I’m still trying to figure out if they could be played by others - is there/could there be notation?

And if I get hooked on a riff and start humming it and eventually brought it into a 2:30 song - is it mine?

Certainly not by the dictionary definition of the word. “Compositions,” I think, is the better term. Spontaneous, communal compositions. As Andy says in the interview, the best metaphor is recorded musical conversation — but an abstract one, using noises produced by instruments rather than words — or of three people making a sculpture together.

Remember his considered rejection of architecture as a metaphor to describe the process of making these — things, whatever they are. (That was why I’d planned to ask the faux-naive question, by the way — I knew he’d reject the metaphor.) Songs have structure, balance, and symmetry, and the ornateness or simplicity of the decoration determines the emotional effect of the piece — anything from Rococo to Bauhaus.

The compositions on Monstrance have none of these characteristics; they meander from one timbre to another spontaneously, at the common whim of the composers. This can be a recipe for self-indulgent poot at the hands of less sympathetic performers, and it’s a real marvel that they’ve managed to pull something off that’s extremely listenable and accessible.

Nah! we of course couldn’t play these live. Where would we start? We could only play unheard ones live, but only one sixth of the gig would be any good.

Actually, it would have been cool to fall into some jazz/blues progressions and then out again…

No more than you’d want to have exactly the same conversation you had three weeks ago, I think. It’s an interesting philosophical question, isn’t it: When does an improvisation stop being one?

Could you or I do a cover?

I suppose you could play the same notes as you hear on the record. Another interesting question for the philosophers…

i>This seems very considered.

I get the impression that the three approached the job very determined not to fall into conventional patterns like blues changes. These truly are some of the finest musicians and songwriters around, and they’re good enough to know how to avoid a pitfall like that, even playing completely spontaneous music.

Did you listen to any of the samples? It’s really interesting stuff. Partridge has always had a rep as being a “musician’s musician,” and “Monstrance” has at its core a fascinating lecture on how music is created, where it comes from in the human soul.

Are these “permanent” songs now? Could the band play them again, take them on tour, cut different versions? Do they live on? Could you or I do a cover?

I think anyone who has a band has done this kind of thing to warm up - usually with most basic units, you all into the blues or something close and familiar. And sometimes you do this when half-loaded. This seems very considered.