Friday, November 04, 2011

Post - stasis

It was fun attending Simon Reynolds talk about "Retromania" down at Unsound Lounge the other week.
While I haven't read all of it, the book's implications are worth considering.
We have been engaged enjoying the accelerated 'unearthing' and retrying of old genres, esp. from late 1990's into 2000.
We can remember before then there was never much prospect or any dream that say, Ike Yard would be rereleased.
Ike had made it's music, had dozens, maybe hundreds of listeners in it's time.
Once IY got onto the Gomma "Anti NY" compilation- along with Death Comet Crew , things did pick up.
Dominatrix melodies had been recreated by Puff Daddy and compiled on Tommy Boy's "Perfect Beats" and Weatherall's Nuphonic "Nine O'Clock Drop", sampled but unlicensed by Carl Cox ( "Tonight" F.A.C.T comp.).
It has been reused many times and forms so I was not too surprised when I heard "Dominatrix" by DJ Hell while shopping in the record shop that used to be on North side of 14th St.
The guy working at the store told me i should be grateful Hell sampled my record.
More people looking through the web finding trace of more underknown , certain unknown music = the next waves of rereleases across recombinating spectrums of music
As everyone today deals with information and data, data deals with them.
And as every specific style or sound from a past music decades on instant access, some are bound to be obvious about how they use it.
What i picked up on from Simon's talk were some larger issues about 'What good is the past ?" and "If putting everything into the blender and spitting out unchanged bits of the past is what we have now, where does this lead ?".

Currently in the US we have not only a country of 'Haves' and 'Have not's',
but increasingly a society of "Know something's" and "Know nothing's".
Civil Wars, separation of Church & State, attempts at redefining evolution, distrust of trended into active fighting of science -
all part of the low level war and burn among citizens, idea groups, Ngo's and politicorps.
Some people don't want to know or face reality.
The country is a street lab deep in some future shock and also partially third wave.
Every country, nation state, person is in the situation to some degree.
Who and what is 'Constructive' or 'Destructive' in our world as we survive tectonic shifts and financial crash and crunch to come ?
The waves of change come and they pass on to the next, next thing.
We enjoy a sound, a group or music secret that only you and maybe some friends know about, see music delivery formats go out of production and brought back decades after.
That information you decide to hold onto, project yourself onto or against and carry with holds value one can continue sifting, sleeping on it and synthesizing.

Building on unfolding events including ' Revolution' protests in Iran, across the 'Arab Spring' and within the past 2 months - Occupy Wall Street here synthesized free running discontent, societal threads, trend to update protest as can be done by a global horizontal free flowing org. They may not really need to sleep in the cold in Zucotti Park anymore. Too easy a target for the Right. NYPD w Sonic cannons.

Especially during and after economic collapse, cultures change. Music changes.
There is always a new underground, seething enough and bursting out sparks that just sometimes flame.

SA

Labels: , , , , , ,

Thursday, November 03, 2011

Memories August - Oct.

Very interesting and invigorating times between August's post and now ...
These days Ike Yard, o13, Dominatrix, DCC and now, Black rain and i seem to be on FaceBook more then here.

A trip to NH w Michael Diekmann (Ike Yard, DCC, Lt.70 and others) built on the great day hikes we had taken in late August 2006.
That time,we got together at the cabin in Randolph where we set up on the living room table to make music that led us to believe we could probably reconstitute Ike Yard.
This time out we got up the Jewell trail up Mt. Clay the first day out and exhausted ourselves, 25F up on top - which we didn't reach.
Missed the NYC earthquake but heard about it up past tree line from a group of young Jewish kids bent on scaling Clay w radio in hand. That left the second day for driving around the Northern edges of White Mountains into Gilead Maine for some minutes and on the Kancamangus down around the other side past Jigger Johnson campground, the Androscoggin River and Saco Valley to Greely Lakes.
Day three w rain forecast from noon on, we took a chance to drive over to Sawyer Pond to see how far we would get before it came down.
In fact, we had arrived at the Pond and sat down to enjoy the view when the first drops began to fall.
Just then a loon cried out from the other side of the water as we settled into lunch under the pines.
We brought back 2 new pieces i had programmed on the drum machine, now called "Dead Diamond River" for another location passed, plus Ikemono Gatari ( all 'living creatures' ) for Ike Yard's 4th.

By the time we got back that Friday, it was time for Hurricane Irene.
AM Sunday CNN and Weather Channel were downtown at the Battery measuring how far the rivers came up over the lip.
Not very far, as we found after walking out across Ave. C to the East River where high tide has just pulled back leaving a line of little flotsam and stuff traced along the walkway.

By that Tue's i was heading down to S Carolina to see my Father (84) who was not doing well in hospital there.
We could see it was a good hospital tho' and he was bring taken care of and by end of our trip he was enroute to a 'living facility' because he couldn't walk well after weeks lying down after his fall.
Storm damage was evident on the way down and overall, it was a trip seeing things as they are down South.
On the 9 hour drive back I read "Red Cell" by Dick M which was in the car with a stack of other books.

That weekend we stood behind stylist Nicolas F to see Nomi in action @ Mercury Lounge.
And although it's easier now, shed more tears 10 years after 9/11.
The next week i literally ran down to EVRadio to meet up w Peter Hook from Joy Division and that night went to hear The Light play the JD album "Closer" among many other great JD songs. And it was GOOD, even 'great'.
The closest we would ever get to Joy Division.
I had tickets to see JD when they were supposed to come over and play TR 3 down on W Broadway.
100 words for John Foxx & Artrocker.
Met old friend author & producer Michael Benson i had met through the IRWIN guys back in that day.

Occupy NY had begun and I went down after a few days to feel the energy there @ Zucotti Park- and they are still going strong today.
Outstanding show by The Soft Moon @ Weird downtown had me in the back stumbling around in deep artificial fog , looking for the 'dressing room'. There wasn't one but I did meet up w Luis briefly.
The news about Steve Jobs passing came over that night. Powerfully.
The 2 part Marty's George Harrison docu "Living In The Material World" was airing.
Stories of the Beatles in - fighting, Patti & Eric, John & Yoko, meditation, gardening and the all too horrific intrusion into George's home by this crazed blood thirsty case. Me, I would have had a bit more 'protection' around the house after Lennon got gunned down.
Taken all together it was emotional and tied recent viewing and research together in a hopefully synchronistically positive way.

Unsound Festival in Krakow screened the 1987's "Hip Tech High Lit" 'cyber project' my old partner Wm Barg and i made w texts by Wm Gibson and Bruce Sterling for three days.
Meanwhile Kuedo's album came out, the new Xeno & Oaklander and a 7" i heard about on FB, Goitia- Dietz on Discerror.
Mid month Goitia -Deitz and i jammed out a 4-5 track Ep 'live', improvisationally at their Bk studio.

Said "Hello" to Fareed Zakaria @ Cooper Union speaking @ colloquium on "Educating Students To Lead In a Global Context".
And began watching R Sakamoto's "Schola" on Japanese TV NHK wherein he presented 'Classical music' with a panel including Akira Asada and music students in a workshop. I am learning piano in this way !
Debussy is up next.

Labels: , , , , , , ,

Releases & work 2011

Currently ...

o13 aka Outpost 13 is mixing the first album @ Mark's place.No label.
"Lost Pavillion" 12" coming on Opilec Records.
"Atrocity Exhibition" video excerpt up on Ballardian.com ...

Ike Yard is writing, recording a 4th release, album #3.No label.
Virtual 7" on EVERYTHINGISCHEMICAL in process for Jan.
Also a reissue of the Factory America 1982 Album w remixes TBA ...

Dominarix reissue is in process; Dave Tompkins doing some liner notes, i am doing the "story of ...", audio work is about done.
We have photos by Richard Kern from when Uproar label boss Joel Webber hired him to shoot us live and behind the scenes at the music video shoot. On the new Streetwise through Phase One NY. TBreleased mid 2012.
Also new Dom music going on a couple different ways at the moment TBA...

Death Comet Crew Streetwise reissue also into process, to follow mid 2012.
More from the Pyramid live 1984, Danceteria live w Phase Two & DJ High Priest and some v cool remixes from Japan.
New DCC EP should be out first half of 2012 TBA.

Black rain ( 1989 - 98 ) will see it's 1994 -'95 Wm Gibson sdtks rereleased on London indie TBA 2012 ...

SA aka Polystyle working on first EP from planned album TBA...

Out now :
SA aka Dominatrix remake of THE UNIT'S "I,Night" from THE UNIT'S CONNECTIONS massive reissue on Italy's Opilec Records.

SA collab pairing w Mirror Mirror on FRKWY'S 5 from RVNG.INT.

Rudements (1977-78 Wash DC) "Imagination" inculded on Kris Need's series "Dirty Waters 2" on Future Noise London

Coming up:
SA collab EP w German artist J Julian & Mea Kusma

SA collab EP w Goitia & Deitz

Labels: , , , , ,