Thursday, October 08, 2009

Ian's World of Brainy Music

Two bits of exciting news for brainy music fans. First of all, there is a new issue of the Journal of Music out. They seem to be eschewing their previously tried and trusted approach of putting an attractive young lady on the cover, but there are some interesting articles inside. I particularly liked Raymond Deane's review of a book about music by well-known philosopher Roger Scruton, though I would have liked if it had gone on a bit longer and featured more Scruton kebab action.

One thing I like about the Journal of Music is that it breaks away from the interview-review straitjacket beloved of other magazines. Instead it features a lot of articles about music rather than interviews with boring musicians. It does have reviews, but they seem a bit less pro-forma than elsewhere. Anyway, check it out for yourself... it is available from many outlets and can be subscribed to online.

The other fascinating development is the launch of Kaleidoscope, a monthly night of live brainy music curated by Kate Ellis and ClĂ­odhna Ryan (at least one of whom is in new music sensations the Crash Ensemble). It is on on the first Tuesday of every month, in the Odessa Club (in Dublin, so you won't be able to go to it if you live in Reykjavik). I have been thinking for a while that what Dublin needs is something like this, serving up live new music on a regular basis, and now we have it. Sadly, I missed the opening night, but I see that the next event is scheduled for the 3rd November.

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