Am reading
Thomas Mann’s “Doctor Faustus” (1947) at the moment, the story of a tortured musical
genius Adrian Leverkühn who sells his soul to the devil for success at the
price of love.
“A night
where it doesn’t get dark for the lightning”
quips
Adrian towards the books end. Such a price.
The book is
a thinly veiled critique of the German psyche and the rise of the second world
war. My translation is H. T. Lowe-Porter’s original one from a 1968 Penguin
edition with yellowed pages, typewriter font and lines pressed so severely together.
Not as enjoyable as I had hoped. Nonethless, the books greatest feat is to run
three parallel times together. It begins with Adrian’s life lasting from the
late 19th century to the outbreak of war. It also covers almost
journalistically the closing phases of the war when the book was written, as if
it was being written s it was read, with Mann injecting himself into the pages
via the character and narrator Serenus Zeitblom PhD. The third time is of
course the present, which is where we find ourselves now.
Some small
updates about some recent comings and goings. Many will have seen the recent
updates of artists for three of Spains upcoming music festivals.
Sonar: Darkstar, Paul Kalkbrenner, Sherwood
+ Pinch, and Karenn (Blawan + Pariah) among other artists join the show in June.
L.E.V. Festival: Plenty of good names on the roster
for L.E.V. this year in Gijon on the north coast of Spain (low cost flights do
go there). Music is great and beer is cheap, food plentiful and who can beat
the line-up of Oneohtrix Point Never, Raime, Andy Stott, Tim Hecker, Pole and
more.
Micro Mutek: Micro Mutek is now only two weeks
away and obviously everything is now in place so its time to make plans and get
tickets. Jeff Mills, Monolake, Laurel Halo, Jon Hopkins, Kuedo, Deadbeat and
more. There will also be the usual Q&A sessions with artists, workshops and
discussions. Click on the link for full schedule.
Speaking of
Mutek, here is a link to a recent interview I did for Mutek with Jon Hopkins who will play
a live set at this year’s festival to promote his new album that is coming out
on Domino.
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