Name: Billy Collins reads "Aristotle" by brainpicker in Spoken word
Duration: 3 min 37 s
Description: Discussion and poem text: https://www.brainpickings.org/2016/03/22/billy-collins-reads-aristotle/

Spoken word

Order SMM: Opiate in The Ghostly Store:
http://www.theghostlystore.com/products/various-artists-smm-opiate

SMM: Opiate includes tracks from Simon Scott, Noveller, EN, Celer, Black Swan, Jim Haynes, Fieldhead & Pjusk.

A Winged Victory for the Sullen - Ti Prego Memory Man

Kindly recorded for Brain Pickings. Poem text and context: https://www.brainpickings.org/2021/07/26/david-whyte-the-truelove

POEM TEXT / CONTEXT

David Whyte reads his poem "The Truelove"

Brombaer Complete Discography:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5Tb2Ely0vng2ikdeEBnSda

Spotify ▸ https://open.spotify.com/artist/6YfaSFnkikJYEHnjmau9cJ
YouTube  ▸ https://youtube.com/channel/UCuCOvssxIhl71OAsXcfqTJQ?sub_confirmation=1
Website ▸ https://brombaermusic.com

The Quietness

Brombaer - The Quietness

Schola Magdalena, recorded 2011 in Toronto at Church of St. Mary Magdalene. www.scholamagdalena.ca 

Translation: Hail, O greenest branch,
sprung forth in the airy breezes
of the prayers of the saints.

So the time has come
that your sprays have flourished:
hail, hail to you,
because the heat of the sun has exuded from you
like the aroma of balm.

For the beautiful flower sprung from you
which gave all parched perfumes
their aroma.

And they have radiated anew
in their full freshness.

Whence the skies bestowed dew upon the pasture,
and all the earth was made joyful
because her womb
brought forth corn,
and because the birds of the firmament
built their nests in her.

Then there was harvest ready for Man
and a great rejoicing of banqueters,
whence, O sweet Virgin,
no joy is lacking in you.

Eve rejected all these things.

Now let there be praise to the Highest.



O Viridissima Virga: by Hildegard von Bingen sung by Schola Magdalena

Light, as perceived & portrayed by Hollie Kenniff (aka Hollie Evelyn) in a fine-drawn dialogue between a sparse piano and pastel synth tones. The mood is one of profound calm and serenity, with each new harmony patiently and perfectly pulling us gently along. In the soft glow, we hang on to every word, just to await that next whisper of consciousness we all yearn for… Portrait of Light is the Canadian-American vocalist and composer's ephemeral contribution to our 2024 single series 'Pigments'. 🎧 https://moderna.ampl.ink/light

Portrait of Light

stream/download

Hollie Evelyn - Portrait of Light

Discussion and poem text: https://www.brainpickings.org/2016/03/22/billy-collins-reads-aristotle/

POEM TEXT

Billy Collins reads "Aristotle"

Taken from their forthcoming mini-album 'Ellis' out July 8 on Erased Tapes.

Pre-order the LP/CD/DL here: www.erasedtapes.com/store/index/ERATP086
or from iTunes here: http://snip.ftpromo.net/ellis

For the first half of the twentieth century, Ellis Island stood as the gateway to America. For some twelve million people, it was their first encounter with the land they hoped to call home. 

Directed by acclaimed artist JR, ELLIS tells the story of one such migrant. Starring Robert De Niro, the film winds its way through the crumbling hallways of the abandoned Ellis Island hospital complex, now home to JR’s Unframed art installation. It’s a place that reverberates with the hopes and fears of those who passed through it, the echoes especially resonant today.

Entwined with the narrative is a score composed by Woodkid, performed and co-written by Nils Frahm. The delicate piano motifs of Winter Morning I culminate in a crescendo of strings, while the harmonium swells on the B-side are the foundation for De Niro’s narration: an encomium for those who shaped modern America. 

There’s perhaps never been a more fitting time for this story, with all the proceeds going to the Sea Watch initiative, a non-profit charity dedicated to the protection and rescue of civilian refugees. 

Following a screening as part of Nils’s Barbican Weekender, the ELLIS score will be out July 8th, the same week as America’s great federal holiday. It will be available via Erased Tapes as a mini album on CD, vinyl and in digital format containing a 12-page picture booklet.


IN THE ARTISTS’ OWN WORDS:

Nils Frahm: ‘The opportunity to work on JR´s fantastic short film ELLIS came through my good friend Yoann aka Woodkid. We agreed on recording the piano parts in my studio in Berlin and so it happened that JR and Woodkid were guests at Durton studio on a wonderful late summer day in 2015. We managed to record all the crucial elements that day. The music fell in our laps and melted with the images: a wonderful experience. The film has stuck in my head ever since; it moved my heart and changed my soul.

A couple of weeks later I had to cancel a trip to Brussels because of a terror warning; all events got cancelled and I stayed home, having an unexpected day off. I felt rather depressed that day, thinking that the Europe I knew was already gone. I sat down at the harmonium, listened to Robert De Niro’s voice and played for the rest of the day. The result is ‘Winter Morning II,’ the B-side of the ELLIS soundtrack release.

Robert says it all in 17 minutes. We are not facing a refugee crisis. We are facing a crisis because we do not embrace, we do not sympathise and we cannot give up fear. Art can encourage so I hope this project will help fight the fear in all of us.’

Yoann Lemoine, aka Woodkid:  ‘Ellis is my second collaboration with JR after the New York City Ballet piece for Les Bosquets. I initially wanted this piece to sound like it was recorded on an old piano that we found in the ruins of Ellis Island, in the restricted area that is not open to the public, where JR pasted the pictures on the walls for the film Ellis.

I had worked with Nils before and I wanted him to create a sound for this piano part that I composed that was extremely gentle and organic. I wanted the listener to hear the mechanisms, the breathing of the instrument. I wanted it to be imperfect, to sound like a ruin, a trace, an echo, the way the pastings on the walls seem to be ghosts, almost imperceptible.

After a few rehearsals, Nils stripped down my piano parts and we removed almost all orchestration around the piano. He then worked on the extended version that is his interpretation of my piece, with Robert de Niro’s vocals.

Because this film and this recording is historically meaningful, it was important for us to create this piece as an echo to the immigration situation in Europe, and decided to release it in support of Sea Watch.’

Ellis

Winter Morning I

Buy LP/CD/DL

Woodkid & Nils Frahm - Winter Morning I (teaser)

Background, context, and poem text: https://www.brainpickings.org/2016/09/28/orson-welles-reads-walt-whitman-song-of-myself/

CONTEXT / POEM TEXT

Orson Welles reads Walt Whitman

A piano interpretation of Christopher Willits' "Now" from the album “Opening" (Ghostly International), performed by Alejandro Bento. 
The two artist’s exchanged remixes, Willits' remix is out now via Subtempo. You can listen to his interpretation here: https://soundcloud.com/subtempo/7-alejandro-bento-heartbeat-1

Christopher Willits
http://christopherwillits.com/
https://www.facebook.com/christopher.willits.page/
https://soundcloud.com/willits
Twitter / IG: @willits

Follow Alejandro Bento
https://www.facebook.com/axeltoben/
https://soundcloud.com/axel-toben

Now (Alejandro Bento Cover)

To coincide with Piano Day 2017 we share a cover of an old Penguin Cafe Orchestra song by Penguin Cafe from their upcoming new album 'The Imperfect Sea' - out on Erased Tapes 5th May 2017.

"This piece by my father has always been a favourite of mine and when we were playing in the studio last year with making rocks resonate through the soundboard of the piano, the drone on F# made me think of it immediately. The transition between free-form and structure allows for space and some more expressionist moments and then the simple yet rather beautiful melody creates a sort of profound optimism I think." — Arthur Jeffes

Pre-order 'The Imperfect Sea' on Vinyl, CD and DL here: phonofile.link/the-imperfect-sea

The iconic Penguin Cafe join the Erased Tapes family and open a brand new chapter to their unique world with new album The Imperfect Sea.

A penguin stands in the middle of a scorching desert, far away from its natural habitat. This mirrors composer Arthur Jeffes’ journey and exploration into a new musical territory. Penguin Cafe have evolved into something of their own at the hands of Arthur who started the band in 2009 with the continuation and homage to his father’s legacy, to the late Simon Jeffes’ Penguin Cafe Orchestra. Now, their upcoming album echoes reminiscent sounds that embrace the new.

The album title refers to a saying by his father that “we wade in a sea of imperfections…”, reflecting upon the idea that beauty can be found amongst the chaos. “If there is a narrative to the album it’s coming to the acceptance of the imperfections in all aspects of life; moreover, the recognition that these imperfections and tiny randomnesses are in fact what make up the best parts”, Arthur explains. This has also been highlighted by the striking cover artwork designed by FELD under the art direction of label founder Robert Raths, resembling a lone figure adapting to and accepting its surrounding environment.

Predominantly self-composed, the new album also features covers of electronic works by Simian Mobile Disco and Kraftwerk, along with a re-working of Simon's 'Now Nothing'. Arthur has developed from the traditional folk and jazz heritage Penguin Cafe Orchestra is known for into another realm of blissful ambience and dance music, recreated using strictly acoustic elements.

“For this album I wanted to effect a departure from where we’d been up to now. The idea was to create a musical world that would feel familiar to an audience more used to dance records but stay true to our own values. So we replaced electronic layers with real instruments: pads with real string sections, synths with heavily-effected pianos, and atmospheric analogue drones with real feedback loops ringing through a stone and a piano soundboard.”

On the day of release, the band will play a headline show at New York’s Le Poisson Rouge, commencing the beginning of this new adventure for Penguin Cafe.

Billy Collins reads "Aristotle"

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