Winter plans

[eighthobstruction]

....Sorry to hear that Dave....

[Serial_Apologist]

There were three sets of 6 LPs each and the CD reissue has them all. I used to have almost all of them on LP as a result of much effort and scouring London record shops when I arrived there at the end of the 1970s. Many of them I'd already heard, having borrowed them from the record library in Swansea. I don't think I can overestimate the effect listening to all that music had on me, from then until now: I still listen to many of them - Ferrari, Kayn, Nono, Evangelisti, Holliger, Kagel, Koenig, Nuova Consonanza, Zimmermann and of course Stockhausen - it's almost like a list of composers whose work has been most influential for me.

The one place in London to get them was a wonderful record shop in Farringdon, regularly visited by an out-of-London friend living on a relatively low income who would return to us with the next batch of those colourful banded sleeve LPs which would reveal much more than even Music In Our Time was coming up with at the time. There were other releases - Cage, Berio - on Nonesuch he brought back as well, some of which I was generously given by his widow after Richard's premature death in 1976, I think it was. What a thrilling period that was for music right across the contemporary genres: free improv, free jazz and fusion, avant-garde, experimental and what would be known as electronica, early Minimalism... With the exceptions of Techno or Techno-related musics and Hip Hop I don't think recent generations have lived life so much through the music that was on offer as we did.

[pastoralguy]

Listening to the CDs I’ve acquired over the last few months. Wearing my mink coats as much as the weather will allow. (ie Not bucketing with rain!!)

[eighthobstruction]

....yes, Serial very lucky....fresh....and after joining common market - some decent wine too...

[teamsaint]

Now I'm wondering whether it's worth trying the REAL DG Avant Garde box set - even at a much higher price. Does anyone know what's included - it's hard to see in the website here - https://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Avantga...7JB/ref=sr_1_1

There is a better listing here - and perhaps a better price offer too - https://www.prestomusic.com/classica...ntgarde-series

There is even free delivery, so competitive.

For a bigger winter project, you could work your way through this lot Dave. Free and downloadable. And ( almost) all out of print.

http://dream.cs.bath.ac.uk/AvantGardeProject/archive.html

keep you out of mischief well into the new year I should think…..

[RichardB]

The one place in London to get them was a wonderful record shop in Farringdon

... where I used to work in 1980-81! but previously to that, of course, they wouldn't have been so hard to find, having been on general release. I used to do the rounds of London record shops when I was a student in the late 70s and I found them dotted around in various places. Some of them were eventually rereleased as single LPs (the Stockhausen titles, plus the two Holliger pieces repackaged on one LP rather than on two different compilations). Quite a few of them were uploaded into the Avant Garde Project, which was set up by someone in upstate NY called Lou Davenport - I contacted him back in 2007 in connection with donating some of my LPs to it, but for some reason I can't remember that never happened - and which is now located at the link given here by teamsaint.

[vinteuil]

For a bigger winter project, you could work your way through this lot Dave. Free and downloadable. And ( almost) all out of print.

http://dream.cs.bath.ac.uk/AvantGardeProject/archive.html

keep you out of mischief well into the new year I should think…..

.... interesting : I love this weasel paragraph explaining their copyright policy -

"Moreover, the sort of material offered has never been a major profit-center for either artists or publishers. It has always appealed only to a small minority of music listeners, and so its commercial release has typically been driven more by cultural commitment than by a desire for personal gain. The recordings offered through this web site were likely no better than break-even propositions when they were originally released. So by making them available once again through a non-commercial mechanism, we are arguably continuing the mission that drove their commercial release. "

"arguably", indeed...

[Dave2002]

Was it a case of having to move to Scotland, Dave?

Not really - but there were some advantages/incentives.
Living close to London had advantages, but also many problems. Traffic and over dense housing were - still are - major issues I think.

Since we left I gather that train services have become even more problematic and unreliable.

I have previously lived in Sweden, but houses in the UK seem very cold compared with flats and houses there.

[Dave2002]

For a bigger winter project, you could work your way through this lot Dave. Free and downloadable. And ( almost) all out of print.

http://dream.cs.bath.ac.uk/AvantGardeProject/archive.html

keep you out of mischief well into the new year I should think…..

Indeed that repository does seem to have more than enough for a while.

Are most of the tracks from the original AvantGarde box? It seems as though they are, with a few exceptions and omissions.

http://dream.cs.bath.ac.uk/AvantGardeProject/agp13/Electronic%20Panorama%2001.flac

[RichardB]

Are most of the tracks from the original AvantGarde box?

. No.

[PatrickMurtha]

I grew to loathe winter in the last few years of my working life as the daily commute became progressively more difficult to bear, especially the dark evenings which were usually wet and windy as well. Any snow and ice made the train and walk journey there and back exhausting and hazardous.

Now that's all in the past I can accept, even like, the special atmosphere of a winter's day, particularly in the lead up to Christmas.

I've committed to going on my daily walk unless the rain is torrential and the autumn and winter has always been my favourite time for reading. As I don't much care for listening to music in daylight, the dark evenings suit me just fine!

I have never got on with winter even though I was raised with it in New Jersey, and experienced some really bitter ones in Chicago, Northeast Wisconsin, and Massachusetts. Winter driving in Wisconsin was especially unpredictable.

My winters in Tlaxcala consist of closing a window and throwing on an extra blanket. In December and January, I put on a coat to walk the dogs in the morning, when it might be 5 degrees. That’s the extent of my adjustments.

[JasonPalmer]

Patrick,

sounds like a nice place to retire to

regards

jason

[PatrickMurtha]

Patrick,

sounds like a nice place to retire to

regards

jason

It definitely is, but oddly this is not one of the expat hot spots. We are only two hours from Mexico City, one hour from Puebla, another big city, so very conveniently located. The cost of living is among the lowest in the country. Yet as for the American retired community, well I’m it!

Expats want to be around other expats, and will pay more for that.

[Alison]

Musically speaking I have developed a habit of having a weekly theme, sometimes inspired by something on Radio 3. Each week then seems memorable and I look forward to the next one.
Last week was Nielsen symphonies culminating in the purchase of the Luisi set. This week was supposed to be Florence Price but after the First Symphony I got sidetracked and started listening to the new Oklahoma. It was a pleasant surprise to enjoy this so much.

[vinteuil]

Expats want to be around other expats...

... I think 'immigrants' is perhaps a better word than 'expats' . I don't call the Syrians who work in the local deli here 'expats' ...

(When I was serving abroad (was I an immigrant? an expat?) it always tickled me that some 'expats' I knew tended to write, when being more formal, that they were 'ex-patriots' Perhaps they were... )