As Simon Bookish, he has made two albums for the London-based label Use Your Teeth and one for the German label TomLab:
- Unfair / Funfair (2006) - an abrasive and energetic sequence of songs whose subjects range from Euripides and Richard the Third to the invention of the Guillotine
- Trainwreck/Raincheck(2006) - a 'surreal electronic radio play' combining sound design and spoken word, concerning vibrant images of transportation.
- Everything/Everything - an album which blends experimental, classical and pop music through many scientific words, orchestral instrumentation and catchy melodies.
He has released singles on Tomlab and through Playlouder recordings, and has been asked to provide remixes for Franz Ferdinand, The Organ and Grizzly Bear. Leo is also credited with guest appearances on albums by Max de Wardener, Leafcutter John, Patrick Wolf and Saint Etienne.
Simon Bookish has presented over 50 solo performances since 2003. Venues have included the Whitechapel Art Gallery, Dover Street Market (comme des garcons store), Transition Film Lounge (Berlin), Nastyfest 2004 (Leeds), Capri Art Festival 2004, the Redgate Gallery, the Africa Centre, and the Vortex Jazz Club. His music has been broadcast on BBC Radio One and XFM, and he has presented shows on London's Resonance FM.
Leo was a member of the folk/experimental musician Leafcutter John's live band (as a vocalist). Performances in 2005/6 have included shows in Aarhus (Denmark), Berlin, Poland and Geneva.
John and Leo, together with Seb Rochford (drummer with jazz ensemble Polar Bear) and Mandy Drummond have also performed a live improvised set for BBC Radio Three's innovative show "Mixing it". (July 2006).
In 2001, he was a member of the 'Sound City' ensemble, which presented new work by director Heiner Goebbels as part of LIFT'01 at the Almeida Theatre.
He has also presented one-off performances and exhibitions, such as "MOISTURE and FUNERAL" (a spoken word and computer projection piece commissioned by the TwoSee Boutique, 2006), "Simon Bookish and C Loopseend present Fear of Music" (a deconstruction of the work of Talking Heads at Limehouse Town Hall, 2004) and contributed a piece to the sound art show "Off The Record" (Musique d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 2004).
Synchrotron
Simon Bookish Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Do you know her luminosity?
Can you read the stars?
Though this is not astrology
Do you know if you're alive or dead or asleep or awake?
Could you tell at all?
The only journey that I professed to know
Some queer, bookish Ulysses
Can you build the atom?
Particle by particle?
Can you hear the stars?
And the music of the spheres?
Can you feed the entire population?
Every boy, every girl?
Could you supply them all?
You thought you'd found the answer to everything
Turns out you were wrong
Assumed you weren't the idiot, but omniscient
But you didn't build the synchrotron
Can you see?
Can you read?
Can you think?
Can you build?
How insignificant you are
The lyrics of Simon Bookish's song Synchrotron involve a series of rhetorical questions that serve as an appeal to the listener's knowledge and comprehension of the universe. Simon Bookish poses several questions about the stars, our existence, and the universe as a whole. He asks whether the listener can see Sirius, a bright star in our galaxy, and if they are aware of its luminosity. Bookish then asks the listener if they can "read the stars," although he clarifies that he is not talking about astrology, instead suggesting a deeper comprehension of the universe's workings.
As the song continues, Bookish asks a series of more difficult questions, referencing the atom, the music of the spheres, and the worldwide food supply. He ends each question with the idea that the listener is unable to answer, implying the limited nature of human knowledge compared to the vast potential knowledge of the universe. Finally, in the last lines of the song, he suggests that our existence is insignificant, given the amount of knowledge that remains out of our reach.
The second stanza in the song seems to suggest that the singer has knowledge about various subjects, but that this knowledge is limited. They previously professed to understand a particular journey, but in retrospect, they realize that this knowledge is only one aspect of the universe, and there is much that they do not know. The song's overall message seems to be that humans are, in a sense, both powerful and powerless as they navigate the universe's sheer magnitude.
Line by Line Meaning
Can you see Sirius?
Can you perceive the star Sirius?
Do you know her luminosity?
Are you aware of the amount of light emitted by Sirius?
Can you read the stars?
Can you interpret or understand the stars?
Though this is not astrology
Despite this topic not being related to astrology
Do you know if you're alive or dead or asleep or awake?
Are you able to distinguish whether you're conscious, unconscious or deceased?
Could you tell at all?
Are you even capable of differentiating your state of mind?
The only journey that I professed to know
The only path I claimed to comprehend
Was catalogs and indices
Revolved around catalogs and indexes
Some queer, bookish Ulysses
A peculiar and bookish analogy to the character Ulysses
Can you build the atom?
Can you construct the atom particle by particle?
Particle by particle?
One tiny piece at a time?
Can you hear the stars?
Can you perceive the sounds or music emitted by the stars?
And the music of the spheres?
And the melodies of the planets or heavenly bodies?
Can you feed the entire population?
Are you capable of providing food for the entire population?
Every boy, every girl?
Each and every child, regardless of gender?
Could you supply them all?
Would you have enough resources to provide for everyone?
You thought you'd found the answer to everything
You believed you had discovered the solution to every problem
Turns out you were wrong
As it turns out, you were mistaken
Assumed you weren't the idiot, but omniscient
Believed that you were not foolish, but all-knowing
But you didn't build the synchrotron
But you didn't construct the synchrotron particle accelerator
Can you see?
Are you able to perceive correctly?
Can you read?
Can you comprehend or decipher?
Can you think?
Are you capable of cognition or contemplation?
Can you build?
Can you construct, erect or raise?
How insignificant you are
How unimportant, trivial or small you are in the grand scheme of things
Contributed by Samantha H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.