Lets get pissed and make some art ..

This I appreciate very very much .... brought to my attention by Dad-of-FG yesterday - whilst he ranted about the horrors of wasting good lotto money on binge-drinking .. I say - drink up - the Arts Council of England is paying the tab ... yee-haa ..!

anti-cool — Tomoko Takahashi (Yokosuka, Japan) consumes large amounts of alocohol)
Critics of a state-funded art show in which the female performer consumes large quantities of beer have branded it a stupid display of binge drinking and have called for it to be banned.

The Japanese artist Tomoko Takahashi is quite content with her work, however. After all, it's not every one-time Turner Prize nominee who gets a £5,000 grant to down 48 bottles of lager and then try to walk across a balancing beam.

Audiences at the Government-funded Chapter arts centre in Canton, Cardiff, see Miss Takahashi arrive on stage in high heels and a smart black business suit. For the next three hours, they watch her drink bottle after bottle, periodically lurching towards her beam and seeing how much of it she can negotiate without falling off.

All sounds like a perfectly normal evening in Farmer Glitch mansions - I am often found early hours - dressed in mini-skirt - perched on the wall outside, high-heels in place - flaggon of cider in hand - lets face it man - I came up with the idea of the drunken-lunging-swagger decades before Ms. Takahashi donned said mini-skirt-n-heels, let alone managed to consume 48 cans of beer - an application to South West Arts is now submitted - as an artist (laff if you must) - I DEMAND MY FREE BEER ... if that fails - I am off to hook up with afore-mentioned Tomoko this very instant - I think we have a whole lot in common (esp after the first dozen or so bottles!) ..

Candybar Doll Maker...

And why not hey - lets face it - we all love playing with dolls .... here is mine ....



Designed to your very own specs - what more can one want from life on a dreary Tuesday morning ...

Want one of your very own - The Candybar Doll Maker is waiting for you now ...

Stamps of Mass Destruction

"James Cauty invented the postage stamp in 2002, claims by a rival postal disservice that they came up with the idea are unfounded."

We here in the FG household like very very much this ...



We are re-decorating every available wall with Stamps of Mass Destruction - you all should follow suit .... James Cauty product here


I have always found Cauty to be a somewhat entertaining character - be-it through his expolits as Kopyright abuser / art-terrorist / sheep-shearer / money-burner / justified-ancient / sonic-induced-cow-killer / art-do-gooder or indeed ambient-death-metal-thrasher ... now as post-master-general of the Cautese National Postal Disservice and the associated launch of Stamps of Mass Destruction and Other Postal Disasters Vol II it all sort of get a little bit less murky (sort of) ..



Nice opening quote included on a subject I have debated (OK make that ranted) about recently during our Singapore artist-lab - LH if you are reading - here is the message again for you :

Copyright Notes (without prejudice)
Artists steal and borrow things from other artists and shops all the time, its part of the evolution of ideas and normal practice.
Copyright was invented by two Belgian lawyers in 1827 to make some extra cash and is now an outdated concept. If you see something in this book you think belongs to you .... get over it.
If you see something you want .... feel free to borrow it.

Got it ? From past discussion I doubt it - so to reiterate - GET OVER IT !!

For more information on the history of stamps ... click here.

God save the queen ... ...

altogether now :::

"durnn nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh / durnn nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh / durnn nuh nuh / durnn nuh nuh / durnn nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh ....... "

yep this was going to be a post about the new John Lydon DVD, which I was going to actually buy just to lay hands on the couple of Metal Box out-takes (being a bit of a metal-box-head as I am - for those of you listening who think that means I have a metal box for a head - please leave the class room now - thanx !!)



well - I could not bring myself to actually pay for any music - having already outdone myself by purchasing the damn fine and excellent new LP from The Fall only last week - Fall Heads Roll - buy it - then play it to death - thats what we are doing here in Flyaway Cottage - home of Farmer Glitch and his family of cow-milking village-louts ... yep we are that lot next door to you - all cider'd up and skanking in that all-too-pissed-up Mark-E-Smith way .....



anyhows - I was reconnecting old external hard-drives to my trusty G4 Notebook - yes we are a Mac-orientated bunch of village-losers - and basically trying to make sense out of the 100 gigs or so of illegally obtained music/films/software/porn (all the normal stuff you might expect to find on old drives) - not to mention numerous unfinished audio tracks - dating back almost a decade in some cases - and I stumbled upon this long forgotten (OK I never even knew I had the dang-thang - but what the heck - HICK) ... so what to say apart from - goddam it - them royals - they be DEAD ........ well done again OSYMYSO .... !

click the pic to play tha movie ..



not interested - then do yourself a favor and go buy the new Fall LP this instant !!

Calling Planet La La

Back in the old-skool dayz of acid-ooose ... (87-89), I was a-livin in sunny-old Brighton (London by the Sea as it used to be known - that is before it simply became an official extention) ... well, me an my mate Nancy (ms. Agar - if you are listening - send me a message me dear..) ... well ... we used to be orbital-rave-partners-in-crime ... and she always stated that she originated from Planet La La (she even had a t-shirt to prove it) - well this site reminds me of her - apparantly it all shifts-n-changes every 108 minutes - so who knows what is there now .. enjoy ..

Big Spaceship

Bangkok to South Petherton in pictures ...

Pre-gig photos from the DCL Bangkok excursion circa 2003 - just re-found these snaps ... don't I look damn fine - damn shame I lost that rather fetching green top man !!



and as for this - just put it down to some kind of cultural-differance type thang - lets face it - you don't find this type of thing on the streets of South Petherton thats for sure ....


but alas - you do tend to find this - as spotted during the rather excellent carnival night last month - oh how we rocked out to that one !!



meanwhile - I'll leave you with a picture of John von Seggern (no less) tuning up pre-gig - man you should feel the funk when he gets twanging !!

Call the Cops ...

Normal service still not resumed - so in the mean-time - a pic of the Lamma Island, Hong Kong cop-shop - one time home of the Farmer - nope not the cop-cube dummy - I was normally found sitting just in front of it - supping Tsing Tao and talking rot !! Now I am normally found supping Burrow Hill cider -and unable to talk a word - think maybe brain-erosion has finally caught up with me !!

Still - things could be real bad - and you could wake up realising you had turned into - Cocaine Kate ..



crikey - I mean all that coke would sort of be OK - but having a sponge-head-crap-rocker for a partner would do me bleedin ead in - MAAANNN !! Still what do I know - being nothing more than a sad-slack zummerzit sheep herder !

SILENCE ....

Something brewing in Bristol on 8th October 2005 at the Cube Cinema - keep yer eyes peeled for further news .... meanwhile ......



Image found and reprinted without permission - copyright B.Drummond c/o www.penkiln-burn.com

ummmm ... like yeah right ... where was I ..

goddam - forgot about this thing .... and then suddenly ...

like what happenned man ...

well - in a nut shell - too much to recap - but it involved Asia, Audio, Batura, Masal-Dosa, Lassi and Ganga .... in more-or-less that sort of order ....

anyway - when I get my head back in order and come to terms with being again on UK soil - normal service will be resumed .... in the mean-time - an ad for what is without a doubt the best vegan-south-indian restraunt in singapore - PERIOD !



mmm - don't it make yer mouth water !!

The Buddha Machine presents Buddhist Bangra Bling

Forget those namby-pamby Singappore Slings - with all that un-needed little umbrellas getting in in the way of the alcohol - come on down to the Substation, Armenian Street, Singpore this Sunday Evening - and see some slamming Singapore Swing - yet another Digital Cutup Lounge meets Machines from the Future in a Massala Dosa Tiffin Restraunt Washed Down by Salty Lasse Sound-Clash (lah) :::

Singapore Invite ...

Singapore Face-Off

Farmer G here - sitting in Singapore - vibing up the senile man - MAAAANNN .. this week (ok make that 2 weeks) mostly finds me facilitating 10 artists in the making of new work in materials made out of all things conductive-processed-cut-pasted and spewed out of speakers monitors and other visual-audio-emitting-devices... Fun to be had - but for now slowly getting used to the time-shift (if only they damn well sorted out a time-warp-thang to stop me having to sit for 13 hours next to sullen types on crap KLM air-ways I wouild be uber-glad) ...

Anyhows - work starts next Monday - so down-time allows me to drink-beer ("oooh you are nothing but a lad . tch tch") - yep thanks mum - lay by the pool and generally do nadder...

Highlight - or perhaps maybe a low-point for the unsuspecting masses that will witness the spectacle - will be when me and Simon Poulter are permitted to play the opening gig of the newly refurbished Substation gardens - on the 10th - come along and catch the world premier of .......

'Budha Bling' (a piece for Laptop Computer, Guitar and whatever else gets thrown into the mix).

Sooo, if anyone is in Singapore during until the 12th July - and wants to share a Nasi Lemak - I know just the street stall to go - and if mum aint watching - a beer or 8 to wash it down .... we are working at Spell 7 in Little India all week - Paper-Masalas our speciality ...!

Interactive Personality Test

Going through the PVA archives in preparation for our 2 week trip to Singapore starting next Monday - we will be working with artists: Harman Bin Hussin, Lim Woan Wen, Paul Rozario, Michael Tan, Choy Ka Fai, Jason Lim, Tan Bee Thiam, Jaynthi Siva and Yeo Shi Yun on a one week program to produce new work - the results being shown at the Substation gallery from July 6th onwards.... The PVA team will include: the Farmer here, Ming Wong, Simon Poulter, Lucy Harris and Julie Penfold - local support coming from Audrey Wong, George Chua and Khairuddin Hori. A whole load of fun in the sun awaits ....

Anyway - deep in the bowls of the PVA website, I stumbled upon the following from Dane Watkins - click and suss out just who the hell you are:

South Petherton Green Fair - pictures ......

Reaction to the excellent El Dopa set last Sunday afternoon ..



OK OK - I lie - pic reminds me of those old Spiral Tribe parties .... those were the summers hey ...

For tha real (and somewhat tamer and perhaps lamer) GF pics - go ...here.

Ripster

Auction over ...

Seven hundred quid for Bolans stained pants - well fuck me !!



Guess I need to find a different way to be this towns Cosmic Dancer ..

Oh yeah - forgot to say - Farmer Glitch presents a teenage obsession with T-Rex - scap book stylee - is just about ready for blog-serialisation - lock up your daughters - shut your pets inside - things might get messy !!

Signed picture of Jesus ...

Too good an offer to miss - go bid now - or forever regret it (and whilst regretting - for sure you will all burn in hell) ..

Jesus - signed by the bic-biro o tha lord

Sounds Like Trouble.

A week of non-stop audio - leaves me somewhat frazzled ..... to recap:

Monday 13th
Watershed, Bristol - facilitated part of a one-day workshop (Up to Speed The Potential of Broadband as a New Space for Research, Development and Production) for an invited audiance consisting of various artists/technology types .... producing small-file-size audio content and mobile-phone films for use with the Visitors Studio platform - hosted by Marc and Ruth over at Furtherfield... go check it out and join the fun...

Tuesday 14th - Friday 17th
Stroud Valleys ArtSpace, Stroud - 4 day stint up in Stroud working with 4 visual artists to produce new audio work - think sounds of rioting, bats flying, sub-harmonic throbbing and vocal-screaming - add a degree of exhaustion from 160 mile round trip daily comute and you may sort of get the picture ...

Friday 17th (8.30pm till far too late ...!)
Resound - Sounds Like Trouble - techy/front-of-house audio abusive behaviour (Adrian Sherwood taught me all I know about this stuff - and my ears will never be the same again)...! This was an stonker of a gig - take 10 or so audio artists - one 30,000 pound suround sound system - seat 50 people inbetween the 10,000 Watt system and bombard them with various at times extreme variations on a theme of sound-art... Highligt by far being the a recording of the destruction of a building by Duncan Whitley - he sums up this work as follows:

"In the recordings of the demolition of Rachel and Rathbone towers in East London, 2004, all sounds within the microphone's range become indicators of acoustic space – the helicopter passing overhead, voices on the wind, the chatter of birds arcing through space. I work with diverse recording techniques to recreate acoustic space, from binaural sound (designed for playback through headphones), to multi-microphone arrangements designed to record an ‘event' from multiple perspectives."

Picture me and Duncan - some 20 foot above the heads of the audiance below - me on live-mix and Duncan firing off sound clips into the system via a laptop PC - Duncan gives some sign language requesting we should crank the volume up somewhat - now the afore-mentioned surround-rig has only 2 controls - volume-up and volume-down - so I press the up button - to what can only be guessed at will be an ok level (there being no level indicators on the supa-hi-fi box of tricks) - there is the sound of flying helicopters - the one-minute warning flare is fired - screaming alerts echo - and then the loudest explosion I have actualy ever witnessed is thrown from the monstoruous speakers onto the unsuspecting audiance - it was so loud we are still discussing wether we actually saw or imagined a flash of light in the almost pitch-black room - both me and Duncan look at each other mouths open in amazment at what occured - below - a stunned and visably shocked audiance slowly regain some control - and applaud - trust me - when you have had the chance of performing audio on a system like that - there aint no turning back.... bloody fantastic !!

Sunday 19th (all day long)
South Somerset Green Fair - for the second year I ran the music tent (Ok last year we did not actuall use a tent but a village hall - ok not really a hall more a converted church, but I am sure ya get the picture -yep, nope , what the heck) - yesterday was a blistering 30 degrees if not more all day long - out in the sun for over 12 hours - downing cider, toking on weed and having a grand old time as it goes - Kid Shirt, his good lady, Kid Kid Shirt and indeed Kid Kid Kid Shirt all came forthe fun - music highligts being the excellent El Dopa the Ska Punk joys offered by Dyslecsick - but outstanding festival award - and thrill to boys and girls alike must go to the 9 gals - who for 10 minutes performed a routine of belly dancing that will be remebered and indeed played over in the minds of all that saw for many years to come - nice one girls !!

This week I am on holiday - no-one is allowed to play anything remotly loud, musical,non-musical or indeed speak to me - as I am looking for some PEACE AND QUIET --- Thank you ....

Hysteria ...

Man - still recovering from last Friday and the sonic-warfare assault waged upon us by the Mafia .... for those of you not lucky (or indeed now Deaf) enough to have witnessed this once in a decade (count it) event - then are you not the lucky ones .... seems the whole concert will be broadcast on Resonance FM in London in its entirety next monday 13th between 8:30pm and 10pm you can listen to it live on the web- it will also be repeated at 8am on the friday -

get a stream from
www.resonancefm.com

and a rare Mark Stewart remix from a Japan only release back in 2000 on Toys Factory ...

Silent Poets - Prisons (Mark Stewart remix) ..... lovely stuff - no less !!

PAIN STATION..

No - this is not the review of last Friday - when me and Kid Shirt endured an evening of the best death-metal-funk-n-grind - dished out by Mark Stewart and the Mafia - mixed past pain-thresholds by none other than Adrian Sherwood - ears ripped and torn to shreds - - an evening of extreme excellence... tha Kid reviews the events better than I can recall - too much Red Stripe and skunk me thinks (or not) - so go read tha kid

meanwhile - back to the post - from the newly setup Database of Virtual Art

A whole new twist to an old classic game ....

PAIN STATION



PainStation comprises a box structure housing a horizontal screen over which the two players face each other. The software is based on Pong, an early computer game. Players use their right hands to control a bat on screen, and must keep their left hand on the console's "pain execution unit". Removing your hand means breaking the circuit - game over. During play, if your screen bat misses a ball, your left hand suffers the consequences through the application of heat, electric shocks or a quick whipping on the back of your hand. "It's amazing how players get engrossed in the game to avoid being hurt", says Reiff, "and how audiences behave. The combination of the PainStation's sound effects, the behaviour of the players and onlookers makes the game an experience for the audience as much as the players." Many players have ended up with red, bruised hands - although not for long.

JVS - Man - Bass - in the place !!

IT NERDS - there ya have it - official confirmation at last !!

KL Update posting 3 - Digital Dudes ???? whatever ...

Another tale of 'Enjoyable Electronica' - yeah right - funny thing is after this gig there was a hotel-room band-smoking session and discussion where dare I say it - I was accused of scaring the shit out of the Malaysian crowd with the slabs of dirty-dark-industrial-ambiance that at times were layed on top of the otherwise funky(ish) beatz ..... "if you are going to go down that route - why not go the whole way and scare the shit out of them..." - I did try and indicate that we were not really trying to compete with the classic Hawkwind first album - which for those of you who have ever expereinced 'Paranoia parts 1, 2, and 3, whilst under the influence of trip-out substances, will know is the ultimate in fear, but as none of my fellow band-mates had even heard a Hawkwind track before I guess 'dark-and-scary' is very much a cultural thing - and as I am the only Brit aboard the DCL-love-boat, then I can only blame the english weather for my taste in 'the darker side of electro-funk...!!"

seems however that 'dirty-dark-industrial-ambience' equates to enjoyment for the KL massive ..



For those of you out there who are dying to experience a bit of what it was like to be at Bliss, Kuala Lumpa - and taste a 1 second loop of the show - then download the following baby - load it up into QuickTime Player - set the movie to LOOP and press play - it is only 300 K - comes with no health warnings - and is guaranteed not to scare you (even if you are allergic to industrial-funk!!) ...

Re.Cord - review from Staalplaat

Recieved a couple copies of the Re.Cord DVD/CD combo from Toby at Cocosolidciti - and a very nicely presented package it is indeed - as I have a somewhat vested interest in this (being invloved as one of the contributing artists, I shall refrain from slapping my own back) .... but will instead reprint the following review from the guys at Staalplaat ..........

BATTERY OPERATED - RE.CORD (CD+DVD by Cocosolidciti)
To fully understand what this is all about, the best thing is to start with the DVD part of it. It has ten tracks from ten artists around the world, who received a black box, in which they had to put their favorite conspiracy theory in sonic, visual and written form. Once that was completed, it was send back to Battery Operated, who initiated the project, who in return made an audio and visual remix of the material. The ten tracks, spanning most continents and each dealing with their favorite conspiracy theory, is a well-varied bunch. From the surprisingly rocky opening by BCD, one of Richard H. Kirk's nicknames to the ambient pieces of Kurt Ralske and Mathias Delplanque, tribal rhythms from Kim Ki-Chul and trip-hop breakbeats from Digital Cutup Lounge, to the more experimental outings of Gate and Freiband and the peeps Sachiko M, this is goes all over the musical place and should offer more than excellent reworkings for Battery Operated.
The audio remix of the material by Battery Operated brings the material back to quite experimental techno beats and crackling static hiss. It's hard to recognize any of the original material in there, but that makes it altogether much more exciting. The remix as a tool is a real expansive one, as once again is proven by Battery Operated. On the DVD part there is also the entire film they made for this work, which is a likewise hallucinatory work of camera's, both in and out of control. (FdW)
Address: http://www.cocosolidciti.com