BSPH: The Beatles / Phil Collins - Tomorrow Never Knows

"Tomorrow Never Knows" is a song written by John Lennon of The Beatles. It was first released in 1966 on the band's seminal album "Revolver". The song is an early example of psychedelic rock with an influences coming from such diverse sources as Indian classical music, French Musique Concrete and also John Cage's and Karlheinz Stockhausen's tape experiments. Mashed together these influences serve as a sonic backdrop for John Lennon's double-tracked stream of conscioussness ramblings on life and existence and being and not being and other high-spirited stuff built out of cool sounding words.

It is also a fine example of the right use of "throwing things at the wall and looking what sticks" methodology. The song is basically thrown together out of disaparate parts. The drum part stands on its own and it is just a short maddening jumbled loop. Bass line is bumbling along trying to keep up.

Around them are gathered all sorts of sounds because reasons. There are birds, random radio noises and other goodies from Abbey Road sound banks. All these sounds are just there to make a chaotic effect. The best way to describe this mess is to call a "debris of sound". It is obvious they had no idea what they were doing but they were dedicated to going beyond. That dedication makes the song. It works because of the groove and sheer quantity of incoming sounds - it is more and more and more.

Because of that, "Tomorrow Never Knows" is a weird song to think about because of its inherent hollowness. It is like a really forceful gust of wind that sucked into a whirl all sorts of stuff and then just dissipated and left a bit of a mess afterwards. But it leaves an impression. That makes it interesting. It takes whatever the shape you want it to take.

In 1981 Phil Collins of Genesis was working on his debut solo album "Face Value". Among other things, he recorded his own interpretation of "Tomorrow Never Knows" and it is really interesting cover version because of its duplitiouis nature. It is case of making it same but different.

On one hand, it is quite faithful recreation of the original. The aesthetics are approximated to almost a pitch perfect degree and updated with a help of then-cutting edge Fairlight synthesizer. It is still a whirl of sounds moving forward and still feels like too much to take, but this time it is far more organized. And unlike the original it actually manages to take a definite shape of a vortex. This version doesn't feel disjointed and chaotic as was the original. There is some kind of weird smoothness to it.

Part of the reason is that Collins' had slightly rearranged the song. The structure is the same but the delivery is straightened out and far more fluid. This makes the song feel much more focused.

For example, in the original the drums are stacked on top of the pile of sounds but here they are naturally entwined into a composition. The very drum patterns have more space in-between the beats which makes the song feel bigger.

Bass lines are also modified - in this version bass is shaping the space between the beats which creates a very different groove. There is warped swinging feel to it. Bass line drops the busy part and gets tighter with the drums sliding on their relief slightly relaxed.

Another fine addition to the arrangement is heavily chorused drone that reverberates throughout the song while the other sounds pass by. In the original it was just a sitar drone. Here it is a space within the song occurs. It changes the texture of the composition and bring more structured feel to it. Every line is capped with some barely intelligible warbling. Every section of the song is marked by its own buffer soundblock. There are neat smoothened brass zigzagging fills and chiseled nondescript rumblings in-between the verses.

Phil Collins is a bit controversial musician. He's one of the proverbial examples of an artist going with the times and keeping himself relevant all while being considered an obnoxious sellout. Despite his pedigree - he's often dismissed as a bad taste. David Bowie even used to describe his mid 80s slump as "Phil Collins Albums". However, Collins is one of those who is more than meets the eye. Case in point - this composition.

Regarding one particular set of text manipulation tools not to be named on this blog

In my honest opinion - one must share the things that helped him to master and improve his skills no matter what. I'm into knowledge sharing - it is beneficial for everybody. It is a public service of sorts. There is always a chance that it might come in handy for someone.

There is a set of text generation and manipulation tools that might be extremely useful for any writer interested in exploration of the parts unknown. And it is just laying out there on the SourceForge and no one really cares about it. Because we're good the way it is, i guess. Good job y`all, proud o' ya. 

As a writer, I'm on an infinite quest for finding new possibilities to go beyond the known and unknown into the depths unknown unknown. There is so much more beyond the realm of comprehension it is unreasonable to pretend that it is no use in the writer's practive. And when it comes to software tools - there are not so many really worthwhile options to do that. There is a fair share of random generators, ciphers, formatting tools and some cut-up engines but their barely go beyond the gimmick. Sure, they do their job and it is fun to use them once or twice - but they don't really offer nothing worthwhile. Their capabilities are not very inspiring.  

On the other hand, there is set of tools that is nothing short of revelatory. Basically, it is a minus world exploratory kit. And it played an instrumental role in pushing forward my understanding of how the text can be composed and rearranged in a variety of unpredictable ways. And i will not name it here because you can deduce what i am talking about on your own.

This set is extremely educational in a manner that can be described as relentless machine intensity. It deals with material without the tenderness and peculiarity of human mind which is in a way quite liberating. I can't count how many times i've tried to get pass the roadblock of comprehension in order to uncover something different and failed because i was limited by own expectations. Hopefully, the algorithm has no idea what this thing is and it does just that in a blink of an eye as if it was no big deal.  

These tools open hidden patterns within the texts, show the possibilities of combinations beyond sense or semantic prejudice. You get to know the text as a very different entity through these tools and it shows you that there are so many more ways you can make the text click the other way around that you might get lost in the wormhole of tweaking the toggles and looking what comes out of it.

This set shows different perspectives on the nature of composition, the ways images are constructed, the pathways that trigger certain impressions in the reader' mind are organised. It shows how text can be transformed or rearranged and go beyond its original impact. It helps you to get around the fact that anything in the text is relative and that there are no rules that make it right or wrong. It is about how far you can get.

These tools are good for composition and even better for editing. However, it is best in providing raw material - bits and pieces that make a thought-provoking puzzle. And that is something you can't thank enough.

MFT: Nuclear Bomb Explosion Videos

The explosions of the nuclear bombs is probably one of the most mesmerizing and simultaneously terrifying things the man can see. Flashes, afterglows, mushroom clouds, craters - it is a thing to behold. It is a weird thing to claim considering the fact that these are weapons of mass destruction that are definitely one of the worst ideas that ever glimpsed into a human brain that still threatens the future of humanity in more than one way. But nevertheless there is something inherently artistic in the documentation of their morbid action. It is hard to explain, but there is something that grabs my attention the other way.

The weird thing about the documentation of the nuclear bomb tests is the way it often defamiliarizes the subjects. On the still images some of the explosions look like a pieces of abstract art bursting out of realistic landscape. You can't even tell if it is actually an explosion. If you look at some of the aerial tests photos - it might be like a slightly abstracter Turner thing.

This strange effect translates into motion too. While in motion the explosions are still a symphonies of destruction and absolutely abhorrent atrocity - it also feels bizarrely subdued, lacking the punch as if the moving images drained the explosion of its energy. It looks like a very big lab test from school. Which is a perplexing feeling.

It takes an effort to distance yourself from the fact that these things were designed to destroy. But once you go beyond that you start to notice the aesthetic qualities of the thing.

Case in point - this video:



This is a footage from an Operation Hardtack-1. This particular test was conducted on July 22, 1958. It is a 65 kiloton bomb. The footage starts with a blinding flash after which the white cloud occurs turns blue turns black and slowly dissipates revealing enormous black mushroom cloud going up in the sky.

The image burns into memory - this enthralling black void in a form of a mushroom cloud that hangs in the space like a thorn in the side.

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Or here's Johnnie. This video presents a very different presentation. It is slowed down to a crawl and goes on for eight minutes. The explosion is filmed from a very large distance. Mushroom cloud slowly evolves, gradually disintegrates into nondescript whirl of smoke and dust. First straightens into a something of a pillar, then the upper part swells. It pretends to be a balloon for a moment before it starts to fold in two laying down on earth as a thick mist. Because of the chosen pace it is grueling.



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And here's Danny! This is also a slowed down footage. It shows the underground explosion. The ground slowly swells and burst into a nondescript shambles before an abrupt cutoff. It is somewhat confusing but nonetheless rather disturbing if you think about it.


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Turk 28100 is probably one of the most beautiful documentations of the atomic explosion ever. Seriously. The way the flash in the sky turns into a fiery bowl of energy that engulfs everything around is something to behold.

The explosion bubble from the very start looks more like a piece of abstract art than a weapon of mass destruction in action.


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Here's another something-something. This one is from the Operation Dominic. It is a slowed down footage of a flash in the sky that turns into a large ball of nondescript matters that grows and grows and lights up all the surroundings until it is blinding white. The ball of light hangs in the sky and slowly dissipates into thin air.

The cloud nearby is the strangest thing in this video. It just hangs around and slowly moves from right to left.

This particular footage looks like of the abstract experimental films from the 50s from the guys like Stan Brakhage.



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Kickappo is an explosion in the sky. It occurs in the middle of the pitch black darkness, burns itself out and dissolves in the blackness. What happens after that is probably beyond comprehension.


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This one is a bit of a non-thing and it is also one of the weirdest. It is just a flash in the sky that stuck and pretends to be a part of the scenery.




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Bighorn was another aerial test. It looks a symphonic poem. The thing starts with a flash that takes a moment to burst out to the full force. It hangs in the middle shining brighter and brighter while everything around goes darker and darker.

After a while the ball of light disintegrates, its lower part dissolves and its upper part pretends to a Cathedral.


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Don't get me wrong, anyway you think about it - it is the thing that should not be. It is disgusting. But it doesn't mean that it doesn't look nice.

Jazz Playlist

It's been a while since i last wrote anything here. So here's a little jazz playlist designed for a worthwhile listening.

Song after song after song.
Beware!

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• Don Redman and His Orchestra - Reefer Man
• Cab Calloway and His Cotton Club Orchestra - The Man from Harlem
• Stuff Smith and His Onyx Club - Here Comes the Man with the Jive
• Bob Howard and His Boys - If You're a Viper
• Benny Goodman and His Orchestra / Jack Teagarden - Texas Tea Party
• Buster Bailey's Rhythm Busters - Light Up
• Trixie Smith - Jack, I'm Mellow )
• Barney Bigard Sextet - Sweet Marijuana Brown
• Sidney Bechet / Noble Sissle's Swingsters - Viper Mad
• The Harlem Hamfats - The Weed Smoker's Dream
• Cee Pee Johnson - The "G" Man Got the "T" Man
• Andy Kirk and His Twelve Clouds of Joy - All the Jive Is Gone
• Georgia White - The Stuff Is Here
• Chick Webb and His Orchestra / Ella Fitzgerald - Wackey Dust
• Harry "The Hipster" Gibson - Who Put the Benzedrine in Mrs. Murphy's Ovaltine?
• Clarence Williams and His Washboard Band - Jerry the Junker
• Fats Waller - Reefer Song
• Julia Lee and Her Boy Friends - Lotus Blossom (Sweet Marijuana)
• Ernest Rodgers - Willie the Chimney Sweeper
• Bea Foote - Weed
• Buck Washington - Save the Roach for Me
• Lil Green - Knockin' Myself Out

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BSPH: Prince - Loring Park Jazz Funk Sessions 1977

It is no secret that Prince was a man of impressive talent. One his greatest abilities was to get rid off pretense (or if being exact amp the pretense to eleven) and just do the thing. He loved making music and that was always present in his output.  Case in point - this early recording.

The Other Harry Crosby Random Photo