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Over de Auteur

Writer, broadcaster, and cultural critic Paul Morley has written about music, art, and entertainment since the 1970s. A founding member of the electronic collective Art of Noise and a member of staff at the Royal Academy of Music, he is the author of Ask: The Chatter of Pop; Words and Music: A toon meer History of Pop in the Shape of a City; Joy Division: Piece by Piece; Earthbound; The North; and Nothing. toon minder

Bevat de naam: Paul Morley

Fotografie: Anton Corbijn

Werken van Paul Morley

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I've been flirting with tackling this brick for awhile, and almost tossed it aside again when I realized who the author actually was. This is as I have distant memories of Morley acting out when he was a leading gadfly in the British music press, before attaching himself to the semi-fiasco that was ZTT Music; after which I lost track of him.

Flash forward a generation or so, and Morley is well past his mid-life crisis, and has reinvented himself as a commentator on classical music for the aging hipsters of the world. In as much as I resemble that remark, I actually got a good bit out of this book. Morley's adventures in trying to get a clue, his overview of a lot of music I might not otherwise have heard of, and some astute comments on the rise and fall of a certain type of music environment and economy, were all well appreciated. However, there is no denying that this work probably could have been about 150 pages shorter, and is more of a memoir of Morley's career, than a left-field history of classical music.… (meer)
½
 
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Shrike58 | Sep 20, 2022 |
When Morley writes about the impact - or the suggest impact - of the Sony Walkman portable cassette player, it's really interesting. Also it's quite fair to read about his travels on the London underground, even though I'm Swedish and have very little knowledge or experience of riding that system. Still, at its worst this book can spiral like the author really shouldn't (especially at the end of the book), and at its best, the author describes the music that German band Can created, really well.

All in all entertaining, but if you're not into music, this might well be a jump off for you.
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pivic | 5 andere besprekingen | Mar 21, 2020 |
I’m continuing on my journey of reading the books celebrating 150 years of the London Underground. Earthbound is set on the Bakerloo line, which is an unfortunate shade of brown on the famous Tube map. It’s something that Paul Morley makes frequent reference to in this story about music, the 1970s and London in general in that time. He portrays the Bakerloo line as something that has been left behind and is unfashionable but still comfortable.

The novella starts in a promising way – how to find your way around the Tube when it seems you’re the only one who doesn’t have a clue what to do. It then moves on to the history of the line before discussing what the author was doing during that time, which was writing for NME. He talks about being the first person to own a Walkman in London (note: not verified) and being able to tune out the sounds of the Tube for the first time. In this day and age, where it’s unusual to be listening to the normal background noises of the Tube (or anything really) this hit a chord with me. Imagine not having portable music! Being forced to listen to life! Morley then goes on to discuss more about music and in particular the band Can. Can were an experimental rock band hailing from Germany, who Morley seems to be a big fan of. I tended to tune out during these passages as I’m not much of an electronic music fan and scan the words for something a bit more rock based.

I enjoyed this read more when it was directly connected with the Tube, although I did like reading about the early Walkman that had two headphone jacks for sharing (better than one ear each) and the John Peel sessions at the BBC. It’s adventurous without being overly whimsical. If you’re a fan of Can, you will adore this. If not, it’s an interesting read tying together music and the Tube.

http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
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½
 
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birdsam0610 | 5 andere besprekingen | Nov 22, 2019 |
A very esoteric history of pop. A ride in a very fast car. Insightful and entertaining. Lots and lots of lists some of which will interest you and some won't. It will alomost certainly make you curious about some artist or genre you have never heard of. Plenty of philosphy and ideas - for example a discussion of celebrity. Goes well beyond a history of pop and leaves out as much as it takes in. Eclectic and wacky. I still take it off the shelf to get inspiration as to what to listen to next- or what to challenge amazon music with.… (meer)
 
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HenryRawlingson | 2 andere besprekingen | Jul 1, 2019 |

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Statistieken

Werken
20
Ook door
3
Leden
607
Populariteit
#41,417
Waardering
½ 3.7
Besprekingen
14
ISBNs
40
Talen
1
Favoriet
3

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