Thursday 29 March 2012

I'm Going To A 'Gig' (Shock!) - Demdike Stare at Union Chapel


Going to see Demdike Stare this Saturday. I'd call it a 'gig', but that suggests the ancient phenomenon of a band playing 'live'...which is ancient to me anyway because the last band I saw 'live' was.............................yes, that long ago (so long that I can't remember). Bands still play 'live', so I've heard. I'd go and see a big band, meaning a Jazz big band, not tall, or fat, or both, playing guitars...and singing. The thought of anyone doing that in front of me is horrifying. Unless it was The Stooges...although I even turned down the chance to see them last time they played London...because it's been so long and my listening has consisted of so much that is not Rock that I couldn't face a Rock Gig, filled with Rock Fans...

One thing's for sure; Demdike Stare will not 'rock', except in the other sense of the word, which I believe is no longer used much, and may never have been applicable to Demdike Stare performing. Perhaps 'performing' is not the right word, since it suggests a performance, which implies doing more than standing hunched over...whatever it is they'll being twiddling the knobs of...

There will be visuals, which is the main selling point aside from their manipulation of pre-recorded sounds, which I hope will be warped into something markedly different from the album tracks. Otherwise, what's the point? I once swore to myself that I'd never pay to see knob-twiddlers...and here I am, three days from doing just that. But the The Union Chapel is such a perfect venue to see Demdike Stare that I couldn't resist. My hope is that they will evoke such thunderous spirits of darkness as to bring the place down...after I've left, of course.

Footnote: the last time I went to the Union Chapel was to see the Art Ensemble of Chicago...that was the early-90s, and they were a band that could always get me out of the bunker.

Tuesday 27 March 2012

Not Only Rock and Roll - Ray Lowry Comic Strip Collage


Clearing out the draws today I came across these, cut from the NME. Not sure of the dates, but guess the early 80s.





Monday 26 March 2012

Transverse - Carter Tutti Void (Mute)

    
The natives are restless,
driving down the autobahn armed with instruments -
plucking & prodding 
electronic voodoo rhythms -
terrifying all respectable citizens within earshot -
howling vocals -
the incessant beat -
echo -
thump-thump-thump-thump-thump...
deviant metal box motorik dub disco blitzkrieg bop

Sunday 25 March 2012

Under Pompelmo - Giuliano Sorgini

                                                                                                      
Get your go-go boots on -  this album has a glorious Swinging London feel to it despite being made in 1973. It's also known as London Transport, and is something of an oddity in that the opening track is nearly 16mins long, yet doesn't drag, or overstay its welcome, or feel like being stuck in a tunnel on the Northern line. Crisp drum sound, organ, guitar - all moving more efficiently than the city's tube trains, which isn't saying much. It's a big red Routemaster that you hop on to watch groovy London from the top deck, taking in mini-skirts, maxi skirts and Afro hairdos along the way.

Listen hear

Thursday 22 March 2012

Serge Gainsbourg Jazz Compilation


I've derived so much pleasure from this that I thought I'd share it. Vocals and extremely cool instrumentals. It's Serge in a Jazz mode...and you know that's a good thing.

51MB
Get it here

Tuesday 20 March 2012

Le Mani Destre Recise Degli Ultimi Uomini - Traditonalists (Secret Chiefs 3)


Jim Thirwell put me on to this - not personally, of course, but through the YouTube video in the 'What's In My Bag' series. As soon as he pulled this out the cover attracted my attention, looking just like a Giallo film poster, but I'd never heard of Secret Chiefs 3, which is wonderful because it turns out that there are still thrilling surprises in music and this is one of them.

It's a homage to soundtrack masters such as Cipriani, Nicolai, Morricone, Piccioni etc - and done so well, so very well, that right now it's the best album I've heard all day, week, month year, decade or ever (take your pick). It covers all styles, from psychotic, discordant strings ('Psychism 1: Cytherea's Possession') to Easy ('Love Spell' - complete with wordless vocals). 'Zombievision' is Goblinesque - Goblin via Material with the bass-heavy production. There's demented free-form wah-wah brilliance ('Codex Alimentarius'), and    
'Nano-correction/Human Migrations/Faith Realizes' has just about every genre trait fused into under 2mins of genius. I can't help but think of John Zorn's tributes to noir and Morricone - well this is easily as good.



Monday 19 March 2012

On The Corner With Miles Davis & The Tape-Beatles

In a Miles mode this afternoon - hanging out On The Corner, the one that stretches from '72 to '75, and that's a long corner, a long journey which, taken without a break, will drive you 'round the bend - but 'The Hen' and 'Mtume' are such momentous rhythm machines that it's hard to get off.

There are others too, but I'm on them now - and the beat goes on. Mix with a liberal sprinkling of The Tape- Beatles' Music With Sound and you have...something...my listening today, to be precise. Music With Sound is a plunderphonic masterpiece, as you probably know. And you can also guess the connection, perhaps, if you think of what Teo Macero did with Miles' music - yes - cutting it down to size, a size suited to the old LP format - and now we must praise the digital for allowing us to hear how long some of those jams were, where they went, how they ended, or never seemed to have an ending in sight, more to the point. Teo took the scissors to Miles, The Tape-Beatles took theirs to choice sampled speech from all over the place, splicing with every musical genre possible, so it seems. The results are captivating snapshots of various modes of thought, propaganda, advertising etc. It's no new trick, but they do it so well.

Lee Harvey John Oswald Eno Byrne Schaeffer Mixmaster Whoever have all employed/deployed the sample to great effect - hold on, how did JFK's assassin get in there? All this mixological trickery even has me thinking in a plunderphonic fashion wherein names come to mind that don't logically fit with the content. Plundergraphia is another issue. I may have made up that word. I'm currently working on a project which samples sentences. To this end, The Tape-Beatles are an inspiration - Miles has been and will continue to be an inspiration for reasons which any artist working in another form inspires - attitude, talent, product, spirit and so on.



Sunday 18 March 2012

Manorexia With J. G. Thirwell

It's been a very musical kind of day, which in one sense is nothing new, but I rarely spend so much time foraging and listening as I have since mid-morning - yes, that long, but not without breaks, of course, to do things such as keep an eye on the Chelsea game and fall off my chair when Torres scored...then fall again when he repeated the miracle.

It's been a Manorexic kind of day, by which I mean I've been listening to J.G.Thirwell's project, Manorexia, not starving myself due to body image problems, although I have musical bulimic tendencies, it's true. It's under control though, honest. I suspect, in this era, many music-lovers binge on files before throwing them up (deleting) again. A friend recently tipped me off to Manorexia's forthcoming gig at the Union Chapel here in Swinging London (TM). I'd never even heard the name, although I had heard of Thirwell and even owned a Foetus record once upon a time. So I started hunting and now have all four albums. Yes, by that you'll gather I liked what I found. The sound evolves from the relatively straightforward moody ambience of Volvox Turbo to the more complex electro-orchestral manoeuvres on Dinoflagellate Blooms. The latest, from 2010, is The Mesopelagic Waters, which reworks tracks from the first two albums using only a chamber orchestra. Despite the differences musical themes are constant; the noirish feel runs throughout, from Barry Adamson-style soundtracking to tension in an electronic mode - all well and damned good in my book. At his best (and there's nothing that isn't good here) he sounds like a holy alliance between Bernard Herrmann, Haxan Cloak and Demdike Stare, maybe. It may not have been a creative day, but it certainly wasn't wasted.

Friday 16 March 2012

Rub Out The Words - The Letters Of William Burroughs 1959-1974

     
The 'new method' mentioned in this letter is the cut-up, although he only names it that in the next one he wrote. Coincidentally, he uses the phrase 'include me out'...


With Michael Portman & Ian Sommerville, London 1966

Thursday 15 March 2012

Mercury Boosts Writing Skills

                        This is your month to shine,
       inside
                                                                                                                                and out,
                         as the sun begins its journey towards your birth sign.
                                           This can unearth hidden truths and talents.
                   Best of all,
                                                     you can start living a life
                                          that's tailor-made for you.
                 This fires up ideas and the energy to move them on.
                       With mind master Mercury
         also on form for you,
                            even subjects or skills you've found hard
                                   seem so easy to learn.
                                                     It's total makeover time!
                                                             
                                                         A feel-good moon helps you focus
                                on fitness and
                                          start really making positive changes.
                                                            Venus reminds you who –
                                                                 and what –
                                                you truly value.
                                                                This month's sun energy concentrates on
                                     making all kinds of discoveries and encourages
                              you to find out more about yourself –
                                    and the people who really matter.
                                             Venus, in your sign, hands the romance reins right back to you.
                               
                                                                            This is a month to focus
                                on your highest hopes
              and revive ambitions
              or dreams you shelved.
                                             This time they can happen –
                                        if
                           you
                                       truly
                                                believe
                                   in
                                                       them.
                                                                                 
                        Mercury adds public-speaking ability to captivate
                                                                                                           individuals and crowds alike.
                                                                            A prize moon adds luck when you chase
                                             the award that matters most.
                                                       The moon stirs up emotions
                                                at home and major issues can be settled.
                                                              Success all the way for you this month
                             as your ambition sector warms up,
                                                   inspires you with confidence
                  and a special something to make rivals step aside.
                                                 Bosses like your style.
                              If you want it, go get it!
                                                            Shrewd Mercury is onside to make sure you choose your new goals
                    wisely.
                                                     From sending off writing
                                           or creative samples,
                                           to adding your name, or numbers, to a prize list.

                  A full moon
                              brings an insight into genuine
                                              feelings
                    and
                 true
                         thoughts.

                                           There is extra luck lined up and chances to earn more,
                        while you have a strength that stops others piling too much money pressure on you.
                     Venus increases intuition to transform your love life.
                 Venus reminds you even fiery love can burn out.
                            Ideas worked out with friends, or community projects, can be especially lucky.
                                                  Photos or documents that link the past and present
                           reveal secret talents
                       and show you how to use them.
                                    As the month unfolds, you will become more adventurous
              and seize your opportunities. You can feel your horizons widen.
             Adding your name to a study or travel list can be just the start.
                 Approaching a group linked to fitness or learning can take you
                                                                                                              forward
                                                                                                                           faster than going it
                                          alone.
                                             
                                The world is waiting, you are ready.
                   Mercury's input is an ability to trust your judgment and stick with it.
                                      Full-moon magic turns ideas into money-makers.
                          As Venus hits the top of your chart,
              passion dreams can turn real.
            In a month of high demands,
                         make sure
                             you stick to
           a healthy lifestyle plan.
                   
                       If you've been mulling over big family changes,
                           in money
             or responsibility, this is the month you can make them happen.
                              And you can start, and stay, in control of any shared projects.
              Mercury's planning skills slice through red tape so a celebration or a sale get a calendar slot.
                   
                                                Venus takes your love life on a voyage of discovery.
                              Passion planet Venus is calm and committed and
                    helps you make love choices that work  for you.
                                                                       Venus focuses on commitment and this
                                                                              sets deeply passionate feelings free.
                                        Venus enters your healing zone,
                                  enabling so many past promises to be fulfilled.
                          Venus moves to your zone of pure romance
              and love is blissful.
          Venus is in your partnership chart
                                       so life pledges are much easier to make –
                             and keep.

                                                                           You have a deeper understanding of life
                       and the way other people's minds work,
                                          helping you to handle even difficult individuals.
                    You are firm but fair.
           The full moon lights up the hidden part of your chart and helps to resolve doubts.
                                     Your career chart is starting to look good and a time
                   of waiting can be over.
                             Mercury steps up, too,
                to make the kind of practical plan
       that gets results –
                         and you have an inbuilt efficiency that gives others confidence in you.
            Friends surprise you
                              with winning ideas, too.
                                                                          Get ready for a month of changes in
                                                       how you think
                                                          and what action you take –
                       you are ready to test your luck on every level.
                                            You don't just sense opportunity is out there,
           you know you have to use it or lose it.
                                 A full moon in your fame chart adds starry inspiration.
                     All uncertainty can go,
                                       and you feel ready
                                                    to push family decisions through,
                       as the sun begins its journey
                            towards the homelife part of your chart.

                 If
     you
                                  want to
                       live
                                           or love
                        in a new place
                                                 then this can happen –
                  and that much-missed face could return.

                                                                              Mercury's role is to put love
                             before pride
             and hopes of learning a new language can speed up.
                      You don't just have great ideas this month,
                       you put them
          across
                                                                                                    in
                  unique
                                                               ways –
                                                     especially if speaking or singing your own words is part of your dreams.


                                                                                            Mercury boosts writing skills
                      and helps you
                          break
                                               through
                                                                   barriers
                                                   by asking the right questions at the right time.
       
                                                                            If someone matters to you,
                      don't assume he,
                         or she, knows it –
                    say it!
                                                             You are ready
                                                  to know
                                            how much
                                  you achieve,
                                       as the sun finishes its journey in your sign then moves to your money chart.
                                                                                                                       So
                       you
                  have
                time
                                    to make good cash choices
                                                                                              and Mercury makes sure they last.
                               As Venus visits your cool-thinking chart,
                  you make switched-on love decisions.

Wednesday 14 March 2012

Tuesday 13 March 2012

I'm Anything But Middle Class

I'd watched some of Melvyn Bragg's recent series about class and culture when a friend posted Blossom Dearie's rendition of 'I'm Hip' on FB - it was new to me - the line 'I am anything but middle class' stood out, naturally. Frishberg and Dorough penned a sharp parody of hipsterism in the 60s. Even in America, a country supposedly less obsessed with class than the UK, to be middle class was not hip, apparently. The term 'hipster' may be common again in America today but despite having been called one, I'm still not sure what it means.

Class, culture, Hip, unhip - no such thoughts entered our simple country proletariat heads in the 70s when, as a member of the village people, I got the nightlife and fashion bug. But it was evident that there were no middle class kids dancing with us to the strains of Stevie or Rod Stewart. And we didn't give it a thought. I won't be hipping you to anything new when I say that street culture then was purely working class...perhaps it still is, although Melvyn Bragg suggests that more of us are middle now than ever before.

I've been called middle class on a forum, presumably because I displayed certain associated cultural traits. Oh how this prole laughed. Well, a council house-born boy simply cannot be listening to Jazz or Classical music and reading something other than a Rock/sporting biography, surely. Ironically, in relation to Bragg's series, by every definition except culture I am working class. Even my love of football no longer automatically aligns me with the hoi polloi, although not being able to afford to go to games does.

Now whilst I disagree with Bragg's notion that the middle class is a prevailing force in Britain today, definitions do feel increasingly irrelevant, especially online, where old signifiers such as accent, dress sense etc are rendered invisible. And with easy access to all music, perhaps an appreciation of Jazz no longer has class connotations. Not that having to go out and buy records stopped me in the 80s. And if you asked why I evolved from only having strict, class-bound cultural taste, I would not be able to answer. No-one helped me, least of all my parents. I discovered what was out there on the other side of the class barrier by simply being curious; by reading books and watching films which linked to music with links to films and so on.

To shackle culture to class today means embracing the notion that they're still inseparable. To some extent, that's true. Optimists can suggest that Bartok or Bud Powell may well reside in the homes of council estates and tower blocks across Britain, but to support the idea means playing the exception card and ignoring the 'rule', and we can find exceptions to anything. The 'rule' is that proles aren't sophisticated enough to be playing Stockhausen. But they write their own rules, and with the world of culture just a click away, it makes even less sense that they should be so limiting. Still, I know all about the self-imposed limitations of class

Meanwhile, here's Blossom. Note the line about reading Playboy - I guess I must be hip, by 1960s standards anyway....




I'm hip
I'm no square
I'm alert
I'm awake
I'm aware
I am always on the scene
Makin' the rounds
Diggin' the sounds
I read Playboy magazine
'Cause I'm hip
I dig
I'm in step
When it was hip to be hep, I was hep
I don't blow but I'm a fan
Look at me swing
Ring a ding ding
I even call my girlfriend man
I'm so hip
Every Saturday night
With my suit buttoned tight
And my suedes on
I'm gettin' my kicks
Watching arty French flicks
With my shades on
I'm too much
I'm a gas
I am anything but middle class
When I hang around the band
Poppin' my thumbs
Diggin' the drums
Squares don't seem to understand
Why I flip
They're not hip
Like I'm hip
I'm hip
I'm alive
I enjoy any joint
Where there's jive
I'm on top of every trend
Look at me go
vodie-o-do
Bobby Darrin knows my friend
I'm so hip
I'm hip
But not weird
Like, you notice, I don't wear a beard
Beards were in but now they're out
They had they're day
Now they're passe
Just ask me if you're in doubt
Cause I'm hip
Now whatever the fads
And whatever the ads
Say is neatsville
I'll be keeping abreast
Out in front of the rest with elitesville
'Cuz I'm cool as a cuke
I'm a cat,
I'm a card
I'm a kook
I get so much out of life
Really, I do
*scoobie-du-bu*
One more time play Mack the Knife
Let 'er rip
I may flip
but I'm hip
I'm hip
I'm hip

Monday 12 March 2012

Time Zone Eternity mix

Party animals, Indie rockers, hip-hoppers and neo-folkies, don't touch this new mix. Yes, I've been messing around with (I mean carefully blending) sounds again - for your stereophonic pleasure - well, it keeps me off the streets. Special treats here include Jon Appleton's vox pop on electronic music and a killer Slant Azymuth track. If you dig it, don't forget to Twitter about it and, er, Facebook it and..um...do anything else that will make me a legend in my own lifetime - ha-ha...


http://www.mixcloud.com/Timewriter/time-zone-eternity/

Music Is By Sun Ra
Découverte By Parmegiani
Helicial Scan By Slant Azymuth
Viaggio Cosmico By V. Nadalin
Die Obelisk By Peterthomas
Warum By G.I.N.C
Track 16 By B. Nicolai
Volt Of A Worm By Kotra
Train De Passage By Parmegiani
Stereo Electronic Music By B Arel
Newark Airport By J Appleton
Electronic Brain By G Safred
G. Tazartes By Transports
Bitten By The SnakeBuy By Anstam
Ponojovshina By G Artikler
Mechanical Motion By Kid Baltan
Danse De Electrons By R Davy
Officini Stellare By Moggi
Artscratch By No Noise Reduction


Thursday 8 March 2012

Happening In San Remo - Bruce Cassiday (Pyramid 1967)


I wonder if there's a Young Underground today...and if so, do they indulge in sexual and mental excesses?

 



Wednesday 7 March 2012

Fatuous Times Magazine 1994


Came across this today whilst going through a pile of old 'zines. By the mid-90s many had moved from pure cut'n'paste to desktop, and FT reflects the changes (whizzy digital effects!) whilst retaining it's raw edge. My own effort, EGO, is pretty much unscannable, being so crudely produced, which is probably a good thing. Flicking through this reminded me of how good 'zines could be, and how special it felt to get hold of one because you knew it was a limited edition, unlike blogs and their potentially massive audience which, in the spirit of the 'zine, Include Me Out has managed to avoid.  

 

 


 

 




Sunday 4 March 2012

Ready-Made Answers Are Free

                                                Are you sure you want to  move this folder
                                                         to the Recycle Bin?
                                         Take
                                             the reader
                                                        behind the wheel with the worst
                                                                     driver you have ever know.   They are
                                                driving ahead of their headlights too, now, and
                                                     things are
                                                         going very, very
                                                                       fast. And from the
                                                                             appearance, they never thought
                                               of basing their music around a
                                                                 dominant aesthetic, never
                                                                                 dawdling with
                                                                                          such matters as theme, never
                                                                                             cared
                                                             much about things like
                                                          context and meaning. And let
                                                                               us remember
                                                                                   that, compared with soma,
                                          beer is a drug of the crudest and
                                    most unreliable kind. Your
                                               life gets ruined by strangers
                                                            And now everything is real
                                                                                 real real real. Our
                                                       trains are run by lightning    Our tube like
                                                                thunder sound but you can dodge the thunderbolt
                                                                                 by going underground. If it
                                                          isn't Wolfschmidt's
                                                Vodka, it isn't breakfast. Modernity overpaints
                                                                                      history; Europe messily effaces
                                                           America, where good and evil once fought
                                               it out in stark, simple black-and-white. Beliefs
                                                                                                are cheap and
                                                                                              they do seem great bargains
                                                                at first. Ready-made answers are free.

Saturday 3 March 2012

The Face On The Fork - Iain Sinclair (The Beat Scene Press 2012)



Bought this the other week from Beat Scene Press - a booklet written (and signed) by London's Number 1 psychic geographer (I think that's what he is...but I'm not sure what it means...perhaps he holds sessions in a tent on Hackney marshes where, for a fiver, he predicts your future journeys in London...maybe).

It contains impressionist snapshots of encounters and connections with Burroughs, starting in 1962 through to visiting him in Lawrence in '95. I like this from 'Gozo Winter 1967':  'The sense of Burroughs - image falling, word falling - was of a man in a room. Or a photograph of a man in a room, sucking all the colour out, tapping dead veins...........He is courteous, he responds, but he is not really there.'

Whilst being fully aware of the Burroughs industry's potential for producing books with only tenuous connections - I can't wait for the forthcoming memoir by Bill's gun-seller - I find it hard to resist. In the absence of actual work by the man, it's all we Burroughs junkies can get.

The first essay, 'Dublin. Winter. 1962', reminds me that some writers were lucky enough to live in an age when it was possible to write to Burroughs, T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, Paul Bowles and Jean Genet in the hope of forging connections, as Sinclair did when touting for contributors to his new magazine, Albatross. Burroughs, however, was the only one who responded, sending the text that's reproduced in this booklet and scanned below. 'We shared the three thin sheets of Burroughs text, each one, from the blue airmail envelope.' Albatross never materialised.

Thursday 1 March 2012

Miscellany: Picasso Is Absent, Waiting For Umiliani, Not To Be Read Now, Roland Topor, Funkadelic...

“If you know exactly what you are going to do then what is the point in doing it?” ~ Picasso

Picasso isn't in the dictionary (the Microsoft Word one which underlines absent words in red) - neither's Miro, van Gogh, Cezanne, Duchamp ... Cook is though, I mean Beryl, but perhaps that's a coincidence...
Should I be surprised at this? Michelangelo's in it. Or did I add that? Probably not since I can't recall ever having typed the name before. Then again, who can remember every name they ever typed into a computer? Isn't it about time they updated the dictionary to include artists who worked after the 16th century? Gauguin is there. Paolozzi? No. (Note to self, stop trying).

As you may have gathered by the clue in quote form, I have no idea what I'm going to do - here - with this space.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Currently waiting:





You can't have enough Umiliani in your life. Unless you have every great record he made...in which case, you have enough.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Currently stuck for reading, despite the height of the To Be Read pile. But that's the thing, isn't it? There may be a stack to read but sometimes you're not in the mood for any of them. Got any suggestions? On second thoughts a) that's a stupid question because you don't know what I've read, or my taste in literature, and b) don't bother. I say this because you wouldn't anyway...you only came here to nab a picture....so go away...or, if you got this far, you may be interested in more of my Musings, in which case, look around...although, I confess, this kind of aimless musing isn't going to sell you the idea that I have anything interesting, informative, wise or useful to say...so now you can go away.....

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Finished Roland Topor's The Tenant recently, the last good book I read. I could relate to parts of it - the noise & neighbours scenario, not the waking up wearing make-up and a frock. As I write, the woman upstairs is banging something into her floor - shame it's not her tongue. Yes, problems with her, but since I don't live in a building filled with people hell bent on driving me nuts, there the comparison with Monsieur Trelkovsky ends. This is just as well because throwing myself out of the (ground floor) window would only result in a few bruises.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Finally, some music. I didn't pick this, YouTube recommended it. 'They' know me well....

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