Comments by Hal Sokolow

Comment for "Practicing Awareness" (deleted)

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Review of Practicing Awareness (deleted)

Excellent opportunity to stop, not look, just listen. My favorite reflection brought up in this narrative is (paraphrased): Don't ask yourself "What should you do today, but how should you be today." This statement can be debated just like a chicken-or-the-egg question, however it's sufficient that its phrasing can stir thinking. It puts life in a somewhat different perspecitve and focus. What are our priorities? What should be our priorities? Where should we start? Overall, this submission's short collection of sounds, music and comments, effectively draws you in to the simple, yet often overlooked, portal to the world of sounds, environmental and self produced, that can take you to a different state of awareness, a peaceful meditative state where nothing needs to be done, and everything can be noticed, absorbed, and appreciated. Through a combination of soft meditative background music and insightful musings, the listener is rewarded with a light pathway towards heavier meanings.

Comment for "Thoughts in Sound Episode #1 Brian Eno: Architect of Ambience"

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Review of Thoughts in Sound Episode #1 Brian Eno: Architect of Ambience

This short Thoughts in Sound episode is intriguing because the snippits of Brian Eno speaking are just enough to convey that he has a thought-out philosophy and a deeply felt reason for pursuing his style of expression. It is inspiring because Brian Eno's comments and music reveal creative accomplishment and success, and illustrate what it can mean to transcend traditional boundaries of music for the massses. The episode is engaging because the narrator has a serene voice that coordinates well with the general ambience of the piece and the musical selections leave a positive overall tone and feel. I selected this topic to audition because I am highly interested in how sounds, particularly music, affect human emotions and spirit. I am experimenting with my own forms of musical expression and exploring how music affects the consciousness and awareness of the music player and the music listener. I picked this particular brief episode to audition at this moment because right now I only had a short amount of free time to indulge in some form of personal random activity. This time my random activity was "Let's see what's happening on PRX." Thus, both the duration and content of this sample met my needs at this particular moment. For me it served somewhat like a successful movie trailer where I got enough out of it to come away with an impression that I like what I've experienced and also that I'd like to explore more... and I will. Hopefully it will be successfull in getting others interested enough to search further into the works, feelings and thinking of such fascinating artists.