Well, it seems that I should rename this Five Things I Saw & Heard This Month as I’ve been beyond tardy in keeping to a weekly schedule. No excuses. Here’s a few things I saw and heard recently…

THIS I READ…
Here’s a favourite passage from Us Conductors by Sean Michaels, which is, I’m certain, the first novel about Lev Termen, otherwise known as Léon Theremin – creator of that instrument, among many other extraordinary inventions.
“Here is the way you play a theremin:
You turn it on. Then you wait.
You wait for several reasons. You wait to give the tubes the chance to warm, like creatures taking their first baths, You wait in order to heighten the audience’s suspense. And, finally, you wait to magnify your own anticipation. It is a thrill and a terror. You stand before a cabinet and two antennas and immediately the space is activated, the room is charged, the atmosphere is alive. What was potential is potent. You imagines sparks, embers, tiny lightning flecks balanced in the vacant air.”
You raise your hands…”

THIS I SAID…
Old man from the East End shares memory of Prince: a 30-minute conversation with a chatty journalist from the Standard discussing Prince’s first London concert in 1981 leads on to the experience working with Prince collaborators (saxophonist Eric Leeds and engineer/producer Susan Rogers). And the result? This…

THIS NEEDED TO BE SAID…
The genius of Cassetteboy strikes again… “Nightmare Health Secretary is what NHS stands for…” 

THIS NEEDS NO WORDS…
Interest piqued by a review of Anna Meredith live by Maddy Costa in The Guardian and attempting to understand its reference to “hypotrochid spirals” I listen to a bunch of very interesting stuff and chance upon this, from the 2012 Proms. Pretty cool.

THIS NEEDS WORDS…
Photographer Nadav Kandar’s short ad spot boasts powerful interface of sound and vision…

AND FINALLY: PRINCE’S PARTY PLAYLIST
How interesting to find two songs from Allen Toussaint’s wonderful Southern Nights album – a fantastic record – here, as well as The (Detroit) Spinners, who were well represented on our car playlist when we were in the States recently.