Like the earlier These New Puritans video? Fancy dropping some cash? Then buy it from Rough Trade because you get a rather nifty exclusive bonus disc with this brilliant Sbtrkt rmx
These New Puritans – Hidden
So – have been very quiet on here of late thanks to my broadband having been down and not being fixed with anything even approaching the vaguest notion of speed by BT.
So I have been consoling myself all week by listening to the staggeringly good new album by These New Puritans. Called, ‘Hidden’ it’s experimental to say the least with the album almost overloading on ambitious effects. Pounding a melon and cream crackers with a hammer to mimic the sound of a human head being smashed and sampling knives being sharpened and B&Q chains sounds all rather overtly aggressive but whilst there is a militaristic backbeat to the album’s percussive elements it doesn’t slam you about the ears – it just sounds very, very driven. With a 13-piece band with woodwinds, pianos and a distinct lack of guitars, oh and a children’s choir and Japanese taiko drums, surely it must be overblown and pretentious and too full of itself to deliver on the promise of such wonderfully eclectic instrumentation? Well, yes – it is slightly pretentious but does it deliver? Oh yes. Yes indeed.
Here’s their latest video and I urge you to go and try the album – it’s unlike anything else in the mainstream you’ll have heard in years. It’s really very, very good.
Music Monday V
This week’s music monday is an hour long mix by the co-founder of one of my favourite labels, Type A. It’s an unashamedly ambient compilation and one that’s definitely appreciated more by listening straight through rather than dipping into at various “points” along the way. It may be an hour long but it’s worth 60 minutes of anyone’s time – so dim the lights, puff up your pillow, go grab your duvet and make a little camp on the sofa, press play and be transported somewhere warm and fuzzy…
$100’s – Laser Cut
I love these laser cut $100 bills by artist Scott Campbell who exhibited at the Lazarides Gallery in London last October. Really rather beautiful. Whilst these works are no longer available the gallery’s worth checking out (www.lazinc.com)
Caesura (a winter warmer)
As a follow up to Corduroy Road (see previous blog entry) here is another album by the brilliant Keith Kenniff (aka Goldmund and here recording under the moniker of Helios.) I’m posting this because it’s a fantastic album for the winter months and I think it’s perfect for snuggling up to when the snow is falling and you feel in need of a bit o warming – a hot toddy/cup of tea/chocolate hob nob/someone or something warm to hold and this little beauty – perfect. Enjoy
Corduroy Road
So here’s another little bit of pianistic loveliness by Goldmund (who you might remember from a few weeks ago on here.) This was his debut album on the Type A record label and is almost impossible to find on CD (so if anyone out there knows how I can get hold of a copy – drop me a line!) Hope you enjoy it.
The School of Life
For many the new year signifies lots of things – resolutions, new beginnings, re-evaluations and a chance to believe that we will re-shape and re-script our lives along happier, perhaps more fulfilling paths. perhaps you’re one of the lucky few who is happy on the road you’re currently treading. But whether you are looking to make a detour or a pitstop or pack your brain bag and completely start again – there is one place I found a little while ago that might help. It’s time to go back to school. A school unlike any other; one that teaches lessons far more valuable than algebraic formulations or the difference between amo, amas and amat. This is the School of Life we’re talking about. No really. It’s actually called The School of Life. And before you start sneering in the way that we have been so conditioned to in these ever increasingly cynical times stop that lip curl and bear with me. Because this place is an absolute treasure trove.
Founded by Sophie Howarth, previously a curator at Tate, the school is part shop, part schoolroom with classes on philosophy, relationships, value systems and so on. The school also runs weekends away and, perhaps best of all, dinner evenings in great restaurants in London called, Conversation Dinners. Stop sneering at the back and don’t knock it til you’ve tried it.
The classes are about the practical application of philosophy on life’s core subjects – love, politics, work, family and play. Taking place over a weekend or six evenings (depending upon what fits in best with you) they’re structured around the burning questions that keep lots of people awake at night – how important is sex – why am I struggling – how can I live a meaningful life – why can’t I find/keep the love I so desperately crave?
The course on love is absolutely brilliant and was created with input from one of my all time favourite writers, John Armstrong (more on him in a not too distant post.) The courses are very interactive and rigorous and as far from self-help as you can possibly get. I can’t recommend them highly enough.
However, if you don’t want to commit to a course then at least be sure to make a visit to the school just to check out the bookshop – it’s very, very small but the selection is bang on the nose. They call it a, ‘pharmacy for the mind’ and that’s a great description. All the books have been handpicked by the team that work there and represent the best writing on all sorts of subjects; from being love-sick, worrying you’re a bad parent to just wanting some tips on how to get the best out of life. The opening hours are a little restrictive (closed at the weekends) but I really recommend a trip as the selection is constantly changing and evolving. I picked up a brilliant anthology of Barthes there as well as the most amazing book on relationships, which I’ll be covering in the not too distant future on this blog.
Finally, more on the conversation dinners. They’re an unrivalled opportunity to meet people in a relaxed setting and simply talk. Whether it be about philosophy, life, travel, music or the things which move and engage you the most. As a way of meeting new people who share similar passions they’re hard to be beat. In a world where we seek ever more increasingly bizarre and remote ways to connect with people the art of real conversation does seem to be dying out. And when there’s opportunities like these on offer then it’d only be a fool who would turn them down or not delve just a little deeper.
So there we are. The School of Life. I wish I’d known about it a long time ago – there are some valuable lessons to be learned there. Go.
memoryhouse 