On May 10th, BF Bifocals put together a sound environment in Judson Memorial Church from 11pm to 1am. Ben Seretan played continuously for the entire time. We filled the space with sound generators: a record player, an artificial waterfall, a fan, a candle-powered angel chime, an open mic, a tape player playing blank tape, a humidifier. The church’s PA system played a field recording of a walk I had taken earlier in the day from Union square to Carroll Gardens. We organized identical chairs into as many configurations as we could imagine. People came and went over the course of the two hours. It was wonderful and intense. I set up my recorder in the mezzanine and this is what it heard.
Please join us for POSITIVITY LIGHTNING ROD SUMMIT, a very special night of musical performance by Ben Seretan.
There will be 2 shows with limited space: @ 7:30 PM and 9:30 PM.
PLEASE RSVP! Send an email to sardinebk@gmail and let us know that you’re in. $5 suggested donation.
Ben Seretan is a performing musician living in Brooklyn. He plays the electric guitar, sings, and performs “long music” - warm, improvised clouds of swelling tones that fill a room. His latest recording is called New Song.http://www.benseretan.com/
Sardine’s post
I’m playing a very special night of music at Sardine Gallery, in Bushwick. Next Saturday, May 25th - POSITIVITY LIGHTNING ROD SUMMIT.
In an extremely intimate setting, we are going to attempt to become a beacon of lightness and strength.
One set at 7:30 and one set at 9:30. Limited space available, please RSVP to sardinebk@gmail.com.
Image by Jon Lutz. Here’s the event page.
“Simple Kindness Toward Your Fellow Man”
Lyrics to a new song. This is the “inverse” of “Light Leaks” - it is in the same key, has a similar ABABC structure, but an entirely different inflection.
Let the current take you toward the dam
Hop a fence, claim innocence to the cops
What we’re you so afraid of then?
Simple kindness toward your fellow man
How warm the water you ran into?
My heart’s with another man
How warm the water you ran into?
Kindness toward your fellow man
When I came to you with limping wrists
Earthworms struggled in your tender palms
What are you so afraid of now?
Simple kindness toward your fellow man
How warm the water you ran into?
My heart’s with another man
How warm the water you ran into?
Kindness toward your fellow man
When she kissed your limping wrists
She poured new life into you
How warm the water you ran into?
She was filled with golden light
How warm the water you ran into?
My heart’s with another man
How warm the water you ran into?
Kindness toward your fellow man
Kindness toward your fellow man
My mom’s miniature dachshund Addie had to be unexpectedly put down today, it’s been an afternoon of just totally heart-breaking phone calls with her.
I found this photo of Addie and I in California from over Thanksgiving last year.
She was a good, tiny, little, defenseless dog.
Really enjoyed watching this movie for the first time today.
“Boy, if I could sing like that. If I could sing a song about the way I feel right now…it’d be a hit.”
I’m playing at Sycamore this Tuesday night, both a Ben Seretan solo set and a set with Fayaway. Sycamore is a bar/flowershop with a very intimate basement venue - that’s a detail from the website, summarizes the vibe of the establishment pretty well.
After Sound Floor
Tonight I played improvised “long music” for two hours straight in a hugely resonant and historically significant church. There were the sounds of an artificial waterfall, a skipping Keith Jarrett record, Angus walking through New York with a field recorder, and dead square in the space a Swedish candle angel that played a soft chime and beautifully lit up the faces of everyone near it.
At one point police lights blinked off and on in the three stained glass windows in the rear of the church.
Near the end of our time, Alex and Angus went through and blew out the candles and turned off everything. Then they turned down the lights really low. I kept playing in almost total darkness for a few minutes more. I began fading out my signal and - so beautifully timed in the dark - lightning struck, thunder rolled, and rain began hitting the roof. Such providence. Writing this as to remember it tomorrow and always.
The Early are holding a screening of the film they live-scored. I watched it on Alex’s laptop when I was in Philadelphia last month - it’s great.
They’ve invited me to play a bit of music, as well.
Should be a rad night - you should come!
Poster by Daniel Graham Loxton, who designed In Two.
Saw Boris play Flood last night, one of the more moving and physically active musical performances I’ve seen in quite a while. The strobe lights were punishing and my mouth hung open for a lot of the show.
Last night I really began to understand why the band chose to make this homage to Nick Drake. Their music occasionally has an Erik Satie inflected loveliness to it, a melancholy similar to Nick Drake.
I recorded this mostly improvised demo on someone else’s piano today. Not sure why the Lone Ranger and Coca Cola made such a grand appearance, but these antiquated pop culture phrases give the song a lopsided quality that I like.
“Daybreak and ‘Hi Ho, Silver!’
Breaking up, ‘Hi Ho, Silver!’
It’s the pause that refreshes.
Sleeping late and ‘Hi Ho, Silver!’
Making love in the morning
Making love on your birthday
Drinking wine from your navel
Daylight now and ‘Hi Ho, Silver!’
It’s the pause that refreshes.
Making love to a stranger
It’s the pause that refreshes.”
(Don’t forget that soda is poison, though)
