Iain Cameron's Diary
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2004-02-23 - 7:27 a.m.

Radio 3 is having a burst of engaging programming. A programme about the big band that plays at the Village Vanguard on Monday nights � then an early 1980s performance of The Rite of Spring from the Met also in Manhattan. Followed by a programme about the strange life of the anthropologist collaborator of Strav who ended up exploring the Himalayas in search of the mythical city and discovering much that still has not been explained. Phonetically it would be Roehrig. Then the Nightingale � a piece that spans the creation of the Rite and is very Debussyan in parts � almost like P&M.

I was quite taken with a review of a Baudelaire biography which tries to interpret his life in terms of patterns of addict behaviour. Of course I don�t think that the work can be reduced to a bi-product of addiction any more than I think this �explains� Charlie Parker or Nico. Rather I would say that the integrating part of the personality which produces art encompasses all aspects of the life including the addicted bits and the conflicts which the addiction is a response to � and the shame or regret that is felt about the addiction.

I have been wondering more about the Fly � a film piece by Yoko Ono within the Fluxus movement � and the song arranged by John Cale � who was also doing a Fluxus film when he was working with Boyd Drake and Wood. Did the �flyness� help cement the bond? The fly in the film does get a second and third chance.

Lawrence mailed referring to the Swollen Appendices. I said that when I read Eno�s year I became convinced that he represented an alternative to the detritus I was then wading through. I know PW has quite a strong line on the oeuvre. Vita has returned from Woodbridge again having missed the egg-head producer.

Then L sent a txt on Sunday morning about the Cale Desert Island discs which I recorded to CDR. That first tip about Nico introducing his Dylan pick was studpendous. His respect for Lou Reed�s ability with lyrics came across very clearly. Also the Laurentian background with the mother who had married below herself � to a miner � seeking to realise her ambitions through her talented son.

Cleveland Williams phoned and I asked him about the Lullabyes project. I mailed the Lullabyes to Richard Jones with more burble about the project. There was a mail from Gilbert in reponse to my update. He is in LA in the coming week, gigging, and meeting with Robin. What fun.

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