1. |
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feat. Noble aka Minni Jo - flute, and the voices of Judy Garland, Nina Simone, Robert Frost - "Birches" (1916) and "Mending Wall" (1914), Phillip Larkin - "Wires" (1950), Captain Beefheart - "Apes Ma" from the album Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) (1978), James Baldwin, and Sylvia Plath - "Daddy" (1962)
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Writing to art historian Will Grohmann in 1930, Kandinsky described his thoughts about circles:
"The circle is a link with the cosmic...It is the synthesis of the greatest oppositions...It combines the concentric with the eccentric in a single form and in equilibrium...of the three primary forms: triangle - square - circle...The circle points most clearly to the fourth dimension."
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2. |
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Poetry by Steve Fowler
I am disturbed
By this one shot diamond in the rough.
The self-preening and self-eating
Of a staggering task
Made mundane by the rise and fall of days
As waves upon a beach
Tediously, from a sea of sorrow, discontent, strange rapture
Perhaps I have never understood
Plopped down, carelessly, unknowingly, unalterably
Somewhere between Tombstone Arizona and 2001
Envying, at odd moments
Cowboys and spacemen
At others, content to watch the creator dissipate
To a shred of sky
A throb of faltering seasons.
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3. |
DOOM MOOD
06:05
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feat. Freckle aka Jason Greene - spoken word
Miss Samantha Sidley - vocals
This song is, musically and lyrically, a mirror image of itself.
Each line in the poem is a palindrome.
The opening and closing instrumental sections, written for 4 violins, appear first forward and then backward and are written in the 12-tone style. My grandfather, William L. Fowler, believed that the first 12-tone row appeared not in works by Schoenberg, but in the first piano concerto by Johannes Brahms. I'm not sure if I found the same row he did, but this is the origin of my row.
The middle section is an arrangement of a movement from the Igor Stravinsky ballet "Petrushka," titled "Peasant with Bear."
-----
(Rats at a bar grab at a star.
Do geese see god?)
Dammit, I’m mad!
Mad as Adam.
No devil lived on,
Devil never even lived.
God lived as a devil dog.
Swap God for a janitor; rot in a jar of dog paws.
Evil, a sin, is alive.
Murder for a jar of red rum;
A nut for a jar of tuna.
Oozy rat in a sanitary zoo.
Star comedy by democrats;
Party booby trap.
We few.
Top spot.
Air an aria
avid diva
Maps, DNA, and spam.
Senile felines--
No lemon, no melon.
UFO tofu,
Space caps,
Radar.
Evil did I dwell, lewd I did live.
Tips spill, lips spit.
Red root--pull up to order,
Never odd or even.
Lepers repel;
Nurses run.
Now I won.
I did, did I?
No, it is opposition.
I prefer pi.
I’m a fool, aloof am I!
(Borrow or rob?
Are we not drawn to----[new era]?
Won’t lovers revolt now?)
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4. |
Values vs. Semantics
09:20
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feat. Bruce Fowler - trombone
Y.S. Moriarty - french horn
Noble aka Minni Jo - vocals
Micaela Tobin - vocals
Don Saffire - voice of god
The opening section is a short cover of the Frank Zappa song "Trouble Every Day" from the album Freak Out (1966)
-----
Words matter,
make sure you know what they mean
Words matter,
each one spoken and all we sing
And when you drink water,
don’t forget the mountain stream
Facts matter,
because perception can fool us
Facts matter,
without them prejudice will rule us
conditioning misleads us
so lets listen and let truth redeem us
But, either way,
Whatever you say,
Come Judgement Day,
(God will not be fooled by semantics)
This is what “pro-life” should mean
No death penalty
Help every refugee
This is what our freedom needs
Healthcare for everyone
Education, not guns
(Legality is not morality)
We have a reverse Robin Hood in charge,
a juxtaposition of Jesus
He’s redefining reality,
He likes to deny rights on a technicality
He tells lies that endanger our democracy
It’s not chain migration,
it’s family reunification
Don’t let unfounded fears about immigration
rationalize family separation
Social security and Medicaid--
The federal safety net--
Should not be called entitlements
Because they are earned benefits.
Don’t let those who can’t relate,
label us a welfare state.
And to climate change deniers--
Global warming is gonna melt more than us snowflakes.
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5. |
June Gloom in July
19:54
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TRIGGER WARNING: this song contains many disturbing and upsetting news clips
Middle section contains an mashup of W.A. Mozart Requiem in D minor, K 626 VI. Lacrimosa and the bassline from "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" by The Beatles.
MUSIC VIDEO LINK: https://vimeo.com/302493255
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6. |
Why?
01:12
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feat. Micaela Tobin - vocals
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7. |
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feat. Theodosia Roussos - vocals
This song is a setting of three poems by Emily Dickinson
The music that accompanies the final poem is an arrangement of Franz Schubert String Quintet in C major, II. Adagio
-----
A.
“Faith” is a fine invention
When gentlemen can see -
But Microscopes are prudent
In an Emergency.
B.
Fame is a bee.
It has a song -
It has a sting -
Ah, too, it has a wing.
C.
The Brain - is wider than the Sky -
For - put them side by side -
The one the other will contain
With ease - and You - beside -
The Brain is deeper than the sea -
For - hold them - Blue to Blue -
The one the other will absorb -
As Sponges - Buckets - do -
The Brain is just the weight of God -
For - Heft them - Pound for Pound -
And the will differ - if they do -
As Syllable from Sound -
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8. |
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feat. Julia Tepper - spoken word
Brandon Gianetto - spoken word
Poetry by Steve Fowler (below), Mark Strand - "Keeping Things Whole" (1979), and Rumi
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The best thing I can think of
When I'm not dreaming
Is the smell of cut grass
And quiet.
Is it because I am a prisoner of dreams
that these successful thoughts must be intruded upon?
The imagination runs its hand over a tired old keyboard
And I see myself passing through the fields of a fragrant memory.
The piper's tardy child
Furiously limping toward paradise
With those strangest of twins
Elation and fear frozen on my expectant face
But merely crippled,
I am again left with the horses
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Rhea Fowler Los Angeles, California
Rhea Fowler is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and teacher based in Los Angeles.
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