no.219 Prelude to Lost Pines
Recorded live at the "Color Inside," a Skyspace installation by James Turrell located on the campus of the University of Texas.
Bucket List Achieved!
We finally played the Skyspace and it was a dream! This week’s PSO is the opening section of an hour-long piece based on Lost Pines. Paul Stautinger joined me and added a ton of color and melody. Paul contributed finger-picked intricacies and sweeping tonalites made with an E-bow. Mark Menjivar provided an array of bird songs and sounds processed through a modular synthesizer.
On the latest PSO POD, I talked to Mark about the archive of field recordings he reactivated for this performance and other projects. In addition, we get into the distinctions between sound and song and the deep political implications of noticing and aesthetic experience. Check it out!
Also Included on the Podcast…
Two PSO pieces from the past follow the Prelude to Lost Pines. The first, PSO 166, The Triple Double is Yours, is from January 20, 2022, and following that is PSO 31 from October 16, 2018, Toddler Breakdown in Festival Town. In my newsletter about the piece, I wrote, “This piece was recorded from the sidelines of a parade of festival wear streaming by the porch as chairs worn as backpacks and floppy wide-brimmed hats made their way to the Austin City Limits Music Festival. In the background is a very young music fan who had too much excitement for one day and was loudly protesting walking any further.”
This piece was featured on a compilation of PSO pieces collected from the first year of PSO, Once Around the Sun. You can hear and purchase those recordings on the Porch Swing Orchestra Bandcamp page.