mellotron_breakfast

Last Saturday was my last day in Melbourne for the next two weeks, and it witnessed four significant events. The first was the Isocracy Annual General Meeting discussing the rather extraordinary results of the Federal election. Our guest speaker, John Bade, is a former Liberal Party member of some note (branch president, state council delegate etc) and spoke on how the party really has been taken over by extreme religious activists who think the rest of Australia must move to them, a major factor in that party's decline. Afterwards, I went to the Effective Altruism conference, which concluded with a public lecture by famous ethicist Peter Singer. I spent a bit of time in the company with Adam Ford, who was the official photographer for the event, and then conversed a bit with Prof Singer about his earlier publications and rats (he's a rat fancier himself and speaks highly of them as animal companions). To conclude the evening I went to final session of "Notre Dame After Dark" at the Immigration Museaum, because the opportunity to hear some fine music in such surroundings was quite enticing.

The next morning, Erica and I ventured out to the airport to take the big silver bird to China, where we are staying for the next ten days. The first day was pretty much entirely in transit, first to Shanghai, then taking a connecting flight to Beijing. There is not much to report on this, except to say that the flight was tolerable, the food fine, the staff excellent, and the in-house entertainment limited. "Sirrocco" is a surreal children's animated film of escapism of sisterly love which can appeal to adult viewers with good characterisation and plot, but the animation, whilst creative, lacked a little in technique; 4/5. "Dune 2" was well produced with a good soundtrack, but I felt no sense of appeal with the plot and characters all based around violence and machismo. I am tempted to give it another viewing as I was surprised by how bad it was; 2/5. "Solitude" started slowly, but developed into a grim and tragic tale of loneliness, generosity, and an intergenerational friendship with an ambiguous ending; 3/5.

The first day proper in Beijing started with a visit to Tian'anmen Square, which, of course, is flanked by several important national buildings (e.g., the parliament). The square itself is just a vast courtyard, and it's fascinating in its blandness, even if, with all the usual connotations of Chinese geomancy, it represents the head of the city's land dragon. After that, we went to Qianmen Avenue (the body), which has some rather charming alleyways running parallel to the main drag. In the evening, we were treated to a rather extraordinary theatrical piece, "The Golden Mask", a legendary tale. This show has, in my somewhat considerable experience, the most extraordinary set and costumes, including several performers with actual live white peacocks as part of their costumes and a literal flooding of the stage. Two more days in Beijing are planned, including an excursion to The Great Wall, an evening in the Old City, and finally a morning in the Museum Palace (aka the Forbidden City). But all that will have to wait for the next post on this adventure.

Yesterday I wrote a remembrance-valediction on Rocknerd for former bassist, record-label owner, vocalist, and lyricist, Dave Allen. It was almost forty years ago that I was initially introduced to his extraordinary acumen with the bass guitar through Shriekback, and further explorations would lead me into his involvement in the punk-funk fusion, Gang of Four. Rather like another famous bassist of the period and postpunk style, Joy Division-New Order's Peter Hook, Allen would often play the bass like a lead guitar and dominate a track. I find myself quite affected by his passing; not just because of because I've loved his music for so long, but also because he spent his last several years living with early-onset dementia, a truly horrible illness. For those unfamiliar with his work, I can recommend three particular tracks which really highlight his style; "Damaged Goods" by Gang of Four, "Lined Up" by Shriekback, and, what I consider his anthem, also by Shriekback, "My Spine Is the Bassline".

Continuing the theme, late last night I finished the University of Edinburgh course on "Fundamentals of Music Theory"; I took a lot longer than expected, but, of course, I have a busy life. The content was quite impressive, but there was something that didn't quite gel with me about the presentation. It was neither as comprehensive as J. Allen's Augsburg University course on Udemy, nor the snappy interest of their introductory "Music Theory for Electronic Music Producers". I rather feel I have enough theory notes to compile my own publication on the matter (educator's secret: which is a form of learning its own right), but for the time being, I'll stick to my beginner's practice. My aim in the next few months is to get some competence with Sakamoto's "Solitude" and Satie's "Gymnopédie No. 1". But baby steps first, of course.

Finally, a few evenings prior, Julie A., Nitul D., Emily R., and I caught up at the Hanson Dyer Hall to see a performance of Schnittke's "String Trio". which also included the world premiere of Australian composer Angie Coffey’s "Draevon" and was introduced by Schubert String Trio no. 1. The performance was very well introduced with a little biography of the composers, a little bit of theory, and a personal story of being in the company with Schnittke. Schnittke was a Soviet composer who, finalising this particular piece, suffered a stroke and was declared clinically dead on three occasions before revival, curiously matching his own fascination with decay. Melancholic, brooding, sometimes dissonant and even aggressive. It's definitely worth a listen or three and a copy, with score, is available on YouTube and with Kenneth Woods providing an excellent and insightful analysis.