Ditch water

7°C, rain clearing from NW

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As dull as…: I’m aware that some of my recent entries are rather dull lately. Probably because it’s a mistake to just open the blog and write. You really need to think in advance before adding a new entry online.

OK then…

"What music are you into?"

I have been thinking about the problem of what to say when a kid at school asks what kind of music I listen to.

What do I say?  Normally I’m stumped. I don’t really know what they want to know (or why). Some teenagers are quite tribal about music- it’s used to identify themselves- & what group they belong to. Others don’t do this, interestingly. So perhaps I can ask them and see what response comes forth.

I could list genres, but that’s an uncomfortable approach because of the problem with genres themselves. They so often seem formulaic. If for example, I say Jazz in answer to the above question, it could be any repetitive rubbish that follows the standard pattern for that music type. A worse example could be "Rock" or "blues"; music that is so often drag-and-drop clichés that could be generated by any AI programmed computer. Blues, dance, MTV rock always sound the same.

 

Could I just list a few bands that they may have heard of? No because the ones most have heard of – I just don’t listen to. If I say PJ Harvey, Capt. Beefheard, Tricky, The Books, or Lisa Gerrard – the kids look rather blank on hearing that.

 

For now the answer will have to be nearer to "there is some I like from Jazz, some from modern contemporary, latter romantic orchestral, experimental rock, some standard rock music" and so on. Or is it just better to list things I have played on the record player recently?

 

…yesterday that was Marilyn Manson

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The rest of today: a big chunk will be a cycle ride for 4 or 5 hours; Another layer on the painting; try to figure out why FB+Pe2 is crashing: got a RAM test to run on that; and finally – send April some photos of school.