DOC Suzuki Flute School Piano Acc.; Volume 2 (Revised): Piano Accompaniment by Dr. Shinichi Suzuki in Arts-Photography

Review

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A lovely exploration of an inscrutably beautiful albumBy Ulysses616I love the 33 1/3 series; and I love Sigur Ros. Five or six books into the series; I can honestly say Ive loved every volume; and this one is no exception. The anecdotes with which Hayden bookends his volume form a clever and poignant correspondence with the many symmetries he discovers in the ( ) album; and the one that opens the volume feels especially accurate--surely capturing a feeling most Sigur Ros fans have experienced; and in lovely but not overblown language.While I found the linguistic explorations Hayden takes us on to be thrilling; there lies also my one reservation about this volume: the tour of various forms of "nonsense" in language (everything from Dada to vocalise); while interesting in and of itself for an academically-minded person like myself; ultimately felt less than fully relevant to Haydens central arguments--or; at any rate; the tour seemed unduly long for the purposes to which he put those various manifestations of nonsense. I am all for 33 1/3 authors taking their time in setting up the relevant historical and academic contexts they require (Susan Fasts volume on Dangerous and Kirk Walker Graves Volume on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy both do this beautifully); but I felt that such contextualizing became a problem of proportion in this volume. Perhaps this is also because; when Hayden does spend his pages rendering the texture of Sigur Ross music in prose; the results are stunning; even revelatory; and I wish he did more of it. I would honestly pay the guy to write breakdowns of each of these 8 songs as detailed as the one he does for "Untitled 1" (or "Vaka"); which is so great that I had my English 101 students read it before writing their analyses of a pop song of their choosing.Again; its a beautiful volume; and one that features plenty of lyrical descriptions of Sigur Ros and insights into possible ways to interpret their uninterpretably gorgeous ( ) album. Only the slight imbalance between pages devoted to the history of "nonsense" language and pages devoted to Sigur Ros knocks this one down from 5 to 4 stars for me. It is well worth reading for any fan of Sigur Ros; in my opinion.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. I loved it (but Im a big nerd)By Brannon HancockSo; Im a scholar (theologian); and a major Sigur Ros fan; and a music / pop culture geek in general. So this book just hit the spot where my hobbies and vocation and fanaticism all collide. I enjoyed it so much. I hope I can meet the author someday and nerd out about Sigur Ros for a bit. He was able to articulate so many things Ive wanted to say about the band - the experience of listening to their recordings and attending their shows. Yes; as other reviewers have said; its a bit heady and theoretical - probably not for everybody. Its definitely written from an academic perspective (thats the whole ethos of the 33 1/3 series!). But its super good - well written; well researched; insightful; winsome.4 of 5 people found the following review helpful. You have to be interested in special topics to fully enjoy this book - Not for any kind of Sigur Ros fansBy NobodyThis is not a typical book about music fandom; musical facts; biographies or historical accounts. It is an intellectual exercise that comes close to a musicological work. Take it as a warning; as I am afraid the book can deceive some of its potential readers. That was; somehow; my case. I am familiar with musicological texts (for example the excellent series by Ashgate or Bloombsbury publishers) so the approach; tone and vocabulary were not intimidating to me. But they will be in the case you are looking for a ldquo;typicalrdquo; text about when; how; by whom; where and why a given recording was created (or even received by its audience). Even though many books in the 33 1/3 series cannot be considered as such ldquo;typicalrdquo; texts; my previous experience with them did not prepare me for what I found in this ldquo;()rdquo;.After my initial ldquo;caveat emptorrdquo;; letrsquo;s add that you have to (metaphorically) consider the book as one of so many modern buildings that are built just because they are possible (i.e.; as exercises in modern architecture). Modern buildings will call for your attention; for sure; but; in the long term; maybe they will not fulfill the needs of their dwellers; they will not show located at the right place; they will not use the right materials; or they will not reach the right height to become integrated with the environment. You can perceive some inherent beauty in those buildings; some virtues on the shapes and volumes; some right proportions buthellip; the buildings are there just because they can be there. That is the problem with hermeneutics in general. Hermeneutics deals with ldquo;interpretationrdquo;; and this book is indeed an interpretation of ldquo;()rdquo;. But when an interpretation is not grounded on observable data; it becomes just a possible intellectual building around an excuse. You can agree or disagree with the interpretation just because of personal taste or intellectual stance; but; when the argumentation is based on metaphors; far-stretched ideas or remote conceptual connections; you have to follow the author and see if you can take some of all that stuff to get a different view of the discussed recording/music. If you cannot or do not want to follow the author; you will leave the book unfinished or will finish it after several fighting rounds (the latter was my case). I acknowledge that I got some ldquo;different looksrdquo; on the music; lyrics and sound of ldquo;()rdquo; that I could never have imagined before. But I probably did not need to spend so much time or go through so many pages to get them (therefore I am hessitating between giving 3 or 4 stars to it). Also on the positive side; the book might be attractive to you because you will learn about imaginary languages; paralanguages; or intended-to-be universal languages; but I am not sure if it will increase or change your appreciation of the music created by Sigur Ros.To conclude; I think this book requires a very special reading attitude and expectations. Even in the case you can comfortably set into this special mood; I am not sure that you will find yourself enjoying the book all the time. Be prepared for several disconcerting moments such as finding references to the Bible; or the lack of any mention to Joycersquo;s Finneganrsquo;s Wake (how is it possible that a book dealing with the absence of meaning and different paralanguages does not include at least a passing reference to it?). And be prepared to wonder; from time to time; about the connections between what you are reading and the music that supposedly inspired or motivated the text. But that is what literature is about; donrsquo;t you think so?