#language of the torch

[dustedmagazine]

Kelby Clark — Language of the Torch (Tentative Power)

Kelby Clark is an LA-by-way-of-Georgia banjo player who blends divergent styles and approaches to forge his own novel direction for the instrument. Over a series of mostly self-released home-spun recordings from the past five or so years, he has honed his approach, expanding the traditions of his point of origin in the American south to include free improvisation and eastern modalities — an alchemy familiar to Sandy Bull, a fellow stretcher of the vocabulary of the banjo and of the concept of “folk” and the traditional. His sparse and appropriately fiery new LP Language of the Torch, available January 10th of next year from Tentative Power, represents a significant milestone in his development of his own science of the banjo, a statement of intent for his artistic practice. It also marks the inaugural 12” LP release from the Baton Rouge, Louisiana label.

Across the seven searching pieces that make up Language of the Torch, Clark constructs a labyrinthine world of music from solo banjo and occasional, subdued harmonium, centered around two longform tracks, “Tennessee Raag Pt.1” and “Tennessee Raag Pt. 3” – there is no part two. These songs help situate the album among its influences, the titles suggesting an imaginational space where Appalachia and India overlap, an interzone frequently visited by practitioners of “American Primitive” music. The intentionally skewed numbering invokes John Fahey, another sometime-raga-obsessive, whose volumes of guitar music are numbered in a non-sensical, non-sequential manner, thumbing the nose at the very concept of numbers and of archiving or cataloging art in volumes. Clark improvises and composes, but on Language of the Torch, the two lengthy “Raags” and the six-minute opening salvo, “Time’s Arc,” feel like the compositions that anchor the shorter, more exploratory tracks that fall between them. Clark’s banjo twangs and drones almost sitar-like during these mesmerizing endurance runs, rough edges flattening over time like water-worn limestone.

In contrast to the patience of these bucolic “Raags,” the shorter tracks on Language of the Torch have an immediacy and attack to them and entertain more old-time flourishes. The concise title cut is perhaps the most traditional, the bends and swoops here feel related to Americana, a brief nod to and deconstruction of familiar forms. Clark is a fluid player, but the percussive nature of the banjo can run counter to fluidity — the most explosive of these improvisations, “Apis,” begins abruptly with an aggressive right-hand trill before it clatters apart and back together again like a musical version of Marcel Duchamp’s Modernist classic “Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2.” This song is a stand-out and the heaviest example of Clark’s burning vision for the banjo, the “concert instrument” ambition expressed by his forebears in the American Primitive movement.

All traditional forms of music, from Indian Classical to Appalachian Old-Time and permutations between, seem narrowly determined upon a superficial look but reveal their universal nature to those willing to let go of semiotics and sink into their visionary streams. This makes these forms excellent starting points for experimentation, established structures that contain the instructions to build new universes, if one is bold enough to try to read them, and that is what Kelby Clark attempts here with the 5-string banjo and the various traditions from which he draws inspiration. The liner notes for Language of the Torch take the form of a poem by hammered dulcimer player Jen Powers, a fellow traveler on the path of exploding the scope of the traditional. I think the passage below illuminates the process at hand, the conversation between tradition and interpreter:

And maybe now you're wondering whether you are the conjurer or the conjured, and if you really want to know which it is

Josh Moss

[vaguely-concerned]

the genuine warmth and amused affection in emmrich's little chuckle at the second mourn watch background option here does something to my heart. I love you too, emmrich. also possibly a quote from the watcher oaths? "To always watch over the boundaries of death, and measure the dreaming sea."

man I love the mourn watch. these bitches love poetry. fucking insufferable classics major goths of thedas (wildly affectionate)

[torchiiko]

2 dialtown thoughts before i nap

gingis character development is so interesting. they kinda need to experience every route to rlly hammer it in i think but its fascinating that when doing the speed dating theyre put off by everyone only doing it to gain smth, showing that despite their urgency to get into the fair & lay eggs they do actually yearn for smth More. they even say it outright in olivers route, they had a mutual agreement that benefitted them both & yet feelings changed & theyve grown attached. its like subconsciously they craved companionship even if they couldnt recognize that bc they were so convinced they were content all on their own

the choice to give norm a sticky note face is also very interesting to me, bc dog couldve just left it at a plain paper bag. the choice to have gingi hallucinate different expressions is also interesting, bc none of the other characters rlly have readable expressions given their object heads. karen can emote the most with her paper tray & such, but norm gets proper expressions in the form of drawn faces. its a rlly interesting way to highlight the separation between him & everyone else, a reminder that he does in fact Have a Face in a way no one else does

[age-of-moonknight]

“The Moon Warrior,” Marvel 85th Anniversary Special (Vol. 1/2024), #1.

Writer and artist: Yuji Kaku; Special thanks to Ken Kunito

[ardentpoop]

nothing that anyone in this fandom has to say about this scene could possibly interest me but I do enjoy the little anecdote they spin here. my dad also had that effect on people 😀

[existennialmemes]

I'm prepared to be Cancelled™ over this, but rejecting linguistic prescriptivism means letting people pronounce "GIF" however they want

[blinkbones]

me hunting white whale: this is very hard, i just busted my health. glad i will never do anything that hard ever again. cant wait to get job 1 and relax

me finishing job 1: ...........that was very hard. i haven't recovered. at least i am paid. cant wait to get job 2 and relax

manager telling me about upcoming job 2: it will be very hard

[laromp3]

Houdini - Foster The People

[skydaemon]

absolutely nuts that when the first boyz 4 now episode of bob's burgers aired it was 2013, aka the very peak of one direction mania, and you could obviously identify the links to 1d and the boy bands of the 90s, 00s, and early 10s. whereas someone watching for the first time today might not even recognise what's being parodied because it's been over a decade. bonkers.

[stillthesunkenstars]

shoutout to my GOAT @setaregan who is one of the kindest smartest most articulate person I've ever known !!!!!!! Without your tag comments and friendship I would NOT have started drawing the kind of narrative illustrations that I do now 😭😭!!!!!!!!!!!

[pagesofkenna]

how do short story writers not aggressively talk about all the little tricks they pulled in everything they write, if anyone asked me what my favorite little bit is of the thing i just finished my answer would be twice as long as the story itself

[charkyzombicorn]

Selkie au headcannon

They liked Caethes more than Nika, when they were still above earth, and able to listen, they realized caethes was doing so much more for the world than Nika (who was just goofing at the time) was.

They did know this but they were also confident Caethes could inspire Nika to work with them (the pining was honestly out of left field Nika's never done that before). It was also a bit urgent since mortals were gaining power and they realized they had no idea what humans thought and felt, because they are incomprehensibly old, and Nika had the spirit of working with humans but also not understanding anything but laughter meant he couldn't be the Only mortal-immortal translator

[rafasbiscuits]

no, no, it's NOT passing the torch guys.

STOP I DONT WANT TO HEAR IT. RAFA IS NOT PASSING THE TORCH TO ANYBODY, RAFAS AMAZING THE WAY HE IS!! IDC I REFUSE TO BELIEVE IN ALL THIS. Rafael Nadal is not passing the torch. I'm a bitch. I know. I'm being so pissy about it. I know!!!

But how will I ever move on from Novak/Rafa/Roger's era?? Idk, maybe it's just me, but idk how people move on from the big 3 era so fast now that the new era is starting?? Like?? TEACH ME. I feel like such a bitch about it.

I'm happy for Carlitos, I really, genuinely am. I cried for him, I cheered for him and I really like him and i am so so proud of him. But I'm not ready for his era to start yet. In fact, in all of my honesty and truth revealed, I don't want it to start so fast.

I wish the Big 3 era will stay forever and never end. So why and how, are people moving on so fast? Do they want to see it end before they even end it?? all these videos of passing the torch and all this new era shit. Can't we appreciate Novak and Rafa right now while they are still here and still playing? Soon enough, in a blink of an eye, they'll be gone.

They'll be retired and I thought that people would appreciate them more in their last moments. I know they won't retire this time around, though Rafa will next year and I'm still so upset, and Novak will probably retire in like..5 years. Tops. And Andy too.

And soon all the new gen will take over, I'll be fricking 20+ then, and I won't see that familiar face I always see in my childhood anymore. I won't hear about Rafa's latest injuries, and his grunts, and his little quirks that the media love to point out, I won't hear about another Novak drama of breaking rackets, I won't hear about Novak winning everything anymore and pissing everybody off.

I won't hear the Novak fans and Rafa fans fighting anymore, about the goat debates etc. I'm going to miss the fedal posts that are still around despite the fact that there is only one left still playing.

I don't want it to end.

So how are the people I see on Instagram and everything, how are they so excited for this new era to take over and how are they so excited for Rafa and Novak's (and Roger's) reign to end?

IM- UGH.

(I'm just ranting but that's what Tumblr is for okay, apologies)

[skitty-kirby]

I might've started a wave of something... Others in my footsteps...

I'm excited to see how it goes. >v>

[iscratchdoors]

i want soooo badly to put non english speaking gamers in a lab and study the silly little dialects they develop to talk about games that are entirely in english its sooooo fun

[laromp3]

Call It What You Want - Foster The People