#2091

It’s so funny that you mention Neil! I’ve been on a tear listening to a bunch of his talks and interviews online. I like hearing him speak (his cadence, tone, etc. / While disliking the canned answers, which are only apparently if you listen to a lot of interviews) but his writing is just too…sweet. I’m not into adjectives that communicate British quaintness.
Though lately, precisely because I’ve been listening to him speak about his writing, I’ve had the impulse to pull Good Omens off the shelf. It’s like a craving.

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#2092

His short story anthologies, Song for the Unravelling of the World and A Collapse of Horses are both quite good.

#2093

i finished three books recently:

there were many elements of this book that i enjoyed but there were many that felt a bit contrived and stereotypical. the language is beautiful and many of the scenes are hauntingly gorgeous. the structure of the book was also enjoyable in terms of a collapsing sense of narrative lines and tension/rhythm. i also really enjoyed the elements of radio technologies that flowed throughout the author’s interest in telegraphy and communication. however, much of the characterization felt a bit too typical and predictable during WWII, despite one the main characters being a blind woman. i also was fairly unsatisfied with the ending. but, it was an enjoyable read overall, just didn’t knock my socks off.

speaking of knocking my socks off, this one left me bare footed. while it’s a brief read, i was entranced from the first page to the last. perfect balance of experimental storytelling, emotional humanization, and a more dramatic story arc than i was expecting. the ending left me with pangs of emotion and i truly missed the world that was built. highly recommend it. i actually want to re-read it again soon and literally map out the world on paper to better understand and visualize the intricacies of its architecture.

just finished this today and really enjoyed it. a great blend of space opera, political intrigue, and cyberpunk futurism. once it gets going, it’s hard to put down. the characters were very well written and impactful; i wanted to live in their world. very happy to see that more is to come in this series (next one comes out in march), i will be eager to see more work from arkady martine.

5 Likes
#2094

Currently reading, or trying to:

A lot of the math is beyond me. I think the book makes a heroic effort to introduce some of the more challenging concepts, with some decent analogies that aren’t too hard to follow at first… but I just am not going to absorb much about complex numbers and calculus at anything like a normal reading pace, and I don’t feel motivated enough to slow down and really learn it or take a course or something.

But still, I’ve had some moments where I realized “oh, that’s why that works!” So I’m just going to skim the densest of it and try to follow the general concepts.

In terms of subject matter, this book is probably a lot more relevant to synthesis and digital audio than the first, but I’d recommend both to anyone who’s curious about the math.

I have dipped my toes just a little bit into DSP in the past, with some REALLY simple IIR and FIR filters and some experiments with an FFT library without quite knowing what I was doing, and more on nonlinear waveshaping or just doing unusual things to buffers. I don’t think I’m going to wade any deeper into tool-making waters because I’d rather just make music, but I still find this stuff fun.

4 Likes
#2095

I finally finished ‘Hold Onto Your Dreams’. One reoccurring theme throughout the book was Arthur Russell’s obsession with finding the perfect version of his songs. He had so many mixes and didn’t seem to be satisfied with most of them, and this obsessiveness continued into his final days when his brain was foggy from dementia and he could barely speak.

This particular aspect of his story left me with a complex feeling. In one sense, I was inspired to know that he was dedicated to his music to the very end, but I was also saddened with the idea that he never found relief or self-acceptance through his music. I’ve been reflecting on this a lot, thinking about my own mental habits and feelings of self-value as I continue on my “endless” creative journey, attempting (and often failing) to express what’s in my head.

edit:
On a less morose note, there’s plenty to be inspired by such as this excerpt:

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#2096

There was an article a few years ago, but this (Bullshit Jobs: A Thoery is the actual title) is a more recent and thorough treatment of the subject.

Chapter 7 (“What are the political effects of bullshit jobs, and is there anything that can be done about this situation?”) is particularly good IMHO, with some plausible views on present-day political divisions and the recommendation of UBI as a possible solution. (And a caveat that it’s not “a book about UBI”.)

2 Likes
#2097

Reprint of Zimmermann’s Desert Plants, I think this was posted here by Tom Whitwell last year. It’s a wonderful book for so many reasons - least of which the verbatim transcripts which include ums, ahs and phones ringing.

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(excerpt from the Philip Corner interview)

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#2098

This is the second or third time I’ve read it. My current project though is an exploration of granular synthesis possibilities, so it seemed an appropriate choice of reading material :slight_smile:

I’m inclined to treat this stuff in a much less academic and deliberate manner, but a more casual approach to it is really only enabled by technology that the pioneers of granular synthesis could only dream about back in the day. The early experiments seem pretty primitive now, like sound one might want to avoid – but I find Horacio Vaggione’s work really engrossing so far.

4 Likes
#2099

Ah that’s disappointing I’m maybe a third of the way in and finding it quite complicated and hard-going already. :slight_smile:

#2100

I read Gnomon last year and really liked it. It can be a bit convoluted sometimes but I think it really works in the end. I really enjoyed this book, I should get another one from him (but I already have too many unread books to read :wink: ).

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#2101

Just finished Transcendent Waves by Lavender Suarez

Great short read on listening and creativity. Has a nice mix of science and philosophy plus love the artwork and coloured paper.

Have it in my studio space as an inspritation starter.

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#2102

So this just came today, “The Oxford Handbook of Algorithmic Music.”

It’s not cheap ($50), but at least as of today it’s finally out in paperback which is a LOT cheaper than the hardback was ($150).

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#2103

A fun urban fantasy quick read that got darker than I was expecting. A well written tale about faeries that leans toward horror is generally a lot more fascinating and disturbing than vampires to me.

#2104

sounds tempting,… but do you think it is worth the money?

#2105

I think it very much depends on your interest level and tolerance for engaging with some fairly academic writing. I’m not that deep in making or consuming this music, but I do find the ideas stimulating for my own music. YMMV!

#2106

I recently finished reading Lane and Carlyle’s In the Field (I saw it recommended over in the Field Recording thread) and loved it. Pleasant, intellectually nourishing, and it turned me on to so many artists I had never heard of. The book itself is a beautiful object, as well! I want to teach a class where all we do is read interviews from this book, listen to the artists’ work, and then go for long walks where we practice listening and maybe make the occasional field recording.

Currently I’m reading Voegelin’s Listening to Noise and Silence, a book which many colleagues and students have recommended to me over the years and which I had been eagerly looking forward to digging into. Has anyone here read it? I’m finding it to be quite incoherent and it’s honestly really bumming me out. My training is in phenomenology and post-structural theory, especially Lyotard, Husserl, and Merleau-Ponty, so I know the philosophical context she’s working with very well–and it’s just not working right now. Does it get better?

#2107

@msh … I am from more or less the same philosophical school…
Voegelin is one of the rare cases where I haven’t finished the book and sold it … ( sad but true, not worth the time)

#2108

That is such a bummer! I was so looking forward to this. Sorry to hear that you had a bad experience with it too.

#2109

Yes it sounded very promising but it was not for me. Good luck with it

#2110

Yesterday I read Buckminster Fuller’s Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth. It continues to be the most optimistic book (really essay) I’ve ever read.

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