The Path of Totality
"Stick your middle finger up and live your passion". - Kristin Hersh. A video essay.
My songs tell me what to do.
Kristin Hersh (London Review Bookshop, 2024: 00:36:55-00:37:00)1
Methodological Notes
This audio visual essay was inspired by the ‘Great North American Eclipse’ which occurred over 15 states of the contiguous U.S. on April, 8, 2024.
Around this time, I also got around to opening the one cut vinyl of Blackout Baby which had been posted back to me. The artwork was less than satisfactory, so I am now re-housing the black heavyweight vinyl into a paper sleeve. Having discarded the gatefold, I decided to hand write the liner notes on the back of a set of original photos, or on the sleeve. We slip into totality.
Anyway, it is all in the video, not here.
References
Berger, J. (2013) Understanding a Photograph. Edited and introduced by Geoff Dyer. London: Penguin.
Blanchot, M. (1981) The Gaze of Orpheus and Other Literary Essays. Trans. by Lydia Davis. Ed. by P. Adams Sydney. Barrytown, N.Y. ; Station Hill Press.
Gauthier, M. 2021, Saved by a song: the art and healing power of songwriting, First edn, New York, NY: St. Martin's Essentials.
Hersh, K. 2024, The Future of Songwriting. New York, NY: Melville House.
London Review Bookshop (2024, April 29). Kristin Hersh & Jennifer Hodgson: The Art of Songwriting. [online video] Available at: https://www.londonreviewbookshop.co.uk/podcasts-video/podcasts/kristin-hersh-jennifer-hodgson-the-future-of-songwriting [Accessed 22 September 2024].
Pothast, E. 2024, “Invisible Jukebox. Kristen Hersh.” The Wire. May 2024. Issue 483. Pp. 20-23. Available at: <https://reader.exacteditions.com/issues/115827/spread/23/>.Accessed 10 April, 2024.
Sherburne, P. 2020, “Throwing Muses’ Kristin Hersh on the Music That Made Her.” Pitchfork. Available at: <https://pitchfork.com/features/5-10-15-20/throwing-muses-kristin-hersh-on-the-music-that-made-her/>. Accessed 9 April, 2024. Accessed 6 April, 2024. The subtitle is a quote from Hersh cited in this piece in which she discusses ‘opting out’.
Wray, D. D. 2020, “Throwing Muses Kristin Hersh ‘I Knew Integrity Would Pull Me Into the Gutter’.” The Guardian. Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/sep/09/throwing-muses-cult-band-interview-kristin-hersh/>. Accessed 9 April, 2020.
Wu, T. 2016, The attention merchants: the epic scramble to get inside our heads, First edn, New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf.
Discography
Harvey. P. J. (2003) I Inside the Old Year Dying. London: Partisan.
The Throwing Muses. (1994) “Your Ghost” Hips and Makers. London: 4AD.
Dylan, B. (1976). Desire. Colombia Records: U.S.
Talbot, S. L. Blackout Baby (2024). [Vinyl]. Self-released.
London Review Bookshop (2024, April 29). Kristin Hersh & Jennifer Hodgson: The Art of Songwriting. [online video] Available at: https://www.londonreviewbookshop.co.uk/podcasts-video/podcasts/kristin-hersh-jennifer-hodgson-the-future-of-songwriting [Accessed 22 September 2024].