Wonderboys

Last weekend Bas and I watched some movies. That's what we do when we meet. Eat burgers, watch movies. He suggested a movie from the early 2000's starring Michael Douglas, Wonder Boys. Douglas plays a writer who does not suffer from a writer’s block, but from a whole lot of other things. He gets stoned. A dog gets killed. A certain woman gets pregnant. A very expensive jacket gets stolen. An enormous and hopeless manuscript gets lost.

If you are an aspiring writer like Bas, it might be a good idea to read the novel by Michael Chabon (amazon). If you are also an aspiring director like Bas, the movie is a good option too. Not a big hit but really nice, and there is some good music in it too. Director Curtis Hanson and Bob Dylan were both happy with the soundtrack because they were so fond of each other. Nice. Hanson is said to have played the songs on the set to create the right atmosphere. Download their atmosphere here at the Readers Disco or go to Youtube to see what it's like.

One more thing about Bas: He knows everything about the movies. Plus the trivia. Exploring this new filed of writership from a moviebuff perspective, he came across this link linking the two:
- 20 movies about writers -
Might be some good music in them too.

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2009 Dear Diary

Here's a nice mix to end off the year 2009. How was it? Nice, yeah had some crises, on the money side like every one else so no complaining. I like to think it brought me closer to the guy I am really wanting to be, what I would really like to be doing. What about you?

I hope my 2009 diary is a bit like yours, plus I hope you will enjoy this music compilation. Sorry, no mixtape this time but complete tracks! Some are a bit predictable, so I will not bother you with info on Mr. Smith and Mr. T from LND who blessed my beat, or the new tunes by that Manchester Monkey, the boys from Brixton, the funny Espanishman with the red pants and yellow sneakers or a cheesy reggae hit.

Best wishes,

ted
December 31, 2009


Dear Diary

The last days of 2009... already 10 years in to this new millennium. Ten years back, at the ending of the previous century there was a trendy music style called lounge. I think most of the listeners were heading for their 30th birthday back then. Hip, polished, loungy was all you needed to be to enjoy this boring tedious computer grooves, with no 2009 party smashing hipsters involved. Recently I felt the urge to listen to the K&D sessions (1) again, and I realized that as trends fade the beat stays. And that it is not too bad to be 30.

As we enter this new decennium there is some more modern stuff going on though, even in these older genres. I already had some of his remixes, and the long awaited 2009 album of Harmonic 313 (2) is even better if you like the sub low frequency experience and some side chaining on the side. Talking about modern, the vinyl came with a free cd!
Good, because it adds to my collection. I only bought one 2009 compact disc in 2009: Bliksemschicht (3) by the talented Dutch hiphop group Zwart Licht.

I did buy more then one mp3; they are so 2009! Who expected dubstep producer Skream would get a gold plate for selling some copies of the La Roux remix (5). Heavy, both the 300 initial vinyls and the weightless mp3s they had to push to reach the 400.000.
As you can hear in the Skream mix, dubstep nowadays has some roots in the old ravey tunes from years back, like this XL Recordings classic by Dance Conspiracy (6). Pity the label did not make any fuzz about their 20th anniversary and did not email me back about the idea I had for a mixtape ;-).

One of the XL heavyweights released a new album this year, and this wild bunch went back to where they came from. Liam stayed away from the dubstep ting like he should have done with in 2004 with Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned. He then burned his fingers on a singing actress and grime beats... Warriors Dance (7) is not only my favorite tune of the album but also of the Notting Hill Carnival 2009. Yeah the last three minutes of this positive reggae vibe fest you could see me on the Pineapple Tribe corner where all the ravers are: 'Oi mate, wont some charly?'. The little starting riots were a bit negative but did give me some extra adrenaline for my warrior whoos. More riots by the way during that ridiculous Movado sing a long song (15).

More whooos on this Oizo tune (8) that gave me the best smiles during the worst gigs. My best gigs with the most wooing crowds were with Nobody Beats The Drum (9). As a stand I played with them in the outskirts of our flat land. And in the BK land. And the North African.
Also, a lot of wobwobs in the 2009. As a DJ I tried to enjoy the fact that dubstep got so big, but not to jump on this wobbly wagon too much. Best plan for the 2010: keep it creative like this Tek Step tune (10), because it is simply impossible to rock harder then Rusko. Man, this one really blew me away and I was happy this 2008 tune finally got released on vinyl (11).

I produced some dubstep myself this year; I even recorded a song with digital dancehall legend Mikey Murka. Helas, we@sirkusrecordings.com decided not to release it... might get some better results in 2010 with Kenny Knots (16) who was here in Amsterdam to play with Mungo's Hifi (12).
Next to my new plans about the music, there are serious plans on my upcoming website about books ... and music. As a start I did an interview for readersdiscotheque.com with a writer who mentions many good tunes in his books. I finally got to listen some tunes I knew I should have gotten into way before 2009 (18).

Soundtracks to a novel, as a background in the elevator, whatever. This old Coltrane tune (19) was the perfect music to a fabulous day I had with my mom. Not only the birthday presents, nor the beef 'n spinach, we simply had a great day discussing many things. Both ready for the 2010.

More jazz, from a different continent and hardly for sale in Holland nowadays. 2009 was the year of the big closing down of the good goods stores. My dad, being a specialist in a different trade, managed to keep on selling plates even crates. My favorite record store went down though, but I managed to buy a copy of the Mahmoud Ahmed record me and my girl had been looking for (20). His continent has more goods by the way. What is Tom Waits babbling about anyway (21)?

Anyway, Real romance in 2010... and the biggest WHOOOOOOOOOO!!! My girl proposed to me this past year! Date set, 7th of August 2010, all welcome to our little festival. Don't know what to say... got me locked. She has, my mind has, my whole body. But I also feel I could explode while typing this. The melody of this last song got me locked as well. The lyrics are dark and dramatic, I think beautifully romantic (22).

Happy New Year!

Download the 2009 music compilation to this diary here


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Van dit dagboek 2009 is geen Nederlandse vertaling.
Maak er wat van in 2010!

Download de muziek bij de Engelse tekst hier

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Pinball, 1973

I was disappointed. In myself, not Haruki Murakami. I just found out I hadn't read his first two novels! My little trick of reading from left to right at the bookstore shelf proved to be inconclusive; I would have to find the last two translations in Japan itself. Last two meaning Murakami's first two novels: Hear the wind sing and Pinball, 1973.

In short, Readers Disco had some catching up to do, as it only concerned two small booklets, starting with Pinball, 1973. Murakami wrote his second novel in 1980. The only existing translation by Alfred Birnbaum consists of a small pressing from Kodansha International, as a school book for students in English.
International book market Amazon offered little comfort when I tried to have them send me a copy. Even dismissing the $8250 first print this would have been a costly venture.

Since it seems Pinball, 1973 won't be reprinted, here or in Japan, with consent from Murakami, Readers Disco gladly provides the PDF found on the internet. With a little help from Bookletcreator.com we made it into an A5 booklet for you to download. As the story includes familiar characters like Boku and The Rat you can't afford to miss it. Also, you will need the music, all downloadable at the bottom of this post.

If your conscience bothers you too much, or you are unable to restrain your collector's disease, buy Hear the Wind Sing, Murakami's first novel: a still affordable translation most of us do not posess ... Ah there's the postman! Just arrived at Disco HQ: a little novel (A6) and a little CD (80mm!) with Haruki bonus material from that friendly Aliand Books @ Amazon.

Download Readers Disco's Pinball 1973 Christmas package here


[dutch text]

Laatst was ik erg teleurgesteld. In mezelf hoor, niet in Haruki Murakami. Ik kwam er namelijk wat aan de late kant achter dat ik zijn eerste twee boeken nog niet gelezen had! Mijn tactiek van het plankje bij de boekenwinkel afwerken bleek niet voldoende; voor de laatste twee engelse vertalingen die ik nog niet had gelezen had ik toch echt in Japan moeten gaan zoeken. Laatste twee? Het betreft hier de eerste twee romans van Haruki Murakami: Hear the Wind Sing en Pinball, 1973.

Het Readers Disco inhaalslagje, het betreft immers twee kleine boekjes, begon bij Pinball, 1973. Murakami schreef deze tweede novelle in 1980. De enige Engelse vertaling van Alfed Birnbaum verscheen in een kleine oplage bij Kodansha International, als schoolboek voor leerlingen Engels.
De internationale boekenmarkt Amazon bleek een schrale troost toen ik dit boek gewoon even wilde laten opsturen. Zelfs als ik niet voor die eerste druk van €8250 zou gaan werd het toch wat prijzig.

Aangezien het er naar uit ziet dat Pinball, 1973 met medezeggenschap van Murakami niet bijgedrukt wordt, ook niet in Japan, deelt Readers Disco graag de PDF die je overal op internet kan vinden. We hebben er een A5 booklet van gemaakt met behulp van deze te gekke site. Omdat ook in dit verhaal over Boku en de Rat muziek voor komt kan je alles hier downloaden.

Mocht je je een beetje lullig voelen tegenover Murakami, of je verzamelwoede niet helemaal kunnen beteugelen, koop dan Hear the Wind Sing. Dit eerste verhaal van Murakami verscheen ook in vertaling bij Kodansha en is wel betaalbaar gebleven.
Gister binnengekomen in de Disco: Hear the Wind Sing (A6!) plus een kleine CD (80mm!) met Haruki extra's van Alliand Books @ Amazon.

Download hier het Readers Disco Pinball 1973 Kerstpakket

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The Red Album of Asbury Park Remixed

Amazon told us to read The Red Album of Asbury Park Remixed. Usually we neglect computer generated advice, but we had a feeling this time they were right. And they were. Alex Austin's latest novel tells the moving story of Sam Nesbitt trying to make the best of his life in the 60’s Asbury music scene.
Yes indeed, a perfect read for this disco. A perfect post also, since we did an interview with the author! Get the novel, read the interview and let us play the soundtrack.   

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Little Pixel Cover Versions

This weekend our great friends Mels & Sara came to dinner.. Oof! they brought some nice Dutch(!) wine. I should keep that one in mind when visiting Loek & Henny. Food & drinks, but of course we also talked about music. Mels took us on safari to Little Pixel's Flickr page filled with record covers re-designed into old pocket books.

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Watchmen - The Novel Soundtrack

Next month the Watchmen DVD finally will be available in stores over here in Amsterdam for those who have not already downloaded it or ordered it through Amazon. Listening to the tunes in the movie, I realised they were different from the songs being mentioned in the graphic novel. Yesterday I thought it was time to put the 'original score' online... which had already been done a few months ago by thus spake drake!

Shawn let me repost his text, so we can play the soundtrack in this disco. Read his article, enjoy the music, and do follow his links to film.com and a fist full of soundtracks.

------------------------------------
thus spake drake post march 05 2009:

Since perception of the classic graphic novel Watchmen will be changed forever starting tomorrow (thanks to the so-so adaptation hitting theaters,) I thought I'd revisit a novel soundtrack project I had of the comic from a couple years back.

The source material was famous for putting a quote at the end of each issue/chapter, with much of these being song lyrics. Bob Dylan songs were used for two of the chapters (I and X) the most important of these being the 11-minute "Desolation Row" (which is unfortunately butchered by My Chemical Romance for the film's closing credits). Others included songs from Elvis Costello ("The Comedians," Chapter II) and John Cale ("Sanities," Chapter XII). Creators Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons also sprinkled diegetic use of music throughout as well, most notably with the Owl Ship rescue scene and the use of Billie Holliday's "You're My Thrill," which, when combined with the empowering rescue, worked as foreplay for Silk Spectre and Night Owl's later romp in the air.

The other notable diegetic use has Iggy Pop's menacing "Neighborhood Threat" playing early in the series, blasting from the boombox of Knot-Top character named Derf. "Look down your back stairs, buddy..." sings Iggy, foreshadowing Dan coming home to find his house broken into by Rorshach.

The chapter and title uses, while they work lyrically with the story, don't necessarily correspond musically with the tone of the comic, so they're best as a reference and not a literal backing track. The film adaptation, which I haven't seen yet, seems to be pushing some of these songs literally into the universe, which is I'm guessing is a mistake (especially after hearing the not-so-subtle score from Tyler Bates). But more on that in a post to come. Below are the musical cues from the novel.

Playlist: Novel Sndtrck: Watchmen
1. "Desolation Row" - Bob Dylan - (Chapter I title and closing quotes from song)
2. "Neighborhood Threat" - Iggy Pop - plays from a boombox as Dan walks home from meeting with Hollis (Chapter I, Page 10, Panel 1)
3. "Ride of the Valkyries" - Richard Wagner - mentioned in the excerpt from Hollis' autobiography (supplemental end of Chapter I)
4. "The Comedians" - Elvis Costello - (Chapter II end quote)
5. "Walking on the Moon" - The Police - sung by a soldier painting a sign on Dr. Manhattan's door (Chapter III, Page 19, Panel 1)
6. "Jocko Homo" - Devo - Laurie references when Dan says he 'looks Devo' (Chapter VII, Page 10, Panels 2-3)
7. "Unforgettable" - Nat King Cole - song used in ad for Ozymandius' perfume Nostalgia (Chapter VII, Page 13, Panels 8-9)
8. "You're My Thrill" - Billie Holliday - blasted from the Owl Ship during rescue (Chapter VII, Pages 25, Panel 7, Page 26 Panels 1-4, 7)
9. "All Along the Watchtower" - Bob Dylan - (Chapter X title and end quote)
10. "The Times They Are A-Changin'" - Bob Dylan - print ad for Nostalgia perfume (Chapter XI supplemental interview with Veidt)
11. "Sanities" - John Cale - (Chapter XII title and end quote)
--------------------------------------------------------------
Download the Watchmen Novel Soundtrack here

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Ik dacht dat afgelopen weekend de DVD van Watchmen eindelijk uitkwam in Nederland, maar ik had het mis. Begin september(!) is hij te koop voor iedereen die hem nog niet heeft gedownload of besteld bij Amazon. Hoe dan ook viel het mij dit weekend op dat de muziek in de film verschilt van de muziek in het boek. Ik besloot de muziek die bij Watchmen van Alan Moore en Dave Gibbons hoort te verzamelen en te posten... wat iemand anders natuurlijk allang had gedaan.

Shawn van thus spake drake vond het goed als we zijn artikel hier in de disco plaatsten, deze keer met download link naar de muziek! Check ook even de andere artikelen over de soundtrack van Shawn himself en van Jimmy J. Aquino.

Lees hierboven de tekst van thus spake drake, 5 maart 2009

Download hier de muziek bij de graphic novel Watchmen

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Love is a mixtape

Love is a mixtape is the first novel by Rolling Stone editor Rob Sheffield. Listening to a bunch of old tapes he tells the sad but beautiful story about growing up and losing the love of your life, and about the music as a soil for their love. Read the book, listen to the music, and enjoy the 90's that gave way to the underground and shy guys.

As a child of these 90's I've grown up with mixtapes, now I'm working as a dj and I'm a Reader in the Discotheque. More then enough to love this book and start daydreaming when the songs mentioned by Rob find their way back from the brain to the ears, although I was more of a hiphop kid back then. And yeah as a shy hiphopper I fell in love with a nice grunge-girl and we did some music together, but the girl that really did it for me is the one that made me mixcd's. Her 'I Want You Back Mixtape' worked out well; we definitely found the love Rob describes through the words and songs.

Touched by his story I wanted to hear some of the music, so here's a tape: 'rumblefish' features all the songs played by Rob while telling the first chapter of Love is a mixtape. Yes of course we all want the other 21 tapes too, so here's what to do: Press record. make a tape, put online and post a link.

Download 'rumblefish', the mixtape to chapter 1 here

... and post a comment with a download link to Rob's other tapes!


find the original photo of the cassette and more great pics at the flickrpage of Miss Nita

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Love is a mixtape is de eerste roman van Rolling Stone redacteur Rob Sheffield. Aan de hand van een doos met oude bandjes vertelt hij zijn tragische maar mooie verhaal over zijn jeugd, zijn verloren vriendin en de muziek waarop hun liefde bloeide. Lees het boek, luister de muziek en laat je meevoeren naar die jaren negentig waarin de undergound populair werd en verlegen jongens de leukste meisjes kregen.

Kind in de jaren 90, opgegroeid met mixtapes, werkzaam als dj en Reader in the Discotheque. Genoeg om van dit boek te genieten en te dagdromen bij te muziek die Rob ter sprake brengt, hoewel ik destijds vooral liefhebber was van hiphop en minder van de toen populair geworden grunge. Ja ik werd als verlegen hiphopper verliefd op een mooi grungerockmeisje en had met haar een muzikale klik. Maar de 'I Want You Back Mixtape' vol met hiphop van mijn volgende grote liefde zorgde voor het geluk dat Love is a mixtape geslaagd verwoordt.

Gegrepen door het verhaal en verlangend naar de muziek, maakte ik de mixtape 'rumblefish', de tape die Rob Sheffield luistert in het eerste hoofdstuk. De andere 21 willen we natuurlijk ook graag hebben. Dus ga naar de audiotheek, neem op, kom naar de discotheek, load up.

Download hier de 'rumblefish tape' uit Love is a mixtape

... en reageer met een download link voor de andere tapes die Rob luistert!


de foto van de tape en andere mooie foto's zijn te vinden op de flickrpagina van Miss Nita

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Blink & Sparkle

Finishing your studies is worth it.. people give you more books now they see you can read and... champagne of course!! That's how I got this paperback with a personal note from my neighbour: 'forget all you have learned, BLINK!'. Book's finished, Pommery still in the fridge.

Blink! The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell tells about the importance of spontaneity in decision-making. It would be better if people would use their intuition more often, and their use of snap judgments instead of overly rational thinking would lead to better (re)actions. 'Thin slicing' can give enough essential information when solving a problem or evaluating situations and other things.

Gladwell writes about the fact that the knowledge we use for making snap judgements is locked in our brains behind a secret door. This 'adaptive conciousness' changes through our lives, and it is only by snap judgements that we can grab the precious knowledge we need.

Three chapters in this book are being used to illustrate the workings of these judgements, and to discuss the pros and cons. That's how the reader comes across Kenna, brought to the stage as a musician who suffers from the way things work in the music bizz where companies are only willing to invest in products that will make them rich. Whilst the co-president of Atlantic, Fred Durst, U2's manager and Gladwell himself just know he is a potential hit maker, market research says that Kenna's star will never really rise: The 'thin slicing' of his music didn’t result in positive feedback from the test panel.
The cause of this discrepancy between the opinion of the people who know and the people who buy is the wrong context of the testing. Just like Coca Cola acting funny after some 'blind tasting', the music industry takes a 'telephone session' seriously. By ignoring the context they forget to take into account the real world where people enjoy Coke by the can with their eyes open and music by the full length of the song with the levels up.

Kenna is doing fine recently since he teamed up with the Neptunes. Sadly this does not influence my negative snap judgement, and to be honest we hardly play his tunes at the Readers Discotheque. The positive feeling I had when unpacking Gladwell's Blink! is still there though, and if the Pommery tastes good I'll have to make sure to get his latest book Outliers: The Story of Success.

Download Mark Ronson & Kenna's version of Ryan Adam's Amy here


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Studeren loont!... mensen geven je namelijk boeken cadeau om je te feliciteren als je klaar bent.. en champagne natuurlijk!! Zo kreeg ik een pocket met een persoonlijke noot erin van de buurman: 'vergeet wat je hebt geleerd, en BLINK!'. Het boek heb ik uit, de Pommery van Ap & Loes staat nog even te pronken op de kast.

Blink! van Malcolm Gladwell heeft als ondertitel The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, en vertelt over het belang van spontaniteit bij het maken van beslissingen. Het zou beter zijn als mensen meer gebruik maken van hun intuïtie en hun vaak betere spontane (re)actie minder laten beïnvloeden door rationeel denken. Door middel van 'thin slicing' kan er genoeg essentiële informatie uit een klein deel worden gehaald om een probleem op te lossen, een situatie te overzien of iets op waarde te schatten.

Gladwell schrijft over kennis die we in onze hersens achter een gesloten deur hebben opgeslagen en waar we niet bewust bij kunnen. Deze onderbewuste kennis passen we gedurende ons leven onbewust aan, en alleen spontaniteit kan ervoor zorgen dat we deze waardevolle kennis achter die deur vandaan halen.

Drie hoofdstukken worden gebruikt om het de werking van 'snap judgements' te illustreren en de voors en tegens te bespreken. Zo komt ook het probleem ter sprake waar muzikant Kenna tegenaan loopt. Gladwell haalt hem naar voren als slachtoffer van het systeem dat in de muziekindustrie gebruikt wordt om te bepalen of een artiest de moeite, en vooral de investering, waard is. Hoewel Kenna door o.a. door de baas van Atlantic, Fred Durst, de manager van U2 en Gladwell zelf wordt gezien als een potentiële hit, wijzen die marktonderzoeken anders uit: Bij het horen van een aantal 'thin slices' reageert het testpanel niet enthousiast genoeg.
De oorzaak van deze discrepantie tussen de mening van mensen die er wat vanaf weten en de doelgroep, is de verkeerde context waarin de muziek wordt getest. Net als Coca Cola die zich de stuipen op het lijf liet jagen door mensen die blind proeven, laat de muziekindustrie zich beïnvloeden door mensen die telefonisch luisteren. Maar cola drink je zonder blinddoek en op z'n minst uit een blikje, muziek luister je langer dan twintig seconden naar en het liefst lekker hard.

Kenna, die inmiddels bijgestaan door The Neptunes best lekker gaat, wordt in de Readers Discotheque niet echt veel gedraaid. Mijn spontane maar negatieve oordeel is overeind gebleven, evenals mijn positieve gevoel bij het oppakken van Blink!. Als de Pommery me goed smaakt zal ik binnenkort met veel plezier en toch noodzakelijk Gladwell's laatste boek Outliers: The Story of Success lezen.

Download hier Mark Ronson & Kenna's versie van Ryan Adam's Amy

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Oshima's Sonata

Three months ago I finished my studies in Comparative Arts and Media Studies with a B.A. Thesis on the role of the music in Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore. It was great to dig deep into the novel and the music, and more specific the parts about Oshima and his beloved Schubert. The thesis is about showing that the music in the novel adds an extra dimension making the reading experience more intense.

First Oshima's detailed explanation of Schubert's Sonata in D major (D.850) allows me to connect the character and the music looking for similarities. The differences that I encounter might be useful as extra information that can be used to, after a solid connection between the two has been made, tell some more about Oshima. In this way the music becomes a tempting carrier pulling the reader into the novel while displaying extra information.

Comparing Schubert and Oshima leads to their shared urge to be living on the edge every now and then. The clear analogy between the Allegro vivace and Oshima's ride through the woods followed by the restrained second part of the sonata points out that there are quite some parallels between the text and the music. Now when following Schubert's biography and his music even further, I can conclude that Oshima would love to live a different life, a life less serious, less confined. He would be able to cross borders without the crashing that became fatal to the composer.

The music in Kafka on the Shore not just fortifies to the readers image of Oshima, it really gives extra information about this character. I think an analysis of the other characters in comparison to their music will bring me to the same conclusion. This novel by Murakami plays enough music to use when trying to fill in the blank spaces, making it a very intense story.

Download the B.A. Thesis Oshima's Sonate here [dutch]
Download the music here

Readers Discotheque is looking for a translator for the thesis. dutch to english please.


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Drie maanden geleden rondde ik mijn studie ACW aan de VU af met een scriptie over de rol van de muziek in Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore. Met veel plezier onderzocht ik wat de muziek toevoegt aan het verhaal, en in het bijzonder het verhaal van Oshima. Mijn insteek is dat de veelvuldig voorkomende muziek in de roman voor een extra dimensie zorgt, en dat bij begrip van deze muzikale laag de geschreven tekst intenser beleefd wordt.

Oshima's uitvoerige bespreking van Schubert en zijn Sonate in D (D.850) majeur grijp ik aan om dit personage eerst met de muziek te verbinden door de overeenkomsten te zoeken, om vervolgens de verschillen te bestuderen en te kijken of de muziek na de koppeling extra informatie over Oshima prijs geeft. De muziek is op deze manier, net als de soms surrealistische tekst, een verleidelijk vervoermiddel dat ons van informatie kan voorzien.

De duidelijk aanwijsbare elementen die een vergelijking tussen Schubert en Oshima rechtvaardigen komen samen in de gedeelde drang om grenzen te overschrijden. De sterke overeenkomst tussen de Allegro vivace en de autorit waarin Oshima en Kafka de sonate bespreken wijst via de opgelegde rust in het tweede deel van de sonate op meerdere parallellen tussen de tekst en de muziek. Wanneer we de Schubert's biografische gegevens en zijn muziek blijven volgen wijzen deze op een leven dat Oshima graag zou willen leiden en losser, minder serieus is. Hij zou in dit leven de grenzen verder kunnen overschrijden zonder, in tegenstelling tot Schubert, te crashen.

De muziek in Kafka on the Shore versterkt niet alleen het beeld dat de lezer van Oshima krijgt, maar vult het ook aan. Ik denk een bestudering van de andere personages en hun muziek eenzelfde resultaat brengt. De roman van Murakami zit vol aanwijzingen waarmee we, al luisteren naar muziek, meer open plekken in de roman kunnen invullen en het verhaal intenser kunnen beleven.

Download hier de Bachelor Scriptie Oshima's Sonate
Download hier de muziek

p.s. vertaler gezocht die het leuk vindt om deze scriptie voor Readers Discotheque te vertalen

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Into The Wild

Last year I went to see Sean Penn's movie about Chris McCandless walking into the wild. It's an impressive movie, and I was happy to get both the book by Jon Krakauer ánd the movie soundtrack by Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder as a birthday present.

Sean Penn did a good job showing the vastness and the beauty of the nature Chris wanted to feel. The good thing about the book is that Krakauer compares Chris with other guys and their dangerous lonesome journeys. This makes it more easy for the reader to understand the motivations and form a proper judgement if you want to. Following this line the book also discusses the mistakes made by the intelligent and stubborn Chris McCandless.
The good thing about the music is that it's beautifull. As a soundtrack to the movie it fits quite well. As a soundtrack to the book it really keeps the thoughts of Chris in my head, knowing he took off at the beginning of this season I enjoy so much here in Amsterdam.


[dutch text]
Vorig jaar rond deze tijd zag ik Sean Penn's film over Chris McCandless die de wildernis van Alaska intrekt. De film maakte veel indruk, en ik was toch wel blij toen ik vorige maand jarig was; ik kreeg een cadeautje! Het boek Into The Wild van Jon Krakauer & de CD met de filmmuziek van Eddie Vedder scheurde ik uit de verpakking.

Mooi aan de film is de weergave van de ruimte en de schoonheid van de natuur die Chris zo aantrok. Mooi aan het boek vind ik de vergelijking die Krakauer maakt met andere jongens die een zelfde soort trip ondernamen, waardoor je als lezer meer inzicht krijgt in de motivaties en deze ook beter begrijpt. In het verlengde hiervan ligt de bespreking van fouten die de intelligente en eigenwijze Chris maakte tijdens zijn omzwervingen.
Mooi is ook de muziek van Eddie Vedder. Terwijl de lente aanbreekt hier in Amsterdam houdt Vedder mijn gedachten bij Chris MacCandless die vol goede moed Alaska introk, overtuigd van de mogelijkheid in dit seizoen van en met de natuur te kunnen leven.

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