A few weeks ago I received an e-mail from The Notekillers guitarist and composer David First. We had collaborated together on a somewhat microtonal electronic piece in 2008, which we later went on to record. It’s an incredibly powerful piece to listen to, and one of my first attempts at blending classical and pop styles together. I found the following notes in an e-mail I sent to my parents about the piece:

“I had a stop watch, and a series of notes and text that I was supposed to get through to be somewhat in time with the music. You’ll notice that sometimes I line up with the changes and sometimes I blend through them. It was a blast to perform, and quite effective. To many people at the show, it was their favorite piece of the night. All of the musical changes corresponded to various lighting cues that I could never see, because my eyes were somewhat glued to my stopwatch…After every shift in the music, we rotate exactly 40 cents higher, which means after a while, I’m singing higher than I’m reading, which is why the under track sounds slightly out of tune, it isn’t tempered to be within a scale, the intervals are perfect, which we aren’t used to hearing… the result it somewhat “trippy” so I’m told..”

Let Us Sample Protection

Music by David First

Lyrics by Anselm Berrigan

When I was little I cut off the heads of many lords
I can’t count on the energy that took to rise in me at will
But I’ve strengthened my ability to activate a stand firm surface
A steady gaze will drive conflicted info away
Back to the abyss from whence it came
But I’ll be right here the morning after
Wracked in a private shame
Too awful to admit and of no consequence at all
I work very hard not to let myself go
Any channel can tell
Due process appears in beauty and misgiving all at once
An agility borne from creative malice
A benign insecurity misleading
The plain truth is I forget the curtains are open sometimes
And the hands wander constantly
The room stares back from its things
They understand the end of the world will not waste time feeling your pain
And everything tragic
In between
Need not be known
I don’t want love or remorse to follow
I want them in the way somehow
Things to burst through
Corrolaries to be roped and tackled by
Surprise, get killed, and thank you
Would your God be bored if everyone was happy?
One fate transforms into another
But I won’t touch that bandaged story
I won’t belong to that scripted conversation
Though I may play along
Identity theft accepting renewal orders
Copy cat pre-emptive attacks
An obscure murder string on the public glide by sight
The victim was a Johndoughnut pining for leadership from the passenger seat
The threat of meaning reassures
‘Cause I know it’s being made for me
Am I supposed to believe we’re receiving information?
Can I defect back to curiosity in the moonlight stone rabbit?
Hit on by Echo
I go cold for the love of my own exile
And while I hope
My flesh explodes
Into an arrangement of stars pestered by darkness
Those aren’t birds you hear
Just corresponding holes in the sky
I know all the bottled water isn’t fooling anyone