Existentialism: An Overview.

Existentialism: the renewed interest in the dilemmas of personal choice. Clearly influenced by Nietzsche’s ‘Death of God’, which released the bonds of servitude created by organised religion, Existentialism is a reaction to the second world war and realisation that, if god is dead, as Nietzsche proclaimed, then where do we look for direction?

Following Nietzsche’s proclamation of the death of god, intellectual society was left with the knowledge that, if the moral restrictions that have been placed on us through religion are false creations of others in society, then what, in this seemingly pointless world, should we use to decide how we should conduct ourselves, if indeed we should allow anything to influence how we act.

Free from the restrictions of religion, we are liberated and given the choice of how we conduct ourselves and how we should use this short period of life that we have. This vision of humanity, with no preconditioned features, serving no purpose, gave inspiration to the gonzo journalism of Hunter S. Thompson and the like, who sought to portray events with no bias or preconditioned opinion. Such was the impact of existentialism.

With Existentialism, the development of one’s character came from the complete, passionate immersion in something. This could be considered an influence of Heidegger, the dirty Nazi bastard, who invented the term ‘Dasein’ by which he meant ‘being in the world’; the idea that, in order to be participating in the most constructive way in life, one must immerse oneself in a task, becoming the very action they are performing, such as one does when reading a book or a carpenter during his work. This could explain the desire of people to feel like an individual, to feel like what they are doing serves a purpose fulfilling our desire to be seen as part of life through our participation. The irony for those who wish to be seen taking part in life as an individual is that they place the importance in the act of being observed as opposed to the act of achieving Dasein.

The main aspect of Existentialism is that of choice, as before the realisation that god does not exist, humans were bound to follow the absolutes enforced by organised religion. This choice means that the responsibility of how a person conducts themselves is entirely down to them. All stereotypical preconceptions as to how certain groups should act are discarded, allowing for the freedom of groups such as homosexuals, females and the lower echelons of the social class system are now free to act as they will, no longer bound by the bleak expectations placed upon them by backward, metaphysical gibberish.

This liberation of ideas meant that, as a species we were free to roam our potential as individuals and push the boundaries of what is humanly possible. This bright future has, however, never been fully realised and I’m sure the likes of Jean Paul Satre would be bitterly disappointed in the religio-capitalism, that washes through the brains of the majority in the Western world, for allowing religion to remain, and not allowing for the fall of the bourgeoisie even in the face of mass starvation in a world where, with the proper application of scientific knowledge and resources, everyone could be fed and treated with humanity. In a time where morality is individual property, it is the wealthiest within our ‘economy’ with the least morality.

 

For more information on two of the key figures in terms of the existentialist movement I recommend these documentaries:

Jean Paul Satre (part 1(part two can be found on youtube)):

Martin Heidegger:

 

Karl Popper

Karl Popper: Economic Interventionism.

Karl Popper’s ‘The Open Society and its Enemies’ was one of the only classics of political philosophy contemporary of the Second World War.

Popper believed that if any political organisation was to flourish, then its institutions must be open to self-correction. This view is a political adaptation of his scientific theory, as Popper thought that all political institutions progressed through the shedding of obsolete hypotheses. Popper saw political policies as experiments that must be open to analysis and discontinued should they be falsified. This is the application of his falsification principle.

The Falsification Principle: Similar to the views of the Logical Positivists, Popper seeks to define between falsifiable statements and metaphysical statements. A falsifiable statement is one that can be proven false through the analysis of empirical data, yet the falsification principle allows improvements in our ability to measure empirical data to improve the accuracy of the falsifiable data. This challenges the verification principle of the Logical Positivist movement, which sought to create an un-falsifiable truth from the analysis of empirical data.

Popper’s application of this theory allowed him to define two key features of an Open Society:

-          The ruled within the society must always be allowed the freedom to discuss and criticise policies proposed by the government.

-          It should always be possible to remove the current rulers without the use of violence.

It’s important to note the historical context of this theory, as it is the opposite extreme to the contemporary governments of wartime Germany, Italy and Russia.

Popper seems to take a middle ground between the unrestrained Capitalism of the US and the total control of Communist and Fascist government. Popper felt that unrestrained Capitalism would create inequality and that it is the job of the government to protect the economically weak from the economically strong, maintaining the status quo.

Popper vs. Marx:

Popper saw Karl Marx as a threat to the Open Society due to his views on the future of humanities existence. Marx believed that by analysing the past and finding a pattern or rhythm, one could predict the future. However, Popper rejected this view in ‘The Poverty of Historicism’ (1957), where he argued, from a technologically determinist viewpoint, that humanity advances through the progress of scientific discovery, so in order to predict the future , one must already know what is yet to be discovered, which is impossible by definition.

In this sense, Popper rejected empiricism as a source of truth, in fact, Popper went as far as to reject any theory of finding an absolute truth. That is to say – Popper believed that it was key to see things within their historical context and comprehend that they will eventually be seen in the same way that contemporarily falsified theories will be. So we should consider any theory as incomplete and also consider that it may, and most probably will, be proven false. Hence why rulers should be easily removable.

Channel 5 news review.

This will be a very short review, as the programme was okay but nothing much stood out as bad, and not much stood out as being particularly good. The anchor was stood up instead of being sat behind a desk. This is an issue for me; it's not modern to have the anchor nauseatingly wandering around the studio, this seems to be the next step beyond channel 4's more relaxed approach, but for me it's a step too far. The news should be entirely content based, so there isn't a need for the anchor to take centre stage, nor does it add to the experience in any way. It seems that this revolution in presentation also confused those behind the camera as after the adverts, there was an especially outstanding flaw where the camera showed a far off profile view of the anchor staring into the wrong camera, not only did this view appear, it lingered for an uncomfortable number of seconds. A feature that could have been avoided, had the anchor been behind a desk, or even stood still rather than wandering around the studio by themselves.

The flood story were good, not including the interview with the man supposedly stuck in his house, being interviewed from about twenty feet away, by the journalist who was stood on a garden wall! (this I haven't decided whether it was amusing or just a poor idea.) But other than that it was a good story. Perhaps a little long.

The rest of the programme was solid, the Yasser Arafat story was quite interesting, but everything else just washed over, nothing wrong with them, just a little boring.

More of a practise with fireworks than anything else.

My first attempt at using fireworks.

It’s hard to imagine now, but the bobbed hair cut was a revolutionary step away from the historically preferred longer hairstyle. As early as the 1890’s, forward thinking females have been noted wearing shorter hair, even though it wasn’t considered to be respectable. A good example of such a forward-thinker is the French actress Polaire, who in 1910 was noted as having “a shock of short, dark hair”. This theme continued through English aristocrat Lady Diana Cooper, hailed as one of the most beautiful women of her time, and dancer/ renowned trend setter Irene Castle who introduced her “castle bob” to a receptive American audience in 1915.

But it wasn’t until the early 1920’s that the bob cut was to become truly popular, under the influence of movie star, Louise Brooks. So much so, that barbers in many cities had women queuing outside, waiting to have years of hair growth removed. Brooks’ influence was such, that film writer Kenneth Tynan profiled her in his essay, “The Girl With The Black Helmet”, the title of which explicitly referencing her famous lack of hair. However, the bob, whilst in fashion during this period, was also a step toward the practical as, during the First World War, women were required to work more laborious jobs, where long Edwardian hair would have beeen understandably irritating.

By the mid 1920’s, the bob was the dominant women’s haircut of the Western world, although, even as early as 1922, the Times fashion reporter was suggesting that the style was passé. However, it wasn’t until the 1930’s that the bob’s popularity declined and women started to grow their hair again, and such was the impact of Brooks’ bob that the hairstyle is claimed as one of the most influential hairstyles in history, by many fashionable publications.

The Milk - Tales From theThames Delta - Album Review.

Image Courtesy of Chuff Media.

Starting strong with ‘Broke up the family’ the listener is plunged straight into solid rock sound, reminiscent of Paul Weller in parts, with an upbeat feel that distracts from what sounds like personal lyrics.

Whilst the rock influence remains throughout the album, it gives way to an intriguing Ska vibe, especially with the lead guitar, which lifts an already feel-good sound. This becomes apparent as soon as the second track emerges from the mix, (another feature to notice is how well the tracks are put together, making it an album experience, rather than just a list of tracks) bringing with it a backing of brass, which adds to the soulful Ska sound.

The infused Ska and Rock sounds are then blended with the soulful singing of lead vocalist Rick Nunn, whose unique voice really helps to differentiate The Milk’s sound from being an alright band, to something really enjoyable.

 

Stand-out tracks:

A very well produced album which impresses start to finish, with bluesy lyrics and a refreshing mixture of musical influences, makes for a hard choice when picking the stand out tracks. But here goes:

(All I Wanted Was) Danger – 3^rd track on the album opens in a soulful manner enforcing foot tapping upon the unwary listener – viral to say the least.

Mr Motivator – The cleverly personified motivational issues that define any night out – This track is sure to influence your own Mr Motivator in a good way.

B-Roads – This one really shows off Nunn’s vocal capabilities – Its gotta lotta soul!

Every Time We Fight – An explosively euphoric chorus you’ll wish went on forever – This one has single written all over it.

Chip The Kids – Fantastic sentiments explored throughout – Don’t let The Man get you down!

 

You’ll like this if..

This one is for those who like a bit of Motown, with soulful vocals, also reaching out to those who enjoyed the likes of the late Amy Winehouse. But don’t let that deter those of a more indie rock disposition as this ticks those boxes as well. - A very good album.

Sea of Bees @ The Railway 16/11/12

Julie Baenziger - Sea of Bees.
Image Courtesy of Paul Bevan. Twitter: @paulbevan

Had my first chance to visit The Railway on Saturday, which, if you haven’t been, is an intimate venue near Winchester train station. The gig itself was in a backroom called The Barn, and I found it to be a pretty decent venue, great for seeing good bands close up, although, be careful of your attire as the heavy use of ultraviolet light can be very exposing.

Which brings me to the gig itself, starting at 8pm the first band (Electric Eden) had an awkward opening due to about 3 people having arrived at that point. As a three piece with a violinist, double bassist and a guitar player who also played the bass drum on a foot pedal, they were a novelty, and whilst their warm folky tunes, with which they opened, were pretty good, as they moved on it became apparent that they were trying to emulate Mumford and Sons (they even covered one of their songs), which is unfortunate, because Mumford and Sons are soulless, corporate wetbags and should never be emulated. The gig carried on in this lyrically cheesy sort of manner until the last song, which really took me by surprise; it was one of their own and with a quite comical (in a good way) reggae style breakdown, they brought back the glimpses of folky potential shown in the early stages of their set. Electric Eden finished on a high, showing potential, although, it most certainly hasn’t been realised yet. My recommendation: Don’t seek them out by any means, but don’t be sad if they show up on the set list either.

The next band to take the stage were a pretty plain band that were reminiscent of The Calling, that early noughties (awful word) pop rock band that did ‘Wherever you will go’. So if you’re a fan of generic early noughties pop rock, then they might have been the band for you, otherwise, a bit bland. My recommendation: If it’s cheap, and you have a soppy sort of taste in music from the early 2000’s then sure, why not!

The real surprise of the night was Barbarossa, setting up on stage with 3 keyboards and a midi table (from what I could see) with a drummer discreetly to the side, James Mathe a.k.a. Barbarossa took the now well populated crowd by storm. The talent shown in his playing of multiple instruments was obvious, and in a style that included minimal house beats, yet still retained an emotive quality that really connected with the audience, especially the track bloodlines, which brought a silence over the crowd in attendance, a noumenal moment if you will. I recommend this one to anyone who likes the likes of Thom Yorke or Bon Iver, with whom Barbarossa shares likenesses. A real gem live, the music doesn’t seem as good when researching his tracks online, which is not a dismantling of his music, but a testament to his superb live performance. My recommendation would be: If you get the chance, go and see Barbarossa. I’m sure he’ll be showing up in high places.

We then come to the headliners, I’d heard a couple of Sea of Bees songs a few years ago, wizbot being the track that stuck out at the time, but what greeted me was not the quiet solitary acoustic set that I had expected, but a far more polished and much more upbeat 4 piece Sea of Bees, which I suppose follows the same vein as their new album ‘Orangefarben’. They opened well, with Julie Baenziger’s wonderfully unique vocal style immediately showing why there is a fuss building up around their music. The crowd also immediately took to Baenziger’s warm and somewhat intoxicated banter, adding to the cosy experience. The real surprise for me was the energy with which the band performed, creating the first scenes of mass dancing that had occurred all night. The intriguingly uncommon sound that the Sea of Bees manages to create is one that is being increasingly acknowledged, and it’s unsurprising, their sound is fresh, and it wouldn’t surprise me to find them playing their quirky indie-folk at much bigger venues in the near future. My recommendation: Don’t even think about it, just do it, you will not regret it. Great fun.

The time we interviwed Carl Barat.

Carl Barat Interview