Radiohead, lately

I must admit that my awareness of and appreciation for Radiohead is late. From afar I paid attention to some reviews, especially for OK Computer (1997); but even my attention was almost 10 years after its release. Upon closer inspection and with a measured enthusiasm for their body of work, I find that I like Amnesiac (2001) the most among those I've purchased. Recorded in the same sessions as Kid A, this later disc holds together nicely, despite its eclectic inspirations. I can play the disc in its entirety without losing interest. My view on its vocals is that they are part of shifting, textural soundscape; I don't know a single lyric and don't feel a need to learn any.

While I recommend the disc highly to the committed listener, I think the general listener will find individual cuts add contrast to mixed playlists. "Pyramid Song" and "Knives Out" are my choices.

In praise of M. B. Goffstein

(b. 1940) Contemporary American children's book author and illustrator.
An interesting item from her biography: She claims that whereas most artists do their thinking on paper, she does most of her work in her head. "I have few, if any, sketches." This is interesting because a viewer might assume that her minimalist style is the result of many refinements.

My favorite Goffstein book is My Noah's Ark, 1978. This little book proves that a great story doesn't require big action or loud execution and high-speed pacing. Quietly and carefully, Goffstein's story of an old woman's remembrances touches the inner life of the child—the life of imagination and reflection. "Our fun and sorrow seem to form a rainbow, and it warms me like sunshine."

The pictured page is from a well-used copy, given to me by a public library at my request when they cycled it out of their circulation.

Benjamin's Crossing

Just finished reading Jay Parini's Benjamin's Crossing.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/252154.Benjamin_s_Crossing

A quote, from the character of Gershom Scholem, one of the novel's narrators:
"(Walter Benjamin) suffered the obsessive desire of many intellectuals to make the world whole by applying intelligent pressure of a specific kind, but human intelligence cannot make the world whole. Unchecked by compassion, humility, and a deep skepticism of its own virility, it can only destroy."

China Crisis

The ongoing appreciation of pop culture, and specifically pop music, and the appreciation's relationship to nostalgic impulse are interesting. Over time, why does a person return to the forms and expressions—of some, not all examples—of an earlier time with renewed appreciation? Is it because some thing essential to the form and expression is valued, or is it because the thing triggers or recalls, however imperfectly, a remembrance that is valued?
My opinion is that the mature and discerning listener continues to find some thing of essential value in the given artifact, which I probably hold to because this opinion props up my claim to being objective about the appreciation.
Whatever, huh.
I continue to really enjoy the music of China Crisis, a little-known English pop band from the 1980s. I acknowledge that their forms and expressions are relatively light-weight, which is precisely at the heart of why I enjoy them. Can I claim that their music is optimistic, hopeful, even charitable—essentially? Or does their music recall a time in my life that memory has made happy? The 1980s were not exactly happy times, but there is a lot of 80s music that has a bouncy, blithe appeal. This band represents one of my favorite styles from the period.