Musical musings.

The guy behind fallwell.com emailed me back after I wrote him a little "congratulations and thank you" email the day the Supreme Court declined to hear the bigot's suit against him. That sure was nice. I imagine he must have gotten thousands of emails that day.

I've got some kitten pictures in the Supplement. Not all the kittens are represented in those photograps. They squirm around and go everywhere when you try and take their pictures.

Today is Saturday. I have two days off -- in a row! That hasn't happened in over a year, unless I was going out of town or in jail. It feels like a vacation. I went to the Flea Market today, without having to stay up for it -- it just happened to be open when I was up. Got a couple of two dollar books and avoided the temptation to spend $125 on a beautiful Italian accordion. Why? Because I have enough already and despite my good intentions know damn well I'll never get around to fixing that one key that sticks.

I did finally get a mouse pad. Actually, it's a Mouse Rug -- matching the rug the mother cat threw up the five placentas on. Design, colour, everything. Perfect match. Love it.

At my magical window now listening to side two of Sylvester's "Stars" in glorious warm embracing analogue. One big old Technics speaker on each side of me. Near perfect stereo separation. If I could get the speakers off the floor just a bit it would be great -- but I'm not ready to go down that road just yet. I can enjoy the near-perfection of the setup for the moment. This incredible golden light under the battleship gray sky won't last much longer. Thinking of putting typewriters under the speakers but once I do that I'll have to move the mirror on the North wall of my bedroom up a few inches, too; that's not a project I want to undertake just now. Plus the speakers will look way bigger, probably. Finding two typewriters whose boxes are the same exact width is a tricky proposition, too.

This isn't music that has lasted forever -- this isn't "You Make Me Feel" -- it's "I Who Have Nothing". I've never heard this piece before, but it's amazing. Sounds like an old negro spiritual layered over a steady disco beat with a sort of bluesey piano underneath and some remarkable percussion above the piano. Mark (the DJ at Foxes) told me "anything by Sylvester" that night some months back when I kept running over to the booth to ask him what he was playing and what I should try to find.

I got this one yesterday at Mecca Music and Books, right across the street. It's an amazing record store and an amazing bookstore. Very bricks and mortar. Very small business. It's cluttered and quirky and I don't think they have a stinker in their entire stock which literally spills out onto the floors. I've also never gotten a scratched record there. It's one of Albuquerque's magical little spaces. I try not to go in more than once or twice a year, because I always lose at least thirty dollars before I walk out.

Also got some more Brubeck, because I can never have enough. And a new record from someone called Swayzak on David's recommendation. Yes, a new record. I played side one last night, and think I didn't give it the attention it deserved.

Just raised the speakers. Hate how they look. Love how they sound. Hell -- how they *feel*. I can get that feeling of the air moving around me like I did at Foxes without ruining my hearing.

Disco beat on mechanical drums. Sounds like a heartbeat. Piano. Orchestral effects. Electronic sine wave sounds popping in and trailing off. African drummers. Sylvester's coutertenor voice shines crystal clear above it all. Amazing. I can't believe I've never heard this. It sounds downright experimental. Closer to Radiohead than to the Village People. There is amazing disco music out there, besides the standard songs that never die. It's too bad it's got the lousy reputation that it has. It's a very rich genre. Just like rock is rich and Elvis it's not "all the same". I was raised in a classical and liturgical music atmosphere so "popular" music of any kind was always somehow a little bit less than respectable. I can hardly ever do more than make little adventurous trips out into that music since I'm so steeped in Bach, but my god, I swear it opens me up to new worlds.

There's a show tonight at Foxes. I've been up since 7:30 AM though so there's no point to my going. I'll probably be asleep before it starts. It seems like a whole other world right now.

My god the sound's amazing. I can hear where everyone is placed as clearly as if I'm in the room with them. These vibrations in the air around me come from grooves cut from vibrations in the air around Sylvester. There's some visceral sense of connection to the music that I absolutely don't get from CDs or mp3s or anything else digital. This ain't music encoded, baby, this is MUSIC. It's taken me two years to get it set up so it sounds good and still I've got no way to copy records, even onto tape. Oh well! I guess it's just destined to be one of those perfect experiences I can't share with anyone since it is *this* *exact* *spot* where it *happens*.

Also got a new suit yesterday at the little San Juan thrift store next door to Mecca. Well, not new -- but it fits -- and for ten dollars a suit, you can't have too many suits. Also two bow ties and an ascot. You never see bow ties or ascots. If I could tie a bow tie I would wear it.

Saturday night, eight fifteen. If you can't tell I've had this tab open all day and been posting now and again through the day so it's very rambling and aimless. The Mexican family two doors down has at least five cars outside and a ton of kids. It feels weird not to be going out, even to work.

I paid my bills today -- before they're due, even! I never have enough money to pull that off. Tonight I did. Also wrote a letter and mailed it to Chip explaining apologetically that I'd forgotten I had a prior engagement out of town the weekend he wants me to work.

I'm getting restless. Spent so much time buying records and suits I forgot to buy food. Now the Rio Grande Fruit Stand is closed and I don't want to waste my money at Lowes where everything is overpriced and smells rotten. I could eat at Flying Star but I want to stay home. Don't want to deal with trundling off the computer and driving and all of that -- stuff.

This music sucks. Soundtrack to a movie I'd heard good things about. The record's scratched too. I'm stopping it before it ruins the needle.

Beatles. Ruined. Oh well -- 99¢ down the drain on that one. I'll live.

Doors. Waiting for the Sun. Rough, but it plays. I know the Doors already. If you can't tell I'm going through my collection of stuff I've never listened to yet. I'm saving Brubeck for when there aren't zillions of kids running around. Hm. A Doors song I've never heard before. Someone has robes and monkeys. Sometimes I wonder whether Jim Morrison was on something. I think he went to school here. Not to touch the earth. Worth getting on better vinyl. Oh my. Lots of songs I've never heard before. Not anywhere. This is definitely worth getting.

Damn it I can't find Barry Manilow Live anywhere.

Time for Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Mikado". I need a whole different setup for those records that play stacked on top of eachother. I don't think this one's stereo but that's fine. It sounds nice. And it's a change.

If I don't stop writing now this post's going to keep going nowhere. So I'll stop. The time is 9h08 PM, regardless what blogspot tells you.