tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post7594532973167492308..comments2024-03-27T16:48:21.039-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: The pleasures of keeping upAmateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-47030565653184803832020-01-24T21:55:43.471-06:002020-01-24T21:55:43.471-06:00The French often have an antidote, an anti-whateve...The French often have an antidote, an anti-whatever it is, somewhere in the culture.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-53186473565817386722020-01-24T13:30:12.756-06:002020-01-24T13:30:12.756-06:00I'm with you there on the Carla Bruni phenomen...I'm with you there on the Carla Bruni phenomenon, which can usually be alleviated by listening to Brigitte Fontaine's song <i>Conne</i>. seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-36983328482294879052020-01-24T09:33:55.770-06:002020-01-24T09:33:55.770-06:00Yeah, John Storm Roberts, in some sense the first ...Yeah, John Storm Roberts, in some sense the first of those devoted fans, a collector who loved he music so much he had to share it with everyone. That album is a legend, a great one.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-33433571253569485112020-01-24T09:29:18.975-06:002020-01-24T09:29:18.975-06:00This was my introduction. (That says it was releas...<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMDHgxgd43U" rel="nofollow">This</a> was my introduction. (That says it was released in 1988, but that must be the CD; the LP was one of my first purchases when I moved to NYC in 1981 -- I bought it at a table in Washington Square Park, probably from the guy who put out the record.) I still hear the "Africa" chorus from the first cut in my head whenever I think of it.)Languagehathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13285708503881129380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-75637808973430033742020-01-24T09:03:02.848-06:002020-01-24T09:03:02.848-06:00The great African music compilation boom in the 19...The great African music compilation boom in the 1980s and 1990s, driven by Stern's and Earthworks and a handful of other devoted fans, was one of the great artistic events of my life, really.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-53168232436905919482020-01-24T08:16:18.638-06:002020-01-24T08:16:18.638-06:00I confess I don't really get/enjoy any Euro-po...I confess I don't really get/enjoy any Euro-pop. Pop music without the rhythmic vitality injected into American music by African-Americans just sounds pointless to me. But Afro-pop, now you're talking! Orchestre Baobab, Tabu Ley Rochereau, Franco, those are true deities.Languagehathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13285708503881129380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-28801009398163997702020-01-23T22:11:07.718-06:002020-01-23T22:11:07.718-06:00To anyone who wants to live-tweet French pop album...To anyone who wants to live-tweet French pop albums, <i>Chagrin d'amour</i> would be a great choice. Side two is pretty interesting, made up of song fragments and sound collage and all kinds of weird stuff. Surprises, lots of surprises.<br /><br />I don't quite get Gainsbourg, either. Earlier chanson singers are easy enough to enjoy. Les Rita Mitsouko I like pretty well, but they are sui generis, I am afraid. There is this whispery vocal style, that I associate especially with former French First Lady Carla Bruni, which has infected a generation of French singers and drives me nuts. Sing, will ya, sing!Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-36272208366196009962020-01-23T18:22:28.936-06:002020-01-23T18:22:28.936-06:00I would absolutely subscribe to the Wuthering Expe...I would absolutely subscribe to the Wuthering Expectations live-tweeting-French-pop-albums blog.seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-59360582426140616552020-01-23T17:19:55.916-06:002020-01-23T17:19:55.916-06:00Ma femme likes Serge Gainsbourg, though to me he j...Ma femme likes Serge Gainsbourg, though to me he just sounds like a lounge singer. I like some of Les Rita Mitsouko, especially the "No Comprendo" album. Very 80s pop/new wave, but Catherine Ringer had a great voice. There is no rapping, though.scott g.f.baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05726743149139510832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-30144355252191336612020-01-23T16:40:08.063-06:002020-01-23T16:40:08.063-06:00This is not so bad. I'm listening to the whol...This is not so bad. I'm listening to the whole album. There's a soukous, then a reggae. The rap is okay. The only rap anybody involved ever heard is Blondie's "Rapture," but at least the backing musicians have heard plenty of Chic.<br /><br />Oh no, that last song was truly terrible. So is this one. I should live-tweet listening to French pop albums. There's some entertainment.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-17335084949094669592020-01-23T15:58:51.008-06:002020-01-23T15:58:51.008-06:00Good Lord, that album cover, help! Are you sure a...Good Lord, that album cover, help! Are you sure about this? I'll give it a try. I'll try anything. Increases my cultural knowledge, right?<br /><br />I have had, basically, nothing but bad luck with European French-language pop music, except for Stromae. I listen to lots of French-language pop music, but its Congolese, Senegalese, etc.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-83359875036920725522020-01-23T15:23:41.840-06:002020-01-23T15:23:41.840-06:00Rap kinda clears my head in the morning, if I am l...<i>Rap kinda clears my head in the morning, if I am lucky.</i><br /><br />Might I recommend <i>Chacun fait (c'qui lui plait)</i> by Chagrin d'amour (1981)? Some convincingly argue that it's the first French rap track. It's <i>certainly</i> early morning stuff, even if morning here arrives from the sordid side of midnight. Bonus: it'll help you improve your filthy French slang.seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-11863980786824390462020-01-23T14:01:03.366-06:002020-01-23T14:01:03.366-06:00My favorite rap albums of 2019 were "The Big ...My favorite rap albums of 2019 were "The Big Day" by Chance the Rapper, his wedding concept album, "Eve" by Rapsody, and "Hiding Places" by Billy Woods & Kenny Segal. All suitable for ossified tastes.<br /><br />Having said that, yes, bafflement, a good thing. The way I listen - this really is much like how I read - nothing stays in rotation. I always want new things, new to me, and thus often old.<br /><br />Carys Davies, Tessa Hadley - nice little side effect of this post - thanks! Youmans we of course all know, of course, of course. I'll write about her in a couple of days, I hope.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-41086616432990304582020-01-23T12:44:38.955-06:002020-01-23T12:44:38.955-06:00Every once in a while I binge on contemporary musi...Every once in a while I binge on contemporary music, but very little of it stays in rotation for long and I end up listening to Haydn and Bartok again. But the binges are interesting, if sometimes baffling. Bafflement is a good thing.<br /><br />I keep telling myself that I'll read more contemporary novels, but I've had limited success with that project. Youmans is a reliable writer, and I think Carys Davies' quite surprising novella <i>West</i> should have a larger audience, but two weeks ago I was at a book shop and I picked up a Calvino and a Christie. My wife bought a stack of contemporary fiction; she is a better and more curious reader than I am. Though I have a big stack of contemporary African and Japanese novels I need to get started on. I assume there's some great stuff in that stack. I feel its greatness calling to me from across town.scott g.f.baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05726743149139510832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-62519712929158240912020-01-23T12:29:08.286-06:002020-01-23T12:29:08.286-06:00Oddly, I was listening to the "More of the Be...<i>Oddly, I was listening to the "More of the Best" Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five compilation when I read Languagehat's post, swear to God I was.</i><br /><br />The first rappers I fell in love with!Languagehathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13285708503881129380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-18367683239693816762020-01-23T09:57:04.906-06:002020-01-23T09:57:04.906-06:00Sorry, I guess I misunderstood "translated in...Sorry, I guess I misunderstood "translated into English."<br /><br />I myself have more or less skipped "early American." My 19th century list would definitely take up more than a page - I wonder how many - but that was 10 years of reading.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-23620025335338657692020-01-23T09:50:32.743-06:002020-01-23T09:50:32.743-06:00Yes, great is definitely a spectrum, and when talk...Yes, great is definitely a spectrum, and when talking about it I don't usually include my own specialty, which is long-18th-century works of satire that blame by praise, which includes broadsides and other ephemeral forms.<br />I wish I still had that list. It was from the English department and so it had no Sanskrit section. It was divided into literary periods and we could skip two of them. I skipped medieval and early American. So I read the greatest works of English literature as defined by U of MD faculty in the 1980s: 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th century British and 19th, 20th century American. I remember that it was single-spaced and about one page for each century.Jeannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17975028272143207826noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-81939659727491661992020-01-23T09:34:22.403-06:002020-01-23T09:34:22.403-06:00What a useful list, Jeanne. You don't happen ...What a useful list, Jeanne. You don't happen to still have it, do you? I would like to see it. What was in the Sanskrit section?<br /><br />You're one of the bloggers I had in mind thinking about a "pop" approach to reading. A good pop critic still has a real background in the old stuff.<br /><br />I think of "great/non-great" not as a dichotomy but as a spectrum, with time passed - "for the ages" - useful as evidence but not exactly proof. Some art, for example, survives, but only in the hands of serious specialists. Not that you and I cannot ourselves become specialists. A great thing about the arts, the humanities, is that in the end there is no substitute for <i>seeing for yourself</i>. "Read-it-all" for whatever definition of "all" you enjoy.<br /><br />Oddly, I was listening to the "More of the Best" Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five compilation when I read Languagehat's post, swear to God I was. Rap kinda clears my head in the morning, if I am lucky.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-44411294226375613672020-01-23T08:43:25.668-06:002020-01-23T08:43:25.668-06:00That's a good point; I think to me "memor...That's a good point; I think to me "memorable" is more important than "great."Languagehathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13285708503881129380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-92091957758695414552020-01-23T08:22:58.446-06:002020-01-23T08:22:58.446-06:00Still mulling this over. I spend most of my time r...Still mulling this over. I spend most of my time reading new books looking for their hooks (like necromancy) or their energy (the idea of place and even experience being ratified by seeing them on screen). I still space out great books (of course, I'd include Walker Percy's The Moviegoer as great) but I guess I'm in the enviable position that T.S. Eliot would prescribe for us all, Wasteland-style, in that I read most of the great books written and translated into English before I turned 30 (in grad school I had an extensive list that ensured I read some things I might have otherwise never picked up.) One of the things I've been thinking about, with the proportion of new to old that I read, is how forgettable some of the new is. It's good to have some of the older classics in one's diet of books because they're memorable, both in terms of ideas and quotable lines.Jeannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17975028272143207826noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-20380828551054737732020-01-23T08:18:00.492-06:002020-01-23T08:18:00.492-06:00I have zero interest in “keeping up” with music; i...I have zero interest in “keeping up” with music; it is commonly accepted wisdom that one's musical tastes start ossifying in one's thirties, and that was certainly true of me. I was able to revel in the early years of rap when I moved to NYC in '81, and I kept up with new pop until the mid-'80s, but after that I lost interest, and the only new song that's truly grabbed me in recent years (in the sense that I ran right out and bought it) was "Uptown Funk," which of course is a pastiche of music from the era when I loved new music. But when it comes to books, I'm torn. I don't want to be ignorant of what's happening today; that turns you into a relic, a laudator temporis acti, and besides, great stuff is being written now. I'm reading Tessa Hadley's <i>The Past</i> to my wife these days -- what a wonderful book! But there's so much stuff from the past I also want to read, and one does have to eat, sleep, and interact with people in between reading. It's a conundrum.<br /><br />As for the "great/non-great" dichotomy, I don't believe in it. I mean, yes, <i>War and Peace</i> is a great novel, but it's also a mess, and very long and full of characters, and I don't look down on people for whom it's too much to deal with. And maybe <i>Finnegans Wake</i> is great, people whose judgment I respect say so, but it's too much for <i>me</i> to deal with. Meanwhile, I've gotten a tremendous amount from books that may not be "great" in the timeless-classic-for-all-ages sense (I guess Homer and Shakespeare are the usual exemplars of that) but which give me something nothing else does. That's why I'm so glad I adopted my read-it-all approach to Russian lit up through 1880; I've read some crap (though if it was really bad I ditched it before investing too much time), but I've also discovered authors I would never have read and whose books I often think about and want to go back to. The whole "greatness" thing isn't meaningless, but it's too often used as a club, and I find I'm better off not using it as a measuring stick. (And don't get me started on that guy who read "the great novels, all seven of them," meaning Jane Austen, every year and never read anything else. Humbug, say I.)Languagehathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13285708503881129380noreply@blogger.com