Like Psychotropic Events: The Immersive Multimedia Presentations of Intersystems
The drive to make immersive multimedia experiences seems to be more mainstream than ever in contemporary culture. From 3-D movies to VR headsets, the sensation of completely transforming the setting […]
August 12, 2022 | Blog
“My Ears Feel Like Caves”: Deeply Listening with Pauline Oliveros
“MY EARS FEEL LIKE CAVES.” “I felt like a witch capturing sounds from a nether realm.” “Everything is watery and the sound of someone’s voice rides into my ears on […]
August 7, 2022 | Blog
Off The Wall 2: Mickey Murray, Shuggie Otis, Betty Davis, The Apostles
‘Off The Wall’ is a series for the Torn Light blog where I talk about a handful of our specialty, rare, and hard-to-find records, ranging from personal favorites to records […]
July 30, 2022 | Blog
“Please Allow This Music to Flow Into You”: Daniel Schmidt, Mills College, and the History of American Gamelan
American gamelan composer Daniel Schmidt said of his third album, Cloud Shadows, “Starting at perhaps age four or five, I would sit on the top step of our front porch, just under […]
July 24, 2022 | Blog
Daniel Johnston, The Artist Walking Alone
The artist walks alone Someone says behind his back “He’s got his gall to call himself that He doesn’t even know where he’s at” The artist walks among the flowers […]
July 17, 2022 | Blog
Torn Light Archives 7: Sing Out! – The Folk Song Magazine
Complementing last week’s blog on Jean Ritchie well, the Torn Light Archives returns with our most recent acquisition, two 1970s issues of the folk revival era magazine, Sing Out!. The […]
July 10, 2022 | Blog
Jean Ritchie & The Beauty of Kentucky
A couple years ago, I started to play old-time music casually, at the start playing guitar, while eventually learning mandolin and singing as well. There is little else that feels […]
July 3, 2022 | Blog
Paying Attention to Library Music
For a while now, I’ve had a fascination with music you’re expected to ignore, i.e. Muzak, easy listening, and stock music. It began when I read this fascinating article from […]
June 26, 2022 | Blog
In the Improvisational Moment: An Interview with Alex Cunningham
Tomorrow evening, Torn Light Records is thrilled to host a performance by solo violinist, improviser, and visual artist Alex Cunningham from St. Louis. We are big fans of Alex’s work […]
June 16, 2022 | Blog
Off The Wall 1: Sam Rivers, Talking Heads, Diamanda Galás, & Lords of the Underground
This week, I am starting a new, periodic series for the Torn Light blog, ‘Off The Wall.’ For each entry in this series, I’ll talk about a handful of our […]
June 12, 2022 | Blog