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HOMECONOMICS

by Steven Ball

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1.
woke up one morning singing phrases from a dream into his mobile phone his note book out of reach in the morning it doesn’t matter one fleeting impression among many others dream diary in the cloud in the morning a cloud of dreams geo-tagged, metadata, dreams no longer forgotten from this morning this song, singular thing thing, ephemeral thing a memory from a bar a run around the park in the morning dreams all encoded, uploaded, to a cloud [there’s no one listening in] from pillow to server in the morning a cloud of dreams related to a data subject pseudonymised fragmented from this morning
2.
Off Off On 04:25
what with this, and that what with when, and how what with chaos, and form what with how, and where where with why, and whom this which when, and where what with shape, and substance why, with what, and when what with warp, and woof with what weft, and weave what with all, and nothing who, and when, would think when with where, and tear when with thus, and thou what with truth, and justice what with this, and that
3.
in this month at this hour the sun reaches over into the yard and draws up cool shadows the remnants of night in this month at this hour the sun reaches over and draws up slakes its thirst in the cool dark shadow at this hour at this time of year the yard is an oven when the sun has slaked its thirst in the long shadow remnant of night this hour this time of year the yard is an oven when sun’s unquenchable thirst swings the angled shadows against the wall draws up shades this time of year this hour the sun reaches into the yard slakes its thirst at in deep cool shadows remnants of night embedded in the ornate carvings over the door and windows at this time of year this hour the yard is an oven the sun reaches its tongue of fire draws up slakes its thirst in the remnants of night as if darkness could be drunk from where it hung against the ornate facade the yard becomes an oven at this time of year this hour the sun reaches over slakes its thirst in the long cool shadows those remnants of night that hung seem to soften our early hammering the yard is an oven this time of year at this hour the sun reaches over slaking in one gulp devours deep cool shadows those remnants of night that hung muffling the rhythmic ring of our hammering of chisels the yard is an oven at this time of year at this hour the sun reaches over to devour the long cool shadows those remnants of night that hung muffling the rhythmic ring of our hammering chisels against stone at this time of year at this hour the yard is an oven the sun has reached over to devour the long cool shadows those remnants of night that hung muffling the rhythmic ring of our hammers working the stone at this time of year this hour the yard is an oven the sun reaches over to devour the long cool shadows to abruptly drag them up leaving a few rags here and there at this time of year in this hour the yard becomes an oven as the sun reaches over to [give our] devour long cool shadows to abruptly drag up its gift leaving patches snagged in bischen mouldings at this time of year this hour the sun reaches over into the deep cool shadows that hang in the yard drags them up leaving only scraps here and there this time of year this hour the sun reaches over and slakes its thirst sharply drags up to devour the deepest shadows that hang in the yard at this time of year this hour the sun reaches over to slake its thirst to devour deep cool shadows it hung in the yard at this time of year at this hour the sun reaches over into the yard to devour the deep shadows that hung there giving us succour to slake a constant thirst and those remnants of night leaving only scraps snagged in broken mouldings this hour the yard becomes an oven the sun reaches over to devour long cool shadows that hung slaking a thirst in the remnants of night this hour this time of year the yard is an oven the sun reaches over to devour to withdraw those remnants of night that hung here at this time year the yard becomes an oven each of us working here cutting stone contrive a shield against the glare this hour this time of year the yard is an oven the sun reaches over to devour those cool remnants of night at this time of year the yard becomes an oven each of us here working with stone contrive a shield against the glare this hour when the sun arches over to devour cool remnants of night that hung here abruptly dragged up all shade at this time of year at this hour the yard is an oven the sun reaches down into the yard to slake a thirst when darkness draws the remnants of night at this time of year this hour the yard is an oven no sea laps here the sun reaching down drags up cool shadows that hung here leaving only remnants of night’s dark air at this time of year this hour the yard is an oven no sea laps near the sun reaches down drag cool shadows away leaving only remnants of night darkened air at this time of year this hour the yard is an oven no sea laps near the sun reaches down drags up the long cool shadows leaving only remnants of night in hollow cut vines scrolling over windows at this hour the yard is an oven no cool river laps near the sun drains all shade that hung here leaving only rags snagged under hollow cut vines hung over the windows at this time of year this hour the yard is an oven no cool river runs near no sea laps the sun at this hour draws away those remnants of night that hung here leaving only rags snagged in broken mouldings of this time of year of this hour (when the) sun abruptly takes back its gift of shadow and within it darker remnant of night that nourished the early hours at this time of year in this hour the yard becomes an oven as the sun draws cool air folded in the last remnants of night that hung here at this time of year the yard is an oven in this hour the sun burns away in the remnants of night’s moist air that nourished only rags left behind snagged in hollow cut of vines scrolling in spirals of acanthus leaves at this time of year at this hour the sun abruptly withdraws its gift of shadow and with it the last remnants of night’s moist air that nourished the early hours leaving behind only dark rags in this hour at this time of year the yard is an oven the sun moves over drains away those moist folds in the remnants of night that hung here leaving only rags snagged in hollow moulded vines that snake over windows the yard here is an oven at this hour at this time of year when the sun’s insatiable thirst drains away dark moist air from the remnant of night that was our succour at this time of year in this hour the yard is an oven the sun’s thirst seems insatiable drains moist folds the remnants of night that hung here only rags are left the yard here is an oven at this hour at this time of year the sun’s insatiable thirst drains dark moist air from those folds in the remnants of night that hung here gave us succour no river Bevida runs no Sea of Caesarea laps the stones the yard is an oven at this time of year in this hour the insatiable sun drains the cool dark air from the last remnants of night
4.
moving across the bay song of cicada crackle hissing from trees electric night moving in from the bay anticyclonic rain in hanging dark cloud static through misty haze into the light in the darkness of day and now without moment the storm that blows in tonight is riding the crest of the bay and then without movement in the cold morning light was rounding the west of this day dragonflies, ants, and moths locusts, termites, and beetles firefly night deep in the light warm afternoon autumn silver light water steel grab and hold swell kite ripples morning glows red frost, snow, and drought moving across the bay and soon short and long waves will cross the beach some night riding the north of a day and when the long dusk short twilight in warm evening sun the white full moon will rise again
5.
turning the tide on the river getting higher every day down by the creekside high spec apartments higher and higher and higher every day selling place to the foreigners nothing gets in their way down by the river water and networks slower and slower and slower every day turning their backs on the village (but) nothing just goes away sewage and bandwidth the tide and the rainfall higher and narrower and higher and narrower every day
6.
I live in a dynamic city destination I live in a global statement a global benchmark precinct marries culture and design cosmopolitan natural beauty prime vibrant waterfronts prime heated pool, prime gymnasium prime features, prime location stunning waterside address canvas, bench becomes a gym a running track or a cafe unique natural water way visionary vibrant evolution world city retail class leisure dining global statement a connected complete community I am happy in my home I must be happy in my home I should be happy in my home you must be happy in your home you should be happy in your home you are lucky to have a home
7.
in the landscape 
dry and dusty
 something stirring 
after the fire mushroom weather passing through 
elusive enigmatic 
neither plant or animal
 the mushroom makes the forest
 the symbiopoietic 
self-organising system 
through mycorrhizal networks 
the mushroom makes the forest stripped back down to its binary code 
in assemblages of objects
 termites larvae and crow tree sand
 the snouts the limbs the branches brush the sky insect eye fruit
 pushing from soil
 berry lush trees
 fertile and loam the fauna in the flora
 simultaneous assemblage
 a pineapple animal
 with cauliflower foliage
 on the broccoli mountain
 the pandanus umbrella
 the fauna in the flora
 shadows cast dry river bed the glacial sky and tree mountain
 with fruiting bark, eyes in the sand
 trees with face and feathered branch
 the green fruit red blue rainbow riding through
8.
percentage clear clouds 1705UTC sea level pressure 17,850 kHz, June 25 10:48UTC The signal is weak 13,710kHz 12,035 UTC 20:52 clouds percent broken clear Few Overcast Scattered Russian Channel Marker Precipitation level pressure snowfall diurnal temperature range 20:33 UTC The Voice of Vietnam in Russian announcing number & letter groups snow depth Mean Wind Vector Magnitude wind chill 15,435kHz dewpoint temperature 7,260kHz quarter diurnal reading April 22 military parade style music 11,735 kHz USB E07 "The Englishman" Russian numbers station a lot of fading and noise December 11 UTC 20:52 heat index Voice of Indonesia with Arabic language speech and music. few overcast scattered The Voice of Mongolia Radio Thailand, a regular visitor daily minimum temperature North Korean Broadcasting Service Jul-16 17:15UTC Korean weather broadcast Asian drift net fishing beacon, on five minute cycle 9,730kHz 9,665kHz cooling, clouds, snowfall jamming signal in background 15,435 signal had men talking, like a news or interview UTC 1643 Fair to good signal with low modulation and some noise/fading 11:48 UTE 1.762MHz CW "2AFVW 2AFVW 2AFVW" heating degree days 17:05UTC Radio Vanuatu China with male & female chatting in Chinese, sounds informal. 16:45UTC Christian music national anthem
9.
scramble up from the track in the breath of the heat on the wind past the smoke of the fire scrubby grass and the river is dry butterflies, blackened tree plateau, savannah, falls, and floodplain pandanus spiralis stones underfoot, the walk to the ridge and there Myormu waiting for me sickness country and in rock escarpment in the deep past Miyamiya and the camera phone brow trickles waterfall sweat to the ground from the mountain below Google Earth, or a video drone as the ground is above captures fatal painting photograph the rainbow came through tail lights and explosions below and this sickness country all that you can see is what you’re told you can see [to see] peripheral night Soon after twilight flashes of light when the sickness takes hold nausea, vomiting, appetite loss dehydration, confusion cells degraded by autophagy bone marrow syndrome cutaneous blisters ulcers sweat glands atrophy DNA clustered damage takes hold somewhere… over the rainbow
10.
subsong 03:19
where will, it go, such song sung low beyond, right now, where will it go ever, nearly, subsong sung long next verse, blank verse, verse in reverse it fades, dissolves, forms and resolves from verb, to noun, amplifier cyber, corpus, hallucinate inner, body, experience visceral, embowelled, corporeal somebody, song body, conscious being volume, song mass, chorus corpus sung into being, life of its own to play, to sing, subsong so slow where will, it go, such song sung low
11.
It’s bound to fail this impossible landscape It’s over there always the past out of place and out of time we can’t observe the boundless heath all we do is point to things for all we see the camera phone might as well be in selfie mode the heater’s on the windows are thin I’m trying hard to to keep this warmth smile with us in the morning the best music we play it all for you again the same car driving more slowly and other traffic moves toward camera before indicating taking left turn stationary cars pedestrians all grey up on the black heath low edge of cloud shallow depth of field forms rectangular metallic sky green underneath and seen between oblique squinting ochre sunlight dull glow diffuse overcast and on the heath sirens, police crows, ducks, and geese a Tuesday in the afternoon up on the heath early winter crisp and chill mounds in circles bus rattles past sirens and geese crows and police mind how you go raven or crow light on a branch skeletal tree on Whitefield Mound birch, fir and gorse camera pan speeding van rain falls in grey far away back on the heath I try to write the sense of site invoke the place the here and now and back in time in '88 or '73 or '99 It’s bound to fail this impossible landscape It’s over there always the past out of place and out of time we can’t observe the boundless heath all we do is point to things

about

HOMECONOMICS is a compilation of tracks from albums that I have released over the past six years. This is something of a selective survey, a sampler, of the work I’ve produced since starting to write and record songs in earnest. In part it functions to draw a line under things, a pause before I embark on whatever the next six years might bring. Who knows how that might turn out. As ever there are ideas, but as yet no solid plans.

One important intention of this compilation is to draw some attention to two of the labels that have aided and abetted me in my work: Linear Obsessional and TQN-aut. Both are DIY, non-profit, non-commercial operations, run from people's homes, and as such two examples of the plethora of such labels currently operating solidly outside of the mainstream.

These labels are the cottage industries of the digital age, performing labours of love, unfettered by the capitalistic concerns of the entertainment industry, operating economies of micro scale, without aspirations to achieve fame, fortune and whatever it is that goes with them, harbouring few expectations of sales or audiences. They do represent artists who have something to say, with or without words, directly, literally, or obliquely, abstractly, who are mostly unconcerned with the competing hegemonies of critical consensus or the tussle for cultural recognition.

These labels provide thousands of artists like me with a context and the possibility of an outlet, and occasionally a track might receive airplay on a programme on Resonance FM in the UK, WFMU in the US, or perhaps one of a myriad of web-based shows globally, the release may receive a review, on a small online or paper zine, or in a more mainstream publication like The Wire.

These labels do it because they are enthusiasts who value the artists’ work in and of itself, holding to the possibility that a few others might also like it, even if there's only half a dozen or so of them. Through downloads on Bandcamp, complemented by limited run CD and cassette releases, and when possible gigs in parks and the back rooms of pubs, a self-determined ‘scene' of sorts has coalesced around this activity, the "no audience underground", as Rob Hayler wryly terms it.

Of course if you are reading this it's more than likely that none of it is news to you, so think of this perhaps as more of a gentle reminder of what we value, and a suggestion that if you like what you hear in this collection you might be interested in buying the physical albums or the downloads from which they come, and not only mine but also those by the many other artists you will find on these labels, and many others like them.  


The tracks on this compilation are drawn from the following albums.

Some tracks differ from those on the original albums: there are alternative mixes of Cloud of Dreams, Without Movement, and Pattern Accumulating, a live version of Sickness Country, and in the case of subsongs a recent new recording of the song.

subsongs 
CD/download, 2017
linearobsessional.bandcamp.com/album/subsongs

Bastard Island
CD/download, 2019
linearobsessional.bandcamp.com/album/bastard-island

All Living Can Anyone Be Here 
audio cassette/download, 2020
linearobsessional.bandcamp.com/album/all-living-can-anyone-be-here

Abstract Vectoral Landscapes
CD/download, 2019
tqn-aut.bandcamp.com/album/abstract-vectoral-landscapes

Collected Local Songs
download, 2015
stevenball.bandcamp.com/album/collected-local-songs

Surplus
download, 2015
stevenball.bandcamp.com/album/surplus

credits

released January 1, 2021

All songs written, performed, and recorded by Steven Ball.

Of the Yard (after Terry Ball), lyric is a verbatim transcription from the poetry notebooks of Terry Ball.

Sickness Country was recorded live by Café Oto at Strange Umbrellas, August 2019.

Special thanks to Richard Sanderson (Linear Obsessional), Andy Wood and David Howcroft (TQN-aut), Pierre Bouvier Patron and Blanca Regina (Strange Umbrellas).

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about

Steven Ball London, UK

Steven Ball has been working as an artist since the early 1980s, in film, video, sound, installation, and performance, and has been a member of the post-punk DIY group Storm Bugs. In 2014 he started writing and recording songs as a solo project, being particularly concerned with experimenting with which kinds of texts might constitute a song lyric. ... more

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