Thursday, December 16, 2004

gigs, time-off and noize .....

Well there ya have it - turn your back for a second and a week of no posts happens (got ta watch that) ... after a frenetic couple of weeks of gigs (The Fall, Sunburned Hand of The Man - and the sonically pleasing Jackie-O Motherfucker ) - I am now deep into the planning stages of a sound/noise event (hopefully destined for the Cube in Bristol sometime around Spring 2005 - seems an ideal venue for what is planned - with a great opportunity for some closing-event in the main room - my first time to that excellent space and very impressed indeed !

The event will include artists and works that have passed through the excellent Lab Culture sessions run by PVA in Bridport - check them out for an overview of some of the cool work they do........ more details of this event to follow as they firm up ......

In other news - at last the uber-high download activity hitting the DCL server thanks to a number of linking Russian Mp3 sites seems to for now have subsided - so today sees all tracks back online for the following .....




Recorded during an 8 day melt-down, brought about by a bout of DVT / hypodermics / Reaktor experimentation at Studio 746B, HK Sanatorium, Hong Kong, August 2002....

Digital Cutup Lounge - 746B Sessions - Ward Mixes.

Sunday, November 28, 2004

Anime in the sticks / Lain and Ms. Kuriyama



One of the worst things about relocating back to the UK after a long-spell in Asia - is the lack of immediate access to cool Japanese/Korean horror/anime/manga flicks - not suprising perhaps when I live in such a sleepy little village in the middle of a sleepy little county - still the cider more than makes up for it at times (or perhaps that should read - makes me unable to remember anything - and indeed makes it at times impossible to even stand!) .. so it was with some major suprise yesterday to find in the local paper-shop here in South Peth - a brand new UK mag - dedicated to all things that form (and I quote) "cult action entertainment".



Nothing exactly mind-blowing about this mag - apart from the fact it exists and is available in such a small-nothing-much-happenning place such as I live in .... For the non-enlightened - it gives a pretty decent overview of absolute essential viewing matter (both anime and film) - annoyingly omitting some classic examples (hopefully to be addressed in coming issues - should it make edition 2 that is !) .... I mean - how anyone can produce a magazine of this nature without giving a nod to the mega-beast that is Serial Experiments Lain completly foxes me .... Take the quiz to find out which Serial Experiments Lain character you are .... here.



Lain for me basically hits all bases - it starts with the typical 'hello-kitty-hugging' asian school settings - all somewhat cutey cutey - but immediatly following a school-girl suicide and subsequent email communication from 'the other side' (say Hi to the Wired) jarrs you into a dark undercurrent - of techno-goth, at times throbbing beatz, and all round coolness - as only the japanese seem to manage - whilst all the time somehow maintaing a simple juvenile charm ... this is a 12 part series - and well worth hunting down if you can find the thang - I managed to pick up a japanese bootlgeg in Beijing last year - my english-dubbed copy long ago given to my partner in Beatz - JVS as an xmas pressie (pretty generous or what ?) .

I actually became aware of this series - when sitting at home on Lamma Island, Hong Kong back around 1998 or so - whilst downloading anything with the word 'experiment' in it using Napster (those were the days) - I got a 2 minute clip of the sound track. For the next year or so, I used to repeatedly drop this clip into Digital Cutup Lounge performances (as ya do). Sooo - to recreate those heady Hong Kong DCL Jazz-Club-Dayz - ya can grab it by clicking below:

Serial Experiments Lain - Sound clip.

Back with Neo I suppose - it manages to cover all the old faves: Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Ringu (forget that US remake pap - go for the japanese originals pleaz!!), Ju-On etc - all being total must-sees next time you are in a town/city with suitable rental-outlets... The list of uncovered gems is long - seriously though search out Lain - trust me - I am a doctor !

Perhaps the highlight of the whole thing however - is the centre-fold-pull-out (now now) of none other but uber-cool (and now tradgically hip) Chiaka Kuriyama.




The picture the mag used was a somewhat obvious choice - and one instantly recognisable thanks to Mr "I stole all my licks from cool japanese flicks" Tarentino ... cuz Chiaka Kuriyama is none other than the ball-swinging-psycho-babe from his Kill Bill effort ....



I prefer to remember her in Battle Royal (first one - second part for some reason does not quite do it for me - much more aggrssion/killing etc - but lacks the suprise factor I suppose!) - either however are more appealing than the mega-buks all-star bill-kill crap ...

so in typical rip-off-idea-fashion (thanks mr QT ya tought me all I know ..) ... while surfing for Lain pages - 2 Japanese girls making primitive disco noise ......

Kiiiii - Brown Girl

Saturday, November 27, 2004

Whatever happenned to peace luv n understanding - GODDAMMITT !!!



War - huh - wot iz it gud fer !!!

Lets all get luved up - drop some E or just go hug some trees or something ! Follow the examples of our leaders and sing the joys of luurrrve ...



Bush-n-Blair - Endless Love

Next time you feel like invading a country (come on admit it - don't be shy - we all have those feelings now and again) - or throwing a fit and fire-bombing the local Co-Op (this is one thing I feel like doing on a daily basis here in not-so-sunny South Peth) - take a leaf from the ever influential K-Foundation, and sing - sing - sing .... the official intersteller anthem:



K-Foundation - K-Cera-Cera - war is over - if ya want it ....

Alternativly - there is always the view point as Genesis Beyer P-Orridge so gently screams on TG NOW the new Throbbing Gristle platter (popped through the door from Mute this morning):
"Love is a vacuous Hole .... Life is a vacuous Hole"

Damn - where did I stash that AK47 ????

Saturday, November 20, 2004

390,000 Jedis There Are



This just passed to me by my stats gathering buddy and general guitar-noise-terrorist Simon Poulter (www.viral.info) - the Brighton figures somehow come as no suprise!

Seven people in every thousand in England and Wales gave their religion as 'Jedi' in the 2001 Census.

The Census form's question on religion - the only question where a response was not compulsory - offered a series of tick-boxes for the major religions in the UK (Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh); a tick-box for 'none'; and a free space to write in 'any other religion'. This was the first time a religion question was included in a Census.

A campaign on the internet claimed - wrongly - that Jedi, the belief system at the heart of the Star Wars films, would receive official government recognition as a religion if enough people quoted it on their Census forms. An email in support of the campaign, quoted by BBC News, invited people to 'do it because you love Star Wars... or just to annoy people.'

Just over 390,000 of the 52,000,000 people in England and Wales wrote in 'Jedi' on their census form.

The 'Jedi' response was most popular in Brighton and Hove, with 2.6 per cent of Census respondents quoting it, followed by Oxford (2.0 per cent), Wandsworth (1.9), Cambridge (1.9), Southampton (1.8) and Lambeth (1.8).

It was least popular in Easington, on the north-east coast of England between Sunderland and Hartlepool, where it was quoted by only 0.16 per cent of respondents. Sedgefield, Knowsley, Blaenau Gwent, Merthyr Tydfil and Wear Valley all show less than 0.2 per cent of respondents quoting 'Jedi'.

Director of reporting and analysis at the Office for National Statistics, John Pullinger said: 'Whatever its motive, the Jedi campaign may have worked in favour of the Census exercise. Census agencies worldwide report difficulties encouraging those in their late teens and twenties to complete their forms.

'We suspect that the Jedi response was most common in precisely this age group. The campaign may well have encouraged people to complete their forms and help us get the best possible overall response.'

Wednesday, November 17, 2004

Karen MOK Man-Wai (莫文蔚) and the Canto Pap rap ...


Until last year, the previous decade was spent living and working in Hong Kong - cool place to get to know - and a good period to be there - music-wise it was interesting to witness the transformation of Karoke-going canto-yoof into ketamine-snorting-hard-house-nutters .. even more fun to play some of the more 'underground' clubs just north of the boarder in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, where if the beatz dropped to anything less than 150bpm - you would get threatening cheap-suited gangsters standing in front of the stage gesturing that they better damn-well-speed up - OR ELSE !! Life is tough in China - therefore - beatz they be damn fast - and the drugs - don't even go there mate !!

Despite a few years where the kids of Hong Kong really did seem to embrace the 'thud-thud-thud-thud' of dance culture - always there in the background was the mind-numbing drivel known locally as Cantopop - not to be confused with the motherland equivelant - Mandopop (no less) .... Rather than try and describe this dirge - if you feel interested - then check out the wikipedia overview saves me having to do it (I was actually going to sum up the non-diffrerences between Sammi, Faye (actually she is quite OK in a 'I stole all my licks from the Cocteau Twins' type of way), Joey, Kelly, Twins etc etc ad nausea - but pah I say - can't be bothered ... (howz that for a lazy review !!) ...

So, where and why and what for ......



Ok - no excuses for the above - you see - when I was a newby-Gweilo in HK, this was the image I was confronted with on trains, busses - everywhere ya seemd to look - there she was - naked - lying there - with no explanation as to why - being a non-chinese reader - it was to remain an unsolved mystery for years - she is ofcourse Ms. Mok (莫文蔚) - and this is perhaps her first CD - it is pop music - sung in Cantonese (and perhaps some Mandarin) - never actually heard all of it - but for reasons unknown - I have never quite been able to shake off the excellent cover-art (yep thats 'art'- really !).

No excuses for the following image either - this is just another example of the sort of 60-foot high bill-board ads we were at times subjected to in the HK humidity - life can at times be tough in foreign climates !!



Years and years pass - and periodically there appear further images of our Karen around Hong Kong - by this time I am fully aware who she is - she is actually a very successful actress as well as canto-crooner. Films of note in my books and well worth hunting out should you feel that way inclined:
  • Fallen Angels (1996) (director Wong Kar-Wai, 1996) - also stars HK canto-star Leon Lai.
  • Viva Erotica (1996, co-starring Leslie Chung and Shu Qi) - One of the first mainstream movies tailored for 'Category III' (adults only) release in Hong Kong, this opens with a wildly orgasmic sex scene between Leslie Cheung and Karen Mok and ends with the cheering sight of an entire film crew working in the nude. Add mainland actress Shu Qi (later of Crouching Tiger etc etc) starring as a Category-III porn star - and what more can you really ask for !!
  • Shaolin Soccer (2001, dir: Stephen Chow Sing-Chi) - a complete spoof Shaolin Warriors form footie team adventure - this is pure stupidity at its best - uber-cool in my books. Stars a host of canto-celebs including a stunning plastic-faced performance from the dad of bad boy canto-rocker Nic-Tse.. Go hire from block-buster today !
  • So Close (2001) - inferior HK version of Charlies Angels - worth it for the swords-play alone!
ahh - I could go on and on - infact right now I am about to reach over for my HK VCD/DVD folder and pull out a Fruit Chan movie (perhaps Made in Hong Kong) for the mornings entertainment - in fact I feel a whole Fruit Chan thread coming on in the not too near future (be warned) ..

sooo --- back to our karen - despite these classic pieces of HK-movie-magic, I never really bothered to check her audio stuff out... The turning point I suppose was the mass-advertising campaigns for the 2001 album 'Golden Flower' and supporting tour (I think it must be the cling-film that did it for me - basically anyone prepared to strip and be completly wrapped up in see-through-plastic deserves a listen in my books!



My curiosity had been prodded enough for me to check out this platter in the local HMV listening station - only bothered with the first track - a freaked out distorted guitar driven beat-based thang - all traces of anything pop-like seemingly blown to pieces by the production of Taiwanese guitar-thrasher Wu Bai..... so I parted with my 100 bucks and promptly carted it off home ...

On further listneing unfortunatly it became clear that the stand-out track was (and is) indeed that first one - a most-uncommercial thing with a mish-mash arrangment and a vocal delivery that at times is barely audible, with further distortions achieved by double-tracked voices and electronic-squeaks and farts - not at all what you would expect from a 'main-stream' HK-canto-popper - indeed even Ms Fay Wong at her most experimtal times (whilst still working with her ex Dou Wei), never achieved anything quite so noisy...

A few months later when me and John were busy working on some remixes of Hindi star Asha Bhosle, I tried to get the masters for this track through some contacts we had with her label at the time Rock records - this led to nothing as they apparantly made it clear that this track had zero commercial worth and therefore had no reason to be re-worked - a tragedy really - although pleasing as it is - the beats and bass are typically generic (what you would probably expect from the studios of Wu Bei - a confirmed metal-rock-geetarizt), they did indicate that some of the more 'easy listening numbers might be available - forgeddit !!!

So here ya have Karen MOK Man-Wai (莫文蔚) - 一朵金花 - 散光

and.... as last seen whilst touring her show back in 2002 in Singapore:



enjoy ...

Friday, November 12, 2004

Pere Ubu - It Came from Outerspace..



Off tonight to Bristol to catch Pere Ubu supplying an expected art-rock-workout backing to a 3D viewing of the 1950s classic - It Came From Outer Space..



Will review (of sorts) upon my return sometime tomorrow morning ..... this will be the third time I have witnessed Dave and the Boyz steppin out on these shores ... last time a very low-key gig at Moles, Bath, circa 1988 (plugging the Tenament Year lp) - I actually taped this one - but alas - it seems that said tape has walked ....

First time was a classic late 1979 performace with support from The Gang of Four - again in Bristol - somehow I ended up talking to Mr. Thomas after the gig - and recieved a classic (if not somewhat bored) reply to the question "hey Dave - why did you not play The Modern Dance/Non-Aligmnent Pact" - "hey like man we did - but ya see - we changed all the words and all of the music ... "

so on that note - and in anticipation of this gig - I was going to post Julian Cope - live from Glastonbury - 1987 performing the afore-mentioned 'Non-Alignment Pact' - but why should I - when what is really important is
Teddy Tumble .. and don't you forgeddit ...


Tuesday, November 09, 2004

Michael Clark & Co. vs The Fall



OK - lofi warning ...... back in 1988 sometime between the dates 20th Sept and 8th Oct - I found myself sitting in the front row of the balcony at the Sadlers Wells Theatre, London - watching Michael Clark and company bounding around the stage whilst the mighty Fall bashed their way through the 'I am Curious Orange' set. A cool event this one - and the only time I have ever witnessed messers MES and co in a sitting position... - and the only time we have seen Brix pushed around on a giant hamburger being persued by a mutant-formed Leigh Bowery !



Stuck out of a carefully positioned bag, I had a microphone plugged into a recording Sony Walkman - and proceeded to tape the whole of the gig..... Accoustics being what they are in the venue - and the fact that The Fall were LOUD - this is at times boomy - toppy - middly and muddly - bit like your typical professionally produced Fall albums you may joke - but nope this is truly lofi - and a fan-only-download perhaps ...

so here ya have it - Farmer Glitch presents from his personal bootleg collection:

The Fall - Hip Priest/Big New Prinz (Saddlers Wells 1988)

enjoy ....

Friday, November 05, 2004

Public Image Limited - 1978 live ...

1979 - tripping around the fields of what was my first Glastonbury Festival experience, with girlfriend of the time Sue - not many there that year perhaps a couple of thousand at most - just having witnessed Mark Stewart and his Pop Group terrorists completly lay waste to anything approaching a peacful afternoon - and escaping the stage area before Steve Hillage (remember him?) tried to kill us all with his blend of gnome-like-soft-rock-classics (other noize makers that year included : The Only Ones, Sky, Peter Gabriel, Tom Robinson - as you can see a real mixed-bag man !!) ........ anyways ..... we made our way to the stall holders in the hope of scoring some weed (as ya do) - no chance there of-course - remember this is 1979 - skunk did not even exist - and if it did - there was precious chance a yokal from zummerzit would ever lay hands on anything even related to a bud - so we made do with the normal mellow-yellow-slate-bar and stumbled around tokin-it (as ya do at festivals) ....

sitting there on the ground - with a box of dodgy looking C90 cassettes - was Bootleg-Cassette-Dude - first time I ever saw one of these types before - so stop we did - and before you can say - "what an incredible discordant din that guitar player makes - man wish I could play like that" - I was the proud owner of the following piece of pure audio excellence ......



This turned out to be (as Bootleg Cassette Dude was only too happy to explain) - a live tape from the second ever PIL gig - performed only 6 months previously in Paris on 22.12.78 ... and as it turned out - a slice of sheer throbbing-bass and thrashing guitars (topped by shamanic wailing) - pleasure ... well - off we trotted to the trusty Hilman Imp (I had style in my cars even back then) - plugged it into the customized-mega-watt tape-deck (bass speakers mounted under front-bucket-seats turned to 11) - reclined the chairs - smoked-da-spliffs - and basically had our socks-clear-blown-off...

the sound of that man Keith Levine and his twanging (at times completly out-of-tune-sounding guitar) slicing through the rock-solid dub-bass of Jah Wobble with slabs of synth squelches nigh on slicing yer damned head off, (well maybe by this point the drugs were impairing my judgement - but you get the picture) - this was cool-shit-bro - AND I WANTED MY GUITAR TO SING JUZ LIKE THAT !!! - of course at that time I was playing a Shergold Modulator through a 1960s fucked-Vox-AC30 - with minimal skills on board - so that to this day it remains a dream - but I did rush out and buy a Wem-Copycat tape-delay (still have tha baby - as I do the guitar and amp - if a certain Brendan W ever gets round to returning them that is ! note: 10 years all ready Bren - HINT HINT) ... but anyways - I digress ......

bottom line is Levine plays like no-one else I had heard before - forget all those bar-chords and structured changes man, and the tone - sounded more like he was strangling the instrument than strumming it - lovely stuff to these ears then (just as it is now) - and this is a couple of years before they ever attempted anything Metal Box-ish ... raw-power - never better executed !!

boy ... I played this tape to death - always fearing the thing would get eaten by the various crap-players I had - or snapped through repeated rewinds - back and forwards - back and forwards... - but nope - it never did - and yep - I just found the thang in the BIG BOX OF CASSETTES - in the cupboard-never-before-ventured ....

soooo .... a digital-copy and subtle-mastering lick later .... and here it is ..... the first track from the second ever PIL gig - crank it LOUD BABY - turn up the sub-woofer - this one KICKS (in an audiance recording lofi way of course ....) ..... enjoy :::

Public Image Limited - Theme (live in Paris - 1978)

Thursday, November 04, 2004

Red Factory - The Martock Sessions 1981


Ok - first things first - shout out to Kid Shirt - you were there, it was your band, you played on this session - you smoke far less than me - and for sure your memory serves you better than the sponge masquarading as a brain that I carry around in my aging skull ...... sooo please feel free to fill in the gaps where they for sure lurk ....

ok - 1981 - beginning of the decade of doom - but banging away (literally) in the depths of Somerset were a band of merry minstrals (yeah yeah) - Red Factory - stand up and take your bow sirs ...

Back in those days the Farmer here - for reasons best left alone - was a co-owner of a pretty substantial PA system - equipped as they so often are - with a mixer and big-bag of effects - many a fine afternoon and evening were spent either seriously fucking up front-of-house sounds for various bands - or as in the case in point here - recording experiments in futuristic sonics .... !!

So on the 9th Spetember 1981, we find assorted Red Factory types, myself, Graham Fallows and Weird Beard (the most un-weird beard you will ever meet)- assembled in a 300 year-old former-school building in the village of Martock, Somerset. After the normal unloading of van - setting up of various bits of recording stuff, synths, drums, amps, mics etc etc - opening of tins of beer, skinning up of spliffs, smoking of spliffs - skinning up more spliffs - smoking more spliffs - getting almost caught by care-taker smoking spliffs - drinking more beer - we finally set about recording the Red Factory sound ....

Recordings were all done live - no overdubs - straight down onto a Sony 2-track reel-to-reel - all effects and assorted mayhem played live - either by the band - or via some well fucked up engineering by afore-mentioned Mr. Weird Beard..... on the whole a rather fine day - and for sure an interesting collection of tunez...

Now for over 20 years it would seem that these sounds have been lost to man-kind (the master tape no doubt is still filed with all all manner of lost treasures in the far recess of the home-of-the-weird-beard - now as no-one either knows how or is willing to try going anywhere near those parts - it would appear the only other copy is on the Chrome TDK cassette sitting here on the desk beside me .... this being a direct dub from the master 2 track ... how I managed to not lose this sort of thing years ago amazes even me - BIG TIME ..... amazing what you find when you open doors that at other times are better left closed ....

So - being in a mode at present where I am told to do nothing (remember I Am The Man With No Appendix!!) - I have started filling my days by digitising old cassette tapes and generally with the odd tweak, cut and lick of mastering - will be releasing lost treasures via here (Kek - I have the complete sessions on CD for next time we meet) .... and if your lawyers do not advise me otherise - may well let seep into circulation other gems from this long-lost session ...

so without further ado, from 1981:
Red Factory - White Sun (The Martock Sessions)

and to fill in the picture (so to speak) - Mr. Weird Beard (and spliff - at the controls.... no less ...)

Wednesday, November 03, 2004

The Man Whose Gut Exploded



Bit of a freak this past two weeks - won't bore you all with details - but a bit of a burst-appendix situation has seen me hostpital bound - operation theatre attendee and for the past week recovering in the leafy suburbs of me folks down in Dorset ! OOOWWWWW OOOOWWWW OOWWWWW - call me a baby - but it damn well HURT !!!

Thursday, October 21, 2004

Digital Cutup Disneyland...

well grab Mickey by the head and and give im a big fat smacker on tha kisser ... Dumbo - he just love-da-dub - and as for Minnie - she be the dnb queen, no word these dayz from Daffy - last heard he was hooked to da-base-pipe - sad - but true !!

anywayz grime-followers::: ... Digital Cutup Lounge have been directly approached to become part of the 'Disney Musical Family' ... I can just see my partner in electro-clash-beatz John-von-Seggern (no less) - layin down serious slabs of electro-accoustic-drones - complete with ~ Goofy costume (as opposed to just goofy due to da weed mon!) ... ha ha ...

JVS - considers his options !

Dear Cast Members,

One of the key elements that will bring Hong Kong Disneyland to life for our Guests will be the live music played by our Entertainment Cast Members. The fun and exciting atmosphere created by these talented individuals will make our Guests ' experiences memorable and "uniquely Disney."

With this in mind, we are hosting our first auditions for Musicians in November . This is your chance to assist in Bringing the magic in your music to life!

If you have friends or relatives who would be interested in becoming Hong Kong Disneyland Musicians, please ask them to visit and apply through our website at www.hongkongdisneyland.com .

Many thanks,

Greg and Laurie

Well - dog-dang - DCL have done some pretty dang zany gigs in our time - one day I will retell the story of our gig to the Princess of Thailand at the Conrad Hotel Bangkok in 2003 - complete with 30 semi-clad Thai dancers swanking it to our remix and live rendition of a electro-funk version of an old Martin Denny song .... or perhaps the time I dropped a full-on DJ-Hype track - just as Andy Lau (no less - HK readers) was entering stage-left on a horse - how we laffed as it looked like he may just topple off as the bass hit ....... but for now - I am busy writing a fake application so that John-von does not miss this golden opportunity of playing micro-glitch-dub to the assorted masses for the next couple of years at the Lantau Disney

Wednesday, October 20, 2004

Dear Limey Assholes...

Last week G2 launched Operation Clark County to help readers have a say in the American election by writing to undecided voters in the crucial state of Ohio. In the first three days, more than 11,000 people requested addresses.

Some replies (like the one below) were printed this week:

KEEP YOUR FUCKIN' LIMEY HANDS OFF OUR ELECTION. HEY, SHITHEADS, REMEMBER THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR? REMEMBER THE WAR OF 1812? WE DIDN'T WANT YOU, OR YOUR POLITICS HERE, THAT'S WHY WE KICKED YOUR ASSES OUT. FOR THE 47% OF YOU WHO DON'T WANT PRESIDENT BUSH, I SAY THIS ... TOUGH SHIT!
PROUD AMERICAN VOTING FOR BUSH!

Read more of them here

Just recieved a mail asking if one of our 'Drop Bush - Not Bombs' tracks can be included on the Bushwacked project organizesd here in the UK by Twinkleboi - all looks well and good to me - check it out...

A bunch of year-old or so DCL tracks can be found over here on our MooreRemix page - these were mostly created as part of the anti-war protest last year prior to the Iraq invasion - and following Michael Moore's speech at the Oscars (which has been heavily sampled, along with the usual Evil Dead and Throbbing Gristle sound-bytes - natch ....) - feel free to download, burn and distribute any way you feel in the lead-up to the US elections...

then for non-US residents - go online to the Globalvote 2004 site and place your votes - results will be fed to the US media 48 hours prior to the close of voting there - any chance of helping swing the results in some anti-bush way has got to be worth a try !!



Thursday, October 14, 2004

Pierce em young ..

This just through from the Arts Council of Great Britain ........ looks like a missed application dead-line and therefore the chance to get piercing and tatooing teenage girls will not be yours ! aint it just amazing what you can get grants for these days !!!

VISUAL ARTIST WANTED – body decoration & manipulation with YP (Warwickshire)

The 21st century has seen body decoration and manipulation come to the fore, as celebrities decorate their bodies with tattoos, designer outfits and spectacular make-up, to name but a few processes. This is nothing new, body decoration has been popular over the ages, in many different cultures.

Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council requires a visual artist to work with a small group of young females, to create artwork for the Council’s Gallery tearoom based on lifestyle choices relating to the manipulated human form.

DEADLINE FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST: MONDAY 11TH OCTOBER 2004

PROJECT OUTLINE
The purpose of the project, working with teenage girls, is to ultimately design artwork for the refurbished Gallery tearoom. The inspiration and exploratory subject will be the manipulated human form: dress (platform shoes, corsets) taken from the Museum collection, and modern day media images (model waif look, etc.) peer pressure (piercing, tattoos, diet)

Planned to take place in the autumn half term (for refurbishment of tearoom, deadline - mid November), the artist will work with a small group of girls (about 6 to 10, aged 12 - 18yrs) who are interested in spending, 4/5 days with an artist, exploring a variety of topics, incorporating a trip somewhere, time spent exploring the museum collection, and then creating artwork for the walls.


Tuesday, October 12, 2004

The Devil Glitch...

Thank god for 'The Farmers Almanac' (www.almanac.com no less) for supplying this long searched after piece of information - which has actually kept me awake for minutes !!

Q: What was the longest song ever recorded and how long was it?

A: The Guinness Book of World Records states that The Devil Glitch, a 69-minute song containing over 500 verses, is the longest pop song ever recorded. It entered the record books in July of 1997.

Phew - not sure what I would have done without at last finding that out ... if anyone has this - I would love to know what verse 23 has to say - I somehow suspect it is reeeallly important like !!



Wednesday, October 06, 2004

Ginger wants to meet who-ever threw thaa rock !!

ahh man - oh - man .... must be some kind of drug-induced-festival-flash-back ...

Glastonbury fest - 1981 - those were the days - back then you could simply turn up - pitch your tent right down the front by the stage (no permanent metal pyramids then - oh no !) .. and from the relaxing vantage point of your canvas home - watch the on-stage activities ... I turned up that year with Jim and Andy M. (where are you now guyz ?) - and assorted girl-friends and promptly went about erecting tents etc - well actually - Jim turned up with new girl in tow - and immediatly dropped some acid - prior to attempting to put up never-before-erected 6-birther - in the dark ... only one thing to do - get mashed with him and roll around on da-floor - completly thrashing tent ... I seem to recall having a moment that lasted around the whole night - where I was convinced my keys had somehow become lost in the vast expanse of grassy-fields - and in that tripped-out-paranoid-way - spent hours searching in the dark for them - only to discover next morning (as the trip turned to that buzzy-anoying-come-down we all know and hate) - that they were of course in my pockets - oh .. how we laughed and laughed at that one (in between being completly pissed off that we could not sleep, that is!! )

anyway - whats going on with this damn story - oh yeah - that 8-armed-muppet - Animal ? - nope not him --- "DRUM ROLL PLEAZE..." (no look I said drum roll - not bloody drum-solo - goddam it )... it is ::: Ginger Baker ......




what a man - what a myth - what a damn bloody boring load of bashing on old tins and boxes ...

where tha bleedin heck is this story goin - no where but it is now time to have a Festival Award Ceremony ...

Award For Most Daring Festival Act Ever
(and indeed the most valued) - goes to guy in the crowd with bloody big rock and good aim ... mid-way through mr.g-baker and his band of gormless mates set - and at the point where Ginger (first name terms now you will notice), has been pounding the fuck out of his kit for at least 48 hours in one of his trade-mark solos ... - da-man-wiv-da-stone hurls it from the crowd over the heads of the first dozen rows of spectators and splat into head of Ginger - knocking him clean off his stool ... instantly terminating the dreadful din he was making with his sticks and skins ... instant cheers from the crowd, and much appreciative laughter - Baker exits stage-left - head now a fountain of red ..... only to return some 10 minutes later surrounded by hairy-biker-types shouting in the mic .. "Ginger wants to see tha guy that threw the rock - backstage NOW..." ... not too suprisingly - he had by this time run-like-fuck ....

Drummers - doncha just love to chuck rocks at them !! now where did I put that damn 808 ??

Saturday, October 02, 2004

hippies, punx, stonehenge and mista showbiz ..

well.... linking at least two stories from the current pages of Kid Shirt - we have this pic from the ages where punks n hippies would gather, smoke and make merry - the much missed Stonehenge Festival ...



rubbing sholders with Mark P (back row 4th from tha left - eating candy) is indeed that much discussed occasional Fall producer Grant Showbiz (on his right - fist raised..)... this pic taken in 78 (the rest of the peeps being members of either 'Here and Now' or ATV)- the year or so before the Biker Contingent decided that the arrival of Crass was enough to justify the instant bashing of anyone even remotly spiky-looking .... resulting in a lot of tripped out punk-types hiding in fear ! Penny Rimbaud from Crass, sums it up well, exactly what it was like to be there that year: "Our presence at Stonehenge attracted several hundred punks to whom the festival scene was a novelty, they, in turn, attracted interest from various factions to whom punk was equally new. The atmosphere seemed relaxed and as dusk fell, thousands of people gathered around the stage to listen to the night's music. suddenly, for no apparent reason, a group of bikers stormed the stage saying that they were not going to tolerate punks at Their festival'. What followed was one Or the most violent and frightening experiences of our lives. Bikers armed with bottles, chains and clubs, stalked around the site viciously attacking any punk that they set eyes on. There was nowhere to hide, nowhere to escape to; all night we attempted to protect ourselves and other terrified punks from their mindless violence. there were screams of terror as people were dragged off into the darkness to be given lessons on peace and love; it was hopeless trying to save anyone because, in the blackness of the night, they were impossible to find. "

Despite the troubles of that year, it must be said - when I was in my late teens and early twenties - this was the highlight of the summer - used to go for a couple of weeks, get dirty as hell - experience all kinds of un-printable new thangs - and basically drop out for a while .......

High Points of the fest:

Low Points..
  • Dodgy deals
  • Black microdots
  • The Enid ..
  • Punk-bashin-bikers..
  • Some guy standing in front of me whilst watching Hawkwind - so fucked up that he did not realise he was pissing down the inside of his coat ... nice !!)
I have a stack of pics somewhere in a cupboard around here of various images of the early 80s festival - along with the last sighting of Mark Mob - bare chested standing by the stones during some pagen wedding .... ahh the memories (they go on and on and on and on and on .....)


Thursday, September 30, 2004

Discover Hip Hop


Someone just made things much more simple for us starved of da-knowledge ....

discover-hip-hop-set

Wednesday, September 29, 2004

Church of Glitch..

This rocks - Maximina Weaver, just sent me the following - inviting me to become a fully-up-and-paid (passed GO - I collected the money - pulled the straws whilst playing Kerplunk - no marbles there mista - slap dang boogie-woogie) MINISTER ...

That is correct - I AM A MINSITER - and anyone that states otherwise will get a damn good SLAP !! - I like slapping me - and now I am a MINISTER - I plan to SLAP and SLAP and SLAP ..

You can become a legally ordained minister within 48 hours

As a minister, you will be authorized to perform the rites and ceremonies of the church!

Perform Weddings, Funerals, Perform Baptisms, Forgiveness of Sins Visit Correctional Facilities

Want to start your own church?


The strange thing is though - underneath this deligtful offer (which I am duty bound to follow-up (mind) - was this missifffff:

Rob became worried, and resolved to slow up at the next sign of habitation

This was a good resolution, but Turkestan is so thinly settled that before the boy could plan out a course of action he had passed the barren mountain range of Thian-Shan as nimbly as an acrobat leaps a jumping-bar
This won't do at all! he exclaimed, earnestly

The traveling machine seems to be running away with me, and I'm missing no end of sights by scooting along up here in the clouds Forty four trials compared a broad spectrum usually novel lactam with a "routine" combination regimen Rates of appropriate antibiotic treatment with combination therapy and monotherapy were similar when reported


What does it all mean ??? I have tried emailing Maximina Weaver (soundz like the sort of name that Robert Anton Wilson might dream up) - but all I got back was a whole load of unsolicited porn - things get stranger-n-stranger-n-stranger (the more I smoke!!) .. funny that !!!

THA MINISTA ... n'dontcha'forgeddit...





Print on Sticker Stock ..

This through from our correspondant over in New Orleans - Jedd H...

print on sticker stock, cut apart, paste as needed on BC04 bumpers stickers or wherever else you see fit...

Wednesday, September 15, 2004

'Mp3 is not a crime' thong ..

Trying to get to the bottom of this - seems someone is selling merchanise using old DCL images ... first our logo, turns up on a nice white T-shirt,



more interesting is our image from 1999 relating to the legal/illegal issues of performing using Mp3s (a somewhat mute point perhaps these dayz...) - turning up on a rather skimpy 'thong'



.. go figure (or go buy if this is your cup-of-tea!) ..

Digital Cutup Lounge - skimpy little thong - ideal gift fer yer mum

could be my memory is failing me - and we actually did this ourselves - if so ... can someone from the DCL inner-circle give me a kick and wake up my memory cells pleaze ... thanks ...

Tuesday, September 14, 2004

escape from the drug-crazed velvets..

Velvet Underground - 3D Death Chase...

Yes I know - it is another oldie - but man - makes me giggle in that stupid stoned-giggly way everytime ... actually the reason fer posting yesterdays news - is simply that if I don't stick these details here - they will (in that 'Exploding Plastic Inbox' kinda-way) get themselves trashed ...... then where would I be ???!!??

so back to the plot of the VU3DDC......

You are surrounded by the Velvet Underground - who are desparate to get you banging-up their evil juces into yer vains - do you avoid the temptation of getting loaded with Nico, Lou, Andy and friends... or do you drop out - get high and join the counter-culture .... now where did I put those skins and bag of weed (my fate tis already well established - and somewhat fixed...)!!

Velvet Underground 3D Death Chase

Laibach - the cuddly little kittens .. ahh

another oldie - but sure be a goodie ... and also looks just like my little (ok fat) cat Tigger ...

they really are a bunch of titsy-witsy-cuddly-wuddly-balls-of-fun ...

tis a flash movie - only 300K (or so) crank up your sound-system and enjoy ...

laibach - the kitty stomp

Monday, September 13, 2004

slasher ...

whilst I totally agree with Domonic Zero, in that Kill Bill 2 is crap ...

this however is ace ....:::::



wanna slash those guyz ta bits with shiny swords - juz like lickle old uma - no - well tough - cuz I do - and I also get to wear that yellow jump-suit whilst doing afore-mentioned slashing ..

slash away with the Kill Bill Game

wot ... you already know about this !?!?!? - old news ya say ..... - well cum-over-ere and I'll slash yer bleedin arms orf !!


NOCTURN - THE WAACO RE-ENACTMENT

This promises to be a very interesting event - if you are in London Thursday - go experience it...



NOCTURN - THE WACO RE-ENACTMENT- www.wacoreenactment.org

ICA Thurs 16 September, Meet in Foyer at 7pm for Coaches -**Please** book in advance!
Artist Rod Dickinson will reconstruct the FBI's secret psychological warfare assault on the infamous Branch Davidian religious community in Waco, Texas, at a secret, remote location close to London, on Thursday 16 September.

Rolan Bolan

Interesting docu. on 4 last night - on the missing millions of Marc ... some uber-cool shots and sound-out-takes from various studio sessions - and on the whole a typical portrait of the muze-biz - complete with slimey managers, suited-lawyers and bowl-loads of coke ... must admit the one I always felt somewhat sorry for was June Field
- shafted by Marc, persued by the tax-office and when finally given her share of royalties etc - she ends up dead a week later ... a long line of dead t-rexers - sort of the Tutankhamun curse of glitter-bug-rock .. still damn nice to see some old accoutisc tyrannusaurus-rex live tracks before he went all glitter and flab on us ...

anyway - here is Rolan Bolan ... got his fathers looks, but alas on last nights evidence - not much of the old song-writing talents... oh well - at least he will at last be getting his dosh !



so in respect - I was just searching for me copy of Beard-of-Stars (as you do) - but in typical record-collection style - it be-vanished...

but (in totally unrelated to the story fashion!) I did manage to lay my hands on ... Basement-5 - 1965-1980 (free poster inside no less) - totally forgot this was a Martin Hannett production - also have the 10-inch release of silicon-chips stuffed in the sleeve - a somewhat nice way to start the day here in not-so-sunny-south-peth !





Friday, September 10, 2004

throb off - and take yer gristle wiv ya ...

well there ya have it ... 23 years of waiting (yeah right) - 1000 of megs of live mp3s - meters and meters of devoured pages of lit - 100s of pounds on useless lickle bits of paper (tickets - yeah right - did they arrive - ya bet they did NOT) ... even the odd Digital Cutup remix of old TG tracks in useless protest songs against even more uselss wars (some good that did) - but still here ya go for your listeneing excitement:

Saul Williams-Pledge of Resistance (Digital Cutup Lounge remix)
Digital Cutup Lounge - Drop Bush (Grist-A-Lized remix)

what is this sad moody old bugger on about - who knows - oh yeah I remember - it be that goddam load of Wreckers of Civilisation - yep well tha farmer here ya see is one of them peeps who as tha years have passed has got more and more into the old Hamburger Laddies (always was dead keen back in the day) . so shame to have to say they goddam done it again ..

RE:TG ..
It aint gonna be !!

call it a day boys..... or should that be What a Day ??? from the horses mouth ...


Dear All,

As you may remember after the postponement of the RE~TG event earlier in this year, promoters Foundation were looking forward to promoting an "All Tomorrow Parties "currated by Thobbing Gristle (ATP- TG) event in May 2005.

After a lengthy struggle to realise " ATP-TG" , ATP, as the promoters, have decided the event can not be realised in the forseeable future.

All the members of Throbbing Gristle & myself & ATP are extremely disappointed, having put a considerable & repeated effort ( & a free show in London) into trying to realise the event, but sadly this is not to be.

Circumstances to numerous to list here have conspired to make our original plans for such an event unattainable, & the decision by ATP was not taken lightly & not without considerable financial losses on their part.

The majority of you who will receive this email are the original artists whom were invited to play "RE~TG" & therefore were subsequently expecting to perform at "ATP-TG".

Our sincere & heartfelt apologies to you all for this disapointment & again our thanks for your open hearted support for the original event's ideologies & expectations. Certainly the one area that has encouraged us to continue to struggle with making this event happen has been the support & understanding from the other artistes involved.

Throbbing Gristle will now play on Friday 3rd December 2005 at Camber Sands as part of the ATP/Foundation promoted weekend event (Dec 3/4/5) "A Nightmare Before Christmas"
currated by visual artistes Jake & Dinos Chapman.

Foundation are announcing the initial line-up for "Nightmare Before Christmas" any day now
(see www.alltomorrowsparties.co.uk). It is not envisaged that many, if indeed any, of
our original list of artistes will be part of this new event, since Jake & Dinos Chapman's curation will naturally be based on their own personal choice.

Regrets & Regards
Paul Smith for Throbbing Gristle
Cosey Fanni Tutti
Genesis P. Orridge
Peter Christopherson
Chris Carter

Friday, August 20, 2004

venus loon ...

the joy .... the joy ....




Venus Loon
Sound Pit
Explosive Mouth
Galaxy
Change
Nameless Wildness
Teenage Dream
Liquid Gang
Carsmile Smith & the Old One
You Got to Jive to Stay Alive-Spanish Midnight
Interstellar Soul
Painless Persuation V The Meathawk Immmaculate
The Avengers (Superbad)
The Leopards Featuring Gardenia & the Mighty Slug

hey man - like what happenned to the days ?

well not sure what went down there - like weeks just seemed to pass in, you know, like mintutes man - must be the weed !

Past week has seen me somewhat displaced up north (ok only as far as West-Bristol - but too us zummerzit types that be a darn-long-way!) .. so head down in a Portishead recording studio with a bunch of teenagers recording seattle-tinged ghetto-ized gangsta-rap ... been trying to make them understand that there really is precious point in all this 'pop pop - yo be dead beeeaaatch' type stuff in the leafy lanes of North Somerset - but they be angry - they be white - and them smoke da splif (even if they are only 12 - "me mum gives it to me - it be the biz - want ta score some ?") - I don;t know - back in my day etc etc etc !!


Thursday, August 05, 2004

Mums B-Day ..

Today is my Mums birthday - Happy Birthday Mum !!

Subhuman ....

More words of wisdom from yester-year just arrived in the mail.. seems a raging debate is ongoing in the some underground-neo-industrial circles concerning the accuracy of said wordz..

Subhuman Subhuman I see you crawling I see you crawling Subhuman Subhuman I see you crawling I see you crawling In the gutter Subhuman You're like a virus In my garden Subhuman Subhuman Subhuman You're like a virus In my garden Drinking dirty water To make you clean Subhuman Subhuman Subhuman Subhuman You make me dizzy With your disease
I want to smash you And be at ease Subhuman Subhuman Subhuman Subhuman I see you crawling I see you crawling You're like a virus A stinking virus Subhuman Subhuman In the gutter Subhuman SUBHUMAN


What to say - as relevant today as anytime during the past 23 or so years since they were penned....

Tuesday, August 03, 2004

746B must go ...

Urgent message from the Farmer's hosting buddie J. LeRoy over in Seatle... seems Russian viral marketing is taking its toll resulting in thousands of downloads per day - and starting to cost 'gert-big-bucks' (as we say in zummerzit..) -

Check this out: over 87% of all the bandwidth on the entire server was from 746B.

We used 1,400 Gig of transfer. The initial dip in the usage didn’t continue … you are very popular. I think it’s time we build some torrents, eh? Or get someone to mirror? Even reducing by 20% would do it. Or .. do lower bitrate. Or do fade outs after 80% of the tracks and tell them to buy the ding dang CD if they want it. Etc.


Soooo... 50% of said album is pulled - damn I know - I would highly recommend searching for the rest of the tracks on whatever p2p takes your fancy ... the remainder of the hospital-meltdown that is the 746B Sessions can still be found over-here: 746B Sessions.

Very likely the rest will be pulled in the next few days - so unless we get some hosting/distribution for these - it will exist only in p2p-land for a while !.....

Sunday, July 25, 2004

Canto-poppers just keep on comin ...

Mail box filling up with young hong-kongers longing to be part of the canto-pap machine ..

This just in ...



Dear Sir/ Ma'am:

I've attached my profile, my pictures and a letter, and I would like to have an interview with you. I would like to be an artist in your company, I'll feel happy to send you my demo if you feel interested, please reply my e-mail. Thank you so much.

Thanks for your concern.

Phyllis

Saturday, July 24, 2004

To whom it may concern. Please reply.

This just in - seems a nice enough guy - so if anyone is looking to sign-up canto-popsters - then let me know and I will pass on your wishes.... only wish I knew how to pronounce that name !!



Dear Sir/Madam,

My name is Christeve and I would like to tryout to be a singer. Personally, I don't know if I have contacted with the right person. I have attached my personal information and pictures along with this e-mail.

I would like to work with your record company. If you are interested, I am more then welcome to send my demo. Please reply. I am waiting for your reply.

Thanks,
Christeve

Wednesday, July 21, 2004

Cataloge for Licensing..

Yet again being pursued by major record labels to sell-out and get some my music out to the masses whilst at the same time ammassing vast sums of cash - this difficult to refuse offer just in from Korea:

Dear Sir,

How are you?
We are a korean records lable and looking for musics for korean territory relating releasing in our Territory.
But most of korean Records companies are very difficult to overcome this negative stage of market,
But we are willing to releasing various best qulitied albums into korean market step by setp withour any hesitation.
And one more, we have Catalogue for Buddism and Oriental Musics for licensing.
For examples, "Prajna-paramitasutra" etc...any many other Buddism mediatation musics for licensing for Worldwide.
If you're interested in Licensing, please send us an e-mail. Thank you in advance.

By the way, Could you please send us some more detalis for your musics?
If possible, could you supply us for reviewing your albums(Catalogue and Smaple CDs)?
We're not only records lable, but also trading compnaies for houseware and beam projectors.
We're always looking for new items for Korean from Worldwide.

I am looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Warmst Regards.

Lee,Ke-Won

Tuesday, July 20, 2004

Stop chewing that there straw and plug in the new hardware..

Yep - first post from the depths of zummerzit - and what a cool way to start - brand new hardware in the shape of an M-Audio Firewire Audiophile sound card - wooop - and the first ever purchase of a piece of full-priced software - Ableton Live (no less)... lets just say that cracks are cracks - and the last crack - was - well........ - cracked !! learnt me lesson - slapped hands (and faces) - and never again will this lad be using anything less than full price SW - saying that - if anyone can point me in the direction for Delaydots - Spectrum Worx - that would be ace ..

Thanks....