what are you reading now?
CrowleyHead
Well-known member
5'4, small man syndrome, my voice does the intimidation for me in public.
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
They are quite unbelievable, aren't they? A generation ago he could have played a mentat in Lynch's Dune.
woops
is not like other people
it feels great
empty mirror
remember the jackalope
i'm reading ben ratliff's every song ever
halfway through it now and it has been rewarding in the sense that my musical education (the various phases of my interests in music) has well prepared me for the various references the author makes and he mentions a bunch of bands and singers that i haven't really gotten around to (sarah vaughan, dean martin, art tatum). the author, i'd guess, is probably twelve years my senior. so there's a Cool Older Cousin Effect going on here that i'm enjoying.
as far as a work of ekphrasis, it succeeds. he's obviously a close listener. as a work of philosophy of music, the chapters are a bit short to really deep dive into the concepts. kind of a bathroom read in that respect.
simon reynolds reviews it here and i reckon he's right about criticizing ratliff's dismissal of true believer one-genre types. we need those tunnel-visionaries to push their genres forward.
ratliff's treatment of nick drake was sort of rough. his skepticism about nick drake's depression and his treatment of sadness in music as a superficial style...
halfway through it now and it has been rewarding in the sense that my musical education (the various phases of my interests in music) has well prepared me for the various references the author makes and he mentions a bunch of bands and singers that i haven't really gotten around to (sarah vaughan, dean martin, art tatum). the author, i'd guess, is probably twelve years my senior. so there's a Cool Older Cousin Effect going on here that i'm enjoying.
as far as a work of ekphrasis, it succeeds. he's obviously a close listener. as a work of philosophy of music, the chapters are a bit short to really deep dive into the concepts. kind of a bathroom read in that respect.
simon reynolds reviews it here and i reckon he's right about criticizing ratliff's dismissal of true believer one-genre types. we need those tunnel-visionaries to push their genres forward.
ratliff's treatment of nick drake was sort of rough. his skepticism about nick drake's depression and his treatment of sadness in music as a superficial style...
CrowleyHead
Well-known member
I just finished Beckett's Fizzles. Its another chapter in my continuing saga of really loving Beckett's texts that comprise of "FALL HARDER, FAIL BETTER, SLACK MORE STERNLY," etc. etc. and looking at all his plays and novels like "... Iiiiii'll get around to all that."
Also read the Julian Cope "Copendium" this autumn, forgot if I mentioned it. Its good stuff. Gotta commend a man who interrupts his review of a Black Sabbath live bootleg to continuously interject "WE LOVE YOOOOU!"
Also read the Julian Cope "Copendium" this autumn, forgot if I mentioned it. Its good stuff. Gotta commend a man who interrupts his review of a Black Sabbath live bootleg to continuously interject "WE LOVE YOOOOU!"
Corpsey
bandz ahoy
My foolish new year's resolutions have kicked off in advance with a pledge to read all of Shakespeare's plays, at the rate of one per week, this year. This will mean ploughing through some middling histories to start with, but if I manage it, I can at last look down my nose at the plebs who've only managed to read 99% of them.
baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
I read Jace Clayton's aka DJ/Rupture's "Uproot:Travels in 21st Century Music and Digital Culture" over Xmas. It kind of feels like it might have been fascinating had it been written in 2006, but it just comes across as kind of flat. I suppose it's because most of his insights and thoughts seem to come from ideas that have been endlessly refracted round the internet over the past ten years. It's becoming very difficult to write about the zeitgeist, it seems - maybe writing about the zeitgeist IS the zeitgeist now.
(The only really good bit was about Berber songs and autotune, but I'd read his thoughts on that before. Good stuff still.)
(The only really good bit was about Berber songs and autotune, but I'd read his thoughts on that before. Good stuff still.)
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Benny Bunter
Well-known member
I've got this, its great, if a little too indebted to lester bangs sometimes. My mate Borja's doom band Orthodox are in there. They were his backing band for a few gigs out here in Spain a few years ago. I don't think they could understand what he was saying most of the time, partly because of the language barrier but mostly because he was apparently an extremely odd chap as you might imagine.
Pete Burns passing away recently really made me want to read 'head on' again actually, Cope's description of him is so funny. Wish i still had my copy.
Never did get on with Cope's actual music though.