how was alessandro cortini, though?

he mostly did social network style stuff, which was predictable, but maybe not what i was expecting. he was on late and finished late. and, then, i was essentially stuck there listening to dubstep (which i can't stand) until the buses started running again.

when the works shut down, it seems to have opened up a void that is still kind of settling. but, it freed the scene up and gave rise to marble, which is a bar that has both a crowd and a stylistic focus that i greatly prefer over the works. like most of detroit, i actually hated the works - i hated the atmosphere, i hated the djs and i hated the scene. it was a gross, disgusting place full of gross, disgusting people - and very, very bad music. but, on some nights, it was the only party in town, and people seemed to not want to put on other parties because everybody was going there, anyways.

i've noticed recently that the dubstep kids are migrating to marble, and i'm hoping they don't settle in there. marble was great precisely because it wasn't full of the old works crowd of dubstep people. it was an older and less shallow audience, over all. it might be too late, though, and if they settle in, and the management embraces them, i might find myself needing to look somewhere else. for now, i've got plaid coming up at the start of the month and we'll see what happens next year...

personally, i think that the leland club is a better spot for the dubstep kids. those goth nights are always dead, and they've been upstaged by small's, anyways. they could save their bar by becoming the new works, and that would be fine with me, if it means protecting marble from the wubbz invasion, and everything that means.

however the dust settles, i'm just hoping there's a consistent way to avoid dubstep on a weekly basis. for a while, there wasn't, and i ended up hanging out in a place that i didn't actually really want to be in - and, as it turns out, didn't really want me there, either.

i mean, what they told me was that i was "making people uncomfortable". not a specific person, but "people", in general.

i asked for them to be more specific, and they declined. i was not able to properly decode the statement, and i've never been able to build the full context.

my perception of myself is that the only people that i tend to make uncomfortable are homophobic men - and i know that's a real thing. so, when somebody comes up to me and says "you have to leave because you're making people feel uncomfortable", and then declines to elaborate, i can't draw any other real deduction - i must have been thrown out for upsetting the men in the bar.

and, the bar was almost entirely full of men at that point, as well, which is probably why i became the focus of attention - there were all these guys looking around for girls, and i was what was there. if there were more women in the bar, i probably would have escaped notice.

as mentioned - that's the only example i have, because i don't actually like to go to upper class type places, anyways.

but, i'm not going to put a shirt on. i'll go somewhere else, instead. sorry.

i was doing exactly what he's doing with exactly the same device back in the mid to late 90s.

the reality is that i don't think it's ever actually come up, because i don't tend to be drawn to those kinds of places, anyways. i don't recall ever being turned away anywhere. but, i don't have any memories of actually going anywhere that would make it an issue or want to turn me away, either. 98% of the time that i'm in a bar, it's to see a concert and, for the other 2% of the time, i would naturally avoid a place like that out of reflex, and seek out the dive bar down the street, instead. i've never had a group of friends that would say "let's go to this bar with a dress code", either - i've always preferred social groups that consist of anarchists, punks and nerds that would rather hang out in dive bars, in the first place.

that night that i got thrown out of the works probably had a lot do with what i was wearing, but it was a gender expression thing. i never really got a straight answer, but i appear to have upset some guys at the bar via a combination of turning on their girlfriends and confusing them about what my gender was. i was there on that night to see allessandro cortini, and he seems to have attracted a lot of heteronormative meatheads to what is generally a sleazy dance bar. so, yes - they probably threw me out for what i was wearing, but it was more of a gender thing than a class thing, and all i can do is point out that it reflects exceedingly poorly on the bar owners and management. the bar has since closed.

i have no other examples.

and, my only request to the new detroit is that they tell me before hand so i can avoid anywhere that wants to put one down.

actually, my perspective on dress codes is to request that you publish them ahead of time so i know to avoid your party or establishment. obviously, nobody likes meeting a bouncer that is going to refuse you entry based on your clothing. it's a frustrating and embarrassing situation for everybody. but, i'm not the kind of person that is going to change my appearance to fit it, or want to spend time in a place that enforces rules on what you can or can't wear. further, i fully reject all kinds of hierarchy - i'm an anarchist. so, i'm not going to like the people there any more than they're going to like me. the disinterest is mutual. i do not want to be at a party with a dress code.

if you publish it ahead of time, you can save everybody the hassle - i'll go somewhere else. and, i can launch into an argument about property rights, but it's ultimately inconsequential, in context. the best outcome is that we avoid each other.

i'd just request that communication around the issue be upfront and clear, well ahead of time.

and, just briefly, regarding pictures at an exhibition....

i grew up with a prog rock dad, and this is something that keith emerson thoroughly ruined for me. i simply can't unhear it.

it's not a bad piece, but i'll never be able to actually enjoy it. so, i'm skipping that one, for sure....

on the origin of the term 'black midi', i would have to think it has a lot to do with an early 70s zappa composition.

yes, early 70s.

when you stump terry bozio, you're doing something hard.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Page

so, thursday is for sure, the 12th & 13th are almost certainly not and the 16th is iffy.

i have to admit that i'm not particularly familiar with sibelius, and that this is a piece that does not develop into much interesting to me. but, there's a tchaikovsky piece opening that i'm more familiar with and i wouldn't mind catching.

but, there's a tchaikovsky piece opening that i'm more familiar with and i wouldn't mind catching.

that means i can potentially program an exciting thursday night, maybe.

1) 19:30-21:30 - tchaikovsky's first piano concerto + sibelius, maybe
2) 22:00-23:30 - black midi @ deluxx fluxx (somebody gave me free tickets.)
3) 00:00-02:00 - lushh @ phog. this is electronic jazz.

and, i could maybe catch the heart attack kids + wine lips across the street if the timing syncs up, which...if i'm right there anyways, why not?

it's not going to be the nicest night, but that's just it - that's the kind of night i need to go out in this weather, and i wasn't getting it for the other nights i was looking at, or for any other night next week. if i can pull that off, it's worth it. and, it might be the only thing this month that actually is worth it, too.

what else am i looking at, though?

12th - weeping icon + paint thinner. probably not, though.
13th - anamanaguchi early + ilkae late, or maybe just ilkae. i might not think just going for the autechre knockoff in windsor is worth it. i probably won't actually do this, but it's a night, at least.

16th - la dispute/touche amore + late show @ phog. do i actually want to go, though? it's probably superfluous. there may be cheaper shows in detroit, or i may want to stay in.

that's what we've got for this month, total, so far.

i think it's interesting that this advertised as being "for meditation", because it kind of pushes the point - as a piece of music, it's not very exciting. oddly, perhaps it's not intended to be exciting.

there's reasons why i may find the premise of mixing electronic music with lead guitar work to be interesting; that is, after all, what i do, myself. but, this is just exceedingly dry on both levels. as a guitarist, his style is just dead - no passion, no emotion in the playing. and, as an electronic composer, he's just running off ableton templates; there's not a lot of thought put into this, in either direction.

but, if it simultaneously fails on an intellectual level and on a corporeal level, perhaps it succeeds on the level of being a kind of elevator music, for exactly the reason it fails at being compelling electronic music or compelling guitar music. but, if that's the case, perhaps you want to listen to it alone when you're reading, or perhaps as a sleep aid, rather than go out and see it performed live.

i would find it to be terribly boring in a live setting, myself.

https://tetramusicproject.bandcamp.com/album/resolution

we know that life began with amino acids. but, we don't know the answer to the fundamental question: amino acids....or astro amino acids?

i've had many chances to see them when they were closer to the tunnel, and i've missed every one. i'm not going to make it out to hamtramck on a weeknight in the cold.

but, if you like man...or astroman? and you've got a few hours to blow next week, then this is happening.

https://theaminoacids.bandcamp.com/album/humanity-will-fall-like-pins-2