Reading - September 2016

The Science Of Discworld III: Darwin's Watch by Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart & Jack Cohen (2005)

Another entertaining slice of science leavened with humourous episodes with the wizards of Unseen University, although the Discworld bits and the science bits don't seem particularly connected up with each other.

The Week (3 September 2016 / Issue 1089)

Guitar & Bass (October 2016 / Vol 28 No 01)

The Week (10 September 2016 / Issue 1090)

Live At The Brixton Academy by Simon Parkes with JS Rafaeli (2014)

I've been to a couple of gigs at the Brixton Academy (The Ramones in 1987-ish and Goldfrapp sometime around 2006) but never knew much or even thought about its history as a music venue. As far as I was aware it was just always there. Simon Parkes is the man who made it like that, and this is the story of how he did it. Well told, in bite size chapters, we go from Parkes buying the venue for £1 in 1983 to him selling it twelve years later and cover just about every major name in rock music as well as some of the shadier and dodgier characters hovering around. I do find it ironic that having spent a lot of time worrying about how to fend off the Brixton underworld who were trying to take over such a lucrative venture, he eventually sold out to the real sharks of the music biz - the corporates. Still, a great adventure and a hugely entertaining book.

The Week (17 September 2016 / Issue 1091)

Guitarist (October 2016 / Issue 412)

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk (1996)

Such a stylish novel and a great (and unforgettable) twist. Obviously satire and not to be taken seriously as an aspiration, but nevertheless Palahniuk's afterword describes the ironically unstoppable after-life of the book as a manual for lost souls who just want to find the nearest fight club.

The Week (24 September 2016 / Issue 1092)

Computer Music (Autumn 2016 / Issue 235)

Bought because it had a free delay plugin, and then discovered that actually it has about 50 free plugins, plus samples etc etc etc - 8 GB of STUFF! Lots of interesting articles too. Not sure where I'm going to get the time to go through it all though ...

Naked At The Albert Hall by Tracey Thorn (2015)

A lovely, thoughtful, personal, informal discussion about singing as an activity, a job, as therapy and much more. Never boring, much to think about and interesting insights into a pop life from the inside. Very enjoyable. I should now go and read Bedsit Disco Queen, which I also own but haven't got round to reading yet.