Once again it has been hard to enjoy much culture this week given the twin challenges of the weather and a working week that has nearly sent me over the edge.
Books
I’m currently reading Erasure by Percival Everett. I’m enjoying it so far but I’ll say more when I finish it.
Film
I finally got around to Dune 2. Denis Villeneuve pulls off another excellent film. My review is here.
Music
It has been a long time since I listening to much hip hop, but I’ve recently reignited some interest. It’s probably because I’ve been spending a lot of time with drum machine programming lately. Anyway the two albums I’ve been enjoying are Aesop Rock’s Black Hole Superette and Open Mike Eagle’s Neighbourhood Gods Unlimited. They both seem to be mining interesting and idiosyncratic sounds that make them a frequently surprising and fun listen.
I am going to keep this one short. This week has been another week of very hot weather. Very hot for London and very hot for me, a pale person of Celtic origin. I’ve spent most of the time struggling to sleep and feeling nauseous.
To make things worse the people I work with also seem to have lost their minds in the heat. They have been driving me to distraction.
In short, my week of culture has been almost non-existent. I have switched to survival mode and just getting to the end of week in one piece has been my only focus.
Books
This week I finished reading A Fatal Inversion by Barbara Vine (aka Ruth Rendell). I enjoyed A Dark Adapted Eye so much I thought I’d launch into another. I can see that these Vine books split readers, with critics complaining that they are slow. What I really enjoy about these books is exactly that: it is slow because it is detailed, it is immersive. The plot matters, but the psychology of her characters matters even more, and that takes time. I’ll be reading more Vine novels.
TV
Speaking of murder mysteries, I’ve just started watching Ludwig starring David Mitchell as a puzzle setter, who through a rather convoluted series of events, finds himself impersonating a detective and starts solving murders.
Of late I have despaired of comedy dramas. All too often they are not funny enough to be comedies and not dramatic enough to be dramas. The joy of Ludwig is while its premise is silly (although aren’t all murder mysteries a bit silly) it has real heart, and I usually laugh out loud at least three or four times each episode. If you’re in the market for a murder mystery show then this is definitely for you.
I’ve also finished season 2 of Poker Face. Now, I’m aware that Natasha Lyonne is drawing fire for her position on AI, but frankly I couldn’t care less. I’ve really enjoyed the series and liked every episode, although I felt the last episode was a bit, I dunno, overwrought or convoluted. Anyway, I’d be happy to see more but after Lyonne’s recent debacle I guess that won’t be happening
I have almost nothing to report this week. Being someone who has the same reaction to sunshine as Count Dracula, I could not go outside in the hot weather. Sleep was hard to come by and o found it a challenge to enjoy anything very much. In short, I was in survival mode, and my prize is to live through another week in which we will probably see more incredibly high temperatures. Anyway, my whining is even boring myself now so moving on to about the only cultural things I did this week…
Books
I finished reading another Philip Marlowe book, The Lady in the Lake. As always, the writing and dialogue are irresistible.
Music
I spent a few hours this week trying to faithfully recreate Tainted Love by Soft Cell. I wanted to recreate the track, partly as a learning exercise, and also as a way of building up familiarity with my synths and equipment. I was very happy with its accuracy and it was a fun exercise. The most striking thing is the track is unbelievably basic. That isn’t a criticism as I think there is a lot to be said for simplicity, but I don’t think I had appreciated how it was possible to do so much with so little.
I finished reading The Secret Servant by Gavin Lyall. A cold war thriller from 1980 which is a lot of fun, if a little bit silly. My review is here.
It did make me think I might have to create an Alan Partridge scale. A character in the book was in the SAS: add one point. Women swoon at the main character on sight: add one point. Grumbling about trade unions: add one point. Main character shows great expertise at completing prosaic driving tasks (in this case reversing out of a parking space): add one point.
I also finished reading Barbara Vine's (aka Ruth Rendell) A Dark Adapted Eye. I have to say it was one of the best things I've read all year. If you're expecting a classic murder mystery you'll be dissapointed. Instead you get a complex portrait of an extended family and their closet full of secrets. Anyway, my review is here.
Internet stuff
So there has been very little culture this week so I thought I'd throw in some links I came across this week:
This exhibition focuses first on the cultural interest in Pirates, starting with Treasure Island, and then moves on to the history. Finally they also acknowledge pirates from other countries and cultures who are less well known in the west.
Honestly I didn’t think this was a strong exhibition. Starting with the cultural stuff made it feel like they were describing unicorns or fairies, as if they were unreal. The selection of exhibits seemed a bit weak as well, with a lot heavy lifting being done by descriptive boards and audio visual elements. I thought Nick Rhodes pirate outfit was a bit of a nadir. Having said that I really loved the Captain Pugwash exhibits so maybe I’m a complete hypocrite.
Music
Now that I have my home studio working, I have been messing around making music. It has been an absolute joy. One of the things I’ve been enjoying the most has been playing bass guitar. I’ve owned a bass for a long time but rarely had the chance to get it out of its case. Now I’m properly kitted out, and have all of my guitars to hand, I’ve just got such a kick out of getting down a drum beat and going straight for my bass every time. So far I haven’t finished anything, it’s just been jamming, but I’m loving every minute of it.
Weather
We’ve had some particularly hot weather for the UK this week which has mostly kept me at home this weekend. I don’t cope well with the heat and so I’m hoping this is as bad as it gets for the rest of the year.
I was vaguely aware of Victor Hugo as an author (I’ve not read any of his books) but was completely unaware of his art. That was a shame because his art is fantastic. It has an oddly gothic character to it. Dark castles emerge from the fog, a hanged man dangles from a scaffold that points like an accusation, a poisonous mushroom grows menacingly to overshadow all life around it. The octopus that has been used to advertise the exhibition is glorious. He stares at you threateningly, surrounded by his tentacles, as if to say “two years ago you tried to turn me into calamari. Now you are in my domain I shall have my revenge!”
Adding to the atmosphere is the fact that these artworks are rather fragile and must be protected from light, making this a dark and atmospheric gallery. Highly recommended.
Art Fair – Somerset House
Notionally this was free but they asked for a recommended donation of £5 each so I coughed up. I was then quite surprised to find myself and my wife in a small room with probably all of eight tables in it (some of which were not artists) and remarkably little art to buy. We were outnumbered by artists which made me feel very self conscious. It’s quite uncomfortable to be perusing art and having some rather bored artists (many of whom I’m sure would rather be at Pride rather than this stuffy little room) watching us wandering from one end of the room to the other. I tried to contain my disappointment (we’d rescheduled another exhibition to do this) but I don’t think I was hiding it too well. We did buy a couple of excellent prints from an artist and chatted with her for a few minutes as she explained her process and inspirations – which was great. But I did feel this was a bit too small to be called an art fair. Art Soirée perhaps?
Anyway, I think Somerset House should do some expectation management with this next time. I would do it again, but I’d probably combine it with something else and plan to keep it to less than half an hour.
Books
I read The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. My review is here.
Films
I saw Meet the Millers, a film that is only really remembered now as a meme. My review is here.
Music
I’ve been casting about for inspiration for my own music and I’ve been drawn back to that high-gloss expensive production from the eighties. Back then they really would spend a week building and layering just the rhythm track, using equipment that cost more than a house, in a studio that cost thousands of pounds per week.
One wonderful discovery has been that there are multitracks available of Its My Life by Talk Talk. I won’t say where but les just say they’re incredibly easy to find. I’ve always loved this track, but being able to load up the tracks, remix them and hear how it was put together is a revelation.
Here’s the video if you need a reminder:
I also have been listening repeatedly to White China by Ultravox. I remember being very keen on this when I was about 12 years old. Now I think the song is bobbins, but the production is top-notch. Start with some samples of breaking glass (why did everyone who got hold of a sampler in the eighties start with breaking glass?). Combine a sequencer driven bass line married to a talkbox effect on a separate synth. Take the bass drum sound, hard pan it on alternate beats and raise the pitch over a single bar. Then throw in that rich, tremolo guitar sound on the verse. The song maybe crap but they threw the kitchen sink at it, and it sounds lush. Anyway, I’m deffo going to nick that drum fill idea at some point!
I finished reading The Book of Evidence by John Banville. This was recommended to me by AI and it was very good but also not much fun. My review is over here.
I also read Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons which was very funny. Another AI recommendation. My review is here.
I’m currently trying to decide what to read next but it will probably be another AI recommendation.
Films
I saw Collateral, starring Jamie Foxx and Tom Cruise. I’d recently enjoyed other Michael Mann films so wanted to dig through some more of his stuff. This was fun if rather daft. My review is here.
Exhibitions
MI5 – National Archives
It seems unfortunate to be writing about this exhibition when MI5 have been in the news for lying in court, but then they have always been shady, it’s what they do. There is a danger that exhibitions like this, when they have the thumbs up from the organisation in question, are going to be a bit credulous.
I don’t think there is much reason to worry. Everything here is very much established fact. Activities during the Second World War, Kim Philby and associates, Spycatcher, Oleg Gordievsky, the Krogers. And that’s part of the problem: it feels like we’re going over the same stuff all over again. It isn’t helped by the fact that these have been covered much better by other exhibitions in fairly recent memory. The Police Museum exhibition at Museum of London covered the Krogers very well, showing more of the objects they were found with than you’ll see here. The Deception exhibition at IWM covered Philby and co much better.
I’ve really enjoyed a lot of the exhibitions at the National Archive in recent years but I think this one is a bit dull. If you’ve not seen or read much about spying of late then this may be worth a visit but otherwise you can probably skip this one.
London Transport Museum – Acton Depot
The V&A has recently opened Storehouse which is where they keep all their objects that aren’t in museums, and you can visit it any time you like. Unfortunately this innovative approach is not possible everywhere. The London Transport Museum has an enormous depot in Acton where they keep many of their objects but they only open it to the public a few times a year. Buses, trams, tube trains as well as maps, signage, furniture and other miscellaneous bits and bobs. It’s an incredible collection.
As I walked around I was sometimes nostalgic for the transport of my youth. The old Jubilee line carriages, the routemasters and the first pay as you enter buses that took over my route to school. But I was also fascinated to see the trolley buses that seem like such a curiosity now. You can speak to volunteers about the work they done restoring some of these vehicles.
There is a bit of a celebratory feel to the area. I mean it’s not the Notting Hill Carnival, but if you’re at all nerdy about transport then this really is a fun day out seeing a working store in action around people who genuinely love their subject.
I read Picnic on Craggy Island by Lissa Evans. She is an author now but she had been the producer of Father Ted for two series and these are her recollections. An essential read for Ted fans that doesn’t overstay its welcome. My review is here.
I also finished Dead Lions by Mick Herron, the second book in the Slough House series. It rattled along entertainingly enough but the plot was so catastrophically dumb that I can’t bring myself to read anymore of these. My full review is here
I also read some books about AI for work but I’m not sure I can be bothered to review them.
Currently I am reading The Book of Evidence by John Banville. It is the confession of a murderer. I came across this book via AI. I prompted the AI to recommend some books for someone who likes Robertson Davies, Graham Greene, Julian Barnes and John Le Carre. It gave 12 recommendations with detailed rationales. I can’t say if these were ‘correct’ recommendations, as if there is such a thing, but they were much better than other book recommendation engines that I’ve come across. Each choice was intriguing and I will definitely try two of them. I might dabble with AI a bit more for book recommendations, this does seem like a good use case.
Rampant consumerism
Previously I mentioned I was getting into the Rubik’s Cube. This week I thought I would buy the official deluxe version. It looks just like the model you would have seen in the eighties except it has plastic coloured inserts instead of labels. It has a lovely weight and solidity to it and is very pleasing to play with.
This is an exhibition covering five painters from the Sienna region of Italy, from 1300 to 1350. Now, honestly, I am not much into religious art as a rule. I find most of it mannered and repetitive. I guess those church sponsors were pretty conservative and knew what they wanted. This exhibition is mostly religious icons and sculptures. Not really my thing, but for those who love this stuff then this is a rare opportunity to see the best work of its kind, some of which hasn’t been presented together for centuries.
Grayson Perry: Delusions of Grandeur, Wallace Collection
Perry has created a large range of new artworks inspired by the Wallace Collection. Clearly he has some ambivalence about the Collection which he occasionally expresses in the work. To create a path through this work he appears to have created a character who has a history within the building. Why do I say ‘appears’?
Now, I do not like audio tours. I see people walking around with them, oblivious to all around them, in a trance. All the time you can hear psspsspsspsspss emanating from their heads like someone summoning a cat. Yes, I know they are useful for many people, and essential for some with disabilities. I’m not calling for a ban, I just don’t like them. However in this exhibition I assume that understanding Perry’s central conceits would have been far easier if I had accepted one of the free audio guides. So if my understanding of the central conceits of this exhibition seem a bit woolly, this is why. Anyway, where was I?
Perry has created a fictional artist who is also a cross dresser and he has presented art that is purported to be theirs. As you’d expect, there is a mix of media including plates, pots, tapestries, fabrics, dresses, wallpaper, paintings and prints.
Perry is playful and he has a lot of fun with this collection. I particularly enjoyed the dress made from Perry’s specially designed fabrics. Highly recommended!
Rampant consumerism
I bought a Rubick’s cube (or rather, a cheap but rather nice knock-off). Like every Gen Xer I had a Rubik’s cube as a kid. I didn’t have the patience for it and could only solve a couple of sides. Very frustrating. I thought it would be fun to get one now and learn how to solve it. There are algorithms you can learn that can consistently get you to the solution.
I’ve been watching this video a lot, but for the final stage where you reorient the corners on the yellow side I needed to use this page.
I see why I struggled as a kid. There’s no way I would have worked this out on my own!
Anyway, I’ve been making good progress and have been able to solve the cube a few times. You might think that having the solution right in front of you means it is very easy. I can tell you that following these solutions is often a bit of a mind melter. It’s more like learning to play an instrument than solve a puzzle. I spent a lot of time trying to work out how to replay the moves in the right order and trying to get my reluctant hands to do the right thing. And of course if you get the moves wrong you mess up the whole cube and have to start all over again. Despite that I am really enjoying the challenge and it’s forcing my brain to do things it’s not really used to.
Books
I finished The Kremlin Letter by Noel Bohr. My review is here.
I was also inspired by recent interest to read Cubed: The Puzzle of Us All by Erno Rubrik, the inventor of the Rubik’s Cube. My review is here
I enjoyed this quote, where Rubik explains his feelings the first time he mixed up the cube shortly after building it:
And so it was with that first scrambled Cube: I found myself in a totally unfamiliar landscape. I had to solve all the problems that would never have existed if I hadn’t created the Cube. Or created the possibility for them to demonstrate themselves. The colors were now so confused that whatever thrill of accomplishment I may have had in assembling it in the first place became utter discouragement. It was as if I were staring blankly at a secret code, which I myself had created but could not penetrate.
Films
I finally saw Kneecap, the supposed true story of Belfast’s finest hip-hop act. My review is here.
TV
Poker Face continues to be a lot of fun, this time with Giancarlo Esposito running a funeral home.
The third episode of this season of Taskmaster was very funny but I won’t spoil it. This group of contestants are proving to be very chaotic which is a joy to watch.
I’ve never read an edition of The Face in my life but it’s always been a presence. Staring out from magazine racks or posters on walls. I was never remotely fashionable, and in fact I have an unfortunate reflex that makes me recoil from anything fashionable or popular, so it didn’t seem to be my thing. But there is no denying the quality of the photography and graphic design that made it so distinct.
I really enjoyed the musicians and pop culture portraits, as well as the clubbing photography, which are vibrant and exciting. I was less engaged with the fashion photography which, with some notable exceptions, seemed more staged and static. It feels to me that something was lost when the mag became edgy Vogue, but I suppose fashions change and fashionable magazines must change with them.
Edvard Munch – Portraits
A little know fact is that Edvard’s middle name was Munster. Munch isn’t celebrated as a portraitist so this is an opportunity to see him in a different light. This is a small exhibition with probably not more than 30 items. His portraits are very good, and he sometimes finds ways to express the character of his subjects, but some others would be rather dull if it wasn’t for his incredible use of colour. One portrait of a wealthy patron was abandoned because the subject, who apparently was doing nothing else but quietly posing, angered Munch so much he punched the canvas. I wonder if the lack of inspiration in some of these paintings hints that they were done out of duty rather than love.
But there is great stuff here, and any Munch lover will enjoy this new look at his work.
One of the cards next to a portrait (of Jappe Nilssen I think) tells a tale. The first paragraph tells us that Munch was excited to begin a portrait of his hero. In the second paragraph we are told that the subject was ambivalent about the painting and felt that, while he loved Munch’s work, he felt he had displayed a cruel streak in the way he had portrayed him. I find something quite touching and funny about this failure of two men to communicate their feelings.
Music
I mentioned Madison Cunningham’s track Hospital in last weeks post. I can confirm that the album that track comes from, Revealer, is really fantastic. It’s a bit folky, a bit country, but what really makes it shine is her restless search for original sounds and every track brings something new.
Roberta Fidora has been putting out great singles and videos recently and here is her latest.
I’ve also been enjoying the new Mclusky album. I never got into Mclusky before but have been a fan of Future of the Left for some time.
Finally, I’ve been listening to Weirdo by Emma-Jean Thackray. My jazz tastes are usually for instrumental rather than vocal but I’m really liking this. Much like Revealer this is an album where there are constant little shifts in styles and lots of ideas. And look at that cover – it reminds me of the bathroom from The Shining.
Theatre
Austentatious
For those who don’t know, this is an improvised Jane Austen adaptation based on a title provided by an audience member. During this performance audience members suggested ‘Mansplain Hark’, ‘Investment and Insolvency’ but thankfully they plumped for ‘Mary Shelley comes to dinner’. It became apparent that Percy Shelley had been assembled by Mary Shelley, but due to a tragic accident in her laboratory he would turn into a chicken man at midnight. You had to be there.
This is the third time I’ve seen this live, having also seen the recordings. They are consistently very funny. It would be easy to just undercut the Austen environment and have stuffy Georgians make modern cultural references, and there is a little of that, but they manage to be much wittier, sillier and wide-ranging than just doing the obvious, easy gags. It is remarkable how they manage to consistently deliver with every performance.
Apparently they are doing shows for the rest of year in London and touring around the country. I would recommend it.
Films
I saw Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu. I hated it. Here’s my review.
TV
I’ve just seen the first episode of Poker Face season 2. I really enjoyed the first season, especially as you can see they are trying to bring back some of the joy of Columbo. Personally I still think TV hasn’t got much better than Columbo so I’m very much the target audience. Also, Natasha Lyonne is fantastic (and it’s only just occurred to me, she has the same voice as Peter Falk).
Books
I finished The Shining this week and decided to read The Kremlin Letters next after reading this article on Five Books
Random internet stuff
After reading The Shining I came across this page with quotes from Stephen King about his addictions.
This poem is great (apparently it went viral some time ago and I managed to miss it!)