β‘ π§ππ π§πππβ₯πππ ππππ₯π§ β‘
Ιͺ α΄ α΄ Ι΄α΄α΄ Κα΄α΄α΄α΄α΄ α΄Κκ±α΄Κκ° Κα΄Κα΄.
Ιͺ α΄ α΄ Ι΄α΄α΄ Κα΄α΄α΄α΄α΄ α΄Κκ±α΄Κκ°.
Ιͺ α΄ α΄ Ι΄α΄α΄.
ββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββVENICE,
ββββββββββββββββββββββββLET US NOT FORGET,
βββββββββββββββββ IS WHERE THIS (CARNIV)ALL BEGAN,
ββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ&
βββββββββββββββββββββββββIβLL BE DAMNED
βββββββββββββββββββββββWE are HERE, AGAIN.
β₯β₯β₯ββββββββββββββββπΎππΌπππΌπ πππΌπΎππΌππππ πππππ γ
Windows down. βJazz on.
Thatβs the way we fashion.
The ocean brine-rank.
Itβs in your eyes and itβs in your ears and itβs in your nose,
DURBAN POISONED WELL AND NOW YOUβRE REACHING FOR YOUR TOES.
ββBIG ββββS βTββ Rβββ Eββββ Tβββββ Cββββββ H
ββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββAh.
βββββββββββββββThatβs a good one.
βββββββFeels better now donβt it?
ββββββββcuz
βββββββββββββββitβsββββββ(Cousin It)ββ(a dozen hits)
Too much computer too much stress too much driving too much tension too little sleep too much to drink so much to drink canβt hardly think think thatβs the point way past the brink black out in blink blink blink and blink blink blink and HELLO HELLO HELLO
ββARE ββYOU ββTHERE, ββββGOD?
βββββββITβS βββME, βββMARGINALITY,
βββββββββπΆβπΆβπΆ
ββββββββββββββββββββββnow put that eraser down
ββββββββββββββββββββββββββcut-to-the-chase &
βββββββββββββββββββββββββfucking bow to me.
βββββββββββββββββββββββββββββπ¨π¨π¨
βββββINT. BASEMENT SPEAKEASY - EVENING
ββββββAalok Balaβs singing,
peeled-into orange fluorescent cutaway lycra,
ββββββββββββββββββ#FF6700ββββββββββββββββββββ
ββββββββββββββββColor Hexβd,
ββββββββββββββrunning through reverb,
βββββββββββββββcontorting in chaps,
ββββββββββββββββall apertures.
Bala Mandalaβs the fuck-cold sidereal zipped-in paisley glitz teardrop ordnance,
deep behind the glass,
prismatic pulses,
in situ,
sequential prophecy.
ββ[ . . . πππΌππ π½πΌππ . . . ]
Iβd met the duo at Tierra de la Culebra, an art-park in Northeast Los Angeles thatβs served as the staging ground for a gentle collective uprising, spearheaded by broad-minded enthusiast sound-pushers Leaving Records.
βHow the fuck does any of this work?β had been a question common of first-timers, brought-along, upon encountering the unusual openness of the scene, L.A. Rarity.
βββββββWELL:
βββ β β βJUST LOOKβUP β β β βββββ
βAT THE TREES π·
βββSEE:
βThe park shows were peaceful anarchy ββββββ
βββ(VH1 logo appears, menacingly:
βββββββKeep remembering, child.β)
βββββββIβll stop there.ββββ
(π§π¨ππ‘π’π§π ππ―ππ« π«πππ₯π₯π² π π¨ππ¬ ππ₯π₯ ππ‘π π°ππ² ππ°ππ²)(π§π¨ππ‘π’π§π ππ―ππ« π«πππ₯π₯π² π π¨ππ¬ ππ₯π₯ ππ‘π π°ππ² ππ°ππ²)(π§π¨ππ‘π’π§π ππ―ππ« π«πππ₯π₯π² π π¨ππ¬ ππ₯π₯ ππ‘π π°ππ² ππ°ππ²)(π§π¨ππ‘π’π§π ππ―ππ« π«πππ₯π₯π² π π¨ππ¬ ππ₯π₯ ππ‘π π°ππ² ππ°ππ²)(π§π¨ππ‘π’π§π ππ―ππ« π«πππ₯π₯π² π π¨ππ¬ ππ₯π₯ ππ‘π π°ππ² ππ°ππ²)(π§π¨ππ‘π’π§π ππ―ππ« π«πππ₯π₯π² π π¨ππ¬ ππ₯π₯ ππ‘π π°ππ² ππ°ππ²)(π§π¨ππ‘π’π§π ππ―ππ« π«πππ₯π₯π² π π¨ππ¬ ππ₯π₯ ππ‘π π°ππ² ππ°ππ²)(π§π¨ππ‘π’π§π ππ―ππ« π«πππ₯π₯π² π π¨ππ¬ ππ₯π₯ ππ‘π π°ππ² ππ°ππ²)(π§π¨ππ‘π’π§π ππ―ππ« π«πππ₯π₯π² π π¨ππ¬ ππ₯π₯ ππ‘π π°ππ² ππ°ππ²)
Back here in the basement:
This is the first of what are intended to be many Magick Mountain happenings, MGCK MNTN being the periodically-disemvoweled loose collective aegis conjured by tonightβs coterie of artists.
Iβd rolled solo, knowing no-one beyond the source of my invite.
The crowd was, to indulge in lazy cliche, eclectic, though not eclectic in a cliche way.
CGI-Crisp Motion-Smoothed Night Out in Venice happenstance bar-goers rubbed shoulders with Assorted Art-Weirds in the improbable assembly of seaside patrons.
ββ[ . . . πππΌππ π½πΌππ . . . ]
Bala (all)βd taken the stage moments prior to my arrival, leaving me to my own disorientation in low purple light β center-room, of course, and back just a bit but with a view β the sort of thing you do when you intuit the energy of spaces . . .
ββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ(ππππππππππ ππππ ππππ)
ββ[ . . . πππΌππ π½πΌππ . . . ]
ββ[ . . . πππΌππ π½πΌππ . . . ]
ββ[ . . . πππΌππ π½πΌππ . . . ]
And Iβm nodding and Iβm throbbing and all of the parts of me that hurt, so many parts, are screaming, turbo whine, every meterβs red, and all of the parts of me that feel good are somewhere inaccessible, and then theyβre back, for a momentary blip, and then theyβre gone and back again, and gone, and gone, and gone, and Iβm gone, and Iβm digging into the palm of my non-dominant hand so hard, and, and β
ββββyou know Wittgenstein said the joy of musicβs unconscious counting.
.
.
.
.
You know,
Wittgenstein said a lot of shit.
.
.
But!
βββββββYouβre on a ride with me, or someone like me.
ββββββββYouβre on your own really but we all are.
You invented me you can invent yourself.
Iβm βgoing elsewhere,β Iβm out of body, Iβm extremely embodied, Iβve got too many bodies, I've never been more Here, I never feel βright,β always the need for correction, correcting, uncertainty at motivations, discomfort at the closeness of moving strangers, intense distrust of smiling faces ( - : I canβt do it ) - : Iβm going to fall over, Life is controlled falling, Iβm having fun ( - : Iβm going to die ) - : my headβs going to explode, I wonder if sheβs heard Diamanda Galas, I wonder if Bala Mandalaβs got hard-drives full of go-dumb beats, I wonder if Iβm acting weird, I wonder if Iβm ever anything other, I'M PRETTY SURE I'M ALWAYS EVERYTHING OTHER . . .If you donβt keep moving during the silences because you can Still Hear It then I donβt really relate to you even a little bit, and thatβs how I noticed Felis, whose seeming involuntariness in the awe of vibrational overwhelm gave me fellow travelersβ comfort.
βββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββWe went elsewhere.
The Spaceship Earth Holodeck bangers were served for an hourβs time, and as I allowed it all to wash over me, I drifted on a wave of painful self-awareness to a far-away island . . .
takiwΔtanga
ETYMOLOGY:
From takiwΔ +β -tanga, from tΕku/tΕna anΕ takiwΔ (βmy/his/her own time and spaceβ), coined in 2017.
ββββββThink youβre too old money for new coinage?
"In my experience, people with autism tend to have their own timing, spacing, pacing and life-rhythm, so I interpreted autism as 'takiwΔtanga', meaning 'his or her own time and space.'β
β Keri Opai
TakiwΔtanga is the Te Reo MΔori word for autism, a Greek-derived English construction tied to historical condescension, pathologization, βcorrection,β etc.
Iβll allow Jolene Stockman, who comes by the term very naturally, to explain further.
βββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ(πΈ πππ ππ ππππ ππππ ππππ π πππ π’ππ
βββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββπΌπ’ πππππππππ πππππππ ππ π’ππ
βββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββπ°ππ π πππππππ π’ππ ππππππ ππ ππ)
βββWears pretty well on her, right?
And I think, as ever, of myself, in the stateside viper pit.
βββββββAppropriationβ?
βββββββββββTacky and white as still-drying Valspar Pearl?
ββββββββββββββAn unwieldy scimitar,β Edward said.
ββββββββββββββββββAffected,β I wondered.
βI donβt want to hurt anyone.
ββββAhimsa.β
βββββEdward glowers.
βββββββββAnd I think, as ever, of βmyself,β and it is, as ever, loose sand.
Felis ended up DJβing and performing to close out the night.
βOh, that makes sense,β Iβd thought to myself as he made his way from the audience to the stage in crisp-collared bengal stripes and trainers.
We didnβt meet,
βand we still havenβt,
βββββbut we did.
WAIT, THEREβS MORE:
βwhΔnauβ is another MΔori term being applied to the neurodivergent population.
The term is intended to convey a sense of open, extended family that seems to heavily overlap notions of e.g. βchosen family.β
I understand it roughly to entail a sense of collective duty.
βββββMy rough understandings invite correction at all times:
βββ
At risk of full-depth descent into scare-quoted exotitalic exploits,
βββββββββββNew Zealand anthropologist Joan Metge:
βdefines the two kinds of whΔnau as whakapapa-based whΔnau and kaupapa-based whΔnau. Kaupapa-based-whΔnau βplace particular stress on the other characteristic feature of the whakapapa-based-whΔnau, that is, whΔnau values and the ways of working derived from them.β
Whakapapa allows people to locate themselves in the world, both figuratively and in relation to their human ancestors. It links them to ancestors whose dramas played out on the land and invested it with meaning. By recalling these events, people layer meaning and experience onto the land.
Kaupapa is a plan, a set of principles and ideas that inform behaviour and customs. Mana whenua (authority in the land) is achieved when a personβs inward kaupapa is aligned with the outward land. When the relationship with the land is lost, peopleβs inner sense of security and foundation may be lost too.β
βββAnd I wonder And I wonder And I wonder And I wonder And I
Wonder and I Wonder and I Wonder and I Wonder and I Wonder and
ββI wonder and I wonder and I wonder and I wonder and I wonder
ββββοΌ‘ο½ο½ο½ο½ο½οΌββββββββ
βββββββββββοΌ₯ο½ο½
ο½ο½ο½ο½ο½ο½ο½οΌ
βββββββββββββββββββββββοΌ―ο½ο½ο½
ο½οΌ
ββAm I anything other than a grasping alienated bowerbird syncretist?
ββββDo I even want an explanation? ββββA definition? ββββA cause?
ββββββββββββββββββββββββββββDoes it matter?
βββββββββββββββββββββββββDoes anything?
βββββββββββββββββββββDrip,
βββββββββββββββββββββββdrip,
βββββββββββββββββββββββββdrink.
βThe sound of water says what I think.β
β Zhuang Zhou
ββ«·πππππππππ β> βπππππππ β«Έ
As you may have noticed, my online music catalog has dramatically expanded.
Iβve alternated between coyness and manic episodic pronouncements re: All This.
Things have been quieter here at the substack than Iβd like, as Iβve been undertaking the fairly grueling task of populating this little garden over @ bandcamp, most (not all) of which is also available through streaming services.
βββββββββPlease,
ββHave another playlist:
βββββββββFascinating shit, again.
βββββββββI fed Spotify a bunch more,
βββββincluding a song that insults Spotify:
And the algorithm has rendered further judgment.
Drexciya! EinstΓΌrzende Neubauten! HTRK!
ββββββββββββββββββββββEels?
βββββββββββββββββββββGoddammit β
βββββββββββββββββββββββNick Cave.
βββββββββββββββGRAILS!
ββββββββββββββββA very specific Radiohead song.
βββββββββββββA Dutch rapper named CHO!
Literal speaker test music, apparently βeight-dimensional!β
βββββββββββββββHuh.βββββββ
βββββAnimal Collective?
ββββββββββββForest Swords!
βββββββββββββββββββββ&
βββββββββββββββββββββββββIβLL BE DAMNED
βββββββββββββββββββββββWE are HERE, AGAIN.
βββββββββββββββββββAmi Dang on Leaving Records,
ββββββββββββββββββββββhow about that.
ββββββββββββ β₯
βAnd weβre back at the park. ββSee into the trees. ββFind the girl. ββWhile you still can.
βββββββββββπππ
ββββββββββββββββββββββββJ.Q.D.
