#orenda records

[burlveneer-music]

Mat Muntz - Phantom Islands - chamber skronk?

Bridging the worlds of contemporary composition, classic free jazz, and obscure folk traditions, Phantom Islands employs diverse sounds to construct a unified, ethereal landscape. The record is the leader debut of New York-based composer, bassist, and bagpiper Mat Muntz (of The Vex Collection), whose use of the unique Croatian bagpipe primorski meh serves as the music’s centerpiece. The instrument’s brazen timbre and alien tuning are anchored by ghostly, microtonal orchestrations for winds, guitar, and percussion, executed with sensitivity and dynamism by a skilled cast of improvisers.

 The band features up-and-coming luminaries of the East Coast scene, including Yuma Uesaka on clarinet (Marilyn Crispell, Anna Webber, Ocelot) and Xavier Del Castillo on tenor sax (Adam O’Farrill’s Stranger Days). Guitarist Alec Goldfarb, oboist Pablo O’Connell, and drummer Michael Larocca complete the sextet to create richly textured collective improvisations. The title Phantom Islands refers to nonexistent landmasses which were recorded on nautical maps for centuries, often with bizarre, “here be dragons” associations. By using this concept of “haunted geography” to channel maritime mythologies from around the world - Croatia, Bahrain, Okinawa - Muntz’s compositions render a correspondingly haunted musical vocabulary: a folk music from nowhere.            

Mat Muntz - primorski meh, bass, compositions Xavier Del Castillo - tenor saxophone Alec Goldfarb - guitar Michael Larocca - drums Pablo O'Connell - oboe Yuma Uesaka - clarinets


Art by C.M. Kösemen

[ubomag-blog1]

Rose Haze Lead Singer Kate Ramsey and Guitarist Ruben Gonzales To Release ‘Contemplations in the Desert’

Rose Haze Lead Singer Kate Ramsey and Guitarist Ruben Gonzales To Release ‘Contemplations in the Desert’

By Aaris A. SchroederEditor-In-ChiefCheck out Oakland, CA Indie DreamPop singer-songwriter Kate Ramsey and guitarist Ruben Gonzalez, both of Rose Haze as they step through boundaries and dare to release something never done before with “Contemplations in the Desert,” a Moody Experimental album that seemingly appears to be a soundtrack to a film yet to be released.Contemplations in the Desert is…

[studentofetherium]

who are some very cool obscure artists (illustrators, musicians, writers or more)?

stream NOICE by Alexander Noice on Orenda Records

[orendarecords]

World-Renowned Percussionist Randy Gloss Releases his Second Solo album, "...The Ayes Have It, Vol. II: Self-Portraits in Percussion" on Orenda Records

For decades, percussionist Randy Gloss has been recognized as one of the world’s leading hand percussion virtuosi, with an astounding breadth of knowledge and cultural understanding. An expert in musical traditions from across the globe, he brings a deep and expansive approach to rhythm and percussive sounds as he once again dives into personal exploration. As Gloss’s new solo album’s title suggests, “…The Ayes Have It” Vol. II: Self-Portraits in Percussion is, on one hand, a seamless continuation and companion to Vol. I (released on Orenda Records in 2015), while on the other, a stand-alone narrative, showcasing new directions, different facets, instruments, and ideas not explored on the first. On both, Randy Gloss explores an extensive palette of sonic possibilities through a deeply reflective and personal approach, with the world of percussion and rhythm as brush and canvas, utilizing the double LP vinyl record format as it’s frame.

A protégé of renowned percussion vanguard John Bergamo and longtime student of tabla maestro Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri, Randy Gloss is a percussionist whose background performing several modalities of hand drums, contemporary percussion, and drum set has led to his involvement in many innovative ensembles that fuse world music with new music and jazz.  Most notable for his work with Hands On’Semble, a percussion group devoted to the art of hand drumming created by John Bergamo in 1997 (with Randy Gloss, Andrew Grueschow, and Austin Wrinkle) and multiple recipient of Drum! Magazine Reader’s Poll Award for Best Percussion Ensemble and Best Percussion Album, Gloss has performed and lectured throughout North and South America, Europe, and Asia at many of the world’s premier percussion and world music festivals, music schools and conservatories. Randy has also worked with an extensive array of world renowned artists including: reggae superstar Ziggy Marley, violin icon L. Shankar, pianist Larry Karush, The Lian Ensemble; percussionist Adam Rudolph’s “Go: Organic Orchestra” and world percussion group Vashti; slide veena virtuoso Chitravina Ravikiran, Balkan/Indian maestros Aashish Khan, Swapan Chaudhuri, Miroslav Tadic, Vlatko Stefanovski; Romanian pan flute virtuoso Damian Draghici; overtone singer David Hykes; Turkish musician Latif Bolat; Vinny Golia’s Large Ensemble; pianist Ardeshir Rohani; flautist Nicole Mitchell, pianist Dan Siegel, and South Indian percussionist Poovalur Sriji to name only some.  He has also contributed percussion for film soundtracks by composers Danny Elfman, Harry Gregson-Williams, and Gary Chang, and is on faculty at California Institute of the Arts, where he has taught since the late 90’s

On “…The Ayes Have It” Vol. II: Self-Portraits in Percussion Randy Gloss brings all his experience to bear in an incredible set of solo compositions featuring a dizzying array of percussive instruments, including aFrame (electrorganic frame drum); tabla; frame drums; metal restaurant pot; mason jar; water; double row mark tree; bamboo mark tree; vibraslap; gongs; tuned gongs; cymbals; bells; antique cymbal with jingles; dafs; dhavul/ tappan; handsonic; riq; drumset; pandeiro; cuica; congas; gankogui; dholak; vibraphone; cheng-cheng; reco-reco; bull roars; and wind wands. This gorgeous double LP, mixed by John Baffa and mastered by Stephen Marsh, is presented as a limited-edition double gatefold two LP vinyl album with accompanying booklet and digital download card, original artwork by Eron Rauch, and extensive liner notes by Randy Gloss.

[beginningspod]

It's time for Beginnings, the podcast where writer and performer Andy Beckerman talks to the comedians, writers, filmmakers and musicians he admires about their earliest creative experiences and the numerous ways in which a creative life can unfold.

On today's episode I talk to musician Alexander Noice. Based in Los Angeles, Alex is a composer, guitarist, producer and bandleader who has toured the world performing with many notable artists from Charlie Haden to Art Ensembles of Chicago’s Famoudou Don Moye. From 2008-2013, he led the highly revered art rock/punk trio Falsetto Teeth, and in 2016, he released his first solo electronic album called Music Made With Voices. His newest project is simply called NOICE, and their self-titled debut album was just released last week on Orenda Records!

I'm on Twitter here and you can get the show with:

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[thevennreview]

PHOEBE BRIDGERS. If Orenda Fink, Julien Baker and Saddle Creek Records (circa 2000) had a baby.

I first heard Phoebe Bridgers track Motion Sickness on Nashville’s independent radio station Lightning 100 and was struck not only by how great of a song it was but also by how much it sounded liked it could have easily been released on Saddle Creek Record’s 2000(ish) era roster of great acts, particularly with Azure Ray’s Orenda Fink and Maria Taylor. Stranger in the Alps, her first full length, is chalked full of excellent songs and even a guest vocal appearance from former Mr. Saddle Creek himself, Conor Oberst.

www.phoebefuckingbridgers.com

Click on the diagram for a sample track from the artist.

[blu3pers]

Dear Winter, (Layout)

An Isekai!AU that isn’t involved with SAGAU or the Creator AU. I’m kinda sad that this is last but I’ll probably work on this whenever I want to write some domestic fluff. ‘Dear Winter,’ is supposed to be lighthearted while still containing some sort of plot. Just like the the other, here’s the layout.

The idea is already based on another fic called ‘Orenda.’ I highly recommend reading that if you want a daughter lol

MC, gender-neutral, is a young parent who works from home. Although they have a degree in engineering, they work as video editor for a rich influencer.

To keep an eye on their adoptive son, Winter, they work from home.

Wanting to look for a better job, they decide to start looking for a daycare late at night. That’s when a blackout starts and a whirlwind begins. A magical force begins to lift the room and send them into the Genshin world.

After everything calms down, there is a paper left behind on the desk.

“You made a promise. Please honor it in this world.”

Though you don’t share the same blood, you made an oath to give your son the life you never had. Even if you live in another world, you’ll be there for him, but you’re beginning to see that he isn’t… quite human.

Like in my Imposter!AU, the MC already has some background info.:

They found their son as a toddler in an alley during the holidays and named him Winter as a reminder.

Winter calls them ‘Baba.’ I didn’t wanna go with Mom or Dad because I am trying to keep it gender neutral. (Open to other ideas tho)

MC has a journal and photo album dedicated entirely to their son.

They also like to collect old time records. (The Genshin world has a record player so I have a few ideas with that)

Cryo vision, scythe

Main goal is to find out what is happening to their son.

[fictionfromafar]

My favourite fifteen fabulous novels published in 2021 from around the world

While the worst of lockdown is hopefully behind us, the restrictions in place early in the year certainly opened up the opportunities to read more this year. I hope you all found the chance to do so. Here are some of the books that I particularly enjoyed reading this year which I have listed in alphabetical order by the author’s name.  While I have read some books set in Britain and the USA, I have preferred to focus on books set in other parts of the world. Where the book is a translation, the translator’s name is given:

Girls Who Lie by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir, translated by Victoria Cribb, Orenda Books

2021 has been a record year for the number of translated titles from Iceland, I have read 8 yet this is my favourite. Ægisdóttir showed fantastic promise with The Creak On The Stairs but solidifies her reputation as one of the finest crime writers in Europe as she harnesses the atmospheric settings of her country without being reliant upon them, she uses multiple time periods effectively, develops her characters’ traits and builds suspense without an implausible body count in this story of the investigation of a missing woman. 

Brickmakers by Selva Almada, translated by Annie McDermott, Charco Press

Argentine author Almada has been at the forefront of the rise in popularity of Edinburgh-based Charco Press and her third novel for the publisher tells the story of a family feud in a small rural village. We follow the legacy left to Pajaro Tamai and Marciano Miranda by their fathers who have left them predestined to clash at some time in a very claustrophobic and masochistic setting. A book of extraordinary tension. 

The Untamable by Guilermo Arriaga, translated by Frank Wynne and Jessie Mendez Sayer, Maclehose Press

The longest book I’ve read this year, but also one of the most rewarding, this story is superbly written. The Amores Peros screenwriter captivates in this coming of age story of Juan Guillermo living in the barrios of 1960s Mexico City. Juan has to tackle both criminal gangs and Catholic fundamentalists as he seeks revenge on the murder of his brother Carlos and the subsequent loss of his entire family. 

In The Shadow Of The Fire by Hervé Le Corre, translated by Tina Kover, Europa Editions

An epic historical fiction novel set during the time of the Paris Commune. It features a criminal investigation but it is so much more than that, as it captures the sounds, smells and tastes of life in a crumbling and anarchic capital city. The idealisms, the solidarity and the imagery feel so real and so captivating while the deaths of which there are many are so bloody. 

The Corpse Flower by Anne Mette Hancock, translated by Tara Chase, Crooked Lane Books/Swift Press

Published in the UK in March 2022, Danish author Hancock’s debut is the first Kaldan and Schafer Mystery and a gripping psychological thriller. I have read many Nordic Noir stories this year, yet I really felt this story went somewhere that very few other stories do - and I don’t just mean the French locations that some of the characters appear in. It’s a compulsive read and I’m already keenly awaiting a follow-up.

Silent Parade by Keigo Higashino, translated by Giles Murray, Little Brown

While Bullet Train may capture the attention of the critics, it would be wrong to overlook Higashino’s finest novel since The Devotion Of Suspect X. Police detective Kusanagi is forced to bring his personal friend Detective Galileo into the case of the discovery of the body of a missing teenager in a plot that places a honkaku mystery within a contemporary setting.

Lightseekers by Femi Kayode, Raven Books

Inspired by a true story, Lightseekers follows developments after three young students are brutally murdered in a Nigerian university town. It sees investigative psychologist Philip Taiwo hired by one of the boy’s father’s in order to discover the truths behind their deaths. Taiwo discovers a very different location where he has to discover whether it was tradition and superstition or economics and jealousy that were the prevailing factors.

No Honour by Awais Khan, Orenda Books

A beautifully written story where sixteen-year-old Abida has to leave her village in rural Pakistan due to breaking age-old rules that the inhabitants have to stand by. She has to move to the overpopulated and dangerous city of Lahore where her life continues to take a downward spiral. No Honour highlights the contrasts in modern-day Pakistan where Abida’s father Jamil has to try to rescue his daughter. 

Velvet Was The Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Jo Fletcher Books

Known more for her speculative fiction stories rather than crime fiction, New York Times bestseller Moreno-Garcia pays homage to earlier Mexican writers such as Rafael Bernal with this superb story set in Mexico City in 1970. It focuses on oddball outsider Maite, whose wealthy neighbour disappears suddenly, and criminal for hire Elvis. This is a delightfully easily readable book that disguises quite a complicated plot. 

Oxygen by Sacha Naspini, translated by Clarissa Botsford, Europa Editions

This is such a memorable book that follows the arrest of a man for the abduction and fourteen-year detention of a young woman as the story follows the impact of one man’s crimes on those he leaves behind. Luca has to live everything that his father has done but he faces obsessions of his own. Laura was imprisoned for years but has to adjust to freedom again while her mother had started to rebuild her own life. Oxygen ventures where so few novels go. 

The Foreign Girls by Sergio Olguín, translated by Miranda France, Bitter Lemon Press

This is the second in the Veronica Rosenthal series focussed on a hard-living Buenos Aires-based journalist.  Rosenthal encounters two European girls while on a break in northern Argentina. When they are both found dead she has to discover the reason for their deaths in a complexly plotted story that focuses on the common occurrence of femicide that has sadly blighted Olguín’s home country. 

The Transparency Of Time by Leonardo Padura, translated by Anna Kushner, Bitter Lemon Press

The stories of retired Inspector Mario Conde can often be seen as a reflection on the contemporary state of Cuba as a whole and are always absorbing reads. This time Padura expands the story to include some imagery from the crusades and the Spanish civil war while Conde is required to assist the investigation of two murders apparently causes by the theft of a statue. 

People Like Them by Samira Sedira, translated by Lara Vergnaud, Raven Books

A beautiful Alpine location sees the terrible massacre of a family of four. Told from the view of the killer’s wife, Anna Guillot is made to reflect on what drove her husband to carry out such an unimaginable act. Sedira’s English language debut is a compelling story that effectively examines how a toxic combination of low self-esteem, suppressed racism, class envy, and financial tensions can change the behaviours of a seemingly ordinary man. 

The Scorpion’s Head by Hilde Vandermeeren, translated by Laura Watkinson, Pushkin Press/Walter Presents

This fast-paced thriller is the first English language release by a prolific Flemish writer. A contract killer suddenly has a conscience when he is tasked with killing a young woman and her son. Soon the hunter becomes the hunted as he looks to protect them and break up the organisation he has long been part of.  

Punishment Of A Hunter by Yulia Yakovleva, translated by Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp, Pushkin Vertigo

Set in 1930s Leningrad, detective Vasily Zaitsev is given the responsibility to investigate a set of apparently unrelated murders, later on, he discovers missing works of art. Within the backdrop of Stalinist purges he has to try to maintain the trust of his superiors while knowing he cannot trust those who are supposed to be working for him. In spite of an unusual setting this is a highly rewarding story. 

Please check out my reviews of these titles.

Here are another 15 books that I really enjoyed:

Hotel Catagena by Simone Buchholz

The Other Mother by Michel Bussi

Riccardino by Andreas Camilleri

The Measure Of Time by Gianrico Carofiglio

The Assistant by Kjell Ola Dahl

Repetance by Eloísa Díaz

The Butterfly House by Katrine Engberg

The Commandments by Óskar Guðmundsson

Bullet Train by Kotaro Isaka

Into The Mouth Of A Lion by A B Kyazze

All Human Wisdom by Pierre Lemaitre

The Secret Life Of Writers by Guilluame Musso

Cold As Hell by Lilja Sigurðardóttir

The Doll by Yrsa Sigurdardottir

Geiger by Gustaf Skordeman

Let me know your favourites!

[madamlaydebug]

The connection of the Moon with the Astral Light however is quite valid, most authorities on this point being in complete accord. Astrologically the Moon is

the planet symbolising change and flux and the continual alterations of forms, the shifting of conditions. On the Astral Plane the trained vision has recorded that forms change their shape, colour and size

there in the most extraordinary way ; and to the novice in Skrying it is a most disconcerting and puzzling phenomenon to have one set of perceptions fade away under one's very nose, to be replaced by another shifting of scenes to which the same fate very soon after occurs.

It is a fluctuating kaleidoscope of phenomena ; the figures, forms and energies being never for a moment quiescent. Hence to establish a relationship between the Moon and the Astral Light is a perfectly obvious correspondence. Moreover, it was observed that the Moon did not shine by its own inward and self-generated light, but reflected the radiance from the Sun. Yesod, the sphere of Luna, on the Tree of Life is placed immediately under Tiphareth, the sphere of the Sun, -of other highly significant reasons too numerous to mention here accounting for this association of the Moon with the Astral Light, although study and magical experience will prove the validity and accuracy of the correspondence. In the legends of every people, even the most primitive savage tribes, there enters the conception of the Astral Light as the medium of thought vibrations and of magical acts.

The Melanesians of the South Sea Isles believe, as Professor Bronislaw Malinowsky records in his booklet on Myths, in a storehouse or a reservoir of supernatural or magical force which they have called mana and, like a similar force conceived as Orenda by the North American Indians, is believed to have its centre in the Moon.

_Eliphas Levi

Wishing you all a magical fullmoon 🌝♎️

Artist @luminokaya

[burlveneer-music]

Jacqueline Kerrod - 17 Days in December - acoustic & electric harp improvisations

Classically trained from the age of 9, Kerrod has had a vibrant and varied career as a freelancer in New York City. She has played principal harp with top orchestras and performed with elite chamber groups, contemporary music ensembles, and pop superstars like Anohni, Rufus Wainwright and Kanye West. But although she consistently worked at a very high level, these opportunities failed to provide an outlet for her own creative voice. “Although I had dabbled in improvisation and writing my own music, it took a back seat as I continued my studies in the US and began my professional career in NYC. Even so, that little voice in my head was there, reminding me of the music I was really drawn to and my desire to make it myself.” Kerrod’s journey of personal sonic discovery has now yielded her debut solo album, 17 Days in December, due out December 3, 2021 via Los Angeles-based Orenda Records. The album results from a month-long series of daily improvisations on acoustic and electric harp that Kerrod undertook in the basement of her home in Princeton at the height of the Covid-19 quarantine. But its origins date back long before the pandemic, to a six-year journey in a pop duo and the inspiration of working with master composer/improviser Anthony Braxton.

“In retrospect, these seventeen improvisations feel like a personal celebration,” Kerrod concludes. “At the time I felt like the top blew off and the music came tumbling out. I felt an incredible amount of joy, truth, warmth, clarity, and reverence for all the sounds – including those I was taught not to make! I want to continue reveling in that feeling, alone and with others, in whatever forms that may take.”

[airmanisr]

RCAF Sabre S/N 23096 by Robert Sullivan Via Flickr: RCAF "Sabre" S/N 23096 has just arrived at Boeing Field for its new life as a chase plane in the flight test division. Internet sources giving varying dates when Boeing took delivery – 1962 or December 1967. I say ’62: The Canadian Red Ensign on the tail was replaced by the Maple Leaf in 1965. Okay, maybe they were slow in adding the new flag, but there is more… In the background of photo 2 there is no I-5 freeway. By Dec. 1967, this highway had been completed for almost a year. In 1962, the construction had yet to begin near Boeing Field. Jet Fighter The F-86 "Sabre", built by North American, is best known for its outstanding combat performance during the Korean War. First flown in 1947, the "Sabre" was the United States' first fighter to fly supersonic -- in a dive. Starting in December of 1950, the Russian-made MiG-15 and the F-86 met in combat over Korea. With superior training, experience, and aircraft performance, "Sabre" pilots posted a ten-to-one victory ratio over the similar MiG-15. The last U.S. Sabre was retired from the Air National Guard in 1965. F-86s were built under license in Japan, Italy, Canada, and Australia. The Museum's example, called a CL-13B, is one of 1,815 "Sabre's" built by Canadair. It flew with the Royal Canadian Air Force until 1974, and served The Boeing Company as a chase plane for their flight test division until donated in 1991. Canada: Coast-to-Coast In 1956, Canadian Sabre pilots set out to break the cross-Canada speed record held by a Royal Canadian Navy T-33. R.J. "Chick" Childerhose and Ralph Annis refueled halfway, in Gimli, Manitoba. The 1,400-mile (2,240 km) second leg from Gimli to Halifax stretched the Sabre's range to the limit. While test-flying that leg, Annis landed in Halifax with eight gallons of fuel. Childerhose had five. Yet the official cross-Canada dash went off without a hitch. The "Sabre's", flying on fumes, arrived in Halifax five hours after takeoff from Vancouver, shattering the old record by an hour and twenty minutes. Manufacturer: Canadair Model: CL-13B Sabre Mk. 6 Year: 1954 Serial Number: 23363 Registration: N8686F Wingspan: 38.00ft Length: 38ft Height: 15ft Wing Area: 302.30ft² Empty Weight: 10,618lbs Gross Weight: 14,613lbs Maximum Speed: 606mph Cruise Speed: 489mph Power Plant: One Avro Orenda Mark 14 engine with 7,275 lbs thrust

[freddy-ryland]

⏰ 25

Where you can find knowledge, you can find a friend.

It seemed to be the idea behind Ravenclaw, and years later after being told that Freddy couldn’t help think that it was true as she stepped out of the Library of San Francisco, the shimmer of the door tingled her magic. Her visit with Quinn was as usual, the best, but she really had to get back to her job. Standing in the busy street she tilted her head back and took in the scent of rolling fog and sea-salt, the hot dogs from the women pushing rolling carts and the jumble of words around her.

Freddy let her Sight take hold, quick flashes of what she was looking for.

Alcatraz. 

The Rock.

The greatest prison known to man, and the site of a very powerful curse. Powerful enough that MACUSA had put a reward out that anyone who breaks it gets a hefty reward and the praise. But that call had gone out in her 7th year, and was still not yet broken. She’d heard awful tales, bodies sucked into blackholes, crusebreakers spat back onto shore while the muggle locals tutted over seafaring tourists testing the waters. MACUSA had at one point tried to hand out tests to qualify, but with no-one coming back to tell the tale of what was happening, then they couldn’t exactly test it. 

So the challenge remained, who would escape the rock alive?

Quinn had raised her brows at the unusual challenge, but had only offered to help her research in a show of support. Her unwavering faith as deep as it was in Hogwarts. Freddy had spent a year after Hogwarts touring the world, having met a lovely Ranger in London during one of her excursions who owned a magical circus of all things. With her Library Card and access to the world at large Freddy had begun to use her Sight properly, and Unspeakable Cassandra had thrown a fit when their offer of ‘employment’ was thrown back in their face. It caused quite a stir, but with a Lib-Con card in hand, and the world at her feet Freddy raced for an unknown finish line. Today the finish line was this curse, and she knew exactly who to meet up with.

Madeline Sunby was sipping a boba tea and scrolling through her phone when Freddy found her, the bouncy blonde hopping up to press happy kisses to her cheeks and leave the sticky scent of macha on her skin. If anyone knew something about this Maddie would, her brother had been an Unspeakable and Finlay Sunby had maintained his sister was far more brilliant than him despite being a squib. The important part being she wasn’t a squib. She was a ward breaker, she could reach into magical wards and unscrew them, crack them open like a fissure, slice them in half, all with a turn of her wrist and some very focused magic.

“What have you got to tell me Mads?” Reaching out to Maddie Sunby was always a risk, she ran with a tough crowd, magical Covens operated as Gangs out here, Freddy knew that the one Maddie was in was a little less harsh but handing out trade secrets was a no-no. So they were tugged into neutral territory, FiDi was hated and this boba spot in the Tenderloin remained unclaimed turf. 

“It’s a 7 pronged curse I can tell you that,” she wasn’t a curse breaker per-say, just wards and locks, trying to break curses was Freddy’s thing and Maddie knew better than to deal in curses, “Got some real Indigenous flair to it to, I suspect it was something they left after they took over the Rock in the 70′s.”

Indigenous magic. Freddy didn’t deal with that often, and it was rarely taught. 

“I don’t think whatever is in there was hidden in the 70′s though, too new, someone had a Curse Key and laid it out.”

“So it is breakable.” You didn’t have Curse Keys if you didn’t want to get in.

“Yeah. Not sure how though.”

“Thanks Maddie,” the bell rang and a tall Indian woman stood in the doorway, flicking her head at Maddie, “I think that’s your cue.”

“Yeah, we got a fight night down in Sutro Baths, if you don’t get killed make an appearance and ask for the Golden Girls Coven. They’ll seat you where you won’t get blood on your posh skirt,” the blonde put on a terrible accent while Freddy laughed and she flounced out the door. 

Taking a boat to Alcatraz was as easy as forking over 45$ American dollars and ignoring screaming kids. Getting to where the curse was, now that was even easier, slipping from the tour guide and downing an invisibility potion and slinking under towards the catacombs of the old prison. There were a ton of ghosts, it made Freddy wistful for Linden of all people they’d probably love it. Maybe she ought to write a letter, Freddy had dealt with a water spirit trapped behind a curse a few months ago the Slytherin might be interested in, but the Hufflepuff packed that thought away. It didn’t take long for night to fall, and for the trail to the curse was open.

Freddy was met at the door by a hooded figure, and she raised an eyebrow.

“Sorry, were you going to try and break it tonight.”

“Name please,” the man pulled his hood back, covered in piercings he looked more like a groupie for Cthulhu, “I’m from MACUSA, we always record who came down here to die, so we know where to send the blood.”

Pleasant.

“Fredricka Ryland,” she flashed a Library card, “I work with Lib-Con, and do my own cursebreaking for hire. Heard you guys were hiring. You can send my winnings to my account at Gringotts, in English galleons of course.”

“Of course,” she could hear the sarcasm drip off his forked tongue, before stepping aside, “All who enter here find only death, and await destruction.”

“Thank you!” she brightened at him before bounding down the steps while he shook his head. 

The curse was annoying to look at, all fine layered lines and pictographs. It was odd, very odd. Freddy stuffed her hand into a small pouch at her waist, it was fine grain chalk, bright white and spelled to cling to magic. Holding it up to her lips she blew, and the powder settled in the air.

It was a 3 dimensional curse, 7 interlocking spells, you had to break all of them simultaneously to break the curse. 

Tricky. Tricky. Tricky.

Freddy walked the half circle around it, tilting her head this way and that. The curses were for blasting, hypothermia, a... life-support curse? Freddy continued to follow the powdered strings of the magic as they looped into a detailed image of a spiders web. What in the world.

This curse wasn’t designed to keep people out. 

It was meant to keep something in.

Freddy lifted her hands and held her wand in one hand, and her conduit in another.

Then she began to write, counter runes and counter lines, settling the fine black magic until it ran concurrent with the lines in the air, holding the magic only a centimeter from where the curse pulsated.

This was the hard part, matching the resonance of the curse with the resonant of her counter. One wrong vibration or timing and Freddy would be crushed under the weight of backfired magic. Eyes open wide she let out a steady whistle and the black lines began to vibrate, higher and higher she continued the sound until the lines were trembling so fast they seemed still. Then with a sudden shrill uptick and a twist of her wrists the counter fell onto the curse.

Freddy held her breath and then in a shower of grey embers, cold and dusting over her skin, the curse broke and the magic slunk away. The rock she previously thought was a rock began to melt, to reveal a finely crafted mouth and pitched brows, warm dewy skin covered in the grey frost she’d created, exposed to the freezing Bay area air. Her hair was braided neat and tight, there was a line of red ocher over her eyelids and then they blinked. Freddy leaned over, and smiled.

“Hi?”

The woman blinked and went to move, but her muscles trembled.

“Where... am I?”

“Alcatraz.”

The girl blinked and huffed, “So they did it huh? They really fuckin--” Freddy’s head began to ache just as she touched her and her eyes began to glow. The other woman gasped as Freddy pitched forward.

It was a fight, the girl but dressed this time, surrounded by several people. Each of them vicious, each other them swinging something cruel, chains and bats Freddy could tell were spelled conduits before they pounced upon her leaving the girl a bloodied mess on the ground. Freddy blinked and stared at the girl.

“You were attacked, this,” Freddy rubbed the grey frost between her fingers, “was something meant to heal you?”

“I think so, I don’t remember. My Coven,” oh she was a Coven member, “has this girl who does healing charms, but they probably don’t exist anymore. The Coven wars were in full swing when I... how long have I been out?” she finished in a rush. She was probably right, Coven wars often ended bloodied and fast, her family probably assumed her dead once they learned she was running with one. 

“When was the last thing you remember? TIme wise that is.”

“Someone tried to assassinate Biden?” Freddy whistled low.

“Ya, its been around 8 years for you then,” Freddy hummed under her breath, “What's your name anyway?”

“Tullulah Youngblood.”

“Are you related to Orenda Youngblood perchance?” Freddy laughed as she pulled the girl up, who quaked on no doubt aching legs.

“My cousin how did you--”

“I worked with the Rangers for a while after I graduated Hogwarts. Listen, lets get you out of here. Think you can stand some apparation.”

Tullulah smiled and looked Freddy over, her stomach fluttered, hard and fast like when she used to look at Danai.

“I think I’ll go anywhere with my savior.”

Freddy flushed, “Flatterer, hold on,” then with a tuck in her navel, and the taller woman tucked into her neck she flashed into the room she’d rented. Depositing the sickly girl on the bed Freddy sent a missive off to MACUSA, she’d broken the curse, but somehow, as she watched the girl stretched out on the bed, still wonderfully naked and grinning. Well, maybe she didn’t care for the prize.

“So you worked with the Rangers?” Freddy turned and began to shuck off her cursebreaking clothes, or as her friends liked to call them her Indiana Jones fit and found the girl wrapped in a blanket. “Mind getting us food?”

“Yeah I’ll order, Um....” Freddy tapped out on her phone ordering pizza, meatless included. “Worked with the Rangers, I’m a freelance cursebreaker, work with Lib-Con, I was a fortune teller.” The other woman's’ eyes continued to leap up her face. 

“Shit, tell me everything.” 

So Freddy did, and began to weave her life in pieces, trying to ignore that fluttering in her stomach, and the way her eyes began to itch, but she shoved it down.

No, she didn’t want a vision to tell her where this was going.

She wanted this adventure to be a surprise.

[berlysbandcamp]

In Spring 2018 Keno aka David Hanke from Lübeck (Germany) and Tristan de Liège from Los Angeles met through mutual friends. Their similar taste in music quickly led them to join forces and create music together. What started with a single track, turned quickly into an EP and at the end it became a full album. Although the two have never met in person, the music they created took shape via sending recordings back and forth, text, email, and the occassional phone call over the atlantic ocean. This manner of collaboration inspired the album title 'Transatlantyk' 'Speak the Language' is the first single taken off their album 'Transatlantyk' and features the wonderful vocals and lyrics by French singer Elodie Rama who joined them for three tracks on the album.

[diyeipetea]

HDO 397. Vinny Golia - Steve Swell - Jason Robinson [Podcast]

HDO 397. Vinny Golia – Steve Swell – Jason Robinson [Podcast]

  Tres grabaciones, muy recomendables todas ellas, en las que la composición tiene un papel esencial, y con formaciones más amplias que lo habitual en los terrenos de la “vanguardia” jazzística (nótense las comillas), suenan en HDO 397: Trajectory (The Vinny Golia Sextet; Ninewinds Records & Orenda Records. 2CD); Music for Six Musicians. Hommage A Olivier Messiaen (Steve Swell; Silkheart); Reson…

[metaphysikal]

MANITOU

Manitou, akin to the Iroquois Orenda, is the spiritual and fundamental life force among Algonquian groups in Native American mythology. It is omnipresent and manifests everywhere: organisms, the environment, events, etc. Aashaa monetoo means "good spirit", otshee monetoo means "bad spirit." When the world was created, the Great Spirit gave the land to the indigenous peoples, the Shawnee in particular.

The term manitou was already in widespread use at the time of early European contact. In 1585, when Thomas Harriot recorded the first glossary of an Algonquian language, Roanoke (Pamlico), he included the word mantóac, meaning "gods". Similar terms are found in nearly all of the Algonquian languages. In some Algonquian traditions, Gitche Manitou refers to a "great spirit" or supreme being. The term has analogues dating to before European contact, and the word uses of gitche and manitou themselves existed prior to contact. After contact, however, Gitche Manitou was adopted by some Anishinaabe Christian groups, such as the Ojibwe, to refer to the monotheistic God of Abrahamic tradition, often due to missionary syncretism.

Algonquian religion acknowledges shamans/medicine men, who used manitou to see the future, change the weather, and heal illness. Ojibwe shamans were primarily healers who used their spiritual connection to cure patients, as illness was believed to be caused by magic and spirits. To communicate with spirits and manipulate manitou, a shaman would enter a trance, induced by singing, dancing, drum beats, or the use of hallucinogens. Non-shamans could also interact with spirits by embarking upon a "vision quest," by means of prayer, fasting, hallucinogens, and removing themselves from the society of others. A person who underwent vision quests would be visited by an animal, voice, or object, which would become their guardian spirit.

In shamanistic tradition, manitous are connected to achieve a desired effect; like plant manitous for healing, or buffalo manitous for a good hunt. In the Anishinaabeg tradition, manidoowag are one aspect of the Great Connection. The Anishinaabeg use the term manidoowish to speak of small animal manidoowag, and manidoons to speak of insect manidoowag. Both manidoowish and manidoons mean "little spirit."

[beginningspod]

It's time for Beginnings, the podcast where writer and performer Andy Beckerman talks to the comedians, writers, filmmakers and musicians he admires about their earliest creative experiences and the numerous ways in which a creative life can unfold.

On today's episode I talk to musician Maria Taylor. Originally from Birmingham, AL, Maria's been playing music for a majority of her life. Her first band, Little Red Rocket, which she formed with Orenda Fink as a teenager, was signed to Geffen in the mid-'90s and eventually morphed into Azure Ray. As Azure Ray, Maria and Orenda released four albums and numerous EPs, mostly on Saddle Creek Records. On her own, Maria has released seven solo albums, both on Saddle Creek and her own label Flower Moon Records, she's contributed music to numerous television soundtracks, and she's collaborated with everyone from Bright Eyes to Moby to Michael Stipe to Daniel Johnston. At the end of October, Azure Ray released Waves, their first new music in over half-a-decade. And it's great!

(Photo by Justin Bieggar or on Insta!)

I'm on Twitter here and you can get the show with:

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