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pilsnerprincess & other stories .​.​.

by the salt wells

/
1.
2.
christine 2 07:33
3.
4.
trees (chimes) (free) 02:29
5.
wish (free) 07:10
6.
les feuilles mortes (free) 02:58
7.
in a lonely place (free) 04:35
8.
christine 1 06:05
9.
10.
polly bee (free) 06:09
11.
prayer in open d (free) 03:05
12.
13.
14.
off he goes (free) 05:40
15.
the way i feel (free) 03:38
16.
polly bee (frogs) (free) 07:06
17.
the trees (free) 05:51
18.

about

the continuity of this album is built around a group of songs released
originally as 'pilsnerprincess'. it includes tracks from jubilee (four
songs) & hours continuing long, these are on soundcloud as well.

structurally there are two song cycles with eight songs each. songs
1-8 are devoted to christine. songs 9-16 are devoted to polly bee.

christine 1 maps out a relational dynamic, and christine 2 positions
her inside a structural machine. she has become lost to me. polly bee
is about christine 2. how is it we approach each other in relationship?

there is something about the loss of the mother, the impermanence of
of relationship, the reality of suicide, and my rejection of the economy
in these songs.

as well, i find there is a hint of the importance of songs that i didn't write
myself. as well, the importance of an invisible listener:

"Only after the physical fails does Whitman become a poet of intimacy
with the invisible. Sometimes unable to sustain, actual sexual intimacy,
Whitman is driven to invent an intimacy with the unseen; the poet is
cast toward the lover-in-futurity by the faithlessness of the lover-in-the
present. The heart-break that generates an invisible lover to replace
the visible one is seen most clearly in the 1860 lyric "Hours Continuing
Long" [520], a poem suppressed by Whitman from all subsequent
editions of 'Leaves of Grass'. Forsaken by his actual lover, the speaker,
distracted and ashamed, withdraws "to a lonesome and unfrequented
spot, seating myself, leaning my face in my hands." in the "sullen and
suffering hours" he wonders "if other men have the like [hours] out of
the like feelings?" as his misery seeks company, he reduces the
number of men potentially resembling him to a single one:

is there even one other like
me---distracted---his friend, his
lover, lost to him?

And that other conjectured man, also a forsaken lover, is then made
into a reader of Whitman's own poem:

does he see himself reflected in
me? in these hours, does he
see the face of his hours
reflected?

..."


~ Helen Vendler, from her book 'Invisible Listeners'

taken together i guess these songs are more of a hodgepodge really.
i don't care. there may be a song for every season.

____________

tracks 8 - 12 & 16 originally released as 'pilsnerprincess'.
tracks 2, 3, 4, & 6 released as 'jubilee (four songs)'.
tracks 1, 5, & 13 released as 'hours continuing long'.

tracks 7, 14, 15, 17, & 18 appear here for the first time.

___________________

credits

released May 23, 2016

berceuse elegiaque is an orchestral work composed by ferruccio
busoni in 1909. the salt wells listened to this composition as
conducted by john adams for inspiration before recording.

_________________________________________

christine 1 & 2 and tears for emmanuel written by daniel evans.

_____________________________

both concorde county jubilee & i flirted with you all my life
written by vic chesnutt.

___________________

trees is a lyric poem written by joyce kilmer in 1913 and set to music
by oscar rasbach in 1922. the salt wells version is a cover of the song
as sung by paul robeson.

___________________

wish is a song written by david pearce and originally performed
by flying saucer attack. fsa recorded wish with both vocals & as
an instrumental.

____________

les feuilles mortes is a lyric poem written by jacques prevert and set to
music by joseph kosma as 'hullo levelek' in 1945. the salt wells version
is an instrumental take on the song as performed by yves montand in
the film 'les portes de la nuit' in 1946.

____________________________

in a lonely place is written by stephen morris, peter hook, bernard sumner, and ian curtis as joy division and recorded by joy division and new order.

__________________

for the sake of the song is written and originally performed
by townes van zandt.

________________

polly bee is written by rob fisk, satomi matsuzaki, & greg saunier and
originally performed by deerhoof.

_________________________

prayer in open d is written and originally performed
by emmylou harris.

______________

save the last dance is written by doc pomus. it was originally performed by the drifters.

__________________________________

may the circle remain unbroken is originally performed by 13th floor
elevators and written by roky erikson.

____________________________

off he goes is a song written by eddie vedder and originally performed by pearl jam.

__________

the way i feel is originally performed by fleetwood mac and written by
by christine mcvie.

______________

polly bee (frogs) uses a folkways field recording of birds and tree frogs

_______

the structure for the trees is borrowed from a song with the same title performed by autechre written by rob brown and sean booth.

__________

license

all rights reserved

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about

the salt wells Arkansas

the salt wells began as a homerecording project in 2002. this came to include freak out improvisations, spontaneous compositions, & collaborative songwriting with stacy hartoon, greg wallace, junko hayashi, & alex moomey. by 2004 more than two cassettes had been produced and the salt wells included contributions from mikey hayes & david simpington, again with jessie floyd & sophia ramone in 2010. ... more

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