cooltunes

The vigil by my mom’s bedside continues. She is defeating the pneumonia, but has suffered a couple of setbacks. When I’m there in the afternoons, she usually is awake, getting periodic respiratory therapies, and wanting to sit up from time to time, restless.

Yesterday, part of the wing was roped off as floors were polished or washed - major maintenance work. A giant fan was turned on, presumably to dry things more quickly.

It sounded like a prop plane about a mile away, its hum varying in tone, but in a soothing, old-timey way.

She slept almost the entire four hours I was there. If there had been something for my head to lean on, I would have too.

Giger also tried his hand at designing guitars. Not everyone will want one of these.

I have found that clutching a Giger book is a good way of getting the attention of otherwise spaced-out bookstore salesclerks. Especially if there is a Richard Feynman book in the other hand.

After a meeting of minds, an amazing mike stand is created.

My mother is in her 90s, and has seen her share of ICUs and CCUs. A living example of the saying, ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”, she emerges from her hospital visits all ready to tackle life again. In ‘98, she had a massive cerebral aneurysm, 5% survival chance. There was an operation, the brain surgeon said, but he admitted that if it were his mom, and she was that old, he would think twice. If she didn’t have the surgery, another aneurysm would be inevitable, and most certainly would be fatal. We didn’t choose surgery, and she got better.

Last night, that inevitability occurred. But, unlike the first, the bleeding was minimal. However, by the time my mom got to emergency, she was declared ‘comatose’ by two doctors.

In some part of her assaulted brain, she must have heard them , and thought to herself, ‘comatose, my ass’.

This afternoon, they removed her oxygen. All her vital signs are very strong (so different from last year, but that’s another story), and when the nurse checked her eyes, she asked, ‘Has your mom had eye surgery before? I see a kind of light in them that makes me suspect so.”

No, I said, but she frequently has a twinkle.

Tonight, as I was getting ready to leave, a guitarist set up right outside her room, and began softly playing ‘Gloria’.

Yes. Yes, indeed.

From a list by Geoffrey Norris, the Daily Telegraph’s music critic.

A few more things to wrap, and lots of candy to make (pralines, fudge, peanut brittle, rocky road). Not having to run out to get anything, although that may change as I get into the recipes.

The music slows down as well, and Chanticleer’s “Our Heart’s Joy” is perfect for that.

Surprisingly, things are looking great for the dub techno/detroit/basic channel fan these days. Allow me to list:

Scion is releasing records again, along with Chain Reaction artist Substance, on the new label Scion Versions.

A surge of activity from Convextion, with a re-release of his earlier track Miranda, his long-awaited full-length album, and an upcoming release on Arne Weinberg’s label, AW-Recordings.

I spoke to Rod Modell a few months ago and he assured me that he’d be in the studio trying to get some releases out by the end of summer; it looks like the fruits of those labors are starting to surface now. A 10″ on a new label, Hierophant Records, some production work as Spectral Network on the limited and obscure Octal Records, and a remix on the aforementioned re-release of Convextion’s Miranda. Also, for those who missed the extremely limited run of Mike Huckaby’s remixes of Deep Chord on the Synth label last summer, those records have now found distribution through word and sound and are available for purchase in Europe. I believe the now-defunct Watts Music was signed up to distribute those records in the US, no idea what’s going to happen there.

As a parting note, a promising polish(?) netlabel released an intriguing compilation, Mousiken Poiei Kai Ergazou. It’s worth noting that Sustainer makes his first appearance since his 2002 album on Italic in this release. An newcomer by the name of Furthr contributes the standout track on this album.

Are you done? Hallelujah, I am.

The Wexford Carol - Loreena McKennitt
Gloria - Jewel
For Unto Us a Child is Born - London Philharmonic
O Come, O Come Emmanuel - Linda Ronstadt
Air for G String - The Modern Jazz Quartet
Ave Maria - Jewel

There’s more, but there are presents to wrap. More later.

Dexter Gordon is Lars’ godfather.

What is the connection between Lars Ulrich and Dexter Gordon?

Answer tomorrow unless you want to google it.

The enchanting song I wrote about a few days ago had its origins on a Cornwall Beach, where Blake had gone to purge himself of personal demons. He discusses how the first six notes of the song popped into his head, and the home those notes found when he met “The Snowman”.

In case you missed it (and I did), a few years ago, Metheny unleashed his fury on the Kenny G recording of “What a Wonderful World”.

I do remember one of my kids’ reacting when he heard it, “Oh no, now he’s ruined that song too!”

Metheny goes quite a bit further, using the term “musical necrophilia”.

The new Convextion album, initially limited to 500 copies, is going to be repressed as long as there’s demand.

I’m glad they’re taking that approach, and that their reasons for limiting the first pressing were just financial. I get aggravated when labels limit releases for seemingly no reason (and then trumpet the rareness and scarcity of a record that’s not even out yet).

Sadly, it doesn’t snow here in Silicon Valley. But I’ve lived where it does, and this song helps me remember what it’s like.

An early present! I’ve wanted this soundtrack for a long time, but don’t think of it till the holidays. The story is included with the CD, and is as magical as when I first read it to my kids all those years ago.

The song, “Walking on the Air”, sung by Peter Auty, a choirboy from St. Paul’s Cathedral, is the kind that stops you in your tracks if you’ve not heard it before. And if you have, its purity will touch your heart.

Yesterday in the Safeway cereal aisle, a woman was busy looking at the products while her two kids, a boy and a girl, were singing the song. They were about 4 and 5 maybe. Not loud, completely unaware that anyone else was paying attention. Obviously they didn’t know all the lyrics, and their voices were wavering, but even after they went over to the next aisle, I could still hear them.