Sdtrk: ‘Der Rauber und der Prinz’ by DAF

Not so much earlier than right now, I had the vague stirrings of an altogether different post in mind, but then I saw the following clip of Delia Derbyshire, the doyenne of musique concrète during the BBC Radiophonic Workshop’s heyday, posted to YouTube and decided, ‘well, that other post is gonna have to wait a wee bit longer.’

Delia Derbyshire is one of the earliest and most influential electronic sound synthesists in history. She was musically active from 1962 until the mid seventies, then briefly again for a few years before she died in 2001 at the age of 64.

Although her revolutionary sounds are familiar to over a hundred million people through the theme to the television series “Doctor Who” and the seminal album of 1969 “An Electric Storm” she was hardly ever credited and her name is almost unknown. The bulk of her musical production and atmospheric sound for television and radio programmes is on tape in the BBC Sound Archives. Her own personal collection of tapes was also consigned to the archive on her death and since then only three new tracks have been released on compilation albums with music from other composers. Most will probably never be heard again. A catalogue was made of the Archives, but it has not been published.
taken from this site

Gods, she’s so hot, both physically and creatively. And keep in mind that she and the other premiere members of the Radiophonic workshop, namely John Baker and David Cain, were creating things such as loops and sequencing with analogue equipment. No fancy ProTools or laptop magick here, which makes what they did all the more astounding. I recall seeing another interview with her on the recent DVD for ‘An unearthly child’, the first ever Doctor Who episode, and she was saying that sometimes they would make tapeloops that would literally run the length of a hallway. And naturally, everything was hand-spliced back then. Hand-spliced. Can you imagine?
And yes, I absolutely melted when I heard the way she pronounced ‘punctuating’.

Would you like to learn more about Delia Derbyshire, the woman who helped revolutionise 20th century music? Yes, yes you would. Why not stop round the appropriately-named delia-derbyshire.org, and kill an hour or two?

Technorati tags: Delia Derbyshire, BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Musique concrète

Sdtrk: ‘Mr Alphabet’ by The glove

*does excessively dramatic Danny Thomas-style spittake* HOLY

Insanely Rare Velvet Underground LP on eBay for $19K
Pitchfork | 12-01-06

Got a little extra cash from mowing lawns this summer? Or from, say, a massive inheritance, a game show victory, or the child labor racket? If not, you may as well stop reading now, because the following is directed solely at the fiscally well-endowed.

The interweb, as it’s known to do, has been positively buzzing today with reports of an online auction for an insanely, absurdly, preposterously, unfathomably, overwrought-modifier-of-your- choosing-ly rare slab of test-pressed acetate from the one and only Velvet Revolver.

Oh wait, scratch that– the one and only Velvet Underground. Seems that while in NYC’s Chelsea hood in September 2002, a serendipitous young man from Montreal stumbled across an original 1966 test-pressing of an early version of The Velvet Underground & Nico, featuring alternative takes and mixes of nine of the uber-classic’s ramshackle jams.

“ARGUABLY THE RAREST & MOST IMPORTANT ROCK ‘N’ ROLL AND POP-ART ARTIFACT IN THE WORLD”, as the auctioneer subtly puts it, the record has been listed on eBay for the world to bid upon. It’s believed to be the only one of its kind in existence, part of the storied Lost Scepter Studio Recordings, and an unparalleled snapshot of the VU during its infancy.

Best of all, our little Chelsea crate-digger bought this thing for 75 cents. It’s a captivating tale of dumb luck and triumph in the face of– er, mostly dumb luck, and you may read about it in the auction listing here.

As of press time, the record’s going for a cool $19,000, and the auction ends December 8 around dinnertime (central)– so if you don’t want some chump bidder named “emoscreamo” to get his/her grubby hands on the most precious piece of plastic since Barbra Streisand’s fifth nose, best pony up.

Apparently, some bloke named ‘mechadaddy’ (heh) walked away with the acetate, having paid a finance-destroying price of $155,401 USD. That’s impressive, by its sheer fanatical monomania alone.
That individual had better see about remastering it for a Cd version, as I’m sure I’m not the only one that’s really really curious to hear the alternate versions of ‘Venus in furs’, ‘Femme fatale’, and all the others. But egad — for that much dosh, that LP better come with the ghosts of Nico and Sterling Morrison

Sdtrk: ‘The kill’ by Joy division

At various points in our lives, my music-making mates and I would regularly vow that we would one day assemble a bucketful of contact microphones, for additional Noise-making weaponry. As you suspect, we never got round to it. But thanks to the Bay of e, now we don’t have to!

Contact Mic Noise Shaker. Masonna Merzbow Whitehouse
This is a noise maker! A shaker with a microphone inside. Plug it into a distortion pedal for a seering wall of noise. Similar to the noise shaker device used by Japanese noise artist Masonnna. Hand built in a sturdy aluminum canister.

‘HAY!’ I can hear you asking. ‘What the hell’s a contact microphone?’ Essentially, it’s a regular mic, only stripped down of its casing, so that all you have is the bit that picks up the sound. You then rewire it so that it plugs directly into whatever your lead is; again, like a regular mic, but since it’s considerably smaller without its housing, you’re free to do more anarchic things with it. You can tape one to the inside of a suitcase, fill it with Cd jewel cases, and shake it about!* You can place one in your mouth!** You can gaffer tape a couple to your bare chest, and have a friend beat the shit out of you!*** The possibilities are limited only by your imaginaaaation.

For a better grasp of a typical contact mic in use, here’s Maso Yamazaki (Masonna) himself, leaping like a spastic, posessed bunny on YouTube. About 1.22 into the video, you can briefly see him throttling it about in his left hand.

Very ace! Kinda makes me want to dust off my effects pedals and four-track again

*as done by Masonna
** I think Jojo Hiroshige of Hijokaidan did this once
***as done by Einstürzende Neubauten

Technorati tags: Noise, Masonna, Maso Yamazaki, Hijokaidan, Einstürzende Neubauten

Sdtrk: ‘Shaken (Kid 606 refix)’ by Drop the lime

The inevitable conclusion?

SEAN (handing Cd back): ‘Yeah, that was a little too harsh for me, there.’
DAVECAT: ‘Ah ha ha ha ha!’

Obvious result? I would say so, yes..

Burnett-Rae then goes on to briefly discuss [Aleister] Crowley’s poetry and a few other topics. Of interest is when he writes, “I have mentioned that he was unusually temperate in his use of alcohol and that even a slight excess of spirits would cause him to ‘pass out’. The same could not be said of his curries! I was invited to have one of these, prepared by himself, one day just before the war. At the first mouthful I thought I had burned my tongue with caustic acid and reached for the water and thereafter took water with every successive spoonful. Crowley, however, shovelled an enormous plateful away with record speed, fortifying it as he went with chillies and other spices, the sweat pouring down his face, as if he were in a Turkish bath. When he had eaten copiously, he helped himself to more and offered me another plateful but I had had enough, although normally I am fond of curry.”
taken from this site

As I told him, Noise is really an acquired taste

Sdtrk: ‘Cruise (Force the truth)’ by whitehouse

Today was odd at work, as both of my managers were getting all pally with me. Allow me to set up some background, if you will: every week, I bring something to read so I’m not bored insensate both before work begins and for our 10 minute break period, and last week, I’d brought my copy of ‘The Scooter book‘. George ambled by and asked me what it was about, and I explained that I love Mod culture, hence the purchase. (Actually, Zip Gun gave it to me, but that’s a detail he wouldn’t be concerned with.) He pretty much stops round to my desk every time he sees me with a new book or magazine now, and today, he’d enquired as to what other stuff I’m into. I avoided mentioning the obvious, but I brought up Britcoms, and learned that George was a fan of ‘Are you being served?’ and ‘Chef!’, which was pretty ace, and completely unexpected…

Later on, my other supervisor Sean was asking me what kinds of music I’m into, as a couple of weeks ago, he’d seen me reading the recent MOJO magazine special on Morrissey & Manchester. He told me he used to be a guitarist in a local band for a couple of years back in the late Eighties; which, again, was the latest in a series of non sequiturs. I told him that I’m into all kinds of stuff, but these days, I usually can be found listening to either Noise/Power-electronics, or European girl singers from the Sixties. Naturally, I had to attempt to explain it, at which point, Sean said, ‘Have you got a Cd burner? Just burn me some stuff, and I’ll listen to it.’ Aheh heh heh. But of course.

Here’s what I made for him!
File has expired, sorry.
‘Soundtrack for Entropy’. 80 minutes of 18 tracks, featuring NON, Merzbow, Masonna, Ramleh, whitehouse, Venetian snares with Speedranch, The Gerogerigegege, popporu, and Wreath.VCA, which would be my own Power-electronics project from the late Nineties. My only regret is that I couldn’t fit a second Masonna track on the disk, but my intent should still be clear.

I’m eagerly awaiting his response, as it should be priceless. Unless, of course, it gets me fired

Sdtrk: ‘Reel around the fountain (The Troy Tate sessions version)’ by the Smiths

It’s about feckin’ time — hopefully this will be worth the wait. From the July newsletter for NewOrderOnline.com:

Control

Sure to excite (or enrage) many a disaffected, morose fan, filming for Control, the long-awaited movie about Joy Division’s late frontman, Ian Curtis, began this week. Directed by veteran music video director and photographer Anton Corbijn, the film focuses on the tumultuous last years of Curtis’ life before he committed suicide in 1980, at the age of 23 and shortly before the band was to depart for its first American tour.

Control deals with Curtis’ romantic conflicts with his wife, Deborah, and his mistress, Annik Honore, his increasingly debilitating epileptic seizures, and his performances with Joy Division. Filming will take place in the English towns of Nottingham and Macclesfield (where Curtis lived and is now buried). The film will be released in the UK by Momentum Pictures sometime in 2007.

The film is based upon and expands on the 1995 book Touching From a Distance written by Curtis’ widow as a personal account of her life with the singer. Deborah Curtis serves as a co-producer on the film as well, along with Factory Records founder Tony Wilson. Matt Greenhalgh wrote the script for Control, talking to those closest to Curtis, including Honore, who previously remained silent on her relationship with him.

Sam Riley, who played Mark E. Smith in 24 Hour Party People, stars as Curtis, Academy Award-nominated actress Samantha Morton plays Deborah Curtis, Alexandra Maria Lara is Honore, James Anthony Pearson is Joy Division/New Order guitarist Bernard Sumner, Joe Anderson is bassist Peter Hook, Harry Treadaway is drummer Stephen Morris, Toby Kebbell is Factory Records partner and Joy Division manager Rob Gretton, and Craig Parkinson is Wilson.

Longtime fan Corbijn has his own history with Joy Division. In 1979, he moved from Holland to the UK to photograph the band, resulting in this now-familiar image. He directed the posthumous video for “Atmosphere” in 1998. In a press release, Corbijn said, “If I only ever make one movie, CONTROL would have to be that. I simply feel that as Joy Division and Ian Curtis played a big part in my life, I cannot think of a better combination of subject and director.”

But what’s a film like this without a killer soundtrack? Not to worry, that will be more than taken care of. The soundtrack will include original tracks recorded by Warsaw (the band’s previous incarnation before becoming Joy Division) and Joy Division from the late 1970s and early 80s. New Order will compose the score for the film. Other featured acts on the soundtrack are David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Roxy Music, Lou Reed, and the Buzzcocks.

With Corbijn directing this, at the very least, it’ll look ace — after he worked with Joy division, he was also heavily involved with raincoated Scouse groovemasters Echo and the Bunnymen back in their Eighties heyday.
Also, I find it interesting that they managed to get Annik Honore to break her silence, as she’d kept stumm for years. I don’t want to say she’s approached this with dollar signs in her eyes — well, euros, or whatever currency they use wherever she’s currently residing, but I wouldn’t rule it out.

If I’m not mistaken, there’s supposed to be another film based on the history of Joy division in the works too, as well as a pair of documentaries. Certainly something(s) to look out for

Sdtrk: ‘Alice in Boogie Wonderland’ by Noise/girl

Right, so I’ve given HaloScan their $12 ransom money, which means that all comments are viewable for posts older than three months ago. At the time of this writing, it still looks like the older posts have a comment count of zero, but I’m sure that’ll change accordingly very soon. *eyes HaloScan menacingly*
You’ll THRILL!! to the seemingly-witty repartee! You’ll gasp in HORROR!! as people unashamedly use vowels and consonants! Etc etc!! Yes, it was $12 undoubtedly better spent elsewhere, but I did it all for you.

Completely unrelated: My copy of Noise/girl’s ‘Discopathology‘ arrived through the post today. I’m only halfway through it, but it’s ‘wicked’, as the kids say. Picture the crushing Power electronics of Merzbow crossed with the anarcho-noisy breakbeats of Speedranch ^ Jansky noise, and you have a winner. Eight tracks for $13, with a cover by trevor brown? I approve!