bedevilled and wary of the new english grammar now prevalent in society

The word like appears to have become a substitute for more or less anything in a sentence.

"Oh yeah, and like, the other day it was like, soooo random, like, he came up to me and said, "Do you want a drink, love?" And I'm like, duhhh, like, it would be so, like, majorly stupid of me not to say yes! Anyway. He was like, "I'll get you that, then." So like, I took a seat, and like, who should come along but (insert C-list celebrity name of your choice here)! And I was like, blown away, do you know what I mean? Totally top stuff. It was like having ten Christmasses at once!"

the callous consumer debt advice panel was waiting for him at the exit, but

Realised that working in a record store is possibly one of the worst jobs you can have to eliminate existing debt. I must've spent almost £200 since being hired there! Here's a list of stuff I've bought: PS2 Need for Speed Most Wanted, Batman Begins, Have I Got News For You, Clarkson Heaven and Hell, Permanent: Joy Division 1995, Bloc Party: Silent Alarm, Him: Dark Light, The Snowman Soundtrack, Holst: The Planets, Adema: Planets, Coltrane: Blue Train, Gershwin: Rhapsody In Blue, Miles Davis: Kind of Blue, Philip Glass: Violin Concerto.... the list goes on....

If only I folded pocket kings.

Took a quick peek inside our house under going refurbishment. We're living in my sister's home next door, so checking the progress is easy. Originally we were planning an extension but now it seems virtually the whole house is being revamped. So far the new kitchen and bathroom have been installed, and the rooms upstairs have new lights fitted and painted walls.

Is that a lot after 3 months? With builders these days you don't know what you can get yourself into. A block of City University, including part of the student union, is also being revamped. So during term I found myself hanging around Angel and Barbican. The Elbow room is a great place to go in Angel. Its a pool lounge and bar with a nice, chilled atmosphere.

Then there's Gutshot in Barbican where I've now played 4 poker tournaments. The most recent one was the most disappointing, a NL holdem £5 buy in. Like all other 'happy hour' tournaments, there is a 30 minute period of 2 re buys. As usual I ended up rebuying to the full £15. I was receiving the worst hands you can get e.g. 7/2 off-suit; 3/6 off. After the rebuy period finished, I finally received a good hand. Pocket kings, the second best pre flop.

I went all in against 2 others: one with Q/8 and another with 10/K. Flop was 6, Q, 3. The turn was an A, giving 10/K an inside straight draw. And yes, you guessed it, a J came on the river. Absolutely GUTTED. Thats poker, c'est la vie.

I had to double check my January exam timetable which reads: 3rd Jan Principles of Finance........Thats it!! No Maths, no Economics. This means I'll have 5 modules in May. Lucille, I'm sure your timetable is not this erratic, how's 3rd yr Maths going?

although not sure if copying directly was in fact a sign in lessening of quality, it

HERE ARE SOME THINGS I DO NOT LIKE. I do not like sluts. I do not like trade unionists. I do not like people with a lot of bling. It is generally worth less than my boxers anyway. I do not like people who park their cars unnecessarily closely to me. I do not like people who talk shit about me behind my back. I do not like dumbass 10 year olds who think they're punk/rocker just because they've bought a Bloc Party hoodie. I do not like reality TV. I do not like how expensive stuff is in this country. I do not like vegetables. I do not like my hometown, Sutton, because it is a concrete shithole full of loud noisy Stella-drinking chavs, and the excuse for its nightlife is lamentable. Why can't the Cockpit be in South London?! Lol. I do not like exercise. Much. HERE ARE SOME THINGS I DO LIKE: I like rock and punk music, in particular Slam Dunk from my all-conquering glorious student days I like articulate people who can hold a conversation in non-fuckwit-speak English I like several cups of coffee in the morning I like going to the rock fests in the summer - if I have any spare money. I like to, and WILL, do everything I can to keep my friends happy. I like to write music in my spare time, but mostly that's because I'm hoping to make a living out of it. I like driving, and fast cars, but not in a "boy racer let's soup up a Citroen Saxo" kind of way. I like Space Invaders. SOME WORDS AND PHRASES TO CONTEMPLATE compensation culture. because you're worth it. charm offensive was led by prominent heads of state glowing carmine surrealistically made permanent ethereal lightness in what would otherwise be a cesspit of distress earthquake diplomacy did the rounds and gauzed up emotional imperfections interrogation technique was employed as America adopted a "less is more" think-tank strategy praxeological distinction upon the theoretical framework, busting to the seams superimposed upon the tangential scalar nexus starlights in the gloom that is a vertiginous distance the jilted whore made good her revenge mellifluous marmalade on crusted toasted bread afflicted his self-perceived xenophobic wisdom kerosene surcharge while world oil price rises WHAT ABOUT MY PERSONALITY? I am shy and easily intimidated. I probably have a sense of inferior masculinity. (see huge muscly black guys above) I am capable of spending literally hundreds of hours sitting at home writing one bar of music. Because if it's the song which makes me .... I am kind, compassionate, warm hearted and caring, but not if you fuck me off. I am romantic...but not in a slushy new-age-bloke way. I am really still a 14 year old kid at heart .. after all, adults are just kids with debt. And now, a quick survey: TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF - The Survey Name: you should know that! Birthday: july 7 Birthplace: sutton royal marsden Current Location: sutton - don't I move around a lot Eye Color: brown Hair Color: brown Height: 5'8 Right Handed or Left Handed: right Your Heritage: I'm half-chink if that's what you mean The Shoes You Wore Today: DCs, my fav! Your Weakness: any insect...shudder... Your Fears: never finding love Your Perfect Pizza: meat feast Goal You Would Like To Achieve This Year: get an album published Your Most Overused Phrase On an instant messenger: lol Thoughts First Waking Up: oh shit, am I not dead yet? Your Best Physical Feature: my fingers (to make good music you dirty minded ppl!) Your Bedtime: when I want Your Most Missed Memory: Jill ... the cute lass at the Cockpit ... sigh Pepsi or Coke: Coke McDonalds or Burger King: BK burger with McD fries! Single or Group Dates: Single Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea: neither Chocolate or Vanilla: chocolate Cappuccino or Coffee: coffee Do you Smoke: no Do you Swear: a bit Do you Sing: badly Do you Shower Daily: yes Have you Been in Love: i'm not sure. what is love? Do you want to go to College: done that! Do you want to get Married: yeah...call me old-fashioned Do you belive in yourself: sometimes, but not overly so Do you get Motion Sickness: no Do you think you are Attractive: definitely not Are you a Health Freak: hahaha...that should be, am i an anti-health freak Do you get along with your Parents: usually Do you like Thunderstorms: i don't dislike them... Do you play an Instrument: piano, keyboards, some drums (used to do clarinet & alto sax too!) In the past month have you Drank Alcohol: definitely In the past month have you Smoked: no, because i don't In the past month have you been on Drugs: don't do them either In the past month have you gone on a Date: nope. are you seeing a pattern here? In the past month have you gone to a Mall: how effeminate. yes. In the past month have you eaten a box of Oreos: no In the past month have you eaten Sushi: no In the past month have you been on Stage: er...no. In the past month have you been Dumped: no In the past month have you gone Skinny Dipping: no In the past month have you Stolen Anything: no Ever been Drunk: yes Ever been called a Tease: no! Ever been Beaten up: yes Ever Shoplifted: no How do you want to Die: as painlessly as possible What do you want to be when you Grow Up: i will never grow up, i still listen to Green Day records man and i'm bleeding 21. What country would you most like to Visit: Egypt In a Boy/Girl.. Favourite Eye Color: any Favourite Hair Color: brown Short or Long Hair: either Height: no giraffes, other than that anything Weight: no hippos. god i'm so shallow...ugh. Best Clothing Style: sk8er Number of Drugs I have taken: none. (and the pattern is complete) Number of CDs I own: millions Number of Piercings: none Number of Tattoos: none Number of things in my Past I Regret: a lot CREATE YOUR OWN! - or - GET PAID TO TAKE SURVEYS! (Edit)
I'd Like to Meet:	It would be quite cool to meet (not in any order) 1) Green Day, or Muse. I cannot stop playing their albums!!! What can I say, Dookie still remains unbeaten for pure entertainment. (This is a massive tip off that I don't like scene kids!) 2) A wicked girlfriend. 3) Ken Livingstone. (so I can kick him in the balls) 4) Any randomly selected member of the Labour party. (for the same reason) 5) Would've liked to have met my grandad on my mum's side. But he died before I was born. 6) The bloke who created Wacky Races and Stop The Pigeon. Two of the finest cartoons EVER! Although he's probably dead too now, come to think of it. (Edit)
Interests:	Bowling, cars, films, gigs, good music, driving, wine, and ... did I mention wine?! (Edit)
Music:	Fav bands include: 3 Doors Down A All American Rejects Ash Athlete Blink182 Dashboard Confessional Feeder Goldfinger Green Day (kind of sad now I'm so old!) Guns n Roses James Jimmy Eat World Joy Division Kings of Leon Lit Muse NFG Ocean Colour Scene Offspring Oleander Pixies Queen Razorlight Reel Big Fish Stereophonics Sugar Ray Taking Back Sunday The Zutons Yellowcard (Edit)
Movies:	Fav movies: Donnie Darko Napoleon Dynamite Being John Malkovich Boys Don't Cry The Green Mile Shawshank Redemption Forrest Gump The Piano American Beauty The Virgin Suicides Dumb and Dumber Labyrinth Seven Fight Club City of God (Edit)
Television:	a disturbing semi-obsession with The Simpsons. to a lesser extent: Takeshi's Castle, Bullseye, The Price Is Right, Wheel of Fortune ... all of these are classic, classic retro shows which cannot be beaten! and a couple from when I was much, much younger: Blockbusters (can I have a P please Bob?!?!) Finders Keepers Fun House (Edit)
Heroes:	Margaret Thatcher ... she was never concerned with image unlike Mr Blair and she actually did stuff instead of fannying about like a media whore. Not to mention, the free milk she gave us all in primary school...mmm.....three layers of skin.... (Edit)
Books:	anything by William Boyd or Haruki Murakami

end of term

Finally, I've finished my economics essay WOOHOO! A big sigh of relief. The great thing is, I've handed it in a day before the deadline. Went to the poker club 'Gutshot' in EC1 last Thursday, my 1st time there. The place is only 5 minutes walk away from the City uni campus which is brilliant. I entered only my 2nd live tournament, a £5 buy-in. The game was omaha pot limit. We were allowed 2 re-buys, so I started with £10, then got another £5 just before the re buy period finished. There were 30 players to start with, and after an hour, I found myself on the final table of 10 players. I had built up a healthy chip stack, so when the guy next to me went all in and beat me on the river with only 2 outs remaining, I wasnt badly affected.

One by one, players dropped out and I was in the top 5, so I was guaranteed some money back. But I didn't expect to go as far as heads up, and in the end, we decided to split the money. So I paid £15, and got back £90 for finishing joint 1st!! Not bad for a first time, beginner's luck maybe.

Tomorrow's the last day of term, don't know what I'm going to do during the holidays. No doubt there will be a few poker sessions with Tony and Howard, and any other Habs guys who want to lose their money to me.

weatherwoman irritated viewers by constantly smiling ear-to-ear as she delivered her hellish report

Thicker coats are certainly the order of the day as the weather takes a turn for the worse. Tomorrow I return to Leeds for a much anticipated night out at Cockpit; 4 hours of the best music ever. I am salivating just thinking about it. But time waits for no man, and I'll have to be back in Sutton by the following afternoon for a staff Christmas dinner. Also greatly looking forward to the 9th as that is PAY DAY....yessss! :)

as the comedic fellow prepared for a copyright infringement lawsuit by Jim Henson's lawyers

Having started work at my local record store, I would like to list here my Top Five Muppets - the members of the public who liven up my job and provide continual amusement.

1. Just Plain Stupid Customer: "Does that nice young chap Richard Branston work here then?"
2. Psycho Customer: "I'm going to have you give you a twenty pound note because I don't have any fifty pound notes or ten pound notes or five pounds notes or coins ... is that all right?"
3. Me: "Did you find everything you were looking for?" Snotty Customer: "Actually no I didn't, I couldn't find a geisha for my mate or the winning lottery ticket."
4. Horny Customer: "Where would I find Star Whores?"
5. Idiot Customer: "Could I please have £20 of £5 vouchers and £20 of £40."

Tamil Tiger entertains all and sundry in showstopping spectacular. no, really.

Yep, here's my summary of the show Bob. Good contributing on here btw! Nice one.

Divali Show at Royal Albert Hall

Went up to London a couple of weeks ago for a show in which Bob was performing. It was actually really good. Divali is a religious Hindi festival and a celebration of all that is good and pure about the human spirit. (Correct me if I'm wrong on that, Bob) I was initially somewhat bemused because the show had numerous incongruous hip hop elements to it, which seemed to have nothing to do with either religion or purity. However, it's quite clear that dancing and entertainment are two key elements of the show, so perhaps that's where it fits in.

One of the standout items of the night was a percussion-heavy piece (whose name I can't remember, apologies) involving 15 or so students, which combined polyrhythms with a great deal of technical skill. The piece which involved Bob also had a significant amount of percussion, which I'm guessing underlines the links between rhythm and dancing.

The mood of the audience could generally be described as tongue in cheek - witness the old grandma character in the Blind Date pastiche - and most had a good time. There were a few interesting moments when some drunk lads in front of us got rather excited at an exciting rendition of Billie Jean. (Which just goes to show that no matter what allegations are thrown at Michael Jackson, people still dance to his music.)

For pure comedy, witness the host (what was his name, dammit?) inviting half a dozen of the audience onto the stage to freestyle - one of whom was a mate of the wasted dudes. Overall, this was quite a fun night out. Bob tells me that he wrote some of the music which was performed and I certainly couldn't tell the difference, so nice one!


PS: Bob, the Muse Absolution Tour DVD is out on Dec 12 - you remember when we had that camera shoved in our face near the start of the encore at Stockholm Syndrome? Well that track is on the extras on the DVD, so watch out and we might see our mugs I guess!!!

Work, music, football.

Thats right, another load of coursework, this time I'll do it properly unlike last year. 3 Maths worksheets and 1 Economics essay, all to be done in the next 2 weeks. I feel I'm more active compared to last year, especially after all those rehearsals for the GKT orchestra (Jamie you going to write a review of the show? I missed half of it.) Bought David Gray's new album off ebay, I've heard the 1st five songs, they sound quite good. I'm sure like most other albums I have, this one will get better when I hear it more. Also got 'acoustic love' but haven't heard any songs yet.

Saw highlights of Arsenal v. Thun the other night, Song and Eboue being the new players under the limelight. They did a good job, Eboue with his bombing runs down the right and Song with his simple passing and control. Another collection of promising youngsters brought in by Wenger and his scouts. As for the result, well I have to admit it was a lucky win with the Thun free kick wrongly ruled offside. But we WON, and that's the main thing, as they all say.

GKT divali show at Royal Albert Hall

Haven't posted here for a while, wanted to tell about a great day i had on Sunday 13th. It was a Diwali show organised by students of King's college. For those of you who don't know, I've learnt the indian classical flute since I was 7 years old. And since then I've played in concerts at venues such as Beck Theatre(Hayes) and Winston Churchill Hall(Pinner).

But to play at the Royal Albert Hall was a brilliant experience. I arrived at the hall at 11am, and sat with my orchestra colleagues with whom I had been rehearsing on and off for the past 3 weeks. We waited, and waited until the organizers called us up for the sound check. Each member of the orchestra was asked to play in order to set up the sound. Branavan, the other flutist, played 'Twinkle twinkle little star", which was quite hilarious after the others were playing our traditional pieces.

We did a run through of our 10 songs (2 of which I wrote the music for), and after went back to the dressing room by 3pm. After some more rehearsals, chilling and a big pizza meal, I went to the top gallery to watch the first 7 acts which comprised of comedy and dance.

By 9pm (show started at 7.30), it was our turn to entertain the audience. It was brilliant, a great performance by all the members, Wayne's rendition on the bass for 'Billy Jean' drawing the biggest cheer from the 4000+ crowd. And though our act lasted 5 minutes, it was worth it.
We came back to our dressing room, ecstatic, relieved, overjoyed. 3 cheers for the hero of the hour, EASON, the one who put our act together. I watched the remainder of the show, one of the acts standing out was 'Tribute to Gandhi', a mesmerizing dance act with co-ordination second to none. By 10.30pm, the Diwali show finished.

BUT the day was not finished, as we all headed off to Hammersmith Palais for the after party. And what a party it was, especially that I hadn't been out on the piss for 3 weeks! Met some old Habs' friends Dinesh, Himal, Sean. Danced the night away after a few aftershocks and vodka, it doesn't get better than that! 3am, and the party was over, crashed at Ramiya's (my cousin who played violin) in Bermondsey, barely an hours sleep, headed back to my home at 11, and left for lectures at 1........EXHAUSTED. But it was worth it.

Here's a list of the orchestra pieces. The ensemble consisted of Eastern as well as Western instruments.

1. Vinaayagane (Eastern classical- played by eastern)
2. Twister- overnight celebrity (western)
3. Jay Z- Big Pimpin (eastern, I wrote the music)
4. Hamma (Bollywood classic, western)
5. Marques Houston - Clubbin (eastern, I wrote the music)
6. Kannalane (Bollywood classic, western)
7. Sean Paul - Get Busy (eastern)
8.Michael Jackson - Billy Jean (Everyone)
9. Appadi poordu (Bollywood classic, everyone)
10. Ragupathy (Indian anthem, everyone)

for if nothing else the geriatric could be described as a "walking narcoleptic."

Walking Narcoleptic.

heavy, heavy eyes.
with all his summoned strength,
he tries to open them but
superglue clamps them shut

surreptitious and devastating and it
hammers, hammers,
hammers home a message
of intransigence and complete obstinacy
it is this
characteristic which keeps his
eyes all shut like.

jaded drugged and sallow of mind
inside his mind he thinks, this isn't happening.
but it is...it is...it is
this most prized visual emancipation
the innate strength required
it isn't happening

and carmine glows from the aether
and sodium yellow streetlights infiltrate
and tenderized moonlight coalesces
and jocund, garrulous inconsequentiality invades
if he could just try...
...but these are heavy, heavy eyes.

now then, this was something different. via a portent this psychic appeared to find a 'citizen erased'.

Break me in, teach us to cheat
And to lie and to cover up
What shouldn't be shared
And the truth's unwinding
Scraping away at my mind
Stop asking me to describe

For one moment
I wish you'd hold your stage
With no feelings at all
Open minded
I'm sure I used to be so free

Self expressed, exhausting for all to see
And to be what you want
And what you need
And the truth's unwinding
Scraping away at my mind
Stop asking me to describe
For one moment
I wish you'd hold your stage
With no feelings at all
Open minded
I'm sure I used to be so free

For one moment
I wish you'd hold your stage
With no feelings at all
Open minded
I'm sure I used to be so free

Wash me away
Clean your body of me
Erase all the memories
They'll only bring us pain
And I've seen, all I'll ever need to see.

answering machine contained various recordings. also referred to as his 'messages', they

MESSAGES

M1 NOVEMBER, DARK NOVEMBER

M2 (ROMANTIC) FANTASY

M3 SWAY

M4 SUPERNOVA

M5 BACK BEATS

M6 ALONG THE PROMENADE

M7 NATIVITY SCENE

M8 IRIDESCENCE FANTASIA

M9 SHAKE IT

M10 TIRED EYES

M11 LULLABYE

M12 SHOOTING STARS

NOTES

Work is now underway on this album, which will be my fifth. One thing I’m concentrating on is the level of production quality as I was not totally satisfied with this on the last album. Still, with limited equipment in what is essentially a bedroom, I suppose it can never compete with the major label releases of the day. Stylistically, Messages is centred around a kind of jazz. The main musical property explored throughout is structure. Sometimes the beginning is the end; there may be codettas before new material, and so on.

spectacular spectacular! this show must go on. half a dozen university students in halloween get-up malarkey

Recently returned from a weekend in Leeds which involved the Halloween Otley Run, the notorious pub crawl. It was good! Felt distinctly nauseous after gobbling my dinner down and getting through the first couple of pubs. But I was ok after, and we wound up at an Indian restaurant for a late supper. My costume involved a skeleton mask, Dracula cape, and some gloves which had a distinct psychedelic smell to them...

So now I'm back in good old SE London, and putting bits together for some new songs. At the moment I have 5 tracks which I'm working on.

left-wing minister adopted a right-wing policy leaving open allegations that "labour has no brain"

Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt has defended the plans for a partial ban on smoking in public places in England.

Ahead of the publication of the bill in Parliament on Thursday, she told the BBC that "many of us would have liked to have gone further and faster".

But Ms Hewitt said the plans would mean 99% of workplaces would be smoke-free. The fact private clubs and non-food pubs could continue to allow smoking should not detract from the positive measures in the bill, she said.

Ms Hewitt is thought to favour a full ban on smoking in all enclosed public spaces, and proposed a wider ban which would only have exempted sealed staff-free "smoking rooms" in non-food pubs.

But those plans were abandoned after rows with Cabinet colleagues - rows which ended with agreement to return to the partial ban proposed in Labour's election manifesto, drawn up by ex-health secretary John Reid.

Those manifesto plans had been ditched earlier this month after a three month consultation period reportedly concluded they were "unworkable" and that many pubs would just stop serving food.

'Wasted opportunity'

Ms Hewitt told BBC Radio 4's Today the plans had disadvantages, but said there were disadvantages with all the options.

She said: "The bill that I am introducing today is going to ban smoking in every office, in every factory, every shop, every restaurant, every public transport, virtually every enclosed public space and work space.

"This is an enormous step forward for public health... it is going to make it easier for people who want to give up smoking to do so... over time it will save thousands of lives."

Asked about the Cabinet splits, she said: "There is total agreement on 99% of the policy. On the 1%, not only in government but I think across the country, there was real disagreement.

"That is why we did what any organisation does in that situation, we sat down, we discussed it amongst ourselves - it spilled out a bit into the public but we discussed it among ourselves - and we agreed the way forward that is in line with the manifesto on which we were all re-elected five months ago."

Ms Hewitt said she still believed that a complete ban on smoking in enclosed public places, as planned or coming into force in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, was probably inevitable.

The bill includes a provision for the measures to be reviewed after three years.

She also stressed that there would be consultation on her plan to restrict smoking in exempted pubs to sealed "smoking rooms".

Reacting to the proposals, James Johnson, chairman of the British Medical Association, expressed his "utter disappointment" at the "wasted opportunity to protect the public's health".

Professor Alex Markham, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, said he was "utterly dismayed" at the plans.

Ms Hewitt is expected to highlight other parts of the bill as it is introduced into Parliament on Thursday.

The Health Bill also includes measures to tackle MRSA, new rules on managing controlled drugs, proposals to pave the way for reform of pharmacies, including new roles for pharmacy staff.

---

Methinks the government has screwed this one up a bit. As usual, the white paper represents New Labour's coveted "third way" of doing things, which any sane person in the country knows doesn't exist. You either do something properly or don't, there's no in between. I find the attitude of the "we can smoke because we're entitled to" camp particularly reprehensible. I suppose it would be similarly ok if I stood next to a smoker and slowly injected sulphuric acid into his bloodstream? Because hey, it's a free country and I can do what the hell I like. Apparently.

At this time, a lot has also been made of pollution in general. Some argue that if you're going to ban smoking in public, why not go the whole hog and ban cars, because they're so bad for global warming? I really wish someone would do a study into the effects of traffic light construction on global warming, because it's so obvious that if you make cars stop more, they expend more energy, thus contributing to ozone layer depletion. This is why fuel economy in urban areas is so markedly poor compared to motorway and rural driving. But I suppose it's much more convenient for the anti-motoring lobby to tarnish drivers with the same brush and depict us all as Satan. Dear God, we want to go where we want, when we want, instead of sharing the bus with some smelly paedophile, someone really must send in the exorcists!

was the night that the surveyor made an appallingly bad joke: "the fat cat cinq"

On to album number five then, which continues and expands upon the sorts of jazzy musical grammar found in Twenty Four Hours. There is no working title for it yet, and I'm busy doing drafts of the first track today, which at the moment is called Circles.

sense of deja vu achieved as familiar surroundings were the backdrop to a memorable night

Went to Leeds for a super long weekend, which culminated in a late night venture to none other than the good old Cockpit. Most of the housemates were busy, so I ended up going with Ryan and Chris. It was absolutely brilliant! What a night ... don't think I've ever seen so many foxes in one place. Met up with a girl Chris knew from Cumbria called Wendy, who was allegedly asking after me. (??!) Not quite sure what was going on there. Either way, I ended up walking home alone in the pouring rain - thankfully a guy at the house left me his keys so I could let myself in. Smelling of fags and booze, I crashed onto the sofa in the lounge and then drove home - in yet more rain. Lol. If anyone tells me they know a better night out for £3 on the door then I'd have to call them a liar!

recognition due for efforts if nothing else, although the nominal prize went to

The album is finally complete ... although I may or may not add a small piccolo part in to a track later if I can be bothered. It is light years ahead of the first demos I was producing 5 or 6 years ago! The track list is:

1 Coffee Morning 1:44
2 Put On Your Scuffed Size Tens 2:23
3 Motor Head (Constant Motion) 5:09
4 The Office Grind 5:03
5 Lunch To Go 2:41
6 How To Fall Asleep At Your Desk 5:40
7 Shutting Up Shop 4:01
8 Interlude 0:41
9 On The Prowl 3:36
10 A Walk In The Park 4:33
11 Inside The Restaurant 8:49
12 Hints of Romance 8:18
13 Afterthoughts: Surveying The Town 13:45
[1] Sound Asleep
[2] No Shelter For A Tramp
[3] Clubbing
[4] Ring Road Bingo Hall
[5] Sunrise

state of cosmological turmoil as labourer slaves on under the stars

For once something went right... I made $700 at poker. Should be enough to buy a Chinese.

Also, there are only 3 songs left to write on the album before it is complete. The final track (which by the way is now titled Afterthoughts: Surveying The Town, not Panoramic Monochrome Depths of Sleep) was finished today, and I am utterly exhausted. It's a huge track split into 5 smaller areas, each of which has its own subtitle. As you know, it's a concept album revolving around a 'day in the life' of a fictional character, and the final track surveys the various forms of nightlife as he sleeps. Like a film soundtrack, with cameras zooming in and around various locations in a town. The subtitles are:

1. Sound Asleep
2. No Shelter For A Tramp
3. Clubbing
4. Ring Road Bingo Hall
5. Sunrise

It has been structured in such a way that the final part of the track immediately segues into the first track on the album, so hitting repeat will give a continuous cycle.

political allies completely deserted him and consequently left to fend for himself when

Palpitations

As night's velvet claws
Obfuscate his vision
The futility of truth at once
Hailed with pure derision

Iridescent rays of light
Propagate around
The heart – it beats, it palpitates
But else there’s not a sound

Synchronised with lunar time
Eight vortices run deep
The inner evil in us all
‘twixt the world asleep.

Emasculated in his age
Cast out by those he knew
Demonised by rivals, yes,
Their lies became what’s true.

Reflections skew a watery grave
Pastoral scene on the wall
A clock chimes once, and then again,
Morosely in the hall.

A life is plundered, rendered void
Chastened must we be.
For all the good he thought he’d done
It’s clear for all to see.

It’s like that proverb, how’s it go?
“Do the best you can.”
A funeral, wreaths everywhere,
The truth: a cast out man.

continuously recorded 24/7 footage wore the reporter down. paid holiday leave was accepted until

A Blue Day has now been changed to All That Jazz (equally original, right?) after realising that there was about zero percent blues content in the songs that I'd written. Instead I'm aiming at a hybrid of jazz, modernism, and ambient noise. There will be 13 tracks and at the moment, 8 are complete. A tentative tracklisting is:

1 Coffee Morning*
2 Put On Your Scuffed Size Tens
3 Motor Head
4 The Office Grind
5 Lunch To Go
6 How To Fall Asleep At Your Desk*
7 Shutting Up Shop*
8 On The Prowl*
9 A Walk In The Park*
10 Inside The Restaurant*
11 Mood 3*
12 Hints of Romance*
13 Panoramic Monochrome Depths of Sleep

[*Asterisked tracks have been completed]

This is a concept album which revolves around a fictional character and 'a day in the life'. Some of the themes it explores are the mundanity of urban life, the extent to which machines dehumanise people, the existence of moral and ethical vacuums, the ways in which routine breaks down fresh approaches to things, etc.

a man, 21, of south east london has been told to "look at what he's doing" when playing with himself.

Today I lost $10 in poker to an 83 year old blind lady. (The firing squad is congregating at 9am tomorrow)

violent beast of london escaped from police net and remained at large and on the prowl after

Work has started on a new album (my fourth) which will have a decidedly blues feel to it. The provisional title is A Blue Day. (original or what?) Presently I'm busy arranging recorded parts for the first track, sketchily titled On the Prowl. Annoyingly, I only have 4 synthesised alto saxs at my disposal and they all sound proper shite. The alternative is to drag a saxophonist in, but I can't afford it. Perhaps this track will have to remain a trio for now. A second track should be done soon after re-arranging and neatening up some percussion.

market researcher felt that this particular man could be a target market

This looks fun.

====

Put an x in the bracket if you have:

(x)smoked a cigarette
( ) smoked a cigar
( ) made out with a member of the same sex
( ) crashed a friend's car
( ) stolen a car
( ) been in love
( ) been dumped
(x) shoplifted
(x) been fired
(x) been in a fist fight
( ) snuck out of my parent's house
(x) had feelings for someone who didn’t have them back
( ) been arrested
( ) made out with a stranger
( ) gone on a blind date
(x) lied to a friend
(x) had a crush on a teacher
(x) skipped school
( ) slept with a co-worker
(x) seen someone die
(x) been to Canada
( ) been to Mexico
(x) been on a plane
(x) thrown up in a bar
( ) purposely set a part of myself on fire
(x) eaten Sushi
( ) been snowboarding
(x) been moshing at a concert
( ) been in an abusive relationship
(x) taken painkillers
(x) love someone or miss someone right now
(x) laid on your back and watched cloud shapes go by
(x) made a snow angel
( ) had a tea party
(x) flown a kite
(x) built a sand castle
(x) gone puddle jumping
(x) played dress up [me in drag, a winning combination]
(x) jumped into a pile of leaves
(x) gone sledding
(x) cheated while playing a game
(x) been lonely
(x) fallen asleep at work/school [you can only listen to so much of Dr Dancy]
(x) used a fake id
(x) watched the sun set
( ) felt an earthquake
(x) touched a snake [thanks to Claire]
( ) slept beneath the stars
(x) been tickled
(x) been robbed
(x) been misunderstood
( ) pet a reindeer/goat
( ) won a contest
(x) run a red light
( ) been suspended from school
(x) been in a car accident [damn 4x4s]
( ) had braces
(x) felt like an outcast
( ) eaten a whole pint of ice cream in one night
(x) had deja vu
( ) danced in the moonlight!
(x) hated the way you look [doesn't everyone at some point?]
(x) witnessed a crime
( ) pole danced
( ) questioned your heart
( ) been obsessed with post-it notes
(x) been lost
(x) been to the opposite side of the country
(x) swam in the ocean [not very well]
(x) felt like dying
(x) cried yourself to sleep
(x) played cops and robbers
(x) recently colored with crayons/colored pencils/markers [if only to help my 2 year old cousin's kid]
( ) sung karaoke
(x) paid for a meal with only coins [only in Malaysia]
(x) done something you told yourself you wouldn't
(x) made prank phone calls
(x) laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
( ) caught a snowflake on your tongue
( ) danced in the rain
(x) written a letter to Santa Claus
( ) been kissed under a mistletoe
( ) watched the sun set with someone you cared about
(x) blown bubbles
( ) made a bonfire on the beach
(x) crashed a party
(x) gone rollerskating
( ) had a wish come true
( ) worn pearls
( ) jumped off a bridge
( ) screamed penis in class
(x) ate dog/cat food [it was a dare and they gave me extra jelly ... sobs]
( ) told a complete stranger you loved them
(x) kissed a mirror
(x) sang in the shower
(x) had a dream that you married someone
( ) glued your hand to something
( ) got your tongue stuck to a flag pole
( ) kissed a fish
(x) worn the opposite sexes clothes
( ) been a cheerleader
(x) sat on a roof top
(x) screamed at the top of your lungs [alton towers jen?!? lol!]
( ) done a one-handed cartwheel
( ) talked on the phone for more than 6 hours
(x) stayed up all night
(x) didn't take a shower for a week
( ) pick and ate an apple right off the tree
( ) climbed a tree
( ) had a tree house
( ) is scared to watch scary movies alone
( ) believe in ghosts
( ) have more then 30 pairs of shoes
( ) worn a really ugly outfit to school just to see what others say
( ) gone streaking
(x) played chicken
( ) been pushed into a pool with all your clothes
( ) been told you're hot by a complete stranger
( ) broken a bone
(x) been easily amused
( ) caught a fish then ate it
(x) made porn [man boobs porn oh yeah!]
( ) caught a butterfly
(x) laughed so hard you cried [why stop at crying?]
( ) mooned/flashed someone
(x) had someone moon/flash you
(x) cheated on a test
( ) have a Britney Spears CD
(x) forgotten someone's name
(x) slept naked
(x) seen or been near a shark
(x) Been so drunk, you were still drunk the next day
( ) french braided someones hair
( ) gone skinny dipping in a pool
(x) been kicked out of your house

"RRGA". talking in acronyms has now been scientifically proven to extend your life by up to 15% dependant upon your geographic location.

I got back home yesterday and the first thing it has done for two consecutive days is rain heavily. I miss Canada already.

moosehead

Canada is great! :) Writing this from my uncle's desktop whilst the 34 degree heat continues outside. We have been into the 'sticks' to visit my cousin, and to a lakeside cottage - each for a few days. So far the weather has been truly amazing. I've had to buy a new camera since my sister thought it would be a clever idea to pour a bucket of water over my old one. The new one is slightly chunkier but is 5.1MP instead of 4.1, and 6.1x total zoom instead of 5. Got a low price on it because the model was to be discontinued - $250 Canadian - about 125 quid. Pretty good stuff.

Plans for tomorrow are to visit a major water park, to visit my grandmother (on my mum's side) the day after, and then to spend a few days at my cousin's trailer, where no doubt much vodka-consuming will ensue.

Must dash.

pandemic of moose suggested that little was alright outside

Mad rush now as I'm trying to sort out all the last little bits before I go off on holiday to Canada for 2 weeks. I'll be thinking of all of you while I'm tanning myself in 34 degree heat! Mwahahahaha. Got some Dostoevsky to read on the plane as I'm purposefully trying to be intellectual this summer. It wouldn't do to have brain fade if I were to be accepted at a place for Masters starting in September, or whenever it is.

Tragic Magic

What?
Oh, nothing...
No, seriously...?
No, seriously nothing!
Oh ok then.

did this salutation "Carpe Diem" work for you? could we hear it again in THX certified sound?

Really quite sleepy today. Yesterday evening was a marathon of a night. The drinking started in earnest with J Sris drinking neat vodka in the confines of home, after which we all piled into Sam's car, went back to her place, listened to some music, had yet more vodka and coke, and caught a cab to The Library. (a pub which is not to be confused with a place of learning)

The Library found us meeting up with several old housemates - Vicki, Julianne, James, and some guys they live with now. My memory isn't quite what it was - their names have already eluded me. For that, I apologise! After The Library came Drydock, in which there was much mirth. Also, several people passed comment on my t-shirt ("Vote for Pedro", after the Napoleon Dynamite film) so that's good.

After being rejected from Revolution by the bouncer - you really shouldn't wear a tracksuit in the evening, Dan! - we pondered going to Hard Rock Cafe for cocktails. This evening was supposedly about me buying people belated birthday drinks; in fact, I realised I hadn't bought Sam any. But then Bob, Dan, and Ben all piped up, so I've ended up buying 5 rounds for 4 people. Ouch. Most of the poker winnings have been credited onto my credit card, but most pubs don't take them - this was the reason for thinking about Hard Rock.

But in the end, hunger took over and a short trip to McDonalds (can hear the sniggers from here) ensued. The last stop of the night was Carpe Diem, one of our favourite pubs. Sam bought a ridiculous amount of tequila, considering, and Bob chatted up some guys who looked like plumbers/labourers. In the end, I wound up walking home with Ben because I couldn't be arsed to call a cab in. Now I realise just how clever I am, as I have multiple blisters all over my feet.

Fell asleep by 4 and was in the car by 10 to drive home. Will probably return to Leeds in October for some cheap self-promotion of the new album on student radio. I have contacts ...hehe. Over and out.

hello

Hey this is Bob, jamie's ex housemate. Just finished my 3rd resit of 4 today, after a very lazy 2nd year at uni. Last exam's next Thursday, yay! Going back to my home in London after the exams, gona try and get a job or some kinda work experience. Big match on Sunday, Arsenal are playing Chelsea, i reckon my team Arsenal will nick it 1-0. Turkish GP's gona be interesting, a new track for the drivers to learn. All in all, its gona be a great weekend. Have a good one.

journalist had intentions of hosting press conference later to explain lack of impartiality

Placed some money on Raikkonen to win the Turkish GP, seeing as he won in Hungary to put his title bid back on track, therefore he will be going out last in qualifying on what should be a moderately dusty track. This will give him huge benefits in terms of grip and outright pace, and McLaren can therefore alter his strategy to suit. This is not to write off the competition from Alonso and Renault, but it is a track which should suit the advantages of the McLaren. Fingers crossed, then. First practice is 9am tomorrow British time.

Poker update: Made £2,880 since the start of the month, but have lost £800 in the last 3 days. Will stop for a week or so I think...

recognised with due sadness that she was "in a different league" in every respect

Saw the video to Wake Me Up When September Ends earlier. The portrayal of life in it absolutely devastated me, how there were these perfectly innocent teens playing happily in buttercup fields, without a care in the world... you can come from a small town and have an inseparable love of your life, or you can have commodities and materialite goods which you take for granted like me, and have nothing in the relationship sphere. Or maybe that's just because Evan Rachel Wood is one of the hottest looking actresses around. Either way I felt temporarily crushed.

agency was set up to alleviate gambling problems and provide consumers with information

Today has been a great day for playing online poker, even more so than usual. I went out last night and drank heavily, ending up at a strip club and a casino. I got in at 4am, awoke at 8am thanks to the stupid fucking hamster, and played some poker. By midday I was $216 to the good. A further £34 followed from a simple Ace high flush, the best you can get. Then I slept for awhile because I couldn't actually keep my eyes opened.

I awoke a few hours later to find my account mysteriously credited with £500 - a previous withdrawal had not been successful so the money had been returned to myself. Lost £30 of this at a $2.5/5 table.By 8pm I had won a further £136, and by 11pm another £106.

The total amount I've won since I've been in Leeds (Friday night) now stands at a rather cool £867.79

LOL! :)

chronic bout of gross tedium took the explorer to new yet seemingly familiar places

Returned to Leeds for 4 or 5 days because there's sweet FA to do down here in Sutton. Meant in the nicest way of course, but really... the drive up was terrible - it took 6 hours. There were floods and delays everywhere. Call this summer?! At least I'll get some proper sunshine soon when I go to Canada for a couple of weeks. It sounds really good - I had a mate called Phil who did English, and he did a year abroad in Canada. According to him, Canadian girls dig the English accent. Time to put that theory to the test methinks. It's absolutely insane how quickly the last year has gone.

completion of project came as a great relief to all concerned

Tonight I'm exhausted but it has been worth it, for Marina: The Underwater Album is now complete after extensive re-editing and mixing. Track 11, Propulsion, didn't make the grade, so in its first, purest form, there are 13 tracks lasting 61:25 - see below. Now, are there any agents or A&R guys reading this?!

aquatic connotations looked promising as he bargained with cable television companies

Looking at a local (ish) studio in Kent tomorrow for two reasons, first as they have an advert promising professional mixes of half a dozen of your songs for £300 or so, and second, they write library music to commission. It would sure beat working in Tesco's. The studio is situated near Bluewater, the massive shopping centre located in the Kent quarry, which is fairly amusing as I'm putting the finishing touches to Marina.

Marina is a collection of tracks I have written in my spare time - the idea behind them is 'underwater music', that is to say, acousmatic and ambient stuff which would compliment a nature programme or something. It's never gonna sell 3 million units and go wildly popular, but who knows, someone might want it, like Sky Travel or Discovery. The track list is:

1 Underwater Life 5:05

2 Reflections 4:40

3 The Dark Recesses 4:33

4 Sandbed 6:06

5 Attack 3:50

6 Lurking in the Shadows 4:38

7 Nightfall 3:47

8 Interlude 0:57

9 Ultrasound 5:26

10 Falling Away 3:36

11 Movements 5:49

12 Coral Wall 5:15

13 Timelessness 7:44

Total 61:25

It should be ready in a couple of weeks, maybe less if I get my arse into gear.

effected the transformation from mere literature to a multimedia experience

New audio clip added in profile - so now you know where my Blog name comes from... I edited it myself for length.

credentials appeared intact as sub-deputy announces new editorial.

The second post on 25/02/04 has been edited - just realised nobody would find it tucked away in the depths of Blogger unless I announced it.

new buzzword assigned to transportation concerns, this being Fumi-Gate

The local council has gone ahead with its proposals for half a dozen sets of traffic lights to be installed on a busy stretch along a busy local road. Excellent, so we will all be stopping more then, which will take longer to complete our journeys, which will create more pollution and harm the environment, which will upset the environmentalists who want cars off the road in the first place. Circular logic, isn't it?

Everyone whines about how dangerous and lethal it is to speed. Consider this scenario: Three cars on a motorway. Two drive at 80mph, the third drives at 20mph. Which car is the liability? In this instance, it should be obvious that the third car is, because of the speed differential. But nobody has actually thought that lack of speed can be just as dangerous.

Motorway regulations are an antiquated set of procedures designed to deal with the cars of 20 years ago, from the first Renault 5s to the Ford Escort. When the speed limit was set at 70mph, it took into account the design of the day and the potential the cars had for exceeding that speed limit. By most standards, it was a comfortable speed that could be usurped by a tiny minority of fast, expensive supercars. If you raced along at 100+ mph, you did so at your own risk. However, that has all changed. Modern cars are infinitely more reliable, and so are more capable of attaining higher speeds. Yet for all that, the organisations and legislators governing motoring in the country turn a blind eye. The rules governing motorway driving are not commensurate with the age we live in.

It's not that people are incapable of driving safely past 80mph - many do it all the time. Even 90mph is safe. You adapt to the conditions in which you drive - only a fool would go so fast in blinding rain or on black ice. It's pretty pathetic that the Government and police want to catch anyone doing 1mph over a certain speed limit than do vaguely constructive things with their time, like catch serial murderers and terrorists.

The other advantage of raising the speed limit is that it will logically take less time to complete a long-distance journey. Leaving Leeds at 8pm, I would be home in London by 11pm. The journey is 220 miles, so that's an average speed of 73.3mph, if you count the town roads at either end. I have taken as long as double that to do it in the middle of the day.

The main cause for motorway congestion is the three lane system. Truck 1 drives down the far left lane at 48mph. Truck 2 pulls out to overtake, in the middle lane, at 50mph. It seems like an age before truck 2 overtakes truck 1, but it will do so at the expense of holding up 7 faster moving cars behind it. In that event, the cars which have braked to accommodate truck 2 are likely going to pull out into the far right lane, possibly causing a serious accident, as the far right lane must necessarily be the fastest on the motorway.

It is no use building 4, 5 or 6 lane motorways to address this problem either: the problem is one that starts and ends with lane discipline and a disregard for speed differences. Everyone, if they have read their Highway Code, should know that the middle and far right lanes are overtaking ones, and you pull in once you have completed your manoeuvre. Why then is the majority of motorway traffic in the far right lane, with the two left lanes virtually empty? It is because people seem quite happy to discover their right indicator but far less to discover their left one. Sloppy driving causes people to be held up and therefore takes longer for everyone's journey to be completed. And once you have pulled out from the middle lane into the far right to overtake, you start to become the problem if you have not overtaken that car soon enough, because you will hold someone else up.

Better lane discipline is required, not the expansion of the motorway programme. Then suddenly all the problems are solved:
1: All the tree-hugging environmentalists will be happy because more rural areas will be saved from being built over.
2: All the motorists will be happy because they will be driving quicker.
3: The government will be happy because it is saving money on not building any more motorways.

Think, Labour - use your brain, not your wallet.

1967: new motion picture starring Anne Bancroft and Dustin Hoffman, titled "The Graduate."

al-Jazweel, of Fulham, was detained after police found evidence of chemical mixing agents at his flat

Will the madness of the terrorists ever stop?

shrouded in mystery as the student failed to appear at the graduation ceremony

It's astonishing to think how quickly the last 3 years have gone. Analogically, I suppose the most meaningful comparison would be with a sped up tape. It has imparted a curious, mild form of depression onto me, as though I am (well, were) a bright-eyed fresher in 2002, now complete with degree certificate - just one more student on the boundless conveyor belt of higher education, a mere minion in this machine which I can never hope to change.

Curiosity impels me to think deeply about how things can change so quickly. The pubs which I and others once used to frequent will now be taken over by groups of younger students, the next batch. The nightclubs we all danced in and got drunk in will become someone else's pulling ground. It fascinates me how the places and ultimate experience remain the same, but the people are different.

Rather than be filled with joy for graduating well - although I am pleased - the hardest part in life is still to come. A certificate does not necessarily guarantee a job; a graduate does not necessarily make a successful husband, father, son. Creative arts industries are not always about the level to which you are intellectually capable, but the contacts whom you know and the positions you can get yourself into. Artistic success is one of the hardest things to capture, for a great many of us are very talented yet fail to impact upon their desired sector.

liberty diversity equality promote good race relations at all costs must have chivalry die before you sir oh yes oh yes

So, you have probably heard that London's taken a pounding yesterday, on my birthday. I was due to travel to London by train today to see the Queen/Paul Rodgers gig but obviously won't now, especially as it's been cancelled. Not to mention, that if they've taken out tubes and buses then the next thing in line is overground rail. And what line links the G8 summit in Edinburgh to London? GNER East Coast.

It's no use blaming relaxed immigration controls on this mess either - the IRA have been bombing Britain for the last 30 years. It's been said before, but if there's any relief to be had, it's that things could've been a lot worse. As a whole, London is quite densely packed together as a city. There could've been chemical or biological attacks, or even bigger explosions - so 40 is a relatively light death toll. It's a warning bell. For what?

Tens, if not hundreds of millions have been spent on national security, and there will always be the finger-pointing crowd who ask where the money have gone. It's not that the people who distribute this money aren't trying their hardest, rather that it's unfeasible to constantly monitor all potential sites at risk.

It's almost amusing to think that barely a week ago, plans to introduce compulsory ID cards were being shelved in the Commons, and that it might now become a reality. Who cares if you're part of the bleeding-heart civil liberties group? If some shrapnel tore off your pretty face, would you care that freedom was granted to all and sundry who entered the country?

MI5 also want to double their staff in the manhunt for the cell responsible. Good news, until you remember it's the same MI5 who have their 'private' headquarters outside Vauxhall station.

Most people of any given faith and colour have learnt to live harmoniously. The few exceptions - terrorists among them - should be hunted down and terminated as society clearly has no need or desire to accommodate them a minute longer.

convivial, smiling, he recorded many happy returns on his 21st year

:)

I bought myself an electric guitar for my birthday, which is very pleasing since it makes a crapload of noise, and means that there is a new weapon in the armoury to fight the noisy Stella-drinking chav neighbours. It's a Squier Stratocaster, so I think I got a great deal with a Line6 amp thrown in for £250. Score.

In the evening we went for dinner at the local Italian restaurant, which was delicious. I had minced veal suffused with red wine, garlic, and parmesan cheese.

Today has not been the most fun-packed, all-out adventurous assault which others sometimes plan on their 21st birthdays, but then again, I have warm food in my stomach, the love of my family, and a future brimming with hope. You could certainly do much less, and I remain thankful for my blessings.

students had previously been warned not to venture downtown after dark

Saturday night saw us celebrating an ex-housemate's 20th at the 'industrial' end of town. (Industrial is a word that may also be used to describe the strength of vodka consumed.)

Mysteriously, a guitar appeared in our lounge the next day, I have a splitting headache, and Bob is nowhere to be seen. There is, however, a camera, which contains on it ample video footage of Bob claiming to be Princess Diana. Now to post it off to Denis Norden for £250.

While eating breakfast, it has also just occurred to me that Bob will never again need to buy Durex - the Pepperami wrappers should do nicely.

automotive festival told to change name after politically correct mannequin sensed sexual implications

Had a great time at Goodwood Festival of Speed. Here is a pic of the sexiest car there.

Leeds year 3 in photos

Prem and Kristy: the challenge to become the ultimate clown had begun.



Gizmo



3 nights worth



Collapse



Bob and the gay Frenchman part 1



Bob and the gay Frenchman part 2



At the rodeo



L-R: Saar, Ben, Sam

meanwhile, results confirmed today in an extraordinary move

OVERALL RESULT: 2:1

Music of Bernard Herrmann 73/90 [2ND BEST IN CLASS]
Composition 60/90
Dissertation 62/90
Analysis of Symphonic Repertoire 66/90
Music of Anthony Braxton 73/90 [BEST IN CLASS]

peculiar sense of freedom was celebrated. not apparently jaded

and boy does it taste good

was noted that his artistic expression came into tension with an urge to make money to survive

Module: Texts & Contexts – The Music of Anthony Braxton (MUSI3722)

Module Tutor: Dr Luke Windsor

Give a balanced and reasoned assessment of Braxton’s music.

“The limits of my language are the limits of my world”

(Wittgenstein, The Tractatus, 5.6)

Anthony Braxton is a controversial figure whose works draw on a multitude of aspects from a variety of traditions around the world. In addition to being influenced by elements from seemingly disparate musical traditions, he is considered to be a deeply introspective philosophical individual.

In his work, one perceives that mechanistically fusing the disjunct is the dominant compositional process. However, his philosophical ideology underpinning his creative output makes the model of tripartition relevant: he believes that things occur in threes – “past, present, future; mental, physical, spiritual; restructuralism, stylism, traditionalism”.[1] This invites an appraisal of discourse and theory: on which of the tripartite levels does this consideration of Braxton’s work apply to? Typically, tripartition concerns three levels concerned with the kinds of sounds present in the work, the structure and logic of the work, and any extramusical directions. These roughly correlate to the poietic, neutral and esthesic levels respectively.[2]^{, [3]} For example, it can be seen that a core component of Braxton’s processes are based around the neutral level as he adopts an approach which is as close to complete objectivity as one can get. A far better approach is to say that elements of each level are combined here, but with the neutral level featuring most prominently. The esthesic level is important too, as reception histories throughout Braxton’s compositional career suggest that, where his work seems to embrace characteristics from multiple genres, the main proponents of each of these generally chastise or altogether ignore his work.

Returning to the concept of objectivity in music performance, it may initially appear that illustration of technical procedure and proficiency takes precedence over conventional musical systems such as harmony and metre. When I say that ‘technical proficiency is valued more in a Braxtonian world than other conventional musical systems’, I do not mean that Braxton completely expunges the entire Western canon of music history. Rather, his techniques obliquely acknowledge and consolidate upon this history. This statement is re-inforced by Braxton’s view that “we have to remember the importance of fundamentals.”[4]

As Braxton himself observed, “all of the masters have demonstrated a unique way of affirming their personalities in the music.”[5] This highlights the importance of developing and maintaining his own personal voice in a way which conforms to the practices he adopts. I think this is what Braxton meant when he refers continuously to the concept of restructuralism throughout the Lock interviews. Furthermore, it should not necessarily be a reflection on Braxton’s music that it initially appears so obfuscated and convoluted. It may be argued that merely because we have a better understanding of other (non-Braxtonian) musical languages and means of artistic expression, this should not preclude the possibility of there being other systems in the musical world. If anything, perhaps it is a reflection on us that, generically speaking, we lack the capacity to commit ourselves to new means of understanding. This is extremely well illustrated by the prevalent attitudes of critics in the early Seventies: Braxton’s Four Compositions (1973) received widespread acclaim purely because of an overriding perception that he had shunned the ‘aimlessness’ of new music, and “thus maintained the formally conservative nature of pre-1960s jazz.”[6]

Braxton became active in jazz at a time when the concept of freedom was being expressed in contrasting ways. The motion towards freedom in jazz started in the Forties with figures such as Lennie Tristano, Warne Marsh, and Paul Desmond, with what was referred to as the ‘intellectual West Coast style’. This was furthered and consolidated by the jazz of the late Fifties and early Sixties on the opposite side of the USA – the ‘hard East Coast freedom’. Rather than list dates, it may be more fruitful to talk in terms of ‘waves’ of players. For instance, key figures in the ‘second wave’ of jazz developments would include Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, Sonny Rollins and Cecil Taylor. Coleman was of particular importance as he established a certain freedom from the rigidity of pre-defined frameworks – although it is widely acknowledged that there were precedents. By placing an emphasis on melody, Coleman rejected European approximations of Afro-American music, which can only strengthen a long-held collective belief that the rhythmic constituent of jazz is of African origin.[7] However, it is important to remember that no singular strand of musical history is responsible for influencing Braxton. By his own admission, he was also interested in the religious mysticism of contemporaries such as Sun Ra, by the instrumental manufacturing techniques of Harry Partch, and by modal extemporisation in the work of Miles Davis: “a tradition-centred synthesist, he would […] make sense of the anarchy of the past by redefining it aesthetically in the context of the mainstream.”[8]

In some respects, the theorizing of Braxton’s music is both inevitable and unavoidable, due to not only the self-inflicted intellectualisation he brings to his compositions, but also the complex terminology surrounding much of his creative output. Furthermore, it is important to remember that Braxton did not consider the world of post-war American music to be easily separable into distinct categories. Condoning such an attitude meant that “he was liberated from the conventional notions of genre, style, and value.”[9] Inferred under this liberation is the opportunity to create and develop types of musical language based on various historical constructs.

This liberation from convention came about, in part, by the processes of social and political change which were occurring in Chicago from 1966-69. It was “an examination of all that was new [and] a time of social upheaval.”[10] This change was of vital importance if Braxton’s music was to be understood in a new context: for the first time, music created and produced by minority group in society was not automatically repudiated. Braxton had been particularly active in the AACM since its inception in 1965, and upon joining, he found it to be a major benefit, as it put him in contact with several like-minded musicians. A by-product of this was the inauguration of the Creative Construction Company, with Leo Smith and Leroy Jenkins. However, by 1969 he was beginning to seek different challenges and ultimately find other players, which culminated in him forming a group called ‘Circle’ with Chick Corea, Dave Holland and Barry Altschul. The unifying feature of the AACM was a challenge to conventions of American music which, paradoxically, was beginning to challenge itself as one of four reactionary musical currents. The AACM could be described as an ‘organisation of marginality’ if one defines marginality as

“a group who finds its desire to absorb and emulate the culture of a dominant group in an attempt to attain and enjoy the latter’s privileges and status, in tension with its urge to continue to identify with many of its own central cultural traditions.”[11]

The AACM was at the centre of the first of these musical currents, termed the ‘Chicago Black Jazz Avant-Garde’. The AEC (Art Ensemble of Chicago) would also come to prominence – Braxton himself played with musicians from the AEC, among them Joseph Jarman. One of the principal aims of the Chicago Black Jazz Avant-Garde was to consolidate and develop a stylistic assimilation of prior African and European musical characteristics; fundamentally, this meant the merging of African rhythms with European harmony. Braxton quite clearly explores this train of thought in composition 5, written for piano in 1968. In his own writings, he notes that “composition 5 was written without a formal plan or imposed structure. […] Each section was written with respect to its basic language criteria.”[12] An analysis of this composition may be found in Appendix A.

The second of these, known as the ‘European Serial Avant-Garde’, concerned itself with serialistic techniques founded on the concept of Pointillism – that is to say, the systematic scattering and fragmentation of melody in a stylistically homogenous way. Interestingly, Marilyn Crispell, the pianist in Braxton’s quartet, has been identified as performing in such a manner: “[She] plays more pointillistically.”[13] In particular, there was a focus in this avant-garde on timbre, rhythm, space, indeterminacy, layering, and a return to large-scale ideas.

The third of these was what became known as the American Experimental Tradition. Its key features were those of montage, layering, indeterminacy, use of existent materials, (particularly in a patriotic sense) and small scale repetition. This tradition, in effect, laid the groundwork for the inventions of minimalism and process music, as exploited by Glass, Reich, Cage, and Ives, amongst others. Non-musical instruments were sometimes included under this framework, as Ives’ The Unanswered Question (1908) shows, including an instruction for a pianist to use a piece of wood to form a cluster chord. The features of montage and layering can also be seen in the analysis of Composition 5. It may be argued that Braxton was as true an experimentalist as Ives in the sense that both had a profound understanding of their respective heritages, which they both utilised in their work.

The fourth of these, occurring from the mid-1960s onwards, was known as British Free Improvisation, a term associated with Derek Bailey and Evan Parker, the former of which Braxton performed with in 1974. The main concept behind this was in the shunning of pre-planned materials, and the subsequent advocacy of venturing into the musical unknown.

Broadly speaking, then, these four musical currents showed that there was a distinct move away from the confines of rigidity in traditional musical forms and structures, which occurred simultaneously on both sides of the Atlantic. However, this freedom was far from ubiquitous: it must be remembered that freedom may not necessarily be the terminus for all the aforementioned. As demonstrated above, Braxton had at least a foothold in all the major currents of the day. According to Braxton, “language is shaped by the values of its users … people tend to equate abstraction with negativity.”[14] Therefore, if he was interested in developing a language music for saxophone (a concept of abstraction most neatly subsumed under the avant-garde experimentalism and European serialistic methods) then such a language would initially have had a limited number of, one presumes, reasonably intelligent users. This is a great irony, because the number of people interested in abstract means of expression, and by extension Braxton’s creative work exploiting abstraction, would have helped preserve its original values.

Another major Western development was that of the tempered scale. A key exponent of this was Harry Partch. ‘Temperament’, according to Partch, is defined as “a system which robs its intervals of their purity.”[15] These developments were at the detriment of the temporary advances in improvisation. Braxton is acknowledged as being influential in its subsequent re-introduction.

For Braxton, the musical world was not about clear, distinct delineation but a continual evolution of several assimilated styles, none of which were in stasis. This may well be something that he had in common with his fellow countrymen: “The young black composers who emerged during the mid-century years were more eclectic … [they] drew freely upon widely divergent styles.”[16] To use Braxton’s own terminology, such an evolution could be labelled re-structuralist. He defines this as “the phenomenon of change in the structural properties of an information continuum.”[17] His own personal listening is a reflection on this inclusive attitude, which in turn is showed in his compositions. There are two implicit dangers in the theorising of Braxton’s work: in his book, Lock attempts to place a rigid framework upon the types of feeder material evident in Braxton’s compositional processes. If Braxton claims, as he does, that his core materials are in a continual state of evolution, it suggests that there must be a finite limit to the use and relevance of fixed paradigms and diagrammatic sketches. The other danger is that music historians will in time showcase Braxton as a founder (if not the apotheosis) of black experimentalism whose work was foregrounded in the industrialised West. Rather than uncover similar musicians equally deserving yet devoid of recognition, history seems set to apply a certain commodificatory process to Braxton and his body of work, permanently making him an iconoclast: “As soon as original innovations which signify subculture are translated to commodities and made generally available, they are frozen.”[18]

According to Heffley, a completely objective approach to Braxton’s quartet music is appropriated by means of an understanding of the spiritual and anthropological functions underpinning his compositional processes: “It [the quartet instrumentation] covers both African and Western and masculine and feminine poles of the American middle ground as voiced by the instruments.”[19] Undoubtedly, Braxton considered the percussion and bass to be representative of African poles whilst the saxophone and guitar were representative of Western poles. This is important because Braxton is attempting to reconcile more than just musical parameters within his work: he is also attempting, along with his many contemporaries, to re-introduce a spiritual aspect of music. This is one of the single biggest criticisms of twentieth (and indeed twenty first) century music - that it is created and produced to satiate material requirement, as opposed to fulfillance of broader functions in society, which might include dirge songs, laments, or politically-oriented songs. Yet Braxton is more than just an experimentalist: he is attempting to counter a widespread perception of inconsequentiality in modern music by redefining it in terms of existent works. As an approach, this has striking similarities to a disquisitional method outlined by a musicologist called Tagg twenty five years later. Tagg was the chief advocate of what became known as the ‘hermeneutic/semiological’ method – that is to say, popular music could be analysed by means of ‘surrogate songs’ functioning as meta-analytical objects. By combining the initial objection with extramusical fields of association (something also concerned with the esthesic level in the theoretical model of tripartition) one can analyse the extent of ‘inter-objective comparison.’[20]

In South America, slaves working in the plantations came from a variety of African countries. It naturally followed that the slaves possessed a difference in culture and thus no shared language, possibly even no shared religion. Anthropological evidence suggests that, where possible, the slaves practised funeral dances, ring shouts, and other traditional forms of music making. Since the days of religious persecution circa 1890, a raised influx of slaves into South America in the intervening decades meant that “slaves and free Negroes had contact under circumstances of camaraderie that promoted a lowering of barriers.”[21] It follows that the slaves were exposed to British and American folk songs and hymns, in which a certain codificatory process – one of encoding – was applied by the slaves and integrated into the songs which they knew. Christianity, in the world of the slaves, took on something of a double entendre as a means of salvation and respite. Yet for all the hardship endured by the slaves, it seems that “the religious music […] is … pervaded by a sense of change, transcendence, ultimate justice, and personal worth.”[22] The early twentieth century provided a reason for slave labour acquisition, fuelling notions that those of dark skin were somehow socially and morally beneath their owners. Evidence shows a mass migration of blacks from South to North America, in the hope of finding new opportunities. This effectively signalled a growing sense of impatience and distrust at their collective poor treatment, brought about by “a conformative mode [of black artists] that would last until the 1960s.”[23] This dissent culminated in the civil rights movement championed by Martin Luther King. As of 1963, Congress passed amendments and laws which prohibited any form of discrimination. In a social and political context, the timing could hardly have been better for Braxton, as an aspiring musician. This strand of history encouraged liberalism and diversity in a way that was previously unthinkable in American history, and consequently made audiences more receptive to a wider source pool of musics.

Braxton was in many ways the antithesis to the Western concert tradition. First and foremost, he encouraged improvisation, something that would never concur with the ideology of those in art music unless it had been fully conceptualized beforehand.[24] Second, in marked contrast to group improvisation seen in Braxton’s works, art music very much espoused the soloistic improvisation. Third, he advocated a form of experimentalism which was totally at odds with the sterile absoluteness of the Western art music environment, a kind of clinicism which prized almost above anything else the dedication of the performers in realising the classical masterwork to an unflinching degree of accuracy.

Analysing composition 5, (excerpts of which are included on the CD) it is clear that a balance has been struck between improvisation and Braxton’s own notation. For example, the way in which Braxton assigns virtually every note its own dynamic suggests that there is a kind of parametrical hierarchy at work here, in much the same way as serial music specifies a certain set of musical parameters throughout a work. This may mean that there are aspects of serial music influencing Braxton’s compositional processes, but this is something he denies outright in his composition notes. The way in which Braxton has constructed melodic material here is extremely reminiscent of Webern’s approach to his Three Little Pieces for Violoncelle and Piano. (op. 11) By referencing the serial composer, attention is draw to the disjunct, fragmentary nature of composition 5. The performer is informed that he/she has a certain degree of freedom and responsibility. The only major difference is that the latter shows a bi-symmetry of melodic contour whilst the former is a series of linear constructs.[25]

In a broader sense, it can be seen that Braxton reconciles the improvisatory aspect of his native Afro-American heritage with that of the newer European musical avant-gardes, as demonstrated in the relative freedom entrusted to the performer. Braxton elucidates as much: “I have chosen this approach […] to capture the elasticity of the creative improvising musician.”[26] This is why traditional barriers of mediation between composer and performer are torn down here, and possibly why those in the art music establishment have never been truly comfortable with his work – in the latter there exists a clearly defined separation between the composer, performer, and audience. Consider:

The more we behave as musical consumers, treating music as some kind of electronically mediated commodity, or lifestyle accessory, the less compatible our behaviour becomes with nineteenth-century conceptions of the composer’s authority.[27]

Another way in which this composition varies from classical pieces is the methods used in preparation of impending sections. Braxton conceived of this piece as having several juxtaposed sections exploiting various language types, but there is virtually no preparation here. This lies in contrast to a classical piece which carefully sets up key changes.

The term ‘sound world’ is of relevance here. In abstract terms, a musical work can be viewed as an entity which is foregrounded at a concert. What this composition aims to do is to provide some semblance of a pointillist backdrop; that is, to invoke a sense of spatiality in which new heuristics can be explored. Moreover, this kind of fragmentation and ‘continuous discontinuity’ functions as a form of loose homogenous texture. Although the inherent nature of Braxton’s material in this composition is heterogenous, the processes - which transform it and shape it into a composition in its own right - change its classification. Then there are the obvious metaphysical and cosmological aspects of this work, when one considers the interconnections between spatial states.

When Braxton talks about pulse dynamics and pulse structures, I think that he is referring back to the rudiments of music theory: that is to say, “musical sounds are derived from vibrations striking with regularity and rapidity upon the atmosphere.”[28] In a tempered scale, naturally occurring differentials in vibrations offset pulsations. The differentials in pulsations give rise to the fundamental principle underpinning tempered scales: that is, a geometrically progressing series, each of which is defined and functionalized by an iterative sequence. Pulse dynamics, which can generate larger structural shapes, are therefore one of many variables in a parametrical hierarchy. Although this composition does not make use of serial procedures, it is undeniable that the exponents of this technique deeply influenced him, along with other experimentalists. When Pierre Boulez opened the IRCAM institute in Paris, Braxton attempted to gain access but was refused, while a contemporary – George Lewis – was permitted entry.

The conclusions to be drawn here are many.

Firstly, Braxton did not gain the same kind of widespread recognition and fame as some of his contemporaries. Whilst some musicologists argue that this diminishes the power of his message, I think this makes his work an even more potent opposing force. This argument can be equally applied to genres, for broadly speaking the West is typically preoccupied with rock n roll, with jazz simultaneously being a misunderstood force and an outlet for anti-conformity.

Secondly, it may initially appear that in an effort to make completely original music, Braxton shuns the entire Western canon of music history. However, his techniques obliquely acknowledge and consolidate upon art music history – Braxton concurs as much.

Thirdly, an increasingly sound knowledge and understanding of other non-Braxtonian musical languages and means of artistic expression should not automatically preclude the possibility of there being other systems in the musical world. Critical acclaim for Braxton in the Seventies stemmed from the fact that he was widely perceived to have shunned the so-called ‘aimlessness’ of new music in favour of more formal roots, when in fact Braxton was merely demonstrating and consolidating upon a pre-existent technique and style of playing.

A fourth conclusion to draw is that there were a variety of new musical currents beginning to take shape. Broadly speaking, rigidity in musical structure was a general cause for rejection by performing artists. By having at least a foothold in the major currents of his day, Braxton was of a disposition to make well-informed music.

A fifth conclusion is that there is potentially a limit to the relevance of fixed paradigms as advocated by Lock, particularly if Braxton suggests that his work is in a continual state of evolution. There is also a danger of music historians showcasing Braxton as a founder of black experimentalism when others are equally deserving of recognition.

The sixth conclusion is that Braxton operated in an environment which was radically different to the Western art music scene. Where the concert tradition espoused conceptualized solo improvisation, Braxton attempted to explore group improvisation.

Finally, if a musical work such as composition 5 is viewed as a single entity containing several disjunct constructs, it can be seen that the systematic imposition of continuity upon the discontinuous can function as a homogenous texture in its own right. I think that this is one of several latent features of the composition.

Word Count: 3,860

Bibliography

Berendt, Joachim E. (rev. Huesmann, Günther) (trans. Bredigkeit, B., Bredigkeit, H., Morgenstern, D., Nevill, T.) From Ragtime to Fusion and Beyond: Sixth Edition (Brooklyn, Lawrence Hill, 1992)

Braxton, Anthony. Composition Notes Book A (California, Synthesis Music, 1988)

Cook, Nicholas. Music: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2000)

Floyd Jr., Samuel A. The Power of Black Music (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1995)

Gabbard, Krin. (ed.) Jazz Among the Discourses (London, Duke University Press, 1995)

Hebdige, Dick. Subculture: The Meaning of Style (London, Routledge, 1987)

Heffley, Mike. The Music of Anthony Braxton (New York, Excelsior Music Publishing Co., 1996)

Levine, Lawrence W. Black Culture and Black Consciousness: Afro-American Folk Thought from Slavery to Freedom (New York, Oxford University Press, 1977)

Lock, Graham. Forces in Motion: The Music and Thoughts of Anthony Braxton (New York, Da Capo Press, 1988)

Molino, Jean. Introduction à l’analyse linguistique de la poésie [Introduction to a Linguistic Analysis of Poetry] (Paris, Presses Universitaires de France, 1982)

Nattiez, Jean-Jacques. (trans. Abbate, Carolyn) Music and Discourse: Towards a Semiology of Music (New Jersey, Princeton, 1991)

Partch, Harry. Genesis of a Music: Second Edition (New York, Da Capo Press, 1979)

Radano, Ronald M. New Musical Figurations: Anthony Braxton’s Cultural Critique (Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1993)

Small, Christopher. Music of the Common Tongue (London, Calder, 1987)

Southern, Eileen. The Music of Black Americans: A History (2^nd Edition) (London, W.W. Norton, 1983)

Spain, Henry A. Equal Temperament in Theory and Practice (London, Novello, n.d.)

Stuckey, Sterling. Slave Culture: Nationalist Theory and the Foundations of Black America (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1987)

Tagg, Philip in Middleton, Richard. Reading Pop (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2003)

Wilmer, Valerie. As Serious As Your Life: The Story of the New Jazz (London, Pluto Press, 1987)

Wittgenstein, Ludwig. Tractatus Logico Philosophicus (London, Routledge, 2001)

Discography

Braxton, Anthony. Willisau (Quartet) 1991 (Anthony Braxton, Marilyn Crispell, Mark Dresser, Gerry Hemingway) (Hat Hut Records, Switzerland, 1991)

Web Links

Smith, Tim and Clifford, Robert. ‘Binary Principle: System of Melodic Contour in the Webern Op. 11 No. 1’, Bach, the Baroque, and Beyond, no date. (Accessed 30^th April 2005), <http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~tas3/webern.html>

Appendix B

Track listing for the accompanying CD:

1. Excerpts from Composition 5 (2:40)

Appendix C

This table shows the geometrical progression of pulsations in terms of oscillatory air movements.[29] This means that any tempered scale can be expressed and functionalized by means of iterative sequences.

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[1] Lock, Graham. Forces in Motion: The Music and Thoughts of Anthony Braxton (New York, Da Capo Press, 1988), p. 162

[2] Molino, Jean. Introduction à l’analyse linguistique de la poésie [Introduction to a Linguistic Analysis of Poetry] (Paris, Presses Universitaires de France, 1982), p. 24-28

[3] Nattiez, Jean-Jacques. (trans. Abbate, Carolyn) Music and Discourse: Towards a Semiology of Music (New Jersey, Princeton, 1991), p. 11f

[4] Lock, Graham. Forces in Motion: The Music and Thoughts of Anthony Braxton (New York, Da Capo Press, 1988), p. 158

[5] Ibid., p. 151

[6] Radano, Ronald M. ‘Critical Alchemy: Anthony Braxton’ in Gabbard, Krin. (ed.) Jazz Among the Discourses (London, Duke University Press, 1995), p. 196

[7] Wilmer, Valerie. As Serious As Your Life: The Story of the New Jazz (London, Pluto Press, 1987), p. 60

[8] Radano, Ronald M. ‘Critical Alchemy: Anthony Braxton’ in Gabbard, Krin. (ed.) Jazz Among the Discourses (London, Duke University Press, 1995), p. 190

[9] Radano, Ronald M. New Musical Figurations: Anthony Braxton’s Cultural Critique (Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1993), p. 28

[10] Ibid., p. 48

[11] Levine, Lawrence W. Black Culture and Black Consciousness: Afro-American Folk Thought from Slavery to Freedom (New York, Oxford University Press, 1977), p. 138

[12] Braxton, Anthony. Composition Notes Book A (California, Synthesis Music, 1988), p. 38

[13] Berendt, Joachim E. (rev. Huesmann, Günther) (trans. Bredigkeit, B., Bredigkeit, H., Morgenstern, D., Nevill, T.) From Ragtime to Fusion and Beyond: Sixth Edition (Brooklyn, Lawrence Hill, 1992), p. 286

[14] Lock, Graham. Forces in Motion: The Music and Thoughts of Anthony Braxton (New York, Da Capo Press, 1988), p. 186f

[15] Partch, Harry. Genesis of a Music: Second Edition (New York, Da Capo Press, 1979), p. 74

[16] Southern, Eileen. The Music of Black Americans: A History (2^nd Edition) (London, W.W. Norton, 1983), p. 518

[17] Lock, Graham. Forces in Motion: The Music and Thoughts of Anthony Braxton (New York, Da Capo Press, 1988), p. 162f

[18] Hebdige, Dick. Subculture: The Meaning of Style (London, Routledge, 1987), p. 96

[19] Heffley, Mike. The Music of Anthony Braxton (New York, Excelsior Music Publishing Co., 1996), p. 339

[20] Tagg, Philip in Middleton, Richard. Reading Pop (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2003), p. 84

[21] Walker, David. ‘In Defence of African Rights and Liberty’ in Stuckey, Sterling. Slave Culture: Nationalist Theory and the Foundations of Black America (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1987), p. 104

[22] Levine, Lawrence W. Black Culture and Black Consciousness: Afro-American Folk Thought from Slavery to Freedom (New York, Oxford University Press, 1977), p. 39

[23] Floyd Jr., Samuel A. The Power of Black Music (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1995), p. 161

[24] Small, Christopher. Music of the Common Tongue (London, Calder, 1987), p. 282

[25] Smith, Tim and Clifford, Robert. ‘Binary Principle: System of Melodic Contour in the Webern Op. 11 No. 1’, Bach, the Baroque, and Beyond, no date. (Accessed 30^th April 2005), <http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~tas3/webern.html>

[26] Braxton, Anthony. Composition Notes Book A (California, Synthesis Music, 1988), p. 37

[27] Cook, Nicholas. Music: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2000), p. 41

[28] Spain, Henry A. Equal Temperament in Theory and Practice (London, Novello, n.d.), p. 24

[29] Ibid., p. 13