Rants By Topic

Culture

Ambien(ce)

11.17.2015

Classical music has gone from unlistenable to unchanging to sonic wallpaper. But it sure is relaxing. Conlon Nancarrow. Anna Meredith. Phillip Glass. Anna Thorvaldsdottir. Danny Kaye. White Christmas.

Roger CortonTo quote from your last e-mail “Music is purposely dull these days and has been for the past forty years. Speaking of ‘dull’, are you feeling re-energized?

JCHNice lead-in. I’m getting back there. Being sick is so boring. And as I wrote, that pretty much describes serious music for the past forty years. It’s the aural (a-u-r-a-l) equivalent of Ambien®.

RCOuch. Ironically, in our last rant, you railed against trying to do classical music in a populist way. It seems like you’re never satisfied.

JCHYou just figured that out? Here’s a question: when someone says “Modern Classical Music”, what are the first sounds that come into yer mind?

RCI don’t know exactly, but I can picture myself covering my ears.

JCHExactly! You’re imagining dissonance. Somewhat punishing to listen to. Like […]

Minneapolis votes for public arts funding

09.29.2015

Culture, Music Business

Totally schweet. As many of you know, I went to school in the Twin Cities and if it weren’t for the cold, I’d move back in a heartbeat. The arts community there has always been outstanding. And I only mention that because in Seattle, with all its tech-wealth, public support for the arts is almost zippity-doo-dah. Which begs the question: if a city doesn’t support the arts can one really all it -progressive-?

By the way, did you notice the word unanimous in there? The Twin Cities have always punched above their weight, both in terms of culture -and- civics.

Minneapolis City Council unanimously approves annual, dedicated public arts funding

It’s Magic

08.25.2015

Culture, Gigs

Post tour review. Many Words vs. Apollo 100. More music so bad it’s good. Shred intolerance is a real condition.

Roger CortonYou’re back. How ya feeling, champ?

JCHWell, better than I thought. Not as good as I’d hoped. I mean, you’re not supposed to say this but I was not feeling great at a couple of the gigs. I didn’t hear any snark, but one never knows.

RCHonestly, I’d tell you. Before we move on, we got a bunch of traffic on your Piracy You Can Believe In post. Like twenty messages.

JCHReally? Cool. I was listening to those Schickele Mix shows almost non-stop during the tour. We’re flying back to Seattle and he did this one joke and it was literally the ‘Coca-Cola shot out of my nose’ moment. I had always doubted that shit really happens. And then it happened to me. And the seats are tight these days so my seat-mates got sprayed.

RCHow embarrassing. […]

Cloud Atlas Shrugged

08.9.2015

Culture, Music Business

We review the opening weekend of the tour. The end of ownership as content moves into the cloud.

Roger CortonThree gigs in one weekend. How are ya feeling, champ?

JCHPretty good. I got a chance to see Will Allen.

RCThe urban farming guy? So -that- was why you wanted to start in Wisconsin! Thinking. Always thinking.

JCHYeah. We should put a link to his stuff.

RCSo I noticed you conducting a bit during the opening to Solid State Siren and then in the quiet middle section of Home.

JCHThe arm flapping? Well, there’s no other way to do it. In the case of SSS, although it sounds ‘free’ that whole deal is notated. If someone doesn’t conduct, it’s a train wreck. And in the case of Home, that bit has two time sigs fighting against one another. So again, without someone flapping their arms. Without a little help, the players will tend to drift into one single time sig. […]

Inklings

06.29.2015

Culture, Marketing

Inklings. Why a boring private life doesn’t work anymore. Authenticity. The Incontintental Network

Roger CortonWe need to gin up ticket sales. Give me something exciting.

JCHAs you know, that’s getting tougher with each passing day.

RCWhy? We’ve had this discussion many times. Even if you’re not touring, you’re writing, recording. That’s interesting to fans.

JCHLook, the average person in Facebookistan has more people interested in what they had for breakfast than what I’m doing. (sighs) OK, you like Lord Of The Rings and all that fantasy stuff, right?

RCWho doesn’t?

JCHCool. So I just finished reading this book ‘The Inklings’; it’s a group biography of this supposed circle of great literary figures at Oxford. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, etc.

RCThe Inklings. I’ve heard of them. And I would be interested in that…

JCH…BORRRRRRRING! These guys who wrote all this fantastic stuff were some seriously boring guys. So trust me, this is a boring book. I mean, you […]