Report from Probability B: The Sigh Of Relief As Civilisation Finally Came To An End.

As society fragmented in the period before the 'Acid Head' wars as documented in 'Barefoot in the Head' (B. Aldiss, Faber and Faber 1969) many people experienced reality slipping through their fingers as loneliness, alcohol abuse, old age and local government chemical interventions took their toll.

Part 1. Back in the ice box - a song to doomed love.
Part 2. Movie night - strange encounters when a drinking game gets out of hand.
Part 3. The Weary Traveller - The Saint finally realises it's time to park the Volvo.
Part 4. Apophenia - a scientist disguised as a cleaner sprays a pub with pheromones and insecticide to attract and kill the female midges that are a key parasitic vector of a deadly disease, altering the local perception of time and space.
Part 5. Maybe I'm a fish - someone who seems harmless but you would rather they went away explains why you should like them a bit.
Part 6. End transmission - good night.

The Players: Richard Anstey tenor saxophone on Back In The Icebox. Leo Baroni guitar on Back in the Icebox and Movie Night banjolele, shaker and finger clicks on Movie Night. Valerie Gardens drums. Kenneth Jones bass, piano, guitar, vocals, computer. Tony O'Leary brushes on Back In The Icebox, The Weary Traveller and Maybe I'm A Fish. David Paull vocals on Back In The Icebox and soprano ukulele on Maybe I'm A Fish. Catherine Richard voice on Movie Night.

Z Axis is an experiment in open-source music.

The album was produced using only default sounds shipped with Linux Multimedia Studio (LMMS), resulting in XML project files under 100Kb each.

In addition, the entire album was produced on a Samsung Chromebook 2, using a program called "crouton" to allow linux programs to run.

"Z Axis" was written in public at Echo Park Lake in Los Angeles, California, entirely on battery life.

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) is regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Baroque era. Born into a family that was indifferent to music; his early talent was so pronounced that his father grudgingly allowed him to receive training in his native Germany. His studies took him to Italy as well, before settling in London (1712) where he became a naturalized British subject in 1727. Although Handel is primarily known for his larger creations (operas, oratorios, motets, passions, cantatas) his smaller scale works are greatly admired and often performed by instrumentalists.

Handel and J. S. Bach were both German-born in 1685 and comparisons are difficult to avoid. Bach's work lay in comparative obscurity for half a century, whereas Handel was internationally renowned in his lifetime. One of the curious ironies of music history is that both men would be afflicted with debilitating cataracts in their later years and undergo surgery at the hand of the same oculist, John Taylor. This surgery by today's standards was extremely crude resulting in very little visual improvement, and of course, there was no anesthesia or sterile-technique at that time. Unfortunately, Bach died as a result of bacterial contamination from the procedure at age 65. Handel lived to age 74.

Throughout his life Handel avoided the rigorous contrapuntal techniques of Bach and achieved his effects through the simplest of means, trusting always his own innate musicianship. Both composers often practiced a kind of musical "recycling" where they would take a work composed for one medium and recast it for another. It would not have been uncommon in Handel's day to hear a recorder concerto played as an organ sonata. Such interchangeability was possible in the more abstract instrumental sound of the Baroque. It remained for later composers to create music whose effect depended mainly on the sound of specific instruments.

Cover art courtesy of Mike Stenhouse on Flickr.com

In the world of harpsichord music, Francois Couperin is probably the best-known composer. However, his uncle Louis Couperin wrote music which was far more intense and dramatic, including remarkable free preludes and stirring chaconnes.

Colin Booth's latest album offers a varied recital of pieces by Louis Couperin, played on a wonderful original French harpsichord of 1661 - coincidentally the year of Louis Couperin's death.