pluralising minimalism
Right, following my two month sabbatical to the studio, I can finally start to impart some of the products of the labour.
Here is a series of recordings made over few months. The culmination of some very simple ideas that were plotted for my contribution to the Bang the Bore 12/12 project.
Entitled ‘Some tragedies,’ repetition is explored with some deep and some light results. Make what you will of an infinite void.
This weekend, Leeds played home for the third PANDEMIC event. There was plenty of encouragement for creativity and participation. Performances quizzes, sound and fashion shows all featured in amongst creative writing workshops and other stuff to boot.
It was excellent. A really good atmosphere. A solace from the muck in which perpetually dig and wallow. It was really fun. I have a great deal of appreciation and admiration for all those involved, and especially those that undertook the awkward logistical tasks.
Personal highlights were the Urban Sprawl Theatre Company’s performance, the golden etching, Mark Hadman/Spandril‘s excellent DIY electronics set (rough drones that were continually sanded and punctuated with rattling, metallic textures,) and, of course, the Black Dogs quiz. But that doesn’t scratch the surface of what was on offer.
I had the gall to do this. Dan made the recording, so you can blame him for this document existing.
The next instalment from me comes at Ante. Come and have a Mayday blast with more creative and fun stuff. I’ll be bringing the beats…
So, Rob and Anne Hayler are having a child. A baby. (I hear they are small. I do not have one, I don’t believe.)
Like a wise man, I come with a gift. The gift is song.
With the excitement of yesterday’s diary dump, I completely forgot to mention that the Karl MV Waugh / Petals 2 x 3″ is now available. It has already had some kind gestures aimed at it, so I’d recommend grabbing it now if you want one as there are but 24 copies in (physical) existence, of which I have only a handful left. Karl has a half of the initial ‘press’, so feel free to badger him, perhaps particularly if you live in the south east as postage is somewhat of a joke these days.
Karl MV Waugh, a regular A Band and Thee Bald Knobbers chap, at least when not partaking in The Zero Map, produces a rolled coaster of a ride with ‘Self pity’. Looming somethings. Fractured greys. There’s lots of attention and detail in the drone fields here, making for some top draw stuff. Petals continues with acidic drones, peppered with growing exterior sounds. As Girls Aloud claimed, the “beat of the drum goes round and round,” and while there are no drums here, the cyclical waltz of daily life in deepest Kirklees is firmly on display within ‘Lost found and buried in a tree.’
Each disc has been hand stamped and comes served in monochrome 7″ style packaging for just £4.00 plus postage.
However, for anyone who cares not for the clutter of physical stuff, worry not. It can be streamed/downloaded for free/donations over at:
01/02/13: Finish work early, meet library people in pub. Had a pint of Marble’s Dobber at The Grove before jumping over to The Rat & Ratchet for a couple of Brooklyn’s Chocolate Stout. I forgot that is 10% ABV. Oh well.
02/02/13: #shefflibcamp at Sheffield Hallam University. Then to the pub before the saltiest tofu I’ve ever been near was consumed, followed by berating top people.
03/02/13: Bad start to the day. Chamomile smile added before playing The Audacious Art Experiment’s space. Murray played under the moniker Tepeu Q’uq’umatz, it was grand. Spandril was a total curveball. Very intriguing. My set was short, but functioned. I had to bail early so missed most of it.
12/02/13: Milo, everyone’s favourite favourite visits “tarn.” Introduced him to the joys of some local establishments, and he duly repaid this by introducing me to Ain’t it a shame by The B52s. We danced.
13/02/13: Remembered that I’m not much of a dancer. Pascal put on a mighty fine show. My set was functional. Pete Cann’s set was loud and great fun. (Wobbling metals can never fail.) Joincey’s set was predictably brilliant. Then I had to bail to get the train.
15/02/13: Dave Pattern braved the wonders of SWB’s wonderful Caol Ila infused beer. Groovy times. Went to Wakefield. Milo introduced me to Fernende’s. Good spot. He had scored us VIP to the opening of a show he was installing at the Hepworth. Free wine. Free Prosecco. I bailed on Leeds to get to bed.
16/02/13: Reconfigure myself to weekend mode. It has not been in use for some three years. Feels good. Checked the gear following recent shows. It sounded like this:
Hopefully you forgiving lot can forgive both the poor-man’s Carpenter-esque title to this here post, the cataloguer’s bind of unnecessary capitalisation and the sounds you may choose to hear (not forgoing, of course, the nonsense you are reading.)
You see, it snowed today. It snowed, or rather, it is still snowing here, today. This inhibited me from making it not only over the county border-line to the locum of my employer (on Monday’s and Friday’s, anyhow) but even from beyond the slip road where I dwell.
I’ve never been a fan of the snow. I used to hate it as a kid. I didn’t get the fuss. All that cold and damp, rolled together and splattered all across your clothes. I wouldn’t take a cold bath in my jeans and tell everyone it was excited. Maybe it’s just not my style.
Anyhow, the recompense of the snow’s fall was that I was given time to do some other work. So I faffed about with the dissertation I’ve been dragging my heels over for way too long (“two to four weeks, and it is in, I tell’s ya!”) It actually looks like it is something near an MSc dissertation now, rather than four disperate assignments spanning 14’000 words and over 70’000 words of transcriptions. Who’d a thunk it, eh?
Anyhow, it also gave me opportunity to “practice” how I might be able to approach the couple of gigs that I’m playing at over the next couple of weeks. (Obviously these will in no way interfere with the dissertation stuff. No way. Nah-uh.)
So here is what it won’t sound like, but I would like those to sound like:
Oh, and while I’m being immodest and self-aggrandising, why not go the whole hog? Rob over at RFM has gone and scribed some eloquent words that are nothing short of lovely about some of my recent releases. Also, so has Jack Chuter over at ATTN. Crikey.
Well, it is 2013, as measured by our western calendar system. Lovely stuff?
First off, Radio Free Midwich has published the first half of its annual Zellaby awards, and I as Petals/petals and even Kevin Sanders have been attributed the “The “Astral Social Club” Award, given for maintaining quality control over a huge body of work making it impossible to pick individual releases in an end of year round up.” I’m mightily honoured to say the least. Thanks Rob, and congratulations to the other, more deserving, winners.
To celebrate, I’ve been jamming, perhaps ironically, or perhaps because I’m an awkward sod, sounds that are moving in a different direction from previous albeit recent endeavours. That said, those who popped along to the pre-Schimpfluch show in Brizzle caught an audio-prototype of that sound, now bolstered with move square wave drones. These will be released in various forms over the coming few months, most likely digitally on here.
I’ve also been working on the first hXe release of 2013, the Karl MV Waugh / Petals 2 x 3″ CDr. This will be limited to 24 copies (split equally between the two of us) and will be available from February. Yes, it could have been a tape, but I wanted to do something with different packaging, and I’ve released a lot of tapes recently, so… The second release of the new year is already confirmed. Keep your ears to the ground for details.
Just before Christmas, Kieron Piercy, currently the most Northern of the trio of Spoils & Relics, popped over the Le Maison du hXe. We supped ale and jammed out some shit loudly. Really over-blown sounds, all of which failed to record thanks to my stupidity. Still, we’re working on following the collaborative stuff up in person and through this here internet.
A quick reminder for February 13th at Wharf Chambers. There will be Harrapian Night Recordings, Roman Nose, Petals, Clive Henry and (possibly) Moss Piglets, and almost certainly not in that order. I’m sure Pascal has it all in hand.
After I played a set in Southampton, Seth Cooke was keen on ‘Petals’ becoming ‘Petpals’. Since procuring a pair of cats, I’ve been meaning to do something daft with this. Today was that day.
Having set up my analogue electronics, I contact mic’d a cymbal up and put some stuff on it, and encouraged Max to join in. He duly obliged, as evidenced above.
Here is a live recording of Petpals jamming today.
I’m going to try and migrate what I can of my output over the years onto bandcamp for streaming/downloading, and generally better access. It may well take some time and be done on a very ad hoc basis, and it will not be done in order, like chronological or anything like that.
I’ll add the details to the discography over the course of time. Steady the ship. Reunite the parents with their offspring. That kind of thing.
Here are the first few:
From April 2011, when ears were passé (this track is why I no longer master by headphones): No context in this dissent
From back in May 2011, originally released on business card cdr: Lowest ever low
From earlier this year, released by LF records, and still available to purchase: Aposiopesis
The anonymity of Jesus Christ:
Live in London, in Leeds
‘Ever resonating, the pulsing blows of washing machines have cleansed’, or so someone (didn’t) write. Well, someone could write. I suppose I just did.
Anyhow, I now have copies of Where textus became textus, and how I operated within in my possession, alongside Silvered alumnus, so if you want that stocking filler for a loved one, then baby, I’m your retail outlet of choice (or trades offered, as per usual.) Indeed, while we’re on such a proverbial trip, there are two releases I have to advise:
Germseed: Postcards from the Isle of the Dead (Part I)
Having seen Alice Kemp perform at the recent Extreme Rituals: A Schimpfluch Carnival in the lovely west country, I was very impressed with the intensity of her minmalist sound : high impact ratio. As such, I duly grabbed this disc when I arrived back home. A bit of digging (aka a cursory glance at discogs) reveals that she was involved in Dual.
I have the Keimar Sty CD and a 2 x 3″ live cdr by Dual. I acquired these artifacts many moons ago from Sheffield’s premier ‘stuff’ outlet, Rare & Racy. I had a fondness for procuring curious things that caught my eye, and the 2 x 3″ cdr set was certainly one of these. Oh for the discursive days of actually being in a record shop where you had relationship of trust with the proprietors, who by enlarge would be playing some wild free music and discussing monographs, cartography or some other such thing over large mugs of tea. Blessed be thy Sheffield.
To get back on to the topic, this cdr is amazing. Four short, textured tracks. Very impressive stuff. Beautiful, thematic packaging to boot, and bloody cheap. Highly, highly recommended indeed.
Textured Bird Transmission: Rays of the future
Textured Bird Transmission, one of Allan Upton’s alter egos, is a superb project. I’ve only got a few of this project’s select outputs, but they’re all stunning. Rolling, tonal drones, woven up with a delicate grainy surface, snatching between your ears and your brain. Absolutely stunning stuff.
I’ve released work Allan has been involved in (on the Dead Wood/Phantom Heron Seas cassette, which I’ve still got a few of, I think…) and his back catalogue is highly worth picking up, not to mention his label, Dead Sea Liner, which has a similarly sublime line up of quality.
While I’m on this front, Sheepscar Light Industrial had a bit of a feature/multi-review over at Igloo Magazine, which kindly includes a review of my Whether to drown disc. Have a ponder. If you want a copy I’m afraid you’ll have to come through me. Again, £2.00 plus postage.
Nota bene: I’ll be playing in the motherland of Wharf Chambers, Sunny Leeds, on 13/02/12. Expect uninspired, low brow square wave drones and tape loops a plenty. Expect a lot more from Harrapian Night Recordings, Roman Nose, Clive Henry and (possibly) Moss Piglets.
