reblogging erikkwakkel:

“Medieval music books, with their merry notes jumping off the page, are a pleasure to look at. This sensational page from the 14th century adds to this experience in a most unusual manner. It presents a well-known song, the French ballade titled En la maison Dedalus (In the house of Dedalus), be it that the scribe decided to write both music and lyrics in a circular form. There is reason behind this madness. The maze created by music and words locks up the main character of the song, the mythological figure Ariadne, who is a prisoner in the house of Daedalus – she is represented by the red dot. The book contains treatises on music theory, notation, tuning and chant. In other words, it was meant for experts readers. The beholder likely enjoyed the challenge of singing a circular song (did he or she spin the book around?) and how it held its subject hostage in the merriest of ways.”

“Pic: Berkeley, Music Library, MS 744 (made in Paris in 1375).”

from erikkwakkel:

“Shake Appeal by Iggy and the Stooges (1972)

Image | March 17, 2014September 12, 2018 | Paul Greer

“Little more than a slithering, turbulent, electrifying riff over which Iggy yelps his most histrionic yowl, “Shake Appeal” was originally titled “Tight Pants,” in which form it has since materialized on a string of Raw Power session compilations.The song was written in stark emulation of the untrammeled roar that first drew Iggy Pop to rock & roll, the sound of dragsters racing around the track, while Jerry Lee Lewis, Link Wray, Gary “U.S.” Bonds, and Cannibal & the Headhunters blare from the jukebox — “that’s the kind of shit that would light a fire under my tree,” Iggy enthused. “Let’s get some fucking action here!” “Shake Appeal” delivers precisely that.”

— Dave Thompson