9 research outputs found

    Spontaneous music : the first generation British free improvisers

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    The British free improvisation scene originated in London and Sheffield during the mid 1960s. In groups such as AMM, the Spontaneous Music Ensemble and Joseph Holbrooke, a distinctive and ambitious musicality developed that still occupies most of its protagonists forty years later. Marked stylistic contrasts developed within the genre, notably the `atomistic' and `laminar' methods of interaction. Nonetheless, a consistency of principle and practice was also apparent that defined British free improvisation as unique. In some respects the genre resembled its German, Dutch and American counterparts, and also the jazz and classical avant-gardes that had inspired them. Both conceptually and practically, however, clear differences remained. The British free improvisers refined a method and an aesthetic of musical creativity, which suggested an intimate perspective and a detailed analysis of that which we accept as `music'. Its techniques and results were unconventional, but remained consistent with music's defining concepts and experiences. As such, British free improvisation suggested a more inclusive model of musicality than is common, and implied a broad critique of the cultural values that define `music' at all. Though the free improvisers themselves did not explicitly state the connection, their work may be viewed in the context of Deconstruction: the post-structuralist analytical strategy associated with philosopher Jacques Derrida. British free improvisation culminated from innovations within the twentieth century avant-garde. Referencing styles such as atonality and free jazz, it challenged the aesthetic, technical and hierarchical standards of Western tradition in a form that was striking and extreme, but also of logical development and focus. Free improvisation owed explicit debt to a variety of other musics; its most singular achievement however, was the redefinition of `rhythm' by which it disguised this fact. The music of the first generation British free improvisers is reliant upon precise conceptual and practical execution. But though this has enabled the genre to be musically innovative, in the long term it has also become a logical problem. With British free improvisation as its subject, the scrutiny of Deconstruction reveals significant discrepancies between what `free improvisation' implies and what it actually represents

    A database of Holocene nearshore marine mollusc shell geochemistry from the Northeast Pacific

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    We compiled a database of previously published oxygen and carbon isotope data from archaeological, archival, and modern marine molluscs from the North American coast of the Northeast Pacific (32oN to 50oN). This database includes oxygen and carbon isotope data from over 550 modern, archaeological, and sub-fossil shells from 8880 years before present (BP) to the present, from which there are 4,845 total δ¹³C and 5,071 total δ¹⁸O measurements. Database includes the following parameters: paper of original publication, publication year, unique shell identification, unique subsample identification, sample number (given by original authors), subsample number (given by original author), number of subsamples per shell (added here), age in years before present, species, source (midden or modern), latitude, longitude, calculated sea surface temperature (only if published by original authors), tidal height, life mode, habitat, archaeological trinomial (when applicable), oxygen isotope value, and carbon isotope value. Shell dating and sampling strategies vary among studies (1-118 samples per shell) and vary significantly by journal discipline. Data are from various bivalves and gastropod species, with Mytilus spp. being the most commonly analyzed taxon. This novel database can be used to investigate changes in nearshore sea surface conditions including warm-cool oscillations, heat waves, and upwelling intensity, and provides nearshore calcite δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O values that can be compared to the vast collections of offshore foraminifera calcite δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O data from marine sediment cores. By utilizing previously published geochemical data from midden and museum shells rather than sampling new specimens, future scientific research can reduce or omit the alteration or destruction of culturally valued specimens and sites

    Representations of Voodoo : the history and influence of Haitian Vodou within the cultural productions of Britain and America since 1850

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    This thesis is the first major investigation into the representations of Vodou within the cultural productions of Britain and America. It also opens up opportunities for further research to be undertaken in the representations of Vodou, Haiti and the culture and religions of other Caribbean countries. This thesis explores the representations of 'Voodoo,' the widely accepted and recognised term for the re-imagined religion, in Britain and America since 1850. The history of the Caribbean and Haiti is examined before considering the influence that the religion of Haitian Vodou has had on cultural production. Through a historical perspective the thesis will consider the evolution of Vodou during the horrors of slavery. The historiographic representations form the basis of the productions and are explored to contextualise Vodou in the British and American imagination. All genres of literature are examined, from the first mention of Vodou in the eighteenth century through to the present day. This is followed by an examination of the cultural reproductions of Vodou in film, animation, theatre and television to explore the diversity of the representations. The wider societal influences are considered throughout this work to contextualise the productions of 'Voodoo'. This thesis argues that the cultural reproductions of Vodou since 1850 have not changed greatly, despite various efforts to redress the misrepresentations, they remain rooted in colonialism. It will argue that many of the cultural productions are reliant on previous representations. They do not in the majority introduce authenticity, instead opting for the more sensational approach. Many of the representations will be shown to be derogatory to the religion, culture and people of Haiti and the diaspora. This is despite Vodou as a religion having survived, gained strength and continuing to thrive in the twenty-first century

    Monetary and labor policies under market frictions.

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    The thesis analyzes monetary and labor policies under different market frictions. In the first part several versions of a microfounded dynamic general equilibrium model with monopolistic competitors in the product and/or labor market are derived and simulated. First of all, the monetary persistence of a pure price staggering economy is compared to a pure wage staggering economy under different labor market structures (by means of a newly proposed persistence measure) and interactions are explored. Secondly, the thesis simulates the effects of real wage rigidities in a disinflation experiment non-linearly. Thereby, caveats of the conventionally used log-linearization are shown. The second part of the thesis develops a dynamic microfounded labor market framework with insider wage bargaining, labor turnovers costs and tax distortions. The calibrated model is used in order to analyze different labor market policies. The addressed questions include the labor market development in East Germany after unification, the existence of unemployment traps, their influence on labor market persistence and policy effectiveness, and the optimal targeting of employment subsidies in terms of their employment, equity and welfare implications.Arbeitsmarkttheorie; Preisrigidität; Lohnrigidität; Unvollkommener Wettbewerb; Ungleichgewichtstheorie; Inflationsbekämpfung; Arbeitslosigkeit; Hysteresis; Lohnbildung; Lohnsubvention; Arbeitsmarktpolitik; Wirtschaftspolitische Wirkungsanalyse; Theorie; Neue Bundesländer;

    The GEOTRACES Intermediate Data Product 2017

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    The GEOTRACES Intermediate Data Product 2017 (IDP2017) is the second publicly available data product of the international GEOTRACES programme, and contains data measured and quality controlled before the end of 2016. The IDP2017 includes data from the Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic, Southern and Indian oceans, with about twice the data volume of the previous IDP2014. For the first time, the IDP2017 contains data for a large suite of biogeochemical parameters as well as aerosol and rain data characterising atmospheric trace element and isotope (TEI) sources. The TEI data in the IDP2017 are quality controlled by careful assessment of intercalibration results and multi-laboratory data comparisons at crossover stations. The IDP2017 consists of two parts: (1) a compilation of digital data for more than 450 TEIs as well as standard hydrographic parameters, and (2) the eGEOTRACES Electronic Atlas providing an on-line atlas that includes more than 590 section plots and 130 animated 3D scenes. The digital data are provided in several formats, including ASCII, Excel spreadsheet, netCDF, and Ocean Data View collection. Users can download the full data packages or make their own custom selections with a new on-line data extraction service. In addition to the actual data values, the IDP2017 also contains data quality flags and 1-σ data error values where available. Quality flags and error values are useful for data filtering and for statistical analysis. Metadata about data originators, analytical methods and original publications related to the data are linked in an easily accessible way. The eGEOTRACES Electronic Atlas is the visual representation of the IDP2017 as section plots and rotating 3D scenes. The basin-wide 3D scenes combine data from many cruises and provide quick overviews of large-scale tracer distributions. These 3D scenes provide geographical and bathymetric context that is crucial for the interpretation and assessment of tracer plumes near ocean margins or along ridges. The IDP2017 is the result of a truly international effort involving 326 researchers from 22 countries. This publication provides the critical reference for unpublished data, as well as for studies that make use of a large cross-section of data from the IDP2017

    The GEOTRACES Intermediate Data Product 2017

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    Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552The GEOTRACES Intermediate Data Product 2017 (IDP2017) is the second publicly available data product of the international GEOTRACES programme, and contains data measured and quality controlled before the end of 2016. The IDP2017 includes data from the Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic, Southern and Indian oceans, with about twice the data volume of the previous IDP2014. For the first time, the IDP2017 contains data for a large suite of biogeochemical parameters as well as aerosol and rain data characterising atmospheric trace element and isotope (TEI) sources. The TEI data in the IDP2017 are quality controlled by careful assessment of intercalibration results and multi-laboratory data comparisons at crossover stations. The IDP2017 consists of two parts: (1) a compilation of digital data for more than 450 TEIs as well as standard hydrographic parameters, and (2) the eGEOTRACES Electronic Atlas providing an on-line atlas that includes more than 590 section plots and 130 animated 3D scenes. The digital data are provided in several formats, including ASCII, Excel spreadsheet, netCDF, and Ocean Data View collection. Users can download the full data packages or make their own custom selections with a new on-line data extraction service. In addition to the actual data values, the IDP2017 also contains data quality flags and 1-σ data error values where available. Quality flags and error values are useful for data filtering and for statistical analysis. Metadata about data originators, analytical methods and original publications related to the data are linked in an easily accessible way. The eGEOTRACES Electronic Atlas is the visual representation of the IDP2017 as section plots and rotating 3D scenes. The basin-wide 3D scenes combine data from many cruises and provide quick overviews of large-scale tracer distributions. These 3D scenes provide geographical and bathymetric context that is crucial for the interpretation and assessment of tracer plumes near ocean margins or along ridges. The IDP2017 is the result of a truly international effort involving 326 researchers from 25 countries. This publication provides the critical reference for unpublished data, as well as for studies that make use of a large cross-section of data from the IDP2017. This article is part of a special issue entitled: Conway GEOTRACES - edited by Tim M. Conway, Tristan Horner, Yves Plancherel, and Aridane G. González
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