Great, I am happy that you are enjoying Iain M. Banks’ books!
Zen guitar- Philip toshio sudo
The philosophy of using music to find your center.
Probably get a used copy fur 5 dollars or so on Amazon
Well, you Iain M Banks fans, this is what you started:
I’ve finished:
Consider Phlebas
The Player of Games
Use of Weapons
Excession
Look to Windward
Surface Detail
The Hydrogen Sonata
Currently on: Matter
To go:
State of the Art
Inversions
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Very nice! State Of The Art has some excellent fan service, and Matter is awesome. Inversions is special 
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I have no regrets!
Glad to see that you are evidently enjoying those!
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Also, motivated by this topic, I have recently re-read State of the art, too.
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Sorry for the duplicate sort of posting. I gave this book it’s own thread and then was made aware of this thread. Anyway, this was published last month and I purchased a copy today. Really looking forward to it.
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I stumbled across this book of imagined words to describe things / feelings that don’t have a name. I like the word Sonder.
sonder
n . the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own—populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries and inherited craziness—an epic story that continues invisibly around you like an anthill sprawling deep underground, with elaborate passageways to thousands of other lives that you’ll never know existed, in which you might appear only once, as an extra sipping coffee in the background, as a blur of traffic passing on the highway, as a lighted window at dusk.
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THANK YOU for introducing me to that blog/book.
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I’m new here, is there a link where you’ve explained what happened?
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I was hit by a DUI taxi driver who fled the scene ( all the way back to India initially)while I was working on the roads in Melbourne.
The resulting injuries included a long term concussion and a bleed on the brain plus a few more.
That’s a pretty abridged version @K_Miller
Incidentally the guy returned to Oz, was arrested and recently went to court. His legal representative managed to negotiate the 9 charges down to 2, made a big deal out of his methanphetamine addiction and the driver ended up with a 2 year good behaviour order and 200 hours community service!
Ah well, time to turn the page
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Wow! That’s a lot!
On any meds long term or doing any herbal therapies?
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I stopped taking meds around 9 months ago as I found that they were giving me brain fog and didn’t help me function .
The biggest therapy for me has been getting away from the hussle and bussle of suburbia.
Rural life does have its own challenges but at least a majority don’t involve people
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My doc recommended Turmeric to help my concentration.
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An old fella I worked with was always singing the praises of turmeric but I never got around to giving it a go. Perhaps I will.
Ironically the horses specifically the thoroughbreds have a powdered version in their hard feed
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Speaking of horses, DMSO is good stuff too! Great for contusions, bug bites and sore joints.
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I’ve been on a real music bio kick lately & would like to pass on some recommendations. Enjoy!
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You are beautiful and you are alone: The biography of Nico, by Jennifer Otter Bickerdike. Just finished this today! I thought I knew Nico pretty well, but I learned a lot, including how many important postpunk groups she performed with in the 80s, and some compelling details of her relationships with Jim Morrison, Lou Reed, Brian Jones… but never Hendrix, to Nico’s chagrin!
The book is also a pretty serious study of heartbreak, loneliness, sexism, drug culture, victim blaming, stereotyping… -
Art sex music, by Cosey Fanni Tutti. I gobbled this one up before the holidays. I deeply admire Chris & Cosey (how could I not? my spouse and I make wacky experimental music in our livingroom!), but didn’t know / hadn’t read much about either of them, or Throbbing Gristle. I completely fell for young “Cosey” in the first few chapters – a restless, creative, curious spirit would would have a rough go of it, but persevere like a cockroach (with a big, warm, too-kind heart!). At times-shocking details of abuse suffered at the hands of bandmate, housemate (and romantic partner early on) Genesis.
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I put a spell on you: The autobiography of Nina Simone. A quick and engrossing read. Simone’s focus is definitely on her professional perseverance (with good reason); the personal details she shares are utterly devastating and make her success seem all the more astonishing (and make me feel that much more fortunate for knowing her music at all).
I’m tired and running out of brainpower, but here are a few more for you:
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Paint my name in black and gold: The rise of the Sisters of Mercy, by Mark Andrews.
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Brother Robert: Growing up with Robert Johnson, by Annye C. Anderson (Johnson’s little stepsister, who is in her 90s and still kickin’ ass and takin’ names!).
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Race, rock, and Elvis by Michael T. Bertrand.
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Nina Simone’s gum, by Warren Ellis (from the Bad Seeds).
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Coal to diamonds: A memoir by Beth Ditto, with Michelle Tea. (Glad I read this, but it’s not as good or as fully realized as any others on this list. My hunch is that Ditto’s co-writer got a little too involved… because I’ve read other stuff by Michelle Tea, and her annoying party tricks are all over this book.)
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Not just a lot of great music but also a lot of real innovation. Agree completely.
Genesis P. Orridge was the biggest reason I could never get in to either Throbbing Gristle or Psychic TV/ ToPY. It wasn’t because of their weirdness overall - that’s fine and not exactly unusal for musicians I like - but just that something about them really bugged me, regardless of what band they were in. I had not heard about the abuse towards Cosey but that checks out with the impression I had of them.
Conversely, I enjoyed Chris and Coseys stuff very much at the time, though. And still do.
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I hear you! My husband and I talk about this a lot, how the vibe of TG and PTV has always given us this gut check like “something’s off here,” which we don’t get from avant garde or heavy music generally. Whereas C&C feels almost immediately inviting and liberatory. I might be reading into it too much (and hindsight is 20/20), but it does seem like you can hear/feel the cooperation or exploitation/tension.
Caveat: Cosey only uses he/him pronouns when referring to Genesis in the book (regardless of the time period), which feels like a shit thing to do to any trans or nonbinary fans who might be reading, regardless of what an abusive, exploitative asshole Gen was. So I did a bit more reading and learned that much of Gen’s reasoning for taking on neopronouns was artistic provocation rather than gender identity or gender affirmation (regardless of their expression/appearance/surgeries). So while I don’t agree with Cosey’s choice here, I was also frustrated to learn of yet another act of cultural poaching by Gen. (If Cosey’s stories are true, Gen was exploiting and manipulating everyone in their artistic community.)
REALLY glad I read that one.
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