Weekend Reads: Aphex Twin, Lost Albums, the "Mandela Effect," Sakura Blossoms, the Chronicles of Narnia
Recommended weekend reading material for May 1, 2021.
Every week, I compile a list of interesting and thought-provoking articles to offer you some enjoyable weekend reading material.
Aphex Twin’s Richard D. James has composed a lot of brilliant music over the years, but “Avril 14th” is his most ubiquitous and popular song.
An instrumental piece that barely lasts two minutes, it has been sampled by pop stars, inspired classical pianists and experimental artists alike, and once cost a major TV network over $100,000 (more on that later).
I’m not surprised by the song’s success; it’s a gorgeous little composition whose simplicity belies its emotional effect.
The Stereogum staff has compiled a list of 45 “lost” albums they’d like to hear from artists including Jimi Hendrix, Marvin Gaye, Prince, Roxy Music, and U2.
Pop history is littered with the albums that could’ve been, the albums we could’ve heard. Sometimes we call these “lost” albums, the works that never quite came into focus, that suggest some path not fully taken. Sometimes we simply call them “unreleased,” albums we know were supposed to exist and were supposed to materialize and yet were held back. A more aggressive term there could be “shelved,” albums seemingly complete and ready to be unveiled and subsequently met with a concrete decision that there was some reason they shouldn’t be.
Via Kottke.
Speaking of “lost” albums, there once was a band called Morella’s Forest that featured Ronnie and Jason Martin (who would later form Joy Electric and Starflyer 59, respectively). They recorded an album back in 1988, only for their label to fold before its release. Jump ahead 30+ years, and Velvet Blue Music is finally releasing this long-lost bit of Christian music history. To mark the occasion, True Tunes interviewed Ronnie Martin about his memories of the album.
Up until I heard the finished master, I hadn’t revisited these songs in so many years that it was hard to feel a connection with them. It was more of a rediscovery than anything because I couldn’t have recalled half of these songs if you’d asked me about them… If I wanted to, I could probably be overly critical about my guitar and vocal tracks, but given my age and the era we were in, it’s fun to listen to. My main passion has always been songwriting, so that would be my strongest contribution to the record, I think. It’s hard to listen to the record and not imagine how the group might have developed into the future, so there’s definitely some regret and sadness mixed in there as well.
I haven’t received my copy of the Morella’s Forest album yet, but I can’t wait to hear it. I’ve been fans of the Martin brothers ever since I first heard Dance House Children’s Jesus back in high school. And even better, Velvet Blue Music is releasing Ronnie Martin’s new album this fall.
A pop-punk girl group quickly earned the ire of TikTok for supposedly being inauthentic, which raises a good question: what does “authentic” music even look like anymore in this age of viral social media?
It’s interesting that being an “industry plant” is about the worst thing you can be accused of on TikTok, particularly because we’re entering an age where pretty much everyone assumes what they’re seeing online is completely fake. If the going definition of being an “industry plant” is a well-connected artist whose persona and/or content is more business decision than artistic expression, what can you say of pretty much everyone that has gotten famous from TikTok?
Did you ever forget to return one of your Blockbuster rentals? If so, you could be facing felony charges. VHS late fees are no joke, even in 2021.
Court records shared with KOKH showed that the VHS tape was rented at a video rental spot in Norman, Oklahoma that’s been shuttered since 2008. At the time, prosecutors claimed she “willfully, unlawfully, and feloniously embezzle[d]” the tape after she didn’t return the VHS after the 10-day deadline that was on her rental agreement. According to the docket, that tape was — at the time — worth just under $60. (Yes, the price for rental tapes was very high in the ‘90s.)
Fortunately, this particular story has a happy — and sensible — ending.
What would you do if you discovered that a stranger was uploading pictures of your feet to a fetish website? In Laura Bassett’s case, she interviewed her foot fan.
Do you ever think about how it might be a bit invasive to take someone’s personal photos and put them on a fetish site without their knowledge or consent? That some people might be unsettled by that?
Yes, I do think that. You know, except I can’t call up Jennifer Aniston and ask. But it does cross my mind, because I have five sisters and six nieces, and I guess not everybody would be kosher with it. Believe me, it crosses my mind. I do have a conscience. I think people seem to have a good sense of humor about it. I mean, you obviously do. Some celebrities say it’s a badge of honor.
A Chinese billionaire’s purchase of one of England’s most prestigious golf clubs quickly exposed the divide between the wealthy and the ultra-wealthy.
The ongoing clash between Yan Bin and his club’s members has witnessed several dramatic phases: threats, lawsuits, duplicity, negotiations, truces, even death. But the tale isn’t just about the preposterousness of the wealthy. Rather, it’s impossible to learn about all this turmoil — in a place called “the Island”, for crying out loud — and not see it as an allegory. With its groves of pine and rhododendrons, its houses named Heatherbrook or Bluebell Wood or Silver Birches, and the gentle hillocks of its club’s fairways, Wentworth Estate holds dear a vision of pastoral Englishness. But since the 1980s, Wentworth has been reshaped — just like England itself — by money: first the wealth of the homegrown 1%, which considered itself immune to the turmoil of change, but which then found itself subject to the whims of the globalised capital held by the 0.001% like Yan Bin. The saga is familiar: a small locality unsettled by the arrival of an outsider. Except that the outsider is a transnational holding corporation, and the locality is Wentworth Estate, a slice of England overtaken by the world.
Here are 10 examples of the “Mandela Effect,” i.e., a false memory shared by many people that’s persisted over the years.
With apologies to conspiracy theorists, the idea of a shared false memory isn’t proof of alternate realities. It’s simply a product of how our brain works to retrieve information. “What we know about false memory is that it arises through the reconstruction process,” Gene Brewer, Ph.D., an associate professor in cognitive psychology at Arizona State University, tells Mental Floss. “When you recall an event, you use memories around it, taking elements or pieces of other events and fitting them where they make sense.”
The examples are all pretty crazy, but the example that got me was the one for Ed McMahon. If you asked me, I would’ve sworn that I’ve seen TV footage of McMahon delivering checks to winners of the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes. But A) he never delivered checks and B) he was a spokesman for American Family Publishers.
One of my life goals is to visit Japan at the height of sakura blossom season. Until then, I’ll just have to content myself with these gorgeous photos by Takahiro Bessho.
Finally, Cap Stewart explains why reading The Chronicles of Narnia in the original publication order is the correct way to read C. S. Lewis’ beloved series — especially for first-time readers.
Consequently, when picking up The Chronicles of Narnia for the first time, the reading order you choose is not inconsequential. And if there is a more advantageous way to explore this beloved fantasy series, why not take it? Why not revel, as much as possible, in the awe and wonder of Aslan’s world? Why not travel through Narnia on the path first blazed by Lewis himself?
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