We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

PLAGUE DIARY

by Ben Goldberg

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. Paying supporters also get unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app.
    Purchasable with gift card

      name your price

     

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
April 1 2020 05:39
15.
16.
April 3 2020 12:53
17.
April 4 2020 11:05
18.
April 5 2020 06:53
19.
20.
21.
April 9 2020 24:54
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
May 01 2020 16:45
42.
May 02 2020 07:39
43.
May 03 2020 13:04
44.
May 04 2020 05:10
45.
46.
May 06 2020 06:08
47.
May 07 2020 15:44
48.
49.
May 09 2020 11:35
50.
51.
52.
May 12 2020 04:51
53.
54.
May 14 2020 10:39
55.
MAY 15 2020 09:13
56.
MAY 16 2020 10:30
57.
58.
MAY 19 2020 08:08
59.
MAY 20 2020 06:52
60.
MAY 21 2020 08:24
61.
MAY 22 2020 07:43
62.
63.
MAY 24 2020 04:45
64.
MAY 25 2020 06:06
65.
MAY 26 2020 05:33
66.
MAY 27 2020 03:03
67.
MAY 28 2020 17:20
68.
MAY 29 2020 07:39
69.
70.
MAY 31 2020 03:02
71.
JUNE 1 2020 08:09
72.
JUNE 2 2020 03:51
73.
JUNE 3 2020 11:45
74.
75.
JUNE 5 2020 09:03
76.
JUNE 6 2020 03:17
77.
JUNE 7 2020 12:05
78.
JUNE 8 2020 04:05
79.
JUNE 9 2020 08:02
80.
JUNE 10 2020 05:35
81.
JUNE 11 2020 05:38
82.
83.
JUNE 13 2020 17:57
84.
JUNE 14 2020 05:54
85.
JUNE 15 2020 01:23
86.
JUNE 16 2020 08:44
87.
JUNE 17 2020 07:16
88.
JUNE 18 2020 03:23
89.
90.
91.
JUNE 21 2020 06:31
92.
93.
94.
95.
JUNE 25 2020 07:15
96.
JUNE 26 2020 04:57
97.
98.
JUNE 28 2020 07:08
99.
JULY 1 2020 08:32
100.
101.
JULY 5 2020 02:56
102.
103.
JULY 8 2020 05:48
104.
105.
106.
107.
108.
109.
110.
111.
112.
113.
114.
115.
116.
117.
118.
119.
120.
121.
122.
123.
124.
125.
126.
127.
128.
129.
130.
131.
132.
133.
134.
135.
136.
137.
138.
139.
140.
141.
142.
143.
144.
145.
146.
147.
148.
149.
150.
151.
152.
153.
154.
155.
156.
157.
158.
159.
160.
161.
162.
163.
164.
165.
166.
167.
168.
169.
170.
171.
172.
173.
174.
175.
176.
177.
178.
179.
I'm like a parrot in the breeze watch me if you please thinking like a parrot in my heart I'm like a parrot in the trees Eating all the leaves  because I'm Sad about the time we are apart
180.
181.
182.
183.
184.
185.
186.
187.
188.
189.
190.
191.
192.
193.
194.
195.
196.
197.
198.
199.
200.
201.
202.
203.
204.
205.
206.
207.
208.
209.
210.
211.
212.
213.
214.
215.
216.

about

A STATEMENT FROM BEN GOLDBERG:
Like many musicians, when the coronavirus hit in March I lost all my work in a matter of days. I had a complicated schedule for March and April, filled with tours, festivals, and local concerts, and it all evaporated very fast. Along with losing all my paying work, I was left with the question, what about the work of art? Something tells me art will be fine, even though humans are in trouble at the moment. But right now art is precluded from its important work of gathering us together. So musicians are in a weird situation. In the initial shock my thought was, I don't know what to do but I can record music at home. So on March 19 2020 I began recording a new song every day and posting them to this album. The philosophy is "use what you've got" (is there ever another option?) -- for me that means clarinets, a synthesizer I can't figure out, and rudimentary recording ability. Because it's a diary I am trying to use the recording process as a sketchbook, and an opportunity to mess around. ("Don't forget to mess around." -- Steve Lacy)

UPDATE AUGUST 27, 2020
I recently posted the 130th song on PLAGUE DIARY. When the quarantine began, I had no idea we would be locked down long enough for me to record more than 100 songs, so I thought I’d take a moment to reflect on the “work of art.”

Steve Lacy once told Frederic Rzewski “The difference between composition and improvisation is that in composition you have all the time you want to think about what to say in 15 seconds, while in improvisation you have only 15 seconds." (Lacy’s statement took him 15 seconds.) By that measure, PLAGUE DIARY operates in the realm of 7.5 seconds. It’s not one-take improvisation (although some of it is), but the goal of making up and recording a song in a day imposes some real limits.

Working on PLAGUE DIARY every day, I feel like I’m getting better at using the recording process as a sketchpad, capturing and refining ideas and contemplating what ingredients are needed in a song. The question arises again and again, what do you put into a song, what do we put into art? The answer, as I see it now, is “everything you know.” Not everything you can do, but everything you know of balance, justice, beauty, struggle, groove, liberation. The values are contained in the work, in hopes that they can be of use to the receptive listener.

credits

released March 21, 2020

Ben Goldberg - Bb Clarinet, Eb Albert System Clarinet, Contra Alto Clarinet, Roland JX-03 Synthesizer, Korg MS-20 Synthesizer, Empress Tape Delay Pedal, Memory Boy Analog Delay.

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Ben Goldberg / BAG Production Records Berkeley, California

Ben Goldberg plays the clarinet and writes songs.

Contact him at
ben dot goldberg dot music at gmail dot com.

contact / help

Contact Ben Goldberg / BAG Production Records

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like PLAGUE DIARY, you may also like: