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Lawrence English: Cruel Optimism - VINYL LP

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Lawrence English: Cruel Optimism - VINYL LPTitle: Cruel Optimism Artist: Lawrence English Label: Room40 Product Type: VINYL LP UPC: 739027481867 Genre: Electronic Release Date: 2017 03 10 Number of Discs: 1 LP version. "Cruel Optimism is a record that considers power (present and absent). It meditates on how power consumes, augments, and ultimately shapes two subsequent human conditions: obsession and fragility. This edition owes it's title and it's origins to the wonderful text of the same

Title: Cruel Optimism
Artist: Lawrence English
Label: Room40
Product Type: VINYL LP
UPC: 739027481867
Genre: Electronic
Release Date: 2017-03-10
Number of Discs: 1

LP version. "Cruel Optimism is a record that considers power (present and absent). It meditates on how power consumes, augments, and ultimately shapes two subsequent human conditions: obsession and fragility.... This edition owes it's title and it's origins to the wonderful text of the same name by American theorist Lauren Berlant.... In Cruel Optimism, I found a number of critical readings around the issues that have fueled so much of the music I have been making recently. Beyond her keen analysis of the relations of attachment as they pertain to conditions of possibility in the everyday, it was particularly her writing around trauma I found deeply affecting. It was a jumping off point from which a plague of unsettling impressions of suffering, intolerance, and ignorance could be unpacked and utilized as fuel over and above pointless frustration. When I made Wilderness Of Mirrors (RM 460CD/LP, 2014) clouds of unease were overhead. As I have worked through Cruel Optimism, what seemed an unimaginable future just a few years prior, began to present as actual. Over the course of creating the record, we collectively bore witness to a new wave of humanitarian and refugee crisis (captured so succinctly in the photograph of Alan Kurdi's tiny body motionless on the shore), the Black Lives Matter movement, the widespread use of sonic weapons on civilians, increased drone strikes in Waziristan, Syria and elsewhere, and record low numbers of voting around Brexit and the US election cycle, suggesting a wider sense of disillusionment and powerlessness. Acutely for me and other Australians, we've faced dire intolerance concerning race and continued inequalities related to gender and sexuality. The storm has broken and feels utterly visceral. Cruel Optimism is a meditation on these challenges and an encouragement to press forward towards more profound futures. Beyond the motivations forging the record, the process by which this edition was created was unlike many of my other records. Having worked largely alone in recent years, I wanted to shift away from that approach.... I count myself exceptionally fortunate to have been able to call on so many fine musicians in the making of this album.... I couldn't be more pleased to share Cruel Optimism with you." -Lawrence English, October 2016 Contributions in various forms from: Mats Gustafsson, Mary Rapp, Tony Buck, Chris Abrahams, Werner Dafeldecker, Norman Westberg, Brodie McAllister, Australian Voices, Vanessa Tomlinson, Heinz Riegler, and Thor Harris.

Tracks:
1.1 Hard Rain
1.2 The Quietest Shore
1.3 Hammering a Screw
1.4 Crow
1.5 Requiem for a Reaper
1.6 Pillar of Cloud
1.7 Exquisite Human Microphone
1.8 Object of Projection
1.9 Negative Drone
1.10 Somnambulist
1.11 Moribund Territories
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SKU: 60875567559

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Vetswife1
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Lil more pep!
I can tell a difference in my energy level with this product. No problem with sleep quality.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2025
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Jorge
Belleville, US
★★★★★ 5
Good Intro to Philosophy
Format: Paperback
There’s a lot to this book, if you haven’t read anything by Dostoyevsky before this book could be a little challenging to get into, that being said it was a very good read and a real page turner. There’s some really good stuff in there that is broken down into plain English. Some of the shorter quotes I think were beautiful especially the ones about self reliance and motivations for someone to cling onto religion.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2026
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GirlyPop
Bozeman, US
★★★★★ 5
Great Read!
Great book! I was recommended this by my now boyfriend and it’s a 10/10 book if you really like to think. The book itself came in perfect condition no creases or damage.
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Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2026
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Neon
Houston, US
★★★★★ 5
BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL
Format: Paperback
First and foremost: as far as this specific translation of the book goes- I didn't have too much of an issue with it. I will say that whilst reading, I noticed some of the letters were scratched. This will not go against my opinion of the book. At first, I was going place this book in C tier. Only because I couldn't understand it. But after finishing, I will instead put it in A tier. (For me) To start off, I will say to be careful! Only because Neitzsche is (to my understanding) a misunderstood source. With that out of the way, I would like to say that this book did indeed challenge what I believed about "Good" and "Bad." How? Well, Neitzsche has an interesting view on the concept of "Good and Evil" viewing it as "Imposing your will to power onto others and the world around you" By the fourth section, you are given various quotes. Some of those I found myself liking. One of them being: "He who fights with monsters mustn't become one. The longer you gaze into the abyss, it gazes also into you" For me to understand what was said here, I feel as if I should look more into Neitzsche (as far as this review is concerned at the moment) Final score: 4.5/5
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Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2026

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