Good Night

Recent Book Finds

Some recent book finds from Faversham and Rainham. All were between fifty pence to a pound.

Good Morning

Book 5 - Tracey Thorn "Another Planet"

Tracey Thorn "Another Planet: A Teenager In Suburbia" (Canongate)





Short but sweet, Everything But The Girl singer Tracey Thorn manages to pack a lot into her memoirs! Based on the uneventful entries in her teenage diaries, Tracey considers growing up in 70s suburbia, with an interesting history of the commuter village where her parents settled, and her bid to escape woodland and semi-detached houses for the freedom of London. She talks about her relationship with her parents, including her father's death and an attempt to understand her mother's life after having children of her own, but also muses on broader subjects like class and feminism. Funny but also touching in places, I read the whole book in one setting - only 200 pages, granted - and now I'm listening to her albums again!

Thorn-y Music

Music by Tracy Thorn and Ben Watt -

Everything But The Girl - Hatfield 1980

Tracey Thorn - Smoke

Tracey Thorn - Joy

Enjoy

Book 6 - Geoff Smith "American Originals"

Geoff Smith "American Originals: Interviews with 25 Contemporary Composers" (Faber & Faber)





This book interviews some of the best known modern American composers (and some of those a little less well known), including John Cage, Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Laurie Anderson, Terry Riley, LaMonte Young, John Adams, Harold Budd, Glenn Branca, Meredith Monk, Pauline Oliveros, Alvin Lucier and Ingram Marshall.

The two themes that run throughout the book are the influence of Cage, and the minimalist tradition. Both are identified by most of the interviewees as a reaction against "European" classical music of the fifties and sixties, i.e. serialism.

Most of the interviews are interesting, although the significant problem throughout is a lack of context, as the Smiths leave their subjects to talk and add very little of their own critical voice. There probably won't be many amongst this book's readership who've actually heard the music of Young, Lucier, Marshall and several of the others, let alone heard of them, so I wonder if people drawn in by the presence of Glass, Reich and Adams will end up a little bewildered.

Despite the divergent types of music made by most of these composers, there's a homogeneity to their opinions which is quite noticeable, a consensus which is perhaps unsurprising given their status as the old guard of the avant-garde. It makes the American composers' community seem more insular than they really are, and the repeated complaints about European music suggest an unfortunate parochialism. Some of the interviews are also frustratingly short, with answers to questions never quite followed up in the way you'd like them to have been.

But, for all its limitations, it's both accessible and informative, particularly if you're familiar with several of the interviewees and would like to learn more about their motivations and ideas.

Wednesday Wooings

It turned to be a very nice sunny day. I popped into town to get some decent coffee and have a few beers at my local pub.

I also have a chargrilled chicken dish there.

The usual gang were there plus this lady from Chelsea, London, called Amanda. I had seen her before talking to Tim. Anyway, we got chatting about music and other things, and after a couple of hours at Spoons gravitated down to her café stop – The Refinery - at the top end of West Street. She had wine and I had a craft ale.



I forgot to add that whilst at Spoons her sister came in, and her name is Caroline. Caroline left before us, but we joined her at the café. The café closes at four, so we then walked back to Spoons without Caroline. We had our final beer and vino at Spoons before departing our separate ways, but as we said goodbye, Amanda asked if I will be in the pub tomorrow. I said “Well if you are there I will be there too".

So, that is how I will leave it for now.

Jazzy In A groove

Yeah, I am in a bouncy mood - could it be love lol - well here is some jazz.

Alex “Apolo” Ayala & Bámbula Project - Bozales

Alex “Apolo” Ayala’s Bámbula project is a powerful, intense and nostalgic fusion of Afro-Puerto Rican “Bomba” rhythms with Jazz. It is more than an Afro-Puerto Rican Jazz Quartet. It is a celebration of Afro-Puerto Rican heritage and culture. Ayala’s intense and adventurous, yet story-telling and nostalgic compositions and arrangements ambitiously aim to capture the audience and transport them into a realm where Puerto Rican BOMBA rhythms, lyrical melodies, Jazz harmonies, and freedom are symbiotically married.

Soweto Kinch - Never Ending

ENJOY

Just Wondering

What was your favourite TV show growing up and if you didn't have a TV growing up, then your favourite radio show?

How much clutter do you have? Is it visible or do you hide it away?

Have you ever vacuumed your walls?