I started sitting zazen last month. Two or three times a week, I go to the San Francisco Zen Center and practice 30 minutes of “sitting absorption.” And practice is the right word because I have yet to feel that I am doing it right. Still, it’s refreshing and I keep coming back. About ten [...]
Exploring the boundary between sound & music 2:1
Interesting article from Music Think Tank If a Tree Falls in the Woods Can You Call It Music? By Keith Andrew Recently I was reading some material on the controversial yet highly influential experimental composer John Cage –most widely known for his ‘piece’ 4’33” which if you are not familiar with, is 4’33” of silence. A [...]
Somali Rap and Radio (@ History is made at night)
Reposted from History is made at night From Waayaha Cusub (from Reuters Nairobi, 9 April 2010): For centuries, Somalis used poetry and songs to pass protest messages to powerful rulers they were too afraid to confront directly. Now, some young Somalis are using rap to speak out against Islamists who they say are using religion [...]
Tanya Tagaq — Crossing Genres & “Living Outside the Box”
Few artists cross genre boundaries as freely and seemingly effortlessly as Tanya Tagaq. Labeling what she does as Inuit throat singing inadequately describes what she does. Never easy listening, Tanya takes the listener “outside the box” of her or his expectations. In an interview in January 2010, Tanya discussed her work and her hope that [...]
