Audio Video News

It's Bloomsday today, everyone, and time to celebrate the life and works of James Joyce (June 16th is the day on which Leopold Bloom's wanderings through Dublin are described in obsessive detail by Joyce in his Ulysses).

Though the Joyce estate has been protective of his work, squelching some high-profile adaptations, Joyce's musical wordplay (as The Telegraph's Tim Martin pointed out a couple of years back) has proven endlessly fertile as a source for musical explorers. A few choice cuts to keep in mind:

Kate Bush's long-delayed "Flower of the Mountain" (from The Director's Cut reimagining of The Sensual World)

Jefferson Airplane's "Rejoyce"

John Cage's Roaratorio

And the Fire Records Chamber Music compilation, with Joyce's words set to music by Peter Buck, Mike Watt, Lee Ranaldo, Flying Saucer Attack, and Mercury Rev, among others.

Happy Bloomsday, in whatever state of rest or motion you may find yourself.

- Michael Berk