RICHARD MURGATROYD enjoys a readable account of the life and meditations of one of the few Roman emperors with a good reputation
Album reviews with MICHAL BONCZA
New releases from Sam Eastmond, Angharad Jenkins and Patrick Rimes, Gabriel Moreno
ALEX HALL asks whether intelligence, and stupidity, are the outcomes of poverty and wealth, and cultural norms
BRENT CUTLER is persuaded by a new account of the rise of Christianity, and the fall of the Roman empire
If non-human nature is devoid of value under the capitalist mode of production, this book presents the case for its reintegration, suggests HENRY BELL
The Bard takes issue with a BBC portrait of The Balkans, and sets the record straight
ANGUS REID urges you to visit Britain’s most remarkable - and mind-blowing - festival of contemporary music
MARIA DUARTE reviews Desperate Journey, Blue Moon, Pillion, and Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
Sam Eastmond
The Bagatelles Vol 16
(Tzadik Records)
★★★★★
NEW YORKER John Zorn is an avant-garde musician singularly unconcerned by and working outside the “mainstream,” and yet simultaneously having a profound influence on it.
His Book of (300) Bagatelles (a term used since 1827 for pieces of light music) comprises three-minute-burst micro-collages that are as unexpected as they are fascinating.
Sam Eastmond, a London-based Jewish musical polymath, brings an innate feel for and astonishing invention to his interpretation of Zorn’s soundscapes.
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