But he stresses this is not about making do. He just prefers to use resourcefulness to “make a kind of alternative route to consumer happiness”. His home is the engine that drives him. You can’t imagine him living anywhere else but in his studio. He says he is messy, but there’s an almost tidal cycle of making a mess and then clearing up. “I like things looking nice. Having somewhere that’s flexible and you’ve got some storage so you can put stuff away is ideal.” As I finished reading Steven Connor’s entertaining, provocative and occasionally irritating book, I was keeping in mind various points that I intended to make in this review, only to be disarmed when the author’s very short conclusion anticipated several of these. The book’s main theme is the hostility to number apparently found in those who work in the humanities, and who view measurement as overly reductive and missing the point. I think, as Connor himself wonders in his conclusion, that this is a dubious generalisation. However, in arguing for the importance of number in the humanities, he presents us with illuminating analysis and a host of valuable insights.

why we're ......... Living by numbers Living by numbers now G+G G+G G+G A minorAm D MajorD D MajorD D MajorD C majorC G+G G+G G+G A minorAm D MajorD D MajorD D MajorD C majorC solo strums G+G G+G G+G A minorAm D MajorD D MajorD D MajorD C majorC G+G G+G G+G A minorAm D MajorD D MajorD D MajorD C majorC with band The song has been covered by various artists over the years, including Belgian DJ and producer David Guetta, who included a remix of the song on his 2015 album Listen Again. Their second album, Anywhere (1981) reached #68 in the chart, but despite gaining international acclaim, neither of its singles "Luxury" or "While You Wait" charted in the UK. Living By Numbers" was released as a single in 1980 and appeared on New Musik's debut album, From A to B.New Musik disbanded in 1982 but their influence on the synthpop genre has endured, with artists such as Moby, St. Etienne, and Daft Punk citing them as an inspiration.

Their debut album "From A To B" (1980) reached the Top 40 in the UK Albums Chart and contained four UK chart hit singles; "Straight Lines", "Living By Numbers", "This World Of Water" and "Sanctuary". New Musik also topped the French singles chart with "On Islands" from this album.Touring the UK in 1980, New Musik performed at both the Oxford and Cambridge Balls (with Elvis Costello) and at the Rotterdam New Pop festival in the Netherlands, and did a second UK tour in 1981. How do we really think about the world? We may use words to tell stories about it or draw pictures to represent it, but one thing we do far more than either of those is make calculations of the things that are in it—and to do that we use numbers. Numbers give shape and texture to almost everything we feel, say, dream, and do, a fact that Steven Connor explores in this qualitative assessment of the quantifiable. Looking at how numbers play a part in nearly every aspect of our lives, he offers a fascinating portrait of the world as a world of numbers.