIT//Oh, probably because they restrict how many skips you can make, maybe? If that's what you're referring to, it's a good point. Hadn't thought about that.)
It's time once again to pay the bill for the account that hosts MiG. If anyone would like to contribute please let me know. You may whisper or post publicly as you prefer. I will whisper the Paypal info to you. The Paypal account hasn't changed btw., so if you have it from last year you can use it.
Sure, I'm willing. Let us know how much the bill is so we know what a reasonable share is. I might have it from last year, but probably as easy for you to whisper it again as for me to find it.
Latest chapter of music history is now ready to go.
A series on BBC TV just finished, Howard Goodall's Story of Music. I spent a lot of the first episode (in particular) shouting at the screen, pausing the show and explaining at length to Mrs Nereffid how Goodall was talking through his arse. Overall it was an entertaining show and probably did some good in demystifying classical music, but it was pretty much the antithesis of how I'm doing my history. He relied rather too much on the "great men" theory of history and had a tendency to make sweeping generalisations, along with some blatant mistakes. My favourite moment was when, in the course of stating that, in the face of modernism, a lot of classical music began to get all backward-looking and nostalgic, he seemed to imply that Elgar's Enigma Variations (1899) was a response to the music of Jelly Roll Morton.
OK, the Stakula piece is submitted, but feel free to hang onto it until next week. If it's up Monday I'm more likely to have time to touch base with the band, tweet it etc - I'll be on the road for a bit after that.
I had already purchased a ticket (unfortunately!), but let's just say that even if I hadn't already loved doing MiG stuff for the last year+, this would make it all worth it!
I'm bringing the good camera and should get some great shots for a photo review.
Atmosphere, Juicy J, Aesop Rock, Tech N9ne, Brother Ali, P.O.S., Joey Bada$$, and Schoolboy Q. Sweet. Plus graffiti artists, B-Boy/B-Girl contests, a custom car/truck/lowrider show. This MiG piece will be my "War & Peace"!
I submitted the piece I wrote for Song of the Week. I wrote a blurb at the beginning to explain the series, which the editors will probably want to edit as they see fit. Please feel free to edit the rest of the article as needed. I'm afraid my writing is not very good these days...
I think the title should be changed to Song of the Week: Psalm of Life. I neglected to make that change before I submitted. Will someone please change it for me?
Also, I was thinking it might be nice to include some songs now and then that emusers who are not MiG authors have posted on this board (with their permission, of course). Anybody have any thoughts about that?
@GP - I hope you decide to submit your Song of the Week to MiG. That is an especially effective piece of writing.
EDIT// I changed the title as noted above. Don't know if I messed up anything; I think it's still listed as "pending review." Besides changing the title, I centered the youtube embed and added the category (folk), and tags, Song of the Week, British folk, and literature in music. Preview for me didn't show the category, tags and centered youtube.
@Craig, it is from this book, pages 124-126. Several blogs on the net recite it, with the parenthetical statement of "Copied from "Light of Many Lamps" edited by Lillian Eichler Watson" following the title of the poem. My original post left off "edited by..."
Comments
Craig
I have other ideas I'm mulling over. The challenge is going to be finding time/energy to write them. This spring I have course releases to get two books finished, which is great, but it comes with pressures to write a lot and then writing more in my free time seems less like relaxation :-). I've been thinking I'd like to do a mini-reviews piece on several releases that labels sent me but I never found time/enthusiasm to write full reviews for.
Your courageous embarking on a Hip Hop Nereffiad also set me thinking about what I could do that might aspire to the regions of the Nereffidesque. I don't fancy a genre history right now. But then I wondered: what about an "ambient alphabet", with album and/or artist and/or label and/or sub-genre entries for each letter? Could turn into what would effectively be a guide to the genre, but would give me a lot of flexibility on what to write about each time and how much to write (a blog post could be one letter - there are lots of artists beginning with A - or several - X and Z are looking thin). It could also give me a space to write some things I've had lurking in the corners of my mind (like "why would any sane person listen to drone?") without feeling like they have to be whole articles. Sound like a worthwhile idea? I've actually started sketching a possible outline, but for reasons mentioned above can't promise I will actually get to putting flesh on it in the near future.
So that's a maybe.
Obviously our actual jobs/life take priority, and I totally understand not wanting to do more writing in your spare time.
Craig
I also still plan to add more to that '70s piece that was presented as a series but still only has one (the Bob Carpenter review). After I do the two reviews of CDs I have, I could probably knock out the next '70s piece fairly quickly since I've had three-fourths of the next piece written for a long time now.
Also, it occurred to me I could do a quickie mixtape recipes piece by using some playlists I've already compiled, for use in times when there's a lag of nothing new for the blog. But for it to be 'quick,' I had planned to just embed some of my 8Tracks mixes, and add a little something about the artists. Does anybody object to having an 8Tracks mix embedded into the blog? Otherwise, it would turn out to be not so quick after all, by the time I hunted around for samples of audio or video to link to.
GP - great idea!
Craig
Good PR for MiG, GP! Hope it leads to some new readership.
Craig, why would your ability to listen to an 8Tracks mix be hindered? (EDIT//Oh, probably because they restrict how many skips you can make, maybe? If that's what you're referring to, it's a good point. Hadn't thought about that.)
Craig
Craig
A series on BBC TV just finished, Howard Goodall's Story of Music. I spent a lot of the first episode (in particular) shouting at the screen, pausing the show and explaining at length to Mrs Nereffid how Goodall was talking through his arse. Overall it was an entertaining show and probably did some good in demystifying classical music, but it was pretty much the antithesis of how I'm doing my history. He relied rather too much on the "great men" theory of history and had a tendency to make sweeping generalisations, along with some blatant mistakes. My favourite moment was when, in the course of stating that, in the face of modernism, a lot of classical music began to get all backward-looking and nostalgic, he seemed to imply that Elgar's Enigma Variations (1899) was a response to the music of Jelly Roll Morton.
Soundset 2013
That's right, I'm going to be taking pictures of Snoop and Busta Rhymes from the photo pit in front of the stage!
Craig
I'm bringing the good camera and should get some great shots for a photo review.
Atmosphere, Juicy J, Aesop Rock, Tech N9ne, Brother Ali, P.O.S., Joey Bada$$, and Schoolboy Q. Sweet. Plus graffiti artists, B-Boy/B-Girl contests, a custom car/truck/lowrider show. This MiG piece will be my "War & Peace"!
Craig
Craig
I think the title should be changed to Song of the Week: Psalm of Life. I neglected to make that change before I submitted. Will someone please change it for me?
Also, I was thinking it might be nice to include some songs now and then that emusers who are not MiG authors have posted on this board (with their permission, of course). Anybody have any thoughts about that?
@GP - I hope you decide to submit your Song of the Week to MiG. That is an especially effective piece of writing.
EDIT// I changed the title as noted above. Don't know if I messed up anything; I think it's still listed as "pending review." Besides changing the title, I centered the youtube embed and added the category (folk), and tags, Song of the Week, British folk, and literature in music. Preview for me didn't show the category, tags and centered youtube.
Craig
Post will go up shortly!
Craig