The Living Music List #37: On Irrationality
As beings driven to action by emotion, art has the power to change our world
Currently listening to: An Ending (Ascent) by Brian Eno
When brothers and ambient pioneers, Brian and Roger Eno, teamed up with producer Daniel Lanois to record Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks, they were not just scoring a documentary about mankind’s “one giant leap” into space—they were bringing a feeling to life that very few had felt. The feeling of ascending into the unknown, reaching into a boundless frontier, and floating into a dark abyss.
When the pivotal track An Ending (Ascent) first landed, it was the arrival of one of the most emotional atmopheric tracks of all time. It was a piece of music that looked not into the heart of a dark abyss, but at the heart of our brightest moment. A moment when humanity collectively witnessed the light reflecting back off the face of Earth, illuminating in us a new perspective on our home—our precious little place in a much larger space. We saw the way the light shone from our beloved Moon, that orbiting celestial body that had become our common goal. In that moment of light, within that warm glow of possibility, we saw both our darkness and our light. Our limitations and our potential. Our past and our future.
We saw a brighter future. A future where, globally, we might have come together to move forward as one people. A future driven by mutual scientific discovery. A future catalyzed by shared progress. A future built on the universal good.
But this bright future was not to be. It was a future that, in dreaded hindsight, now appears as naught but a fool’s dream, quickly overshadowed by the darker reality. The Enos had seen and felt in their music a future that, in a 2019 interview, they openly mourned nearly 4 decades later, still advocating for unification and cooperation as the future only seemed to be growing darker…
“I’m gonna try not to weep when I say this, ‘cause I find the world so hopeless at the moment, but at that point, there was an idea that this would bring humanity together. So, actually, I’m quite saddened by it, because there was a point there that humanity itself could have jumped into a different mode.” - Roger Eno
“The problems that we face—climate change, flooding, mass migration, so on—we can’t solve those nationally. They have to be the result of international agreements and international collaborations. This is when we need the consciousness that gave us the moon missions.” - Brian Eno
Reflection
Hello, friend.
Are you a rational person?
Be reasonable and answer honestly, please, my friend. Do you feel you are logical— generally, of course—approaching most experiences from a state of mind and a point of view equally guided by reason and evidence?
As a species, we love to tout our advanced place on the evolutionary scale, pointing to our rational nature and our ability to pursue logical lines of thought. How easily we rise above such base emotions to pursue what’s factual and real, we think. In philosophical discourse, we metaphorically puff out our chests like our ape ancestors (yet unlike those animals, considering we don’t actually puff out our chests, usually, and we have the capability of speaking metaphorically).
We have separated ourselves from the creatures of fields, sea, and sky for one reason—our ability to reason… right?
Sure, we can think rationally. But how often do we truly act rationally?
I was listening to an episode of David Perell's How I Write podcast in which he chats with author Mark Forsyth about some hallmark rhetorical techniques—words you’ll probably need to Google, or listen to Mark eloquently explain in the episode.
Chiasmus. Anaphora. Anadiplosis. And here, just now, I’ve sort of used a tricolon: a rhetorical device using three parallel phrases in a row to emphasize something. I encourage you to look these terms up and then go back to re-read my description under the Eno track at the beginning of the letter—how many of these rhetorical tactics do you think I was able to squeeze in there?
Of course, I haven’t just done this for shits and giggles. Okay, maybe a few giggles, but certainly no shits. These devices are impactful—meaning they make our writing or speech deeply memorable—because, as Forsyth explains to Perell, they create and fulfill an expectation. They facilitate familiarity—alliteration is another device, by the way.
Our brains are semi-conditioned to enjoy certain ways of writing or speaking. The rule of threes (tricolons), symmetry (chiasmus), repetition (anaphora, anadiplosis, and diacope)—all of these ways of weaving our words together satisfy that conditioning. And we humans flock to satisfaction at the delivery of effective language like Pavlov’s dogs to their food bowls at the ringing of a bell.
Why? Well, we were just rationalizing it, weren’t we? It’s just the way our brains work. It’s neurons firing and pathways being forged by triggering sensations… or, it just making us feel fucking good. Kind of like how good it feels to say or write the word fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. That’s a word of infinite meanings and emotions, now, isn’t it?
Speaking of which, is cursing rational? Do we think logically before we spout off a tirade of terms to which we’ve assigned an improper value? No. We do it because we feel a certain way and want to vent our frustration or express our suprise or unleash our horror.
We are emotional beings. We act emotionally so regularly that we have a plethora of colloquialisms for doing so: thinking with your dick, speaking from the heart, driving a car with no brakes.
We are constantly inundated with stimulation that elicits an emotional response. We react to news on social media with outraged comments and shared links to our friends to spread our anger and disgust like wildfires. We walk through the park, feeling the sun on our face, and we might feel compelled to start skipping and whistling. We hear a song come on in the supermarket and begin to dance behind our cart—subtly, so as not to feel embarassment at drawing attention to our irrational behavior.
There it is. Think about it—we are deeply irrational people. So much of the time, we are unserious, giving up control to the base emotions we claim to have risen above. Logan Roy would look at our species and say exactly what he told his petty adult children:
Now, I’d like to propose an amendment to our primary method of differentiating ourselves: instead of taking pride in being rational, let’s take pride in being irrational.
Let’s feel our feelings. Let’s read and write poetry because sometimes we need rhymes to understand the times we live in. Let’s shout FUCK from the rooftops when we feel like letting off some steam.
Let’s let our emotion be our guide—within reason, of course—because in our emotions, we can’t hide.
In our emotions, we may feel dismay at the state of today. We might not feel quite right when certain news comes to light. We certainly feel a way when someone decides to lay all their cards on the table, double-dog daring us to play.
In these emotions, we learn much of who we are. We see what we stand for, and where is too far. We wonder when is enough, and how we could fly. When our emotions run low, we lose our reason to ask why.
So let the feelings flow and direct them to your art. Pour them into your paintings as you question your heart. Play them into your music, write them into your books, capture them in your photos, let them show you where to look.
If we decide so many things on these feelings felt inside, make your goal making others make a choice to open wide.
Make them cry, make them laugh, make them sigh in relief.
Make faith in humanity a common belief.
Music Recommendations
Hello again, friend.
Thank you for reading today’s post. I hope you enjoyed the reflection—and I hope you take pride in your emotions, and in the art you make to understand and express them. Remember that art can change the world by making people feel something new.
Speaking of new, I’ve got a sizeable handful of new music for you to try out. I hope these new records hit your right in the feels.
Also, it’s Bandcamp Friday! That means the Bandcamp platform waives its revenue share so funds from all purchases go straight to the artists and labels from whom you’re buying. Buy some music or merch on Bandcamp from artists you love today.
Happy listening!
The Living Music List—Ambient
Note: All of the below ambient projects are available on Bandcamp. Bold and ^ denote reader-submitted work.
Tuning the Wind by Grand River (album / experimental, field recordings) [Umor Rex / Bandcamp]^
When the Moon Fell Into the Pond by Flor van Myller (single / dark ambient) [Independent / YouTube]^
for hours : 01 by soma sova (EP / drone, meditative) [Echoes Blue Music / Bandcamp]
Where the River Widens by Erik Wøllo (album / melodic, meditative) [Projekt Records / Bandcamp]
Colder Than Snow by bvdub (EP / drone, experimental) [Independent / Bandcamp]
Treadwater Fury by Poppy H (album / experimental, field recordings) [Fort Evil Fruit / Bandcamp]
Quiescence by Ambidextrous (album / dark ambient, field recordings) [Neotantra / Bandcamp]
Rune by Violet A. Foster (album / drone, dark ambient) [Forest Kids Collective / Bandcamp]
A Compendium of Beasts Volume 2 by Laura Cannell (album / neoclassical, experimental) [Brawl Records / Bandcamp]
Breathing Space by Pete Kvidera (album / electroacoustic, field recordings) [Driftworks / Bandcamp]
SELF- by Exit Chamber & Ed Herbers (album / drone, dark ambient) [Passed Recordings / Bandcamp]
View by Steve Roden (album / field recordings, minimalist) [Room40 / Bandcamp]
The Living Music List—All Genres
Note: All of the below projects are available on major streaming services (please try Bandcamp first, though!)
Bolted (Deconstruted) by Forest Swords (album / electronic)
Submit the the Forest by Smogo (EP / psytech)
Eternal Reverie by TOKiMONSTA (album / dance)
Forest City by AceMo (album / electronic)
Myrtus Myth by Kedr Livanskiy (album / electronic)
Open Catalyst by upsammy (EP / electronic)
MAYHEM by Lady Gaga (album / electropop)
Still… At Their Very Best (Live From The AO Arena, Manchester, 17.02.24) by The 1975 (live album / alt pop)
Sugery and Pleasure by Vundabar (album / alt rock)
Clarity of Cal by Vulfpeck (album / funk)
Affectionately by Raisa K (album / alt electronic)
Actual Earth Music - Volume 1 & 2 by Earth Ball (live album / experimental noise rock)
The Press Box
Sorry, no feature this week—a new edition of The Press Box is coming soon.
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That’s all for this week’s issue. Thank you for reading. Until next time.
Your friend,
Melted Form
Remember to listen to the hum, buzz, & hiss of the world around you—there is music to be heard there.
Read the previous issue of The Living Music List:
Afterword—Let’s Get In Touch
Are you an artist, a label owner, or a member of the press? Want to share an in-depth feature of your upcoming release, an advertisement, or a guest post for a future Hum, Buzz, & Hiss issue? Get in touch with me at meltedform@gmail.com. As always, I would love to hear and recommend your music, especially if it’s new and ambient/electronic/experimental.
