voguingtodanzig

[voguingtodanzig]

Excerpt from No Horizontal Tomorrow

I published my new book-length poem, No Horizontal Tomorrow, on Lulu earlier this month. Below is the third section, for your consideration. --Raymond Cummings

III.

Not the house you heard about, I’m talkin’ bout —

A bronzed bust, immortal and seized, gazing down from a high shelf at someone standing by the patio door, even though there’s no one standing by the patio door.

An eerily precise portrait of Morgan Freeman, his expression on the cusp of curling into a saintly smile, surveying the steps leading down to the main level.

A housecat contemplating an oriole perched in a molting palm tree; the oriole has its head cocked, diffidently, in another direction.

A poster for a concert doubling as its illustrator’s exploratory sketch session — the line work in black Sharpie, the figures densely shaded with pinks and purples, canary yellow splotches erupting at apparent random. It is also, somehow, a collage of very active superhero comic book scenes rendered with a rough, underground comix flair. The block lettering bulges out.

A trio of abstractions, Kente cloth-clad, posing fluidly in place — are they dancing, or celebrating? — within a frame near the kitchen. Mere feet away: the ancient Egyptian version, on a papyrus square that isn’t a papyrus square.

A quilt, its off-brand “L”s and near triangles and almost squares pieced together like a completed puzzle, a myriad procession of patterned blues and purples and stained whites, flowers, leaves, petals, and vines, intensities and recessions.

A still life of yellow wild flowers, overflowing from a teal, handled jug.

A cloth print of the island of St. Thomas, as if sourced from a satellite equipped with a night vision filter, the main island and its satellites ringed with color gradations intended to indicate relative marine shallowness (bays, quays) or mean height above sea level (mountains, rises). It is both tranquil and mildly deranged.

An impressionist, photorealistic watercolor of a long-haired girl treading water in a swimming pool (miniature print, Ellicott City).

A herd of rabbits scampering across a hilly landscape, flowing from the left down, then to the right and circling up to the top, where a man with a cane leads a camel that a woman is riding, in a scene of pointedly forced perspective. The sky in this painting seems especially painted in a non-figurative sense, its blues too blue — a precious mural sky that’s a mere sliver of the entire canvas – while trees gnarled and foal dot the hunter green and dun hills dominating this view. It is difficult to overcome the impression that these rabbits are attacking these travelers, that this is the prelude to some grisly, fabled massacre.

A man and a boy, side by side, stare straight out of a woodcut. The man, goateed, is reserved; he wears glasses with rectangular frames.. The boy – whose glasses frames are curved – is far more exuberant, flashing a toothy grin.

A gauzy netherworld floating somewhere between Heaven and Earth, illuminated by a benevolent sun next to a pastel rainbow and a vanishing moon, nestled within a cool, chromatic haze that glows like the inside of an oyster shell.

A rectangular window looking out upon a color run or the crescendo of a psychedelic symphony, impossibly sensuous paint presented in specks and flicks and squiggles and daubs, dense, layered, four-dimensional — or a leisurely drive-by paintballing pulled over an afternoon. This is forever a new painting, in a constant state of self-reinvention or reinterpretation, with different aspects jumping out each time: deep mystical blues and purples, jagged little streaks of crimson, pensive sunset oranges, scattered punk pinks, greens sprouting everywhere like fresh weeds after a rain shower. Stare long enough and a dark, crooked ridge reveals itself beyond the swirling pyrotechnics, a wavy but unmistakable implication of something stolid and foundational, a ridge line or towering, authoritative cluster of trees. To the left, a mirror.

Abstracted figs, one sliced.

A nautical scene where a cruise ship, a sailboat, and a shipping vessel idle as fluffy clouds and an ethereal sky look on, impassive.

A circle of children, crudely detailed and multiculturally representative, holding hands in a white-gray whirlwind. They have heads but lack faces; this painting looks like how Boards Of Canada covering “It’s A Small World, After All” might sound.

A small canvas where, while green smears dominate, yellows lurk close to the middle. This work should be titled “Chlorophyll study No. 9.” Words and phrases were pasted over its surface to form a haphazard, descending poetry, concluding with: “panting towards the sea.” 

Question: How free are you?

[voguingtodanzig]

Wondering Sound Interview with Clang Quartet, November 2014

My sole Wondering Sound piece ran on the now defunct site in November 2014, almost seven years ago. Life comes at you fast! It’s lived as a cut/paste in a Gmail draft folder ever since. High time it turned up here. Thanks again to Scotty Irving and J. Edward Keyes. -Raymond Cummings

It’s hardly an exaggeration to describe Clang Quartet show as a religious experience. At Ende Tymes 2014, amidst the piercing shriek of electronic noise, Scotty Irving, Clang Quartet’s sole member, lunged forward and back — sometimes wearing a hockey mask decorated with plastic toy food, sometimes convulsing madly while hoisting a cross with a sign that reading “KING OF THE JEWS.” He bashed piles of cymbals, and held aloft a banner (decorated with crime-scene tape and advertisements) announcing “LOVE,” “HOPE,” “FAITH,” and “SALVATION.” His discography, which spans 17 years, is diverse, containing grinding, sample-driven compositions as well as noisy versions of pop-rock standards like The Who‘s “Magic Bus” andAlice Cooper‘s “The Ballad of Dwight Fry.”

Live, Clang Quartet’s sound exists in a state of almost constant evolution. One minute, it’s a blitzkrieg of sharp, spear-like feedback; the next, it’s an enervating squeal that suggests the rubbing of wet balloons, the next, the chattering static of a walkie-talkie. The noisemaking devices Irving deploys, and the order in which he deploys them, vary from set to set. Accordingly, no two sets are exactly alike. Irving’s showmanship is the only through-line.

In conversation, Irving, 47, is nothing like his confrontational live persona — he’s gracious, gregarious and quick to crack a corny joke or five. He and his wife live in Stokesdale, North Carolina, where he works “in the financial division of a car dealership,” a day job that he says keeps him grounded. In an early October telephone interview, Irving talked about how Christianity informs his work in Clang Quartet, the profound influence of Einstürzende Neubauten and what it was like to be profiled in Modern Drummer.

How did you first encounter noise or experimental music?

While watching Night Flight [a 1980s late-night television program which, in its first incarnation, aired on the USA Network, showcasing work by artists operating in a variety of mediums]. They were showing videos MTV would not show. [Host] Lisa Robbins happened to have on a group named Einstürzende Neubauten. Part of me was, “What is this?” and part of me was, “What is this?!? ” It was a slap in the face to me; my idea of “outside of the mainstream” was Motörhead, and this made Motörhead seem tame. A documentary [on videotape] called Kingdom of Noise was my introduction to the Japanese noise scene. Like hearing Einstürzende Neubauten, it changedme. Being able to say that I’ve performed with quite a few people on that videotape is quite a thrill.

What was the first Clang Quartet show like?

It was on a week night. I was so nervous about that show that I sent invitations rather than just let people show up. I’ve never been more nervous about anything, except my wedding. That was 17 years ago this past January; I didn’t think I’d last 17 minutes. [Clang Quartet] has made me more confident as a Christian, as a person in general and as a performer, though I still get a little nervous as I go on stage. I never want to lose that excitement; it’s almost childlike.

Concurrently, I was the drummer for a band called Geezer Lake, which was a constructive time period for me. I learned a lot about music; that was the first band I was ever in where we wrote our own music. It opened a lot of doors for me.

In your performance, a lot of elements come into play: religious signifiers, emotional signifiers, even, in a sense, horror culture. It seems like you’re confronting something, and perhaps vanquishing it.

I like that observation. I think you pretty much nailed it. The words [on the cross and shoulder harness] represent my sins. A lot of people think it’s supposed to be the Seven Deadly Sins, but I’m pointing at things in my personal life. I feel that without Jesus Christ in my life, life is beating me up; with Jesus Christ I get confidence I wouldn’t have otherwise. There’s something out there I believe in that’s bigger than me that inspires me as a person. There’s some cathartic stuff going on.

I am a Christian, 100 percent. That means I believe in Jesus Christ as my Lord and savior. I became a Christian in 1984. Clang Quartet combines my beliefs as a Christian, my art background, and my interests in science-fiction and horror. My wife is an artist, and she’s very helpful. She sees all this stuff before anyone does.

At Ende Tymes 2014, I couldn’t figure out how you were triggering sounds on stage. When I watched some sets online I realized that your accessories double as instruments.

Every single thing I use on stage as a prop also functions as a sound-making device. I’m a fan of a lot of theatrical bands: KISS, Alice Cooper, Slipknot. I want theatrics to have something to do besides just look a certain way. A lot of what I use is not as detailed as people think it is, though.

Drums and cymbals also play a key role in your live sets. Did you ever play drums in a traditional rock band?

I have a hard-rock, heavy metal background that some people don’t pick up on with Clang Quartet; I’ve been a drummer since 1979, in all kinds of bands, cover bands. I was on a few basic hip-hop tracks for someone who wound up not using them. I know what I’m doing will never be full time, but it’s something I believe in. Fortunately, I enjoy my day job.

Sound wise, anything I do is somewhere along the line is rooted in drumming and percussion. I’ve been in Modern Drummer a few times. The first time I got a mention in that magazine, I can tell you, I burst into tears. I was stunned. I called my parents. I’ve been blessed, no doubt about it.

There’s a lot of emotion and physicality in your sets. How do you prepare, and what do you feel as you play?

I’m striving for authenticity. There are times I’ve been brought to tears. For preparation, I do something that’s equal parts prayer and stretching.

Certain aspects of what I do are left open for improvisation; I try to make it a bit different each time. I like to think that a higher power is controlling what happens. When I try to control what happens, it gets boring. None of it is random. It’s difficult to explain, but it’s something I believe in. I usually invite Mom and Dad when playing locally in sedate settings. They’ve been very supportive.

When the performance is over, what are you feeling?

To a certain extent, a feeling of euphoria, a feeling of relief, exhaustion. But I feel like I’ve done something I should be doing, something significant. If I had a lackluster performance or I’m not really tired, it’s like I didn’t put what I should’ve put into it.

Musically, what do you hope to achieve?

I’m not going to get on some pedestal and tell people what to believe. I hope what I’m doing inspires people in a spiritual direction, but I like when I inspire people from an artistic direction. I hope I’ve inspired people the way people have inspired me. I’m not out to annihilate anybody.

[voguingtodanzig]

Flora Yin-Wong, “Liturgy” (Primary Information)

Holy Palm, from Flora Yin-Wong, is an LP that resists centering. A hot spring of emptying sound-art sieves, Eastern instrumentation tangles, shamanic harmonics, and unexpected sample sources, this 2020 release dislocates and disorients; halfway or two-thirds through, one might be forgiven for forgetting what album is playing, or what preceded its arrival in the trance-like sonic present. This music reduces genres to powder, emitting an unfathomable, impenetrable force-field of mystery. Written while Holy Palm was taking shape, Liturgy approaches the uncertain and the unknowable from a different, more experiential angle, as this London-born multidisciplinary artist employs the Asian mysticism she grew up with as a bridge to considering and appreciating phenomena that exist just beyond the limits of (most) human perception.

“I was a little girl when I learned that I had a sort of second sight,” she writes. “My sister told me that she had also experienced paranormal phenomena since childhood. My mother, an absolute atheist, happened to take the matter of the spirits and omens as fact. I thought it ran in our blood. Or maybe it was just the women.” Liturgy proffers a wealth of introductions to precepts, rituals, omens, curses, superstitions, legends, fables, Buddhist apocrypha: kuji mantras, pyromancy, the primacy of the number eight and the unluckiness of the number four. The Shunya Mudra, we learn, may permit the hearing of “an unstuck, mystic sound that occurs spontaneously—not the result of physical things.” We are taught the difference between ikiryō (wandering from a living being, benevolent) and onryō (ghostly, vengeful) spirits, that “the element of yohaku represents a pause or blank space between words and implies a meaning,” that Gu poison is ghastly to produce, that chronophobia exists. Black, white, and gray images – some grainy or muddled, others sharp – accompany the text and deepen the unsettling sense that the reader has stumbled upon some meticulously-arranged tranche of half-remembered lore. 

Yin-Wong herself becomes more prominent in the narrative as Liturgy proceeds. She relates the first time she, as a child, observed another’s possession: “Her five-year-old sister and I watched in horror as she was suddenly unable to breathe, her eyes wide in vivid terror, contorting violently with her every limb and screaming like murder.” A chapter dedicated to abandoned ghost cities and sites comes to life as she recalls a visit to Pyramiden, a former Soviet coal mining settlement: “An hour or so in, I realized the energy of the battery in my camera had quickly depleted due to the cold climate, and my body was responding the same way. Feeling indistinctly hazy, unnoticeably faint, a subtle change over time, I suddenly realized I was going to pass out. I thought I was dying, standing quite still, as cold delusion had seeped in.” She ultimately confronts a particular landscape painting – a symbol, perhaps, of an alternate universe or universes, a representation of the oddness limning the waking world as we experience it – and is stunned by its duality. 

“That cosmic vision, or rather the feeling that it cultivated, stayed in me, like a shadowy scent that wanders in and out of a room,” she remembers. “Attempting to exorcise my feat through analysis, I knew it had tapped into an intimate phobia of the lines between internal and external reality and non-reality merging.”

[voguingtodanzig]

THE CELESTIAL JUKEBOX, PRESENT TENSE - 250 SONGS

Again, some of this is personal and sentimental, linked to time and place and experience.

50 Cent, “Many Men (Wish Death)”

100 gecs, “800db cloud”

10,000 Maniacs, “Candy Everybody Wants”

Bryan Adams, “Everything I Do”

Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, “Spanish Flea”

America, “Sister Golden Hair”

Julie Andrews, “My ​​Favorite Things”

Animal Collective, “Brother Sport”

Aphex Twin, “Tha”

Fiona Apple, “Extraordinary Machine”

Louis Armstrong, “What a Wonderful World”

Ash, “Shining Light”

Atlantic Starr, “Always”

Atlas Sound, “Washington School”

Autechre, “Vose In”

The B-52s, “Deadbeat Club”

Bananarama, “Cruel Summer”

The Beatles, “All My Loving”

Beck, “Girl”

Belle & Sebastian, “Seymour Stein”

Benoit & Sergio, “Boy Trouble”

Beyoncé, “Countdown”

Bikini Kill, “Alien She”

Bilal, “West Side Girl”

Bjork, “It’s Oh So Quiet”

Black Dice, “Pigs”

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, “Stop”

The Black-Eyed Peas, “Imma Be”

Blast Off Country Style, “Cutie Pie”

Blondie, “Heart of Glass”

The Bloodhound Gang, “Your Only Friends Are Make-Believe”

The Box Tops, “The Letter”

Brainiac, “I Am A Cracked Machine”

Michelle Branch, “Everywhere”

Laura Branigan, “Gloria”

The Breeders, “Off You”

Danny Brown, “Gremlins”

James Brown, “Get Up I Feel Like Being a Sex Machine”

Jackson Browne, “Somebody’s Baby”

Vanessa Carlton, “A Thousand Miles”

Harry Chapin, “Cat’s in the Cradle”

Tracy Chapman, “Fast Car”

The Carpenters, “Yesterday Once More”

Julian Casablancas and the Voidz, “Human Sadness”

The Chemical Brothers, “Free Yourself”

Chixdiggit!, “My Restaurant”

Cibo Matto, “Sunday, Pt. 1”

Ciara feat. Missy Elliott, “One, Two Step”

Clipse, “Dirty Money”

Jim Croce, “Operator”

Crosby, Stills, and Nash, “You Don’t Have To Cry”

Christopher Cross, “Ride Like the Wind”

Cryptacize, “Mythomania”

Crystal Castles, “Air War”

Culture Club, “Karma Chameleon”

Terrence Trent D’Arby, “Sign Your Name”

Daft Punk, “Around the World”

Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich, “Hold Tight”

Dead Kennedys, “Kill the Poor”

DeBarge, “The Rhythm of the Night”

Deerhoof, “+81”

Deerhunter, “Octet”

Depeche Mode, “Personal Jesus”

Dial, “Helium”

The Diplomats, “Dipset Anthem”

DMX, “Stop Being Greedy”

The Doobie Brothers, “Black Water”

Dr. Dre feat. Snoop Dogg, “Nuthin’ But a G Thang”

The-Dream, “Love King”

Duran Duran, “Hungry Like The Wolf”

Bob Dylan, “Positively 4th Street”

The Eagles, “Lyin’ Eyes”

Eat Skull, “Cooking a Way to be Happy”

Elastica, “Connection”

The Everly Brothers, “All I Have to Do is Dream”

The Ben Folds Five, “The Battle of Who Could Care Less”

Eleanor Friedberger, “Stare at the Sun”

Eminem feat. Dido, “Stan”

Brian Eno, “Cindy Tells Me”

Eurythmics, “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)”

Extreme, “More Than Words”

The Fall, “Glam-Racket”

Roberta Flack, “Killing Me Softly With His Song”

Flipper, “Ha Ha Ha”

Dan Fogelberg, “Longer”

The Free Design, “The Proper Ornaments”

Fur, “Devil to the Lamb”

Garbage, “Only Happy When It Rains”

Judy Garland, “Over the Rainbow”

Kevin Gates, “Paper Chasers”

Ghostface Killah, “Shakey Dog”

Freddie Gibbs, “20 Karat Jesus”

Godspeed You! Black Emperor, “The Dead Flag Blues”

Gorillaz feat. De La Soul, “Feel Good Inc.”

Go Sailor, “I’m Still Crying”

Granddaddy, “A.M. 180”

Colleen Green, “I Want to Grow Up”

Green Day, “Basket Case”

Grimes, “REALITi”

Gucci Mane, “Break Ya Self (Brrrussia version)”

Guided By Voices, “Teenage FBI”

Harvey Danger, “Flagpole Sitta”

Helium, “XXX”

Keri Hilson, “Pretty Girl Rock”

Hole, “Malibu”

The Hollies, “All I Need Is The Air That I Breathe”

Michael Jackson, “Rock With You”

Jay-Z, “Hard Knock Life”

Henry Jacobs, “Guitar Lesson”

Jawbreaker, “Fireman”

Jeremih, “Oui”

Jewel, “Standing Still”

Jimmy Eat World, “Sweetness”

Billy Joel, “Uptown Girl”

Scott Joplin, “The Entertainer”

Journey, “Don’t Stop Believin’”

Juelz Santana, “Mixin’ up the Medicine”

R. Kelly feat. T.I. & T-Pain, “I’m a Flirt (Remix)”

Kool and the Gang, “Celebration”

Lana Del Rey, “Off to the Races”

Lagwagon, “May 16”

The Libertines, “Horror Show”

Limp Bizkit, “Re-Arranged”

Lindstrom, “Where You Go I Go Too”

Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam, “Lost in Emotion”

Lit, “My Own Worst Enemy”

The Lonely Island feat. T-Pain, “I’m on a Boat”

Lotus Plaza, “What Grows?”

Lower Dens, “Candy”

Courtney Love, “I’ll Do Anything”

Love As Laughter, “Idol Worship”

M.I.A, “Bamboo Banga”

Madonna, “Hung Up”

Madlib, “Mystic Bounce”

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, “Ramp of Death”

The Mamas and the Papas, “California Dreamin’”

John Mayer, “New Light”

Meek Mill, “Dreams and Nightmares Intro”

Men at Work, “Safety Dance”

George Michael, “Faith”

The Modern Lovers, “I’m Straight”

Modest Mouse, “Heart Cooks Brain”

The Moldy Peaches, “Nothing Came Out”

Chris Montez, “The More I See You”

Alanis Morissette, “Head Over Feet”

Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat, “Lucky”

MXPX, “Party, My House, Be There”

My Bloody Valentine, “You Never Should”

Nas, “The World Is Yours”

Johnny Nash, “I Can See Clearly Now”

Neu!, “Hallogallo”

New Order, “Subculture”

New Pornographers, “The Laws Have Changed”

Wayne Newton, “Danke Schoen”

Harry Nilsson, “Jump into the Fire”

Nine Inch Nails, “Wish”

Nirvana, “About a Girl”

The Notorious B.I.G., “Warning”

Maura O’Connell, “Summerfly”

The Orb, “Little Fluffy Clouds”

Panda Bear, “Mr Noah”

Pavement, “Harness Your Hopes (BBC Evening Session)”

Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, “They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)”

Liz Phair, “Shane”

Pinhead Gunpowder, “I Am An Elephant”

The Platters, “Only You (And You Alone)”

The Pointer Sisters, “Jump”

Michael Praetorius, “Es ist ein Ros entsprungen”

Elvis Presley, “A Little Less Conversation”

Primal Scream, “Keep Your Dreams”

The Prodigy, “Breathe”

Propaghandi, “Anti-Manifesto”

Brian Protheroe, “Pinball”

Psychic Graveyard, “No”

Public Enemy, “Fight The Power”

Aileen Quinn, “Tomorrow”

Radiohead, “A Wolf at the Door”

Gerry Rafferty, “Right Down the Line”

Bonnie Raitt, “Something to Talk About”

The Ramones, “Chain Saw”

Otis Redding, “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay”

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, “In Motion”

Lou Reed and Metallica, “Junior Dad”

Rihanna feat. Jay-Z, “Umbrella”

Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton, “Islands in the Stream”

The Rolling Stones, “Sympathy for the Devil”

Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram, “Somewhere Out There”

Rosemary Krust, “Private Amber”

Diana Ross, “Theme From Mahogany”

Roxy Music, “More Than This”

A Savage, “Eyeballs”

The Shangri-Las, “Leader of the Pack”

Shanice, “I Love Your Smile”

Ed Sheeran, “Thinking Out Loud”

Sightings, “Yellow”

The Silver Jews, “Blue Arrangements”

Alan Silvestri, “The Back to the Future theme”

Paul Simon, “Kodachrome”

Ashlee Simpson, “Pieces of Me”

Slade, “Cum On Feel the Noize”

The Smashing Pumpkins, “Here’s to the Atom Bomb (New Wave version)”

The Soft Pink Truth, “Do They Owe Us A Living?”

Sonic Youth, “Jams Run Free”

Jordan Sparks and Chris Brown, “No Air”

Spoon, “The Mystery Zone”

Starving Weirdos, “Land Lines”

Stereolab, “Plastic Mile”

The Strokes, “12:51”

Swell Maps, “Let’s Build A Car”

Taylor Swift, “Style”

Stylophonic, “R U Experienced”

Jazmine Sullivan, “Mascara”

Suicidal Tendencies, “Institutionalized”

Taco, “Puttin’ on the Ritz”

James Taylor, “You’ve Got a Friend”

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy”

Throwing Muses, “Not Too Soon”

TLC, “Baby-Baby-Baby”

Tortoise, “Djed”

The Toys, “A Lover’s Concerto”

John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, “Summer Nights”

A Tribe Called Quest, “Can I Kick It?”

UB40, “Red Red Wine”

Joe Walsh, “Life’s Been Good”

Scott Weiland, “Paralysis”

Steely Dan, “Do It Again”

Stiff Little Fingers, “Suspect Device”

Stylophonic, “RU Experienced?”

T.I., “What You Know”

Mary Timony, “Blood Tree”

that dog., “I’m Gonna See You”

The Tymes, “So Much In Love”

Ultimate Painting, “Out in the Cold”

The Unicorns, “Child Star”

The Velvet Underground, “The Gift”

Waka Flocka Flame, “Hard in da Paint”

Ween, “Even If You Don’t”

Weezer, “Endless Bummer”

Kanye West, “Devil in a New Dress (G.O.O.D. Fridays version)”

WHAM!, “Wake Me Up (Before You Go-Go)”

White Hassle, “Oh, What a Feeling”

Matthew Wilder, “Break My Stride”

Bill Withers, “Lean on Me”

Wolf Eyes, “Human Animal”

Stevie Wonder, “My Cherie Amour”

Wye Oak, “Siamese”

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Maps”

Yo La Tengo, “My Heart’s Reflection”

Zaimph, “Removing Bits of History”

The Zombies, “Time of the Season”

[voguingtodanzig]

THE CELESTIAL CANON, PRESENT TENSE - 125 RECORDS

​​​

​A lot of this list - which I've been working on for around a year or so - is sentimental, personal. The aim was to clock in at around 250 records but as I neared a draft of 200, really considered the choices, and pared things down, 125 seemed to be a more honest place to land. There are cases where the same musicians appear on multiple records here but I avoided including, for instance, more than a single Sonic Youth album.

There's a grand tracks list coming soon - that one will be around 200-250 entries long - that will cover some different ground, offer a broader, more kaleidoscopic palette. Often, more often than I like to admit, my fandom for more universally beloved artists and bands is confined to a single song or three.

10,000 Maniacs, Hope Chest

The Amps, Pacer

Animal Collective, Feels

Aphex Twin, ​​Richard D. James Album

Fiona Apple, The Idler Wheel ...

Atlas Sound, Let The Blind Lead ...

Autechre, Confield

The B-52s, Mesopotamia/Party Mix!

Azealia Banks, Broke With Expensive Taste

William Basinski, Cascade

The Beach Boys, Endless Summer

Beat Happening, Jamboree

Beck, One Foot in the Grave

Black Flag, The First Four Years

Black Thought, Streams of Thought Vol. 1

Boards of Canada, Music Has the Right to Children

Body/Head/Gate, Glare Luring Yo

The Boredoms, Soul Discharge

Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians, Shooting Rubber Bands at the Stars

Danny Brown, XXX

Harold Budd, The Pavilion of Dreams

Cam’ron, Purple Haze

Can, Tago Mago 

Jeff Carey, Interrupt-De​c​ay

Mariah Carey, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel

The Chemical Brothers, Come With Us

Circulatory System, Circulatory System

John Coltrane Quartet, Ballads

Come, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell 

The Condo Fucks, Fuckbook

Jason Crumer, Walk With Me

Sarah Davachi, Let Night Come On Bells End The Day

The Miles Davis Quintet, Relaxin’ With ...

The Dead C, The White House

Dead Machines, Futures

Death Grips, The Money Store

Deerhunter, Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared?

Taylor Deupree, Northern

Dinosaur Jr, Where You Been?

Dom, Sun Bronzed Greek Gods

The-Dream, Love Vs. Money

Earl Sweatshirt, I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside

Jessica Ekomane, Multivocal

Elton John, Greatest Hits

Everything But The Girl, Amplified Heart

Excepter, “Thrones”

The Fiery Furnaces, Gallowsbird’s Bark

Foo Fighters, Foo Fighters 

Fripp and Eno, No Pussyfooting

Fugazi, Red Medicine

Garbage, Version 2.0

Nancy Garcia, Be the Climb

Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven

Green Day, Insomniac

Grouper, The Man Who Died in His Boat

Guided By Voices, Alien Lanes

Arlo Guthrie, Alice’s Restaurant 

Twig Harper, Music for Higher Dimensional Consciousness

P.J. Harvey, Rid of Me

Helium, The Magic City

Hototogisu + Burning Star Core, s/t (on DroneDisco, 2006)

The Jesus and Mary Chain, Psychocandy

Scott Joplin, Rags to Riches

Ngoc Lan & Tuan Ngoc, Ban Tinh Choi

Lightning Bolt, Beautiful Rainbow

Lil Wayne, ​​Da Drought 3

Madonna, The Immaculate Collection

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Sparkle Hard

Mannequin Pussy, Romantic

MATMOS, Supreme Balloon

Melody’s Echo Chamber, Melody’s Echo Chamber

Merzbow, Rainbow Electronics 2

The Microphones, The Glow Pt. 2

The Minutemen, Double Nickels on the Dime

The Misfits, Collection

My Bloody Valentine, EPs 1988-1991

Nedelle, From The Lion’s Mouth

​Willie Nelson, Stardust 

The New Pornographers, Mass Romantic 

Phill Niblock, Touch Three 

Nine Inch Nails, The Downward Spiral

Nirvana, Incesticide

The Orb, Orb​v​s Terrar​v​m

Papa M, Live From a Shark Cage

Pavement, Wowee Zowee

Peaches, The Teaches of Peaches

Penny Royale, This Town

Liz Phair, Whitechocolatespaceegg demos

Portishead, Dummy

Prodigy and the Alchemist, Albert Einstein

Propaghandi, Less Talk More Rock 

Lee Ranaldo, Amarillo Ramp (for Robert Smithson)

Lou Reed, Metal Machine Music 

Steve Reich, Music for 18 Musicians

​The Rolling Stones, Exile on Main Street

Vanessa Rossetto and Matthew Revert, Earnest Rubbish

Shellac, At Action Park

Mike Shiflet, Tetracosa

Sightings, Absolutes

The Silver Jews, The Natural Bridge

Smashing Pumpkins, Adore

The Soft Pink Truth, Shall We Go On Sinning, So That Grace May Increase?

Sonic Youth, Bad Moon Rising

Vince Staples, Shyne Coldchain 2

Stereolab, ​Cobra and Phases Group...

The Strokes, Is This It

​​Suicide, Suicide​

Superchunk, Incidental Music

Swell Maps, Jane From Occupied Europe

TAHNZZ, Xila

Aiko Takamasa & Tujiko Noriko, 28

Telecult Powers, Dedicated to Robert Moore/Twilight of the Oscillators

Tool, Ænima 

Tortoise, A Lazarus Taxon

The Voidz, Virtue

The Walkmen, Everyone Who Pretended To Like Me Is Gone

Wolf Eyes, Mugger

A Tribe Called Quest, The Low End Theory

Various Artists, Chronologi 12K: Year 1-Year 4

Suzanne Vega, 99.9F

Elizabeth Veldon, Two Songs for a Scottish Seaside Resort

The Velvet Underground and Nico, s/t

Yellow Swans, Psychic Secession

The Yellow Tears, The Pissmop LP

Yo La Tengo, I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One

[voguingtodanzig]

Earlier this month, I was invited to be a part of the Bret Easton Ellis Book Club’s episode on Glamorama. What an honor! I did OK on video, I guess.

[voguingtodanzig]

WATCHING - JANUARY 2021

Sex, Lies and Videotape

Kill Bill I*

Contempt

Kill Bill II*

The Great Beauty*

Slow Century*

City Hall (2020 documentary)

Lost In Translation*

*Rewatched

[voguingtodanzig]

BOOKS READ/COMPLETED - JANUARY 2021

*Bret Easton Ellis, Less Than Zero

Berkeley Breathed, The Bloom County Library, Volume Two, 1982-1984

**Joan Didion, Let Me Tell You What I Mean

John Ashbery, Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror

*Re-read

**Read twice

[voguingtodanzig]

The majority of my present-day music writing is for The Wire Magazine, and as such is not online unless you have a subscription. Recommendation: do yourselves a huge favor, and subscribe. (A great bunch of authors and thinkers there. For real.)

[voguingtodanzig]

Reading 2018

​Douglas Wolk, Live at the Apollo

George Grella Jr., Bitches Brew

Dan Clowes,The Death-Ray*

Daniel Coyle, The Culture Code

Ta-Neishi Coates, We Were Eight Years in Power

Daniel H. Wilson, Guardian Angels and Other Monsters

William Gibson, Nueromancer*

Anthony Ray Hinton, The Sun Does Shine

Luis Alberto Urrea, The House of Broken Angels

Jeff VanderMeer, Annihilation

George Pelecanos, Shoedog

David J. Bauman, Moons, Roads, and Rivers 

Franchesca Ramsey, Well, That Escalated Quickly

George Pelacanos, The Turnaround

Robyn Carr, The Family Gathering 

Neil deGrasse Tyson, Astrophysics for People in a Hurry 

Rachel Kushner, The Mars Room

John le Carre,The Looking Glass War

Bret Easton Ellis, Glamorama*

Vladimir Nabokov, Pale Fire

Philip Roth, American Pastoral 

Tao Lin, Richard YatesJoe Gross, In On The Kill Taker

Catherine Steadman, Something in the Water 

Iain M. Banks, Consider Phlebas

Otessa Mossfegh, My Year of Rest and Relaxation 

Gary Shteyngart, Lake Success  

Robert Caro, The Power Broker

Michiko Kakutani, The Death of Truth  

David Baumann, Angels & Adultery

Arthur C. Clarke, 2001

Nicole Chung, All You Can Ever Know

Kathy Wang, Family Trust

​Joan Didion, Play It As It Lays

*Tracey Daughtery, The Last Love Song: A Biography of Joan Didion

Sarah St. Vincent, How to Hide in Winter

Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Friday Black

Stephen King, Elevation

Truman Capote, Breakfast at Tiffany’s 

Brian Abrams, Obama -an oral history 

Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms*

Ha Jin, Waiting

Bill Janowitz, Exile On Main Street

Gina Arnold, Half A Million Strong: Crowds and Power from Woodstock to Coachella

Kim Un-su, The Plotters

Don Winslow, The Power of the Dog* 

*re-reads

[voguingtodanzig]

Reading 2019

*Dean Young, Elegy for the Last Male Northern White Rhino

Larry McMurtry, Lonesome Dove

*Bret Easton Ellis, Imperial Bedrooms

George Pelecanos, What It Was

George Pelecanos, The Man Who Came Uptown

Jill Abramson, The Merchants of Truth

John Preston, A Very English Scandal

Bret Easton Ellis, White

George Pelecanos, The Double

Gioacchino Criaco, Black Souls

Nathan Ballingrud, The Visible Filth

Don Winslow, The Border

Don Winslow, The Power of the Dog

Chris Ott, Unknown Pleasures

Ann Beattie, A Wonderful Stroke of Luck

Hanif Abdurraqib, Go Ahead In The Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest

Ted Chiang, Exhalation: Stories

Ryan Chapman, Riots I Have Known

Robert Caro, Working

William Gibson, The Peripheral

Neal Stephenson, Fall or Dodge in Hell

Robert Macfarland, Underland

George P. Pelecanos, Nick’s Trip

Chuck Wendig, Wanderers

Sean Howe, Marvel Comics: The Untold Story

Father Frank Moises & Billy Lempkins Jr., Kriegspuppen 

Colson Whitehead, The Nickel Boys

George Pelecanos, Drama City

Albert Chen, Billion Dollar Fantasy

Michelangelo Matos, The Underground Is Massive

Haben Girma, Haben's Story

*Kim Gordon, Girl in a Band

Ronan Farrow, War on Peace

Steph Cha, Your House Will Pay

*Bret Easton Ellis, Lunar Park

*Don Winslow, The Border

*Bret Easton Ellis, Less Than Zero

*Bret Easton Ellis, Imperial Bedrooms

William Gibson, Count Zero

Felicia Anheja Viator, To Live and Defy in L.A.: How Gangsta Rap Changed America

William Gibson, Mona Lisa Overdrive

James Lee Burke, Feast Day of Fools 

*re-reads

[voguingtodanzig]

Reading 2020

Stephen King, The Institute

William Gibson, Agency (twice)

William Gibson, The Peripheral*

Haruki Murakami, Killing Commendatore

Maggie Nelson, Bluets

Joe Carducci, Enter Naomi...

Lily Brooks-Dalton, Good Morning, Midnight

Haruki Murakami, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

Haruki Murakami, South of the Border, West of The Sun

Wendell Berry, The Country of Marriage

John Gregory Dunne, Monster: Living Off the Big Screen*

Haruki Murakami, 1Q84*

Jules Witcover, Marathon: The Pursuit of the Presidency 1972-1976*

Joan Didion, Fixed Ideas: America Since 9/11

Ottessa Mossfegh, Eileen

William Gibson, Virtual Light

Thom Hawkins, In Name Only

Sasha Geffen, Glitter Up The Dark

Bob Woodward, The Choice

J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

David Halberstam, Playing for Keeps

J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

D. Watkins, We Speak for Ourselves

Patty Schemel, Hit So Hard*

J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows

Brandon Soderberg and Baynard Woods, I Got a Monster

John Gregory Dunne, Regards*

Don Winslow, The Power of the Dog*

Don Winslow, Broken

Don Winslow, The Cartel*

John Ashbery, Houseboat Days

Don Winslow, The Border*

Dean Young, Solar Perplexus

Don DeLillo, The Silence

Michaelangelo Matos, Can’t Slow Down

John Ashbery, Commotion of the Birds

*re-read

[voguingtodanzig]

TRACKS 2017

1. Ariel Pink, “Kitchen Witch” (Mexican Summer)

2. Moon Diagrams, "Blue Ring"​ (Geographic North)

3. Silk Purse, "Nowhere I Go" (Karl Schmidt Verlag)

4. Freddie Gibbs, "20 Karat Jesus" (EGSN/Empire)

5. Animal Collective, "Man of Oil" (Domino)

6. Brian Eno with Kevin Shields, “Only Once Away My Son” (Adult Swim)

7. A. Savage, "Eyeballs" (Dull Tools)

8. HIRAM-MAXIM, "Drown" (self-released)

9. Multa Nox, "A Body Holds Still" (NNA Tapes)

10. Jay-Z, "Family Feud" (Roc Nation)

11. Billy Corgan, "Aeronaut" (Reprise)

12. Mount Eerie, "Real Death" (P.W. Elverum & Sun)

13. Rummaging, "Untitled" (Karl Schmidt Verlag)

14. Grouper, "Children" (self-released)

15. African Ghost Valley, "Dagger" (Cruel Nature)

16. Luna Arakawa, "My Transparent Mask Won" (self-released)

17. Gabi Loconcy, "Nobody's Pushing You" (Caduc)

18. Upper Wilds, "Roy Sullivan" (Thrill Jockey)

19. Stephen Malkmus, "Midnight Cruisers" (Quasi Music)

20. Aquarelle, "Intervals" (Debacle)

[voguingtodanzig]

ALBUMS 2017

1. Brian Eno, Reflection (Warp)

2. Gabi Losoncy, Six Crises (self-released)

3. Sterile Garden, Drift (self-released)

4. Sarah Davachi, All My Circles Run (Students of Decay)

5. Spoon, Hot Thoughts (Matador)

6. Various Artists, Approach to Fear: Regeneration (Karl Schmidt Verlag)

7. Michael Vincent Waller, Trajectories (Recital)

8. Sontag Shogun, Patterns for Resonant Space (Youngbloods)

9. Aaron Dilloway, The Gag File (Dais)

10. Zaimph, Transverse Presence (No Rent)

[voguingtodanzig]

TRACKS 2018

​1. John Mayer, “New Light”

2. Melody's Echo Chamber, "Shirim"

3. Pusha T, “The Games We Play”

4. Jeff Carey, "Cell”

5. Bat Fangs, "Rock The Reaper"

6. Noname, "Self"

7. Peter J. Woods, "Feral Leather"  

8. Rolling Blackouts C.F., "Mainland"

9. Kendrick Lamar and SZA, “All the Stars"

10. Lana Del Rey, "Venice Bitch"

11. Panda Bear, "Flight"

12. Audrey Chen, "Heavy"

13. Jon Hopkins, “Emerald Rush”

14. Spiritualized, "A Perfect Miracle"

15. Vince Staples, "Run the Bands"

16. Caroline Park, “Imagining Entering (but will leave you to it)”

17. SARANA, "Rodan"

18. Total Mom, "Uncomfortable"

19. Zaimph, "Removing Bits of History"

20. Charalambides, "Runaway"

21. Ariana Grande, "No Tears Left to Cry"  

22. Sarah Davachi, "Auster"

23. Valee feat. Jeremih, "Womp Womp"

24. The Chemical Brothers, "Free Yourself"

25. The Carters, "Apeshit"  

[voguingtodanzig]

ALBUMS 2018

1. Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks, Sparkle Hard

2. Vanessa Rossetto, Fashion Tape

3. Sarah Davachi, Let Night Come On Bells End the Day

4. Mike Shiflet, Tetracosa

5. Travis Johnson and Friends, Dubious Reservoir

6. Mark Morgan, Department of Heraldry

7. Autechre, NTS Sessions

8. The Voidz, Virtue

 9. Earl Sweatshirt, Some Rap Songs 

10. Body/Head, The Switch

11. Gerritt Wittmer, I Believe

12. Elizabeth Veldon, I'm Not Afraid Anymore  

13. Universal Eyes, Four Variations on "Artificial Society"

14. Nedelle Torrisi, Only For You     

15. Black Thought, Streams of Thought Vol. 1 

16. Makaya McCraven, Where We Come From

17. Talibam!, Marimba Files Launch Pad Extraction 2 

18. Nine Inch Nails, Bad Witch

19. Superchunk, What a Time To Be Alive

20. TONGUE DEPRESSOR, NULL SET

21. Gang Gang Dance, Kazuashita

22. Mariah Carey, Caution

23. YNICORNS, Intervals

24. Thom Yorke, Suspiria

25. Christina Kubisch/Annea Lockwood, The Secret Life of the Inaudible

[voguingtodanzig]

TRACKS 2019

1. Meira Asher with Amir Bolzman and Eran Sachs, "L'Abolition De La Croix" (Fabrica)

2. Mark Charles Morgan, “Live on WCBN April 10 2019” (Self-Released)

3. Craow, “88 Birth” (National Waste Products)

4. Concepcion Huerta, "Encuentro Final" (Campo Abierto)

5. Susan Alcorn and Phillip Greenlief, “Light Green” (VG+)

6. Vampire Weekend, "Harmony Hall" (Sony Music)

7. Empath, "Roses That Cry" (Fat Possum/Get Better)

8. Pusha T feat. Kash Doll, “Sociopath” (G.O.O.D.)

9. Vanessa Rossetto, “The Dirt” (Tone Glow)

10. Elizabeth Veldon, “Gathering Voices in Silence” (self-released)

11. Madder Rose, “I Lost The War” (Trome)

12. Apologist, “Belle Époque” (Marginal Frequency)

13. Rapsody feat. Leikeli47, “Oprah” (Jamila/Roc-A-Fella)

14. Freddie Gibbs and Madlib, “Crime Pays” (Keep Cool/RCA)

15. Beck, “Hyperlife” (Capitol)

16. Lightning Bolt, “All Insane” (Thrill Jockey)

17. Battalion of Cloudships, "Fix Your Hearts or Die" (self-released)  

18. M.C. Schmidt, "Brass and Grass" (Northern Spy)

19. Clarice Jensen, “One Bee” (Geographic North)

20. 100 gecs, “800db cloud” (Dog Lady)

21. Sharon Van Etten, “Comeback Kid” (Jagjaguwar)

22. Sarana, “Another Trip to the Empty Space” (self-released)

23. Kim Gordon, “Get Yr Life Back” (Matador)

24. MATMOS, The Crying Pill” (Thrill Jockey)

25. The-Dream, “Bedroom” (Radiokilla)