pattycakes_
Can turn naughty
'Deep' means different things to different people. Let's have a thread where we post a piece of deep music and talk a bit about what makes it deep to you and why you like it.
I'll start with one of my favourite recordings of all time
Found this on a La Monte Young themed post back in the glory days of music blogs. It's the 2nd disc of a 2 cd set. Recorded in August '76 by La Monte and his wife Marian. The sound quality is definitely not high, but it's totally raw and intimate which only adds to the sense of depth imo. The resonant saw waves from the tamburas played by La Monte and Marian lightly buzz and flange across the surface of my brain. The minimal tabla playing acting like off kilter punctuation. Texture more than rhythm. The rich and ancient voice of Pran Nath, a practicioner of the Kirana gharana singing style. Just totally focused and in the zone of raga Malkauns. They say it's one of the oldest ragas. Usually played late at night, and has dark connotations related to spirits and evil. I've read some people say it's for expelling bad spirits and others say it attracts them. Either way it's a heady ass brew. Something about the physicality of the recording makes this one special for me. The old 'you feel like you're in the room' thing applies. You can hear the frailty of his aged body combined with the sheer force of nature coming from his lungs being pushed up through his throat. Something you only earn with a lifetime of dedication to your craft.
Extra points for the included cough.
Edit: So aside from the above, which are mostly aesthetic points, I can say that this is one of the few recordings that has ever sent me into an altered state without any additional factors. So many recordings claim to do this. So few of them actually do. I've searched high and low for this effect in recorded music. Most of the time it either takes a live performance or a very loud soundsystem. In those situations it's obviously much easier to get carried away with whatevers going on. But much more rare for me is to find a recorded piece that manages to give the same effect. And ofc there's plenty of psychedelic music out there. Let's say, Spacemen 3 who spun those wonderful sheets of tripping electrical power, which I've drifted off to plenty of times. Repetition/droning often a common factor in deep music. But I don't know if I ever felt like I entered an altered state from SM3. Or Can, or Yahowa or whoever else in that higher plane of psyched out music. Those musics all imply the state, were clearly inspired by the state, and with the help of substances can certainly enhance and guide the state. But to take you there sober? Idk. It's rare.
I played the Pran Nath to this poet from Japan once. (not to brag that I have that kind of lifestyle.) She had this set of tuning forks hand-carved out of a specific metal only obtainable in one mountain in Japan, and she would play one of the forks and then recite her poetry to me in Japanese. One time she asked me to play the drums for her. Just a freestyle improv. At the end of it she said 'very good. now for the next week, only play snare'. The way she said it. Totally unpretentious, unjaded. She just knew that's what was needed to be done to progress. Not being precious or trying to be profound. Just an approach to music, performance and art in general that I feel we could do with a little bit more of. Kind of wish I'd kept in touch with her. Anyway, when I played the Nath to her I never saw anyone sit for a full hour with their eyes closed listening so intently to a piece of music from beginning to end like that. She had a spiritual moment with it. There's no other way to describe it. She wanted to listen to it again straight away when it had finished. I'm starting to be of the belief that you're either in tune with this shit or you're not. It either does this to you or it doesn't. I don't know what it takes to get there. But I think I'm a full blown season ticket holder when it comes to chasing moments of transcendence through various means and methods. Music is my favourite of all. Deep music. Deep for me is speaking to and from the human soul. It's about truth, knowledge and love. (yeah) Somehow Pandit Pran Nath's voice in combination with those shimmering drones from La Monte and Marian embody those three pillars of consciousness for me in a way that supercedes the kaleidoscope theatrics of substances. It's an earth sound. Pandit Pran Nath used to sit on a little island in the middle of a river practising his singing for days at a time. For years and years. Seeking within himself. Trying to master his instrument. I didn't know any of this before I listened to it, but when I started to research it I realized that it only made sense that this would have taken that kind of dedication to get to that point in your abilities. He went deep.
I'll start with one of my favourite recordings of all time
Found this on a La Monte Young themed post back in the glory days of music blogs. It's the 2nd disc of a 2 cd set. Recorded in August '76 by La Monte and his wife Marian. The sound quality is definitely not high, but it's totally raw and intimate which only adds to the sense of depth imo. The resonant saw waves from the tamburas played by La Monte and Marian lightly buzz and flange across the surface of my brain. The minimal tabla playing acting like off kilter punctuation. Texture more than rhythm. The rich and ancient voice of Pran Nath, a practicioner of the Kirana gharana singing style. Just totally focused and in the zone of raga Malkauns. They say it's one of the oldest ragas. Usually played late at night, and has dark connotations related to spirits and evil. I've read some people say it's for expelling bad spirits and others say it attracts them. Either way it's a heady ass brew. Something about the physicality of the recording makes this one special for me. The old 'you feel like you're in the room' thing applies. You can hear the frailty of his aged body combined with the sheer force of nature coming from his lungs being pushed up through his throat. Something you only earn with a lifetime of dedication to your craft.
Extra points for the included cough.
Edit: So aside from the above, which are mostly aesthetic points, I can say that this is one of the few recordings that has ever sent me into an altered state without any additional factors. So many recordings claim to do this. So few of them actually do. I've searched high and low for this effect in recorded music. Most of the time it either takes a live performance or a very loud soundsystem. In those situations it's obviously much easier to get carried away with whatevers going on. But much more rare for me is to find a recorded piece that manages to give the same effect. And ofc there's plenty of psychedelic music out there. Let's say, Spacemen 3 who spun those wonderful sheets of tripping electrical power, which I've drifted off to plenty of times. Repetition/droning often a common factor in deep music. But I don't know if I ever felt like I entered an altered state from SM3. Or Can, or Yahowa or whoever else in that higher plane of psyched out music. Those musics all imply the state, were clearly inspired by the state, and with the help of substances can certainly enhance and guide the state. But to take you there sober? Idk. It's rare.
I played the Pran Nath to this poet from Japan once. (not to brag that I have that kind of lifestyle.) She had this set of tuning forks hand-carved out of a specific metal only obtainable in one mountain in Japan, and she would play one of the forks and then recite her poetry to me in Japanese. One time she asked me to play the drums for her. Just a freestyle improv. At the end of it she said 'very good. now for the next week, only play snare'. The way she said it. Totally unpretentious, unjaded. She just knew that's what was needed to be done to progress. Not being precious or trying to be profound. Just an approach to music, performance and art in general that I feel we could do with a little bit more of. Kind of wish I'd kept in touch with her. Anyway, when I played the Nath to her I never saw anyone sit for a full hour with their eyes closed listening so intently to a piece of music from beginning to end like that. She had a spiritual moment with it. There's no other way to describe it. She wanted to listen to it again straight away when it had finished. I'm starting to be of the belief that you're either in tune with this shit or you're not. It either does this to you or it doesn't. I don't know what it takes to get there. But I think I'm a full blown season ticket holder when it comes to chasing moments of transcendence through various means and methods. Music is my favourite of all. Deep music. Deep for me is speaking to and from the human soul. It's about truth, knowledge and love. (yeah) Somehow Pandit Pran Nath's voice in combination with those shimmering drones from La Monte and Marian embody those three pillars of consciousness for me in a way that supercedes the kaleidoscope theatrics of substances. It's an earth sound. Pandit Pran Nath used to sit on a little island in the middle of a river practising his singing for days at a time. For years and years. Seeking within himself. Trying to master his instrument. I didn't know any of this before I listened to it, but when I started to research it I realized that it only made sense that this would have taken that kind of dedication to get to that point in your abilities. He went deep.
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