"My Friend, My Friend" (Anne Sexton Poem)

A songwriting exercise with favorable results.

I'll be honest about my poetry consumption: it's pretty dang low as of late. However, I was given a book of poetry by Anne Sexton on tour last fall from the Young Fresh Fellows. I started looking for poems that felt like they could also be songs, and got as far as the third poem in the book.

"My Friend, My Friend" read and felt like they could be lyrics for some rhythmic, modal, muted piano type deal. What drew me to this one is how provocative and ballsy it felt. The existential dread being batted away with dry humor. That's kinda my thing as well. Not the ballsy & provocative part, but the swatting away at the dread with best dry wit one can muster, part.

I now need to go read even more Anne Sexton, who like many my age first learned about her through the song "Mercy Street" from Peter Gabriel's 1986 Masterpiece "So."

Thanks for listening.

Mikael Jorgensen's Crowd Work - Sky Blue Sky '22 Edition

Welp, I was supposed to be in Mexico with my Wilco brothers this week for the Sky Blue Sky Festival, but tested positive for Covid which prevented me from flying. One of the extracurricular activities I was going to do down there was a quasi autobiographical DJ set with commentary. I recorded this at home and I hope you’ll enjoy this odd collection of songs from Bob James, Peter Gabriel, The Art Of Noise & more…

Fast Company on SONOS + The North Face

 

https://www.fastcompany.com/90659412/why-sonos-and-the-north-face-are-putting-an-antarctic-expedition-in-your-ears

Article by Jeff Beer

What does it sound like to be the first people ever to ski down Lhotse, the fourth tallest mountain on earth? Or how about listening in on climber Alex Honnold—the subject of the Oscar-winning doc Free Solo—trekking in Antarctica?

To create each story, Sonos brought in composer and multi-instrumentalist Mikael Jorgensen of the band Wilco, who worked with his team to collaborate closely with The North Face athletes and filmmakers to translate their expeditions into a sonic experience. The North Face VP of Marketing Steve Lesnard says they wanted it to be more than a playlist, they wanted it be an audio journey to iconic locations. “Talking to our athletes and the filmmakers who worked on these projects, they were really invigorated to revisit these expeditions purely through an audio platform because stripping away the other senses allowed them to experience new details for the first time,” Lesnard says.

 

"Twin-Pole Sunshade" by Quindar

 

With all the excitement surrounding the James Webb Space Telescope, I felt a certain kinship with it when I saw a video describing how it unfolds and sits above a sun shade, which reminded me of the “Twin Pole Sunshade” used on Skylab to literally keep the astronauts cool. James sourced the audio for this moment and we chopped it up and put it through the Quindar Machine. This and nearly all the live video was constructed by me during countless hours learning Resolume Arena on the bus and in hotels on Wilco tours.

No Quindar show was ever the same twice. The goalposts are there but the details would change every show, which I always thought was a big plus. The video was the same. It would take far too much programming and fun out of it if we just made a movie and scored it. So we decided to just do it on the fly and thanks to Jeremy Roth, we made it happen on practically every show. We even played a funeral party with projections on the top of an event tent. I digress. This video is a snapshot of what would happen during our live show. It feels weird that it’s always the same now.

Please enjoy this meditation on technology, utilizing technology, I guess.

 

Mikael Jorgensen Bandcamp Selections

 

Welcome #tonegrove visitors! Here are some select albums / songs from my various projects that are available for purchase on Bandcamp. Thanks for stopping by!

Erik Paparozzi & Mikael talk about "ARIZONE!" with Paul Myers on the Record Store Day Podcast

 

The Lizard Music segment begins at 00:23:10 if you are impatient-like.

Episode #56 of The Record Store Day Podcast features Laura & Mark from the funky, trippy trio, Khruangbin (Dead Oceans), and Mikael & Erik from the de-constructive pop quartet, Lizard Music (Omnivore Recordings). We also drop into Technique Records in Miami to meet the man they call Mikey R. Plus, RSD's Carrie Colliton speaks of absent friends from the record store community and we pay our respects to fallen rock heroes George Harrison and ace rock photographer Mick Rock. Sponsored as always by Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, and Tito's Handmade Vodka. Go to RecordStoreDay.com for the latest RSD news, and find out how to win one of three copies of the Ethan Russell photo book, Get Back by The Beatles, from Callaway books. (You can hear our Ethan Russell interview on Episode #55)

Please tell your friends about us and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Goosebumps A La Carte

 

I asked the internet to share songs that give them goosebumps EVERY TIME. My submission was “Strawberry Letter 23” by Shuggie Otis. That coda section is otherworldly. Good stuff. Here are the responses in no particular order. I love the experience of sharing music. Is there no better feeling than to have your mind blown by a “new song” that you just want to hear over and over again? It’s up there with sex and chocolate for sure.

A few things:

  1. It’s a 12+ hour playlist. It’s unreasonable, sure. Maybe small doses to start, then gradually increasing until you reach the desired effect.

  2. The intro to “Eminence Front” by The Who is such a deep vibe. That hits a bunch of buttons for me - synths, deep groove, repetition. I mean this song treads the incredibly fine line between hip and illegal. Bass Chorus? Townsend & Co. somehow pull it off with aplomb.

  3. I’m so glad that someone posted Regina Spektor’s “The Visit.” I hadn’t heard this incredible song before. Thank you.

Piano Improvisation "Inner Work"

 

I recently felted my upright piano, meaning I placed strips of felt between the hammers and the strings, and the resulting sound is pretty dreamy if you ask me. Thanks for listening.

NEVER STOP EXPLORING: COLLABORATION WITH SONOS RADIO + THE NORTH FACE

 

I was given footage from nine different North Face climbing adventure films and was asked to create soundscapes with them for SONOS Radio. In collaboration with the filmmakers and the athletes I composed audio expeditions for some of the most inspiring, forbidding and remote locations around the world.

Join these inspiring athletes in this series of sonic adventures to Antarctica, to Ethiopia, to California to Japan and more…

“Thanks for the Beta” featuring the sounds of The High Sierra, California with Alex Honnold and Emily Harrington

“Skiing Lhotse” featuring the sounds of The Himalayas with Hilaree Nelson

“Sawanobori” featuring the sounds of Shomyo Falls, Japan with Matty Hong and James Pearson

“Dirty Gnar Gnar” featuring the sounds of Mount Poi and Mount Kenya with Alex Honnold and Cedar Wright

“Sending El Cap” featuring the sounds of El Capitan, California with Emily Harrington

“Towers of Tigray” featuring the sounds of Ethiopia with James Pearson

“Life Coach, Alaska” featuring the sounds of Ruth Gorge, Alaska with Alex Honnold and Renan Ozturk

“Pitumarca” featuring the sounds of Peru with Nina Williams

“Expedition Antarctica” featuring the sounds of Queen Maud Land with Alex Honnold, Cedar Wright, and Savannah Cummins

"Close Your Eyes" by Greg Loiacono

 

Greg and I met a number of years ago in Ojai while he was working on a bunch of new tunes and he asked me to play piano on this absolutely lovely track. There are lots of nice discoveries that punctuate throughout.

Quindar "Choco Hilton" Official Video

 

From the 2016 Quindar LP “Hip Mobility” this song “Choco Hilton” makes very deliberate use of the Quindar Tone. This is music for a yoga class in zero g.

"Varnishing Day" (Mikael Jorgensen Remix)

 

In 2013, Eric Harvey (an alumni of the band Spoon) asked me to remix his song “Varnishing Day” off of his “Lake Disappointment" LP. This track was the first thing I made after relocating from Brooklyn to Ojai, CA and it has operated like the soundtrack of an exciting new chapter in my life. The 80s bit in the bridge still feels honest and funny all at the same time.

Mikael & Josh Rosenberg talk about music and touring life on the newest episode of the "Roadcase" Podcast

 

Please join us for this special episode with multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire, Mikael Jorgensen.  Mikael takes us on a journey from his roots in New Jersey to his current home in Ojai, California and everywhere in between. His life with Wilco started  20 years ago when he met Jeff Tweedy in 2001 and began touring with the band in July 2002.  Self-admittedly, Mikael did not have a deep background in the alt-country genre which Wilco made famous, but instead comes from a very personal musical history.  Mikael shares his unique musical points of view with a liberal smattering of stories from the road and tons of great anecdotes and personal peeks into the world of Wilco.  Come along for this one and enjoy the ride!! 

For more information: http://www.roadcasepod.com or http://lnk.to/roadcase
To support Roadcase on Patreon, please visit: http://www.patreon.com/roadcasepod

Contact: info@roadcasepod.com

Theme music: "Eugene" (Instrumental) by Waltzer

Roadcase is produced by Josh Rosenberg and Soothsayer Media

Contact: info@soothsayer.media