My Big Break

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the steady push of new life, warm and heaving on the sidewalk

good morning ~

(click the link / distorted piggly wiggly logo to listen)

Ben SeretanLive Waves

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#117
May 5, 2022
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paid post preview - just a helpless little invertebrate awash on the tides

good morning ~

today's edition of the newsletter is for paying subscribers only - it includes a big cloud of piano chords, lap steel whale calls, and writing about maritime law, being underwater, and running into the Pacific Ocean.

you, too, can sign up for a paid subscription via the "sign up for a premium subscription" link at the bottom of this email - you'll get every edition of this project, one tone zone a year, plus some other goodies. you'll also keep the work going - - every bit helps.

thanks for being here, regardless - - I truly appreciate it

Free post
#116
April 21, 2022
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just a helpless little invertebrate awash on the tides

good morning ~

(click the link / family of bears to listen)

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My Big Breakjust a helpless little invertebrate awash on the tides
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#115
April 21, 2022
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one cracked can at a time

good morning ~

(click the link / bricks to listen)

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My Big Breakone cracked can at a time
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#114
April 7, 2022
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big breaths are coming in and in and in

good morning ~

(click the link / statue in the fog to listen)

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My Big Breakbig breaths are coming in and in and in
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#113
March 24, 2022
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I put on little sunglasses to further signal that the vibe had shifted

good morning ~

(click the link / dating show set to listen)

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My Big BreakI put on little sunglasses to further signal that the vibe had shifted
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#112
March 10, 2022
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sun bleached sites of my western youth

good morning ~

(click the link / column of jerash to listen)

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My Big Breaksun bleached sites of my western youth
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#111
March 3, 2022
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2 Years of Youth Pastoral

What's up, MBB Premium Subscribers ~

Today marks two years since YOUTH PASTORAL came out, which is a very difficult fact for me to accept! It still feels like only yesterday I was shipping off the first copies and playing the songs for friends in a crowded room.

As the anniversary date approached, I found myself getting sad about it - where had the time gone? But instead of getting down about it and thinking about what could have been, I decided to do something fun instead. So I whipped up the below obnoxiously bright commemorative t-shirts - - they're up on Bandcamp now and you all get 30% off with the code "ypshirtdiscount" at checkout.

youth pastoral tee mockup 1.jpg

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#110
February 28, 2022
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we grind the bones of our leisure

good morning ~

(click the link / swarming crows to listen)

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My Big Breakwe grind the bones of our leisure
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#109
February 24, 2022
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snag a flash of it

good morning ~

(click the link / ice palace to listen)

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My Big Breaksnag a flash of it
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#108
February 17, 2022
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the faces in the throw

good morning ~

(click the link / snowy crow hideout to listen)

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My Big Breakthe faces in the throw
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#107
February 10, 2022
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a holler from behind a door

good morning ~

(click the link / frozen antenna topper to listen)

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My Big Breaka holler from behind a door
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#106
February 3, 2022
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secret dark art happening

good morning ~

(click the link / swarming sunset crows to listen)

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My Big Breaksecret dark art happening
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#105
January 27, 2022
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like riotous chrysanthemum bulbs

good morning ~

(click the curtain on the window / link to listen)

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My Big Breaklike riotous chrysanthemum bulbs
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#104
January 20, 2022
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(paid preview) squinting right into the lens

good morning ~

every few weeks this newsletter will be for premium subscribers only and today’s installment is one of those ~

paying mbb readers got a self-destructive slapper of a track and thoughts on why I love watching human faces speaking into cameras (but I won’t withhold my recommendations: “Where Are We? Our Trip Through America,” the films of Les Blank, “How to with John Wilson”).

i’m also going to try something ambitious - all paying readers will also be entitled to one personal tone zone per year

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#103
January 13, 2022
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squinting right into the lens

good morning ~

(click the guinea feather / link to listen)

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My Big Breaksquinting right into the lens
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#102
January 13, 2022
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a little spear of night in their beak

good morning ~

(click the link / fabulous sunset to listen)

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My Big Breaka little spear of night in their beak
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#101
January 6, 2022
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heaven is a void between load screens

good morning ~

(click the link / power lines at dusk to listen)

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My Big Breakheaven is a void between load screens
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#100
December 30, 2021
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against a miraculous backdrop

good morning ~

(click the link / the elegant japanese maple in the rain to listen)

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https://mybigbreak.bandcamp.com/track/against-a-miraculous-backdrop

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#99
December 23, 2021
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civil twilight, tandem bicycle

good morning ~

click the link / cemetery at dusk to listen - - -

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My Big Breaktandem bicycle, civil twilight
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#98
December 16, 2021
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feels like my house suddenly has walls

good morning ~

click the link / magnificent west philly tree to listen - - -

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My Big Breakfeels like my house suddenly has walls
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#97
December 9, 2021
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I want to hold it all up to the light

good morning ~

(click the marvelous parking lot sky to listen)

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My Big BreakI want to hold it all up to the light
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#96
December 2, 2021
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coaxed from the walls by wild coincidence

good morning ~

(click the picture/link to listen)

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My Big Breakcoaxed from the walls by wild coincidence
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#95
November 25, 2021
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big and brave enough

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My Big Breakbig and brave enough

good morning ~

(click the beautiful afternoon light to listen)

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#94
November 18, 2021
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mirror in the shape of my face

My Big Breakmirror in the shape of my face

good morning ~

(click the ginkgo leaves to listen)

today's track is partially me remembering how to play acoustic guitar

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#93
November 11, 2021
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a glimmering chain of yes

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#92
November 4, 2021
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their shining sword

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#91
October 28, 2021
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hands at 10 and 2

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#90
October 21, 2021
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the rollicking scrub

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#89
October 14, 2021
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paid preview - the warmth between you hangs there, swirling

good morning ~

every few weeks this newsletter will be for premium subscribers only and today’s installment is one of those!

premium mbb readers got a surprisingly crunchy weekly track, thoughts on how to shape your kitchen with your laughter, and a very special live recording from when I played a baby grand piano in a stately manor in Amsterdam last month ~

these subscriptions help me a lot and keep this project going - i would greatly appreciate your support if you like our thursdays together ~

Free post
#88
October 7, 2021
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the warmth between you hangs there, swirling

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#87
October 7, 2021
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paint thinner punch from a styrofoam cup

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#86
September 30, 2021
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dancing bodies would vanish

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#85
September 23, 2021
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cutting the last hour of the velvet

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#84
September 16, 2021
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it held high the martyrs

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#83
September 9, 2021
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little hoots of pained delight

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#82
September 2, 2021
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a ghost with its shoelaces tied together

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#81
August 26, 2021
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wherever the thunder rumbles down

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#80
August 19, 2021
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the less of it

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#79
August 12, 2021
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carving granite in the dark

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#78
August 5, 2021
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is that hope realistic?

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#77
July 29, 2021
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preview ~ I wanna damage a windshield in the parking lot

good morning ~

today’s newsletter is for paying subscribers - it includes big washes of synth swells, a rundown of just how great it felt to sing and sweat for a gathered crowd last weekend, and a picture of my big, beautiful birthday cake

When the drums came in it sounded so tremendous, bigger than I’ve ever heard it. I was beaming and singing, and then right on cue, at a painfully perfect moment in the song’s crescendo, Liam turned on the fog and the lasers, which joined the already spinning disco ball. Like heaven opening, truly.

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#76
July 22, 2021
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I wanna damage a windshield in the parking lot

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#75
July 22, 2021
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ever flawed, never ceasing

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#74
July 15, 2021
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fogged-out pacific vistas

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#73
July 8, 2021
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in the ear of the hearer

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#72
July 1, 2021
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the harmonies hovered, a visible cloud

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#71
June 24, 2021
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drink straight from the champagne fountain, yes, now, and more

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#70
June 17, 2021
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The Song Bends in the Air

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#69
June 10, 2021
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Goblin Meal

Good morning ~

To be honest my friends I am feeling quite wrung out. Not bad, necessarily - just a bit less to say than usual and just a little depleted after launching the ship that is my latest record. I don’t have a full newsletter in me this week. In fact, I think I’d like to take a couple weeks off! I’m going to do that. But I’ll be back soon, possibly on a different platform with a possibly altered format.

I did make a new track this week, though, and I hope you will accept this 19-minute zoner as a consolation. A few weeks ago I sat in a rocking chair listening to lazily bonking wind chimes clanging against each other and I couldn’t recall ever hearing something so great - - tried to capture if not the sound than the vibe of that porch in this recording:

Free post
#68
May 13, 2021
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