todd - ProfilesArchive

About Me

Keith Rowe onced said that he was "terrified" by the guitar. And every time that he sat down to "play" it, he viewed it with great horror. Another avant-garde guitarist spoke of his chosen instrument as a "metal cage." Goddamn if I don't agree. Though I feel much more comfortable making free-ambient-noise with the guitar as an unorthodox sound-producing device, I still aspire to play the guitar in a more traditional manner. Mostly, the guitar provides me with an opportunity to give form and structure to my poetry. I'm self-taught and have no understanding of music theory, or any ability to read/write music -- unfortunately. But I'd love to learn someday. And, well, that's one of my pressing life goals: to learn how to compose music. I'd love to be able to determine the placement and timing of every note within each of my songs -- and not default to the subjective tastes (altough it can be inspiring) of my band members. There's no finer opportunity for this so-called perfectionist. Hmmmmmmm, what else? A fairly friendly vegetarian? A reasonably rational skeptic? I've inherited a frown from my mother. And from father: a way of surviving WITHOUT truly breathing. I wake and retire to the same regret daily: a high-pitched chronic squealing in my "ears" -- a symptom known as Tinnitus. My music provides some ... minor relief. And, finally, how about one of my earliest -- and most vibrant -- memories? I remember walking around the block as a kid and then pausing, entranced, next to an electric box purring with the sound of some sort of cosmic song (which might account for my near sexual attraction to electricity today). If you are at all interested in investigating my art, please look for the first two "friend" links on this page: WiseBlood (an ambient experimental spoken-word folk project (though now defunct)), and TGruel (my own solo Electro-Acoustic improvisations).

My Interests

Reading. I empathize with the French Symbolists -- who returned to the simplicity and intuition of their feelings; I enjoy the playful spirit of Surrealism; and I respect the brass ear of Language poetics. The ambiguities and dynamics of personal relationships. Virginia Wolf thought of herself as the "biographer of the untold history of small acts". Photography, cooking, and hiking. Art history -- specifically Abstract Expressionism: Mark Rothko, Alberto Burri, Antoni Tapies, Lucio Fontana. I collect/make field recordings (mostly of electricity, or other urban sound generators), and enjoy tinkering with sound(s). I've been developing a photography theme based upon urban decay for the last few years: the unlikely beauty of rust (yes, amazing how mere tone and texture, alone, tell stories)!

I'd like to meet:

You. I'd like to meet you. And those with wombs. Or: botanists, cryptographers, ant farmers, perplexed dialecticians, and cloud-watchers. Or just anyone strange enough to dislike peanut butter!

Music:

Some "indie/post-rock": Sharks Keep Moving, Duster, The Weakerthans, Storm and Stress, Emyrium. A few of the "classics": The Beach Boys, Dire Straits, AC/DC. A dab of "classical": Milton Babbitt, Morton Feldman, Erik Satie. And a whole slew of experimental ambient/noise/drone: Harold Budd, Rothko, William Basinski, Rafael Toral, Oren Ambarchi, Kevin Drumm, Radian, Martin Siewert, Werner Dafeldecker, John Bischoff, John Duncan, John Hudak, Elaine Radigue, Francisco Lopez, Richard Chartier, Erstwhile and Touch musicians, and a horde of obscure sound-artists,... oh, and always: Keith (fucking) Jarrett!

Movies:

"Indiana Jones." Or just anything by Woody Allen.

Television:

Unfortunately, occasionally...

Books:

Mostly poetry. The big three for me are STEPHEN DUNN, ARTHUR SZE, and DYLAN THOMAS; but I also enjoy: Bei Dao, Pablo Neruda, Dean Young, Louis Gluck, James Galvin, Michael Palmer, Charles Olson, Andrew Joron, and Ron Silliman. Some philosophy: Hegel (?)=> Nietzsche (!)=> Camus (*). Novels by Murakami. And anything else that offers insight into WHO WE BE, and WHY WE DO.

Heroes:

Those more interested in judging a kindergarten sack race than a professional triathlon. Zookeepers -- and keepers of small secrets too large to keep. Anyone who can explain the existence of a zooidal (?) entity. Fellow connoisseurs of beards, collectors of sound, and acolytes of noon...

My Blog

John Cassavetes

"ANYONE WHO CAN'T LOVE WILL HATE. It has NO DIRECTION. It's just there. But make that hater love -- even for a moment. That's what I'm trying to do. But the odds are over...
Posted by todd on Sat, 11 Oct 2008 12:56:00 PST

Stephen Dunn

The Hard-To-Say An interview with Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Stephen Dunn Stephen Dunn was born in New York City in 1939. He earned a B.A. in history and English from Hofstra University, attended t...
Posted by todd on Mon, 06 Oct 2008 04:56:00 PST

Keith Jarrett

..TR> KEITH JARRETT: ZEN IN THE ART OF JAZZ..TABLE> ..TR> By C.B. Liddell TOKYO, 5 APRIL 2007 Most musicians anchor their star to some specific quadrant of the musical galaxy, but p...
Posted by todd on Sat, 04 Oct 2008 10:30:00 PST

Bob Perelman

Toh Hsien Min An interview with Bob Perelman Between the get-well cards and the pantyhose: Bob Perelman goes shopping Bob Perelman (b. 1947; left) is one of the leading figures in the controversial L=...
Posted by todd on Tue, 26 Aug 2008 08:55:00 PST

Etc. (Collected Quotes)...

"Cynicism such as one finds very frequently ... results from the combination of comfort with powerlessness. Powerlessness makes people feel that nothing is worth doing, and comfort makes t...
Posted by todd on Fri, 15 Feb 2008 09:06:00 PST

Lucio Fontana

Lucio FontanaCONCETTO SPAZIALE, NATURE1959BRONZE His last interview; With, Tommaso Trini July 19, 1968 One and a half months before his death. You se...
Posted by todd on Wed, 14 Nov 2007 06:05:00 PST

August Kleinzahler

AUGUST KLEINZAHLER ON POETIC RAGE,MFA MOCKERY, AND ENFORCED IDLENESSAUGUST KLEINZAHLERIn November, Farrar, Straus and Giroux will publish August Kleinzahler's eleventh book of poetry, The Strange Hour...
Posted by todd on Wed, 14 Nov 2007 05:45:00 PST

Robert Kelly

Robert KellyRobert KellyThe hugely prolific poet and writer Robert Kelly here, very kindly, answers some of my questions. (More of Robert's work, including his long lyric poem Ariadne (written in 1991...
Posted by todd on Wed, 14 Nov 2007 05:26:00 PST

Keith Rowe Interview

INTERVIEW: Keith Rowe ..> In April 2007, Keith Rowe, who co-founded the AMM ensemble (1965), toured the U.S...
Posted by todd on Tue, 30 Oct 2007 10:24:00 PST