In the Dreamtime
Brian Eno & David Byrne—Regiment (1981/ Experimental Funk)
Hello internet pals of music. Today we’re dedicating this to the reader who recently caught me coming out of Leopold’s Tavern, full of poutine after a full beach day, and told me not to stop sending these out—thanks, I needed to hear that. NOTHING WILL STOP ME!
My sister’s house contains a ghost. We’re on good terms—my sister and I, yes but also me and the ghost, I think. At night, when I’m housesitting, I hear it opening the kitchen trash can lid. It’s one of those trashes that has a motion activated lid and you could dismiss me and say, “Well Jamie, that’s just a glitch”, except it never randomly opens during the day. I’ve heard it open three times in a single night before, and when I told my sister I thought the ghost seemed to really like the trash can, she nonchalantly replied “yeah”.
My life is filled with ghosts.
Mostly though, mine are the spectres of possible futures because I insist on living in dual worlds, never prepared to be in one or the other. And that has been my life for almost a quarter century, with one foot on each side of the 49th parallel line of latitude. I had an astrologer tell me once that, because of a life-threatening surgery I had as a kid, I also seem eternally trapped between living here in the moment or there, in the heavens and that one day I’d have to decide between the two.
SERMONS! is reader-supported. If you’re wishing to support our work, I encourage you to become a subscriber. Otherwise, we’ll all probably forget about this thing.
The act of sampling in music is also a way of housing ghosts. Sometimes, the ghosts are weaving freely through the song, haunting it—like in Martin Swope’s live tape manipulations with Mission of Burma. And sometimes, they’re summoned to speak, like throughout the groundbreaking and fascinating album My Life in the Bush of Ghosts.
I don’t summon my ghosts, although I may not let them weave freely throughout my life, either. Often, like now, with both of my feet reminding me of the different worlds they are squared upon, I think that maybe I’m the ghost, haunting worlds I can never be in—trapped inter-dimensionally between what is and what could be.
PS—there is a Paycheck playlist coming very soon. I went two whole full entire weeks without a computer and it was so exciting and real that my hands almost forgot how to form the motion to tappy tappy the little keys with letters.
SERMONS! is brought to you by Musik Klub. Like what you’re hearing? Help spread the word!
Musik Klub: “Everythang’s Workin”
Damn that second paragraph gave me chills