I was wondering when you would get to this in your McCullough retrospective. It is notorious, of course. As I remember it, Tony Wilson and the surviving band members were furious. And there is no denying that the last two paragraphs - in particular, the first sentence of the penultimate paragraph - are catastrophically ill-judged. But I think overall it is better than its reputation suggests. He's writing with raw feelings that are genuinely powerful, and incline me to forgive the points where he gets carried away and goes too far. And he situates Curtis in a place and time better than any other writer before or since. A work of flawed genius.
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About the end of the fifth year, Grangousier returning from the conquest of
the Canarians, went by the way to see his son Gargantua. There was he
filled ...
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The pinnacle of that view of freedom, of course, is avant-garde jazz,
which I find by and large a dead loss. It operates on the assumption that
if you r...
RIP J. Saul Kane
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Well, it had to be this one I posted, didn't it?
That macabre sing-song sample - "*did you ever think / when the hearse goes
by / that some day you a...
New Wavest (#3 of ??)
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*Clock DVA *- a name one associates with industrial music.
Well, they were actually on *Industrial Records*, weren't they? Put out a
cassette via them...
RIP Shel Talmy
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One of the odd things about the social media era is becoming "friends" with
musical legends and cult figures that you've never met. Musicians you've
inte...
Futuromania in Rough Trade's Books of the Year!
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"A collection of compelling essays analysing the technological evolutions
which have defined pop and electronic music and how this history
intersects. Fr...
Dream on
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Last week, I found it very hard to get down to the work I was supposed to
be doing. Writing about music felt trivial, absurd. That feeling has
passed - fo...
anti-theatricality + politics (the finale?)
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*A wise person once said: “When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn’t
become a king. The palace becomes a circus.” Donald Trump is a clown. Let’s
preve...
RIP Lillian F. Schwartz (1927 - 2024)
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*"Resident artist and consultant at Bell Laboratories (New Jersey)....
during the 70s and 80s Schwartz developed a catalogue of visionar...
50 Favorite Songs
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(for an Italian publication, 2009)
The Eyes -- "When the Night Falls"
The Beatles -- "Strawberry Fields Forever"
John's Children -- "A Midsummer ...
angel delights
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https://rada-ve.bandcamp.com/track/saturn-rings-songs
*Go on* - listen to that gorgeous bubble bath of synthtronica!
Another vintage release, with a vi...
I was wondering when you would get to this in your McCullough retrospective. It is notorious, of course. As I remember it, Tony Wilson and the surviving band members were furious. And there is no denying that the last two paragraphs - in particular, the first sentence of the penultimate paragraph - are catastrophically ill-judged. But I think overall it is better than its reputation suggests. He's writing with raw feelings that are genuinely powerful, and incline me to forgive the points where he gets carried away and goes too far. And he situates Curtis in a place and time better than any other writer before or since. A work of flawed genius.
ReplyDeleteYes it's overwraught but absolutely forgivable in the circumstances I think - and authentic in its heroizing impulse.
ReplyDelete