August 23, 2005
The British Literary Bordello
From an article in the The Guardian of August 23, in which a new prize for short stories is discussed:
Alex Linklater, deputy editor of Prospect magazine, spoke out today in support of the short story. "The novel is a capacious old whore: everyone has a go at her, but she rarely emits so much as a groan for their efforts," he said. "The short story, on the other hand, is a nimble goddess: she selects her suitors fastidiously and sings like a dove when they succeed. The British literary bordello is heaving with flabby novels; it's time to give back some love to the story."
I wonder what he thinks of Sir Walter Scott?
You can read about the context here.
Posted by apc at 08:29 PM | Comments (0)
February 26, 2005
Pat Metheny
The Friday, February 24 issue of The New York Times ran an article on Pat Metheny where he discusses some specific music that influenced or is otherwise important to him. The article is available here. You might need to register to read it, but that isn't a very onerous procedure.
The article provides details on the records so you can run out and by them. I already owned the Sonny Rollins and Coleman Hawkins record, and, having a premium streaming service, am listening to the Wes Montgomery as I write this.
The records and links to buy them are below. By the way, any money I happen to pick up through these links will be given to one of two foodbanks in New Jersey. I promise. That applies to every link you find here. This is not a commercial enterprise.
Enjoy!
Sonny Meets Hawk!
Sonny Rolling and Coleman Hawkins
The Complete Concert 1964: My Funny Valentine + Four and More
Miles Davis
The Glenn Gould Edition - Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I
Glenn Gould
Passarim
Antonio Carlos Jobim
Smokin' at the Half Note
Wynton Kelly Trio with Wes Montgomery
Posted by apc at 05:23 PM | Comments (0)
February 25, 2005
Vertigo
I am working my way through W. G. Sebald's memoir / novel Vertigo and am rather disappointed. It is unlike his other books, or rather my experience reading it is unlike my experience reading his other books. I find myself wandering; no, worse than wandering, rather losing consciousness of what I am reading altogether. I will be moving along and then notice that I have progressed 10 pages and have absolutely no idea what it was that I have just read. Other times I have short interludes of awareness, and a clause or image or phrase will stick with me only to stand in isolation as my mind immediately shuts down once again. Perhaps that was Sebald's intention. My lack of attention may, in fact, be a type of vertigo, since obviously my orientation is askew. I doubt it was his intent, though. Probably this experience has more to do with my taste in books than any problem with Sebald. Vertigo must just be too much memoir to my taste and the experiences recounted do not, for whatever reason, hold my attention.
As a rule I am not a friend of memoirs. I tend to see all books, fiction or nonfiction, as bearing the stamp of the author in some way shape or form and the memoir, like the autobiography, has always struck me as somewhat narcissistic. Better to incorporate the events in a work of fiction.
Posted by apc at 01:31 AM | Comments (0)
February 21, 2005
Ryosuke Cohen (Mail Art)
In early December last year, I received a great piece of mail art from Ryosuke Cohen in Japan. It is part of his Brain Cell project. The original is 11 x 17. The image below doesn't quite do it justice, particularly since my scanner is marginal and my photoshop skills worse. Still, you can get the general idea. Visit his web page for more information. He has been creating these pieces for some time.
Posted by apc at 08:55 PM | Comments (0)
February 16, 2005
The Gates in Central Park
It was a beautiful, almost spring day in NYC, and so I took a walk up to Central Park to have a look at The Gates or more precisely walk under them and from time to time take in the view from a hilltop. At a distance they looked like dominoes, ready to be toppled. The Gates are fun to walk under, though. They make you smile and the material has a pleasant texture. I am not sure if they are great art, though. My only complaint is the color. Orange. Why orange? I would have much preferred yellow or better yet, bright green.
Posted by apc at 02:37 AM | Comments (0)
January 16, 2005
The Future of Radio
A friend and I were exchanging emails on aging rock stars, and the generally poor quality of commerical radio. After some give and take, I sent out my characteristically optimistic take on this particular piece of the world. Sure, if you have an iPod or use one of these services, this isn't news. However, for a lot of people this is an unknown or unexplored realm. Those of you who do marketing have a lot of work yet to do.
Commerical Radio has been replaced by a couple of things. Basically, relying on radio for music is like relying on the horse as the only means of getting from point A to B. It is fine for some purposes, but not for others. Here are some of the reasons I see a bright future for music. This is all going on now, so we are not talking
about potential anymore.
1) Satellite Radio (sirius and xmsr). These provide zillions of stations in all genres. Most are commercial free. You need to buy a radio, and then the fee is around $10 a month. Cheap considering what people will pay for cable, and the right to watch reruns on TVLand.
2) Digital services (Rhapsody, Itunes, Napster) - Many of these provide a combination of a) thousands of radio stations like the satellite services b) On demand access to zillions of albums, many by unfamiliar artists and c) the ability to download songs for a fee. The pricing for radio is usually $2.99 a month for the ad free, full version (provided gratis, by optonline) and $9.99 for the on demand (which I have and is worth every penny.) version. Songs usually cost between $0.89 and $0.99 each, which is cheaper than a 45 rpm and can be copied onto a cd or other device.
3) Internet: More and more people are going to upstart internet music sites, starting their own radio statios (check out live365.com) or their own companies. You can become a dj yourself. Some have bulletin boards and places to chat.
These things are serving, indirectly, to actually boost the sales of CDs and the growth of the download services via the iPod etc is astounding. The bottom line is that new music is really thriving and it isn't hard to find. All you need to do is recognize that it is not on the radio anymore, and the way it is delivered is different. Sure, there is a fee - - but it is pennies a day and a steal compared to the cost of TV. You should check them out. Also, interestingly, the growth of iTunes means the "rebirth of the single," but that is another story.
Posted by apc at 01:12 AM | Comments (0)
January 05, 2005
Susan Sontag (1933-2004)
One of the finer, more well informed, appreciations of Susan Sontag was written by Gary Indiana and appeared in The Village Voice.
Read the article here.
She was the indispensible voice of moral responsibility, perceptual clarity, passionate (and passionately reasonable) advocacy: for aesthetic pleasure, for social justice, for unembarrassed hedonism, for life against death. Sontag took it as a given that our duty as sentient beings is to rescue the world. She knew that empathy can change history.She set the bar of skepticism as high as it would go. Allergic to received ideas and their hypnotic blandishments, she was often startled to discover how devalued the ethical sense, and the courage to exercise it, had become in American consumer culture.
Buy books by Susan Sontag
Posted by apc at 02:47 AM | Comments (0)
October 10, 2004
Derrida & Me
Jacques Derrida has died.
When I was going to college, deconstruction was on the rise. This was before the disgrace of Paul de Man. I was uncomfortable with some of the extensions and pretentions of deconstruction, and the inclination of some of my teachers to make the act of reading equal to the actions of, say, Shakespeare, Wolff or Joyce. Still, I found that Derrida's perspective on reading provided a couple of extra items for the critic's toolkit. As long as you don't use his screwdriver as a hammer, the perspective he brings to reading can help you find things you may not have noticed before. The trick is not to let your interpretations get out of hand or pose as truth.
Posted by apc at 11:32 PM | Comments (1)
September 22, 2004
Dan Rather
Enough, already, on the story of CBS and the great document fiasco.
The mistake CBS made in the first place was deciding to run any Vietnam story, period, irrespective of what the documents did or did not show. Who decided that it was important to fill the paltry amount of time devoted to news with a story that told the American people absolutely nothing on a topic that they had likely hardened their position on? Face it. Kerry went to Vietnam. I won't quibble over what in fact he did there but it is quite safe to assume that he did, in fact, get shot at and did, in fact, exhibit courage and did, in fact, come back to the US and continue to serve his country for many years. Bush, on the other hand, did not go to Vietnam, did not fight, and was not in the same kind of danger. End of story. Voters can decide if these particular experiences are relevant in 2004. That contrast in and of itself is so stark that it is unlikely partisans on either side will sway voters one way or the other. I have yet to meet one person who told me that their vote depends on the outcome of the Vietnam service controversies.
CBS should be criticized for opting to air the document story in the first place. They chose it over the zillions of others pertinent to the campaign and the future of this country and the world. CBS devotes, what, a couple of hours to hard news each week and this was the best that they could do?
Posted by apc at 12:32 AM | Comments (0)
September 18, 2004
Kyle Gann's Live365 station
I can't get enough of steaming music, and even pay for rhapsody's on demand content. However the pay services have severe gaps when it comes to new music, or what Kyle Gann refers to as postclassical music. Fortunately he has stepped in to fill the void through his station at Live365.
Kyle Gann is a composer and music critic of the Village Voice. In my opinion he is one of the finest critics writing, especially given his focus on music you won't read about in many other places.
Posted by apc at 04:53 PM | Comments (1)