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   Chris Trottier (atomicpoet@atomicpoet.org)'s status on Sunday, 07-Jun-2026 13:45:53 JST Chris Trottier
   Look what I found for $2 at a thrift store!
   
   No one cares about classical vinyl, especially old vinyl—never mind something as obscure as this.
   
   But it features both New York Pro Musica Antiqua and W.H Auden, and I’m such a sucker for this kind of antiquarian weirdness.
   
   I suspect whoever bought this previously acquired it simply as a status symbol because the vinyl is unplayed. But I’m giving it a solid listen for the next week.
   • Embed this notice
     Kotaro (kotaro@kotaro.me)'s status on Sunday, 07-Jun-2026 13:45:51 JST Kotaro

     in reply to

     @atomicpoet It is not that I dislike the beauty of Western music, such as harmonic equivalence or the equal treatment of each voice in counterpoint; rather, I respect it.
     
     For example, Palestrina's compositions are the ultimate model for me.
     
     However, the "order" of simplicity that functional harmony and tonality aim for is different from my aesthetic, which aims to embrace chaos exactly as it is, and my view of life and death, where "eventually everything returns to Mother Earth."

     Steve's Place repeated this.
   • Embed this notice
     Chris Trottier (atomicpoet@atomicpoet.org)'s status on Sunday, 07-Jun-2026 13:45:51 JST Chris Trottier

     in reply to

     • Kotaro

     @kotaro No, I don’t dislike it either. It’s okay for what it is: a way of explaining a specific tradition, and how it works.

     But the Western grid leaves out a whole lot of things too: microtonality, pitch inflection, rhythmic complexity.

     Also, it ironically fails to account for traditional Western music itself. A massive chunk of traditional Anglo-American and Celtic folk music doesn’t even use all seven notes of the standard Western scale.

     Western music theory is a text-based science. Meanwhile, so much European folk music is an oral tradition.

   • Embed this notice
     Kotaro (kotaro@kotaro.me)'s status on Sunday, 07-Jun-2026 13:45:52 JST Kotaro

     in reply to

     @atomicpoet That sounds like medieval or Renaissance music.
     
     I specialized in Western music composition at university, and I really think it's the Renaissance style that truly captures the essence and charm of Western music.
     
     Music from that era isn't bound by functional harmony; its tonality is ambiguous, and it lacks the "stiffness" typical of Western music. Despite that, it features beautifully simple harmonies, making it easy to listen to even for beginners.

   • Embed this notice
     Chris Trottier (atomicpoet@atomicpoet.org)'s status on Sunday, 07-Jun-2026 13:45:52 JST Chris Trottier

     in reply to

     • Kotaro
     @kotaro You would be correct, and I use the term “classical” music quite loosely, because technically, it’s not classical.
     
     That said, I think “Western” is a confusing term from an ethnographic standpoint but I don’t deny it touches upon a specific tradition everyone just assumes.
   • Embed this notice
     Chris Trottier (atomicpoet@atomicpoet.org)'s status on Sunday, 07-Jun-2026 13:45:52 JST Chris Trottier

     in reply to

     • Kotaro
     @kotaro By the way, your critique of Western music is bang on because I think many people would agree that the idea of harmonic equivalence has held “Western” music back.
     
     I have a collection of old enka on vinyl. Stuff from the 1940s-70s. And something that always impresses me about it is how singers allow themselves to hit notes that a lot of Western singers just wouldn’t because we haven’t trained our ears to do that.