Tuesday, September 15, 2009

a moment of intense calm

i wanted to share a special moment i had this evening. when leaving the office i had a sore head, so i put the black dog's ambient mix (which i posted recently) on my HD25s and started walking home. as i was walking, slowly a really intense combination occured between the music i was listening to and the environment around me. the sky was clear and there was a beautiful sunset. i walked home marvelling at the sky as i listened to the black dog mix. i arrived home but realised i couldn't stay inside. i put down my bags then continued walking, heading down to the ocean, just near my place. the feeling was really amazing. i think i passed one person the whole time i was out. there was this incredibly powerful sense of still-ness and calm. it combined with the beautiful sounds of the black dog's mix to create a really intense experience. it was yet another reminder (as if i needed another one) of the strong impact music can have.

i took a series of pictures while walking and listening the mix, which i wanted to share with you. i've put them in chronological order. the last one was taken just before the mix finished. i am not sure how well they convey the beauty of my surroundings, but i wanted to try to express this to you. it was a very beautiful moment.



12 comments:

  1. Beautiful, just beautiful. These pictures make me think of long washes of music, like Brian Eno's "Music for Airports", or even Gas' "Nah Und Fern".

    And this is in Wales?

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  2. I'm not so much caught up with the pictures, as with the simple fact that you went back out for more music and sights. I know exactly that feeling---I've had that very same impulse before. For me, the smile came upon my face reading the text--I really did not have to look at the photos (although they were nice)
    Mr. B.

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  3. haha love this story. i love how listening to music can change your look at your surroundings. i always notice differend things when listening to music while traveling to school or work.

    i dont ever end up in places like that. im more of a late night traveller caught up in my own subway rave.

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  4. where are you based? Looks like a nice calm bit of sea.

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  5. i'm based in a small town by the coast in the middle of wales, UK. and i dont like it vvery much, but as anon said: "i love how listening to music can change your look at your surroundings."

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  6. chris, that's a bummer. The impresson I got from your writing and the pics is that you lived on some beautiful serene stretch of exotic coast, maybe Spain or Japan or something. ho hum.

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  7. i was in japan for 2 months over summer, but my job is in wales, so that's where i am. unfortunately.

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  8. today i dont take the subway to go home, i will walk with music.

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  9. thanks for posting this mix, chris.

    i recently escaped the city for a few days in the country. the town is virtually at the deserts edge, thus afforded crystalline, cloudless nights and millions upon millions of stars. this mix takes on an almost supernatural quality in these environs.

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  10. A Boards Of Canada state of mind...

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  11. I grabbed this mix back in sept, but it really made an impression this past weekend, while on a solitary walk in a large urban park. Weather was cold (~35 degrees F), sun was sinking over the horizon. Music felt like the perfect accompaniment to that combination of somewhat bitter cold, crunching decay of leaves and plants, and that radiant light fading in the sky. I too wanted to extend the walk to last until the mix ended.

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Say something constructive, bitte. Or if you're gonna take a swipe, at least sharpen your nails.

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