~Aliens@C~

Flutey Bridge

2012-01-26T12:57:00.000Z

Couldn't resist this one!

Live in St. Petersburg

2011-12-29T14:35:00.003Z

Ex-Wise Heads "Ascendance"

2011-08-07T19:46:00.004+01:00

Stadtfischflex - Live In Rome

2011-08-07T19:43:00.005+01:00

Ex-Wise Heads "Aureole"

2011-08-07T19:41:00.003+01:00

Colin Edwin: Interview with interesting Ex Wise Heads background info

2011-07-27T19:04:00.003+01:00

Colin Edwin: Interview with Rich Wilson.: "Rich Wilson sent me this transcript of an interview I did with him last month, mostly talking about Ex-Wise Heads. Cheers, Colin Colin ..."

Stadtfisch Release Video

2011-07-15T18:57:00.008+01:00

New Ex-Wise Heads CD

2011-02-04T15:02:00.000Z

Ex Wise Heads "Pretertial"

2010-11-15T18:29:00.007Z

Butoh Performance Vid

2010-11-15T18:02:00.007Z

New Ex-Wise Heads release/reviews

2010-11-11T20:40:00.004Z

Originally released on vinyl a couple of years back - cd version includes bonus track.

More info/reviews here :

http://tonefloatrecords.blogspot.com/search/label/ex-wise%20heads

More Free Downloads

2010-11-11T19:57:00.004Z

Three chunks of live impro recorded November 2009 in Sweden - exclusive web release available from http://geoffleigh.bandcamp.com/

Radar Favourites

2010-08-28T16:45:00.003+01:00

Another rave from the distant past - recorded in 1974 - released in 2010 on Reel Recordings.

Click on header for link.

Free Downloads!

2010-08-24T16:16:00.009+01:00

"Things From The Past" MCCB compilation

new X Black Sheep mini-album

"Out Of Quarantine"

download for free here
http://geoffleigh.bandcamp.com/

Crazy Mabel

2010-07-29T17:24:00.007+01:00

This is the band I cut my teeth/chops with back in the old days - nice bit of prog-jazz-blues-rock!
Click on the header for free album download.
Enjoy!

Review - Upstream

2010-01-22T16:48:00.005Z

allaboutjazz.com

The former Yumi Hara Cawkwell is obviously intent on fashioning her own musical territory, if this and her previous Moonjune release —Dune(2008), as one half of a duo with the late bassist Hugh Hopper —are anything to go by. Her partner here is one-time Henry Cow member Geoff Leigh, whose concentration on the flute for a lot of the music presented here adds a layer of meaning to a shared aesthetic, one in which the meditative is kept at bay for all of the minimal nature of much of this music by an air of unease, as if both performers are acutely aware of the potential risks inherent in music-as-background.
On the opening title track this is only too apparent. The music seems to hang in the air, although the air it hangs in is seemingly fraught with implication, as though the duo's accommodation with the moment has come about only after intense negotiations.
With that in mind, "The Mountain Laughs" charts Leigh waxing as rhapsodically as he does at any point in the program over Hara's negligible keyboard modulations. It's as close to safe as anything here, but the intelligences at work ensure that the music never strays into the merely ambient.
Set against this, the mood of "Stones On The Beach" strikes that balance between the meditative and the unsettling with uncommon grace, its effect aided in no small part by Hara's vocal, in which she intones a lyric penned by Ujo Noguchi, set to music originally titled Ishohara Bushi.
Hara's meandering piano intro to "A Short Night" proves to be the harbinger of more music that flirts with the meditative, even though it turns out to be shot through with a kind of unease, avoiding the merely hypnotic. The duo's poise, more the result of a conflation of musical outlooks than a mere meeting of minds, ensures that the music holds the attention.
"Something About The Sky" underlines that point; the merely incantatory is kept at a distance, even while suggested by Hara's vocal intonations. For all of its aptitude for stasis, various indefinable qualities keep it from being so, even while a rein is kept on the piece's long tones. The result is music that is inscrutable in the distance it maintains between itself and language.

Geoff Leigh: flute, soprano sax, zither, percussion, nose flute, voice drone, electronics;
Yumi Hara: keyboards, vocals.

By Nic Jones
Published: January 17, 2010
Style: Electronica

Review - Upstream

2009-11-14T13:50:00.006Z

Dusted Magazine

Geoff Leigh and Yumi Hara - "Upstream"

The prolific Moonjune label drops this duo offering from Geoff Leigh and Yumi Hara, two veteran improvisers. It essentializes each musician’s current concerns, highlighting what each does best in the process.

Both are multi-instrumentalists, with Leigh’s virtuosity and timbral diversity evident all the way back to one-off projects such as Mousetrap and the debut albums by Henry Cow and Hatfield and the North. More recently, he’s comprised one half of the ambient-drone duo Ex-Wise Heads, not to mention having performed and recorded with the enigmatic but visceral Faust. Hara’s earlier efforts include a beautiful set of soundscapes with the late Hugh Hopper, also released by Moonjune, but she’s also a composer, teacher and researcher, her scholarly work encompassing rhythm, improvisation and psychology.

The murky depths of human emotion are plumbed from the first gestures on Upstream, but sometimes the evocations go beyond one emotive state. Hara’s crystalline keyboard lines are matched gorgeously by Leigh’s flute trills and breathy swells, the timbres inhabiting a unified space. The two instruments bend pitches symbiotically, coming together on certain notes with satisfying synchronicity. On “The Mountain Laughs,” Hara switches to an edgy organ, adding tention to her rough-hewn chords as Leigh explores echoing expanses with each flute flutter and shake. These are meditative explorations that, in the spirit of Coltrane, conjure Orientalist themes without necessarily being specific as to geographic region.

Everything changes on “The Strait,” the proceedings becoming harsher and often more dissonant as Leigh breaks out the scronky saxophone. His long-cultivated “New Thing” figures alter and repeat over Hara’s craggy piano. A similar sheen of raw processing covers Hara’s voice and percussion on “Stone of the Beach.” It’s almost as if the disc was programmed to lead slowly to this stark but complex collection of overtones and syllables. Hara’s vocal range is impressive, as she runs the gamut from whispers to full-boar ululations, Leigh aiding and abetting at every turn.

A listening or two reveals the disc to be a series of well-placed tableaus that form an arch, so that when “Return of the Sirens” is reached, there is a palpable sense of completion. The meditative textures of Upstream are regained, the album ending in the gentle vain that began it. While electronics are used throughout, they never eclipse the human element. The sense of a duo in full improvisational flight is maintained, joining virtuosity and invention in contributing to the disc’s success.

By Marc Medwin

Nov 13, 2009

Review - Upstream

2009-11-11T12:46:00.003Z

Geoff Leigh & Yumi Hara - Upstream (CD, Moonjune, Progressive)

Upstream is an album aimed at listeners with an open mind. Geoff Leigh plays/uses a variety of things on this album including flute, soprano sax, zither, percussion, nose flute (?), voice drone, and electronics while Yumi Hara plays keyboards and sings. Leigh is probably best known as an early member of the British progressive band Henry Cow and also played in the bands Slapp Happy and Hatfield and the North. Hara was/is in the band Frank Chickens and also acts as a DJ under the name Anakonda. Anyone even slightly familiar with any of these other bands will have some idea of what to expect here which is...the unexpected. Upstream is a bizarre collection of tracks that go all over the place. Fans of the previously mentioned Henry Cow will find a lot to love here. Leigh still composes tunes that could almost fall into the modern classical category...but threads of popular music remain intertwined. Some of the tracks are more musical than others...while others are more experimental in nature. Yumi's strange dreamy vocals add a particularly odd element to these proceedings. Nine heady cuts including "Upstream," "Stone of the Beach," "Dolphin Chase," and "The Siren Returns."

Meltdown #1

2009-11-08T15:41:00.003Z

Meltdown #1

Geoff Leigh | MySpace Video

Experi_Melt_2

2009-11-08T15:33:00.007Z

Experi_Melt_2

Geoff Leigh | MySpace Video

Review - Upstream

2009-11-08T14:08:00.003Z

A West-East axis bold as love: the Canterbury vigor meets the Rising Sun delicacy.

Having played with Hugh Hopper in the HUMI project and ex-CRIMSO violin maestro David Cross, Yumi Hara isn't new to the specific English scene and now she teams up with Geoff Leigh who first came to prominence with HENRY COW and later was all over the Canterbury field. Together, the two find common ground in the meditative tones set by the opening title track where Leigh's flute navigates the electronically enhanced crystal-cold air between the mountainous walls from the left side of Hara's piano that sometimes echoes the barrelhouse and dwells there in the rolling avant-garde of "The Strait". More melodiously, "The Mountain Laughs" introduces Celtic folk motifs to the majestic Tibetan drone bordering on baroque fugue, and "Dolphin Chase" sees Yumi's ethereal voice and Geoff's saxes sending signals from underwater, while in "The Siren Returns" piano and flute rise Eastward-bound in a tired silky way. At the same time, "At The Temple Gate" repositions jazzy strain into the candescent cascades of Buddhist prayer, and "Stone Of The Beach" wraps up the vocals in a pulsating white noise glow. The result is strange but rapturously mesmerizing, and it's the music's deceptive simplicity that begs to try and sail upstream once and again.

****

Review - Upstream

2009-10-08T12:35:00.002+01:00

Otra novedad de Moonjune, que también he escuchado este mediodia en casa, es un album de Geoff Leigh ( sí, el de Henry Cow) y Yumi Hara, titulado "Upstream".

El disco que Yumi Hara publicó el año pasado con Hugh Hopper, "Dune", me gustó bastante poco, así que no tenía demasiadas esperanzas con este. Quizás por eso me ha gustado. Aunque Leigh es multiinstrumentista, aquí se centra mucho en la flauta, aunque también hace algún solo de saxo soprano y se encarga de los efectos electrónicos y las percusiones. Yumi se encarga del piano y del órgano y de las voces (no me gusta nada cantando). Algunas de las piezas instrumentales me han sorprendido. Yumi toca el piano con mucha "tensión" y Leigh es muy bueno con la flauta. Sé perfectamente que no es un disco que me vaya a volver loco, pero tengo ganas de volver a escucharlo.

Review - Upstream

2009-10-07T18:31:00.006+01:00

Not sure why the link isn't working here - usually fine - try copy/paste with this :

http://www.seaoftranquility.org/reviews.php?op=showcontent&id=8249

Geoff Leigh (ex-Henry Cow) teams up with Japanese singer and keyboardist Yumi Hara for this album of experimental ambient-jazz fusion.

Leigh has always been at the forefront of pushing the boundaries of music since his days playing with Henry Cow's brand of freely-improvised jazz and complex modern composition. Hara moved to the UK in 1993 and has since played with ex-Soft Machine bassist Hugh Hopper and with ex-King Crimson violinist David Cross. By night, in her alter-persona of Anakonda she spins as a drum 'n' bass DJ! Put the two together and you can immediately tell that you are not going to get an hour of easy, comfortable listening! You'd be right!

Indeed, the promotional notes accompanying the CD say that "it's difficult to discern whether Geoff Leigh and Yumi Hara are improvising freely or if they've pre-composed pieces on their collaboration. If it's the former, then their spontaneity has generated a good degree of melodic invention. If the latter possibility is so, then their works have an untethered nature, working through a succession of encounters that often sound ritualistic or meditative". Hmmm...Upstream was recorded in two days, so I'd suggest it is improvised – it sounds improvised, though I'd agree with the statement that there is plenty of "melodic invention". But let me just share this other gem from the promo notes with you, because it did make me laugh out loud: "Leigh coats his small gongs with an effects burnish, spangling into infinity"! I wish I had written that!

Anyhow, back to the music, which I'm calling ambient-jazz fusion. If you take a look at the album cover and the song titles then you could easily imagine that this is a concept album. Not that there are any real lyrics to guide you - although "Stone of the Beach" and "At the Temple Gate" do feature words by Japanese poets – but the album is coherent musically and its amenability to ambience also makes it amenable to creating images associated with the title concepts, should you wish to do so.

Leigh plays flute, soprano sax, zither, percussion, nose flute, voice drone and "electronics" and Hara tackles keyboards (mainly piano, but some keys and synths to good effect) and vocals/vocalisations. The instruments are often pushed to, and through, the limits of what is "normal", so that one can say that there is a certain amount of experimentation going on here. Similarly, Hara pushes her voice in the same way, treating it just like on of the other instruments of the ensemble. This leads, at times – thankfully few – where the vocal becomes unpleasantly screechy and, in my opinion, detracting from the music. Let me put it this way – should you be listening to, for instance, "Something About the Sky" on your iPod whilst travelling on public transport, and you decide to "sing" along, then you can be sure the men in white coats will be waiting for you at the next stop! The ambience created on these occasions by these "sung" sections comes close to that of the bells being tolled at the gates of Hades! Such is the nature of exploratory, adventurous, progressive music!

Notwithstanding this slight criticism, the majority of the album is extremely pleasant: the sonorities created are interesting and work well together, and there is much melody as well as discernable, enjoyable rhythm that creates comfortable ambiences.

If you're looking for an easy entry into exploratory ambient/jazz crossover, then this album could well be it!

Track Listing:-

1) Upstream (7:12)

2) The Mountain Laughs (5:28)

3) The Strait (7:41)

4) Stone of the Beach (5:41)

5) A Short Night (5:08)

6) At the Temple Gate (7:43)

7) Something About the Sky (3:45)

8) Dolphin Chase (10:52)

9) The Siren Returns (5:39)

September 20th 2009

Reviewer: Alex Torres

Review - Upstream

2009-10-07T18:27:00.001+01:00

GEOFF LEIGH & YUMI HARA / Upstream (Moonjune)

Le second disque de Yumi Hara chez Moonjune. Le premier était en duo avec Hugh Hopper. Cette fois, un duo avec le flûtiste et saxophoniste Geoff Leigh (Henry Cow, nombreux projets liés au jazz-rock de type Canterbury). Une collaboration solide, toute en nuances. Des pièces douces, introspectives, frôlant parfois le drone. Plus de chant de la part de Hara, dont la voix hante plus qu’elle n’envoûte (ce qui n’est pas un mauvais point). Leigh est plein de ressources, multipliant les approches et les instruments. Un beau disque à réécouter à tête reposée. Une belle découverte, plutôt accessible, pas tout à fait “impro libre” mais certainement pas jazz-rock non plus. [Ci-dessous: La page de l’album sur le site de Moonjune, avec plusieurs extraits audio et deux vidéos en concert.]

Yumi Hara’s second CD for Moonjune. The first one was a duo session with Hugh Hopper. This time, she is playing with flutist/saxophonist Geoff Leigh (of Henry Cow and several jazz-rock projects loosely tied to the Canterbury sphere). A strong collaboration, very nuanced. Quiet, introspective pieces occasionally verging on drones. More singing from Hara, whose voice is haunting more than rapturing (which is not a bad thing). Leigh is very resourceful, approaching the music in many different ways and with several instruments. A fine record I will happily listen to again once I’m well rested. A nice discovery, rather accessible, not quite “free improv” but definitely not a jazz-rock record either. [Below: This album’s page on Moonjune’s website, with several audio samples and two live videos.]

Review - Upstream (in German)

2009-10-07T18:25:00.000+01:00

Geoff Leigh & Yumi Hara "Upstream" (Moonjune Records 2009)

Geoff Leigh, Gründungsmitglied in Henry Cow, und die japanische Keyboarderin Yumi Hara, die mit Hugh Hopper und David Cross in Duos zusammenarbeitete, aus der japanischen Kitschtruppe Frank Chickens stammt, Neue Musik in Gruppen wie Piano Circus und Ensemble Bash spielte und als Drum'n'Bass DJ einen Namen hat, gingen an zwei aufeinander folgenden Tagen im September 2008 an die Arbeit, Songs einzuspielen, von denen 9 auf "Upstream" zu hören sind. Die Kompositionen sind improvisativ aufgebaut, spontan, aus der kreativen Inspiration des Augenblicks entstanden. Beide Musiker, Leigh spielt diverse Blasinstrumente, Electronics und Perkussion sowie Zither, Yumi Hara akustisches Piano oder elektrisches Keyboard und singt an einigen wenigen Stellen, sind begabte, gewachsene Handwerker, die nicht das erste Mal expressionistisch-avantgardistische Klänge schaffen, sich auf den Augenblick, die Stimmung verlassen und auf die gegenseitige Inspiration.

Das Resultat ist sehr sperrig, etwas unnahbar, emotional kühl, von großer Verspieltheit, leider aber auch von erschreckender Strukturlosigkeit und wirrem Ablauf. Beide Musiker nehmen sich nicht zurück und lassen Töne zu, die nicht unbedingt angenehm sind, plärren und kratzen und rauschen; und sie verfremden Sounds elektronisch und lassen die Songs so lang werden, dass Hörer dem Duo sehr freundlich und aufgeschlossen gegenüber sein müssen, sich das Album am Stück anzutun.

Es gibt viel Freiheit im Spiel, aber das Duo wirkt nicht befreit. Zwar entwickeln sich im Laufe des Albums einige harmonische Ströme und melodisch nachvollziehbare Motive, die aber im Kanon der atonal unschönen Klänge keine Durchsetzung finden.

Extremhörer dieser Spielart werden das gewiss anders sehen, was das Duo erfreuen wird.

Review - Upstream

2009-10-07T18:23:00.003+01:00

Geoff Leigh and Yumi Hara

Upstream

Review by Gary Hill

Fans of RIO (Rock In Opposition) should like this album. It’s very freeform and a lot of it is dissonant. I’d even consider some of it jarring. Personally, a lot of it isn’t my thing – I’m not a huge fan of RIO, but for those who are into the genre, it’s going to be well received.

Track by Track Review

Upstream

The flute on this certainly calls up comparisons to Jethro Tull, but this is far mellower and more classical in nature and yet there’s also some definite King Crimson in the midst here.

Mountain Laughs

Keyboard sounds bring this in dark and rather like horror movie music. The flute again makes me think of Tull. This is perhaps closer to “rock” music.

Strait

The first half of this is basically a noisy, riotous piano solo that at times calls to mind Keith Emerson. As other instruments, join, though, it becomes a screaming, wailing jazz journey that’s quite freeform and dissonant.

Stone of the Beach

This one is really weird. The music is sparse and spacey and it has vocals. They are plaintive and a little abrasive, but also pretty. This is very much a piece of performance art.

Short Night

Piano based, this is very dissonant and strange.

At the Temple Gate

Just flute and voice, this is exceptionally strange and unsettling. It’s not pretty by any means and feels like it has transported you to some alternate horror movie dimension. This is another that’s definitely performance art.

Something About the Sky

In a lot of ways this is similar to the last piece, but instead of flute we have something that feels a lot like throat singing.

Dolphin Chase

Spacey and jazz, this one is quite cool – at least early on. It moves into more weirdness – not that different from the last couple tracks as it continues, though. In fact, the last section is amongst the strangest music on show with weird sounds like 60 cycle hum ruling the day.

Siren Returns

This is more melodic and less free form than the last several pieces. I like this a lot more.

Review - Upstream

2009-08-20T20:09:00.006+01:00

Upstream - Geoff Leigh & Yumi Hara - Moonjune Records - MJR027

A review written for the Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange by Mark S. Tucker

(progdawg@hotmail.com).

The 70s saw a profusion of wildly cross-collateralized musics emanating from groups with solid musical educations, a ton of woodshedding, and artfully abnormal ideas about what could and could not go into the processes of art. Among the more stunning, and thus least heralded, were ensembles like The Art Bears, Dzyan, Art Zoyd, and groups composing pieces and LPs still ahead of their time. And then there was Henry Cow (a group, not a guy's name!). This much-cherished identity saw the exceptional—indeed stratospheric—virtuosities of Lindsay Cooper, Fred Frith, John Greaves, Chris Cutler, Tim Hodgkinson…and Geoff Leigh, the gent here playing winds, zither, percussion, voice drone, and electronics alongside singer-keyboardist-colorationist Yumi Hara. The two, however, have credentials extending well beyond the just-noted. Leigh sat in with Slapp Happy, Hatfield and the North, Univers Zero, Faust, and others. He also duo-ed with Porcupine Tree's brilliant bassist Colin Edward in the Ex-Wise Heads band. Hara duetted with Hugh Hopper (Soft Machine) and then David Cross (King Crimson) while some of her songs have been covered by Piano Circus and Ensemble Bash.

Even the promo lit isn't sure if the pieces are spontaneous, composed, or a blend of both, but it hardly matters, as there's a hell of a lot of what made all the just-cited groups great. Leigh and Hara masterfully leash the familiar and the chaotic to come up with a disc leaning heavily into the latter with all the grace and coherence of the former. Thus, Upstream is neo-free-fuso-prog-jazz-noise music heavily invested with orientalist airs (Upstream, Stone of the Beach, etc.) and abstract imagery laid atop the familiar, the exotic, and the suggestive.

Almost all the cuts are lengthy (see the times noted below), taking the space necessary to create their atmospheres and then perambulate with gestural abandon within themselves. Such chartable discourse within opuses like these, of course, is what accounts for whether the result will be oblique or filled with marvels. Here, the latter is most decidedly the case, making a release that's going to attract both abstractionists and neoclassical traditionalists, not to mention all the niches between. It goes, then, without saying that Upstream is definitely not music for everyone, but, looking to those with advanced aesthetics and well-tuned ears, a CD that will repay many many re-listenings, trenchant with nuance and imbued with a formlessness that constantly re-creates itself.

Track List:

Upstream (7:12)

The Mountain Laughs (5:28)

The Strait (7:41)

Stone of the Beach (5:41)

A Short Night (5:08)

At the Temple Gate (7:43)

Something About the Sky (3:45)

Dolphin Chase (10:52)

The Siren Returns (5:39)

All tracks written by Geoff Leigh & Yumi Hara except

the words to Stone of the Beach (Ujo Noguchi) and the words to At the Temple (traditional).

Edited by: David N. Pyles

(dnpyles@acousticmusic.com)

Review - Upstream (In French)

2009-08-07T13:56:00.003+01:00

Geoff Leigh & Yumi Hara

Upstream (2009)

(Moonjune Records) Enregistré par Yumi Hara

01 – Upstream

02 – The Mountain Laughs

03 – The Strait

04 – Stone of the Beach

05 – A Short Night

06 – At the Temple Gate

07 – Something About the Sky

08 – Dolphin Chase

09 – The Siren Returns

Impossible de ne pas penser au précédent disque de Yumi Hara enregistré avec Hugh Hopper (Humi sorti en 2008 chez Moonjune Records également) en découvrant ce nouvel album de la pianiste et improvisatrice japonaise, enregistré en compagnie de Geoff Leigh, saxophoniste et flûtiste de Henry Cow, groupe mythique et ambitieux de la scène Canterbury de la fin des années soixante-dix. Les deux musiciens construisent leur propos sur des bases communes mais ténues, faisant de cette collaboration plus un duel qu’un duo, entre provocation, défi et musique sans concession.

Geoff Leigh a ainsi pris la suite du patriarche Hopper disparu il y a peu ; et avec ses qualités, sa curiosité et son écoute, il propose à Yumi Hara d’autres horizons. Alors que rétrospectivement, Dune semblait empli de la colère sourde et désespérée du bassiste disparu, Geoff Leigh insuffle une certaine sérénité à ces compositions, et ce malgré les nombreuses aspérités dont elles regorgent. A la flûte, sans doute inspiré par son acolyte, Leigh verse dans une profondeur toute asiatique, évoquant l’ancestral et fascinant shakuhachi au point qu’une prestation dépourvue de tout accompagnement est à envisager sans inconvénient. Jouant de sa voix modulable à l’envie, Yumi Hara use aussi du legato et des grands aller-retours sur la gamme pour se lier au discours de son compère.

A ce duo fascinant viennent s’agréger bruitages, éclats de piano et improvisations diverses, un didgeridoo parfois, ou un saxophone dans les mains de Geoff Leigh, autant d'instruments bienvenus qui ne contraignent jamais la direction prise par le binôme. Contemplatif sans être exagérément agressif ou abstrait, Upstream est fait pour être écouté en pleine nature dans le vent ou le ressac, il vibre doucement au rythme d’un monde qui nous dépasse.

Mathieu Carré

Note : 7/10

Mary-Anne Paterson - The Story

2009-07-26T12:52:00.005+01:00

Possibly one of my more typically bizarre 60's yarns...

My younger brother Mike used to go on & on about an album I'd recorded with Mary-Anne Paterson in the 60's - he even remembered some of the lyrics to one of the songs, "Wandering So Far" - I honestly had no memory whatsoever about this, & was convinced he was just winding me up in his usual kid-brother-fashion.

Then a couple of years back, one of the first albums I ever played on (to the best of my knowledge!), Gerry Fitz-Gerald's "Mouseproof", was released on cd for the first time by Sunbeam Records. I went to their website to check it out, & what did I find....a Mary-Anne Paterson album called "Me"!

As you can see from the reviews in my previous post, the backing musicians are listed as "unknown buskers". Well...the 3 mystery buskers were in fact myself on flute, John Doherty on percussion, & Alan Moller on guitar - the proof of the pudding is that the song my li'l bro remembered was actually written by Alan - his name is mentioned as composer.

I contacted Sunbeam & told them about this - recently they released a vinyl version of the album, & very nicely added all our names on the sleeve.....big thanks for that one!

So......"if you remember the 60's you weren't there".....tell me about it!

Mary-Anne Paterson - Reviews

2009-07-26T12:38:00.009+01:00

1) From 'Left Hip' magazine ( www.lefthip.com )

Yet another essential reissue from the marvellous Sunbeam label, Mary-Anne Paterson's Me is purportedly one of the rarest records of its time. Sad, if it's true, for this is also arguably one of the most beautiful records of all time. Flutes, acoustic guitars and Paterson 's gently gorgeous voice bring life to a mix of original songs and traditional British folk-ballads such as "The Water is Wide" and "Come All Ye Fair and Tender Maidens". Nary a miss on this exquisite album. The sound bears a strong resemblance to Custer LaRue of the Baltimore Consort and new age folksinger Lisa Thiel. A reference to Paterson 's British contemporaries Vashti Bunyan and Anne Briggs is also well-founded. Then too, there are some ultra-weird gentle psych freakouts such as the one on "Black Girl" that might provoke comparisons to current free-folk artists such as Wooden Wand & The Vanishing Voice more than other British-Isles female folk singers from the sixties. Trying to put my own feelings about this album into print allows lots of delectable adjectives to flow: witchy, enchanting, magical, sprightly, spirited... This is essential listening for fans of any of the above mentioned folk-singers or the current free-folk and forest-folk movements. Absolutely wonderful!

2) From www.lysergia.com

Another good release on Sunbeam is the one I'm playing right now, the Brit femme folk of Mary-Anne, who I've been curious about ever since spotting her rather appealing visage in one of the "Record Collector Dreams" books. Well, she's a looker for sure, which shouldn't obscure the fact that her LP is very good moody, slightly spooky quiet folk with definite psych and ethnic strands -- like Vasthi Bunyan's elder and less cartoonish sister. Don't miss...

3) From www.aquariusrecords.org

More rare '70s folk from the folks at Sunbeam, who brought us the great Roger Rodier and Fresh Maggots reissues. Mary-Anne Patterson's sole album is claimed to be one of the rarest records of its time, and after reading her story, it's no wonder. Patterson, daughter and granddaughter of famous Scottish painters, was a drama teacher (and hobbyist guitar player), who had a dream of opening an art centre for children. After a friend with music connections suggested that she cut a record to raise funds to build it, she quickly got a record deal and put together this album using local street musicians as her backing group. But reluctant to play the star and promote the record, the album sank without a trace, along with her dream. The songs here, mostly traditional, are very pretty, with a nice echo-y quality on the voice, guitar and flute accompaniments running through the entire production. The standout track is her version of "Black Girl", a Leadbelly standard, that devolves into a hippie tribal voice and flute freak out. This is a beautiful and overdue peek into the Scottish end of the '60s Folk Revival. For fans of Sandy Denny, Pentangle, and Josephine Foster.

4) From The Arkansas Traveller ( www.thetraveleronline.com ) Originally issued in 1970 on UK label President Records, Me is a minimal, minstrel-esque dip into British folk typical of its era. It is Scottish songwriter Mary-Anne Paterson's only marketed work. Paterson remains fairly grounded in traditional folk stylings for the majority of the duration of Me. The echoey, minimal instrumentation gives a nod to the less-is-more philosophy of Nick Drake. (That is, as long as the "less" is well done, of course.) Most songs contain only lead vocals, flute, chorusing and acoustic guitar, but here and there, Paterson and company grace the listener with electric guitar and assorted hand percussion. Most of the songs on Me are traditional folk ballads, including a haunting cover of the Leadbelly standard "Black Girl." It begins as a straightforward cover, eventually working its way into an acid folk-pop oddity along the lines of Vashti Bunyan. Paterson 's telling vocals tend to carry the album, making it an easy recommendation for fans of Joni Mitchell and the like. File under singer/songwriter, Scottish folk. For fans of Vashti Bunyan, Nick Drake, Linda Perhacs and Anne Briggs.

5) From www.ilpopolodelblues.com (translated from the Italian)

Me by Mary Anne Paterson is an extremely rare LP - so rare that, from the time she recorded it, she heard nothing more until the folks at Sunbeam decided to reissue it. Mary Anne was a girl from Edinburgh , whose father passed away when she was small, giving her a secret dream: to manage an arts centre for children. Music was little more than a hobby until a friend, seeing the financial difficulty which the newborn centre was experiencing, encouraged her to sign a contract with President Records and record an album. In keeping with the naive spirit of the period, and the importance that the project with the children had in her life, Mary Anne accepted. The album was recorded in one sole session, with a group of buskers recruited from the tube, and no rehearsal. These were the years of the British folk revival, which Mary-Anne had been overwhelmed by. Mostly accompanied only by a classical guitar, Mary Anne interprets traditional pieces in her light and delicate voice, spanning from songs for children to The Water is Wide, all taken from the repertoire that she had learned to play with the guitar from the age of 14. The album opens and closes with two original compositions, completing an delightful album... but, in keeping with the rest of her story, things cannot end without another surprise. And it can be considered a happy ending, for she is still alive in England today, pursuing her ancient ambition of spreading the arts for all, a goal that the notes emphasise she will be pleased if this reissue furthers. As for the album, relations with the label broke down after only a few months - unsurprising, given her indifference towards the project. She didn't promote the album or play any gigs to support it , and never heard again from the buskers - so, to close the circle, no one ever paid ever her, condemning the album to become one of the rarest in the history of English folk music.

6) From www.allmusic.com (by Richie Unterberger)

BIOGRAPHY: Scottish folksinger Mary-Anne Paterson made a nice, if modest, acoustic traditional-oriented album in 1970, Me . It matched her high, clear vocals, acoustic guitars, and flute with sparse echoed production and very occasional touches of acid folk and pop, though overall the LP had a haunting medieval tone. Most of the songs on the record were traditional folk tunes, though she did write a couple of them herself. Paterson fell into a recording career somewhat by accident in the late '60s, when she was a drama teacher who wrote songs for educational television on the side. A friend convinced her to go to London to make a demo in late 1969, though she did so primarily in hopes of raising money for a children's art center she hoped to set up. Me was done in one session around the beginning of 1970, Paterson backed by some buskers from a London tube station with whom she barely rehearsed, and never saw again. In fact, not many people ever saw the album itself; as she was interested in starting her arts center rather than establishing a professional career, she didn't promote it with any concerts, and no publicity was done on the LP's behalf. In subsequent decades, Paterson worked as a teacher and wrote songs for TV and radio, with Me getting reissued on CD in 2006.

REVIEW: Mary-Anne Paterson's rare 1970 Me album is a nice British folk recording that, while grounded in traditional acoustic material, avoids stiffness in its execution, though it's delivered with a fairly restrained, reverent tone. Paterson has a high voice that should appeal to fans of British folk of the period, as that genre had so many clear upper-register vocalists in a roughly similar mold, à la Jacqui McShee of Pentangle and Judy Dyble of Fairport Convention/Trader Horne. Her voice might recall very early Marianne Faithfull, except that there's somewhat more of a Renaissance-medieval flavor, which carries over in a lesser degree to the material and arrangements. Most of the material is traditional, save for a couple Paterson originals in "Love Has Gone" and "Reverie for Roslyn," which combines with the stark, slightly echoed production to create a haunting anachronistic atmosphere. It's not an entirely traditional acoustic-guitar-and-voice production, however, with touches of flute throughout the album, and an electric 12-string guitar in "The Water Is Wide" that seems to have wandered in straight off a mid-'60s Byrds record. "Black Girl" takes an especially eerie jump into near-acid folk, suddenly leaping into a near rave-up where stormily busked guitars and jazzy flutes fight it out with each other while Paterson 's ghostly vocals wail wordlessly in the background. It's not at all typical of most of the album (though it's a highlight), though it occasionally leans very slightly toward singer/songwriter pop, particularly on "Wandering So Far."

Upstream - Listen Here!

2009-07-22T14:33:00.006+01:00

Click on header for link to more info, videos, & mp3's

Reviews - Upstream

2009-07-22T12:42:00.025+01:00

Artist: GEOFF LEIGH / YUMI HARA

Title: Upstream

Label: Moonjune 027

Country: USA

Format: CD

Review:

Featuring Geoff Leigh on flutes, soprano sax, zither, electronics and percussion and Yumi Hara on keyboards & occasional vocals. Saxist Geoff Leigh was the first member of Henry Cow to leave the group after their first album in 1973. He went on to form Radar Favourites, Black Sheep, Kontakt Mikrophoon Orchestra and Red Balune and has a trio disc on one of those Voice Print labels from a few years back. We haven't heard from him in quite a while so I was pleasantly surprised to get this promo in the mail. You might recall Ms. Yumi Hara from another duo disc she did with Hugh Hopper last year. Yumi also played a fine solo set at our store on the Bowery a few months after that CD was released.

The title track is first and it starts with spooky flute and eerie e-bow-like keyboard sounds. Geoff Leigh's flute playing is consistently superb, spirited and riveting at times. Ms. Hara changes the sound of her keyboard on every piece from the great Hammond organ sound on "The Mountain Laughs" to the sparkling grand piano of "The Strait" in which Geoff sounds as if he is playing an electric sax. Now there's a sound I haven't heard in quite a long time, yet it is done most tastefully. Yumi uses her voice to a good effect on "Stone of the Beach", somewhat operatic and exotic yet still low-key and enchanting. Although much of this sounds improvised there is a sympathetic connection between both players as they seem to flow around one another magically, always connecting on some level. I like the they explore sounds together yet never lose their way. The psychedelic many layered mountains on the cover seem most appropriate.

Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery

http://www.downtownmusicgallery.com (use search box!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Featured Artist: Geoff Leigh - Yumi Hara

CD Title: Upstream

Year: 2009

Record Label: Moonjune Records

Style: Free Jazz / Avante Garde

Musicians: Geoff Leigh (flute, soprano sax, zither, percussion, nose flute, voice drone, electronics), Yumi Hara (keyboards, vocals)

Review:

For starters, the musicians’ respective careers bring quite a bit of diversity to the table. Woodwind artist, multi-instrumentalist Geoff Leigh was a member of avant-garde, prog-rock icons Henry Cow amid stints with many legendary British bands, such as Hatfield And The North and Slapp Happy. Keyboardist Yumi Hara is a psychiatrist, DJ and possesses a PHD in composition from City University in the U.K., and engages in numerous artistic related endeavors in Europe. On this duet release, the duo forges a multifaceted plane of notions and concepts, as no two pieces are distinctly alike, especially when considering various song-form and improvisational aspects. Among other attributes, the musicians are resourceful. They set down an imprint, awash with mind-altering abstractions, marked by Leigh’s ethereal flute lines, Hara’s haunting keys, and the avant component. They keenly alter the pitch in a range of interweaving movements. Then on “The Mountain Laughs,” Hara emulates a church organ via her keyboards while imparting a solemn framework for Leigh’s genial flute lines. Elsewhere, the artists invert a hodgepodge of themes into bizarre environs, where Hara’s vocal chants over the top, offer quasi-mystical propositions. On “Dolphin Chase,” Leigh’s soprano sax phrasings intimate a whirling, free-form set of paradigms, countered by Hara’s response mechanisms, shaded with droning textures and colorific EFX treatments. Here, Leigh soars to the cosmos under the auspices of attaining some sort of spiritual cleansing. Unlike similar projects of this ilk by others, the duo sustains interest throughout the entire program. It’s a study in contrasts, marked by the artists’ clear-sighted game-plan, that is sprinkled with plentiful surprises along the way.

Reviewed by: Glenn Astarita

http://www.jazzreview.com/cd/review-20654.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MoonJune Records - Album Profile:

It's difficult to discern whether Geoff Leigh and Yumi Hara are improvising freely, or if they've pre-composed the pieces on their Upstream collaboration. If it's the former, then their spontaneity has generated a good degree of melodic invention. If the latter possibility is so, then their works have an untethered nature, working through a succession of encounters that often sound ritualistic or meditative. Although a multi-instrumentalist, Leigh concentrates mainly on the flute, although it's frequently fed through an entanglement of electronic effects, lending a subtly harmonised burr. Hara plays keyboards, changing her palette from acoustic piano to hard-edged organ sounds. Often, she can be gently ruminative, but there are also spells where Hara rumbles with great intensity on the piano's bass notes or charges up to a Gothic organ sustain. Their music possesses some highly contrasting densities. Leigh coats his small gongs with an effects burnish, spangling into infinity. Hara also alters her voice at times, again with a subtly harmonised displacement. Leigh sometimes overblows, creating a harsh edge, suggesting the sound of a Japanese shakuhachi flute. This is made all the more gripping when surrounded by the overall atmosphere of slowly evolving calm. The pair also evoke a specific Tibetan Buddhist feel, with bells and a vocal drone, or alternatively matching their high-vaulting voice and soprano saxophone ranges to the imaginary sounds of ocean-deep whale communications. Leigh and Hara have produced a deeply sensitive soundscape, populated by a number of surprising (and exciting) forays into a more intense form of expression.

http://www.moonjune.com/MJR027.htm (more info, vids, & mp3's)

Starr Of Iran?

2009-06-20T16:59:00.000+01:00

Good to see Ringo's got himself a nice cushy new number....

The Drugs Do Work....

2009-06-05T11:56:00.003+01:00

About time people got wise to the facts!

Art Is Not A Mirror

2009-05-18T18:28:00.014+01:00

"Lo-Tech Audio-Visual Extravaganza"

"Art Is Not A Mirror" - reflections on the erosion of sub-urban culture where everything is destroying itself, with a little help from us non-alien-inter-planetary-inhabitants.

"The Human Tape Loop" - interactive performance for analogue tape & human beings.

Geoff Leigh - body movements, soprano sax, flutes, zither, khene, voice, percussion, prepared sounds, live electronics, loops, as-yet-unfound objects etc.

Ariane Bratz - video projection / live recording.

Ateliers Mommen

37, Rue de la Charite
St. Josse-Ten-Noode
Brussels 1210
Belgium

20.30 21st May 2009

Free Entrance

Kraak Festival - Brussels - March 7th 2009

2009-02-23T12:42:00.005Z

GEOFF LEIGH
[uk]
Geoff Leigh is a veteran in the prog, RIO and jazz world. He was one of the key figures of the Canterbury scene and played in legendary bands as Henry Cow, Slapp Happy, Aksak Maboul and Univers Zéro. Leigh is a virtuoso sax, clarinet and flute player, and still practices in the art of experimentation. Leigh still digs into his musical possibilities, while most of his pals from those days are enjoying an easy retirement.

NL
Geoff Leigh is een oudgediende in de prog, RIO en jazzwereld. Hij stond mee aan de wieg van de Canterbury scene en speelde in legendarische bands als Henry Cow, Slapp Happy, Aksak Maboul en Univers Zéro. Leigh is een virtuoos blazer (sax, clarinet, dwarsfluit...) en het experimenteren zit hem nog steeds in het bloed. Terwijl veel van zijn toenmalige genregenoten aan een makkelijk pensioen denken, graaft Leigh nog steeds verder in zijn muzikale mogelijkheden.

FR
Geoff Leigh est un vétéran dans le monde du prog, RIO et jazz. Il était un pionier de la scène de Canterbury et a joué dans des groupes légendaires comme Henry Cow, Slap Happy, Aksak Maboul et Univers Zéro. Leigh est un virtuose (saxophone, clarinette, flûte traversière,...) qui ne cesse d'expérimenter. Pendant que ses contemporains d'autrefois pensent à leur pension, Leigh continue à explorer les possibililités musicales.

"Mortons Object" - Brussels - March 6th 2009

2009-02-23T12:28:00.007Z

Socks And The City?

2009-02-13T13:15:00.006Z

Infamous Henry Cow 'LegEnd' album cover by Ray Smith.

The life of a man depends on a pair of socks
12.02.2009 Source: Pravda.Ru

Socks play maybe not the most, but a very important role in men’s life. Men’s socks were honored in an episode of Sex and the City TV series, when Carrie Bradshaw presented her philosophic views on this piece of men’s apparel. This seems to be quite surprising because socks may often drive women mad when they see or smell them. Socks may also become the reason of family scandals.

Socks play a very important role in the life of every man. His professional career or romantic achievements may often depend on a pair of socks. A woman may find out a lot about her man if she takes a closer look at his socks.

Needless to say that women, just like men, pay a lot of attention to men’s tastes in clothes. A pair of socks is a very important accessory in men’s clothes, just like ties, watches, sleeve buttons and wallets.

Indeed, a pair of socks can tell a lot about its owner. Rational and practical men mostly choose black socks for black is a universal color that fits everything. Gray or brown socks would be the choice of conservative men who do not welcome changes in their lives. Green socks attract military men and those who associate themselves with Greenpeace activists. Blue socks indicate the romantic nature of a man. White socks are the best choice for those men who like sports and those who go on holiday. White socks give a lounge look to a man, especially when he wears them with jeans or shorts. White socks are out of the question when it comes to wearing business suits.

If a man wears red socks, it means that he has his own sense of style. Red socks may also mean that he does not care a thing about style.

World’s leading designers scratch their heads over the appearance of men’s socks. Socks are quite familiar with modern-day fashion trends. Socks can be adorned with various ornaments which may also point out men’s character traits.

Ornaments of rhombs or lines indicate that a man is searching for his place in this life, or maybe for the point of this life. Flowers, little suns and rabbits may expose a playboy or just a man with a good sense of humor. Those who prefer classic style choose pinstripe and checkered socks.

Socks have a glorious history. They evolved from leather shoes that covered the sole, the heels and the toes. Greek women used to wear those shoes to keep their feet warm during sleep. Afterwards, people began to put pieces of fabric inside clodhoppers to protect feet from calluses and scratches. Socks celebrated their triumph in Rome 100 years later when they covered both the foot and the shank, slowly turning into stockings. Ancient poets began to glorify socks as the best clothes that human feet could have.

Knitted stockings appeared in Spain only in the 16th century. Those were very expensive and hard to find garments – a pair of stockings could be an excellent present to noblemen and even kings.

Stockings turned into socks during the second decade of the 19th century when men donned tight pantaloons. Finally, socks became even shorter during the First World War to economize fabric.

Where's The Money Gone?

2009-02-03T13:41:00.001Z

Always a good question.
Click the header for news on how major corporations avoid paying tax in the UK.

John Martyn RIP

2009-02-02T12:58:00.014Z

I first met John Martyn in 1968 (69?) - I used to busk with Alan Moller, a guitar player who later played bass with me in Mouseproof & Radar Favourites. There was a folk club in London's Soho district called Les Cousins - every saturday they had a gig by well-known musicians, & if you got down early enough, you could book a short spot to play before the main act. Alan said we had to get down there to see John - being a bit of a jazzer I'd never heard of him, but Alan said I'd probably like it. So we got there & booked our spot - we used to play quite jazzy modal kind of stuff when we weren't busking. John liked what we did & asked us to join him for a couple of numbers at the end of his set. Alan was of course over the moon - I was still head in the clouds - we did the tunes with John & it went down pretty well. Later Alan disappeared somewhere, & John came up to me & said "I didn't want to upset your mate, but I really like your flute playing, & maybe you can do a few gigs with me if there's enough money" - he handed me a copy of "The Tumbler", his latest album, saying "There's some flute on a few tracks - if you can play more or less something similar that would be great" - we swapped phone numbers & off he went. Of course Alan was a wee bit jealous, but understood the situation. When I looked at the album, I saw the flute player was Harold McNair, one of my heroes! So being a bit shy & wet behind the ears, I already felt a bit intimidated & out of my depth, but also pretty chuffed by the offer. After listening & playing along to the album I phoned John, & he invited me to a flat in Kensington somewhere for a rehearsal. Things got off to a good start - the usual endless supply of real 60's spliffs put me in a relaxed mood - we went through a few songs, then into a long very abstract impro, which I hadn't been expecting - pretty experimental to say the least. (I also had my first taste of muesli there, the result of which was an extremely long visit to the loo, emptying the old bowels!). His lifestyle was already pretty chaotic - people came & went - Sandy Denny from Fairport Convention, American singer Jackson C. Frank, & many other musicians & hangers-on - I was quite a heavy dope smoker in those heady days, but these people were way out of my league! I don't think I've ever smoked so much in such short spaces of time & still been capable of playing....all pretty wild. The first gig I did with him was at Chelsea Art College - he said he'd play a few songs then invite me up. I was quite nervous - he was very relaxed as always, tuning his guitar differently for almost every song, chatting & joking with the audience while he did it.....very impressive! Then he said "Ladies & gentlemen, I'm pleased to introduce a good friend & great flute player - give a big hand for DADDY LONGLEGS"! I was mortified! Hadn't expected that one at all! So on I shuffled, thinking "you bastard!", but also pleased to be part of the action. A great experience. Over the next couple of months we got together once or twice a week to rehearse, but his chaotic lifestyle didn't always help - he would sometimes just disappear for days on end - nobody seemed to know where he was or what he was up to - once he missed quite a few gigs after inadvertently taking an overdose of acid, resulting in a three day trip which was so powerful he just unplugged the phone, drew the curtains, & locked the door, refusing to see anybody. In the end I only played 4 or 5 gigs with him - musically he was a loner at heart, until his partnership with bassist Danny Thompson & drummer John Stevens a few years later - they were all serious heavy drinkers, & I guess John knew I couldn't hack it on that level, so we just kind of drifted apart. But it was a great period while it lasted, & like most people I'll miss him - his contribution to the more jazzy & experimental side of "folk" music will live on through his recordings, & anyone who ever saw him performing live will never forget the experience.
Wherever you are Johnny boy, aka Jack The Lad, rest in peace.
(The name "Daddy Longlegs" stuck - see Black Sheep).

Putin to become Russia’s highest-earning painter

2009-02-01T15:33:00.005Z

The paintings of Russia’s prominent politicians, public figures and athletes are going to be exhibited at Evropa Hotel in St. Petersburg January 14. Vladimir Putin promises to become the highest-earning painter at this point. The painting, which was painted by St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko, was sold at 11 million rubles ($366,000), whereas the work by the former Russian president and the incumbent prime minister is expected to bring a higher profit.

(Don't get me wrong - I have nothing against Russians at all - just find Pravda one of the unintentionally funniest online tabloids. As usual click on heading for full story).

More Alien Nonsense

2009-01-31T12:08:00.006Z

So the French have released their "Alien Archive" photos - amazingly wonderful & convincing wotwot? When I first started blogging here, I made it very clear that I DO NOT believe in aliens.
I live by the sea, & see a lot of alienated humans around me all the time. Hence Aliens@C.

If You Can't Beat Them.....

2009-01-31T11:54:00.007Z

BEAT ON THEM!

Russians Get The Illuminatus Bug...

2009-01-28T19:23:00.018Z

All-seeing eye curses US dollar

21.01.2009 Source: Pravda.Ru (Extract - click on heading for whole article).

"From the very beginning the U.S. dollar has been having some kind of destructive influence on the world's financial system. The people, who created first U.S. dollar notes, placed some mystical signs and symbols on them. The financial crisis may force the USA to issue a new currency because of those signs.
Any changes in the U.S. currency system will lead to changes in other countries. The signs, the symbols and even the size of U.S. dollar notes indicate the terrifying role that the dollar may play soon. Everyone is aware of the sign depicted on the back of the 1-dollar-note - the all-seeing eye. Many sacred books including the Koran say that one of the distinctive features of Antichrist include the following: "It has one eye which looks like a grape berry." The fact that the width of the note makes exactly 66.6 millimeters (Satan's number) may seem to be the most striking one. It is worthy of note that the all-seeing eye appears on Ukraine's 500-hryvna note too."

Well who'd have thought that even in this day & age of Conspiracy Theories those pesky Russkies would have got onto this one? As you probably know, Pravda means "The Truth", so....you'd better believe it. The all-seeing eye on the dollar bill figured prominently in "The Illuminatus Trilogy", & has been pure conspiracy fodder of the highest order ever since. But what about Communist Mystic Symbols? Nothing of note on the rouble as far as I know, but what about the (in)famous Red Star, Hammer, & Sickle?

The Red Star has 5 points - in Kabbalistic terms a 5 pointed star is the "Star Of Man" (or "Star Of The Microcosm", the 6 pointed Star of David being the "Star Of The Macrocosm"). On the Kabbalistic Tree Of Life, the 5th Sephiroth is Geburah, associated with the planet Mars (The Red Planet), symbol of courage & destruction, (war, power, domination, & leadership in the real world).

In pre-Communist times the sickle was commonly associated with The Grim Reaper, symbol of Death - in Tarot-speak this means regeneration, transformation, change, but also destruction. The Communists used it as a symbol of agriculture, just like Freemasons had for centuries. "Death" in the Tarot is connected with the astrological sign of Scorpio, ruled by the planet Mars.

The Hammer is a bit more tricky - also used by Freemasons, for the Communists it symbolised construction & building, but is most commonly associated in the crazy world of Other Worlds with the Nordic god Thor. Now there's a nice touch - Communists using Nordic Pagan symbols?
I always thought that was more in keeping with Adolf & his Thule Society buddies - just goes to show - nothing left & nothing right, only up & down so slight. Type in "Thor" on Wiki for more info.
And straight from Wiki : "Thursday is the fourth day of the week according to the Judeo-Christian calendar and the ISO 8601 international standard adopted in most western countries. In countries that adopt the Sunday-first convention, it is the fifth day of the week".
(Thursday being derived from Thor).

As for The Koran, The Antichrist, The Great Beast 666, & a bit of Ukraine-bashing, well....these guys are just nuts!

So there you have it in a nutshell / nuts' hell - it's all a bloody conspiracy mate.....or just coincidence?

NB : The online version of Pravda this article appeared in is NOT in any way connected to the Communist Party of Russia.

More Sonrise Church

2009-01-11T17:22:00.014Z

So....more infamy heading my way....any publicity is better than none etc etc...no escape for the wicked.....the bea(s)t goes on + on + on ad infinitum..

Click on the heading above for link.

This is my response >

"Dear Glenn.

Sorry for not replying earlier - I rarely use this blog & don't check for comments very often.

Let me say straight away that I disapprove of the "scare tactics" used against you personally & your church - rather an ill-informed debate than an ill-conceived "outing" strategy!

Answers to your questions:

1, 2, + 3) I assumed that "sonrise" applied to a single organisation - I found nothing to contradict this, & only found American websites using it. Obviously I should have searched further.

4) Well come on good sir! "Interesting, funny, & at the same time quite sad & frightening all at the same time!" *

Wishing you the best of luck for the future - by all means do reply, but don't expect much of a response from me.

Job done.

Move on."

(* Glenn's own carefully chosen words describing my original post).

Copyright MCCB Overview + Scrutiny Department.

Last Login / Most OverUsed Words

2008-03-30T16:19:00.002+01:00

last login.....just over a year ago.....

most overused words.....me/my/I/to be continued/more to follow/more soon.....

MCCB Reviews - Red Balune

2007-03-12T18:44:00.001Z

MCCB Reviews - KMO

2007-03-12T18:38:00.001Z

MCCB Reviews - Black Sheep

2007-03-12T18:17:00.002Z

Above /\ Not really a Review - more of an introduction to the Crazy World of The Black Sheep.

MCCB Reviews - Geoff Leigh

2007-03-12T18:02:00.001Z

St. Marys - The Plot Thickens

2007-01-13T13:51:00.000Z

What next?

Allegations that one of the Hastings Council members who was involved in the decision to lease St. Marys to Sonrise Church is actually a member of the Church!?

Sonrise Church - What some of their members have to say

2007-01-12T22:09:00.000Z

No point in me ranting on about Hastings Borough Council leasing St. Mary-In-The-Castle to the controversial Sonrise Church. Just go to http://www.hastingstoday.co.uk , type "Sonrise Church" into the search box, & see for yourselves.

http://www.sonrise.net/ is definitely the best (worst!) site of the church itself to check out.

Here are a couple of blog posts from one of their many American websites :-

Day 205, July 24, 1998, Friday.
Are You Astonished At Sin.
Ezra 9:3:
So when I heard this thing, I sat down astonished.Ezra was astonished that the people of Israel had fallen away from the Lord to the point that they married nonbelievers. What would he think of God’s people today? The people of Ezra’s time at least repented. We on the other hand have sadly become a people hardened to sin and its affect. We are no longer appalled at obtrusive pornography, blatant homosexuality, sexual promiscuity among children, nor countless overt violations of the laws of God. We even mock at those who would make a stand against these transgressions. We deem them archaic and behind the times. Listen, God’s standards have not changed. Sin remains unacceptable to a Holy God. It is time that sin is unacceptable to God’s people as well. We must repent of our apathetic attitudes toward sin and its effect. It is time that we, as Ezra, sit down astonished, and rise to action.

Day 168, June 17, 2003, Tuesday.
Bless God 2
Kings 23:24:
Josiah put away . . . all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book.As America plummets down the slippery slope of debauchery, it appears that there is no turning back. Not to tolerate the growing perversion permeating every realm of society, seems irreversible. There was a time in America that adultery was not only a sin, it was against the laws of the land, along with homosexuality, public nudity and even vulgar language. Josiah proved in his day that there can be a moral turn around. He did it by sovereign dictate. We can do it by a greater sovereignty - the sovereignty of Christ. Not by mandate, but by example. Not so much by changing the laws of the land, but by changing the people of the land through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It can happen, even if it has to start with just you and me. Let us begin in our homes and in the market place. Let us change by performing the words of the law, which are written in the Book. A friend of mine, Pastor Leo Giovinetti, says it this way, "America, Bless God."

And a few choice words from another one of their sites :-

www.sonrisepalmdale.org

The Christian and the Social Order All Christians are under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme in our own lives and in human society. Means and methods used for the improvement of society and the establishment of righteousness among men can be truly and permanently helpful only when they are rooted in the regeneration of the individual by the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ. In the spirit of Christ, Christians should oppose racism, every form of greed, selfishness, and vice, and all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality, and pornography. We should work to provide for the orphaned, the needy, the abused, the aged, the helpless, and the sick. We should speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death. Every Christian should seek to bring industry, government, and society as a whole under the sway of the principles of righteousness, truth, and brotherly love. In order to promote these ends Christians should be ready to work with all men of good will in any good cause, always being careful to act in the spirit of love without compromising their loyalty to Christ and His truth.
Exodus 20:3-17; Leviticus 6:2-5; Deuteronomy 10:12; 27:17; Psalm 101:5; Micah 6:8; Zechariah 8:16; Matthew 5:13-16,43-48; 22:36-40; 25:35; Mark 1:29-34; 2:3ff.; 10:21; Luke 4:18-21; 10:27-37; 20:25; John 15:12; 17:15; Romans 12–14; 1Corinthians 5:9-10; 6:1-7; 7:20-24; 10:23-11:1; Galatians 3:26-28; Ephesians 6:5-9; Colossians 3:12-17; 1 Thessalonians 3:12; Philemon; James 1:27; 2:8.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This one is quite ironic & amusing, despite the seriousness of the situation in Hastings. Only Americans could come up with such nonsense!

Link :- Sonrise Community Church (Unite Service)

September 19th, 2005.

Church Review :-
Theology: 2/5
Mission: 2/5
Community: 3/5
Worship: 3/5

Summary: I attended Sonrise Community Church’s Unite Service. An evening ‘postmodern’ service for people aged 18-30 years old. What struck me the most at this service was the preaching. In the service I attended, the pastor spent most of the time speaking about himself. He talked about his job as a news anchor, how he now gets paid well to work part time at Channel 8. He talked about how he "closed the deal" in evangelizing a Budhhist. (I’m glad he is evangelizing but part of this should be done in love not to ‘close the deal’.) Over half the message with about him. In fact, he even shared a story about how his wife had to elbow him five times when they had guests over because he was always speaking about himself. He confessed he could "talk about myself for hours". I’ve got to be honest, this really angered me. Here were a group of 18-30 years-old who were being preached a non-Bible centered message. Just because this guy was a news anchor doesn’t mean he’s qualified to preach at a church. I pray their other services are radically different but even so, the ‘Senior Pastor’ was the person who hired Pastor Miller. I understand a pastor can have an "off night" but to preach the message he delivered, too much is left in doubt for us to recommend this church.

We do not recommend this church because of the low quality of preaching.

Links :- Churches, Not Recommended

Hot from the Press

2007-01-09T00:50:00.000Z

Hastings & St Leonards Observer, Woods House, Telford Road, St Leonards, East Sussex, TN38 9LZ.
All rights reserved © 2007 HastingsToday is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

News - Monday 11pm, 8th January 2007 - Decision on Castle.

HASTINGS Borough Council Cabinet has tonight decided to allow St Mary in the Castle to be leased out to the controversial Sonrise Church.
More than 100 members of the public were present, and voiced their anger at the Tory council. The council is going to get a blasting for this - of that there is no doubt - and at one stage wardens were called to the Town Hall to restore order. The council is doing this simply to save money. The arts community is outraged.

Sonrise, Moonshine, & Hogwash

2007-01-05T19:13:00.000Z

So, as predicted - front page headline of the local paper : "Artists & Council Row over Church".
This is from the paper's website, posted on 04/01/07 : http://www.hastingstoday.co.uk

"A row has erupted between council chiefs and a group of artists, which claims it is being given its marching orders.
South Coast Artists (SoCo), based in St Mary-in-the-Castle in Pelham Crescent, is furious councillors are considering handing the management of the building over to Sonrise Church.

The group has held numerous art exhibitions at the venue since the organisation was formed in July 2004.
Robin Holtom, chairman of SoCo, said: "The council is trying to evict us, yet we have turned St Mary-in-the Castle into a successful art gallery. We have made good use of this space to brighten up the seafront and raise the cultural profile of the town."
Hastings Council manages the venue as a gallery for SoCo and takes 30 bookings a year for the auditorium.
Residents said the council's proposal to give Sonrise Church a lease from April 1 raised 'serious alarm bells'.
John Clark, of St Mary's Terrace, said: "How can the local electorate and ratepayers be sure the financial negligence and mismanagement displayed by the previous administration in the appalling recycling saga is not going to be repeated by the present one?
"The online report for Monday's cabinet meeting states the annual revenue cost of St Mary-in-the-Castle is £138,850.
"It also says the proposals will save £66,000 in the first full year after the transfer and a further saving of £35,000 will be made in repairs and renewal. But one wonders how these savings are going to be made without any details of the terms of the lease.
"Latest available figures show the centre's total income for April 2004 to March 2005 was £84,066 with expenditure at £55,451."
Erica Smith, of Waterworks Road, fears Sonrise Church may exclude certain groups. She said: "I am concerned one of the aims of the church, as is the case with other evangelical churches, is to try to discourage homosexuality. The equal opportunities statement on its website states all minority groups are welcome to join, but it doesn't make a clear statement about how tolerant it is of 'active' homosexual relationships.
"St Mary-in-the-Castle is currently one of only two large venues in the town which are wheelchair accessible. I would like assurance that if this venue is to be handed over to an evangelical church, it will remain open for use by all members of our community.
"It is too valuable a resource to be allowed to become exclusive and was, thanks to a broad-based, and long-drawn-out community campaign, with a lot of hard-earned fundraising, this building was saved from ruin."
Under council proposals Sonrise Church will be given a five-year lease from April 1 and be charged with refurbishing the building.
It also plans to develop the ground floor area as a coffee bar, market the venue as a conference centre, and make the building available to schools, the university and local charities."

Sonrise @ St. Mary?

2007-01-05T14:10:00.000Z

Click on the images to enlarge. Article from Hastings & St. Leonards Observer, Friday Dec 29, 2006.

Well here we are Ladies & Gentlemen & welcome to The Show. Plans by the Council to lease St. Mary-in-the-Castle to the Sonrise Church should bring a welcome breath of fresh air into a decidedly God-less Arts Centre. This American based church operate strictly within the ethos, guidelines, language, framework, of all globally successful American businesses. Their business just happens to be selling Christianity. Creationist Christianity to be polite: Evangelical Right Wing Neo Conservative Christianity to be honest. The poster above comes from their local Hastings & Maidstone website http://www.christianoutreachcentre.net/index.php & (literally) gives a very clear picture of their general operational style. The website is full of endless Biblical references, all applied to "modern day living" & the problems arising from it - depression, stress, family breakdowns, poverty, young people, etc. The website index has categories such as the "Pastor's Page", (where the above poster is), "FAQ's on GOD" (sic), "God's Girls", "Polls" (Has Christmas lost it's true meaning?") & other such fascinating promotional material, so to speak.
And for a real treat, go to their main website http://www.sonrise.org/ for the full-blown epic Western version. (Money Talks). I'm sure their presence at St Mary will be yet another fine addition to the ongoing, all-embracing, regeneration of Hastings & St. Leonards currently taking place, even as we speak. I'll be getting our local newspaper later today - more news for sure!

More sixes & sevens

2007-01-01T22:18:00.001Z

I posted this in June '06 --->

Sixes + Sevens

There's definitely a link between the history of rock/pop music & sixes + sevens.
Rock 'n' Roll hit the streets around 1956/7. Psychedelia changed everything in 1966/7.
Punk appeared between 1976/7. The rave scene & the 2nd Summer of Love 1986-7.
BritPop & Battle of the Bands - Oasis v. Blur 1996/7.
2006? The supremacy of the Internet. MySpace etc could soon be history. 2007? The mind boggles! The Blog Minders are here.

Obviously I was being a bit flippant, especially on the Oasis / Blur thing, & the MySpace comment, knowing full well I'd have to give up & join the masses at some point.....
But the general idea seems ok to me, & here we are at the end of 2006, & the start of 2007, so it's now........or in ten years time!
I've had many questions over the years about some of the famous jazz (& rock, to a lesser degree) musicians I got to see live onstage in my younger days. I've been promising to tell the tales for so long, I figured it would be a really positive new year resolution to actually sit down & start doing it.
Likewise "The Real MCCB History" (Mass Culture Control Bureau to the non-initiated).Now the official MCCB website is stranded, & slowly sinking just off the coast of Cyberia, Aliens@C has become the main info source.
By a sheer stroke of luck, Blogspot have just introduced a new version of their Blog. Amongst other things, it enables posts to be given a label which can be accessed easily at one push of a button.
I'm going to start the jazz story from 1956, & the MCCB History from 1976 - both of these dates being relevant, as you'll find out.
So watch out for the labels "MCCB HiStory" & "JazzMan-T"

A thought for 2007

2006-12-22T13:38:00.000Z

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to all blogging friends.

New Release - Mirage CD

2006-12-22T12:45:00.000Z

Mirage, the long awaited cd from Geoff & Cathy, is finally out. Recorded in Newport (Pembrokeshire, West Wales), it features Geoff mainly on flutes, plus soprano sax, shenai, zithers, jaw's harp, percussion, &amp; voice; Cathy on voice, harmonium, tampura, percussion & singing bowls; plus special guest Chris Rogers on tampura. The music is inspired & influenced by the North Indian Raga Tradition, Contemporary Folk & Jazz Improvisation, & the natural beauty of the Preseli Mountains in West Wales.
As for availability, we're still checking out potential distributors, & hope the cd will be fairly easy to find by late January / early February. We are planning a low-key intimate presentation concert in March, to be held in Newport itself. The cd is released through Hard World, the label shared with the Ex Wise Heads. (Catalogue Number HW CD 004). If anybody out there is really desperate to get their hands on this music now, please feel free to contact me here giving your private email - I will try & sort out a way of getting the cd to you safely - £12 including postage. More news as it arrives! Sorry but for contractual reasons I can't put up any mp3's from it yet - you'll just have to trust me on the quality control front - or wait! Special thanks to the Arts Council of Wales for financial assistance.

Hipsick Alienation Theory In Practice

2006-11-30T16:50:00.000Z

Well here she is - my beautiful daughter & co up to even more crazy (beat) trix in Holland.

More info -----> www.state-xnewforms.nl

Poor ol' George

2006-10-31T11:54:00.000Z

Poor ol' George - he always did have problems with spelling - country to c**t-ery he still needs a map and a dictionary, let alone a made in Texas gold armour plated brain protection cowboy hat, just in case nobody recognizes him.

Faust @ ICA

2006-10-31T11:51:00.000Z

Marian Graham - Art Exhibition

2006-10-19T01:11:00.000+01:00

So if you live around the Bristol area & want to see the smallest art gallery there, this will be right up your street. A dear old friend of mine Marion Graham, expert in Double Speak, PunGuage, Iron-Ying, Nab Talk & other sundry communications oriented media, is having a ThumbNailistic show in Bristol's "newest & youngest" art gallery, Room212. Finishes 12th November.

www.room212.co.uk

More MCCB Alien Take-Aways

2006-10-17T13:09:00.000+01:00

Looks like the MCCB site has crashed somewhere off the north-west coast of Cyberia - apologies to any folks out there waiting on new downloads - there should have been 9 more tracks available very soon, but that's not going to happen......just yet....

We're trying to either get things fixed, and / or start a MySpace Black Sheep page, as this is the only one of the MCCB groups with a future it would seem!

Alternatively we might use a download hosting site - stay tuned.

Later.

FAUST - New Films, Book, & CD Launch @ ICA London 1/2 December 2006

2006-10-15T20:56:00.000+01:00

Press Release from Ankst Records :

This event will also see the launch of the new cd box set of Faust live in the UK, Autumn 2005.

EVENT TITLE - KINO ANKST

DATE - FRIDAY DECEMBER THE 1ST 2006

LOCATION - ICA , THE MALL , LONDON SW1 ( Cinema 1 +2 / BAR )

VENUE + BOOKING INFO - WWW.ICA.ORG.UK Tel : 02079303647

ICA PRESS OFFICE – EMMA PETTIT - Tel : 02077661406 EMMAP@ICA.ORG

SCREENING TIMES/PRICES :

Fri Dec 1st – CINEMA 1 – 8.30 – FAUST : NOBODY KNOWS IF IT EVER HAPPENED (2006) + Q&A + ENTRY INTO CLUB NIGHT (KOSMISCHE DJ’S)
£9 Full / £8 conc / £7 members.

Fri Dec 1st – CINEMA 2 – 6.30 – Y LLEILL (THE OTHERS) (2005)
Sat Dec 2nd – CINEMA 2 – 6.30 – Y LLEILL (THE OTHERS) (2005)

ANKSTMUSIK will be premiering their new film about German Krautrock legends Faust called NOBODY KNOWS IF IT EVER HAPPENED (2006) at the main cinema in The ICA. JEAN HERVE PERON from Faust will be attending the screening, and doing a Q+A session with ANDY WILSON, author of the newly released book FAUST : STRETCH OUT TIME 1970-1975. The film NOBODY KNOWS IF IT EVER HAPPENED is a concert film, featuring the band at the height of their powers playing an explosive concert at The Garage, London, in December 1996.

After the screening in the bar DJ’s from London’s KOSMISCHE Club and Radio Show will provide post screening musical entertainment - this includes the promise of brand new Faust music. The band will be releasing an album of new music in 2007. The film will be premiering at The ICA exactly ten years to the day of the actual extraordinary concert featured in the film. Earlier in the evening ANKSTMUSIK will also be showing their award winning debut feature production Y LLEILL (THE OTHERS) in Cinema 2, with a second performance on Saturday.

This BAFTA award winning bi-lingual (Welsh and English) first feature from EMYR GLYN WILLIAMS (ankstmusik boss, and producer of both Y LLEILL and NOBODY KNOWS IF IT EVER HAPPENED) is a contemporary tale about music and other less important things.

FILM DETAILS :

FAUST: NOBODY KNOWS IF IT EVER HAPPENED ( 2006)
A concert film / 90 minutes / colour / ankstmusik productions.

‘In the midst of FAUST’s music time ticks like a bomb!’
Faust manifesto - 1973.

STARRING…
Jean Herve Peron
Werner ‘Zappi’ Diermaier
Hans Joachim Irmler
Steven Wray Lobdell
Insa Winkler

On Sunday 1st of December 1996 legendary Krautrock pioneers Faust played an explosive concert at The Garage , London. The film is faithful to the sound, fury and disorientation of their performance as it takes the viewer into the thrilling ‘here and now’ of that packed venue on that winter evening. The band’s usual instrumentation was augmented on the night by amplified power tools, arc welders, hay threshing machinery, and in an evening of action painting, nudity, destruction and creation the band more than lived up to their promise of creating more of a happening than a standard concert.

Y LLEILL (THE OTHERS) 88 mins (15)
Welsh with English subtitles/Colour

WINNER ! BEST FILM BAFTA(CYMRU) 2005
WINNER ! BEST FILM SWANSEA BAY FILM FESTIVAL 2006
RUNNER-UP! AUDIENCE AWARD CARDIFF SCREEN FESTIVAL 2005

Y LLEILL (THE OTHERS) is a bi-lingual film about music and other less important things. The lives of a group of young aimless musicians (Y LLEILL) are examined as they play two concerts over a wintry weekend in North Wales. The importance of music to the individuals and the society they exist in is examined in the film. Music is played, recorded, stolen, attacked and censored. As Y LLEILL play their music, the hypocrisy and deceit that exists between the young characters and the resistance to their music that exists in the wider Welsh society is revealed. Manipulative guitarist and singer Pati (Rhian Green) starts the film by stealing the records she can't afford and sets Y LLEILL on a collision course with the established order.

Meanwhile lead singer Rob (John Reynolds) is a different kind of thief who blindly follows his own desires oblivious to family and friends. These fragile relationships are set to explode on stage as the band edge towards one last truly 'revolutionary' performance.

A contemporary tale shot through with politics, small town paranoia, and rock 'n' roll.

ANKST RECORDS: http://www.ankst.co.uk
FAUST-PAGES: http://www.faust-pages.com
KLANGBAD: http://www.klangbad.de
ZAPPI: http://www.zappi-w-diermaier.com
ART-ERRORIST: http://www.art-errorist.de

My Space - Your Call

2006-09-30T14:25:00.000+01:00

Had to happen sooner or later - finally signed up.....

http://www.myspace.com/geoffleigh

I'll be your friend if you'll be mine, for ever and a day.

More knobs/buttons/urls/links/blinks/pastings/postings/virtual payments etcetc

Aliens Caught Jester In The Act

2006-09-29T11:50:00.000+01:00

Just as every King must have a Court, so every Court must have a Jester. The Jester is another variation of a Jungian archetype, linked inextricably for better or worse with The Fool (Tarot), The Scapegoat (they're everywhere), The Monkey (Buddhist mythology), The Trickster (poor old Carlos Castaneda was a victim of that one!), and to a lesser extent The Black Sheep (say no more). Originally one of the most important pivotal characters of medieval life, History has sadly reduced him to a kind of anachronistic clown-like figure of fun, stripped of all his powers, which apart from his role as entertainer-in-chief, included giving advice and informed opinion on many state and political matters. His very existence was in a constant state of flux, walking a thin red line between total respect or death by execution, depending on his King's whim or mood of the moment. This precarious lifestyle no doubt helped fuel his incessant search for Truth and Wisdom, as many of the Kings were certainly not very bright, being mostly a bunch of inbred aristos, with varying degrees of dysfunctionalism, not to mention subject to the occasional bout of total barking madness. So pleasing some of these demagogic loonies was not an easy task - you know what it can be like - for example being interviewed by someone official (Social Security and Housing Benefit Officers are probably one of the best modern examples), with the knowledge that you almost certainly have more intellectual capacities than them, but have to be very careful not to let them realise this, because it will piss them right off. In other words you have to dumb down simply in order to survive. Closely connected to The Jester is of course The Fool - in Tarot symbolism The Fool is the very first card in the pack - poised and ready to walk blindly over a cliff-edge - this is a metaphor telling us that the search for truth and knowledge starts with blind ignorance - The Fool is an empty canvas, waiting and ready for the first splashes of paint which will eventually develop into a picture, if not A Work Of Art. (To Be Continued).

Who's holding up the sky?

2006-09-26T15:26:00.000+01:00

New Ex-Wise Heads CD "Holding Up The Sky" just released.

http://www.exwiseheads.co.uk

Cover statue/title by Lucianne Lassalle.

http://www.luciannelassalle.co.uk/recent_work.htm

And You Thought I Was An Alien?

2006-08-21T13:50:00.000+01:00

Well it's Daughter Number Two's 26th birthday tomorrow (22nd August), and she seems to be carrying on one of the family traditions of extreme weirdness and other-worldly-strangeness! Check out http://www.hipsick.nl for more info and crazy photos from her merry troupe of performance artists / pranksters, apparently creating mayhem and chaos in the Netherlands and elsewhere - all sounds very familiar!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NADIJA!

LOVE YOU TO BITS BABY!

Photo-Shop Alien Cover Up

2006-08-11T12:00:00.000+01:00

Well I don't normally blow my trumpet too loudly, but.....joking about Condoleezza's Photo-Shopped legs in my last post was in fact right on the button - never believe anything you read / see in a newspaper - only days later & what to we get - proof of doctored photos from the Middle East, & who was 1st on the case? The Blog Community - nice one. Difficult to take sides in such a war of dirty tricks from all sides.....but the Yanks have got the motivation, power, money, & resources to continue their lust for total control of the planet, & it's impossible not to sympathise with the Arab world's reaction to years of subjugation by the Western Bloc & their allies. All this ranting on about Nuclear/Biological Weapons in Iran, Korea, Pakistan.....where do you ever see any mention of exactly how many nuclear & biological weapons the USA or UK have stockpiled? Let alone Israel, the main recipients of American aid in the Middle East. Of course the information is all there, you just have to search a lot longer to find it, while we can read about "The Enemies" pile of horror-weapons everyday & everywhere. For all those non-political folk out there, wake up, get real - go to http://www.ceasefirecampaign.org & sign what is now becoming the biggest online petition in CyberHistory. Time to stand up & be counted.

Rice For The Starving Lebanese

2006-07-30T00:40:00.000+01:00

Ahh Bless....Dear Ol' Condi (??) is back and (apparently) cooking on the black and white 88's like a seasoned trooper of the Old Sunday School whoopin' 'n' a yellin' The Word of the Lord Almighty himself to a crowd of Big Eaters - yeh, really looks like she's having a great time, really cool, very in the moment. Yes, when in Rome do as the Romans do - fiddle while it burns to the ground. What a way to get an appetite though, and just as The Almighty War Lord in person is knocking on the back door. Seriously though folks (how many times a day do I say that?) what do you think she's playing? Strange they don't mention that - well....why would they? Could be anything from Kletzmer to Gospel to Liberace to Mozart - first viewer to remotely get the right answer wins a week's holiday in Beirut - 2nd prize a lifetime with Condi. And whose idea is this "Condi" stuff? My mind leaps to words like Conditional, Condiment, Condimonium, Condimental, Condinuity, Condiffusing, Condinental, Condiscending, Condisfunctional, Condifferential, Condiforever. And so far nobody's yet tried to answer my previous question about her - what do you call a black redneck? Watching the news earlier - there she was with the Big Wig Zionists all fawning and crawling and posing and smiling for the cameras oh so efficiently, professionally, radiating the kind of positive energy that people expect from such shining beasts of diplomacy by stealth plane. Way out of my league, and possibly one of the most hated women on earth. And who Photo-Shopped her legs? What's going on there? Oh no......not another Michael Jackson scenario. No this is madness - the more I look at this photo, the more I'm convinced it's a fake.

Photo - The Guardian 29/07/06

Update 22/08/06

Go to

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Od1oBr1xcC0

to see the lady in question in action.

Vic, Henry, Deserts, and Resonance FM

2006-07-17T23:45:00.000+01:00

For those of you who don't yet know, top British comedian Vic Reeves is a huge Henry Cow fan. In '03 he was on "Desert Island Discs", (for non-Brits, a radio show where celebs choose what trax they would take if they had to spend the rest of their lives on a desert island). Good ol' Vic chose "Nirvana For Mice" from "Leg End", the only old school "extended tenor sax workout" HC ever recorded, and featuring yours truly on tenor - so I was well chuffed as they used to say! As if that wasn't enough, he gave both La Vache and Fred Frith an excellent review in the Sunday Times (October '05). And now in this week's Guardian, a whole article (about time too!) on Resonance FM - extract above.

10/66 CrossCountry

2006-07-16T20:30:00.000+01:00

The Black Sheep ARE coming back soon to a town somewhere near you even though thinly disguised as deck chair erectors, not an easy one to pull off in such a hostile urban inland atmosphere. We ARE the original Black Sheep - otherwise everyone would know about us.

A black sheep is not accepted, not given any social status other than that of the outcast, so how is it possible for that obnoxious creature to be known to the general public, and even famous in certain circles? A contradiction in terms. There are thousands of Black Sheep websites, from bands to record companies, wool-knitters, pubs, restaurants, breweries, computer games, speech therapists, sheep-shearing equipment suppliers - the list goes on and on. As far as rock bands go, we ARE the originals - we started using the name in 1980, the idea being to start the Black Sheep Liberation Front, fusing into the Black Sheep Liberation Front Music Orkestra - this never happened because we're such a lazy bunch of ex-hippies, so we settled for a trio - the Black Sheep. THE ORIGINAL BLACK SHEEP. With no chance of a website because all those bluffers and blaggers and bloggers got there first!

10/666 Country

2006-07-16T19:40:00.000+01:00

So the party continued without them but the image they left behind simply started blending in to the background at an amazingly fast rate, the instrument panels barely registering a whisper while all the onlookers experienced something more related to an obscure H.P. Lovecraft fish fucks femme fatale under Hastings Pier scenario supposedly closed down by the nefarious Crowley Followers Crawley Chapter assuming the guise of deckchair attendants. Feelings ran high as the tide, the backlash waves lashing not just the walls of the citadel but the very heart of the beastly named 10/666 Country while the Council Of The Elders assumed total control of all throwing the democratic rulers book out of the window blown completely away the wind howling like bats on skulls the night taking over voices going unheard in the chaos of stasis and unchange.

Fully aware yet unable to move or react the ghosts hung also batlike upsidedownwards trying to see the world from another point of view in the eye of the storm still blinking under harsh lights of night as early birds washed in the scummy seafroth greenly stinking aftermath of some exotic equally wild out of control all nighter gathered their belongings for a final attempt to escape the clutches of the beach management committee members coincidentally on holiday at the seaside.

Unintentional Errorisms

2006-07-10T12:07:00.000+01:00

Sorry to the people who've been leaving comments and not received any feedback (especially DJ Miles - sorry about my impatience etc). Needless to say it's down to me and my blurgin' lack of bloggin' knowhow!

Stoopid! The comments have been lying around dormant in some as yet unexplored bit of my blog - I've been waiting for them to turn up in my mailbox!!

Now found, so you are not forgotten! Sincere apologies!

Also apologies regarding my post from 22/03/06 "Fame @ Last" - of course I'm not the only person on the web who's into Gamelan music - simply that a full stop after an entry on the profile page "interests" renders it totally useless - so put those dictionaries away again and start enjoying the music!

Battle 4 Hastings 2006 - Continued

2006-07-10T11:40:00.000+01:00

Oh what the hell - June/July sleepy times down on the South Coast. The Pier in Hastings remains closed - there are so many articles and opinions about it all in our local paper - no point in me chopping, hacking, scanning, uploading etc etc....better things to be doing with my life! So....for all interested parties, go to www.hastingstoday.co.uk and get the latest blabla on the whole mess!

Back soon with more real stories from The Deep......

Battle 4 Hastings 2006

2006-07-02T14:11:00.000+01:00

So just as the summer heat finally arrives, and the pebbles are burning the incoming hordes of tourist's feet, catastrophe hits Hastings. The Pier has been closed following safety inspections, which have unearthed some serious infrastructure problems. These photos appeared in last week's (23/06/06) local paper, the "Hastings Observer", and now there's a right old row going on, with accusations of communication breakdowns between the council and the pier owners flying around like seagulls at a hot dog stand.
All of this on top of a whole pile of problems relating to the alleged "regeneration" of Hastings & St. Leonards.
More to follow - it's too hot to stay at home!
Manana?
PS. Is it just me, or this a bit of a weird face?

Sixes + Sevens

2006-06-21T16:09:00.000+01:00

There's definitely a link between the history of rock/pop music & sixes + sevens.

Rock 'n' Roll hit the streets around 1956/7.

Psychedelia changed everything in 1966/7.

Punk appeared between 1976/7.

The rave scene & the 2nd Summer of Love 1986-7.

BritPop & Battle of the Bands - Oasis v. Blur 1996/7.

2006?

The supremacy of the Internet.

MySpace etc could soon be history.

2007?

The mind boggles!

The Blog Minders are here.

Mice in alien cat-raps?

2006-06-16T12:45:00.000+01:00

I'm really pleased to say that the first ever "proper" (= not a bootleg) record I played on has finally been rereleased - "Mouseproof", by Gerry Fitzgerald. It has a special place in my heart, not just because "it was my first", but also because it was my introduction to the world of avant-rock typified by 70's groups like Soft Machine, Gong, and Frank Zappa's Mothers Of Invention. Through Gerry I met Daevid Allen, Didier Malherbe, Kevin Ayers, Robert Wyatt, & many other strange & experimental (for want of a better word) musicians, and last but not least....some very beautiful women of course! You can get the CD directly from www.sunbeamrecords.com or by simply typing "mouseproof" into a Google Search, which will lead you to quite a few other distribution points. The quality is not really 100%, (+/- 85%?), but after an initial pressing of 500, the next batch will be mastered from a better source copy. But whichever way you look at it, it's a nice album - Sunbeam have done a good job on the cover and artwork - almost the same cover as the original vinyl release, a very readable and informative booklet, details of the musicians playing, some new photos etc. Unfinished in many ways (thanks once again to the original record company, who pulled the plug at a crucial moment, and screwed up big-time on the promotion/distribution!), but pretty out there for the time. Check it out.......

First Pioneering Dope Bust

2006-06-04T01:50:00.000+01:00

Ok enough of this blabla about even more blabla - time for the serious stuff, but condensed a bit. Drugs. Cannabis in particular. My 1st bust was in October 1964 - if that's not pioneering, tell me what is. Mitcham. What a tragic chunk of London (then and probably now as well) for such a crazy thing to happen. I was with 2 friends at a party for someone's birthday or whatever - most of the partygoers were connected with the YCND ( Youth Campaign For Nuclear Disarmament as it was then called) movement, myself included. I'd been Secretary of the local YCND group for some time. But the ol' demon weed was starting to sneak into the mix, and a lot of the more old school Communist Party members had a very hardline anti-drug stance. We'd {weed?} (all 3 of us) already had some problems with them - they actually grassed up (haha!) someone. All very friendly - solidarity with our comrades. So we figured it would be cooler to smoke a couple of spliffs outside rather than in "the room over the pub where the party was held". We found an alley just across the street next to a cemetery. I'd scored an ounce of topwhack grass that same afternoon, crammed into a piece of bulky newspaper like fish and chips. We skinned a couple up, decided to stash the grass in some grass (oh no not again!) rather than carrying it bulging out of my jeans like a banana or maybe a pistol. About to light up when 2 big looking guys appear from the other end of the alley. We freeze. They're coppers, just come off their shift - one of them had come out of his house (the very last house in the alley - classic!) to put a blanket over the engine of his car, as it was pretty cold. He'd heard us talking, heard me saying "Put a lump in here", got suspicious, went back into the house to get his other copper mate, walked up to us "hello-hallo-hello" style. We're nicked - stoned out of our crusts with no strategy or hope of doing a runner - rabbits frozen in the headlights stuff. They take us into the house. It's around 12.30 maybe. The heavy squad arrive - good cop bad cop stuff. More and more police start arriving, out of curiosity rather than anything else I guess - this was their first ever meeting with DRUG ADDICTS - unmissable. We had absolutely not a clue about our rights - nothing. One particularly bad-ass sergeant gives us a hard time of it, especially me. I've owned up to possession of the 2 joints, as they were mine after all. Not even realising that I wasn't legally obliged to say anything at all, I make up a cock 'n' bullshit story about where we bought the spliffs etc. He's just beginning to believe me, when another cop walks in with the ounce wrapped in newspaper - "Just found this outside in the alley sarge". They'd been searching the whole area with dogs. We are now well and truly screwed. I've blatantly lied to a large policeman, and he's not happy. They take us to the station. Even more blue meanies arrive - it's starting to feel like some crazy surrealist film. I'm (illegally) forced to make a written statement, and also forced to lie to protect my friends, let alone our dealer. And of course there was absolutely no way we'd be leaving the nick until we got bail, and our names and addresses have been checked out. Great - the younger guy's father has to come and bail us out. He's another not very happy man. I've just moved into a new flat that very same afternoon - not even unpacked - very sweet Irish landlady - the Drugs Squad hammering on the door at 2.30am - turn the whole flat over. She's not too happy either. We finally get out of the nick around 3.30/4am. By the time we get to court a few weeks later, the youngest of the 3 of us, who was only 15, has become badly freaked out, is on anti-depressants, and because of a previous silly bit of burglary was probably going to end up in Borstal - not a good deal. The only way out was for him to admit he was addicted to cannabis, but willing to undergo a "cure" (imagine this bullshit now!) - a good result the social workers said - minimum 6 months in a psychiatric hospital. I was fined £10, and told to go and spend some time with my parents (in those days you were a minor until 21, not 18 like now). The 3rd member of the crew was given a £5 fine. It was a class thing as much as anything else - the youngest was from a working class family - me and the other guy from middle class ones. My father was actually very cool about the whole affair - after all I'd gone to my 1st ever jazz gig with him and dear ol' mum when I was 12, and he turned me on to Jack Kerouac when I was 14.

More tales of dope busts, brushes with the authorities, confrontations with the police and, last but not least, lots of hassles with CUSTOMS OFFICIALS to follow. This time I will finish the stories.

No links, have radio, can travel

2006-06-02T19:25:00.000+01:00

Sorry folks - still having a few problems with sites, links, photos, and my life (front tooth). Luckily there's usually a vague shimmering rainbow hovering restlessly somewhere over my head. This week it's come in the form of an online radio station, or podcastbluespot or whatever it's called.

Go to www.homegrownradio.eu for the latest Hastings /St. Leonards-On-Sea / Universal Time Zone Under/Over Ground Sounds. All contributions welcome, but not necessarily interesting enough for our slightly off-kilter tastes, so we can't guarantee you'll get any fresh-air-time!

In the meantime, the MCCB site has been down and out for a while now - should be back online within 48 hours.

PS. DJ Miles - you sent me a link but incorrectly, so I have no way of contacting you! If you're still out there give me a shout please.

Egosurfer

2006-06-01T12:08:00.000+01:00

Egosurfer.

Great new word I discovered in a recently published edition of Chamber's dictionary.

SOMEONE WHO SEARCHES THE INTERNET FOR THEIR OWN NAME.

New one on me!

Quad Peaks

2006-05-29T22:42:00.002+01:00

Squadraphonic Sonic BoomBox Bangin' Out Quadranoia Vibes ParaMilletSeed Of Doubt Blow Up For Nu-Terror Acts In The ZoobTube Reality Sandwich Caff Just Round The Corner Drop In Point.

(N)Euro-Ticker

2006-05-29T12:30:00.000+01:00

So you'll have noticed an increase in the amount of erotica in my posts. (Update - deleted after some complaints!) No coincidence. Spring seems to have come and gone, and an old man's pre-summer thoughts turn to a younger man's "cor blimey fancy that.....whooaahhh" etc etc. All supposedly very normal and healthy. But still frustrating. And maybe not so good for the ol' ticker. Well I'm hopefully exaggerating on that score - I know of one jazz-man who died of a heart attack while on the job, although no doubt his years of booze and cocaine abuse put him in prime position for an early "death by orgasm" scenario. I can think of much worse ways of leaving the planet, so I suppose blessings in disguise are in order. Still.... many of my now dead jazz heroes are.....well....dead - but I'm still here, and recent health check-ups suggest I'm good for quite a while yet, despite my (secret) age and (former) lifestyle. Take note all you young folk out there - as Bill Hicks said, "not all drugs are good......some are great". I'm certainly not going to argue with that one. But no-one escapes the consequences of their actions - youthfulness walks blindly hand in hand with the idea that immortality is the name of the game. Crap. It's mortality, dear friends. Ultimate DEATH. Sooner or later that old Grim Reaper will be choosing his next batch of candidates for The Big Sleep. A serious post-code-lottery with no winners. Do losers take it all with them?

StopStart

2006-05-27T00:30:00.000+01:00

I'm really good at starting things and then stopping them before they're actually finished. Could possibly be one of my major weak points, and a tricky habit to change. Even sentences (but not prison ones) get lost in the mist/mix on occasions - starting bright clear and sharp on a topic and then trailing off into Brando-esque mumblings and mutterings. Only difference being he got paid a hell of a lot of $$$ to do it, whereas I'm mostly pretty skint, and who in their right mind would pay me to ramble on and on about the more obscure aspects of life in general and mine in particular? Maybe on a subconscious level that's why I started blogging - once you commit yourself to being "in the public eye" on such an international level, it soon becomes clear that the sheep are rapidly separated from the goats. It becomes an addiction for some people. But there are so many half-finished blogs (I know I've mentioned this in an earlier post) out there, echoing the tangled web people call their daily humdrum (mmm....don't hear that word so often these days) existence, that you feel some kind of responsibility to struggle on, even though the end result might just be a load of old blabla (although blabla seems to have become quite a normal response to anything and everything which requires the slightest bit of actual thought, reflection, or intelligence these days). So when others stop, what do they start next? Another blog maybe? A new life in the sun etc etc? What about those poor souls who only write about cooking recipes, knitting patterns, pets, kids, neighbours, aliens etc? I'm desperately trying to carry on some kind of ancient (maybe even archaic) traditions of endless flow, flux, and change, without compromising my basic existential mainframe operational functions, or getting too involved in other people's lives. Each to his/her own. Already I've ended a couple of posts with the words "to be continued", "back on the case next week" etc, but check them out - still all unfinished! I guess I eventually get totally bored with things which at the time seemed really interesting and important, as if I was fulfilling some kind of social responsibility by writing about them, but - still just blabla for many bloggers. Simply massaging my own ego? The Burning Ideas Factory is still open, the flashes come and go, often in my dreams or a dream-like state, rejected or forgotten before they're even partially explored, and still hanging around at the back of the mind somewhere like an uninvited guest overstaying their welcome. At least in Cyberland you can well and truly get lost with head up proverbial arse and not even a portaloo in sight. In a sea of shit who needs toilets? Sorry - there are many good people (some of them even bloggers) out there in the Real World, but it's easy to get cynical, especially as cynicism (along with post-irony) now seems to be a legitimate philosophy (religion?) to embrace - sad but true. You just never know whether people are taking the piss or being serious these days. Haha! On a really serious level now - I've finally taken the plunge and decided to put more of my cheapo camera/software generated digital art experiments online - some of them have been hanging around on my hard drive (whooo!) for the last year or so - I've really had to think about the realness of it all before jumping in too fast.....now I probably won't stop! A new day, a new game to play?

Erratica

2006-05-26T12:34:00.000+01:00

Caged Beast

Hands On/Off

Flow Job

First Crash Out

2006-05-25T21:56:00.000+01:00

Whoops.....they did warn me.....

changed the colour of my template and lost all my links,

not to mention the site meter....

hopefully back online by tomorrow....apologies to any serious

viewers, remote or otherwise.

Alien Count

2006-05-24T12:22:00.000+01:00

Site Meter figures based on 111 visits since the meter was installed a month ago - estimated 500 visits since 1st January - wouldn't want to alienate anybody by deliberately faking the total. So 611 visits to date seems honest enough, given the fact that I've had just over 800 profile views in the same period of time. So now I can start seriously checking out those pesky alien visitors.

Angels

2006-05-24T01:39:00.000+01:00

thought for the day.....

angels rush in where fools fear to tread....

Alien Virus

2006-05-23T22:00:00.000+01:00

I'm not trying to cash in on all this alien {as in extra terrestials rather than the "illegal aliens" we read about, especially from the good ol' USA} stuff - in my naivety it never occurred to me that there would be so many people out there who actually do believe that not only do aliens exist, but are already here among us, probably in human form. Clever bastards wotwot! (The aliens, that is, not the believers). Aliens only exist in the mind - projections of our own alienation from a society rapidly going down the pan. Read Carl Jung on flying saucers (1958), or Daevid Alien on flying teapots (1968 until forever) for that matter. Oh sweet mystery of life. All this to say that the MCCB Global website has apparently been infected with an alien virus previously unseen or heard of in cyberland. Is this just the beginning? Or the end? Both? Is it all actually true? Another GoogleGag? The experts are on the case as we speak, so my people will be getting back to your people to deliver an explanation of the situation in no uncertain terms. After all, we need the alien vote in order to stay in power. In the meantime - blog off.

Another Line To Cross

2006-05-23T11:05:00.000+01:00

No news for a while here from the sea-front as I've been in sunny West Wales for a couple of weeks supposedly working.....if music be the food of love etc etc....mountains, babbling brooks, blue-rinse sheep, wild winds and driving rain, idyllic sunsets, overhung sunrises, trees that sound like foreign tourists but look like local hairstyles, people that say "lovely day" (for no real reason except maybe sleeping, shopping, eating, dying, as in "lovely day for shopping isn't it?").

Meanwhile time floats invisibly past, dreams don't come true, all my old friends are out there doing it, while I sit here moaning like the sad old bastard my kid brother says I've become - what more can I ask for? None of the essential trappings of modern society are forcing me to do anything except sleep for too long, talk for even longer, dreaming of some hopelessly outmoded state of consciousness beyond my comprehension let alone reach.....I have a roof over my head, a garden which could be a stepping stone to paradise but which in reality is a right old mess, a car, a computer which I still haven't paid for, loads of software I can't be bothered to learn how to use, two beautiful daughters, a soprano sax, a few flutes, all sorts of antiquated instruments both acoustic and electric, an incurable although non-lethal neurological condition, a now very loose front tooth after inexplicably banging it on the corner of the tv set, a nicotine habit which is slowly killing both me and apparently everyone else within a square kilometer of my emissions (at least the nocturnal ones are harmless enough until scientists tell me yes please do tell me otherwise), a mountain of pills to take every day, a valley of death to cross, a thousand tunes to write, a library of books to read. Theoretically this should all keep me going for a while, if I choose to continue on this road to nowhere.....I guess nowhere is better than somewhere I don't want to be?

The Grim Reaper

2006-04-30T02:45:00.000+01:00

Almost had a short sweet meeting with The Grim Reaper. First time, and obviously not the last, otherwise I wouldn't be here to tell the tale. Driving on the M25 Friday evening around 7.30pm. Bank holiday weekend so more traffic than usual. Stop start stop start stuff. Finally get moving a bit. I'm in the outside lane, getting up to about 60 mph. I look away from the road for barely a second to grab some gum. I look back - brakelights on full red everywhere, except mine. Jam on the brakes. Skid to the left. Tyres screech, burning. Some space miraculously opens up in front of me. Instinctively try and steer out of the skid. Bad move. Lose control almost completely. Tyres burning even more. Zig-zagging across all 3 lanes thinking this is really it. All so fast not even time for the "whole life flashing past me" mini-clip ritual. Memories of driving lessons kick in subconsciously. I'm steering into the skid now. Foot still glued to the brakes. The car finally stops, stalled, just a few metres from the hard shoulder. I've done an almost complete 180 degree U-turn at 40/50 mph. I was very lucky - slow moving trucks were in the 2 inside lanes, and the cars immediately behind me had slowed right down, so I was face to face with a line of stationary vehicles. Started the engine, pulled off the road, switched off, got out, not sure whether I was in shock or not. No shaking anyway. Take a swig of water. Roll a ciggie. Look at the tyres - seem ok. Rear offside bumper pushed a bit out by the pressure of the tyre against it I guess. But no other damage. Shock absorbers ok. Brakes working. Chilled out for 10 minutes. Drove the 80 or so miles back home in quite a relaxed state. Woke up this morning - that was enough....

Backstage Blow

2006-04-30T01:57:00.000+01:00

Warming up the old tubes backstage.

Faust gig @ The Metro Club, London, 02/11/05.

Aliens In Counter Insurgency

2006-04-25T19:05:00.000+01:00

Finally got broadband sorted out as I'm fed up with all this time hanging around waiting for downloads, upgrades, leftbehinds, upfronts and all the rest of the package(s) that goes/go with joining the online/one liner virtual community geek parade-ground, standing to attention with the eternal repetitive brain injury brigade. The Frazzled Fifer returns from a well earned break beat holiday camp, only to discover intermittent alien sub-based freakwencies have distorted the virtuality meter into oblivion, probably somewhere between the DogStar Serious and Bill Burrough's spatially evacuated ashes. Which is a lot of space. And lots of meteors. All of which has nothing to do with aliens - current blogs closely encountered during a recent interfacial search gave a final random count down average of 295,360, (which is a lot of aliens). As for insurgency - this is now simply an ongoing global phenomena so enormous that the counter would never have even been accepted by the dis-servers in the first place. So I got a hit culture counter as well. Need to find out who/where those pesky aliens are very soon......

Rice, Lenny, & Sly

2006-04-18T21:12:00.000+01:00

Couldn't resist this one - Dear Ol' Condoleezza - courtesy of The Observer 09/04/06.

Tricky one eh? I mean, how politically incorrect is one allowed to be when dealing with politicians who should perhaps be arrested on charges of conspiracy to incite and / or commit crimes such as genocide, mass murder, religious war, and a few other small errors of judgement?

Especially when they happen to be a black female right wing newborn evangelical creationist intelligent design worshipping fully paid up christian ? Words fail me.....well no they don't, but there are borders between thoughts, and words spoken (or worse still - written), which I suppose we have to respect. But with a little imagination I'm sure most people could come up with a few ideas. I can remember Lenny Bruce in the early 60's calling a spade a spade a time or two, and of course they had to shut him up somehow, so a slow death by state-instigated-drug-fuelled paranoia was a good way for him to go. Things have changed.....there was no such thing as political correctness in his day, which didn't mean he got away with it all - quite the opposite. On every single stage appearance he made he could be and often was arrested for all sorts of crimes - obscenity (you simply could not use words like fuck, motherfucker or pussy in public then), references to his drug (mostly heroin) habit, slander (for the corrupt politicians), a lot of racial abuse (references to kikes, spics, niggers, jews, chinks, etc), and anything else the Book Of The Law could find. I remember Sly And The Family Stone in the late 60's singing "Don't call me Nigga, Whitey - Don't call me Whitey, Nigga"....They knew what was going down, they knew what they were doing, they knew EVERYBODY would get uptight on that one. Except all those people who had already gone way beyond that barrier, slipped past the metaphor, sliding gently towards some newly found miniscule taste of freedom. All suggestions welcome.....but just for starters - a random question :- What do you call a black redneck?

Ad Hoc (Key) Styx

2006-04-14T21:33:00.001+01:00

This shot has a bit of history. Original photo taken in early 80's.

Chosen as part of a "body and objects" project.

Published in exhibition catalogue.

Exhibition itself was seen all over Holland and parts of Belgium.

Recycled in '05 as a magazine advert for Ad Hoc Records, producers

and distributors of the re-released MCCB compilation CD

"Things From The Past", plus 6 other re-releases.

There are now 12 titles on Ad Hoc,

all only available on vinyl until now.

Strange Daze

2006-04-14T18:39:00.000+01:00

What a day for a strange daze....1st thing this morning, I thought yes - check out any blogs with connections to Brighton - I lived there for quite a while, and as I'm only 35 miles down the A259 coastal ghost road (as the Hyundai flies), I go there fairly often. So - the very 1st blog that came up was the Daily Photo (www.brightondailyphoto.blogspot.com) and the photo of the day, (nothing to do with the photo above), posted only the night before, was one of a good friend and fellow mad-sax-man-do, the ubiquitous Gary Cove, busking in the Brighton Pavilion Gardens! Now....how would you describe that - coincidence or synchronicity? There were already 4 or 5 comments on the photo, mainly from "international correspondents" of the same organisation. I left a message mentioning that he's having a bit of a hard time of it at the moment, encouraging all passers-by to give generously out of the kindness of their wallets. Gary is yet another of those great musicians destined to never make it into the big time, because that's just the way it goes sometimes (look at me!), but if you're in Brighton, take a stroll into the Gardens - there's a good chance he'll be there, blowing some beautiful soprano saxophone till the cowslips cry...........thanks Gary!

I've been updating some of my earlier posts - check out the Archives from November - more words added to "Shadows" and "The Dance", also marking the introduction of Es-quim-O'Nell into the mix, or at least the blow-up doll remix of her.....steady on now boys, no rush...

Full Moon Beach Party

2006-04-14T01:22:00.000+01:00

full moon beach nonparty windfeeze factor 23 skidoo lefthand{}sidedown upyours mine to keep 4evakeep the key the qi chi the tie/thai nots and lots for sale today/ze + tomorrow's pART- eez never say diedin the bull gothmagorick trix of the tray-ed/out right sides ball-foot match ~~lucifer fallenhumpty-style down +further down dumptywaste matter inbin{}}{upsurge inn-ta-resting sloganisers back to more shit & the differing levelsss... chicken shit = everyday stuff good morning my dear lovely day more sugar late already miss the train going back early again must rush love you me too. bull shit = when this stuff becomes fixed, ritualised, repetitive, eating away at the underlying reality of the superficiality. elephant shit = the final desperate stages of human life as we know it - the infinite joy and variety of emotional richness that makes up the subtle subnetwork-like beauty of existence has disappeared completely, leaving behind simply a script, a template to be stuck to right up to the very end. full moon out of reach party sunfactor number 9 come in come now come quickly all yesterday's pART--ee>>zz gone home for the weekend a little something for the weekend sir nowwhere does all that come from? full full feeling the hairsc on the back of the neck the nape the fur trying to brake thru the night the howl the chheek + Jowell -=bejewelled stars in yer eyez

Aliens All @ C Again

2006-04-12T15:05:00.000+01:00

It seems my destiny is leading me more and more into yet another deep black hole in this digitally overgrown underground. I've just signed up to the new Hastings Arts Forum (HAF), only to discover (of course - obvious really!) that the hand that might feed me has nevertheless already been bitten by my subversive attitudes to certain aspects of the art world, the whole internet phenomena, and pretty much anything else connected to them both. There I am sticking my neck out, criticising the (local) powers that be, especially this business surrounding non-payment of work done on the newly refurbished De La Warr Pavilion (DLWP), only to find myself potentially profiting from their contributions to the local arts scene. Now I feel like some kind of wannabe, playing both sides of the game, sounding off at the same people who might one day be filling my stomach and paying my rent. It's a dilemma - a blessing and a curse - past experience has taught me you can't have it both ways. If it means once again being banished to the metaphysical desert, I really don't know what to do next. What would you do? But there's absolutely no way I can compromise on these matters, simply because they do matter a hell of a lot. What kind of strategy can I adopt which leaves my conscience clear, while not rocking the boat so much that someone wants to throw me overboard? The walls do need to be shaken, the cages do need rattling, otherwise mass culture (now often disguised as underground culture) just eats up everything in sight, you and me included. It's the death of creativity to shut up and put up, and that is simply not my style. One of the main reasons I decided to call my blog Aliens@C (apart from the fact that I do like to be beside the seaside) is because it illustrates very well the basic limitations of the binary-code computer-speak world - written like it is with no spaces, a computer will always read it as an email address - the bloody machine can not tell the difference between an email address and a website! And of course it's neither! What's in a name? So much for Artificial Intelligence! Too much taken for granted - electricity, running hot water, fish and chips, letters through the door etc etc, let alone cyberland, blue tooth, MySpace (apparently not cool or underground any more, but corporate! Flava of the week hits the netpunters yet again - now it's Faceparty....well...it was yesterday anyway). What a crazy world we're helping to build. And then......CHINA......what do we do about that? Is it ok for mein host Google to be compromising freedom of speech by taking censorship on board in such a crass political manner? Drowning by the sea , not my cup of tea, can't even swim, just let me be.

Almost Jumped The Gun

2006-04-07T18:10:00.000+01:00

Well there you go - not a single word about this financial mess in the local Hastings paper. Before I write anything too inflammatory too soon, I'll double check with the Bexhill Observer, although I'm pretty convinced there'll be nothing there either. Anyway.....now off to a very non-political weekend to celebrate my dear ol' Dad's 85th year on the planet....back on the case on Monday.

Jumping The Gun

2006-04-07T00:01:00.000+01:00

I'm definitely jumping the gun here - I can't wait to get Friday's local paper to see what the De La Warr Pavilion have to say (if anything) about all this money owed to the builders (see my post "What would YOU do" for the background info). It's all looking a bit messy to say the least - so much money spent on a serious refurbishment, very well designed glossy expensive programmes, lots of publicity etc. Needless to say I'm secretly hoping and praying that they have absolutely nothing to say - this will be the perfect go-ahead for me to start making noises, starting off with simply emailing all their administration staff the original newspaper article, asking them if they have any comments. And of course even if they do reply, I'm convinced it will probably be just more blabla, well worthwhile following up. Back in a few hours on this one.