Thor’s cave – shaman’s dream

sounding out the peak district.

up the Manifold Valley, overlooking the beautiful green stretches of the landscape, near the village of Wetton, you will find one of the few caves of the area worth looking at. or listening to. i have searched most holes marked on the OS maps that calls itself a cave… and finally, this one is bigger than a crack in the rock housing a dead sheep.

It is a splendid spot with a view on both sides of the hill and the acoustics are really nice. sounds carry throughout the nooks and crannies of the cave and change colour depending on the chamber you are in. this is not a massive cave but large enough to wander around. the main chamber is wide and open so it feels grand and yet not claustrophobic. the sound is well contained within the cavity but because the chamber opens on two sides, the acoustics are not so great on a windy day.

the energy here is special. the place has many visitors and tourists, so it is very understated. but there is an underlying wild and raw feeling here that awaits to awaken. playing in the cave when the area is quiet, and visiting at night has always been an experience. lose all preconceptions of aesthetic and styles, this is no place for posing and showing off catchy licks. just raw sound.

thor’s cave – shaman’s dream from sndsukinspook on Vimeo.

Thor’s cave – shaman’s dream

hervé perez, soprano saxophone, may 2009

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for more recordings in the Sounding Out series, see my website.

Moving lines

this is an edit of two short sections of a large screen projection.

video and surround sound installation ⓒ hervé perez 2004

the sound design is derived from the original water recording, kept in sync with image as shot.

modulations in sound correspond with changes in the flow of water as seen in the image.

rhythms and fluctuations of the stream (inner lines) as well as changes in the environment, light etc. (outer lines) unfold a narrative that one can read on the surface of water as in a book. the soundtrack reflects both modulations of outer and inner lines, constructing a complex narrative, inscribed in the memory of water.

‘moving lines’ refers to the behaviour of wave forms and particles, sound, light but also to hydrology. this is the story of cresbrook stream, miller’s dale.

the original installation had a further room with sound which one could access by walking through the screen, as if walking through a cascade to access an inner chamber.

moving lines from hervé perez on Vimeo.

Moving lines, surround sound and video installation, ⓒ hervé perez 2004

denial

“To create suffering without recognizing it – this is the essence of unconscious living; this is being totally in the grip of the ego. The extent of the ego’s inability to recognize itself and see what it is doing is staggering and unbelievable.

It will do exactly what it condemns others for and not see it. When it is pointed out, it will use angry denial, clever arguments, and self­justifications to distort the facts.

People do it, corporations do it, governments do it. When all else fails, the ego will resort to shouting or even to physical violence. Send in the marines. We can now understand the deep wisdom in Jesus’ words on the cross: “Forgive them for they know not what they do.”

 

ECKHART TOLLE

A NEW EARTH

p.72

life is a stage

life is a stage

“Homo sentimentalis cannot be defined as a man with feelings (for we all have feelings), but as a man who has raised feelings to a category of value. As soon as feelings are seen as a value, everyone wants to feel; and because we all like to pride ourselves on our values, we have a tendency to show off our feelings.

The transformation of feelings into a value had already occurred in Europe some time around the twelfth century: the troubadours who sang with such great passion to their beloved, the unattainable princess, seemed so admirable and beautiful to all who heard them that everyone wished to follow their example by falling prey to some wild upheaval of the heart.

 

[…] It is part of the definition of feeling that it is born in us without our will, often against our will. As soon as we want to feel (decide to feel), feeling is no longer feeling but an imitation of feeling, a show of feeling. This is commonly called hysteria. That’s why homo sentimentalis (a person who has raised feeling to a value) is in reality identical to homo hystericus.

This is not to say that a person who imitates feelings does not feel. An actor playing the role of old King Lear stands on the stage and faces the audience full of the real sadness of betrayal, but this sadness evaporates the moment the performance is over. That is why homo sentimentalis shames us with his great feelings only to amaze us a moment later with his inexplicable indifference.” (pp. 218-9)

 

 

Kundera, Milan. “Immortality”. Faber and Faber, London, 1991

No Time To Lux

No Time To Lux from sndsukinspook on Vimeo.

No Time To Lux

a short film by mathieu hornain and hervé perez

mathieu: monsieur x, set design, camera, editing, credit piece composition

hervé: set design, camera, editing, sound design and soundtrack

ⓒ hornain/perez 2003

creating demand

“The  war  against  disease  has  given  us, amongst other things, antibiotics. At first, they were spectacularly successful, seemingly enabling us to win the war against infectious diseases. Now many experts  agree  that  the  widespread  and  indiscriminate  use  of  antibiotics  has created a time bomb and that antibiotic-­resistant strains of bacteria, so-called super bugs, will in all likelihood bring about a reemergence of those diseases and possibly epidemics.

According to the  Journal  of  the American Medical  Association,  medical treatment is the third ­leading cause of death after heart disease and cancer in the United States.  Homeopathy and Chinese medicine are  two  examples  of  possible  alternative  approaches  to  disease  that  do  not treat the illness as an enemy and therefore do not create new diseases.”

ECKHART TOLLE

A NEW EARTH

p. 48

Schizomorphic song

 

 

she’s a dream, she’s a nightmare,

she’s a beam, in the night’s stare,

she’s the sun, the dark side of the moon,

she’s on the run, frustrating fleeting boon.

 

she’s the sea, and the hidden cave,

she’s the tree, the unspoken stave,

the stealthy wolf, by the blood river’s bank,

a never ending gulf, she’s an abysmal pang.

 

she stepped in my way, god got mixed in the strings,

stood me on stage one day, she was put in the wings,

to fly once again, retire to her land,

of milk, honey and pain, she’s alone as she’d planned.

 

she’s the brick, in my pane,

she’s the ice, and the cooling frame,

she’s a trick, she’s insane,

she’s a ghost, in my open grave,

she’s a lure, an eternal game,

a flying star, an escape in vain.

 

she’s Phaedra’s Isle, and Eden’s hair,

she’s Medusa’s smile, and the Siren’s stare,

she’s heavenly sent, and a call to Hell,

she’s my only repent, and my tolling bell.

busy minds

“People are busy doing that which people do. Those are their shields […]
Act like a warrior and select the items of your world. You cannot surround yourself with things helter-skelter any longer […]

It is the consistent choice of the path with heart which makes a warrior different from the average man. He knows that a path has heart when he is one with it, when he experiences a great peace and pleasure traversing its length.

The things a warrior selects to make his shields are the items of a path with heart. You must surround yourself with the items of a path with heart and you must refuse the rest […]

You must stop talking to yourself. Every one of us does that. We carry on an internal talk. We talk about our world. In fact we maintain our world with our internal talk.

Whenever we finish talking to ourselves the world is always as it should be. We renew it, we kindle it with life, we uphold it with our internal talk. Not only that, but we also choose our paths as we talk to ourselves. Thus we repeat the same choices over and over until the day we die, because we keep on repeating the same internal talk over and over until the day we die.”

 

Castaneda,

Don juan’s teachings, p. 25

switzerland, january 2011

i was invited to perform at Insubordination’s Microfestival. in those three days, i played three different towns and venues, met many amazing musicians and also had the time to enjoy the scenery…

Lac de Genève

Medieval centre

Luzern

Clio

vast cleavage in a glorious landscape

the mount resounds

in renowned chants

like traces of time

she harps on stringent calls

stricken into motion

the chords of souls

relieved from the cave and

slowly up the slope

singing along from memory

with a tremor like

tetra lines

expanding corners

opening the shape

like tentacles

in sinusoid stand

reaching and arching

for unknown pleasures

in the acrid breeze

the voices repeat,

walk with acumen

to a sleep long forgotten.