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cryptologicalmystic · 5 years ago

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a tedious argument of sinister intent

[This is going to make absolutely no sense if you aren't caught up on @trashfoundation 's blog. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure it'll make sense even in that context! As far as canonicity goes, I don't think the first part should contradict anything, but the second part may be incompatible with what's happening on the blog. Who knows. *shrug emoji*]

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This is the third time today Leah has gone to check on the gremlin boxes. They're deceptively simple-looking - you push a certain button on one, a little screen powers up. Save for occasional minute variations in the numbers, the readout it shows has been basically the same for the past few weeks, ever since the boxes appeared: "anchors in array" constant at thirty (they've only actually found twenty so far, none of which they've been able to move at all), "inside array" at one hundred, and "correcting from value of" somewhere between eighty and ninety-five - excluding the first few hours after the boxes actually showed up, where it didn't break sixty the entire time.

But the cultists that now haunt the Chipotle like particularly droopy ghosts have been on edge for the past few days, ever since shortly after the "feast" with the gremlins-who-had-stopped-being-gremlins ended. And the cultists, unlike the gremlins they seem to worship, have actually been a positive influence on the place!

Since the cultists came, none of the Night Shift - the employees' tacit moniker for the little group they've created to obsess over the surveillance footage of gremlins and fistfights and gods - have been mindwiped. Not even once.

The gremlin-specific panic button they came up with has only been pressed once, during the "feast", and Leah remembers doing it as clear as day. The footage from the security cameras matches up with the footage from the miniature cams Ed started sticking everywhere after the third or fourth time they'd found things on the tapes they couldn't explain, with the audio from the microphones they'd installed after incident seven, even with their memories.

So, yeah, if they're this agitated then Leah is going to regularly check the other tangible evidence they have, thank you very much. With this certainty in her mind, she presses down on the readout button - and freezes.

SCRANTON REALITY ANCHOR

ANCHORS IN ARRAY: 30

INSIDE ARRAY:

100.01 (+0.12/-0.16) Hm

READINGS NOMINAL

CORRECTING FROM VALUE OF:

26.11 (+21.61/-12.16) Hm

!!WARNING!! STRENGTH OF LOCAL REALITY SUBSTRATE BENEATH ACCEPTABLE LEVELS

!!WARNING!! HIGH FLUCTUATIONS IN STRENGTH OF LOCAL REALITY SUBSTRATE

!!WARNING!! 11.62% PROBABILITY OF ACTIVE REALITY BENDER IN VICINITY

It doesn't take much to connect that last line with some of the things the cameras have recorded: the unidentifiable man who comes in at the end, pays the fighters' bill, and fixes all the damage they caused. Leah's had years of experience in customer-facing positions; she doesn't doubt for a moment that, if there are enough people like him to warrant a fancy label, then the vast majority are going to be more interested in breaking things than fixing them.

(Unconsciously, she reaches a hand up to touch the scar cutting through her eyebrow.)

Leah stands up, moves back until she's absolutely sure she's within the boxes' - the anchors' - area of effect, and takes a moment to panic. Then she turns to march back into the Chipotle.

Nobody is getting unmade today, not on her watch.

Elsewhere, a seagull struggles through the air, claws tangled through the straps of an opened purse - and through the chain of the gaudy necklace the purse is holding.

Jack Bright hasn't slept since this whole thing began. Technically the bird he's possessing has, but he hasn't. He's not entirely sure how the hell he managed to escape, especially since he doesn't actually remember doing it, but he's out. Unfortunately, he had to ditch the phone he was carrying - too heavy, plus there's a good chance the Insurgency could use it to track him if he held on.

He's resolutely trying not to think about the events that led to him getting captured in the first place. Him? A reality bender? That's ridiculous, he'd be dead by now if that were the case. Maybe even really dead and not just in the limbo of the in-between. (Now there's a thought!) If they couldn't manage that, they'd have strengthened the containment procedures for 963. (...Would the List count?) At the very least, he'd have been demoted or something.

(Unless he's subconsciously bent their minds so that nothing like that could happen. Ridiculous, of course. He wouldn't do something like that. Right?)

But his coworkers seem to believe it, and the Insurgency seems to believe it. And it would make a lot of offhand comments on the blog make a lot more sense.

("Do you WANT to resume the CK-ass-clay estructuring-ray enario-scay?")

("if the thing you were thinking of rhymes with "ebay pass", then yes it is!")

("Bright's on his bullshit again".)

But it's not possible... right?

#sfw #trashfoundation #the frogs are awol #suicidal ideation //#implied anyway #the title is more t. s. eliot haha

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renaramblesaboutcomics · 7 years ago

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Wednesday Roundup 8.23.2017

Whooo weeks where I have more than one trade to review at once are always difficult and this week I got two massive ones for sure. We’re, maybe for the first time since I started the Roundups, fairly Marvel heavy this week so it’s going to be a game of determining whether or not that makes it a cakewalk for the Mouse’s favorite leaking sieve of potential movie rights.

Or maybe, y’know, I just read a bunch of good comics and it’s not nearly as competitive as I make it out to be. You decide~

Marvel’s Deadpool, DC’s Detective Comics, Marvel’s Immortal Iron Fists, Image’s Lazarus: X + 66, Marvel’s X-Men Gold

Marvel’s Deadpool (2015-present) Vol. 8: ‘Til Death Do Us... Joshua Corin, Gerry Duggan, Christopher Hastings, Iban Coello, Salvador Espín, Scott Koblish

You know, if Marvel is attempting to use these endless crossover events as a way of pushing readers to only buying books in trade rather than subscribing individually, I will have to admit to their amazingly successful marketing campaign. Because no book has made me more relieved that I wait for the trade than this collection of Volume 8 of Deadpool (2015-present) which has the entire storyline of “’Til Death Do Us...” which only includes two issues of the actual titular Deadpool (2015-present) series. How can that possibly be? Well let’s find out together.

Story: So this is a massive event crossing all of the Deadpool titles. Because, as I’ve said before, there are a lot of them. Much like Wolverine or Spider-Man before him, Deadpool is being used to prop up so many books at once that it’s to the point of insecurity. Comics and their need to oversaturate a character.

In any regard, this particular storyline brings to a head the relationship between Wade and his wife, the Queen of Monster, Shiklah. Which, as Wade himself has joked about before, really had no chance of anything but imploding upon itself. In this case, it involves the invasion of monsters on New York City, a cross-world roadtrip with Wade and Peter, the Mercs for Money... existing until eventually helping manage the epic final battle, and the dissolution of Wade’s marriage in favor of a union between Shiklah and Dracula himself.

It is a very bloated story, and considering I only regularly follow Deadpool and Spider-Man/Deadpool out of the crossover comics included, it’s easy to see how my investment in this entire crossover was a matter of waning in and out between the characters I care about the most and how much any of them had to do per couple of pages. I mean, Hit Monkey only really got to make out with a Goblin and I think that spells out exactly how divided the amount of stuff there was to do was.

Even in that case, there were a lot of good moments, arguably the best being any time Gerry Dugan was at the helm and helping to mold the Deadpool I have come to love so much over the years. The story is slapstick and ridiculous, the characters wild and arguably dysfunctional, but even as it comes to an end that feels like it was the only way things could have ended, there is that sense of regret, sadness, and just pure depression that weaves its way into Wade’s stories when the mania dies down. And all of which is positively amazing in how much it does work beyond all reasonable expectations saying it shouldn’t.

Art: Given this was a crossover event, there were many artists collaborating on this entire book and while the styles differed between issues, there is no denying that the layouts must have been fairly meticulous because the story flowed easily from book to book. There was never any feeling that despite style differences something didn’t belong in the story as a whole and it was a refreshing consistency to how it all came together. There were great monster designs, I was glad to have every issue separated by their cover art. It was seamless work and much appreciated as a whole.

Characters & Dialogue: Oh boy. So, obviously only reading two of the books which were involved with this crossover, I can’t speak for most of these characters’ portrayals -- maybe Peter Parker and Aaron Stack, but those can be summed up as “modern Peter gives me aneurysms” and “everything with Aaron makes me miss Nextwave.” So I’m going to focus instead on Wade and Shiklah.

While there’s some variation between books, obviously, it is just amazing to me how after years of reading Deadpool, Wade’s voice and character has been really shaped by Gerry Duggan and his years long work with the character. Everything pays off and feels right, and you can see other writers shaping their own writing of the Merc with a Mouth to match. And I mean that in the absolute best way. There’s something inspired about having a character so known for ridiculousness and mania have such a strong and tragic underlying narrative beneath the layers. You can feel how bad Wade feels when his marriage to Shiklah comes apart and how much responsibility he feels for it, but also just how resigned he is to the fact that he messes up his own good things in life. And I love that pathos.

Shiklah, while a supporting character, has been one that I’ve genuinely enjoyed since Gerry Duggan first brought her into the Deadpool comics through “The Gauntlet” and I love that her fish-out-of-water and normalcy in the name of Marvel’s creature feature and monstrous side of the universe made a strange amount of sense for why she and Wade worked for each other for the time that they did. And I like that this has been something building up for a long time now and that Shiklah’s reasoning and perspective is respected by the narrative and, to an extent, by Wade himself.

I’m sure this isn’t the last we’ll see of the Monster Queen but it is a good send off until we do see her again.

DC’s Detective Comics (2016-present) #963 James Tynion IV, Christopher Sebela, Carmen Carnero, Arreola, Fitzpatrick

We’re getting back to what Steph’s doing out on her own and getting some semblance of what the Anarky plot is ultimately going to amount to. The real question I, and everyone else must now ask is, did that Anarky plot from pre-Rebirth Detective Comics have anything to do with this bc I don’t think anyone read it and if it is important or something we could be at just the start of a world of utter and total confusion. Lllllet’s find out.

Story: While this is the beginning of a new arc for ‘Tec, you could make the argument that the real beginning of this story was the one-off Spoiler-centric issue prior to the Zatanna/Azrael storyline we just wrapped up. We follow up from that story where Stephanie was attempting to put an end to the need for vigilante justice in Gotham by taking over cases meant for the Batfamily and completing them with little to no visual evidence of her involvement or credit given to anyone but the authorities.

At the end of that issue, Anarky had approached her to join his own, similar cause. According to him.

But the actual start of this issue was a flashback to Steph and Tim’s time together and romance. Which was not only a much better looking relationship than what they had in the preboot which was pretty uneven and full of some teenage shenanigans compounding Steph’s natural self-depreciation, but is also extremely necessary because ‘Tec absolutely dropped the ball in giving the start of the new series any time to establish these characters, show them training together, or grow their relationships before killing off people and breaking the team apart to the point where half the Belfry aren’t even children being trained anymore.

Not that we ever saw much training.

In any case, I’ve made it known before how much I dislike the use of flashback to make up for previous development and establishment so this kind of puts the new arc on a bad starting foot, at least with me. Especially with how creepy Anarky is around Steph (STRANGER DANGER) and how creepy it is that Bruce is stalking them from a distance to try to figure out what they’re doing (STRANGERER DANGERER). But we’ll have to see.

Art: While I have mentioned that the rotation of artists on the bimonthly books like Detective Comics and Wonder Woman has been something of a hinderance in other comics, I have to say I’m pretty impressed with the stable rotation of genuinely great art on ‘Tec every arc so far. Now, it’s not stylized the way I personally prefer, like when we get Marcio Takara’s turns to work on issues, and therefore can seem like a very good but standard house style for DC, but I really enjoy the consistency and appreciate how the female characters have reasonable body types and are not overly sexualized like has been part of the DC house style in the past. Steph’s actions and even her stance carries weight, and I increasingly like her new Spoiler costume each time I see it.

So all in all, great consistent art once more.

Characters & Dialogue: Tynion is usually the strongest when it comes to characters, and I think the beginning flashback between Steph and Tim highlighted that more than anything else. He obviously has a lot of love and nostalgia for these characters and it’s clear to see that that leads directly into direct homages all the way to bringing back an obscure Robin villain like Anarky. And that stuff’s good because, like I mentioned before, I do feel like Tynion has at least learned to be critical of his nostalgia and is righting things that were objectively not so great in the previous canon, like the treatment of Stephanie off-and-on in the Robin (1993-2009) series. Which is very nice.

That being said, I’m still waiting to be completely sold on Steph’s character here. I don’t dislike the change up of having her rebel against Bruce’s ways of doing things early and trying to forge her own path. And I don’t dislike the direction of her being critical of the way superheroes have grown in the public eye as authority figures and thinks instead they should go back to operating within the shadows and without bombast (apparently this is contentious in the Steph fandom? but i digress). But I do dislike that Stephanie, since her reappearance, has all but been refused the right to have her own secret identity. Which is ridiculous. Her identity gets immediately outed -- mostly by herself -- to nearly everyone, from her very first interactions with Dick to unmasking herself willy nilly here in front of a character named Anarky who is all but wearing a golden Guy Fox mask that he then refuses to remove in front of her for most of the issue.

Which brings us to Lonnie and the general creep factor I felt throughout this issue. Like. I don’t know. Hopefully the exact nature of their relationship will be built on later in the story, but to have him put her through the ringer and ‘test her’ only to then be so familiar with her as to brush her cheeks and put her mask on for her and use her civilian name. I don’t like. And being familiar with preboot Lonnie just adds to that.

Bruce is... Well, he’s Bruce.

Marvel’s Immortal Iron Fists (2017-present) #3 (of 6) Kaare Kyle Andrews, Afu Chan

The adventures of Danny and Pei continue and my heart is still trying to recover from the roller coaster it was given in this issue. So let’s just jump straight into it.

Story: Much like last time, the real show stopper in this issue is Pei and how simple yet still nuanced the portrayal of a young, immigrant girl’s struggles are in a middle school.

Danny’s reluctance to teach the next generation of Iron Fist and his preferred concentration on superheroics and recovering the scrolls comes to a head in this issue as Pei finally unleashes after her attempts to fit in only cause her mentor to be frustrated and upset with her. Which is all kinds of terrible because Danny pretty obviously doesn’t realize that everything Pei is doing at the moment is being a normal girl growing into her own.

Including the yelling and rebelling.

What further frustrates the characters, and me as a reader, though is that while Danny is forbidding Pei from getting involved with the current fight for the scrolls and demons and whatnot, it’s not only forcing her to neglect her destiny but also ignoring the fact that even without her direct involvement, her friends and classmates are being hurt and effected already. It’s not only hurting Pei in that Danny’s not helping her embrace her new abilities, but it’s making her feel the burden of responsibility on herself and making her feel even more useless to her friends.

Of course, if they explained their problems we wouldn’t have a story to begin with.

Art: Like I said with the last issue, this art is just so adorable and, most importantly of all, so fitting for the story being told. It displays so much emotion and so much color without giving up solid sequential sequences when there is action to portray. And in that way I love it all the more. But of course, I’m a big sucker for style at the end of the day.

Having read quite a few of Marvel’s digital exclusives at this point, however, I do hesitate to not point out that this is laid out like a regular comic instead of really taking advantage of the new media’s abilities. Whether or not that would be fitting for the story that Andrews wants to tell is debatable, but it does fall into the concerns I have with DC Digital First comics which is that the “digital comic” aspect is not taken advantage of for the sake of future traditional prints of this comic. It’s a delicate balance and ultimately I’ll trust that this is just how the creative team wanted their story to be told.

Characters & Dialogue: Considering that this story is incredibly character based, ultimately most of my bases here was covered in the story section. Still I just want to emphasize that Pei’s arc has been incredibly interesting to watch, and I like that she doesn’t seem to reject any of the “cliques” in school in favor of others but seems genuinely dedicated to making friends with everyone, which is refreshing in storytelling since in a very Mean Girls-esque way it’s usually that the freaks & geeks are held up as the Real True Friends as opposed to the fakers. And the reason I find that relieving is because they’re all fakers. That’s just what middle school is.

That being said, I will say that as much as I’m not always the biggest defender of Danny Rand as a character or a concept (usually the opposite tbh), I do think that even with the excuse that we’re mostly seeing thing’s from Pei’s perspective, I don’t see Danny as someone who would be this unreasonable and callous toward Pei when she really hasn’t actively gone against his wishes. Perhaps we’re just channeling a little too much of the dynamic from Jackie Chan Adventures for this story when Pei is not a Jade-like character who arguably earns her scolding from time to time.

Image’s Lazarus: X + 66 (2017-present) #2 (of 6) Greg Rucka, Michael Lark, Mack Chater, Aaron Duran, Arcas, Wynne

I really had no idea what to expect when this miniseries first came out, but you can thoroughly count me in the department as down for this world building and just general enjoyability that is coming from further exploring the world of Lazarus. As much as I would love to soon return to the regular title, this has been a great way to have more heartstrings pulled.

Story: As I said, I didn’t know really what to expect with this book but I’m not understanding more that it’s something of an anthology of stories beyond the perspective of the Carlyle family, and honestly I really love that.

I’ve mentioned many times before that I feel like Greg Rucka, like few writing peers of today, understands the importance of making a storyline feel complete within a single issue, and his work with this issue really feels like his signature. We follow the Morray family and specifically Joaquim, their Lazarus. From start to finish we don’t waste a single panel getting to learn the turmoil within the story, Joaquim’s tragedy, and the way his actions in protecting Forever in the main title is having severe consequences for the main conflict of this story.

And that conflict rather simply is how much of Joaquim’s humanity can he maintain as a Lazarus that is growing more and more robotic than man, and how much of that decision is in his own hands as he is a product of a system that has been losing its humanity more and more, not only for the Morrays but for all the major families of this dystopian future.

Art: While not as dynamic or fetching as the usual issue of Lazarus, the art for this issue is still outstanding. There’s a lot of... intensive anatomical study, we’ll say, but there was also not a whole lot of action. It was mostly a conversational and expositioning sort of issue which comes with its own complications -- how to make conversations feel alive and dramatic without a whole lot of actual action taking place. To which I must confess that the art did a fairly brilliant job of, as there was quite a lot of expressiveness and uniqueness in setting throughout.

Characters & Dialogue: It’s difficult to completely parse out the characters here because there are so many and the only one we had a fully established relationship with through the regular series was Joaquim himself, who also had the honor of the most panel time and presence throughout the issue. But that isn’t to say that every moment seen of the Morray family, how they conduct their business, and what that all intended for Joaquim himself was not excellent and as well characterized as always. I genuinely appreciated the culture and the look into the family dynamics which are so similar and yet so different to the Carlyles.

Rucka’s great with character and it truly shows when he has only an issue to pt everything on the line because he fully delivers almost every time.

Marvel’s X-Men Gold (2017-present) Vol. 1: Back to the Basics Marc Guggenheim, Adrian Syaf, R.B. Silva, Martin

My renewed interest in the X-Men is getting costly and I completely blame Tom Taylor’s run on All-New Wolverine for getting me back in that groove to begin with because I was totally over my addiction before then. Now I’m here for the Guggenheim.

Story: When an opening arc to a story calls itself “Back to Basics” there’s a decent reason for your expectations to generally be that whatever people haven’t liked about the comics in the most recent Giant Change Up To Forever Break the Status Quo in Comics is going over like a lead balloon of sorts or that they finally wrestled a book out of Bendis’ hands. And there’s nothing in Volume 1 of X-Men Gold that really changes my mind in regard to that impression.

Which might not be entirely fair. Kitty in particular has been pushed more and more to the forefront of the X-Men in recent years and as a result, they had to erase her curly hair and also force her to really grow up. In a way, Kitty -- who was once the youngest of the X-Men and the student to everyone -- has become the teacher, mentor, and leader to what remains of the Mutant Race. Who aren’t doubles of past versions of themselves. And who aren’t living out of their late dads’ apartments. And who aren’t being killed by yet another serial race murderer.

X-Men Gold focuses on establishing the elder team to X-Men Blue’s younger mutants and gives us a team of fan favorites as a result. This first arc has them dealing with a very on-the-nose Ann Coulter analogue who has a No Spin Zone style show on Fact News (get it). She’s a race baiter attempting to stir up mutant prejudices again for ratings and also some sort of greater grudge I’m sure will come back later. It includes her hiring Mesmero to create a new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants to frame all mutantkind for their terroristic acts and encourage public calls for mass deportation of mutants. Get it.

Subtlety of a sledgehammer aside, I want to take this moment to point out that one of the Brotherhood’s new members is an alien lizard looking guy that no one’s familiar with. And from the time he appears until the time they learn gasp he’s an extraterrestrial and not a mutant at all, Kitty (and others but mostly Kitty) keep talking about his appearance and how he’s a creep or scary and I’m just like. Apparently the X-Men truly haven’t learned from their own prejudices. I mean, everyone was assuming this guy was a mutant but at the same time judging him based on his appearance? Like wasn’t this the whole point of having Nightcrawler, Beast, and Anole on the X-Men??? But whatever.

The second half focuses on Remy discovering the newest incarnation of the Sentinels which are now conscious and learning nanites which take three issues to take out and are only dismantled by Rachel having a Walkabout of sorts talking to her old selves, her mother, and her father which encourages her enough that she psychically blasts every single nanite. To the detriment of her eyes apparently bc now all the Avengers and X-Men now reflect in them. I’m not entirely sure about that cliffhanger.

Other than the little girl on the last page I thought for sure was Molly Hayes and could not figure out why she was in New York or where the rest of the Runaways were until I realized oh that’s probably just another kid and artists don’t know how to vary their style of drawing younger age groups bc lbr it’s not like it happens that often on most books.

Art: The art for both arcs was honestly really spectacular. There were strong, solid lineart with great use of colors, the characters all had varied designs, and explosions -- which are always important to X-Men stories, of course -- were fantastic and bombast. But it’s also that house style I like to mention so much so it’s also really hard to get into why it works or doesn’t work because it’s just the established good storytelling style that both of the Big Two are comfortable using on any book for good reason.

Characters & Dialogue: Since X-books are always filled to the gills with characters I can’t go into every single character or voice, but I’ll focus on the two most central characters to these first arcs: Kitty and Rachel. I thought both were written extremely well and there was real gravity to their interactions, a feeling of the importance and enormity of their histories. Sometimes that feels absent in modern books, especially for Rachel who seems to be a character most writers approach with apprehension, but we got to actually do a deep dive on both of them. And as a result, that maturity the book refers to through other characters and through Kitty’s inner monologue feels genuine.

One thing I have to stress, though: Marvel please stop pushing KittyxPioter. It worked back in the day once. It’s not really going to work again and it’s been too long and Kitty is 1000% right when she says she’s moved on. So have we.

I wasn’t sure what I was going to do if I had so many ridiculously good issues at once to pick from but fortunately we have only three issues for singles to pick from this week. And even though I legitimately enjoyed all of what I read this week, there is just something special about the way Immortal Iron Fists pulls at my heart strings. I’ve really come to adore Pei, her unique voice in comics, and especially the way it’s developing Danny’s potential in ways we’ve never seen before. Not to mention I’m just incredibly partial to all-ages comics which aren’t afraid to tackle very mature problems and themes while still speaking to a young audience’s tone.

Now between the two collected trades here, we’re stuck between an Weapon X and a X-Men which I’m not sure how it happened to me since I’m fairly sure I’ve not had to pick between two choices like that since I was in middle school. It’s kind of astounding. But, bang for my buck, I’m giving this one to X-Men Gold. It was a solid introductory arc and also had the benefit of not being a massive crossover with more characters than it knew how to properly work in. The irony of me saying that about the non-X-Men book here does not escape me.

And those are my picks of the week! That being said, I’m sure there’s lots to agree and disagree with me on in this Roundup. Be sure to let me know one way or the other. Also, do you think there are any books I missed picking up that would be good reads for me?

And now it’s also that time of the week everyone dreads but not nearly as much as I do.

I am in a bit of a financial crunch for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which being the medical bills I’m paying for my dog, Eve, who experienced a catastrophic dog fight and underwent surgery recently.

As such, I really would appreciate if you enjoy my content or are interested in helping me out, please check out either my Patreon or PayPal. Every bit helps and I couldn’t thank you enough for enjoying and supporting my content.

You could also support me by going to my main blog, @renaroo, where I’ll soon be listing prices and more for art and writing commissions.

RenaRoo Patreon

RenaRoo PayPal

#Rena Roundups #Wednesday Spoilers #SPOILERS #Detective Comics (2016 )#Immortal Iron Fists (2017)#Lazarus: X + 66 #Deadpool (2015 )#XMen Gold (2017 )

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lindsay36ho · 5 years ago

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Talking Bach with Pianist Ramin Bahrami

Iranian pianist Ramin Bahrami is considered one of today’s most interesting interpreters of Johann Sebastian Bach’s music. A regular performer at Cremona Musica, Bahrami and flutist Massimo Mercelli presented works from their latest CD, “Bach Sanssouci”, on the Decca label. Piano Street’s Patrick Jovell was happy to get the chance to talk to the inspirational performer.

Rami Bahrami plays Goldberg Variations in Parma, Teatro Regio, April 2019

Piano Street: Through your recordings you have gone through almost all keyboard music by Bach. Such a giant project makes us think in terms of a statement. How did your relation with the Leipzig master start and with what means have you created your own unique ”Bach universe” on a map counting many stellar performers over the years?

Ramin Bahrami: I was 5 years old when I heard Glenn Gould – the great Canadian pianist – for the first time and I immediately fell in love with Bach and Gould’s way to play this wonderful music. With Bach’s music I began my mission as a musician. Bach is for me not only the greatest composer ever – he is also a master of life and harmony: he is the fifth evangelist! PS: When we perceive Bach’s music the polyphony is an unrivaled factor – his friend Forkel observed that Bach saw music as a conversation between human voices. His music sounds good on any instrument. Which specific qualities can be found in the flute sonatas?

RB: In the flute sonatas and generally in all Bach’s melodic lines you have beauty and grace. He is always very elegant and refined. He reflects something very Italian and with German rationality.

PS: When we start working on a Bach piece, which should be our best approach? Should we start with the polyphony, melodic lines, articulation, harmony, or sound? Can you tell us how you prepare?

RB: The first approach – not only in Bach – must be the emotion, the feeling, and the human side of the composition, and thereafter of course all other elements, like melodic lines and different voices, harmony, polyphony, and natural sound. But the first step is always to understand the “Affektenlehre”. My personal approach begins with love and concentration and I try to discover the principal character of the music.

PS: Highly evident when hearing interpreters playing Bach is the concept of rhythm and the variety of different approaches. Bach’s friend Forkel wrote about how captivating Bach’s own playing was in this sense. This makes us think about the dances and the Suites. How would you elaborate on this important factor in Bach’s dance forms?

RB: I absolutely agree with you. Dance and rhythm are very important factors. He is always dancing and singing. He didn’t like too slow tempi, as Forkel wrote. John Elliot Gardiner once said: “Bach is Dance”. I think in the same way. The Bach Suites are not only wonderful selections of different dances of different countries but there is also a European Parliament in there. You can even find the Middle East nations like Persia in the Sarabande for example.

PS: You recorded the Piano (Keyboard) Concertos with Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and Riccardo Chailly. These are done with a ”modern” instrument and setting. Which are your ideas about performances using historical instruments?

RB: I have a very positive idea. Because if you want to have a rich idea about Bach’ s music today, you must know very well your past and all origins. You must know where you’re from. Personally I think that for transmission to modern audiences, the modern instruments such as the wonderful, dark golden sound of the beautiful Gewandhausorchester and the modern Steinway are really appropriate for the universal message of the Master. I loved very much to find a most comfortable nuance with Maestro Riccardo Chailly and his vivid intentions, and the work with the Gewandhausorchester and their modern instruments was truly fantastic.

PS: With your vast experience we must take the chance to ask you which of the less familiar Bach keyboard pieces we should look out for and play? There must be many not-so-known Bach works to discover?

RB: I suggest to young colleagues, for example: Bach’s Transcriptions of the Italian Masters, and the Keyboard Sonatas. I like very much the D Major Sonata with “la Gallina Cucca Fugue”, or the early Suite in f minor BWV 823. Aria variata alla maniera Italiana BWV 989, Four Duets BWV 802-805, Suite in A major BWV 832, Suite in e minor BWV 996, and of course other pieces. Bach is like an ocean. “Nicht Bach, Meer sollte er heissen” – “Not Bach (German for brook or stream), he should be called the Sea” – as Ludwig van Beethoven wrote about Johann Sebastian Bach.

PS: You are a prolific music personality and often appear on television, speaking about music. You are also an author of many books. Which are your quests as a writer?

RB: My principal aspiration and quest as interpreter and music divulgator is to have a friendly relationship with the public and to familiarize the young people with this immense legacy. I am only a Bach lover and I hope to see many youngsters at classical concerts. Why not at Bach evenings? It’s a hope!

Bahrami’s Bach journey on record

In 2009 Decca Universal released the 6-CDs box ”Ramin Bahrami plays Bach”, with all Bahrami’s Bach recordings up till then, including a selection of live performances and in 2010 came the French Suites. Before that, the Goldberg Variations, the seven Partitas and the Art of Fugue, released respectively in 2004, 2005 and 2007 which launched Bahrami as a popular and sought after artist. The recording of The Art of Fugue reached the top ten of pop-music best sellers in Italy – keeping this position for seven weeks. After this followed the release of ”Concerto Italiano”, with Bach works inspired by Italy (Concerto Italiano, Aria variata nella maniera italiana, Capriccio sulla lontananza del fratello dilettissimo, Quattro Duetti etc.), and in 2009 Bach Sonatas BWV 963-968 received important evaluations from critics and audience. In 2011 followed the Bach Concertos with Riccardo Chailly and the Gewandhaus Orchestra, 2012 the English Suites, 2013 Inventions & Sinfonias and 2014 Flute Sonatas with flutist Massimo Mercelli. That same year “Bach for Babies” was released and followed by Bach’s Musical Offering in 2015.

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from Piano Street’s Classical Piano News https://www.pianostreet.com/blog/articles/talking-bach-with-pianist-ramin-bahrami-10361/

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yourethicalenviro-blog · 8 years ago

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Blog #5 Let the Free Market Decide. Strong Anthropocentrism

While considering perspectives and diverse types of planetary management, we should look at pioneers and critical figures in those fields. One of these figures is William Baxter. Other than his legitimate and business accomplishments, Baxter has composed an incredible arrangement on every living creature's common sense entitlement and their ethical standing. He is of the supposition that any non-human creature should not have any ethical standing, and that a creature's position is just to be considered in regard to their association with people. Along these lines, Baxter considers moral rights one of a kind to people. This is noteworthy as it is a human-centric view, and slights every living creature's common sense entitlement as different savants or huge masterminds, for example, Singer or Steinbock may advocate for. While Baxter does not state that creatures should be ignored totally, he expresses that occasions to their greatest advantage should be seeks after just on the off chance that they advantage individuals also. Moreover, he expresses that the best advantages of people are best measured utilizing "a money saving advantage investigation", as one does when weighing diverse sides of things from a financial as well as moral point of view. These sorts of cost examinations can really be useful as there are numerous parts of good relativism that call for alternate points of view or assessment from various sides, for example, financial aspects. At the point when things are ethically relative and it is hazy or wrong to force a perspective, it is useful to consider the group of onlookers and consider why certain inclinations may be considered over others.

Natural perspectives are characterized by how people see themselves in connection to their condition and how they treat their general surroundings. While the earth intelligence perspective is the minimum human-centric out of the three noteworthy perspectives, the planetary administration perspective goes up against a totally human-centric position. It is human instinct to be human-centric, much the same as it is the way of each creature to support its own kind over others. In any case, not at all like different creatures people have the endowment of judicious thought, and can think past their anthropocentrism for the benefit of the world. Shockingly, huge numbers of the world's most effective individuals try to look past anthropocentrism, enabling planetary administration to have an intense hang on our way of life.

While it is workable for us to look past the reasoning of anthropocentrism, doing as such is troublesome, as well as outlandish. We have an obligation to our families, groups and the entire human race to save and enhance the lives of mankind. Along these lines, it is essential that we don't take a non-human-centric perspective. Bryan Norton, educator at Georgia Tech conceived a moral arrangement, adjusting our obligations to our kindred people with those to the earth. This arrangement is the rationality of powerless anthropocentrism, and lies between the perspectives of stewardship and earth intelligence.

One characterizing contrast amongst solid and feeble anthropocentrism is the varying dependence on inclination. While the solid variation depends of felt inclination, the feeble one uses considered fluctuation. To expound further, solid anthropocentrism depends on essential human longing that can straightforwardly be fulfilled. The frail variation is more muddled, as considered inclination requires educated consultation. Educated consultation requires a man to look at their objectives and act in agreement to the relevant science and rationality. While educated consideration can never be totally accomplished, it is required keeping in mind the end goal to move past essential human yearning.

Baxter's standards express that we have to satiate the human cravings, since the people are proposed to be buyers in the public eye. Baxter is an advocate of "Let the Market Decide," or utilizing consumerism as the driving component in the connection amongst people and the common habitat. The human purchasers will include "free market activity" variables which will profit the necessities and joy of humankind. One of the issues with weak anthropocentrism is that it needs particular rules. The reasoning is extremely obscure, and abandons itself up for understanding. This is frequently the situation when a rationality endeavors to string the needle between two extremes, as it can't adopt a hardline strategy on the same number of issues as the less focus methods of insight seem to be. Thus, weak anthropocentrism abandons itself up for a lot of understanding. Be that as it may, this theory can be connected to genuine issues and is also engaging the normal individual who has a benchmark level of nurture the earth, yet does not have any desire to relinquish their humanistic outlook on the world.

It might appear as though Norton is pushing for non-anthropocentrism on occasion, yet realize that it is not the situation. Norton holds a similarity of anthropocentrism in his perspective by saying that the nearness of people improves the world a place. Most people, myself included, concur with this assumption. While people frequently accomplish more mischief than great to the earth, our discerning thought gives us the capacity to accommodate the world in a way that no other living being can. Thus, it is basic that we give adequate assets to the who and what is to come. We should not just regard nature as an ethical patient in itself, yet perceive that future people are moral patients, and will depend on nature to survive. This part of weak anthropocentrism is the place stewardship assumes a key part. While devotees of stewardship don't trust that we have an ethical obligation to nature, they do concur that our cautious utilization of assets is urgent in our obligations to mankind, the ethical patients.

My question is: Which approach do you think is more applicable in the real life circumstances? There are a lot of unseen circumstances when things are in theory.

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