About Mappa Mundi
The members of Mappa Mundi all washed ashore one day on this lush and lonely island, each one having followed a very different map toward a new verdant world. Steeling nerve and body against the elements, wild beasts, and blood thirsty cannibals, they continue to cast out into the sea with the strains of their music, hoping one day to be found.
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Author Archives: Mappa Mundi
Like a Friend
A cover is a tricky thing. At its worst, an artist attempts to recreate what they love about a song and the cover becomes a cheap facsimile of the original. At its best, the artist takes whatever originally spoke to … Continue reading
ESA
ESA is a song about math, statistics, and the formulae and calculations governing our lives and choices. It’s about the decisions we make given those pressures, and, to some degree, it’s about the slow, steady colonization of our lives. By … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
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Dancing on My Own
I am an unabashed fan of pop music, as I’ve mentioned. Pop is the intersection of many influences and musical traditions, and it’s able to take freely from those roots. In recent years, Robyn has become one of the best … Continue reading
Posted in Music
Tagged beats, dance, distortion, drum machine, electro, Ligeti, minimalism, Philip Glass, pop, Röyksopp, reverb, Robyn, Song of the Fortnight, The Knife, ukulele, violin
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Maybe Stay
“Maybe Stay” is my ode to indecision. As the fellow says, “the life which is unexamined is not worth living.” The problem, of course, is that, in poring too closely over every detail, you can become immobilized by indecision. And … Continue reading
Posted in Music
Tagged 60s, 90s, Beatles, delay, Hamlet, Jaye Tyler, Music, News, Plato, Pulp, radiohead, reverb, Socrates, Song of the Fortnight, trumpet, ukulele, wall of sound, Wonderfalls
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What Have You Done?
“What Have You Done?” is a newer song about my love of pop music, and all the yearning, subversion, and angst that goes with it. We all want to find something that will prove that our lives and our choices … Continue reading
Posted in Music
Tagged Beatles, cello, Elliott Smith, George Martin, Jon Brion, Ligeti, piano, Song of the Fortnight, strings, violin
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A Blunt Object, Oh Robert
I have mentioned that I love to write method songs. That is to say, to get into the head of a character I’m interested in and ask myself what I might think in his/her shoes. “A Blunt Object, Oh Robert” … Continue reading
Posted in Music
Tagged Atomic, Bomb, Dr. Atomic, explosion, John Adams, minimalism, noise, Oppenheimer, Phillipe Halsman, Photography, physics, Song of the Fortnight, strings, The Photography Post, trumpet, violin
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Ohiosong
And now, without further ado, my head still ringing with samba and caipirinhas, I give you “Ohiosong.” Ohiosong by Mappa Mundi Unfortunately, this is one of those songs that’s really better left unexplained. It’s intentionally vague so that the listener … Continue reading
Posted in Music
Tagged Americana, cello, Chinese, college, erhu, fiddle, folk, Ohio, piano, Song of the Fortnight, sufjan stevens, ukulele
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Cannibals!
Dear Mappa Mundians, I hope this message finds you safe. Due to a shortage of bottles and a recent spate of cannibal attacks we will be somewhat delayed in sending this week’s Song of the Fortnight. I am, of course, … Continue reading
Posted in News
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Mirabelle
“Mirabelle” was inspired by the novella, Shopgirl, by Steve Martin. I like to write songs about moments of transition. Be they moments of decision or indecision, I think we experience the sublime in those moments: all the weight and expanse of … Continue reading
Posted in Music
Tagged character, fiction, method, piano, Shopgirl, short story, Song of the Fortnight, Steve Martin, story, trumpet
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No More
“No More” sprang to life, fully-formed, through a process of spontaneous generation. Usually my writing process involves lots of trial and error and experimentation but every once in a while, a song (verses, choruses, and all) just appears fully, or … Continue reading