A ballet for leisure

You know you've entered proper vacation mode when the days lose their meaning, and it's all just time that you pick up and play with or drop on the ground on your meandering way toward something else. That nice little interlude is now behind me, and aside from losing myself at the piano for a bunch of hours, I'm surprised that I didn't end up with a couple songs on repeat in my head (except for "Itsy Bitsy Spider", which is my baby daughter's feel good jam of the young summer). Having said that, this one came on one afternoon in a bit  of semi-siesta lethargy. Never thought Stravinsky would pair well with a food coma, but there you go. 

Igor Stravinsky — Apotheosis (Apollon Musagete)

Burmese bang

Well, what's not to like about an ace modern music ensemble supercharged with spitfire percussion in a giddy cross-cultural musical meeting. In straight-up Western music, this would be spastic and nervous, but here feels much more elegant. I like how the manic, almost Zappa-like antics alternate with a folksy lilt. Leaves me feeling peaceful and amped up all at once. 

Bang On A Can All-Stars with Kyaw Kyaw Naing— Sein Chit Tee A Mhat Ta Ya

Soft illusions

Being in the baby bubble means blurring the line between sleep and wakefulness, deliberate movements and falling back on muscle memory. Makes me appreciate the soft, surprisingly near-hallucinatory brushstrokes of Satie. Here's a classic one, nicely rendered by old progster Steve Hackett, and his brother John, fully in charge on flute.

John Hackett & Steve Hackett — Gnossienne No. 3

Raveled

I saw Werner Herzog's new Cave of Forgotten Dreams over the weekend. And in 3D, which added...umm...another dimension to the experience. I'm not really in the bizness of recommending movies, but you really should get yourself over to a theatre for this one. That is, if you're interested in the discovery of cave paintings from Early Man over 30,000 years ago and what we might learn about our dear old selves. Not just about their artistic acumen, but of their consciousness, which may be not all that different from our own re>the belief in a spirit world and its relationship to the creatures living in the material world. Looking at that staggering distance of time, you can't help but wonder when the human brain developed that dimension and the impulse to express it.

None of that has much to do with today's song. Except the binding tie of genius.

Maurice Ravel - Gaspard de la Nuit (Le Gibet)