All entries for Friday 14 April 2006

Artists and Artistry: approximation of a playlist §13

Vincent – Don McLean
My Guernica – Manic Street Preachers

Sargent Rock – XTC
Matchstalk men and matchstalk cats and dogs – Brian and Michael
Michael/Angelo – Franz Ferdinand/Brotherhood of Man
Beuys Don't Cry – The Cure
Denis – Blondie
John, I'm only dancing – David Bowie
Dr Mabuse – Propaganda
Smithers-Jones – The Jam
Kelly watch the stars – Air
Sister (Man) Ray – Velvet Underground
Andy Warhol – David Bowie
(La) Tour de France – Kraftwerk
Louis Louis – The Kingsmen

: 14 Apr 2006 19:46 |  Tags: Music Playlist |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Lost bands from Norwich

Writing about web page http://www.sofacom.co.uk/az/

Was looking around for evidence of the Farmers Boys, one of the finest bands to emerge from East Anglia (after the Higsons), and came across this wonderful list of just about everyone who has ever played a gig in Norwich.

Am particularly astounded that it includes the Ougadougous who, to my knowledge, were a group of academics at UEA who played at a handful of low key social events and then split up. Now that seems like real attention to detail.

Also delighted to be reminded of the benchmark of ambient sound that is the album Great Lift Journies of Norwich.

: 14 Apr 2006 07:56 |  Tags: Diversions Music |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Horribly credible

Really outstanding tale this from the master of the over-extended sentence. Essentially a piece of 'what if?' historical fiction, he speculates about the effect of a Lindbergh presidency in the early years of WWII and the consequences for the rest of the world of US neutrality/tacit support for Hitler. All pretty scary. What makes it particularly frightening and compelling is that the story is told from the perspective of a young boy who assiduously catalogues the gradual and then rapid impact of superficially rational then blatantly anti-semitic new laws imposed by the Lindbergh White House as they affect him and his family. These laws, clearly copied from the early years of the Nazi ascendency in the 1930s, enjoy massive support among the wider populace, thereby justifying ever greater intervention by America's fascist leaders.

It is all quite credible and inevitably makes you begin to think of contempory parallels.

: 14 Apr 2006 06:31 |  Tags: Book Review |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem