This came on today and I forgot how much I LOVE this song!! The performance has all the passionate rawness of the ring shout tradition and the urgency of generational trauma passed down being a woman in this patriarchal world. SO GOOD!

What is the oldest song you like?

This is one of the most gorgeous performances of this (circa) 12th century secular artist—the ONLY woman we have record for, writing secular songs (many of them about her illicit lovers, even though she was a married Countess)!!! 🤯

Pick a song that matches what you are really thinking about just now

Originally made in 2016…I’m just thinking about it again now… :) Made a music video for it, too!: https://youtu.be/DvHptW2f6Ug “The spiral in a snail’s shell is the same mathematically as the spiral in the Milky Way galaxy, and it’s also the same mathematically as the spirals in our DNA. It’s the same ratio that you’ll find in very basic music that transcends cultures all over the world.” (Quote by Joseph Gordon-Levitt)

I got to perform this live today, and, as always, I feel so empowered after doing so!! 🥰 This piece is for all those whose minds see the world a little differently from everyone else around them. The “Round Peg” is represented in the circular flow of the triple-based rhythms, and the “Square Hole” is found in the duple-based patterns. Even though the duples are strong, the triples maintain their integrity and still, somehow, manage to flow within the surrounding world.

A song from the 1960s that you like or means something to you.

This is the ultimate expression of 20th century technology with the reconceptualization of noise as art (eg, distortion) that gives voice to the marginalized. (For more on this history, visit https://sadie.url.lol/bbep2)

I just listened to the new Gorillaz album—so good! But I especially loved this song, “Damascus” (and also the next song after it on the album)! Just the way they blended traditional MICROTONAL Arabic vocals with hip-hop and the whole rest of the track’s texture… Just gorgeous!

Share a song you feel was ahead of its time.

Time for more Carlo Gesualdo! This is just one of many examples (especially check out the heart-wrenching suspension toward the end)—but all of his later madrigals especially are SO ahead of their time!

He was creating harmonies in the 1500s that wouldn’t be taken seriously until the late 1800s! Of course… getting away with the murder of your wife and her illicit lover would cause anyone to face their darkest demons, as reflected in this music…. 😈

How do you discover new music, and what’s the latest gem you’ve found?

In this particular case, I’ve always been fascinated by Carlo Gesualdo’s music and his troubled life—he’s one of those 16th century nobles who murdered people and then fought his demons the rest of his life, and his music absolutely reflects that!

I stumbled on this particular madrigal of his while doing deeper research into his compositional methods for a project I’m about to start. And I’ve just fallen in love with it!

This song came on the other day and I suddenly remembered how much I love it! Not only is it absolutely a most groovy beat—something I routinely at least have to move to, if not full-out dance—but I can really relate to the lyrics. I feel like I have no roots either, just a few very important memories. My whole life has been a constant cross-country drive, searching for the next stop, the next road that looks like it’ll go somewhere… And this song gives me hope—that some of us are just spiritual travelers on this journey of Life. “It's just the place that changes, the rest is still the same…”

Think back to your childhood: What is your earliest music memory? Share that song and your story!

Honestly, my earliest music memory is MAKING music in my crib, singing my own melodies at just (maybe) two years old. Hence why I’m a driven composer and creator :)

But if I had to guess, I think the earliest music-LISTENING memory I have is of listening to the Kids Praise cassettes with Psalty the Psalm Book (I grew up in a Christian cult and all we were able to listen to early on was Christian music).

This particular song, “Arky Arky”, I still remember as being one of my favorites. Truly, the rhythms and rhymes of it are still fun to sing along with! :)