#Howe Gelb

[musicwithoutborders]

OP8, Sand I Slush, 1997

[krispyweiss]

Song Review: McKowski and Howe Gelb - “Return of Pygmy Pony”

Take some atmospheric country-classical music, set it to a half-hearted waltz and “Return of Pygmy Pony” emerges from the atmospheric haze.

The instrumental heralds the Sept. 22 release of McKowski’s Notes from the Boneyard. And with a credited Howe Gelb adding electric guitar and the uncredited Laura McFadden and Dave Murphy on cello and pedal steel, respectively, McKowski (aka the Lost Brothers’ Mark McCausland) has a place to lay his acoustic guitar.

It’s evocative, contemplative music with the added bonus of a melody to make it engaging.

Grade card: McKowski and Howe Gelb - “Return of Pygmy Pony” - A-

8/30/23

[sonicziggy]

"Dance of the Gecko" by Geckøs, M. Ward, Howe Gelb, McKowski https://ift.tt/ynxOS9e

[dustedmagazine]

Howe Gelb—Weathering Some Piano (AKP)

Howe Gelb has been slipping blues-y, jazzy runs of piano into his songs for some time now.  The keyboard lends a torchy, ruminative tone to “All You Need to Know” from 2019’s Gathered, and a shuffling, jiving restlessness to “My Little World” from the same disc.  The guitar, however, has been the primary instrument for Giant Sand’s proprietor up to now, a bridge between his raucous cow-punk origins and the wry introspections of his later work. 

Seen in that light, Weathering Some Piano, a collection of 13 improvised solo piano pieces, is a dramatic departure for Gelb.  It eschews the growled lyrical romanticism, the rough tango of Latin-leaning guitars that are so characteristic of his work.  And yet, you can hear Gelb’s singular sensibility rising through the notes.  When he pauses to let a chord linger, you lean in expecting a vocal melody, a rueful acknowledgement of the way that life and love can fall short.  The fact that it doesn’t come — the only time you hear Gelb’s voice is in two brief instances of spoken comment — isn’t disappointing, however.  These are lovely, melancholy meditations, wordless but full of meaning. 

There are no notes about the piano, though it sounds like it’s an old one and not meticulously maintained.  You can hear a fair amount of groaning in the wood and hammers and strings as Gelb plays, as if the instrument is doing its best, despite certain age-related disabilities.  Also, nostalgia creeps in via a ghostly aura of overtone that hovers above even the most clarion flurries of keys; it feels like memory crowding in on the event even as it unfolds. 

Gelb plays with an old-fashioned lilt and roll, akin to jazz but more Dixieland than any latter-day improvisatory skree.  It’s easy to imagine a clarinet warbling around the stately chords of “The Convenience of Gravity” or a string bass thumping in the interstices of “Eclipsed.”  And yet it’s just the piano, whether vaulting up the scale in query or settling into answering chord. 

Gelb is a fine player, though more for his ability to convey emotion than any technical virtuosity.  “The Sky Can’t Make Up Its Mind” flows with a certain elegance, its bright trebly melody shadowed by murky low harmonies.  It twinkles like starlight and glowers like fog, and its skill comes in sketching the fits and starts and longings of a human mind, not the quickness of its fingering. 

Jennifer Kelly

[darthlenaplant]

@bluetoothgoof yeah, I think that feature was seen as particularly unremarkable, or at least "nothing special" to comment about, even in societies where dark hair is apparently ~supposed to be uncommon~ (is it really though?)

So, blunette discourse gets on here semi-regularly. This is not in support or against it, but something occurred to me that I think brings nuance to the matter.

The IRL hair colour identities are blond/blonde, brunet/brunette, and red-head. We don't even have an identifier for black-haired people despite it being an IRL hair colour (which is why this scentence is structured oddly).

This means that there is literally no existing system to fit unnatural hair colours in that isn't just adjectives. This cuts out that particular grammatical structure unless you create new words. You can write around this of course, but it seems rather odd and arbitrary that you have to.

Like... I can say "the blonde" or "the golden haired woman" which give off very different connotations, but I can only say "the pink haired woman"? And it would be an interesting feature of English not predicting rainbow hair dye... if the same complaint couldn't be made about black haired people. Why do people need to invent "ravenette" we should have come up with a term for that generations ago?

--

[dk-thrive]

What I care about for myself and others is what it feels like to be alive in this world, how to open to it, how to be grateful for it, how to love it. Nothing else really matters to me.

— Bruce Fertma, Walking Well: A New Approach for Comfort, Vitality, and Inspiration in Every Step. Co-Author, Michael J. Gelb. (New World Library, September 3, 2024)

[strangerstilinski]

had a dream last night that the new york mets had a team cow the way some teams might have a team dog (for mental health reasons or whatever) her name was Bertha and coincidentally she was also set to GIVE BIRTH soon. she was suuuuper pregnant. steve gelbs was doing a bit about it, reporting on it in that way he does where i think i might be the only one in the world actually listening to him lmao. anyway! the camera is on bertha and steve standing in the outfield. he's yapping about how she's due any day now and the guys in the broadcast booth are clowning him while steve is petting her and she's just stood there munching on citi field's precious grass

and that was pretty much it

[musicwithoutborders]

OP8, The Devil Loves L.A. I Slush, 1997

[the-electric-rain]

hi! just wanted to say i have read dekohärenz multiple times over and each time makes me go more insane than before. absolutely love how you write the kolibri collective and sieben and jäger. the kolibri is always so interesting to see new takes on (maybe i havent read through much fics yet but yours is the first ive seen that doesnt show them as a single mind/person spread between multiple units) (not that thats bad!! i js think its pretty cool)

ngl i wonder how a relationship between gelb and vier would work if gelb is still connected to the hivemind. rn with how the others react to the two of them, im not entirely sure how theyd get together. would it be a "sacrifice-one-for-the-other" kind of thing, or can she have both at the same time? from the fic, im leaning towards the former tbh. thats assuming they even end up together at all shdhsh.

then sieben and jäger. a reckoning after everything? girl, what do you mean by that? i hope that doesnt end badly for the both of them. and i am also honestly a little confused about their relationship. jäger certainly cares somewhat about sieben (assuming the frau siegfriede was something genuine), but i wonder how deep that goes, and how much of it is buried under seeing sieben and zwei like how sieben saw jäger and hetzer. if i were to ask you a question, i'd ask if those two actually love each other or if i was fooled and jäger definitely does not have romantic feelings for sieben.

Hi dear anon !!!! Thank you very much for your little ask ! It means a lot that you liked DEKOHÄRENZ enough to read and enjoy it multiple times, truly. As for your last paragraph, let's say it will get somewhat addressed in-story ! The actual answer is somewhat closer to "Jäger absolutely has romantic feelings for Sieben, but she's generally horribly avoidant at best about her own feelings, and is still obviously traumatized by Zwei". (She is very stupid.)

[sonicziggy]

"David At The Door" by Howe Gelb https://ift.tt/A8f2se5

[helpfandom]

I saw that you write yan glitter force! Can you write platonic yandere glitter breeze vs. Platonic yandere rascal? But you can do them separately if you prefer.

I love your writing!

Thank you!! I've noticed how [the fandom] it's kinda niche, but I love this anime.

Taglist: @yanderefangirl

Fun fact! In the German dub, they call the Glitter Force warriors by their colors! So Glitter Breeze= Glitter Blau [Blue], Glitter Peace= Glitter Gelb [yellow], Glitter Spring= Glitter Gruen [Green], etc.

Breeze is a platonic yandere because she wants to protect you, Rascal is a yandere because he thinks that you're entertaining.

A team-up is nigh impossible with these two, I cannot think of a single reason for why these two would team-up. Breeze is trying to protect you against Rascal, why would she team-up with him? The only way would be if she wasn't completely like herself, and wanted to manipulate you, so she teams up with Rascal. He would kidnap you, have you for a few days for the entertainment, and then Breeze would save you, earning your gratitude and you sticking by her so you don't get kidnapped by that clown again.

She's nurturing, he's sadistic, he's impulsive, she's manipulative.

They cannot work together.

Anyway. It creates a cycle between the two of fighting for your affection, him kidnapping you, taunting Breeze at her not being able to defend you. Breeze takes you back, scoffing at how he treats you.

A rift is created not just between the two, but between Breeze and the Team itself. They're curious on why she's giving so much attention to you, who, after this many times has given up and started waiting for Rascal, and not focusing on destroying the Bad-End generals and getting Earth a happy ending.

So she realizes that she's losing her grip on things, she losing her friends as they slowly drift from her, not to mention Rascal's meddling causing her to turn them away even if they tried to meet her. As she realizes her grip on her reality is loosening, Rascal approaches her with a deal, and she-

she

would

accept.

In a versus, Rascal wins. I'm sorry.

[zorakoi]

omoriweek (day2): flowers

(I MISSED DAY ONE FUCKKK)

Flowers were one of the things Basil enjoyed the most. After the incident, and Sunny moved away, he cared for the flowers like he wanted someone to care for him back then, and it was both sweet and sad. He had one flower that always sat on the windowsill for when he woke up, it greeted him with a welcoming smile whether it was day or night. The flower was something simple, a sunflower that Sunny found for him so long ago that he kept and replanted, always. whenever a petal or a leaf fell off, Basil felt a pang in his heart. He knew it wasn’t true, but the second a wilted part of the plant died, he felt as if a memory was washed away. So to see the sunflower so full of life made his heart squeeze. Before the incident, it was like this. It was so beautiful and much less colorless than a few months ago. The yellow was so saturated, it seemed like… well… the sun. Like sunny.

every time his mind drifted to his friend, concern and excitement flew to his chest. Was he settling in okay? Did he have friends? How was his mother during all this? Does he get Basil’s letters? Does he remember Kel and Aubrey and Hero, everyone?

How does he feel about Basil?

His imagination might’ve made his mind wither, becuase slowly, a petal fell from the once so happy plant. The blonde haired boy sighed and flopped back down on his bed, trying to push the thoughts of Sunny out of his mind.

can you miss a friendship that was both withering and blooming?

German version down below 👇

Blumen waren eines der Dinge, die Basil am meisten genoss. Nach dem Vorfall, als Sunny weggezogen war, kümmerte er sich um die Blumen, als wollte er, dass sich damals jemand um ihn kümmerte, und es war sowohl süß als auch traurig. Er hatte eine Blume, die immer auf der Fensterbank stand, um ihn zu begrüßen, wenn er aufwachte. Sie begrüßte ihn mit einem einladenden Lächeln, egal ob es Tag oder Nacht war. Die Blume war etwas Einfaches, eine Sonnenblume, die Sunny ihm vor so langer Zeit gefunden hatte, die er pflegte und immer wieder umpflanzte. Wann immer ein Blatt oder ein Blütenblatt abfiel, spürte Basil einen Stich in seinem Herzen. Er wusste, dass es nicht wahr war, aber in dem Moment, in dem ein verwelktes Teil der Pflanze starb, fühlte er, als würde eine Erinnerung mit ihr verschwinden. Deshalb tat es ihm gut, die Sonnenblume so lebendig zu sehen. Vor dem Vorfall war es schon immer so gewesen. Sie war so schön und viel weniger farblos als vor ein paar Monaten. Das Gelb war so gesättigt, es schien fast wie... nun ja... die Sonne. Wie Sunny. Jedes Mal, wenn sein Geist zu seinem Freund abschweifte, fühlte er Besorgnis und Aufregung in seiner Brust. Hat er sich gut eingelebt? Hat er Freunde? Wie geht es seiner Mutter in all dem? Bekommen er Basils Briefe? Erinnert er sich an Kel, Aubrey, Hero, an alle? Wie fühlt er sich bezüglich Basil? Vielleicht hat seine Fantasie seinen Verstand verwelken lassen, denn langsam fiel ein Blütenblatt von der einst so glücklichen Pflanze. Der blonde Junge seufzte und fiel zurück auf sein Bett, versuchte, die Gedanken an Sunny aus seinem Kopf zu schieben. Kann man eine Freundschaft vermissen, die gleichzeitig verwelkt und blüht?

@starboy2461 I MISSED DAY ONE IM SO SORRY 😞

[aerowolf]

How Medic Had VHS Tapes Before They Were Allegedly Invented

Emesis Blue, the psychological horror film based off of the hit first-person shooter game, Team Fortress 2, created by the studio Valve, is by all accounts an odd and unexpected masterpiece of film. Though most are set on explaining various time loops and the ending, I am not. Regardless of the fact that I understood neither of those things, I have arrived with a theory of my own. Because I have spiralled into a chaotic mode of over-analysis, specifically over a scene which is, at best, five seconds long. Should you choose to follow me and indulge in my delusions, I can guarantee you that I have something that may not interest you, but is long and heavily interests me.

PART I: WHY AM I LIKE THIS?

I’m literally neurodivergent and a minor. I have no answers for you. Moving on.

PART II: HOW COULD MEDIC HAVE VHS BEFORE IT EXISTED?

The point of this over analytical essay is to discuss why the Medic, also known as Doctor Fritz Ludwig, would have access to VHS tapes in a time when they did not in fact exist at all. The film is set on halloween--October 31, 1968. VHS tapes were not widely available to the public until 1976, and it is said that the development of VHS began sometime in 1969. Neither of these facts account for Medic’s possession of them. So where did he get them from?

We can begin by breaking down what they are and who made them.

These two images clearly display some of the VHS tapes which fell out of the box during the first couple of scenes of Emesis Blue. They are labelled “das grinsende gesicht” and “der könig in gelb.” These translate to “The Grinning Face” and “The King in Yellow,” both of which are pieces of media. The former is a silent German horror film released in 1929, and the latter appears to be the German translation of the title of a collection of short stories written by Robert W. Chambers. The title is also the title of a play within the collection which is said to drive anyone who reads it mad. However, the latter was never made into film. This information, while interesting, is not really important to my theory. But now you know. There’s symbolism to it of course.

Now, these tapes are clearly marked with the Mann Co. logo. This infers that they are produced and distributed by Mann Co. Considering their involvement in covert operations, projects, and their possible or perhaps even outright government connections, it is possible that Mann Co. invented or at least had production access to VHS before anyone knew about it. Perhaps they had a reason for holding them back? The box in his office is full, but it is not the

largest collection it could be, and it appears to be a mix of both legitimate or pseudo-legitimate films and personal or corporate videos. Considering the fact that VHS tapes are only seen in Ludwig’s possession, and that they contain the Mann Co. logo, it is safe to assume that they are produced by Mann Co. and solely distributed to those employed by them.

This offers a simple explanation as to why Medic has them before they should have existed. Mann Co. is not known for their transparency, often keeping things secret, even things that would objectively change the world. However, this does not offer an explanation as to what happened that led to the public release of VHS afterwards. So this brings us to our next section….

PART III: HOW AND WHY DID VHS BECOME WIDESPREAD?

It is said that production and development of the VHS began in 1969. Over the course of Emesis Blue, the Mann brothers, Redmon and Blutarch, are murdered. This occurs sometime in early November 1968--likely specifically November 3, as the agent who debriefs Soldier at the end of Emesis Blue--Agent Stemmons--mentions to him that the funeral of Governor Archibald is on Sunday. Assuming that this debriefing takes place directly after the events of halloween 1968, which fell on a Thursday, that leaves November 3 as the most likely date.

Seeing as the Mann brothers are now dead, and as there is no mention of Gray Mann interfering with the rest of this plot, it’s possible that Mann Co. is now disbanded, leaving them no means by which to distribute this technology. It’s then highly possible that the sole survivor of the Conagher slaughterhouse, Soldier, also known as Jane Doe, is the one who brought VHS to the world. While it is also possible that Gray could have done it, we’ll assume he doesn’t even exist in this universe, as his role is noncritical to it,

Here is how Jane could have single handedly brought VHS to the rest of the world.

Scarred by the events of October 31, 1968, he decided that the VHS tapes invented by Mann Co were actually a useful invention, and that the public should have access to them. After the death of the Mann brothers he tried to spread them and rebrand them, but quickly learned that they had some form of mind control within. This led to him bringing some of the tapes to a group who could disable this feature. However, that in turn led to them having to be completely redesigned, as the manipulation was ingrained too deeply into their design, which hence explains the delay of them being released widespread. VHS was first publicly released in Japan in 1976, which also points to the group Jane went to being Japanese. Shortly after, in 1977, VHS was also released in the United States.

And that is the story of how Team Fortress 2’s Soldier single handedly caused the public release of the VHS technology across the world.

[randomvarious]

Folks, I am in desperate need of your help with identifying the name of a song today. It's this dancehall hit that I believe was on some sort of Billboard chart in the 90s that has eluded me for years, and I have no idea who it's by or what its lyrics are; I only know the melody on the chorus. I can't tell you how many times I've just randomly opened Shazam over the last decade-plus to hum this melody into my phone, only to come up with absolutely no results every single time 😔.

But wouldn't ya know it, I *finally* heard this song again last week! It was playing in the background of a Mets pregame show at Citi Field, so I fired up Shazam and put my phone in front of the TV...and it came up with nothing again...probably because the voice of the best sideline reporter in the biz, Steve Gelbs, was drowning it out.

Here's video of it:

If anyone out there recognizes this song, please help me out! And if you don't know it, please reblog this post so more people can see it too!

I'm going to post this every week if need be until I finally figure out what this damn thing is.

Thanks! 🙏

[notwiselybuttoowell]

Discover how New York's Metropolitan Opera is on a mission to redefine the art form for a new generation.

Once viewed as a static art form, opera is being revitalised with contemporary stories and fresh perspectives to connect with modern audiences.

From groundbreaking productions like Grounded to the passion of young singers from around the globe, The Met embraces change while preserving opera's timeless ability to ground us as human beings.

The Metropolitan Opera's Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin and General Manager Peter Gelb discuss the bright future of the art form alongside lauded tenor Benjamin Bernheim.