Plague was recurrent during the middle ages and up to the industrial age. In general, for many centuries, whatever organized medical care existed in Catholic Europe was offered under Church auspices through the monasteries and religious orders.

The Black Death is the plague to which all others are usually compared. This bubonic plague that swept again throughout the world between 1347 and 1354, killing up to 40-50 % of Europes population. The mortality was such (25 million people) that many believed it to be the end of the world. Indeed, it changed the face of the European world: bereft of laborers, the value of land declined, undermining the foundations of the feudal system and easing the way for centralized monarchies. For many, religious fervor was renewed, and new manifestations of piety appeared. Others, however, reacted with a pessimism that threw them into despair or a senseless hedonism, which were in turn reflected in the arts and literature. Many others responded with random acts of violence against those thought to have caused the plague, not only Jews but also people affected by other illnesses, as well as beggars and foreigners.

Amidst that upheaval, priests stepped into sickrooms, materially and spiritually assisting the sick and the dying, knowing that they faced an unseen enemy that very likely would kill them. Nonetheless, thousands of priests took those steps anyway, risking their lives to give hope and comfort to those in pain and fear.

Widespread diseases reappeared continuously throughout the world even into our century, and every time the Churchs response was the same.

During the plague that ravaged Milan in 1567, St. Charles Borromeo was convinced that God permitted it as a punishment for the sins of the people. Still, it also offered an occasion for purification and conversion. Therefore, the decisive remedy was to be found in prayer and penance.

Because in their efforts to curb the contagion, the civil authorities had forbidden religious meetings and processions, St. Charles blamed them for putting all their trust in human means, without a thought for the divine. When frightened people quarantined themselves in their homes, he ordered the erection of crosses in the main squares and street junctions so that the people could attend Masses and public rogations from their windows.

He ministered to the sick himself and encouraged his clergy to do the same, for, where the world saw death and desolation, he saw the possibility of saving souls. Even more, he encouraged the priests, telling them that service in a time of epidemic is the stuff of martyrs. In his words, this was a desirable time now, when without the cruelty of the tyrant, without the rack, without fire, without beasts and in the complete absence of harsh tortures which are usually the most frightful to human weakness, we can obtain the crown of martyrdom.

During the plague that struck Marseille in 1720, Msgr. de Belsunce dedicated himself, personally, along with the resources of the Church, to the assistance of the sick. His words mirrored St. Charles attitude: God forbid that I abandon the people of whom I am obliged to be a father. I owe them my care and my life since I am their Pastor.

Closer to our times, the influenza pandemic of 1918-1919, also known as the Spanish Flu, is considered one of the worst pandemics in history. An estimated 50 million deaths worldwide were attributed to it, far more than the total casualties of World War I. One of its victims, Jacinta of Fatima, offered her sufferings for the conversion of souls.

In the United States, deaths from the Spanish flu have been estimated at around 675,000. In every State, all places of public gathering were closed against the spread of the disease, churches included. The ban was obeyed, although many argued that keeping the churches open would help to appease the panic and fear in which epidemic thrives.

In any case, everywhere, the Church remained at the forefront of the medical and spiritual battle against the disease. Thus, when the Board of Health of Philadelphia ordered the closing of all schools, and suspended church services until further notice, Archbishop Dennis Dougherty offered the use of archdiocesan buildings as temporary hospitals. He further enlisted all priests, non-cloistered nuns, and the lay members of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul to aid the victims of the flu.

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The Church and the Plague - Medieval and Modern Times (Part three of four) - FSSPX.News

In these times of social distancing, Calcutta Nights, a recently translated crisp vintage work from 1923, beams up from the past the whole human mess of city life as we may fail to experience for a long time now enticing , contagious with its mirth, sorrow and decadence, yet ultimately safe. Calcutta-ness is both a cult and a code.

That Calcutta, totem pole of cult, is a distilled city, a Xanadu rich with local detail yet universal, contemporary yet not belonging to any particular period, a continuum of experience. No wonder then, that this wondrous city, simultaneous epicentre of renaissance, nationalism, reform movements and debauchery, should inspire city sketches, first made popular in the mid and late 19th century by the inimitable Hutum Pyachar Naksha. Decades later Hemendra Kumar Roy, prolific and popular author of detective fiction, adopted a nom de guerre to have a go at chronicling the scintillating night life of Calcutta in the 1920s.

If books were bordello windows, their sepia light beckoning, Calcutta Nights would be one such, quite literally. A salacious account of what the night unravels, the book takes you behind the scenes, reports on the microcosm of hedonism, the power plays, symbiotic relations, the intimacies of a prostitute with her regular customer, the paanwali bartering and trading with the police, the beggar, the opium-smoker. What sets this book apart is the flawed and reluctant author.

A prolific writer of detective fiction, primarily for children and young adults, Roy probably stumbled upon this diverse and rich material probably while researching for his more innocuous detective novels armed with a stout stick, he says, and at great personal risk. Against his better judgment, he writes about city la nuit, worried and embarrassed about the task at hand, the adirasa or eroticism that he has failed to avoid while raising the curtains of hell.

In his introduction, he rushes to reassure his readers that none of them will find Calcutta Nights obscene. It is, rather, written with the noble intention of sounding a warning to fathers of young girls and boys. Our Meghnad Gupta, author in hiding, is no Samuel Pepys, the veritable diarist of 17th century London who wrote himself into his salacious scenes, boasting about his own ardour and peccadilloes.

The city Roy writes about is a city of men, consumed by men. In the authors own words this book is written for an adult male audience, a sweeping exclusion that predictably rankles this reviewers entitled, liberal, feminist bourgeoise self. Said outrage is difficult to cull at first. Then, as the book shines with its vivid portrayals, the puritan author becomes part of the setting and it is possible to turn the judging gaze right back at him, to see him in all his troubled light.

Here was an author writing about hedonism at a time when the wave of nationalism was peaking, his puritan acuity often criss-crossing with an awakening of socialism. His feelings about the women he writes about swing from condescension and humble misogyny (empathetic and damning at the same time a tone often taken when writing about giants by the best of Bengali literary stars, Sarat Chandra Chatterjee included) to genuine insight.

A pacy read, the depiction is vivid and colourful. Despite his protestations the author is clearly an insider therein lies the strength and authenticity of this sketch. The description is atmospheric. Roy bring alive, with cinematic realism, the night in which owls flutter awayand gradually the swarthy ugly faces begin to peep and snoop.

And slowly Chitpur Road transforms itself weary clerks disappear, the streets are filled with the scented babus, their faces aglow with Hazeline snow seeking verandthe a belles. Kapure babus, hothat-babus, ingo- bingos, the rich, the white, the Marwari, Chinese, European women of loose morals, courtesans of Chitpur, lustful ladies of Kalighat, the poor prostitute, the wanton widow each scene, as the chapters are aptly called, presents to us a glossary of social categories.

One of the most striking sketches is that of the Bhikiripara or beggars quarters. There are fabulously sensational bits, revealing the authors Roy had translated Bam Stokers Dracula penchant for the supernatural and the fantastic. Particularly recommended are scenes from the Nimtala Crematorium and the one featuring a prostitute who beckons men into her room where a dead man lies, his throat slit open.

Translator Rajat Chaudhuri craftily balances archaic words with new ones, never upsetting the tonal authenticity of a period piece. Ultimately he strikes the right cadence the voice often changing as it travels from Chitpur bordellos to the jazzy evenings in the Anglo quarters or the dim Chinese taverns.

For its depiction of the crowded and dense interplay of lives in the Calcutta of those days, this book is a perfect curl-up for these epic-dammed solitary afternoons. A treasure trove for every city addict has been discovered.

Calcutta Nights, Hemendra Kumar Roy, translated from the Bengali by Rajat Chaudhuri, Niyogi Books

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An acclaimed Bengali pulp fiction writer turns a voyeuristic eye on the secrets of Calcutta by night - Scroll.in

More than a third of the worlds population is homebound as governments across the globe take unprecedented measures to quell the spread of coronavirus and flatten the curve.

This means our streets have emptied out, our theatres, malls, parks, and bars see no footfall, and generations of people used to a fast-paced life now have a lot of time on their hands and nowhere to go.

We have helped you along the way in these dark times of staying put at home, keeping healthy, and staving off anxieties. From movies and YouTube videos to diet plans and tips on keeping stress at bay, YS Weekender has you sorted. If you are still restless and perturbed by all that is happening outside your door, we suggest the best balm for the soul: books.

Picture credit: Unsplash

So here are some recommended reads that will whisk you away into worlds and times that are far different from the current one we live in:

This 1933 cosy classic is exactly what the doctor ordered for 2020. Tuck the present far into the dim recesses of your mind and slip into this early twentieth-century tale of a young socialite plucked from her city life and dropped, quite unceremoniously, into the rural English countryside.

Our heroine does not like to sit around so she takes on the mantle of fixing things not the farm or the animals, but the people. A hilarious novel, the book is punctuated with Floras funny observations, including the scorching, Nature is all very well in her place, but she must not be allowed to make things untidy.

Light and witty, this book will bring you a lot of comfort, cold or not.

As news every day in early 2020 looks more and more surreal, why not escape into a delicious work of fantasy? And from none other than the immensely talented fantasy fiction main man Brandon Sanderson himself.

Warbreaker is set in both Idrisa land of restraint and dullness, where life is hard and colourless (quite literally)and Hallandrenthe lap of luxury, hedonism, vibrancy and magic, where the gods live it up. Gods here are great men and women who returned to earth after some noble sacrifice and now live in great decadence.

Our story follows the lives of two sisters, Vivenna and Siri, who are the daughters of the king of Idris, as they set off for Hallandren. Each sister tumbles into a whole host of adventures, which includes the intriguing magic system of Breath and Colours, mercenaries who are ruthless killers, and gods who have lost their human touch and, instead, plot against each other.

This Dickensian coming-of-age tale by the great John Irving follows the lives of the quirky Berrysfather Win, mother Mary, children Frank, Franny, John, Lilly, and Egg. The family lives in and runs a hotel by converting an abandoned girls school in New Hampshire.

The Berrys live a life of laughter and adventure. John, our narrator, is nave and adores his sister Franny, who is bold and beautiful. A socially awkward Frank bonds with Lilly, who does not grow physically after a point, and little Egg who remains babyish.

Then there is their dog that is hilariously brought back to life after a taxidermy experiment and turns up in the unlikeliest places, scaring people, sometimes even to death. The novel is stuffed to the brim with entertaining characters and situations, be it the show bear and its master, a family overhaul to Vienna where Hotel New Hampshire (version 2) springs up, and its inhabitants of friendly prostitutes and radical Commies.

We have a theme, looks like: 20th century English classics = cosy comfort. Here is another gem that will give you all the feels. Dodie Smith, the author of the popular childrens novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians, spins a tale of family love and coming-of-age ruminations.

The eccentric Mortmains are living in the ruins of a dilapidated castle, trying to keep up with a genteel lifestyle even as they deal with mounting debts, leaky roofs, and broken stairs.

Narrated by daughter Cassandra, the book is a journal of the teenager, as she observes her family with clear-eyed honesty softened by plenty of love and compassion.

There is her one-hit wonder father, who suffers from writers block and sequesters himself in the tower of the castle; the bewitching stepmom Topaz, a beautiful model for artists whose quirks include moon-bathing in the nude; Rose, her sister who is a typical English beauty looking to marry rich; and Thomas, the youngest child. Their lives forever change when the Cottons, a wealthy American family, become their landlords.

We have saved the best for last. Station Eleven is a masterpiece. A slow-burn post-apocalyptic novel, it is set in the time after civilisation collapsed following a swine flu pandemic, and a scattered population tries to find its bearings.

Set 20 years after Year Zero, the year a flu wiped out most of the worlds population, we follow a motley crew of charactersa travelling group of actors and musicians called the Travelling Symphony. They come across people both good and bad, as individuals and groups are left to fend for themselves in a world ravaged by disease.

Our world is definitely not ending but this book shows how it is important to come together as a race in turbulent times. Between its pages are many lessons to be learnt set in an immersive, imaginative plot.

(Edited by Teja Lele Desai)

How has the coronavirus outbreak disrupted your life? And how are you dealing with it? Write to us or send us a video with subject line 'Coronavirus Disruption' to editorial@yourstory.com

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Coronavirus: 5 books that open up new worlds and help you escape lockdown loneliness - YourStory

Cooped Up Indoors? These Songs Will Transport You to a Better Place

If youre like most people, these last few weeks of social distancing have taken a serious toll on your mental and physical health.

Your old routine going to the gym, seeing friends, even commuting to work every morning has been totally disrupted, replaced by a quasi house arrest in which youre not even supposed to entertain friends.

RELATED: How to Stay Sane When Youre Cooped Up Indoors

Unless you preferred to never leave your home before this crisis, chances are youre going a bit crazy. After all, there are only so many hours you can spend playing video games, streaming the latest movies and television shows, or doing home workouts in your underwear. At a certain point, you need something to look forward to, something exciting on the horizon to make the lonely present that much more bearable.

Thankfully, a group of hotels across the world (think Jamaica, Italy, Guatemala to Iceland) have curated playlists to help transport you, imaginatively, to their beautiful locales.

Playlist: Hedo Hustle(r) - Nude Edition

After weeks and weeks of social distancing, youre going to want to release all that pent up energy, and what better way to do it than with these high-energy, highly sensuous tunes. Youve heard of music you can dance to? This is music you can twerk to.

Playlist: Hedo Hustle(r) - Prude Edition

If you love pleasure but arent about pure hedonism, thats OK, too. This list of songs is still sensuous without all that sexuality.

Playlist: Grace Bay Beach Vibes

The Turks & Caicos boast some of the worlds best beaches and bluest waters, and this playlist will have you feeling the sun while hearing the sounds of those crystal clear lapping waves.

Playlist: The Land of Eternal Spring

If you think relaxation requires salt water beaches and ocean views, you havent visited Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. Give this playlist a listen to get a sense of the sumptuousness resort vibe and the pristine beauty of its location.

Playlist: Tuscan Vibes by Il Salviatino

Tuscany is famous for its scenic beauty, but the guests of Il Salviatino, tasked with curating this playlist, didnt just evoke its majestic hills; they also captured the upbeat rhythms of nearby Firenze (Florence, for us English-speakers).

Playlist: Aruba Marriott Island Vibes

The temperature inside your apartment might rise when you bump these island jams, evocative of Arubas blue waters and golden sands. If paradise exists on earth, its probably a beach on Aruba just sayin.

Playlist: Barnsley Boot-Scootin Boogie

The South is famous for comfort food, but these tunes prove the cooking isnt the only warm and reassuring thing about Southern living. If youve never been to Georgia, youll still feel the heat with these feel-good country jams.

Playlist: Icelandic Eclectic

If sun and sand isnt your preference, you might prefer the crisp snow and endless skies of Iceland. This playlist, curated by musician and Hotel Ranga Social Media Marketing Manager Ingibjrg Fririksdttir, evokes Icelands ethereal beauty and the utter strangeness of its remote location. Enjoy!

Playlist: Caliente Caribe

The most underappreciated part of America isnt actually part of the mainland its beautiful Puerto Rico, where island beauty, Latin music and the cobblestone streets of Old San Juan have been beguiling visitors for decades. You might not be able to fly there tomorrow, but this playlist will transport you there all the same.

Whether your dream vacation destination involves sunny beaches, mountains, sand, snow or the finest wines and liquors, these playlists will evoke the best of each place, offering you a little respite from the dreariness of the quarantine and an imaginative escape to paradise.

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Playlists Curated by Hotels and Resorts That Make You Feel a World Away - AskMen

The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel

It is the present we must reckon with, observes Thomas Cromwell in the final part of Mantels trilogy. You can say that again, mate. At 900 pages, The Mirror and the Light has arrived eerily perfectly formed for the present we are reckoning with and I dont just mean that the hardback version is the perfect size for putting under your laptop to avoid double chin on Zoom calls. Cromwell is a master of optics and power dressing five centuries ahead of his time: he sees the visual messaging in every embroidered cloak and the symbolism in every jewellery love gift. Also, the square necklines are very this-season Rixo.Jess Cartner-Morley

Even if you have yet to surrender to a full day in sweatpants, life probably feels less than glamorous at the moment. What better world to get lost in, then, than one described by F Scott Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby is the obvious choice, but if you pine after a cancelled holiday to, say, the south of France, the authors last novel is a good way to get your Riviera fashion fix. From bathing suits and corsages to the notion of dressing for dinner, there is plenty of style inspiration to stockpile.Leah Harper

If you have ever felt sheepish about having an interest in style, I urge you to read this book. It argues that clothes are far from a trivial or superficial pursuit, through potted fashion history and reflection from luminaries such as Jane Austen and Nancy Mitford. Most memorable, though, are the stories of women in horrific circumstances who have used clothing as balm; the image of a seamstress customising her fellow prisoners uniforms in Ravensbrck concentration camp during the second world war has stayed with me since I read it a decade ago. The book is a great read for where were at now joyful, hopeful and free of judgment. It seems to say: whatever makes you feel better, whatever you enjoy when life is otherwise bewildering, you should absolutely go for it. Hannah Marriott

Looking at the intergalactic fashions created by designer Larry LeGaspi is wonderfully escapist. Rick Owens, who curated this coffee table book after realising there was a LeGaspi-shaped hole in the internet, credits the designer as a big influence on his own otherworldly fashion aesthetic. Stage looks for Kiss, Labelle and Divine are just some of the treasures in this warm, magical scrapbook of 70s album covers, interviews, design sketches and backstage photos. Think Close Encounters of the Studio 54 kind.Priya Elan

If you havent read this fashion classic, now is the time, if only for the genesis chapter of the LBD: It was a warm evening, nearly summer, and she wore a slim cool black dress, black sandals, and a pearl choker. For all her chic thinness, she had an almost breakfast-cereal air of health, a soap and lemon cleanness, a rough pink darkening of the cheeks. The book that invented the Little Black Dress is full of sage style advice. Its tacky to wear diamonds before youre 40, and even thats risky. They only look right on the really old girls.Jess Cartner-Morley

If its a complete change of mood you want, look no further than Alexa Chungs 2013 memoir-cum-picture-book. This scrapbook-style collection of the kinds of images beloved by fashion Instagram Annie Hall, Anna Karina, Twiggy and, of course, Alexa herself is ideal to fill the void between Zoom dates and online yoga. A pleasant, if surface-level, dip into the world of the not-yet-designer, filled with fun soundbites such as: I am obsessed with moisturising. I am also obsessed with cigarettes so I like to think the two balance each other out. It feels surprisingly dated at times but thats not necessarily a bad thing right now. Leah Harper

I wanted to see Kim Kardashian dressed up as Big Ben. I hoped Katy Perry would use a sundial as a fascinator. But this years Met Gala, which was to take place on 4 May, has been postponed. Luckily, the set text on which red carpet outfits were to be based is still ripe for enjoyment. Orlando is a funny, surreal, exuberant novel about a poet who lives from Elizabethan times until the early 20th century. It questions the very nature of time, which feels great right now. It is also brilliant on clothes as a symbol of something hid deep beneath The man has his hand free to seize his sword, the woman must use hers to keep the satins from slipping from her shoulders. More than simply keeping us warm, Woolf argues, clothes change our view of the world and the worlds view of us, which makes me think I should raise my Google Hangouts game at some point. Hannah Marriott

Set in the frock department of an upscale Sydney department store in 1959, this book was described as a deceptively smart comic gem by The New York Times Book Review when it was first published in 1993. Hilary Mantel has said it is the book I most give as a gift to cheer people up. The sassy attitude and jazzy aesthetic will appeal to fans of The Marvellous Mrs Maisel, while its thoughtful comedy of manners delivers just the right degree of escapism.Jess Cartner-Morley

If youre after a chilling insight into modern society, look no further than Bret Easton Elliss American Psycho. Not for the faint-hearted, this bitter black comedy depicts stomach-wrenching brutality, although its main focus is the yuppie Wall Street mentality of the sharply dressed protagonist Patrick Bateman. The narrative jumps suddenly from his thrill at purchasing a new pair of A Testoni loafers to scenes of extreme violence. Bateman is obsessed with his image; from the finest clothes, as instructed in GQ, to the wealthy friends he hates, to being seen in the hottest clubs with the most attractive hardbodies he can find. Its a portrayal of dissatisfaction that arises from presenting a perfect exterior but being hollow beneath, something more apt in todays Instagram culture than ever. Not an easy read, but an engrossing one, and you will know what type of suit you can wear with cashmere socks once you are done.Peter Bevan

Audrey Withers, wartime editor of British Vogue, earned herself the nickname Austerity Withers for her gung-ho, can-do spirit. Beginning her editorship the day the blitz began in London, she achieved no mean feat in keeping the print magazine on shelves throughout the war. Vogue, she liked to say, was put to bed in a bunker like everyone else in London. This recent biography features jolly cameos from Cecil Beaton and Elizabeth David, but it is the stories of how her Vogue adapted its lifestyle to the zeitgeist, with features on growing your own vegetables and cutting your own hair, that make it perfect for today.Jess Cartner-Morley

When The Beautiful Fall came out in 2006, Karl Lagerfeld took author Alicia Drake to court for invasion of privacy. This fact should be enough to make anyone want to read the tale of Lagerfeld of fellow designer and frenemy Yves Saint Laurent from the 50s onwards. A mixture of gossip, hedonism, glamorous muses and fashion history, you will finish this with more knowledge of Parisian fashion over a key 40-year period, yes, but also an unmistakable desire to go disco dancing till the sun comes up, once quarantine is lifted. Lauren Cochrane

Continued here:

Shelf isolation: stylish reads to keep your spirits up - The Guardian

Ravi Shankar was one of the giants of 20th century music. A musician, composer and teacher, he had an extraordinarily fruitful career that spanned nine decades and reached the entire world. He did more to build a bridge between the music and spirituality of India and the West than any of his contemporaries.

He is probably most widely-known known for his relationship with George Harrison and the association of the sitar with the psychedelic explorations of the 60s. There was however, a good deal more, as we discover in an outstanding, forensic and deeply sympathetic biography by Oliver Craske: the brilliantly original soundtracks for instance, he produced for Satyajit Ray and Jonathan Miller, his deep influence on Americas minimalists, not least Philip Glass, collaborations with Yehudi Menuhin and experiments with the orchestration of solo-focused Indian classical music. And most of all his revitalisation as a performer and teacher of a rich and complex musical tradition that reached back to the 16th century Mughal court and well beyond.

Craske was, in many ways, the ideal author for this first biography: he was close to Indias master musician, and collaborated with him on his vivid autobiography Raga Mala (1997). Craske is also a serious student of Hindustani vocals, and has an Indian wife. Writing such a penetrating portrait requires the ability to mirror Shankars lifelong dedication to cultural conversation, a task that is at one level impossible as with all authentic translation. And yet, this book does a great deal to bridge the gap, and describe the challenge that Raviji (as he was known to those around him) faced in choosing to connect two very different worlds: the East, where divine presence infuses all thought and action, and the West, where a more materialistic outlook has held sway for centuries. For those not so familiar with Indian music, the author includes a number of passages in which he explains the fundamentals of the raga system and the intricate rhythmic patterns or tal, as well as the universe of microtones and the art of sliding from one tone to another that is so characteristic to music from the East in general.

Raviji often spoke of a core sadness at the heart of his being

Craske deftly traces a number of interconnected threads in Shankars immensely productive and frantically busy life: his conscious mission to acquaint the world with Indian music classical and devotional, his perpetual passion for expanding the realm of his own traditions, a guilt-ridden struggle with a very complicated - yet at times joyous - personal life, and a series of long-lasting and intimate creative relationships with Western musicians, not least Yehudi Menuhin, George Harrison, and Philip Glass.

The biography stalls a little when the author takes us through year after year of tours, gigs and meetings, often without sufficient dates. There is just too much detail. Luckily, Craske is a very fluent, sober and clear writer. The book takes off when we plunge into a particular constellation of events, such as the arrival of brother Uday Shankars dance troupe in New York in the early 1930s, when Ravi played in the orchestra as a young child, or the celebrated Monterey Rock Festival in 1967, which brought to a climax Shankars emergence as a countercultural superstar, not least in the exhilarating finale to D A Pennebakers celebrated film of the event.

As a trusted friend of the family, Craske has had access to the entire Shankar archive, and interviewed just about every surviving key witness to his life, excluding Sue Jones, Norahs mother. As his widow Sukanya felt totally secure in her husbands love and devotion, this in no way precluded a thorough exploration of every aspect of Ravijis life, not least his abundant and very free relationships with a great deal of women. He was a charismatic and attractive man, not just for his looks, but because he was gentle and attentive, and had the knack for making those around him feel important, without ever resorting to flattery. Although theres a good deal that comes straight from the musicians autobiography, Craske has gone further and delved into Shankars letters not least to one of his first disciples Harihar Rao, many of which give an insight that goes beyond the mans reliance in interviews on a well-rehearsed narrative, designed to please the listener, a performance rather than a real opening onto his inner world.

Craskes central theme is a psychological one: the key to Ravi Shankars restlessness, and butterfly-like succession of relationships with women often several at the same time - lies, he argues, in childhood trauma: repeated rape in his native city of Varanasi (this is the biographys central revelation) and an almost totally absent father. He had three father-substitutes his brother the dancer and choreographer Uday, his stern but loving music teacher Allauddin Khan, and his spiritual guru Tat Baba. But he had great difficulty with his own son Shubho born of his mostly very difficult relationship to his first wife, Annapurna, his music gurus daughter. After Shubhos death, Shankar found a less equivocal substitute in George Harrison, whom he unconditionally loved.

Raviji often spoke of a core sadness at the heart of his being, a void which he spent a lifetime trying to fill with music, people and, perhaps more important, a very rich spiritual life focused on the extraordinarily powerful and apparently supernatural relationship he had with Tat Baba. Craske understands, with his heart as well as his head, the importance of a deep connection with the life of the spirit. It is perhaps this aura of spiritual aspiration that attracted people so strongly to Raviji. He lived his devotion without pretence, the spirit filled every note that he played, and this devotees focus made him very critical of those who sought hedonism in the drug experience, using his music as a soundtrack to trips that he felt were poor substitutes for authentic connection to the divine.

The inner yearning that drove Ravi Shankar fuelled his incomparable creativity a torrent of work, not always of the very highest order, as Craske demonstrates. He drove himself relentlessly, until the very end, the final twenty years of his life hardly less prolific than before, with the unstinting support of his immensely devoted and well-organised wife Sukanya. There was also his delight in his very talented daughter Anoushka, matched by a less intimate but strong relationship with his other daughter, the equally gifted Norah Jones. Paradoxically, this powerhouse of creative force was deeply vulnerable, subject to frequent periods of illness from early childhood and regularly in hospital for major interventions during the last 25 years of his life. This unusual degree of openness and sensitivity plagued him, but the wounds he carried, emotionally and physically, may have enabled the flow of new ideas and passion for exploration that never ceased until the day he died.

Continued here:

Oliver Craske: Indian Sun, The Life and Music of Ravi Shankar review - a master receives masterly treatment - The Arts Desk

Isabelle Schlegel

(The Weeknd released his new album After Hours on March 20 | Cartoon by Isabelle Schlegel )

Since Abel Tesfaye emerged as The Weeknd in 2011 with his moody and mesmerizing mixtape House of Balloons, hes kept listeners on their toes, intentionally or not, dividing his career into chapters marked by each albums distinctive sounds and aesthetics. Hes released three lo-fi R&B mixtapes, smashing pop hits like Cant Feel My Face and the Daft Punk-assisted Starboy in 2016. On his fourth studio album, After Hours, The Weeknd has returned to his early roots the dark, smoky atmospheres, fragile falsettos and quiet confessions. Its as if hes spent the last four years scouring the underground music scene, creating complex synth rhythms to support his lo-fi R&B style to make his balladry feel thrilling, alive and hedonistic again.

The Weeknd has launched his next era with After Hours, his most self-realized album yet. While his early blend of soulful R&B and lyrical tropes about unfulfilling drug-use and sex were fresh on his trilogy of mixtapes in 2011, his 2013 label debut Kiss Land proved to be a disappointment. The newness of his self-loathing lyrics and cutting beats had grown stale. A new approach was in order for The Weeknd with an ambitious pivot on the 2015 album Beauty Behind the Madness garnering massive commercial success. He showed his versatility by proving he could survive in the mainstream realm by incorporating a brightened sound and less overtly profound lyrics.

He carried this strategy into his 2016 album Starboy a glossy, disco-funk effort boasting collaborations with Kendrick Lamar, Future, Daft Punk and Lana Del Rey. Starboy solidified Tesfaye as a global superstar and shot him into uncharted territory sonically.

On Starboy, he ventured into the 80s realm, sampling The Romantics and Tears for Fears on one track. But with After Hours The Weeknd has recorded an almost entirely 80s R&B dream album. Sonically, After Hours features electronic keyboards, flourishing synths and punchy often dark bass lines. Its distinctively a Weeknd sounding album, with a suite of songs showing remorse for a failed relationship one that seemed doomed from the start and offering hints of self-reflection along the way.

The album has 14 tracks and runs 62 minutes long, beginning with gentler, quieter songs. The Weeknd sets the mood for After Hours with the haunting tracks Alone Again and Too Late loaded with ominous keyboards and bass before shifting into the achingly painful Hardest To Love.

Its followed by Scared To Live, a slow-burning ballad that has The Weeknd apologizing for mistakes he made in his past relationship. Next up is the autobiographical Snowchild featuring lyrical memories from the singers upbringing in Toronto, Canada, and his come up in the music industry.

Roughly 25 minutes into the album, the vibe changes and the bangers are introduced starting with Heartless, a dark, bass-heavy Metro Boomin-produced track that has The Weeknd leaning into the toxic side of his persona. He makes it immediately clear where his head is at with the blunt opening line, Never need a b-, Im what a b- need.

His hedonism continues in Blinding Lights a track packed with layers of luminous synth textures and trembling hooks that are unmistakably 80s-sounding. The Weeknd rounds out his 80s saga with In Your Eyes and Save Your Tears, both featuring groovy electro-keyboard synths that are destined to become hits.

The good times and upbeat melodies soon end as the ominous atmosphere looms over the final two tracks, After Hours a track with heavy, pulsating beats and desperate lyrics and Until I Bleed Out. The abrupt, distorted ending of Until I Bleed Out suggests an unhappy ending for The Weeknd.

On After Hours, The Weeknds vision is clear hes crafted a cohesive album and visuals with a real narrative arc. The songs bleed together in an effortless precision with sonic references tying any unraveling threads together in the end. After Hours is a balance of the beauty and the madness that consume The Weeknd.

5/5 Stars

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@oakley_burt

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The Weeknd Returns to Hopeless, Loveless Hedonism on 'After Hours' - Daily Utah Chronicle

In his latest album, After Hours, The Weeknd appears as a 1970s synth-pop star overcome by his own dark side. He casts himself as the victim of his own fameashamed of his wickedness, but too far gone to changeand the ensuing identity crisis reverberates throughout the album. No matter how forced it becomes, The Weeknd is desperate to convince listeners that he remains the contemptible, womanizing, intoxicated anti-hero that first captivated fans of his 2012 Trilogy.

The enthusiasm with which After Hours commits to its pop-star nightmare vibe is admirable, and there are moments when it is contagious. Blinding Lights and Scared to Live are two of several spine-tingling intersections between sumptuous production and eerily perfect vocals. The albums peak is Faith, which climaxes in The Weeknds best lyrical moment of the album: but if I O.D. / I want you to O.D. right beside / I want you to follow right behind. This is the Weeknd at his most extreme; equal parts superstar and suicidal, teetering between exaltation and self-loathing, and entirely indifferent to the personal destruction he leaves in his wake.

The albums highlights, however, are eclipsed by lows, particularly lyrical ones, bound to leave listeners wincing. Hardest to Love is a little more than a half-baked preamble to Scared to Live, and Save Your Tears is so generic that it could conceivably have been intended for any of Max Martins clients. Escape From L.A. is the worst offender, responsible for such lapses as She pulled up to the studio / Nobodys watching / She closed the door and then she locked it / For me, for me / We had sex in the studio. Despite its triumphant production, After Hourss lyricism is amusing at best (Futuristic sex give her Phillip K. Dick) and downright cringeworthy at worst.

The Weeknds inability to match sonic form with lyrical content on After Hours is suggestive of his more damning problem: His inability to convince anyone that he truly is the wretched, guilt-ridden virtuoso that After Hours claims he is. The self-loathing rings hollow, the regret feels contrived, and next to the wicked splendour of Trilogy, After Hours is as empty as the celebrity lifestyle it is meant to denounce. For all its pretensions, maybe After Hours is just a really well-produced break-up album about Bella Hadid.

Star Rating:

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The unconvincing hedonism of The Weeknd's After Hours - McGill Tribune

Every week, Micah Peters surveys the world of musicfrom new releases to bubbling trends to anniversaries both big and obscureand gives a few recommendations.

On March 7, which now belongs to an entirely different era of human life, Daniel Craig hosted Saturday Night Live.

He seemed to have the time of his life doing itCraig wasnt too cool to wear a wig, pass up a single histrionic make out, and leaned into whichever excessive accent the joke in question required. His dutiful commitment to all the bits reminded me of his Benoit Blanc, the Southern-fried private eye in Knives Out, and Joe Bang, the hillbilly munitions expert from Logan Luckyboth characters that you get the sense Craig got to make choices about, unlike the role that made him the most money, James Bond. No Time to Die will be Craigs final Bond movie, whenever it comes out, and once again his action suit will be tastefully dotted with soot as he whips an Aston Martin through the cobblestone streets of some exotic locale, glowering and being emotionally distant. SNL poked fun at the self-conscious grimness that defined Craigs Bond films for, wow, 14 years, with a sketch in which the showy MI6 agent spends a little too much time at the craps table. The Weeknd was the musical guest.

I bring up Craig and Bond and SNL because Ive been thinking about how the phrases after hoursthe title of the Weeknds new album, out last Fridayand no time to die evoke a similarly hammy self-consciousness. James Bond is a ridiculous concept in the main, being the worlds loudest and most obvious secret agent, but functionally, hes an empty vessel for your average males basest desireshaving sex, driving fast, and blowing shit up. No Time to Die then, as a title for a movie that will probably start with a car chase and end with a coup de grce, almost seems A.I. generated. Ditto for After Hours: Since his introduction in 2011, the Weeknd has grown from faceless alternative R&B enigma to cover star, successfully scaling his wee-hours, sullen, sexy, Ill kill us both vibe for mainstream audiences. The Weeknd is also kind of a ridiculous concept: a sexy, vengeful ghost with commitment and impulse-control issues. Even if it werent called After Hours, you could guess that cocaine and nontheism were involved. Like Bond, the Weeknd fucks, drives fast, and blows shit up (relationships). Here is his explanation of the album title, in his own words:

You can find love, fear, friends, enemies, violence, dancing, sex, demons, angels, loneliness, and togetherness all in the After Hours of the night.

Scared To Live probably speaks to the angels portion of thatthe song, made in tandem with Max Martin and Oscar Holter, is a soaring ballad in which the Weeknd expresses joy and pain where once there was crushing melancholy. Vulnerability, or at least the suggestion that others practice it, is a new trick for the Weeknd. His idea of love still looks the same though: On Faith, which sounds lifted from Kavinskys Nightcall sessions and shows up just after the albums halfway point, The Weeknd says, with a straight face, If I OD I want you to OD right beside me.

After Hours is the Weeknds most accomplished and coherent project to date: Beauty Behind the Madness struggled to make his House of Balloonsera hedonism and lofty pop ambitions jell, Starboy was more of a playlist of 18 expensive-sounding songs than an album, and we dont need to talk about Kiss Land. After Hours is his most intentional project yet, from the leisure suits and tortoise aviators he wore in all the videos and promo shoots to the 80s synth pop the best songs on Hours are indebted to: Save Your Tears, In Your Eyes, and Blinding Lights.

I cant say that the Weeknds writing has improved leaps and boundssee Snowchild, on which he says hes dropping off Philip K. dick, or Heartless, which begins never need a bitch, Im what a bitch needand the self-conscious twistedness he traffics in can still come off as hacky. (The heavy-eyed Escape From LA leaps to mind; you can only have so much sex in the studio.) And yet, After Hours is The Weeknds best work so far, and indicates the reconciliation, once and for all, of his R&B pathos and desire for mainstream viability. Of the 14 songs, Blinding Lights, which has been out for months, is still the most emblematic of that. It comes already assembled and radio friendly, so that everyone, not just your average male, can project their wildest, sexiest desires onto it. The drug is a lover, and withdrawal leads you to dance. And once the songs over, you want to go back for another hit. Which seems, to me, like the platonic ideal of a song from the Weeknd.

Now for some recommendations:

The Skepta feature to grab the most blog headlines last week would have been Papi Chulo, the new Octavian single. Its a union of two of the most culturally relevant rappers in the U.K., but also between the new and old guard: Skepta, the seasoned veteran, and Octavian, the ascendant star. Less newsworthy was his appearance on U.K.-by-way-of-L.A. rappers Jaxxon D. Silvas Lalaland, a two-minute song on which Skepta steals the spotlight, obviously. About halfway through Skeptas verse, theres this amazing, honest-to-god passage:

Australian ting, and she blowin on me like a digeridoo My jeans by my ankles, and I keep my t-shirt on like Winnie the Pooh

Producer Jennifer Lees roots are in the Los Angeles beat scene but, more and more, on each new project, she opens space in her intricate arrangements for vocalists. Often, on Oasis Nocturno those vocalists can outshine her production, because thats what vocalists doyou might miss the subtle strings in Fried For the Night because EARTHGANG is rapping. Some of Oasiss best songs, by contrast, are purely instrumental. To be Remote flies off the handle at about the 2:30 mark, when a vocal sample is stretched thin and spooled around a bridge before being layered into the remainder of the song. Its every bit as confounding as it sounds.

Last week, in what Im sure was an honest attempt to quell our mounting and variegated anxieties due to a global pandemic, Gal Gadot enlisted the help of a bunch of celebrities you know, and a handful you dont, for a cover of John Lennons Imagine. The video was lambasted because it was a dumb thing to do in the first place; on the order of things rich people can do for the public good in a time of crisis, singing isnt high up. Others pointed out that Gadots cover was in the spirit of the original: Lennon penned the words imagine no possessions while being worth an estimated $800 million.

Comedian Zach Fox decided to get a different group of (internet) famous people to do his own cover. Of Slob On My Knob. Stay safe out there this week.

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After Hours Is the Weeknds Most Accomplished Work Yet - The Ringer

This is even bigger than an extenuating circumstance

Look, were all sick of hearing about coronavirus. You literally cannot escape from it, especially now that Boris has put Britain on lockdown. Its made life for everyone a hundred times more stressful, but particularly for students.

GCSEs and A-levels have been cancelled. Unis have suspended face to face teaching, seminars and lectures are done over Hangouts and Zoom calls and most exams and assessments have moved online.

Universities have tried to adapt, and this might be fine for some students, but what about those who are suddenly at a disadvantage as a result this? Not everyone has an expensive laptop, fast wifi, or the peace and quiet at home thats required to concentrate? What if students have a vulnerable family member that they need to care for, or cannot effectively access the internet? This could result in their grade for this year being significantly lower than if they had been able to access the resources available to other students, or that would have been available to us had we remained at uni if the world was back to normal.

I am struggling with exactly this. I study English at Aberdeen University, and personally, Im finding online learning impossible. I live in the countryside, without a stable internet connection. I have to sit on a particular step on my stairs to access Blackboard. I also have to assist with the care of my disabled sister, because the nurses and carers who would previously help us can no longer come to our house. Caring for someone is a 24/7 job, so where do I find the time to write an essay and teach myself exam material? Why should I have to be banished to sit halfway up the staircase for hours at a time, trying to find good referencing material without access to a library? The effort required is so extensive, far more than that required of students with adequate and comfortable surroundings, that it will undoubtedly set me back in terms of time and mental effort. I am not able to produce my best work, or be assessed accurately, in this kind of environment. Its not fair.

Also, it feels as this the universities across the UK have forgotten that there is also the issue of a global pandemic occurring outside? GCSEs and A Levels are cancelled for this very reason, why do they expect university exams to keep going? Universities are more likely to have summatives, January exams and coursework to base grades on anyway. These final assessments are not necessary. There are more pressing issues to focus on, compared to writing an essay about posthumanism literature, or filling in an exam about hedonism? I am struggling to teach myself the information I need to sit an exam. My current grades are not the best, due to a year filled with mental health issues. But even with that, I would much rather take the poor grades (still a pass), and have the rest of the year voided, than continue to have sleepless nights on my staircase, trying to listen to a lecture recording about modern literature.

There have been several petitions to cancel exams and coursework for university students since the majority of students were sent home and classes moved online. This is a very fair demand, and Im calling for it too. Especially for first and second years, since these results do not count towards our final grades later on in our courses. Third years, additionally, should not have to worry about their final degree outcome being affected by such a massive disruption. And the universities must also consider the fact that staff have been striking throughout March. Our learning process has been disrupted constantly, all year, and yet we are expected to carry on at home as if nothing is wrong!

Forcing students to continue studying for exams and submitting coursework is anxiety-inducing and unreasonable, especially for those who, like myself, do not have the easiest home circumstances. Surely there are more important things to be worrying about in the current times? I am asking for allowances to be made, because students deserve what has been widely described as exceptional circumstances to be treated as an extenuating circumstance. Void this year, please, and save your students grades from suffering any more than they already have.

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Working from home seriously disadvantages me, so I'm calling for unis to void this year - The Tab

UPDATE, 11:26 a.m.: Florida Gov.Ron DeSantis was onFox & Friendsthismorning and was asked about beaches staying open. Presumably in response to the pushback he has received, DeSantis said the message for Spring Breakersis the party is over in Florida. Still, he acknowledgedthat the state wouldntshutdown all the beaches, although groups of 10 or more would no longer be allowed to congregate (good luck with that). Additionally (as noted in the column, below), he said that some prominent local communities have decided to shut down their beaches. The fact remains that DeSantis was slow to actand that beaches in the state of Florida remain open.

Beaches in Florida and Texas are packed full of Spring Break revelers, and Im not having it. We shouldnt be surprised by youthful hedonism, but where are the adults?

Maybe you saw that viral CBS News video of the Florida Spring Breakers? You know, the one that begins with a guy declaring, If I get Corona, I get Corona.

Then, the last kid explains his irresponsible actions by declaring that hes just living in the moment. Its a telling line. People who care about the future dont live this way. People who believe they have a purpose and a meaning dont live this way. If you thought that innocent Covington kid with the MAGA hat was full of smug privilege, these are the kids who really deserve our scorn (they should read this, now). Nobody should personally target them, but if this were a horror movie, these kids would be the first to get it.

Dont get me wrong. Im sure its stressful being a promiscuous drunk on a college campus. Who doesnt need a week at the beach in March to relieve the stress of being a college student?

But what they are doing is both dangerous and selfish. Its dangerous because they could easily become infected (judging by the photos, theres not much social distancing going on). Its selfish because although they would likely survive infection, their behavior could kill vulnerable Americans, such as the millions of old people who happen to live in the state where they are currently partying, or the people theyll come into contact with once they get back home.

Of course, its hard to blame testosterone-fueled young adults who are doing the same stupid things most of us would do before our frontal cortex was fully grown. The real problem is that the adults arent stepping up to the plate.

Why are these beaches still open? Where are the adults?

In many ways, this has been a moment for local leaders to shine. While Donald Trump was slow to respond to the pandemic, several governors sprang into action, closing down gathering spots, canceling events, and helping flatten the coronavirus curve.

The one glaring exception seems to be the beaches.

Now, the truth is that outdoor spaces are, perhaps, our last refuge. Twice this week, my family and I have hiked around a national park. We saw maybe five other hikers (and rightfully gave them the stink eye). The exercise is keeping us sane, and it would be a mistake to close down such isolated havens.

But whats happening on these beachesand, again, since the media loves nothing better than a good excuse to show photos of young coeds in bikinis, Im assuming youve seen themis entirely different.

There are reports that it takes three hours to cross the bridge into South Padre Island in Texas. These are huge crowds of people who are behaving with wanton disregard for public safety.

Floridas governor, Ron DeSantis, has verbally called out spring breakers for not practicing social distancing. What we're going to be doing for the statewide floor for beaches, we're going to be applying the CDC guidance of no group on a beach more than 10 and you have to have distance apart if you're going to be out there, DeSantis said. But thats both too little and too unrealistic. (I never had the money to go to Florida, but I did spend one senior week at Ocean City, Maryland. As I recall, there wasnt a whole lot of social distancing going on.)

The big question, then, is why are these beaches still open?

DeSantis ran for governor of Florida as a loyal Trumpist, but, since then, has gained accolades and, generally, gotten credit for being competent. Until now. My sense is that the Trump era has taught us the lesson that competence and experience and prudence dont matter. One outcome of this emergency might be that our politicians learn that these things do matter, greatly.

In fairness, its hard to judge DeSantis too harshly when the guy he narrowly defeated was just found drunk in a Miami Beach hotel room with a man who is suspected to have overdosed on crystal meth. Imagine if THAT GUY were in charge now

With nightclubs and restaurants already closed, its hard to see how theres an economic incentive for keeping the beaches open.

Still, DeSantis reminds me of Mayor Larry Vaughn, from the movie Jaws. You know, the idiot who ordered Amitys beaches open, despite the presence of a HUGE FRIGGIN SHARK that kept eating people?

But its even worse: At least Mayor Vaughn had a reason. He wanted those sweet tourist dollars that pour into town during the big July 4 weekend. Amity was a small town whose local economy was built around that weekend, so his was, at least, a rational (if dangerous) bet.

Thats not the case for Florida or Texas. With nightclubs and restaurants already closed, its hard to see how theres an economic incentive for keeping the beaches open. Some cities are actually doing this on their own. To be honest, the impact this is going to have on a states economy is so large that keeping the beaches open is sort of like, well, peeing in the ocean.

DeSantis isnt Mayor Vaughn. Hes the states governor who empowers him.

Im all for localism, but local communities may have their own reasons for doing things that, collectively, arent in the best interest of the state or the nation. So why is DeSantis deferring to the Mayor Vaughns of Florida? Weve seen some big crowds on the west coast of Florida and Ive had a chance to speak to mayors on both coast[s] today, DeSantis recently said. If they want to continue to [leave the beach open], we want them to have the freedom to do that, but we also want them to have the freedom to do more if they see fit.

So heres an idea. Im told that there are hospital boats setting up to treat the virus in New York harbor. Lets confiscate some cruise ships, and sequester these kidsfor as long as it takesout to sea.

Otherwise, if we let the partying continue, its hard to tell how bad this virus could getor how many people these kids might infect before its all over.

Were going to need a bigger boat.

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Ron DeSantis, Why the #@*! Are Florida's Beaches Still Open? - The Daily Beast

TAPE, a #MeToo-era film, manages to be both overwrought and hyperliteral. In the films opening sequence, Rosa (Annarosa Mudd, who also produced), a former actress, pierces her own tongue, shaves her head, and (trigger warning) slits her wristsbut not quite suicidally. Shes on a revenge mission to get evidence against an abusive movie producer who now has a new crop of identical young women to prey on.

A compelling aspect of TAPE is that it refuses to render the abuser, a guy simply named Lux (Tarek Bishara), monstrous. Hes conventionally attractive, charming, and, at first, professional. He uses nonviolent communication and reels in his victims with finely-tuned grooming techniques. Unfortunately, writer-director Deborah Kampmeiers script is full of cliches and histrionics that spin the film into an after school special rather than a searing commentary; the ways abusers can insinuate themselves into the lives of others and manufacture their consent by exploiting not just naked ambition but existential fear gets lost in the films artless noise.

As a director, Kampmeier fashions Rosas spying into a multilayered gaze, but weve seen the gimmick before. The film relies too heavily on foregrounding the digital technology Rosa uses to spy on Lux and his new conquestthe kind, desperate, and lonely upstart actress Jessica (Isabelle Fuhrman)seemingly under the illusion that hidden cameras and an iPad offer a bold and empowered way of seeing.

Julie Taymors 1999 Titus Andronicus film adaptation is the films central inspiration, but Kampmeier takes surface-level notes from Taymors innovations. Rosas opening scene costumes her as Lavinia, the tragedys sacrifice to unchecked hedonism, but TAPE is uninterested in the major theme of female complicity in abuse and destruction in the playTamora, the mother of Lavinias rapists, revels in violencenor does it examine the sexist virgin and whore castings that determine the demises of both women. In that way, TAPE is a simplification of the plays female subjectivities. Rosas drive is to expose her abuser and Jessicas is to succeed as an actress; both are virgins merely manipulated into whores, and the viewer is meant to believe Lux is the evil genius behind it all, about to be bested by very expensive home video technology.

The trouble with this perspective on abuseparticularly the kinds of abuse that are difficult to make sense of through the narratives the law providesis that it turns women into infants who can only defend themselves with the tools, if not the direct intervention, of the state. Rosa rejects a carceral approach to punishing Lux (to her, the prison sentences for sexual abuse are not long enough); instead, she accepts extreme surveillance as an alternative. Rosa is even willing to (spoiler) expose Jessicas private interactions with Lux to the public without her consent. In that way, Rosas Lavinia morphs into a hackneyed Tamora by using the violence of others as the means for her own bloodied liberation.

In the end, TAPE seems to land on disclosure, the very mechanism of the Hollywood #MeToo movement, as the wisest method for liberation or healing. A journalist gets the tapes Lux made of both Rosa and Jessica with contextual information showing his methods of manipulation; meanwhile, Rosa and Jessica are finally able to bond in a caf as women tell the stories of their rapes to each other. There are no revelations in these scenes, but rather, a breathless restaging of the age-old storytelling methodology.

But what are struggling actresses to do? Throughout the film, Jessica dutifully rattles off reasons why its easy to exploit and manipulate actresses in the film and television industry: misogyny, hierarchy, scarcity, precariousness. In other words, capitalism reinforces the various abuses of power that working women are subject to. Because these actresses must not only do good work but make money for producers and corporations, they are often at the mercy of their handlers and benefactors. Even if these actresses become wise and hardened, at the end of the day, their images are up for sale, and the profits go to the highest bidders.

Under the current system, for actors to form collectives or cooperatives without ample money or status to back it up would ensure a kind of lifelong poverty and obscurity thats only normalized in the theater (a sphere racked with economic exploitations that depend on both passion and patronage). Thats showbiz, anyhow. To my great disappointment, TAPE has nothing new or generative to say about it.

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The Hollywood #MeToo Movie Inspired by a Weinstein-Esque Creep - The Daily Beast

Alexandra Lange, Staff WriterMarch 25, 2020

Every album by The Weeknd gives listeners a glimpse into the sad-boy universe of Abel Tesfaye. Often singing about loneliness, failed romance, his inability to love and battles with his inner self, The Weeknd never fails to get his XO fanbase in their feels. At a time in which the streets are all but deserted and people are isolated across the globe, The Weeknds dark, solitary universe has become more relatable than ever.

After Hours, The Weeknds long-awaited fourth studio album, is a spookily appropriate reflection of the times we are living in. Dark, moody and told from the perspective of a lonely narrator, the album captures the way many of us are feeling in a world filled with anxiety and uncertainty. Although the projects eerily timed drop may seem as if The Weeknd is capitalizing on this bleak moment in time, After Hours was long in the making. In fact, it is Tesfayes most cohesive and fully realized album to date, meshing the pop-noir of his early career with the glitzy 80s nostalgia of his more recent releases.

The Weeknd established himself as an R&B star thanks to three 2011 mixtapes, in which he crafted an entirely new strain of R&B, reveling in his own hedonism and singing in his signature piercing falsetto about despondent narratives. His dark introspection bled into his debut album Kiss Land, giving Tesfaye cult status among R&B fans. However, it was his 2015 album Beauty Behind The Madness that truly made The Weeknd a superstar. Teaming up with Max Martin, arguably the most successful producer-songwriter of the past 25 years, the album spawned several massive singles, including I Cant Feel My Face and In The Night. A year later, he followed up his Grammy-winning album with the pop-centric Starboy, which was filled with radio-friendly, groove-heavy tracks. This project was followed up by a four-year hiatus in which The Weeknd released a low-key EP and embarked on two tours.

After Hours is a cohesive blend of all The Weeknds phases. It strikes a seamless balance between the hazy trap beats of Kiss Land and the upbeat 80s synths of Starboy. The only notable change in Tesfayes sad-boy persona is the tinge of remorse that runs through his latest project, compared to the cold tone of his earlier tracks.

Promising his latest release would feature no more daytime music and would be a new brain melting psychotic chapter, The Weeknd begins After Hours unexpectedly with a string of quiet, gentler songs. The opener, Alone Again, is loaded with cinematic, ominous keyboards and twinkling synths, setting the throwback mood for the album as Tesfaye begs his lover to break (his) little, cold heart. He continues to deal with his loneliness and places the blame for his failed romances on himself on the throbbing, unplugged Too Late and the Max Martin co-produced Hardest to Love.

The project smoothly transitions into Scared To Live, a slow-burning ballad that interpolates Elton Johns Your Song. The Weeknd touches on his on-again-off-again relationship with Bella Hadid, encouraging his ex to not be afraid to move on while still longing for her when he sings I should have made you my only / When its said and done. On Snowchild, the albums most visceral track, Tesfaye reminisces about life before his come-up: memories of his Toronto childhood, drug-filled teen years and contemporary references to his lack of fulfillment with fame. Cali was the mission, he says before expressing a desire to leave, displaying his growth from his 2011 song The Morning when he sang Order plane tickets / Cali is the mission and the 2015 Tell Your Friends when he sang MIA a habit / Cali was the mission.

Side B of the album is packed with pop-bangers, including Blinding Lights and Heartless, which are already among the biggest hits of Tesfayes career. One of the projects standout moments comes on In Your Eyes, thanks to the Careless Whisper-esque saxophone solo that takes the track to a truly nostalgic level.

The Weeknd returns to his typical cold nature on Save Your Tears. Although it is one of the most pop-driven songs on the album, it is filled with personal anecdotes. Tesfaye refers to the impact both Hadid and his other famous ex-girlfriend, Selena Gomez, had on him. He acknowledges that his heartlessness in his breakup with Hadid stemmed from the heartbreak he felt when Gomez left him, singing, I broke your heart like someone did to mine / And now you wont love me for a second time.

The moody album comes to a close with the pulsating title track and then the tragic finale Until I Bleed Out, in which The Weeknd admits he feels paralyzed and terrified after giving his entire heart to someone and realizing it still wasnt enough. I wanna cut you outta my dreams, he cries.

The Weeknd has always been a master at contrasts and is at his finest on his latest project. Smoothly integrating beauty and madness, innovation and commerciality and loneliness and togetherness, After Hours is one of The Weeknds greatest gifts. It is a blinding light amid the worst of situations, distracting listeners from their loneliness and comforting them in the fact that someone else is experiencing the same isolation we all are feeling.

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The Weeknd's New Album Cuts Through the Isolation - Fordham Ram

In the midst of the greatest threat to individual liberty not to mention health and livelihood that most of us have experienced in our lives, it is a sad inevitability that the hospitality industry has taken the first economic hit. What we dont know at the moment is if this is a recoverable, if irritating, situation that can be overcome with patience, good humour and forbearance, or if it spells the end of many of the interesting drinking and dining options that we have in this country.

Yet there is something that individuals can do to support their local restaurant rather than simply writing posts of solidarity on social media (and those help, too). A surprisingly and hearteningly large number have converted themselves into temporary takeaways, with many also offering home delivery.

It has now become something of a civic duty to support your local restaurant or pub in these straitened and deeply unsettling times. As Geoff Norcott remarked on social media recently, announcing his intention to go 100% takeaway, 1. Supermarkets have earned enough, 2. Local businesses need support 3. Ive always wanted to live like this.

Here are some of the best and most interesting ones (although, of course, this is all subject to rapid change; some places that initially announced that they would do takeaway and home delivery sadly realised that it was logistically impossible):

Mackerel dish at Hide, London

Ollie Dabbous Michelin-starred Mecca in Central London is launching a distinctly upmarket delivery service. A glance at the menu reveals that caviar, 50 day aged short-horn-beef rib and barbecued octopus are just a few of the delights that can be ordered, on the grounds that they travel particularly well. To make the whole experience that bit more upmarket, wines from Hedonism can be selected alongside them to pair perfectly.

https://www.hide.co.uk

12.51, Islington

If youre an Islington resident who has fancied trying James Cochrans much-acclaimed restaurant, but has somehow never found the time to visit, then his new Around the Cluck service will surely answer your prayers. Offering a range of casual and inexpensively priced dishes, including Jamaican jerk chicken with Scotch bonnet jam and glazed crispy pork belly, they offer collection, or for the elderly, vulnerable or public sector workers, James will deliver it to your house himself on his bike.

https://www.1251.co.uk

Spinach pasta, crucsco chilli, agretti, breadcrumbs at Pastaio

Stevie Parles much-beloved pasta restaurant has traditionally been tricky to nab a spot at, which makes its advent to your homes all the better an opportunity to sample it. However, Parle and his team are going a step further at this trickiest of times, offering a special delivery service of freshly made pasta, at 5 for 500g, and store cupboard staples including semolina flour. Or maybe youd want just to dive straight into the carbonara bucatini and rigatoni with wild mushrooms and garlic, parmesan and olive oil.

https://pastaio.co.uk

Indian small plates from Kricket, London

The Indian small plates specialist Kricket has never been behind the curve since it opened, and so it continues to innovate and look forward now. Diners can enjoy some truly special treats including pork cheek vindaloo, keralan fried chicken and hyderabadi baby aubergine, or treat themselves to an isolation feast for one, which will include a main dish, a pilau rice, a papad, mango chutney and raita, and a sharing starter with the main for two.

https://kricket.co.uk

Aged parmesan risotto with truffle, Margot

It is particularly sad that Italy has been so horribly affected by the current crisis, but their cuisine is never going to pall. Covent Gardens exemplary restaurant has joined the band of places offering top-quality dishes that can now be enjoyed at home, and we have high hopes that the gnocchi with veal ragu, lobster ravioli and perfect spicy baby chicken will be a few included. A shame, really, that the exemplary service cant be included but soon it can be enjoyed in situ once again.

https://www.margotrestaurant.com

Black Axe Mangal, Highbury

Highburys ace kebab emporium has attracted endless praise for its superb, boundary-pushing food, but people have occasionally winced at the lengthy queues and ear-splitting music. Well, they talk about clouds and silver linings, and now you can enjoy their deliciousness at home, without any need to wait in line or to hear loud heavy metal at top decibels; we do, of course, understand that this also adds to the appeal for many.

https://www.blackaxemangal.com

Angelina, Dalston, London

This Dalston Italian-Japanese spot opened to critical praise a little while ago, and now theyre ahead of the curve with the response to the crisis. Not only can you get their ramen and risotto delivered to your home, but theyve gone the extra mile to make sure that you can have a decent drink to go along with it. Their cocktail selection is vacuum packed for transportation, and their wine list is available, so if you wanted a Venetian Sour or Waquila, now is your chance.

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Crisp fried herbed polenta, mixed kale, tenderstem broccoli and a pumpkin seed, shallot & fig leaf dressing from Hood, Streatham

I asked for recommendations of local places on social media, and several different people recommended this exemplary spot separately. Their response to the situation was to reinvent themselves as a pop-up shop, open from Monday to Friday and selling everything from comfort food like Cornish fish pie and braised lamb with pearl barley and root vegetables to supplies like craft beer, wine and, for the non-alcoholically inclined, lots of soft drinks too.

The rest is here:

8 London restaurants that will deliver during lockdown - Spectator.co.uk

Crisis. A situation where danger and opportunity intersect. In the last several weeks, weve heard and learned a lot about the danger and suffering caused by Covid-19. But opportunities are here too, and not only for soap producers and bitcoin holders. This is not to downplay the gravity of the situation, but rather go back to the root of the word crisis, and its original meaning of choice. This brutal challenge to our existing systems may open new windows of opportunity for long-awaited change.

Heres a list of 16 positive changes to the collective mindset this era of emergency may bring.

From aquaponics to vertical urban gardens, plant-based diets, and desktop 3D printers, this situation will make many of us see the benefits of relying on locally sourced food and goodsinstead of products demanding long and distant supply chains. These practices have been widely advocated for from a sustainability point of view, but this kind of self-sufficiency is ultimately about power. About how independence brings you to a position where, instead of just crossing your fingers and hoping government leaders will do a good enough job protecting you, you can maintain some influence over your own destiny and that of your loved ones.

As yet, no region has experienced a power outage due to the systemic consequences of this pandemic. It would, however, be naive to think that it will not happen in certain places. Whether you end up personally affected currently depends on the border lotterywhere you happened to be born and where you happened to be stranded during the outbreak. Solar panels mark the move away from a more or less centralized system supplying the juicy electricity we all love. The benefit of decentralized systems is, simply put, that they dont have central points of failure. Again, solar panels have been sold as a morally superior option, a way to do the right thing for the planetbut the Covid times will reveal how much they can also be a matter of personal agency.

Our species now has the technology to deliver all sorts of products to the doors of any self- or forcefully quarantined person. So far, drones have largely been known as a way to deliver violence and conduct surveillance. But as with any technology, they function like muscles, helping us realize our desires, constructive or destructive. In the case of Covid, this could mean automating many systems at scale, delivery drones and disinfecting robots marking a mere humble beginning. There are already examples of NGOs using drones to carry medicines to remote locations with impressive precision. Now that the ability to get goods without human touch is a more appealing value proposition than ever, mainstream adoption could be driven forward by an immense increase in drone delivery demand.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Bertrand Russell, Milton Friedman, and many others agreed that a civilized society ought to provide its citizens with money for basic needs to ensure no one ever has to live in a state of indecent desperation.

Automation has made this topic steaming hot, with US presidential hopeful Andrew Yang running on the policy, before suspending his campaign. During the current (or impending) lockdown, many jobs will, and have already, vanished overnight. Stock market losses reflect a concern for just how big a change in consumption this could bring.

In light of this, Hong Kong already approved a kind of emergency UBI, giving each citizen 10,000 Hong Kong dollars (about $1,290). Proposals to grant a monthly cash transfer to all citizens over the course of the pandemic have been supported by liberals and conservatives alike in many other states too. Learnings from these experiments, others already underway, and those very likely to follow, will yield considerable new knowledge and help complete the picture Rutger Bregman skillfully depicted on previous UBI experiments in his book Utopia for Realists (2017).

Citizens of the world right now have a front-row seat to watch how differently leaders around the world are handling the very same disease. Once the dust settles and figures can be studied, well be able to see what worked and what didnt. But more than that, well have a strong example of how arbitrary the choices that leaders make can be. People have already died because a certain leader took the wrong approach at the wrong time. This doesnt have to mean citizens no longer trust anyone. Rather, we should demand that more than success at the polls or holding an office be treated as sufficient authority in questions where there is science to consider.

What do we need? Jenny Odells How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy (2019) ignited a lot of excitement last year. It questioned how many of the activities were involved in every day actually benefit us. Doing less has its perks, for the climate and the environment as a whole, as well as for our stress levels and peace of mind. Covid-19 will, at least for a time, bring an extreme decrease in productivity. This will also give us a new baseline to compare with our normal lives. When we find ourselves forced to stop for a while, what will we end up really missingand what wont we miss at all? Hitting the pause button will give us an opportunity to take stock of what really deserves the glory in our glorification of being busy.

Quarantine can be an introverts dreamuntil the internet stops working. Hopefully, this wont happen. But if we were running decentralized internet protocols, we could move from hoping to knowing. The internet was built to be resilient in times of crisis.Over time, however, a small number of companies have come to own a large number of the servers directing traffic. This undercuts the internets celebrated design feature of decentralization. Amazon Web Services, for example, operates a whopping third of the servers running the cloud. The Interplanetary File System (IPFS) is a new protocol we could adopt to make the internet properly peer-to-peer againmeaning, it might give us an internet more equipped for a crisis.

And just like that, accuracy mattered. As we face a range of possible scenarios, from the mild to the frankly catastrophic, we can feel it collectively now: We want to know the facts. How much should we fear a sneeze? A handshake? Is everything under control, or should we stock up on food and water at home? We want to know. Not guess, but know. And even though doubt in science has grown ever greater in recent years, you dont see hordes of people turning down the thought of a vaccine now.

Social distancing is luckily happening in a time when we already love to be social far, far away from one another. The meetings that could have been emails have quickly turned into emails. For the rest, theres telepresence, video conferencing, and even digital avatars and virtual stages. The longer the quarantine, the more well see whatever brings us our loved ones and colleagues in high definition as the best thing since stock crackers. That summits and concerts are finding digital iterations is all great news for a world thats been relying on air travel far more than carbon budgets allow. In terms of aviation, what is a state of emergency now, great telepresence services could help make far more normal after the virus.

Blackouts and snow-ins result in baby bumps: this has been commonly observed. Is it that when youre stuck at home, sex is the next best option? Or is it that in times of despair, the prospect of bringing a new life into the world is a bulwark against the sense of impending doom? Whatever it is, you might look forward to some lustful pleasures during the quarantine. And if you dont feel like this is the right time for you to conceive the next generation, you might consider stocking up on contraceptives while (or if) you can. Suggested names of this generation to come: Quaranteens or Coronials.

The true value of the labor that keeps societyand our sanityafloat, is now being keenly felt. People homeschooling their children are expressing new appreciation for teachers day-to-day. Garbage collectors and delivery people are receiving proper thank-yous for usually thankless services. And the health care providers risking their own health for the sake of others are now receiving a measure of gratitude. Were learning whats essential. Now, instead of paying the heroes of this crisis with nothing but applause, could this sudden appreciation instead take a monetary form and translate into better pay for our most crucial professions?

And just like that, you did get the time to finish your novel. The same is true for a myriad of artists, currently in lockdown, many of them likely creating their most inspired pieces yet. Shakespeare famously wrote King Lear during his time in quarantine. From the existential motives of serious filmmakers to the escapist hedonism and meme extraordinairesa pandemic, in all its brutality, can be quite the muse.

As bad as Covid-19 is, those of us in the global catastrophic risk community know there are far worse scenarios, and we can get far better at preparing and de-risking our lives. Books like Feeding Everyone No Matter What (2014) by David Denkenberger has never before gotten the attention they deserve. We could use this situation to change that, making us wiser and more resilient in the face of vaster issues. Proposals like Denkenbergers to develop large-scale storage, underground mushroom farms, or even bacteria-based foods to survive a potential nuclear winter or supervolcanic eruption no longer seem as eccentric as they once did. Rather, they seem wise and considered, as the words hope for the best, plan for the worst are beginning to more widely resonate.

The status and suffering of the elderly is generally scarcely covered. Before this pandemic, 100,000 people died from illnesses directly related to the underlying condition of an aged bodyevery single day. As Covid-19 is disproportionately affecting the older part of the population and medical professionals are making calls based on age, this issue ought to see serious momentum. Intergenerational solidarity could become more of a thing as we come to fully realize that an able-bodied condition is ever so temporary. Healthspanand lifespanextension is a problem we might more seriously use our collective talent to combat, as we give more weight to the argument often put forward by those in the field that aging ought to be classified as a disease.

Particularly when it comes to debt. The Federal Reserve is offering $1.5 trillion in short-term loans (and a whole lot more is on the way) to stabilize the market due to Covid-19. In a world where fiat currencies are only backed by belief, a lot can be done once there is sufficient support. By comparison, the total amount of student loan debt in the US is $1.6 trillion. If you want to study a concept during all your in-house downtime, maybe look up debt jubilee. Or, if youre looking for a longer read, theres David Graebers Debt: The First 5,000 Years (2011). A lot of time in your house means a lot of time to learn and organize for change with people who share your beliefs and could amplify them. Whether in relation to debt, or something else.

In the 90s, some thinkers focused on globalization argued that our shared global village was turning into a McWorld, with consumer culture as its common denominator. Arguably, there is something far more wholesome all humans have in common: We all want a safe tomorrow. In Covid-19, weve found a common enemy, attacking people regardless of their appearance or passport.

This takes us back to that original meaning of crisis: the present situation offers a choice. Either we try to piece the world back together as it was before this catastrophic occurrence, or we can use this shared event as the founding moment of a unifying global narrative. One acknowledging that underneath our badges of belonging we are all vulnerable bodies, very much dependent on each other and on systems of governance.

Weve been aware of our global interconnectedness for some time, every second TED talk makes reference to it. But weve never felt it as much as we do now. Weve already witnessed the lack of global coordination to control the spread of the virus early on. We are now witnessing how the government of each state is turning this shared global event into so many singular, nationally defined experiences.

All this tells the tale of a world that has become interlinked, yet holds on to a governance model pretending were not. This can change. We can tell another story. One that demands global risks receive a global response and proclaims that certain issues are so important they stand above all partisanship. A virus can spread quickly and change us profoundly. So can an idea. Stuck, alone in our houses, there has never been a better time to come together.

Image Credit: Ahmed Zayan /Unsplash

The rest is here:

16 Ways Coronavirus May Change the Way We Look at the World - Singularity Hub

I changed music five or six times what have you done? Miles Davis famously crowed at a White House dinner late in his life. Never a man known for his modesty, for once the Prince of Darkness was selling himself short.

By our count, there are at least eight occasions on which the worlds most recognisable (and bestselling) jazz musician has played a pivotal role in changing the course of music for evermore.

A major career-spanning documentary Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool is now on Netflix a film that charts the musical pioneers career and features previously unseen interviews with his friends, family, collaborators and admirers, including guitarist Carlos Santana. Its timely release isnt coincidental, either, and comes 50 years after Daviss most commercial period was about to begin. Lets take a walk through the history of post-war improvised music via the work of its most restless innovator.

In 1944, an 18-year-old Miles Davis left East St Louis to study music at New Yorks prestigious Juilliard School. His real education, however, was in the clubs of 52nd Street, then booming with the frenetic, virtuosic, breakneck-tempo bebop of the time. Within months, Davis was cutting his teeth as a member of troubled sax player Charlie Parkers band, but in truth, the trumpeters own improvisational flights were never as sharp or showy as those of his contemporaries.

His answer was to slow tempos, bring in extra harmonies and horns, extend jazz from a snapshot of a few minutes into sometimes 13-minute-long pieces and, alongside arranger Gil Evans, make a series of chilled, classically influenced nonet chamber recordings that would later be collected as the album Birth of the Cool and credited with kick-starting the cool jazz wave to come.

In 1955, Davis ascended from being a jazz star to a household name after signing with the mainstream might of Columbia Records. He put this new influence and budget to good use, reviving his partnership with Evans to write Miles Ahead (1957), the first of three seminal albums that pit his breathy, tender trumpet exertions over the luscious textures of a 19-piece orchestra. Followed by the Gershwin collection Porgy and Bess (1959) and flamenco-flavoured Sketches of Spain (1960), this trio collectively popularised the jazz-classical hybrid known as Third Stream.

Davis severed himself from 50 years of harmonic jazz convention with the 1958 composition Milestones and, most famously, the ever-enduring, first-take-only sextet session of 1959 Kind of Blue, which is widely celebrated as the bestselling jazz album ever.

Davis was a pioneer in improvisation, which freed players up to stretch out in a single tonality, in the same way trippy blues-rock musicians would play 10 years later. On the revelatory track Flamenco Sketches, soloists were presented a list of five modes to improvise in at leisure, the rhythm section following rather than dictating the harmony, shifting chord only when the soloist chose to move to a new tonality. Breathtaking.

Craving new ideas, in the mid-1960s, when he was in his mid-forties, Davis began assembling a new band of musicians half his age including future stars Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter who would collectively usher in a new democratic musical model known as post-bop, which would change jazz for ever. Often using Shorters oblique compositions for fuel, the Second Great Quintet broke down the conventional soloist and rhythm section approach with a telepathic time, no changes philosophy that allowed song structures to unfold in real-time. The highest form of spontaneous musical expression.

For all his earlier innovations in jazz, arguably none of Daviss skin-shedding stunts had a wider influence on pop culture than his early 1970s electric reinvention, heralded by the arrival of ... Brew the undefinable improvisatory assault of an album that celebrates its 50th anniversary on Monday, March 30.

About seven months earlier, Davis assembled more than a dozen musicians including two drummers, two bassists and three electric keyboardists at Columbias New York studios, and over only three days, directed deep, dark, shamanic jams that conjured something entirely new and utterly beguiling.

Intoxicating to rock fans and festivals, once-slick-suited Davis was reborn as a scarf-toting counterculture hero, while the records principle players would go on to pack arenas playing that much-maligned marriage of jazz and rock that came to be known as fusion.

James Brown invented funk in the mid-1960s. Sly Stone channelled Jimi Hendrix and helped birth funk-rock. Davis took note and wanted a piece of that lucrative, block-party-starting pie. The term jazz-funk would soon come to epitomise smooth, smoochy, noodly, blandness, and perhaps you can thank Daviss dense, groovy improvised On the Corner LP for that. It again featured Hancock, whose own subsequent 1970s recordings, beginning a year later with million-seller Head Hunters, would go on to define the genre more than anybodys.

Sounds crazy, right? But there are semi-legitimate arguments and compelling corners of the internet that argue that the relentless, polyrhythmic wig-out Rated X laid the tracks for the genre to emerge across the pond two decades later. Just listen to the way backbeats and downbeats are reversed (or what translates as a bass drum and a snare), creating a squelching percussive tumult with overriding melody in a way that biographer John Szwed calls the birth of ambient jazz. Its not even the weirdest moment on Get Up with It (1974), a two-hour opus of unnerving offcuts that contained Daviss final studio recordings before a six-year hiatus.

After a lost half-decade of hedonism and health problems, Davis re-emerged in 1981 with another sonic reinvention awkwardly reconciling a 1980s pop aesthetic with some pretty deep jamming. A period that remains divisive to this day, things reached a peak, of sorts, with Youre Under Arrest (1985), which included Daviss instrumental takes on Michael Jacksons Human Nature and Cyndi Laupers Time After Time which offered a sense of legitimacy to the smooth jazz that was to haunt US radio for decades to come.

Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool is on Netflix now

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Read more:

Remembering Manu Dibango: what I learned from watching the African jazz legend soundcheck

From Bob Marley to Koffee: vibe out with our new #stayhome reggae playlist

Childish Gambinos new album confirms he is a pop futurist: here are five things to know about '3.15.20'

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Updated: March 25, 2020 06:55 PM

Here is the original post:

'Birth of the Cool': 8 ways Miles Davis changed the music scene forever - The National

In hindsight, music has always been Donald Glovers true calling. Before the sitcoms, the Star Wars movie, the Saturday Night Live hosting gigs, and the well-worn gifs of the performer walking horrified into a burning room with a stack of pizza boxes, you could find him on YouTube as a member of Derrick Comedy. The groups greatest sketch, B-Boy Stance, saw Glover play an ageing hip-hop pioneer who had his arms surgically attached to his back, ensuring he was forever pulling the iconic pose it riffs on the distance between the New York acolytes who witnessed the birth of hip-hop and those who came to the music after it was commodified. Glovers understanding of American culture shines with diamond clarity; Atlanta, his comedy-drama that goes deep into the citys rap scene, is the evolution of those ideas.

Glovers early forays into rap were corny and forgettable. The Childish Gambino project felt like the side hustle of a talented kid eager to test every limit of his creativity that the moniker was taken from an online Wu-Tang Clan name generator seemed to reflect how low it fell on his list of priorities. In 2016, the funk record Awaken, My Love! was an artistic breakthrough. Then came 2017s vicious This Is America and a video that encapsulates the racial prejudice, police brutality and vicious gun lust freezing the soul of the self-proclaimed greatest country in the world. The clip became a pop cultural juggernaut, anointing Glover as spokesman for the Black Lives Matter generation.

3.15.20 is the glorious payoff of this musical evolution. Melding elements of industrial hip-hop, hard-edged funk and pulsing electronica, with occasional experimental breakdowns a la Pink Floyd, it is an ambitious album that can turn from hedonism to hope on a dime. And with its genre-hopping ethos, bold orchestral choices and pleasing tunefulness, it is the first truly boundary-pushing record of the 2020s, cementing its creator as a daring virtuoso. (The roll out of the record wasnt quite as well executed: songs temporarily began streaming on a continuous loop last Sunday via donaldgloverpresents.com and are once again leaving fans to ponder whether it was a leak or part of an elaborate release strategy.)

No song is quite as blunt as the societal sledgehammer that was This Is America because they dont have to be Glovers sharp pen and outlandish concepts see him smartly examine topics such as freedom in the digital age, the nature of reality and the malignancy in the soul of his home nation.

Take Algorhythm, which warns of the erosion of personal liberties as the algorithms that serve our information alter our minds. The corrosive psychological effect of phones has become catnip for songwriters in recent years but Glover brings his own perspective, using vocal effects to slide into the role of artificial intelligence while dropping biblical references. Elsewhere, he buries his voice so deep in effects at moments that it is near-impossible to make out his words see 32.22, a bruising rap song that shares DNA with Kanye Wests Black Skinhead. The effect alludes to the disappearance of his soul into a digital vortex, inviting listeners to determine what is and is not real.

The most direct probing comes on the Ariana Grande-assisted Time, as Glover sounding half flower child, half crystal gazer questions whether the world is exactly what it seems. With a melody reminiscent of forgotten single Cry, theres even a touch of Michael Jackson to the sweeping anthem. Its not difficult to picture MJ, arms stretched out in a Christ-like stance, singing lines such as: Seven billion people trying to free themselves / Said a billion prayers trying to save myself. Not that you ever would have caught Jackson over these psych-tinted guitar strums and eccentric, retro-futuristic drum machines.

The gentle funk of 47.48 evokes memories of Stevie Wonder as Glover explores the devastating effect violence has on childhood innocence. There are moments of levity, though. On the Prince-esque lover-man jam 24.19, the meaning of a relationship is captured through minutiae as Glover smiles at his sweethearts appreciation of fairytales, the way they wear their hair and the chicken dinners the couple once shared. More passion comes on 12.38, throwback funk featuring horny one-liners such as Hit the uchi-chuchi till its slanted; the hazy pop of Feels Like Summer will line up well on barbecue playlists.

These are lighter moments in a grander work that instantly feels part of the zeitgeist. Its especially appropriate, then, that 3.15.20 has dropped into the feeds of people social distancing. The disruption caused by the coronavirus forces us to question how strong the foundations of civilisation really are. Glover never could have seen the pandemic coming when he was recording the album, yet at a time when much of what we thought was strong is weak what we thought was eternal is potentially fleeting 3.15.20 captures the insecurity of lived reality and the humanity that truly defines our existence.

Read this article:

Childish Gambino: 3.15.20 review at the peak of the zeitgeist - The Guardian

We could kind of understand the logic of museums and galleries still being open, and we looked at what [other museums] were doing, taking away their interactive components or reducing their touch screens, MOD. director Kristin Alford tells The Adelaide Review. But for us, when we did the risk management, there was literally one gallery left and that was watching a film. Everything else is hands on and touching.

Although we increased the cleaning regime and encouraged people to wash their hands before and after, and social distancing, for me it just got to the point where we couldnt give people a great experience in the gallery. And, as a museum thats focussed on the future and the communication of science, I felt it was far more responsible of us to close early.

With the federal government officially forcing all museums and galleries around the country to close last night, MOD. now finds itself charging headfirst into a bold and challenging new reality for the sector. But with no traditional collection, and a fairly agnostic definition of what makes a museum at the best of times, MOD. was already geared towards adaptation.

At the beginning of the year when people started coming back into the [Seven Siblings from the Future] exhibition after the bushfires, there were lots of really important conversations with the community [who were] grappling with that. So we made some alterations to the exhibition to account for how people were feeling.

Then a few weeks ago we started thinking, we should really add some things to the gallery to help people process what theyre hearing about COVID-19. We designed these additions but just didnt get them in in time!

What closing early has enabled us to do is rather than focussing on mitigating a risk bit by bit, weve been able to refocus and settle on what a new normal might be. Which has allowed us to then think through what we would like to do, and, admittedly very quickly, come up with the skeleton of a new exhibition. Thats more rewarding than constantly mitigating risk.

So for us closing early was definitely driven by the type of interactive we have, but doing that has allowed us to rethink what the next six months could be like, while still delivering our mission.

First, that involved taking to Facebook Live for daily virtual tours and deep and meaningful sessions tied to Seven Siblings from the Future, an exhibition exploring the complex ethical and philosophical questions of a recognisable future Australia transformed by technological and environmental change. Its only taken a few months, Alford says, for the real world to start making up the distance. Take the character of Alex, for instance, one of the siblings whose work as a remotely-based, teleconferencing nurse raises questions of privacy and bioethics.

We know that Alex works in e-health, and theres lots of information coming in about his patients, she says. But how did that happen? I think COVID-19 offers a fairly good example of how that 2050, that future, would make sense how we might have circumvented a lot of the regulatory environment or concerns that people had prior to March 2020.

This week, MOD. will launch Life Interrupted, its first online-only exhibition since the beginning of the crisis. The exhibition itself is a mixture of some things weve created for previous exhibitions that were repurposing and remodelling for a digital environment. Some of this includes the compliments booth from Hedonism were looking at redoing that for a digital environment, so people have a simulated way of making themselves feel good. People might need that a lot.

Weve also got a group of our moderators setting up a space in Minecraft where people can create nature in Minecraft, to see if we can get the same feeling of being in a natural space online. Other planned programs, such as its Futures Unlearned talks, will be run online, covering such topical questions as what does leadership look like in an age of uncertainty?

But looking more broadly, Alford suspects the period of downtime will usher in some long-lasting, and perhaps overdue, shifts in how the public engages with museums and vice versa.

The indicators towards collapse or transformation are very similar it just depends what happens next, she reflects. We have to get through the now, but as we move through the recovery period and start to go back to normal, we will be altered by this experience. Its hard to go back to how things were, and for museums or gallery spaces that might mean rethinking the types of topics they talk about, it might be rethinking the types of spaces theyve created, it might be rethinking the architecture of spaces.

There are questions of whether this environment will allow some better practices around online learning to emerge; we have to start thinking, is a mix of physical and online exhibitions what we should be doing in the future? And how do we do things in both spaces?

Digital Editor

Walter is a writer, editor and broadcaster living on Kaurna Country. His work has appeared in Rip It Up, The Saturday Paper, Smith Journal, Royal Auto, Swampland Magazine, Broadsheet andThe Thousands.

Read more:

From Zoom to Minecraft, what will the 'new normal' for Australian museums look like? - The Adelaide Review

The Covid-19 pandemic has emptied restaurants across the capital, but people still need to eat. Fortunately, the UK governments latest measures to restrict movement and social contact still allow food delivery services and contact-free takeaway. Anna Solomon rounds up the eateries with Michelin-starred mopeds

When Britain was last on a war footing, it meant rationing: tins of Spam and carefully weighed portions of butter. Now, in his response to the threat of the Coronavirus crisis, Boris Johnson has been forced to restrict the right of freeborn Britons to go not only to the pub, but also to restaurants.

The long-term consequences for the hospitality industry could turn out to be disastrous, but several of our favourite London eateries have responded in admirable fashion by launching delivery services that allow customers to bring fine dining to the comfort of their own kitchen.

One of the establishments making the shift from silver service to mopeds is HIDE. The restaurant, which boasts a Michelin star, has partnered with SUPPER to deliver a menu of dishes from renowned chef Ollie Dabbous. And, of course, roast scallop, Jerusalem artichoke and black truffle wouldnt be the same without a wine pairing, so HIDE partner Hedonism are offering their finest libations alongside.

Hide at Home delivery offers some of our most popular dishes that travel well to our guests who, in the current situation, are unable to visit the restaurant, Tatiana Fokina, CEO of Hide, tells Spears.

Her team is launching the service to make isolation easier, she says, and to take the worry of cooking off the minds of the self-isolated and socially distancing. They even offer child-friendly options, as there will be so many more meals eaten all together now that the children are off school. Delivery services are also playing an extremely important role in allowing restaurants to keep their staff employed.

And of course, the business as usual adage plays a psychological function. Food and wine give us comfort, and enjoying them with your family is something that should help us all deal with the new reality, says Fokina. It is important to keep as many habits from our normal life as possible, and also not to forget to treat ourselves to small luxuries to help us keep in good spirits.

So what can hungry HNWs expect to enjoy as they put their feet up and get stuck into a box set? You can get everything from breakfast dishes, like home-made crumpets with Brillat-Savarin, to Ollies signature mains, like barbecued octopus and soft shell crab tempura, says Fokina.

Other stand-outs include white asparagus shavings with hazelnuts, wild mushrooms, sea truffle and duck egg mayonnaise, and 50-day-aged short-horn beef rib cooked over charcoal, served with rapeseed barnaise, crispy potato cake, baked shallots, braised rib cap and a salad of watercress, horseradish & pickles.

Desserts such as warm acorn cake with smoked caramel and Cornish clotted cream are not to be forgotten. And whats a quarantine without freshly baked bread? HIDE is also offering their finest viennoiseries right to your front door.

One of the big questions is whether measures introduced in the time of coronavirus will stick, as the world realises that many of the things that we used to do in person can be done without walking out of your front door. When we come out on the other side of this crisis we will continue home deliveries if there is a demand for it. We are trying to see new opportunities in this situation, says Fokina.

It is hard to imagine that eating scallops in your slippers will ever replace the buzz of an evening at a restaurant. For now, however, delivery services like HIDEs provide a charming alternative in the upside-down reality that we find ourselves in. If were going to be stuck inside for the foreseeable future, we might as well do it with a good cheese board.

Chef Eran Tibi brought the essence of Tel Aviv to Londons Bankside with his first solo project in Bala Baya. The restaurant is now bringing vibrant Israeli cuisine to any London location reachable by Uber. From prawn baklava to aubergine mess, the fare is always hands-on and always delicious.

Bocca Di Lupo is a family-run trattoria in the heart of Soho serving Italian cuisine that is almost entirely home-made; this includes breads, sausages, salami, pickles, mostarda, pasta and the freshest gelato from Gelupo. The rest is sourced directly from the sunny Italian regions.

This gourmet traiteur and delicatessen founded by Dimitri and Mira Plaquet boasts dishes created by executive chef Chris Hill, who is an alumnus of the Ritz. Try beef carpaccio with Harrys Bar dressing, indulgent lobster pasta, or the house specialty, beef Wellington.

The home of French haute cuisine in London, Le Comptoir revives the small plates concept of the late Jol Robuchon, who held the most Michelin stars awarded to any chef. Inventive dishes comprise a combination of Robuchon classics and inventive specials, including La Caille (quail, foie gras and truffle) and LOeuf Caviar (crispy egg, caviar, cream and smoked salmon).

Pasta Evangelists deliver fresh pasta kits across the UK, complete with beautiful sauces and garnishes sourced from Italy. Five star dishes such as black truffle and pecorino triangoli, trofie with walnut pesto, and pappardelle with beef shin embody centuries of artisanal tradition and can be prepared in just five minutes.

This famed omakase dining concept (whereby you entrust yourself to the chef) landed in London from New York earlier this month. Sushi on Jones offers traditional Japanese favourites at the highest quality, from uni to toto, to botan shrimp and wagyu.

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Top story: Virus could force GCSEs and A-levels to be delayed

Morning everyone. Im Martin Farrer and these are the top stories from the Guardian this Monday morning.

The coronavirus outbreak could last for another year and cause almost eight million people to require hospital treatment, according to a Public Health England document seen by the Guardian. In what was previously a worst-case scenario mooted by chief medical officer Prof Chris Witty, the document says up to 80% of the population are expected to be infected with Covid-19 in the next 12 months, and up to 15% (7.9 million people) may require hospitalisation. The shocking possible extent of the crisis comes as Boris Johnson sought to shore up confidence in his handling of the situation by announcing that he will hold a daily media conference for as long as necessary. Deaths in the UK stand at 35 and family have paid tribute to the man believed to be the youngest victim so far, a 59-year-old former police officer, Nick Matthews. There is concern that the virus could force this years GCSEs and A-level exams to be postponed until later in the year and unions have warned about lack of sick pay for laid-off courier workers. . More news all day at our live blog.

There are now more cases of coronavirus around the world than inside China, the epicentre of the outbreak. Worldwide infections have grown to more than 86,000, according to the Johns Hopkins university tracker, while cases inside China stood at 80,860 as of Monday. Deaths have reached 6,479.

Theres also more in our Coronavirus Extra section further down and heres where you can find all our coverage of the outbreak from breaking news to fact checks and advice

Working women For the first time, there are now more women aged 60-64 in work than not, analysis of data from the Office for National Statistics shows. The shift has been triggered by changes to the state pension age, the data reveals, with the number of older women in the workforce increasing by 51% since the reforms were introduced in 2010. The number of working men aged between 60 and 64 increased by 13% over the same period. Experts described the shift as seismic and said it would have profound implications for women now and in later life.

Biden v Bernie They kept their distance and bumped elbows, but Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders still managed to come together to condemn Donald Trumps handling of the coronavirus crisis in the first one-on-one debate in the slimmed-down Democratic presidential nomination debate. Biden said it called for wartime-style national mobilisation and he would summon the army while his rival took the opportunity to tout his plan for sweeping healthcare reforms. Biden also pledged to choose a woman as his running mate.

Ghost trains Thousands of trains are sitting idle in depots across Britain despite the countrys creaking rail network being in desperate need of additional rolling stock. An investigation by Channel 4s Dispatches has found that many of the carriages, which contain around 110,000 seats, could be used immediately. Research also reveals the inequality between services in the north and south of England, with experts calling for more widespread electrification to fix the problem.

Scrolls downer They were always suspected of being one of the most elaborate hoaxes in history but now its official: the fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls for which an American museum paid millions of dollars are fakes, experts have said. Steve Green reportedly paid millions for the scrolls for his Museum of the Bible in Washington DC. But a team of researchers have concluded after exhaustive testing that they are probably fakes made of old shoe leather.

The story continued to move quickly overnight. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control urged people to avoid gatherings of more than 50 people as the death toll rose to 64 and Californias governor asked bars to shut down. New York City ordered all its public schools to close. Argentina has gone into full lockdown and South Africa has declared a national emergency. In Washington, however, Donald Trump gave a brief press conference in which he insisted the US was doing great in fighting the outbreak, and heaped praise on the US Federal Reserve after it announced it was slashing interest rates to near zero.

But even that emergency cut has failed to calm nerves on financial markets with another turbulent day in prospect on global stock markets. The Sydney market dropped almost 10% on Monday despite Australias central bank announcing it is on the brink of quantitative easing. The FTSE100 is on course to lose 2.5% at the opening bell this morning.

There was anger in Germany after it was reported that Trump had offered $1bn to a German pharmaceutical company in exchange for exclusive US access to a Covid-19 vaccine it is developing.

Like a growing number of people, Simon Parkin suffered from insomnia for years. After dozens of failed techniques, he finally found one that worked. Also today: Sally Hayden on a locust swarm in east Africa.

Sorry your browser does not support audio - but you can download here and listen https://audio.guim.co.uk/2020/03/15-81685-200316TIFinsomnia2.mp3

Mike Skinner, who shot to fame with his rap band the Streets before stepping back from the limelight, is back with a film hes been planning for donkeys years about the group. He promises it will have a Streets soundtrack and a Raymond Chandler influence a DJ as a sort of cynical or disillusioned private detective. In between untangling his varied career, Skinner also tells Tim Jonze about how he tries to avoid on-the-road hedonism, the Cambrian explosion and Robert De Niros eyeballs.

The International Olympic Committee must act decisively by postponing the Tokyo 2020 Games because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, a British athlete has told the Guardian. Premiership rugby union fixtures are to be postponed with immediate effect because of the coronavirus outbreak with European competitions set to be mothballed as well. British racing is likely to go behind closed doors from later this week, initially until the end of March but potentially for much longer. Super League newcomers Toronto Wolfpack have suspended training and stood down their entire UK-based staff after four players experienced symptoms of coronavirus. Castleford recorded a 28-14 win against St Helens but some fans were critical of the decision to play at all. And the UK Anti-Doping Agency is poised to launch an investigation into allegations that a member of Tyson Furys team offered a farmer 25,000 to provide a false alibi after the heavyweight champion failed a drugs test in 2015.

The coronavirus continues to take a wrecking ball to the business world. One of the worst-hit areas is the cruise passenger sector and we look at what it means for the industry as the biggest operators mothball their fleets and share values plummet. In Britain, manufacturers have urged the government to step in to help the sector after exports have plummeted. The pound has also dropped sharply and is buying $1.234 and 1.11.

Many of the papers focus on plans to quarantine the elderly to protect them from the coronavirus. The Mirror says Save our elderly and the Mail has Lets pull together for our elderly, Britain!. The Telegraph warns about the sanctions for defying anti-virus measures 1,000 fine or custody for refusing quarantine while the Sun headline is Flu Monday. The Guardian leads with Virus may last a year and put 8m in NHS hospitals, a line which the Express also leads with: Virus will put 8m Britons in hospital. The Times concentrates on the economics of it all Banks act to save world economy from pandemic.

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Monday briefing: 8m could be hospitalised in the UK - The Guardian