Versions of Joanna
So some of you might be interested in a new downloadable album of covers of Joanna Newsom songs, Versions of Joanna, which is available for a $10 donation to Oxfam's Pakistan flood relief efforts on the site behind the link above. I bought it today and I've listened to sixteen of the twenty-two songs on the album, and so far, it's well worth your money if you're interested in Newsom, introducing yourself to new musicians, or giving $10 to Oxfam. Some of the songs are a bit dud, but most are very interesting, and some are really special. I'm quite excited for another reason: I'm definitely going to look into some of the artists on the album, and I expect I will find my First New Music of 2011 by doing so.
In other news, I've finished Collingwood's The Principles of Art, and am now going to undertake the exciting task of proving it wrong enough that I can say something that's the same in a way but that sounds different enough that it appears to merit my writing 40,000 words. But seriously, I cannot recommend this book highly enough to those of you who read this and who are deeply interested in art. It really nails the question of what's so special about art. And it does so in such an undramatic and clear way. It's extraordinary.
(In yet other news, I'm still trying to work out whether to ditch philosophy for music. I think I'm somewhere between 90% sure that I do and 90% sure that I don't. (This really isn't news, I guess: this is how I think I've felt for most of my adult life (what little of it there has been).))
In other news, I've finished Collingwood's The Principles of Art, and am now going to undertake the exciting task of proving it wrong enough that I can say something that's the same in a way but that sounds different enough that it appears to merit my writing 40,000 words. But seriously, I cannot recommend this book highly enough to those of you who read this and who are deeply interested in art. It really nails the question of what's so special about art. And it does so in such an undramatic and clear way. It's extraordinary.
(In yet other news, I'm still trying to work out whether to ditch philosophy for music. I think I'm somewhere between 90% sure that I do and 90% sure that I don't. (This really isn't news, I guess: this is how I think I've felt for most of my adult life (what little of it there has been).))