Translation (impossible but I try anyways): When philosophers who as is widely known have difficulties to keep silent, engage in a conversation, they should talk in a way that always proves them wrong but in such a manner that the opponent is proved untruthful.

Or something like that. I still have to think about this one. It's one of those Adorno bonmots which drive me furious the first time I read them. Actually I am not 100% sure if this is Adorno, I couldn't find any other mention of this passage on the interweb. Does any of my readers know more?

Milan Kundera erzählt in Verratene Vermächtnisse (im Original Les Testaments trahis) eine Passsage aus Thomas Mann’s Joseph und seine Brüder über die ich heute morgen in der S-Bahn ganz schön schmunzeln musste:

Aus der neuen über tausendseitigen Adorno-Biografie von Stefan Müller-Doohm:

That's the period of the big summer holidays where the news are even more made-up than usual. Where absolutely nothing happens as even the politicians are somewhere on a beach, sipping their tequila sunrises. I am very deep in this summer hole myself. The heat, 35 degrees celsius is one reason, another one is that I am more and more realizing that the part of contemporary music I like is even smaller than I thought and gets smaller every day. Stuff I used to love doesn't do it anymore for me. Even Joni Mitchell sounds so far away and dated though she is of course absolutely timeless.

One track I heve been enjoying is Hard to Find from American Analog Set's new not yet in Germany available album Promise of Love which is available as mp3 at Insound. This band is sooo mellow, it's unbelievable. The perfect music for hot summer evenings. So relaxed, so tuneful, so addictive. How can a band be so sweet? Live they are even lovelier, by the way.

One reason I love music is the healing effect some of it has on me. It is weird but whenever I’m in a depressive mood I love to listen to sad music. Bathing in self-pity really does me good occasionally. It’s very selfish and totally unproductive but it helps to get over those dark intervals. When I’m down I can’t take happy-go-lucky music. Actually I hardly ever listen to happy music. Usually it makes me feel uncomfortable. Something must be wrong with me, I feel.

Anyways when I read in this ILM thread about a new American Music Club album and I noticed several people were slagging off West, Mark Eitzel’s phantastic collaboration with Peter Buck from REM I had to defend it (to no avail of course) and relisten to it. It still has got this immediate soothing effect on me, like an embrace of a brother in soul. Warm and hopeless at the same time. Extremely tuneful and almost poppy with that very special so desperate sounding crooner's voice of Eitzel on top. Rather lushly produced with Buck’s guitar, some piano, drums, keyboards, saxophone and even flutes. And if it is true what one guy on the ILM thread said, namely that the album was only rehearsed for a couple of times before the recording I must say that this is how I like it, any more polishing would have only diluted the essence of the record. There is also a jazzy track on it which ends in a kind of improvised jam session: Three Inches of Wall. And on the last song Live Or Die there is a wonderful saxophone solo. Some wise and banal bits of the lyrics I overheard, I couldn’t find the complete lyrics on the web:

Chorus from If You Have to Ask:

Chorus from Free of Harm:

In Your Life:

Stunned & Frozen:

Chorus from Live or Die:

There is an interesting thread on Warsaw on ILM going on. You know this punk group named after a Bowie/Eno song on Low which would become one of the darkest and most powerful bands of all-time: Joy Division. Tastelessly named after the nazi concentration camp brothels. I wish I had seen them live but I was busy listening to my album of 1976 at the time which will be reviewed soon...

Robin Detje schrieb in der ZEIT vom 18.6. einen Artikel über die Friedman-Affäre, in der er von antisemitischen Anhaftungen und ähnlichem Kokolores faselte. Zwei Wochen später gab es folgenden Leserbrief dazu, der mir so sehr aus der Seele gesprochen hat, wie lange kein ZEIT-Artikel mehr:

Mit dem permanenten Gerede über Antisemitismus in Deutschland redet man den Antisemitismus erst herbei.

DIE ZEIT, meine absolute Lieblingszeitung, die ich seit 25 Jahren mit (allerdings schon seit längerem nachlassender) Begeisterung wöchentlich lese, wird mir immer suspekter in letzter Zeit. Erst wurde in einem Leitartikel von Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff die absurde Behauptung aufgestellt, dass es im Irakkrieg (noch vor demselben) nicht ums Öl gehen würde. Dann wurde kürzlich von Jürgen Krönig die BBC fertig gemacht wegen angeblich aufgebauschter Berichte bezüglich des verlogenen Massenvernichtungswaffen-Kriegsgrunds der Briten und Amerikaner. In dieser traurigen Geschichte um den Herrn Kelly hat sich nur einer wirklich Vorwürfe zu machen und das ist Herr Blair, der gelogen hat, dass sich die Balken biegen und dann auch noch eine unerbittliche Untersuchungskomission eingesetzt hat, mit der er Herrn Kelly in den Selbstmord getrieben hat. Wenn das so weiter geht, dann lese ich bald überhaupt keine deutschen Printmedien mehr. Mit unabhängigem Journalismus hat das meiner Ansicht nach nicht mehr viel zu tun. Sind die jetzt auch schon ferngesteuert von Bush und Konsorten?