It's too late for empty rhetoric. It's a riot.

Crackhouse - Consolidated

State Violence State Control

Rebotini.

Musical interlude: scouse agit-pop

Does anyone remember 25th May? A bit like Jesus Jones as interpreted by members of Red Action. Very much the sound of the early 1990s but with nothing but (hard left) politics in the lyrics. Also uniquely Liverpudlian, not only the clear scouser accent of the frontman Steve Swindelli, but also in some of the content. The album was called Lenin & McCarthy and there was an instrumental on there about the Hillsborough disaster.

Anyway, here's one of their tracks, FTRTV (a slightly sweary title if spelled out in full), which delivers the sort of anti-politician rant that makes right-of-centre bloggertarians look a bit like, well, Tories. Watch out for a sample from Ian Bone in there.

Liar Liar

79p well spent this xmas

Money is not our god

Repeat after me.

never anything to do in this town

live here my whole life

Shut the f*** up and play some music

Praxis.

challenging music

One of the books I have on the go at the moment is Tibor Scitovsky's The Joyless Economy. From what I've read so far it fits very well with some of my own ideas about work and motivation. It was also what seems like a fairly early attempt to properly reforge the link between psychology and economics. It's quite interesting to read a book that takes issue with the rational economic man ideal that has no references at all to Kahneman and Tversky!

Anyhow, well worth a read if you share my interest in this kind of stuff. As an aside one thing I liked was his reference to different types of music. Part of his argument is about our need for challenges (though not too much challenge...) and how this complicates the understanding of work within economics. But he also applies it music:

In music, a melody never before heard and not fitting into any musical tradition we are familiar with is likely to leave us puzzled and uncomprehending. Some redundancy is already provided when a piece of music is written in (and recognised as written in) a given key, since the tones belonging to that key can be expected to occur with greater frequency than others, with the tonic and and dominant of that key occurring with even greater frequency. If, in addition, the piece belongs to a certain period the listener is familiar with, there is even more redundancy, enabling the listener to predict even more; and if he can also guess the composer, there is more redundancy still. Very much the same is true of painting, dancing, and any other artistic production. Usually, to enjoy such work, we have to recognise it as belonging to an artistic school or style we are familiar with, because that provides the necessary redundancy.

In short, some redundancy is essential to render anything new pleasantly stimulating, and the degree or amount of redundancy has much to do with how pleasant it is. Just as perfect originality or no redundancy is unpleasant because it is bewildering, so perfect banality or full redundancy is unpleasant because it is boring. The pleasant lies in between...

That sounds a lot like how I think I relate to sitar music!

I am aware, dimly, that sitar music involves a great deal of thought and structure. But to my untrained ears what is great about it is its complete difference to much of what I'm used to. Pieces start off slowly, have a mad fast bit, and then slow down again. And some of them go on for 25 minutes. And when there are tablas involved it's a similar story - they don't just mark time, or hold a steady beat, there are great surges and solos. I know there's plenty of non-sitar music that does the same kind of thing, and I like electronica in the same vein, but sitars have a bit of a hold on me. So what I really like about this kind of music is that it stubbornly refuses to fit into a structure that my mind expects/wants. (In sharp contrast I can remember ruining a track once by managing to identify the beat structure. After that I couldn't hear anything but the beats when I listened to it, and it destroyed the track for me).

My son the anarchist, Adorno and sitars

Massively off topic but....

A few elements have come together at the same time this week in one of those pile-ups of thoughts that make you reflect on things. Firstly I've been on leave with my son on my own for three days (Mrs P being away with work - the first time she's been away from him overnight). Secondly I've been reading the collection of Theodor Adorno essays I've been posting dollops from. And thirdly I've been going through one of my phases when I listen to a lot of sitar music.

It's a trivial observation, but what has really come home to me this week is just how unsocialised my son is (he is only one, like!). He's currently experimenting with food, so a lot goes on the floor because (I think) he likes watching things fall. He's also quite happy to sit there having had his breakfast with big splodges of yoghurt on his face. Doesn't he feel it on his face? Or is my own awareness of having something on my face more a product of socialisation than a physical reaction? And watching him play with things is interesting too. He's into putting things from one container into another at the moment. But he doesn't mind what goes into what. So the little figures from his wooden toy bus end up in the box which is supposed to take specifically-shaped coloured blocks (ie circle, triangle, square). I realised that I get slightly annoyed that he isn't putting the right things in the right places. But then I suppose to him they are the right places, because he hasn't internalised the rules that go with each toy. I bet I'll miss it when he plays with them the right way.

Meanwhile this book of Adorno essays is really clicking with me. It's quite a bleak view of things, and I think sometimes he takes an interesting observation and pushes it a long way, but a lot of it rings true. The short piece on 'Free Time' is particularly good. He basically argues that while free time is defined in opposition to work, it is still influenced by the same societal structure. This is something that often nags away at me, or more particularly the impetus to divide up and maximise 'free time'. He makes a good point about the 'miracles' people expect from their holidays, which are constantly frustrated because distant places are no longer different. I even feel a need for productivity when I'm reading sometimes. I'm ashamed to admit that sometimes the thought flickers across my mind that it would be great to simply transfer the content of a book into your brain, like that scene in The Matrix where Neo learns how to fight by having knowledge of kung-fu etc uploaded. Informational efficiency, you see, rather than that messy time-consuming reading business. Bleurgh! Anyway, reading these Adorno essays has really made me think about the way that structures in society (capitalism if you like) don't get left at the front door when you get home.

When it comes to sitar music I'm a fully paid-up member of the 'uncomprehending white boy listening to something that sounds exotic' school. Adorno would probably hate me given what a music snob he seems to have been. I am aware, dimly, that sitar music involves a great deal of thought and structure. But to my untrained ears what is great about it is its complete difference to much of what I'm used to. Pieces start off slowly, have a mad fast bit, and then slow down again. And some of them go on for 25 minutes. And when there are tablas involved it's a similar story - they don't just mark time, or hold a steady beat, there are great surges and solos. I know there's plenty of non-sitar music that does the same kind of thing, and I like electronica in the same vein, but sitars have a bit of a hold on me. So what I really like about this kind of music is that it stubbornly refuses to fit into a structure that my mind expects/wants. (In sharp contrast I can remember ruining a track once by managing to identify the beat structure. After that I couldn't hear anything but the beats when I listened to it, and it destroyed the track for me).

Anyway today all the bits collided. I was walking round Brockwell Park with my son crashed out in his buggy (he had a bit of a rough night) with some sitar music playing away on my iPod, and thoughts about the Adorno piece I had just read floating about in my mind. I thought that everything seemed a bit more possible, if only you consciously resist the urge to structure and compartmentalise your own existence. I thought that I might be listening to sitar music the wrong way, but at least it is helping me undermine my own tendency to subdivide experience by the familiar. And I thought I hope I can resist the urge to encourage my son to do things the right away (whilst preventing him from putting his fingers in plug sockets, eating knives etc) and let him be the unsocialised, exploratory Tasmanian Devil he is for as long as possible. And most importantly, I felt really bloody happy.

Anyway, back to finance-related blogging soon...

PS. Incidentally the first time I heard of Adorno was when my mate bought the first Consolidated EP when I was at university. There is an 'Adorno Strength Remix' of the track 'Consolidated' on it.

MUSICHASNOMEANING

.

Choonage

Off-topic, but a quick plug for the ace Black Diamond by Buraka Som Sistema which I've been listening to at home recently. Apparently the genre is kuduro: "a type of music born in Angola and immediately exported to Lisbon suburbs in Portugal".

Jello Biafra (PBUH) on fundamentalism

Massively off-topic, but I've been a big fan of Jello Biafra for years. I got my first exposure hearing California Uber Alles at a club as a teenager. I still think it's a great song, the aggression in it... but his voice and lyrics really stuck out too, and I've been a big fan ever since. I can still quote long chunks of DKs lyrics from memory (pretty boring experience I'm sure) and the Jello plus Ministry outfit Lard are still a regular feature on my iPod. Anyway, a few years ago I came across a great interview with him in a zine, which I've just managed to find online again. This bit stuck in my mind, and is a great swipe at zealotry of any stripe:

Biafra: I don't want to put it in black and white fundamentalist terms where it's like the more radical-then-thou are the only people who are doing right, and if you don't do as much as I do you're against everything, I mean, that's bullshit. It turns people off to good ideas as badly as fundamentalist Christians do. I mean, there's fundamentalist radicals, fundamentalist punks, fundamentalist vegans, I think we all know a few of that. Fundamentalism is poison. So, we do what we can and doing something is better then doing nothing. But it also means picking up actions and a life style you can live with and live up to, instead of something that makes you miserable to the point where you cross over to the other side 'cause you don't see any other way out 'cause you see stuff in too much of a black and white way because you're a radical fundamentalist. I try to encourage people to get away from that. I mean, there's a side of me that's a decadent rock-and-roller as hell, and some people don't like that, but that's me too.

Amen.

Norfolk nights

Me and Mrs Tom are off to Norfolk for a long weekend tomorrow, so definitely won't be blogging for a few days. I will however be taking the iPod on the assumption that there isn't a real Alan Partridge on Radio Norwich.

With that in mind here's some top tuneage I've been listening to of late -

Apocalypso - The Presets
Coup D'yah - Sub Swara
various bits n bobs by Flying Lotus, Roberta Flack probably the pick
and my recurring old 1990s fave - Music Has No meaning by Consolidated (someone please remix/update this)

Books, bands and a bad day at the office

I've had a pretty bad day at work today, which I'll cover another time once I can laugh about it (10 years or so). In the meantime I thought I'd do an amalgam post bringing together a few disparate bits and pieces that might be of interest to people and also cheer me up.

First up, there are a number of books that I've read over the past couple of years that have really contributed to the way I look at the world. I've never really tried listing these before so it's quite revelatory to me. Looking over the list I obviously go for books with a sceptical outlook. Because I think everything we experience is refracted through our personalities I can only conclude I must have a taste for this kind of thing. I am certainly am put off by books that are groundlessly idealistic. Anyway, here's the list...

Irrational Exuberance - Robert Shiller
I've done a fair bit of reading about stockmarkets, fund management, pension fund investment etc, and this is probably one of my faves. It has an interesting explanation of stockmarket bubbles (naturally occuring pyramid schemes) and contributed to my already low opinion of the ability of markets to allocate capital efficiently.

Capitalism Unleashed - Andrew Glyn
Although I'm a moderate lefty, and not an enemy of markets, my politics are rooted in the labour movement, rather than left liberalism (which is why I worked for the unions rather than an NGO). Ultimately I do think the economic interests of employees and managers conflict and this book really reminded me how these things have played out since free market capitalism has triumphed.

Having Their Cake - Don Young and Pat Scott
Not one many people know, but it's basically a report from the front line of managing a business, focusing on the way the finance sector has become increasingly influential. You could characterise it as a critique of financialisation from the perspective of companies.

The Paradox Of Choice - Barry Schwarz
I think this book is great - although a friend whose opinion I take seriously and who is a policy dude described it as jumping on the bandwagon! Basically it takes apart the idea that choice is necessarily good for us (not the same as saying it is bad). I had a load of ideas about 'choice' running round my head, I read this and realised there was already quite a bit of academic evidence about how it really works. One of the books that stimulated my interest in behavioural economics.

The Halo Effect - Phil Rosenzweig
Ace book about what we might call the myth of management. Forget business books that tell you there is a fool-proof formula to running businesses, it's way more randon than that, and we misinterpret the data we do have repeatedly. Brilliant stuff too about the narrative nature of business reporting.

Fooled By Randomness - Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Lots of people hate this guy, and his writing style but I liked it. If you know much about statistics you'll probably read it and think 'eh? so what?'. But for a doofus like me it was very interesting. Again, not one to boost your faith in professional investors.

How We Know What Isn't So - Thomas Gilovich
If you are at all interested in cognitive biases (which feed into behavioural economics in a big way) this is a killer book. Again for it was useful for providing weight to ideas I already had about the way we process information, but it has loads of useful information in there. I can honestly say it has prevented one or two arguments at home too!


So onto music. I downloaded a few bits and bobs lately, with various results. For example, right now I am listening to Entertainment by Gang Of Four. So far I can't see what all the fuss is about, although I really like Anthrax. Maybe a) it will grow on me and/or b) I am too used to bands that have a sound that is derived from them (Fugazi?).

Other new bits - Crystal Castles, again a bit so what. But I'm liking 1000 Things by Autokratz. I also downloaded Weight by the Rollins Band recently, which has some decent angry man ranting over rawk guitars type stuff going on that is good for the gym. And I am waiting for the new Whitey album to come out. The first one is genius and the track Non-Stop is currently on that advert where the bloke has to run to get to his wedding, getting dressed etc on the way (can't even remember what company it is for?).

Not sure why I've gone a bit guitar-y lately, I'm normally mr electro. Still, that IDJ2 is looking pretty appealing...