Ahoy Facebook #16

 

New acquisitions.

Four CDs: Strictly Personal by Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, Lick my Decals Off Baby by Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, ESP by Miles Davis and Nefertiti by Miles Davis..

I had been hearing pirated versions of these Beefheart CDs for a very long time. I revisited Strictly Personal recently, which sounded a lot better than I remember, so I thought that I'd finally buy a physical copy. Back in the day, 'Lick my Decals off Baby,' was always out of print and used to cost about £80. I looked it up online and saw that it was for sale for only £9. I was thrilled, as it's easily one of his best albums

I bought two Miles Davis albums, which were made by the 'quintet' that he assembled in the early 60s. Needless to say, I love his music.

Three books: Theologico-Political Treatise by Benedict de Spinoza, Confessions of a Philosopher by Bryan Magee and Arrows of Desire: The Films of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.

This book by Spinoza is one of the first works from 'the enlightenment.' In this book, Spinoza argues in favour of the separation between church and state, in favour of free speech and he argues that the role of the state and of democracy is to protect the freedom of its citizens. It was very controversial when it came out. I've been wanting to read this book for a while, so I was pleased to find it in a second-hand book shop.

I bought an autobiography by Bryan Magee, a philosopher who had a program about philosophy on TV and are now available on You Tube. Magee would usually interview a philosopher about his own work or the writings of a famous dead philosopher. He would usually explain highly arcane ideas in a lucid way. In this book, he writes about his own life - he was also an MP at one point - and his interest in philosophy.

I bought a book about Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, who have easily become some of my favourite filmmakers.

Two DVDs: La Grand Illusion by Jean Renoir and Rosemary's Baby by Roman Polanski.

La Grand Illusion is a brilliant film. It is set in WWI and depicts French prisoners of war held captive by Germans. Goebbels was repelled by the way in which Renoir depicted Germans.

I watched Rosemary's Baby recently and I enjoyed it so much that I thought that I'd buy a copy of it. It is Polanski's first Hollywood film, after making films in Poland and France. The ending was so predictable as soon as I started watching it, but it was exhilarating to watch.4

Funny.

New acquisitions. 👍 I used to listen this album by The Fall during my second year at university, when I lived right next to the seaside at Herne Bay. (I also listened to a lot of Bach back then - good times.) It is not one of their most lauded albums - it is just another Fall album - but I've always really enjoyed it. I found it at a record shop in Chesterfield, so I decided to buy it with a £20 gift that my grandmother sent to me for my birthday. I received this book about Touissant Louverture as a birthday present from my sister. I've taken an interest in the Haitian revolution, which started with a slave revolt in 1791 and culminated with the first independent black state a few years later. It had been a sugar plantation held by the French and it was the only successful slave insurrection in history. This book is all about the leader of the colony, Touissant Louverture, a former slave.

New acquisitions.

Four CDs: Revolver by The Beatles, Rubber Soul by The Beatles, Glenn Gould Plays Bach: The Goldberg Variations by J. S. Bach/Glenn Gould and Cantatas BWV 21 & 42 by J. S. Bach.

I bought two albums by The Beatles, which of course feature their classic songs. I've always been aware of these albums, but I've never heard them from start to finish, so I thought that I'd buy them.

I also bought two albums by Bach, who is easily my favourite classical composer. He wrote so much music and so much of it so good. One of these albums is a famous performance of the Goldberg variations by Glenn Gould, who was a virtuosic pianist and a bit of an eccentric. I've never heard any of his cantatas, so I thought that I'd buy an album of them to rectify this.

Three books: The Consolations of Philosophy by Boethius, Inventing the Individual: The Origins of Wester Liberalism by Larry Siedentop and Reaganland: America's Right Turn 1976-1980.

This book by Boethius was written in the sixth century AD (year 523). He had been sentenced imprisonment and was possibly facing execution. He thought that this was unjust, but whilst awaiting execution, he wrote this book called 'Consolations of Philosophy.' Boethius examines how evil can exist in a world created by God and other philosophical issues. This book was very important in the medieval ages.

Usually, liberal ideas - such as seeing ourselves as individuals, freedom, equality - are usually associated with the start of the Enlightenment. In this book, Siedentop argues that these ideas originate with the start of Christianity.

'Reaganland' argues that the new economic era of tax cuts, deregulation, low tariffs, etc. was already in motion with the start of the Jimmy Carter administration of 1976-1980. Carter himself was already introducing some of these policies and many of the ideologues of the New Right, such as Milton Friedman, were already highly influential during this period.

I'm such a slow reader that it's going to be ages before I make a start reading these books. Even though I'm a slow reader, I don't take in everything I read either. I should probably improve my reading skills.

Oh dear, my cat has died. 

New acquisitions 1/2. I'm making a concerted effort to solely listen to CDs/records and to never stream anything ever again.

Five CDs: Quartet for the End of Time by Olivier Messiaen/Amici Ensemble, Music for 18 Musicians by Steve Reich, Piano and String Quartet by Morton Feldman/Vicky Ray/Eclipse Quartet, String Quartets Nos. 1 and 5 by Elliott Carter/Pacifica Quartet and String Quartets Nos. 2, 3 and 4.

One record: Delusion of the Fury by Harry Partch.

This piece by Messiaen is a classic. He had it performed in a prisoner-of-war camp under Nazi occupation. I've always found Steve Reich to be a lot more interesting than many of the other minimalists that he is associated with (Phillip Glass, John Adams, etc.) and 'Music for 18 Musicians' is one of his most famous pieces. Morton Feldman is also quite minimalistic and I find his music to be very hypnotic and beautiful. Elliott Carter is the opposite of minimalistic and his string quartets are particularly complex and fascinating. Finally, Harry Partch built his own instruments and his music is incredibly original and powerful. 'Delusion of the Fury' is probably his best pieces, so I just had to buy it - and it was only available on vinyl.

New acquisitions 2/2.

Nine CDs: Frank Zappa Meets The Mothers of Prevention by Frank Zappa, Jazz from Hell by Frank Zappa, The Yellow Shark by Frank Zappa, Code: Selfish by The Fall, Levitate by The Fall, The Unutterable by The Fall, The Real New Fall LP by The Fall, Cuckooland by Robert Wyatt and Comicopera by Robert Wyatt.

One record: The Infotainment Scan by The Fall.

These three albums by Frank Zappa are from the late 80s/early 90s, when he made a lot of music for computers and orchestras. His vocal music around this time became too desiccated and pontifical for my liking, but I still like his instrumental music from this period. The track about his debate in congress is particularly good. A lot of these Fall albums are from the 90s, when they started experimenting with electronic music. I've been streaming/downloading these albums for a while, so it's good to own them. Robert Wyatt is an artist I've loved for a while and these albums by him are great.

New acquisitions.

One CD: Schleep by Robert Wyatt

One book: Harry Partch: A Biography by Bob Gilmore

I ordered this marvellous album by Robert Wyatt. I also ordered a biography about Harry Partch, a wonderfully inventive composer of experimental music. I am currently writing an essay about eccentric musicians and I wanted to consult a book about him, so I forked out £40 for this.