Waywords and Meansigns Opendoor Edition

The Waywords and Meansigns Opendoor Edition debuted in 2017 as a part of the Waywords and Meansigns project setting James Joyce's Finnegans Wake to music. The Opendoor Edition features over 100 artists and musicians performing unabridged passages of Finnegans Wake.[1] An open edition, participants are invited to contribute to the Opendoor Edition on an ongoing basis. The edition first premiered May 4, 2017.[2]

Heather Ryan Kelley's art for Opendoor Edition, 2017

The genres represented in the Waywords and Meansigns Opendoor Edition are quite diverse, ranging from metal and industrial to folk and jazz.[3] Many of the tracks are experimental; some recordings adhere to fairly traditional song formats while others offer audiobook-like readings with ambient accompaniment.[4]

Background

The Waywords and Meansigns project began in 2014 with a goal of setting James Joyce's Finnegans Wake to music unabridged. They released two unabridged editions of the text, in 2015 and 2016.[5] Over 300 people have been involved in Wayords and Meansigns since 2014.[6]

The Waywords and Meansigns Opendoor Edition features contributors from 15 different countries in what was called "an all-star cast of weirdos."[7] The music is often experimental; the musicians' only requirements were that "the words be audible, unabridged and more or less in their original order."[8] All audio from the project is distributed freely online under Creative Commons licensing.

Contributors to Waywords and Meansigns are a self-described collection of "musicians, artists, poets, scholars, weirdos, passionate Wake-heads, those totally ignorant of the Wake, and anyone generally adventurous."[9] Artists participating in the Opendoor Edition include: Krzysztof Bartnicki; Martyn Bates; John Wolf Brennan; Neil Campbell; Tim Carbone of Railroad Earth and Lou Rogai of Lewis & Clarke; Joe Cassidy of Butterfly Child; Hayden Chisholm; S.A. Griffin; Kinski; Ulrich Krieger; Jason Sebastian Russo; David Moss; Monica Queen; Schneider TM; Sally Timms; Mike Watt; and many more.[10]

The Guardian has highlighted the project for making Joyce's famously difficult novel more accessible.[11] Finn Fordham, a James Joyce scholar at Royal Holloway, University of London has called the project "wonderfully innovative."[12]

Track listing

Tracks are organized by page and line number, followed by the artist name, and then occasionally followed by the track’s nickname.

Chapter 1 (pp. 003-029)
     003-010.24 - The Here Comes Everybody Players
     003.01-003.09 - Hervé Michel and the box sets
     003.01-003.14 - Roman Tsivkin and the box sets
     010.25-016.09 - Chris Rael
     013.20-015.11 - Peter Chrisp and the box sets
     018.17-021.04 - John Cerreta - "Stoop to Prittle"
     023.16-024.14 - Nigel Bryant - "O Foenix Culprit"
     027.22-029.36 - Cedar Sparks (Tim Carbone and Lou Rogai)

Chapter 2 (pp. 030-047)
     030-047 - Krzysztof Bartnicki and Bouchons d'oreilles with Wojtek Kurek
     045-046 - Yehuda Vizan and the box sets

Chapter 3 (pp. 048-074)
     048-050.35 - Wiel Conen & Charlotte Gilissen
     052.18-053.35 - S.A. Griffin
     053.36-055.02 - Joe Cassidy
     055.03-056.19 - Neal Kosaly-Meyer
     061.15-061.16 - Seán Mac Erlaine - "Nooningless Knockturne"
     066.28-067.06 - Graziano Galati
     067.07-067.27 - Schneider TM - “His Phizz Fell"
     071.10-072.16 - Jon Wahl - "Abusive Names"

Chapter 4 (pp. 075-103)
     75-103 - Matthew Duncan and James Heflin

Chapter 5 (pp. 104-125)
     104-125 - Tim Cornelius
     107 - Hayden Chisholm

Chapter 6 (pp. 126-168)
     136.01-136.36 - Lavinia Murrary - "Mursque"
     139.15-139.28 - Maharajah - "Ann Alive"
     139.29-140.07 - Maharadja Sweets
     140.08-141.07 - Papa Sprain
     141.08-141.27 - Coldharbourstores - "Question 5"
     141.28-142.29 - Old Fiends (Jason Merritt, Kenneth Griffin, Jason Sebastian Russo, and Paul Dillon)
     142.30-143.02 - Little Sparta with Sally Timms and Martin Billheimer - "Question 6. How Are Yor Maggies"
     148.33-152.15 - Kevin Spenst and Hitori Tori - "Question 11"
     152.16-159.18 - Mr. Smolin - "The Mooks & The Gripes"
     159.19-163.07 - William Sutton
     163.08-165.07 - Conspirators of Pleasure (Simon Underwood and Poulomi Desai)

Chapter 7 (pp. 169-195)
     169-195 - Gavan Kennedy
     169-195 - Mike Watt and Adam Harvey - “Shem the Penman”
     170.25-174.04 - Layne Farmen of "Faraday"
     174.05-175.06 - The Philip Cleary Ensemble - “The Cull”
     175.07-175.28 - Mr. Smolin - "The Ballat of Perce Oreille"
     175.29-181.33 - The Philip Cleary Ensemble - “a Dubliner (and a spy)"
     181.34-182.29 - Karen Ponzio

Chapter 8 (pp. 196-216)
     205.16-210.06 - Joe Fee - "Anna Livia"
     213.11-216 - Re-Scribe
     215.36 - Seán Mac Erlaine - "My Ho Head Halls"

Chapter 9 (pp. 216-259)
     223.12-224.07 - Sauerbraten Beef Ring - “Nought A Wired From The Wordless Either”
     224.08-226.20 - Lucy Hollier - “The Pearlagraph"
     226.21-228.02 - David Hurn and Abigail Hopkins
     228.03-229.01 - Joel Wranning
     229.01-229.29 - Owen Tromans
     229.29-230.25 - Brendan Kinsella and Brian Tyree
     230.26-231.22 - STV
     231.23-232.26 - Michael Maier and Brian Tyree
     254.01-254.08 - Chelidon Frame - "Our Seawall"
     254.08-254.09 - Mr. Smolin - "Ancients Link With Presents"
     254.09-254.17 - Lys Guillorn - "Have Done, Do and Will Again"
     254.18-254.29 - Lys Guillorn - "The Mar of Murmury"
     254.29-255.03 - Lys Guillorn - "Hoet of the Rough Throat Attack"
     256.01-259.10 - Gareth Flowers
     257.29-259.10 - Krzysztof Bartnicki and the box sets

Chapter 10 (pp. 260-308)
     260-270.31 - Super Nova Nudge
     263.17-263.30 - Liz Longo
     266.20 - Liz Longo
     273.01-273.28 - Phil Minton
     274.02-275.13 - Gregory Betts
     284.04 - Seán Mac Erlaine - "Brick Bath"
     288, fn. 1 - Seán Mac Erlaine - "An Ounceworth of Onions for a Pennyawealth of Sobs"
     293.01-300.08 - Sticky Foster and Usurper
     304.05-305.11 - Janken's Henchmæn featuring Marco Toriani - "Magic J Amezons"
     305.08-306.07 - Janken's Henchmæn - "FAQ Deady"
     306.08-306.10 - Janken's Henchmæn featuring MonkeYear - "Aen.C"
     306.16-306.31 - Janken's Henchmæn featuring MonkeYear - "Frogterdati"
     307 - Greg Nahabedian
     308 - body bender - "Delays"

Chapter 11 (pp. 309-382)
     310.22-311.20 - Doug Eisenstark
     310.22-311.20 - Matt Battle
     311.21-312.16 - Insides
     312.17-313.13 - Barry Bender - "To Old Sporty"
     313.14-314.14 - M. David Hornbuckle - "Whereofter"
     314.15-315.08 - Alek Erickson
     316.11-319.02 - Steve Fly
     319.03-319.36 - Cathal O' Leary
     322.01-323.24 - Kinski
     323.25-324.17 - Tenement and Temple (Monica Queen and Johnny Smillie)
     324.18-326.20 - Renata Meints
     326.21-326.36 - Tom Segear
     329.14-330.11 - Steve Pantani - "And Dub Did Glow"
     330.20-332.09 - John Wolf Brennan
     332.10-333.05 - David Moss & Boris Hegenbart - "stepping the tolks"
     333.06-334.05 - meunders
     372.23-373.12 - Haunted Robot, Ltd. and Dameon Merkl - "Last ye, lundsmin"
     380.07-382.30 - The Science Of Deduction

Chapter 12 (pp. 383-399)
     383-399 - Andrea Riley’s Opendoor Score - Score only, record your own interpretation or performance!!

Chapter 13 (pp. 403-428)
     403-418.08 - Ross&Wayne
     403.01-405.02 - Candle
     418.09-419.08 - Ross&Wayne
     418.10-419.08 - Aleorta - "Grace ondt Hope"
     419.09-428 - Ross&Wayne
     429 - Mary and Sara Jewell

Chapter 14 (pp. 429-473)
     446.11 - Seán Mac Erlaine - "Zuccherikissings"
     446.16-446.17 - Seán Mac Erlaine - "Rainkiss on Me Back"

Chapter 15 (pp. 474-554)
     494.27-497.03 - Layne Farmen of "Faraday”
     499.04-499.36 - Human Flourishing
     500.01-501.06 - Adam Matlock
     504.20-505.31 - Belorusia
     506.34-509.36 - Rod Stasick - "Peace Antiques"
     510.01-510.36 - Junklight
     511.01-511.36 - Hardworking Families
     512.01-512.20 - PhÆDRx - "To The Pink, Man!"
     534.07-535.12 - Neil Campbell - "Calm Has Entered"
     538.18-540.36 - Ulrich Krieger - "Finnegans Longstone"
     540.09-550.03 - Bruce Woodside - "Haveth Childers Everywhere"
     550.04-554.10 - At it Again!

Chapter 16 (pp. 555-590)
     556.01-556.22 - Martyn Bates - "Night by Silentsailing Night"
     589.12-589.19 - Stanton Warren - "...and the band played on"

Chapter 17 (pp. 593-628)
     593 - Adrian DiMatteo
     594.01-595.29 - Rich Chapman
     595.30-596.33 - watercodes
     596.34-597.23 - Epiphany Now
     597.24-598.27 - Hayden Chisholm
     598.17-600.04 - Mariana Lanari and Sjoerd Leijten - "Supernoctural"
     598.28-599.24 - Les orages de janvier - "Sable Rampant"
     601.21-602.08 - Cathal O' Leary
     602.09-603.33 - Mark Sheeky - "Finnegan's Judgement"
     603.34-604.22 - Kaia Jackson
     604.22-606.12 - Gerry Smyth
     606.13-607.16 - Doug Eisenstark
     607.17-607.36 - John Shakespear - "High Tigh Tigh"
     608.01-608.36 - Asha Passalacqua
     609.01-609.36 - Ken Davidson
     610-611.02 - The Most Ever Company - "Muta & Juva"
     613.01-615.11 - Peter Quadrino - "Vicocyclometer"
     615.12-619.16 - Kamil Szuszkiewicz featuring Pictorial Candi - "Pollabella"
     627.34-003.18 - Steve Gregoropoulos - "Recirculation"

Reception

The Opendoor Edition's music received a generally positive reviews, including a 7.8 rating from Paste.[13] Open Culture's Josh Jones deemed the Opendoor Edition "one of the most appropriate responses to the novel in the 78 years since its publication."[14] Other writers did not review the music itself but focused primarily on the project's ambitious and unusual nature.[15][16]

Maria Schurr, in her PopMatters review, wrote: "the well of inspiration springing from Joyce's words is thrillingly infinite."[17] Paste's Jay Horton wrote of the third edition: "It’s soon enough made clear that there are as many varieties of musical renderings as there are interpretations of its prose, which sparks the likely-unavoidable problem concerning the songs and the book they’re taken from and the ideas it (barely) contains – there’s just too damn many."[18] Culture.pl described listeners as "wallowing in the infinite possible meanings that Finnegans Wake inspires."[19]

See also

References
  1. Allison Meier (5 April 2017). "Setting the Puzzling Language of James Joyce's Finnegans Wake to Music". Hyperallergic.
  2. Jay Horton (12 May 2017). "Various Artists: Waywords and Meansigns - Recreating Finnegans Wake [in its whole wholume] Review". Paste.
  3. Maria Schurr (5 May 2017). "Waywords and Meansigns - Recreating Finnegans Wake (premiere)". PopMatters.
  4. Alex Gallagher (21 April 2017). "Preview & Interview: Waywords and Meansigns – Finnegans Wake to Music". Folk Radio UK.
  5. Allison Meier (5 April 2017). "Setting the Puzzling Language of James Joyce's Finnegans Wake to Music". Hyperallergic.
  6. Waywords and Meansigns website (4 May 2017). "Opendoor Edition".
  7. Breznikar, Klemen (April 10, 2017). "All star cast of weirdos record James Joyce's "Finnegans Wake"". It's Psychedelic Baby! Magazine. Archived from the original on April 21, 2017. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
  8. Waywords and Meansigns website. "About Waywords and Meansigns". Retrieved 7 September 2017.
  9. Waywords and Meansigns website. "Get Involved". Retrieved 7 September 2017.
  10. Waywords and Meansigns website (4 May 2017). "Opendoor Edition".
  11. Billy Mills (28 April 2015). "Finnegans Wake - the book the web was invented for". The Guardian.
  12. Marta Bausells (2 February 2016). "Finnegans Wake: a musical reading sounds out a cryptic text". The Guardian.
  13. Jay Horton (12 May 2017). "Various Artists: Waywords and Meansigns - Recreating Finnegans Wake [in its whole wholume] Review".
  14. "Hear a Reading of James Joyce's Finnegans Wake Set to Music: Features 100+ Musicians and Readers from Across the World". Open Culture. 4 May 2017.
  15. Christian Sanoudou (4 April 2017). "Ενα σουρεαλιστικό «κολάζ» από λέξεις του Τζόις και νότες". Kathimerini.
  16. Alberto del Castillo (7 April 2017). "Un centenar de personas ha creado uno de los audiolibros más locos de la historia". Playground Mag.
  17. Maria Schurr (5 May 2017). "Waywords and Meansigns - Recreating Finnegans Wake (premiere)". PopMatters.
  18. Jay Horton (12 May 2017). "Various Artists: Waywords and Meansigns - Recreating Finnegans Wake [in its whole wholume] Review".
  19. KA (27 May 2017). "Polish Musicians Look for Meaning in Finnegans Wake".
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