18 January 2009

Farewell message from Sotise























Hello ,just a brief message.
in the last few days i've been away enjoying a yearly festival of improvised music in a small village near to where i live.
Its truly a drag to have to come back to people telling each other to fuck and piss off, on the blog that i originally started.
I have decided that i no longer wish to share music with people who have so little respect for each other,i have no desire on a forum such as this to put up with jarring insults and the narcissistic self obsessed behavior that prevails endlessly out THERE in the brutal light of day.

I have no desire to create rules that my co contributors must obey, no inclination to sensor, or castigate those who have affronted me with their comments...no wish whatsoever to play god and master.
Nor is my sense of self in anyway bound to the ephemera of anonymous file sharing... it IS simply easier to remove myself.

I have staked no ego on this whimsy , which was the fruit of longing for a lost distant past(the tape culture hey day) and a wish to recapture partaking of the limitless marvels afforded by shared musical journeys with friends.

i know it all sounds so Ernest and doubtlessly trite...some of you I'm certain have no idea what I'm talking about.
Its been fun at times.... thanks to all who have contributed here, either with posts or comments!
As of now i am hereby removing myself as a contributor to this blog.. and leaving you who visit and participate in the capable hands of those still contributing here.

regards to you all..
thank you
S

41 comments:

archer said...

increasingly, throughout cultures, it seems the fools are wearing the rest of us down and thereby prevailing. if we permit it they'll be all that's left as we retreat and enable their victory.

thanks for all that you have brought that has enriched my musical experience.

archer said...

since leaving the previous comment i have come upon the apparent cause of your disgust and frustration.

please check this. it should help.
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8357696082833015704&postID=1187306930664615201&page=1

Wallofsound said...

sotise, I'm very sorry indeed to hear that you want to stop contributing to inconstant sol. You've shared so much wonderful music that I just wouldn't have heard without this place and your energy to keep it going.

I was thrilled when you asked me to join the group of posters, and it has been a pleasure to share some music with you and others as a way of saying thanks.

While the online world allows us to share music and ideas across the world, it also allows individuals with demons inside to vent their spleen.

I would ask you to reconsider. You built the first base of this community, and you have done so much to sustain it. You've added so much to my musical understanding, and made me aware of neglected musicians and music. You've added more to the world than they have ever taken away.

Tantris said...

What a shame. I echo what Wallofsound has just written. Please reconsider.

serviceton said...

.. ! ! ..

Reza said...

Sotise, as though we dont know each other I think of you as an old friend , good luck for the future , I along with many others will miss you and the unbelievable music you have given to us , thank you

redrichie said...

This is a real shame. I hadn't looked at inconstant sol for a good while and this is the first post I see upon popping back. It is deeply depressing that halfwits spewing bile - who are thankfully a minority - can nevertheless exert such a disproportionate influence on the internet.

Richard

lc said...

hello Sotise,
my first reaction was one of surprise, as if, over the years, you wouldn't have gotten used to trash talk and stupid comments from anonymous (or not) commentators and then, well, I realize one never gets used to that gratuitious stupidity.
and now, it's more like a reaction of dismay...
not sure what else I could say.
bonne chance...

ubu said...

sotise, I keep getting such messages from "rab" and some also from "archer". All are originating from the same sick mind that is neither rab nor archer.

I'd be very sorry to see you go, as this blog of yours was one of my main inspirations to start my own blog!

Either way, to stop such comments all you can do is enable comment moderation (which crouchingly I did over on my place now). The troll won't even be stopped by that, it seems (I got two or three more of his lovely secretions yesterday).

I wish you luck with all you do!

And even if you'd completely abandon & shut down this blog, I hope you'll give us some time before doing so, to catch up with all the recent wonderful posts!

Anonymous said...

Aw bugger. Two possible causes, I s'pose;
(1) centrifuge has decided to vent his paranoia and alienation - he almost certainly made the comment on Boromir's post, and/or
(2) inviting RH to join this blog brought with it other unwelcome visitors.

John R

LYM said...

@sotise
Hi sotise! I can’t believe You what a sad news. I’ve just read now Your message and I can only repeat what Wallof sound said, words with which I completely agree and subscribe.
It was a thrill when You invited me (not so many days ago) to post on front page of Your amazing blog. I say Your not to hurt the other contributors or neglect their hard work but just since I feel the You are (I can’t say have been) the musical mind and soul of Inc Sol. One of the things I really love of this blog is that it has a huge personality, and I think mostly depends on Your choices.
So what can I do just to make You reconsider Your decision? I don’t know and so I can’t understand the justifications for Your decision. Only wanna say, even I know You just a little, that I feel You like a dear friend and brother in musical soul.
“Oh Lord. Don’t let them drop that atomic bomb (made of hate, and madness) on You!”.

Love and gratitude. Hope see YOU. :-) LYM

Anonymous said...

I'm sad to see you go, Sotise, but you very well told your reasons. It's sort of seeing a friend go, even though I've not been commenting on your site a lot during the last months, I always stayed on the watch, realizing you obviously been doing a big thing here.

But blogging should be for fun, and if it's a drag, it's best to step out of it - even when it's sad! Maybe you rest some weeks/months, and will be back - here or on some other blog, who knows?!?

All the best to you to the other side of the world!!

Cheers, Lucky

Unknown said...

Just a drag , I always enjoyed your posts,we in North America don't get the opportunity to see this music live as often as people in Europe do ,therefore it gave me the opportunity to hear it . All the best

gilhodges said...

We are always only as strong as our weakest link. Here in the U.S., where I live, the great experiment in representative democracy is girded by the forward-thinking Constitution, which is eternally under attack. Counterintuitively, this only makes the Constitution stronger. No sweet-talking grandmother's Sunday sermon is ever going to challenge the 1st Amendment's promise of Freedom of Speech. It will always be the foulest, vilest words in our midst that give Freedom of Speech — which permits those very words— its true strength. As painful as this almost always is, there is yet something to be gained from those who, under cover of these freedoms, play out their own personal psychodramas at the expense of us all.

So, even though the negativity has been too much to bear, Sotise (and honestly, who among us could blame you), just keep in mind that the degree of unpleasantness only mirrors the openness and generosity and freedom that you have brought to us all. So, wear this as a badge of honor.

Thank you for all the wonderful offerings.

juan antonio said...

Hola Sotise.
Tan solo enviarte ánimos para seguir adelante con esta labor tan generosa como a la vez necesaria para la música que estás haciendo con este fabuloso blog.
Espero que tan solo haya sido un calentón.
Saludos.

Anonymous said...

Sotise,

Your blog has been a joy to me ever since I discovered it, not only the music that has been shared, but your analysis and commentary.

I hope you'll reconsider, to at least visit and let everyone know how you are, your thoughts about the music you listen to, what's going on with you.

I'll miss you. Best of luck to you in all that you do.

Saverino

Reza said...

Wall of Sound if you could ask sotise for his email and drop it to me he would be extremely welcome @ sounds from the edge of the universe, very peaceful there :)

centrifuge said...

as the above comments show, sotise will be missed but i understand his decision.

john r - do i know you?? you apparently think you know me well enough to make (false) assumptions about what i "almost certainly" did or said; when i wrote (elsewhere) that i was withdrawing from this community i meant just that, and that's what i've done until now. there was one exception, to say thanks to sotise for a post. but i have far less time on my hands than i used to and am not about to waste what time i do have stirring up shit or acting as a troll -!

i don't know the comment you think i made, and i'm not interested enough to go and find out... but i have NEVER commented on ANY music blog under ANY name except this one. i have never been scared to say what i thought and was always happy to do so with a name that people would recognise. neither have i ever got involved in pointless slanging matches or shit-stirring, whether here, at my place or anywhere else. and having been on the receiving end of anonymous insults myself, i am not about to inflict them on anyone else. just to set the record straight - as always, if anyone wants me, they know where i'll be.

Anonymous said...

You can protest as much as you like. Your behavior here and the comments you make on your own blog mark you out at best as an appalling ingrate and at worst, well, who knows.

JR

Anonymous said...

I told someone to "piss off" recently. It was me.

It was a reply to a troll who made a post that was deliberately annoying, disrespectful, and disruptive at In Sol.

That post was then removed, but mine was kept. I hope that didn't create any misunderstanding - after I told the troll to "go away" I then said "Yay Inconstant Sol" - and I mean it.

This a great blog, a real gem in the internet wilderness, and much appreciated by jazz lovers. No one has to create a blog like this; its an act of generosity and one that is understood and enjoyed by anyone who loves the music.

Yay Inconstant Sol! Long may you live!

Anonymous said...

The best thing with trolls is just to ignore them. And then delete their nonsense. However I wanted to express to that person (and I have no idea who he is or what is going on here), his "contribution" is unwelcome.

Yay Inconstant Sol! One of the best blogs on the internet!

trumpetaaa said...

all the best blogs just disappears
feels so sad every time it happens
but many thanks for all great music you shared here sotise

htakat said...

I'm sad to see you go,You've shared great music here on this blog , i just now reading your reasons .really Bad news .

good luck Sotise
and thanks a lot

1009 said...

I don't know what the point of this accusation is, JR, but cent is above everything you accuse him of here. He's got his own thing going on (aside from the fact of having a quite busy life w/ a newborn), & after communicating with him in several venues online for the past couple of years I am more than confident he has done nothing to denigrate the quality of the exchanges going on at IC.

"Ingrate" makes no sense to me. He's been pretty generous with his time & efforts as far as I can tell.

It's rotten that sotise has felt it necessary to leave IC, but slinging mud at others (without any substantiation of course) isn't going to make matters better.

Steve H said...

Sotise -- I can't tell you how sorry I am to see you go, but I completely understand. I'm not sure if I've commented here before ... I may be what you'd regard as a lurker, stopping by to read your great commentary and to listen a little when I had time, but I've appreciated your enthusiasm, research and great music for the past few months. Most missed will be your obvious joy in sharing things that undoubtedly bring joy to many others, which for me is what sharing music is all about (rather than cool one-upsmanship).

As I write this, I am playing this great Joe Harriott music for my wife and baby. Take care, and thanks for all the great music and great writing.

SOTISE said...

firstly ,thank you all for the kind thoughts... i am truly touched, let me repeat though that this blog is not my labour alone and that it does not depend on the contributions of any one individual..there is no reason for it not to go on without me i am just another lonely neurotic bloke with a lot of music and way too much time on my hands.

I feel i ought to set the record straight and say clearly and emphatically... that 1) Archer i understood that Rab Hines did not make the offending comments,i know him well enough to dismiss any such possibility.... although that possibility briefly confusedly crossed my mind.

The thought that some among us can and do assume the online identities of others and attempt to sow malign dissention is an unhappy one that suggests all manner of nasty ambiguous paranoid scenarios.

2) John R, your willingness to be judge and jury and make unsubstantiated accustions is chilling and only serves those who would subvert and ultimately disperse the file sharing community... i know Centrifuge well enough to say that he is not a senseless troll.

Lucky thanks for understanding my decision , and for your early frienship warmth and patience what now seems like eons ago having meticulously taught me the rudiments of blogging and file sharing , i agree with you that perhaps i simply need a substantial break for a while.

Reza thanks for your imput.. id love to contact you.

Wallofsound, Tantris , LYM and all other contributors its been a pleasure inviting you onboard ,discovering a shared passion with friends.... this is now your blog,Boromir was the first co contributor .. and its been great that the music has garnered such enthusiasm and attention as to make others want to join us.

Lets not forget that its all about the music primarily .. and the fact remains that we are all on the whole anonymous to one another, and forever remain so, i long for the immediacy of connection in real time , drink ,discussion and shared listening , vibrant emotive exchange.

That animate free flow one can simply not experience dialoging with anonymous friends.. music reflects and nourishes an intellectual and emotional life born of the harsh reality of perpetual struggle to remain human with all the failed interactions tensions and dissapointments inherant to that state.

Sharing this way anonymously online though having its own small satisfactions is like pissing into a void, it has replicated and reinforced the specific alienation in my immediate life of having no one to to share an obsessive passion with, the very thing i was trying to escape/erase when i began blogging.... anonymous friendships and sharing perversly become rather addictive, almost a substitute, but the promise is never really fulfilled... leaving one in the limbo of a painful void.
i hear no laughter or sighing , can't guage the nuances of response the vibrancy of pleasure......
its a hollow unfulfilling pale shadow of genuine real time exchange without all the risks and connectedness inherant to the lonely groping of most human interactions.

all that said, yesterday while reading the blog i was comming down off a magic mushroom trip after having played music with friends for many hours.. happening upon those comments was a jarring fearful experience.. nasty in the extreme and so completely at odds with the communal life afirmation i had been sharing for the past few days.
perhaps i over reacted... i felt shattered by the concentrated ill will and the sheer animosity and its ramifications looming heavily potentiously on the horizon.

SOTISE said...

heavily PORTENTIOUSLY ON THE HORIZON.....BLAH BLAH

Anonymous said...

I think its erotic.

-TheSuperFreak

Reza said...

@sotise

contact me please

afreeka2006 [at] yahoo.co.uk

Anonymous said...

Sotise, first, thank you for all you've done. I understand how you feel, having been in front of the public for decades as a musician, writer and radio host. But brother, if the musicians we admire allowed small-minded people's negativity to discourage them until they quit their good work ... well, we wouldn't have much to listen to, would we? Our suffering is small compared with theirs. Please take some time off to recharge your enthusiasm and accomplish other good deeds for yourself and others, but I hope you'll be back.

Anonymous said...

It is definitely a bummer to see two great music minds taking leave. This blog has had an enormous effect on my listening life, habits and loves, and I can't really thank you guys enough, for starting it up and keeping it going. The idea that you don't feel appreciated or that there's no community is just... wow. The music is almost secondary to the presentation in a lot of cases, which is generous, thoughtful, un-cynical (compared to many blogs), and full of boundless love for the music. This is an approach that I have an enormous amount of respect for, and stems from sotise and boromir, I think. Here's to hoping a lot more to come from those still contributing.

Thanks & be good!

archer said...

accursed mushrooms!

Unknown said...

Hi Sotise,
Very sad news to begin the week.
I'm a bit shocked… But I really understand your decision. You don't have to "eat" all that shit at your own home. Yes, there are a lot of "sad people" that needs to share their "mala leche" (bad milk) offering insults. They need to make "their problem" becomes yours. It's also true that here we can find a lot of nice people that really like and enjoy what you've done.

I just can say,
THANKS for all you've done here, the "always wanted records", the unknown music and musicians, your interesting comments, your knowledge, and also the community you created when you began Inconstant Sol.
Priceless!

I know the great work all the contributors do, but I can't imagine Inconstant Sol without you (And now without Boromir!)
Sunset?!

Again MANY, MANY thanks for all!

Hope to see you somewhere in blogland!!

Unknown said...

JR, you are NOT convincingly. You come here firing shit. Insulting and Lying about Centrifuge, a person who always "gives the face". Nice way to support Sotise! Very nice!

Excuse me Sotise, don't want bring more shit, but I must say that.

See you! Sooner or later!!

archer said...

tucked away near the end of your lengthy eloquence was this bright shiny bit: "perhaps i over reacted...".

read my first comment at the top of this thread, and consider your decision in this context

kinabalu said...

Oi, what's going on 'ere, then?

I've been following this thread with an increasing sense of bewilderment and the more I look the more I sense you're overreacting to what is in my humble view a light breeze in a teacup, at least compared to the real nasty stuff out there in the real world.

From what I can make out of it, this blog has been tangentially affected by some sort of spill-over from an internal controversy on the CIA blog involving the blog owner, a German musician and some loony stalker who for some (to me) odd reason has taken a hatred to this German guy. There's a bunch of miunderstandings, frayed tempers, but at least a couple of posters who have got the story basically correct, as I see it. Anyway, it's all too convoluted to go into in further detail, so I won't.

What I'm trying to say is that all of this nonsense has fuck all to do with this blog, and if one takes leave because of it, then one has given in to this kind of digital, low-life terrorism and that is not the way to go. Furthermore, the CIA blog continues largely unperturbed by all of this bullshit, so I don't see any good reason for you to quit if that reason is based on the rantings and outpourings of some loony internet low-life. There's a link to You Tube which will convince you that this creature is way beyond any notions of sanity.

Well, Sotise, man, it's been a pleasure, but do go easy on the magic mushroom. I'm taking the safe road and raise a glass of suberb French cognac in your honour. Stay cool, man, but do reconsider.

kinabalu said...

I can only concur with what others have written before regarding the comment about Cent. Nothing to add there.

MrBill said...

I've only recently discovered this blog thru the link on CIA, but have recognized many familiar names (including you, Sotise) and much wonderful music.

I can only add my voice to the chorus above and hope that you'll reconsider. I may be guilty of wearing rose-colored glasses, but my hope is that if all of the vast, vast majority of folks who participate in good faith stand strong against the trolls, that the trolls will tire of their game and move on. I know that's easy for me to say, as someone who doesn't face the headaches that you do - but I do hope that you know that your efforts are appreciated.

anoneponymous said...

I haven't picked up even a fraction of what you've posted, but you put up great music. Thanks for that.

Anonymous said...

What the hell is going on here ?!?

Many thanks to Sotise, Boromir and Tantris for all the great music you have shared over the time here. I know I should have dropped more often thanks and comments, even if my english is not really good... Mes excuses les plus sincères.

To the rest of you bloggers of Inconstant Sol, PLEASE, don't let be down by low-life morons. This kind of music deserves to be better known. Do it for the music per se, for the musicians who had courageously made it, and for the people who, like me, are living in a small city driven by the «cultural industry» and are too poor to buy these (usually) very expensive albums on ebay

I wish you good luck folks !

Salutations cordiales,
- Wazo

Cosmo Vitelli said...

It's a pity Sorry to read your sad words. It's just a few weeks I know this wonderful blog. Idiocy -as intelligence- is everywhere on the internet.
I am relly sorry to hear you so sad