2024 - IV

As we're finally wrapping up 2024, and having started going into books last time around, we'll continue with the rest of the books I went into. I'll add that I have read more than the ones here, but these are the ones I wish to highlight. In 2025 I'll hopefully detail everyone I read or re-read.

 

In completely unexpected fashion (pun intended) Dressing the Man: Mastering the Art of Permanent Fashion was certainly one of my books of 2024. Essential insight into every piece of male dress, from head to toe, as well as historical information. This was a subject that was beforehand interesting to me and it was fascinating to read at length and in such an informative way about it. It also deals with the apparent paradox of permanent fashion - that is, the fashion that never goes out of fashion. Shoes, trousers, shirts and jackets, accessories. A veritable reference book like no other.

Retro Watches: The Modern Collector's Guide highlights dated curiosities from the 1970s. If you have any love for jump-digital or driving watches it is a must-read. You won't find many timeless classics from the big swiss or japanese makers... Which is good as you might be able to add to your collection rather on the cheap. As in all books of this sort you might be left wondering why some of these were included instead of others you might find more fitting. But, in all, a worthwhile read, aided by great photography in decent size - easy to see and appreciate the fine details.

Moving on, I'll point out that I've finished the scripts of series 7 to 9 of Inside No. 9. These spurred me to get The Complete Fawlty Towers as well... and others I have already gone into 2025. This will be a subject of a future post. One way or another I'll state that this is a wonderful way to experience these shows. I love them, be it with shows I'm familiar or not so familiar with.

Regarding sport, the Charting the Territories came out with one more volume, the 1971-1973 Jim Crockett / Mid-Atlantic Almanac. As with previous volumes it's an exhaustive look at every show and every match, filled with feud descriptions, newspaper clippings, biographies and overall view of the territories. As it was, this one didn't have terribly interesting subject matter but, all the same, it's always impressive.  The Crucible's Greatest Matches: Forty Years of Snooker's World Championship in Sheffield was also quite a read. Having never previously read a book about this sport before, I was enlightened with lots of old and recent detail, taking us from the pre-Davis and Hendry era, to class of 1992 and beyond. Without much to read on the subject that isn't autobiographical this one's great, centring on a venue, not a player, especially a venue that may not last for much longer.

In terms of comic books, I have continued my fascination with the style of Kazuo Umezz, going through My Name is Shingo and Cat-Eyed Boy, as well as the conclusion of Taiyou Matsumoto's Tokyo These Days. In a universe of minor works by either of these artits, perhaps the former is the best, although it ends quite abruptly. Shingo and Cat-Eyed Boy, while interesting, show perhaps, too much of its origins as periodicals, without the constant inventiveness of the monolithic Drifting Classroom. Still nice to read and have.

Writing Systems: A Linguistic Approach (Blackwell Textbooks in Linguistics) is structured like a course: at the end of every chapter there are review exercises. The material is quite ample, pretty much going over every writing system in the world, current or otherwise. As the book itself is not overtly long, some systems are only gone over lightly. With this in mind, it is quite ample for amateur learners yet stimulating enough for more advanced learners to then further their studies with other tomes, dedicated to the writing systems they are more interested in. In my opinion, it was worth it alone for the initial chapter on the asian systems. Sumerian and Latin, I think I've seen more complete chapters elsewhere, but as a whole it is a fine, complete, book, which will spur the reader on to more concrete and specific compendiums.

Indo-European Cognate Dictionary, on the other hand, is in essence a collection of wiktionary entries, compiled and curated by a linguistics doctoral student. By all accounts this is presented as an amateurish endeavour, driven by an academical zeal. It would be easy to dismiss were it not that the actual compilation and curation makes it a worthwhile feature that is otherwise unavailable online (wiktionary or otherwise). The content itself is indeed quite interesting even if some of the more obscure branches of the indo-european tree are lightly treaded, due to their unfamiliarity to the author. In all, a worthwhile contribution that will be of interest to amateur, academical and professional researchers.

As for The Scythian Empire: Central Eurasia and the Birth of the Classical Age from Persia to China, the less said about it the better. Pseudo-scientific, it illustrates the author's whimsical theories based on absolutely nothing. While I try to stay optimistic regarding these posts, this is perhaps the one I most regret as wasted time and money. It offers no redeeming features unless you're into historical fantasy (and I'm not).

Finally, before heading into music proper, we're going into books about music.

Seems like rock & roll played a lot into it. We'll start with three biographies: Little Richard: Send Me Some Lovin', Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock 'n' Roll and Chuck Berry: An American Life. What is amazing about Little Richard is how much of an icon he was for having been for so little time in the bright lights. It's indeed a fascinating story of someone who certainly had some issues dealing with music and fame. Likewise Sam Phillips seemed like everything he touched was gold for a very brief period of time. Notably the book focus on this period but gives us some more insight into what happened before and after. While this part, for obvious reasons, is more sparse, the fact is it's still very little touched upon and offers genuine insight into the man, giving us context to that very specific period of time that had such an impact on XX century music. As for Chuck Berry what was amazing was his longevity. It's incredible to think he was already in his 30s in the 1950s, and was still playing live once a week as recent as 2013. Perhaps like no other contemporary he was revolutionary in his approach, even with the cruellest of personalities (something in common with many other musicians).

Moving on, The Birth, Death, and Rebirth of Rock & Roll: 1954 - 1964 is an incredibly extensive month by month look into this period, from Rocket 88 to Beatlemania. The fact it uses the tiniest of font sizes and wall to wall writing make it a nightmare to get through. Even still while amateurly written, there is indeed a lot of heart in the writing and that is commendable - as well as the many hours of research. Shaken, Rattled & Rolled: A History of Rockabilly and Rock 'n' Roll is quite similar, this time taking more of a view into general history and social issues that melded this music between blacks and rural whites. On the other hand Ducktails, Drive-ins, and Broken Hearts: An Unsweetened Look at '50s Music focus more on the one hit wonders and now unknown heroes of the era. Fascinating insight and research into a forgotten era. JERRY LEE LEWIS - BREATHLESS!: EVERY SONG FROM EVERY SESSION, 1952-2022 is a curious title in the way that it's a complete appreciation of every song recorded by The Killer like only an inveterate fan could. As Jerry Lee famously didn't write a lot of tunes himself, but nailed the definitive version of many songs wrote by others, this is an interesting look at his entire catalogue. Certainly the type of book I could digest from a lot of other musicians. Finally, The Teddy Boy Wars: The Youth Cult that Shocked Britain is an interesting book into this forgotten british trend, similar yet different to the rockabilly americans but with somewhat similar post-war origins and one that ended up melding together, perhaps controversially for the original teds, somewhat in the 1980s as a revival fashion. As for Surfin' Guitars: Instrumental Surf Bands of the Sixties it's a fascinating insight into the most obscure original groups of this genre, loaded with pictures and even "where are they now" sections. An essential deep dive that's filled with fascination.

Can't You Hear Me Callin': The Life Of Bill Monroe, Father Of Bluegrass was one of my favourite books of the year, perhaps because the man himself is fascinating. I had previously read On the Bus, which had a lot of anecdotes of an older Bill in the 1970s and 1980s. This book has it all, from boyhood to death and, for that, it's a veritable bible for bluegrass fans as every tenet of his personality is confronted with episodes in his life in great detail. Truly a story filled with every sort of human emotion and, in all, with a great love for music, be it folk music or otherwise. As for Creating Country Music: Fabricating Authenticity and In the Country of Country: A Journey to the Roots of American Music they're interesting insights into different facets of country music. The latter one is extremely interesting, as its very well written and goes into, essentially, different articles of different "big topics" in country music. It is perhaps one of the essential books on the subject in my opinion, just because it's so well written. The type of book that, even though subject matter might not be terribly interesting (Gram Parsons?...) the writing style is enthralling and it's a fine read. The former is somewhat more derivative although its premise is original, namely, the difficulty in reconciling the height of country music authenticity, with the Carters, Jimmy Rodgers and Hank Williams, and its fabricated commercialization of rural, down-home pop millionaires. Valid points and well argued throughout.

There was also another revelation in the Bach Works for Guitar: In Standard Notation and Tablature, especially Lute Works and the Cello Suites. They have become my daily practice partners. Through these books I finally could, as a frustrated cellist, play the finest works in the cello and lute repertoires on guitar. Certainly many other authors have translated these works previously. This collection however has several advantages as the translations are faithful to the cello's phrasing (avoiding "guitar-isms" added by Andrés Segovia and others), is absolutely error-free, and is written in a good, standard size dimension, in both notation and tablature. As the only minus I would say that, since it is a paperback glued spine and not a ring or spiral bound book you'll have to use the usual contrived mechanisms to hold it in one's music stand. Otherwise I can't praise it enough. It has given me immense pleasure to play these pieces and I am quite frankly thankful for having had the opportunity to get them.

 

I have gone deep into Bandcamp as my source of music in 2024. For reasons I can't reasonably explain I've stopped using YouTube. I quite enjoyed using YouTube as a way to discover new music, as well as the fact that visual representations were also interesting ways for artists to express themselves. Also, there's a lot of live music recordings that are sometimes different than recorded album tracks. At this time, having not tuned in since, I think March 2024, I'm afraid I may have hundreds of unlistened tracks and videos to see. Of course, the longer time passes, the worst it will get. Something to get into this year, I hope.

Thus I'm going to go just into the new music I have experienced in 2024, rather than all the music. Of these, perhaps the more surprising one was In Green We Dream by Parlor Greens, a new "superband" that's very much in the same vein of The Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio and, more crucially, Booker T and the MGs. Some good tracks here but, fundamentally, I think this type of music gets to shine more live. Some tracks are notoriously cut short, fading in and out, depriving us of deeper cuts and longer solos. In such a well defined style, this delivers, without actually sounding revolutionary (which it isn't).

Mahal by Glass Beams suffers, perhaps, from the same fate. Essentially a continuation of their previous work, it doesn't add anything terribly new but that is not necessarily a bad thing. It's more of the same, which is what we want. In a way, there's nothing quite like it yet something is also lost by not being able to visually see them play as their stage outfits are definitely part of the show.

This Ain't the Way You Go Out by Lucy Rose had a couple of tracks I was fascinated with which led me to get the record. Unfortunately I got it on a CD and I don't have an easy way to listen to it any more, having only listened to it a couple of times. A shame. Continuing on, both Keeper of the Shepherd by Hannah Frances and Living Thing by Anna Tivel are superb. These are two hard working and original singer songwriters with great hooks. I'm partial to Tivel, which is more experienced and has quite a few records already but regarding these two Frances may have the best singles. Definitely highlights and have kept me company for hours. What else is there to say about Adrianne Lenker? Bright Future is another gem from this genius. Her spine tingling sensibility is fascinating. To hear her is to hear a master crafter doing what they do best. I feel ashamed comparing my writing to this. I'd put it right along the rest of her solo discography. 

To finish, Chorus by Mildlife started the year with a bang. Their records are always short on songs, which are quite long. This one is on the same level as Automatic with very catchy tunes. While fundamentally different its perhaps the sort of music I can dig like I dug LCD Soundsystem's 45:33. One of those! Then the two bluegrass albums of the year. Less traditionally, Love Your Mind by Twisted Pine was one I, at first, didn't like much but, the more I've heard it, the more I do. It's got it all, I think, and it has the hooks well married to their superb mastery of their instruments. A great record. Then City Of Glass by AJ Lee & Blue Summit is a very mature album in a more traditional setting. Molly Tuttle makes an appearance too and AJ Lee's voice sounds divine. The songs range from emotional to fun: perhaps the greatest condensation of the thrill of bluegrass music.

Well, this is it.

2024 is done!

2025, onwards, ho!