A collection of quotes from 20 years of Modern Drummer magazine via ItsPronouncedMo-BEEL on Reddit. I’m not going to pick out a favourite because you should just read them all!
Here are the five things I thought were worth sharing this week:
- I'm sure it has nothing to do with the football, but yesterday I found myself listening to one Iceland's greatest exports Sigur Rós and their fantastic album Kveikur.
- "What Is A Polyrhythm? — Beats Taking Turns" — Short video (less than 3 mins) with a graphic showing the polyrhythms... Very cool!
- Nils Frahm on reinventing classical music: “I like to treat the establishment like a cushion... I don’t throw it out of the window, but I like to shake the dust off it. I want to expand what it can be.”
- Can we change who we are? One of my favourite podcasts, Invisibilia, returns with an exploration of personality.
- Seth Godin is an incredibly wise man. I read his blog pretty much every day and Sunday's post was poignant given all the political goings on this past week.
That's all for this week. If you liked this, check out my previous Five Things posts or sign up to receive future posts straight to your inbox. Enjoy!
Like many people, I was devastated to hear the news of David Bowie's death. He was an inspiration in so many ways; an incredibly talented performer, a brilliant songwriter, a real artist.
If you haven't listened to his last album 'Blackstar' yet, do so, it's fantastic.
Here are few quotes that caught my eye over the last few weeks.
"When in doubt, listen to David Bowie. In 1968, Bowie was a gay, ginger, bonk-eyed, snaggle-toothed freak walking around south London in a dress, being shouted at by thugs. Four years later, he was still exactly that – but everyone wanted to be like him, too. If David Bowie can make being David Bowie cool, you can make being you cool. Plus, unlike David Bowie, you get to listen to David Bowie for inspiration. So you’re one up on him, really. You’re already one ahead of David Bowie." ~ Caitlin Moran
"Cameron Crowe: Since you put yourself first, do you consider yourself an original thinker?
Bowie: Not by any means. More like a tasteful thief. The only art I’ll ever study is stuff that I can steal from. I do think that my plagiarism is effective. Why does an artist create, anyway? The way I see it, if you’re an inventor, you invent something that you hope people can use. I want art to be just as practical. Art can be a political reference, a sexual force, any force that you want, but it should be usable. What the hell do artists want? Museum pieces? The more I get ripped off, the more flattered I get. But I’ve caused a lot of discontent, because I’ve expressed my admiration for other artists by saying, ‘Yes, I’ll use that,’ or, ‘Yes, I took this from him and this from her.’ Mick Jagger, for example, is scared to walk into the same room as me even thinking any new idea. He knows I’ll snatch it." (Playboy, September 1976)
"I've always felt bemused at being called the chameleon of rock. Doesn't a chameleon exert tremendous energy to become indistinguishable from its environment?" ~ David Bowie