'Absence Blots Us Out' by TLASILA - For Chris Grier.

'Incestuous Sisters' by Una Lee, Hyo Jung Kim & Peter Wullen

MUTATIONS (Full 7 Minute Version) - For Zbigniew Karkowski

Original poem from the >>4 Poems<< cycle was published in the Dutch literary magazine nY #24 (http://www.ny-web.be/showtime/ny-24-verschenen.html)

PARIAH - All my European friends have Asian girlfriends (copy/paste for John Duncan)

Original poem from the >>4 Poems<< cycle was published in the Dutch literary magazine nY #24 (http://www.ny-web.be/showtime/ny-24-verschenen.html)

>>4 Poems<< by L'Ane Qui Butine

The >>4 Poems<< cycle that is now published in the Dutch literary magazine nY #24 (http://www.ny-web.be/showtime/ny-24-verschenen.html) also exists as a limited edition booklet. Art edition created by L'Ane Qui Butine. It contains words by Osip Mandelstam, John Duncan, Thomas Bey William Bailey, Kyrgyz manaschi, Michel Faber (Under The Skin), Celia Green, Mutants by Armand Marie Leroi, Peter Lamborn Wilson and an excerpt from the Rg Veda... More info: lanequibutine@gmail.com.

www.lanequibutine.com

ttp://www.ny-web.be/

nY #24 - "Weerzin".

http://www.ny-web.be/print-issues/ny/jan-2015-24/

'Searching for Cioran' by Ilinca Zarifopol-Johnston.

Unfinished sympathy. First part is great. Cioran's youth in Rasjinari. But Ilinca Zarifopol passed away before she could finish the full biography. So, the rest is really some unfinished parts put together by her husband Kenneth R. Johnston. Two chapters about 'Romania's Transfiguration' and Cioran's so-called 'fascist' sympathies. And then there is the part about Ilinca visiting Emil in the hospital. An ailing old man with Alzheimer. Cringeworthy. It gets better when she travels herself to Romania. Not to find out stuff about Cioran, but to look for her father and her uncle Paul. It's all very sketchy. That's the part where i am now. She does write a lot about the republication of 'Romania's Transfiguration' in 1990. But Emil was not stupid. He quickly hurried to republish the book after the Romanian revolution in 1989. Opportunistic? She hardly makes that link though. Yes, in the 2nd part of the book. She plays on sentiment. But Cioran was never about 'sentiment'. Notes written by a woman in love. My conclusion is that we need a biography of his lifelong partner Simone Boué. She was the complicated part in the life of Cioran. Looking after the master with care for 40 years. For whatever reason. Love, maybe... Her story is a tragic one. She killed herself 2 years after his death. Drowned in the sea.

PS: Just skipped to Appendix 2 'Articles by Cioran Reflecting His Experiences In Germany', on E.M. Cioran's very outspoken and Nietzschean 'sympathy for a young Hitler' in 1933-1934. Shivers!!!! He was wrong! So wrong! And he knew it! What does the author want to proof by publishing this 'wrong' article though? In perspective: it was hard to see what was going to happen in 1933 and 1934. A lot of people stepped willingly or unwillingly into the mass hysteria of the moment as Cioran explained later as an apology. It was hard not to be swept away by the fascist tsunami that was about to come. But the fact that Cioran gave permission to republish the book in 1990, meant that all through the years he clung to the same ideas. So, no apologies...

You can forgive a young man for having these ideas in 1933-1934. You cannot forgive a skilled writer & thinker for sticking to the same ideas in 1990. Then it's indeed Tschüss, Emil.

'Searching for Cioran', by Ilinca Zarifopol-Johnson, edited by Kenneth R. Johnson, foreword by Matei Calinescu, Indiana University Press, 2009.

My Favourite Albums of 2014.

Valerio Tricoli - 'Miseri Lares'

Antoine Chessex - 'Chamber Works'

NO BULLSHIT - tribute to Zbigniew Karkowski

Scott Walker + Sunn0))) - 'Soused'

David Sylvian + Franz Wright - 'There's a light...'

Franck Vigroux - 'Centaure'

Mica Levi - 'Under the skin' (soundtrack)

France Jobin - 'Infinitisemal'

Yvan Etienne - 'La Lueur'

Zbigniew Karkowski + Tetsuo Furudate - 'World As Will'

Gintas K - 'Old man tales'

Otomo Yoshihide Quartet

A Singing Comet

Kenney/Kang/Park - 'At Temple Gate'

A-Symmetry - 'I Am Life'

reissues: Jon Hassell, Fripp + Eno, Eyeless In Gaza,...

‘There's a light that enters houses with no other house in sight’ by David Sylvian.

The voices deliver the strangest music nowadays. First we had the wonderful Scott Walker album with SunnO))) and now here is one by the great David Sylvian. Not enough suffering in his music, said the one about the other once. But here is some suffering anyway. 'There's a light...' is a collaboration with long suffering poet laureate Franz Wright. I know many fans from the first hour were appalled because it is not David reciting the words but the old man Wright. And it is poetry, not songs. What can I say? A difficult album. And that's mildly put. But we love 'difficult', don't we? Especially the last 20 minutes are very captivating... "If you liked being born, you will love dying..." Did you spot the change in tone in Franz Wright's voice towards the end of the album? The humoristic and playful is suddenly gone. A crack in his voice when he starts to sound utterly desperate and lonely. It's a breathtaking moment. The cleverness disappears. Human warmth slips in. The piece almost becomes 'emotional'.... It's the best part of the album. I thought I heard Dai Fujikura somewhere, but he is not on the album. Sylvian is not the one to sit still. He is continuously looking for new adventures and collaborations. This time it is Toshimaru Nakamura and veteran Otomo Yoshihide delivering the samples. Musically, the album even holds out without the poet's voice which comes unobtrusively in the way of the freeflowing brushes of music once in a while. I can enjoy David Sylvian's new album to a certain level, but I'm sure he has become some kind of muscian's musician. There are certain aspects of 'There's a light...' that will forever escape me. That's normal. Is it really necessary to know where every note every snippet comes from? The whole history of contemporary music that was crammed into one piece of music? I'm surely not the one looking to understand everything. BTW, I seem to be a poet's poet myself. I know all about it. The things I put into my poems will not necessarily be recognised by readers. Maybe only by connoisseurs. And then what? I don't expect anybody to fully understand what I've written. Dedicated DS fans will be chewing on this. Ha...

PS: One would hope that Scott and David will work together one day. At least here is the whimsical proof that there is a lot of suffering in David Sylvian's work anyway.

'Centaure' by Franck Vigroux on Cosmo Rhythmatic.

FRANCK VIGROUX - CENTAURE from dautrescordes on Vimeo.

Listening to the music of Franck Vigroux is a musical experience comparable to reading Cioran. It's intense! I was reading and rereading 'Le Lyrisme Absolu' by E.M. Cioran from his book 'Sur les Cimes du Désespoir' and then inadvertently I switched to listening to Franck Vigroux's new album on the brand new Berlin based label Cosmo Rhythmatic. I suddenly saw it before me and I immediately made the link. Like an epiphany. Vigroux in 'Tempest' cooly hunched over his instruments while Antoine Schmitt projects ever evolving, stellar algorhytmical projections on the videoscreen behind him. Amidst all the bad art being made in the name of Cioran, this seems to be the real thing. It felt like a total experience and the absolute lyricism we are looking for and that Cioran wrote about. Then after that I took a look at the stunning 'Croix' videos and I had to think about the words 'le lyrisme absolu est celui des derniers instants' from the same chapter... On his new EP 'Centaure' Vigroux even goes one step further: the noise, the abstraction, the experiment on 'Centaure', '2024' and 'Vesuve'... I don't know if you ever read 'Le Bain de Feu' by Cioran? It's about the most intense hair-raising philosophical text ever written. I feel like that too when I listen to the new album. Vigroux puts you head down in a scorching bath of fire. Vigroux is probably the most intense musician of the moment. But then, in comes Shapednoise to scrape together your remaining ashes with different abstract shapes and forms of rhythms. Vigroux never lets us down exploring this experimental way or that noise way, but 'Centaure' is surely the most powerful thing we heard from him since 'We (Nous Autres)'. Brilliant! Video by Gregory Robin.

Music by Franck Vigroux, Label Cosmo Rhythmatic, boomkat.com/vinyl/1147530-franck-vigroux-centaure, boomkat.com/downloads/1147497-franck-vigroux-centaure

'Paradigm' by Sergio Albano (based on "4 Poems" by Peter Wullen)

'Offering' by Sergio Albano (based on "4 Poems" by Peter Wullen)

A-symmetry: I Am Life 2014 - Life 1.

life 1 - A-symmetry: I Am Life 2014 from agf Pro on Vimeo.

Here's a splendid video from A-symmetry, the collaborative project of Georgian based Natalie Tba Beridze and AGF (Antye Greie-Ripatti). The track is from their forthcoming album on Morr Music called 'I Am Life'.

http://asymmetry.agfproducktion.com/

'Sanctum Gradalis' by Ouroboros featuring Stefania Domiziana

"4 Poems" by L'Ane Qui Butine & Peter Wullen

www.anequibutine.com

"4 Poems" by L'Ane Qui Butine.

www.anequibutine.com

Underground Poetry Fest in Brussels from 19 - 21.09.2014.

Lewis - 'Bringing You A Rose'.

http://blog.lightintheattic.net/?p=28161

Crank - "Omnipressure".

Yvan Etienne — "La lueur" — (Aposiopèse)

NO BULLSHIT - A Sonic Tribute to Zbigniew Karkowski (Bandcamp edition)

NO BULLSHIT - A Sonic Tribute To Zbigniew Karkowski (1958-2013)

'NO BULLSHIT - A Sonic Tribute to Zbigniew Karkowski (1958-2013)' is ready for release. It's an audio DVD of 5 hours commemorating one of the greatest experimental artists of all times. The piece I sent for the DVD was made together with Korean experimental artist Una Lee and is called 'MUTATIONS'. It was loosely based on 'Mutation', a relatively quiet soundpiece by the late great Japanese sound artist Aube and by Zbigniew Karkowski. They are two giants of noise music who passed away last year. The spoken poem itself is a mashup of parts of Armand Marie Leroy's book 'Mutants : on the form, varieties and errors of the human body'. For more information about the upcoming release check here: http://sonmarchive.es/index.php?option=com_muscol&view=album&id=4114&lang=es

Pink Floyd @ the UFO Club London 1967 - Excerpt from 'DOPE' by Flame Schon & Sheldon Rochlin.

Flame Schon & Sheldon Rochlin made the delicious 'DOPE' film in 1967 with rare images of early Pink Floyd in the UFO club in London. We worked with this 60s legendary filmmaker on a brand new videopoem with sounds by Una Lee and a rework by Gintas K. It's an hommage to the rippling still Mylar images by our mutual friend, the late poet, artist & filmmaker Ira Cohen. In the end, we made something different...

Valerio Tricoli - 'La Distanza' from 'Miseri Lares' on PAN.

Blood of a Poet Festival - 11.05.2014 - Riga, Latvia.

PARIAH - All my European friends have Asian girlfriends (copy/paste for John Duncan) - video

" it's / as real as anything else / so it's just as absurd to critizice

anyone with such a limit as being / personally / or / socially /

/ weak / "

(John Duncan, excerpt from an interview in the digital version 'MicroBionic - Radical Electronic Music & Sound Art in the 21st Century' by Thomas Bey William Bailey, A Belsona Books publication, 2012)

Antoine Chessex: "Ritournelle Fulgurante (for Leo Mingrone)".

Antoine Chessex: "Ritournelle Fulgurante (for Leo Mingrone)" from Physicofsounds on Vimeo.

Antoine Chessex special on Saturday 3 May between 6pm and 8pm on university Radiocampusbruxelles. Tracks will be featured from the new MONNO album, Chamber Works, Dust, Errances, Multiple (live at Cafe OTO) and lots more... www.radiocampus.be

Monno - III (from 'Cheval Ouvert').

Is everybody already running wild about the new Swans song 'A Little God In Our Hands'? Haha... Me, I'm more impressed by this new album by the combo Monno. Here's a crazy & ultraspeedy track produced by Roli Mossiman, the former Swans drummer....

Mazk (Masami Akita & Zbigniew Karkowski) - 'Not knowing what is and is not'.

'Idioticon' by Kris Verdonck, words by Peter Wullen.

'Idioticon', videopoem by Kris J. Y. Verdonck. The soundtrack is 'Koladé Spirit' by David Toop, with kind permission. 'Koladé Spirit' is a track from 'Mondo Black Chamber', the new David Toop compilation album on Sub Rosa. The original was included on 'Konstantin Raudive - The Voices of the Dead'. A Raudive celebration including unpublished material by Scanner, Paul D. Miller aka DJ Spooky/That subliminal kid, Calla, Lee Ranaldo (of Sonic Youth), Ensemble, Ramdom Inc., David Toop, Carl Michael von Hausswolff and Brett Dean. They have all composed an exclusive piece of music based on the Raudive material. It goes from a close examination of the material itself (CM Von Hausswolff, Lee Ranaldo) to a more evocative mood (Calla, Scanner, dj Spooky). The last piece, for viola solo, is a global homage to all the explorators of the unknown.

Two completely new Sappho poems discovered.

[ … ] But you always chatter that Charaxus is coming, His ship laden with cargo. That much, I reckon, only Zeus Knows, and all the gods; but you, you should not Think these thoughts, Just send me along, and command me To offer many prayers to Queen Hera That Charaxus should arrive here, with His ship intact, And find us safe. For the rest, Let us turn it all over to higher powers; For periods of calm quickly follow after Great squalls. They whose fortune the king of Olympus wishes Now to turn from trouble to [ … ] are blessed and lucky beyond compare. As for us, if Larichus should [ … ] his head And at some point become a man, Then from full many a despair Would we be swiftly freed.

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jan/30/read-sappho-new-unknown-poem-papyrus-classical

'Black Canary' by Chris H Lynn, voice: Una Lee, words: Peter Wullen.

Black Canary from chris h lynn on Vimeo.

The aim of a poet is not to win prizes. To be famous. To be popular. Even not to produce books. That's left for the others to decide. The aim of a poet is to leave as much traces as possible during a lifetime. Like seeds we blow in the wind. Like water we flow in all directions. We project fire. We consume everything before we are consumed ourselves.

'MUTATIONS' by Una Lee & Peter Wullen.

We have our contribution to the 'NO BULLSHIT' tribute to ZK. It's loosely based on the piece 'Mutation' by ZK + Aube. I wrote the cutup poem 'MUTATIONS' as a starting point. Una Lee created the startling soundscape with sounds she found in Belfast. There's a dramatic breaking point in words and sounds in the middle of the sound poem which makes it breathtaking. It's a blast. It's LOUD. It's NO BULLSHIT....

Interview in Meander.

"Een verhaaltje vertellen is een oeroude drift, maar het is helaas niet meer van deze postpostpostmoderne tijd. Om een groot publiek te bereiken moet je nu eenmaal een verhaaltje vertellen. Dat zie je ook in de gedichten van de jonge generatie van dichters. Er wordt weinig afgeweken. Maar ik wil daar resoluut van af."

http://meandermagazine.net/wp/2014/01/terug-naar-mals-groen-2-peter-wullen/

Zbigniew Karkowski (1958-2013)

"Many say they are sorry to hear of Zbigniew Karkowsky's death. I, for one, am not.

I still hear Zbigniew's infectious laugh, hear his voice, see the sparkle of mischief in his eyes. Ripping a poster of an exhibition that my piece BLIND DATE was in off the window of a packed Yamanote-sen in Tokyo, then showing it to a suited salaryman and encouraging him to take his children to look for it in the show. Both of us laughing hysterically when the train was gone.

Zbigniew always seemed utterly without fear. His final gesture, traveling for hours in a canoe into the Amazon jungle directly after flights from Europe lasting nearly 24 hours, to be treated by a Shipbo shaman is perfectly in keeping with everything else he did. All the way, no compromise. His final wish, if the treatment failed, was to be left in the jungle to be eaten. No ceremony, no grave. If it succeeded as he hoped, he said he would bring back stories of the adventure. Somehow, I still expect to hear them.

A Karkowsky concert often meant that we would see smoke rising from the burning speakers of the overdriven PA, fumes clearing the room. As much as he seemed to enjoy it when that happened, frankly I doubt that this was ever done for effect: he simply demanded that his music be heard with the power that he intended, that he himself heard. During a residency, one of several, at The Compound in San Francisco, director Naut Humon proudly remembered that Zbigniew played lower frequencies at volumes so high that they shattered the toilet bowl. Musicians who worked with him often spoke of him with unabashed admiration, said they looked forward to a chance to do it again.

Yes, Zbigniew was often cruel when drunk, plenty of those stories to go around. So far, I have yet to meet anyone who isn't. Alcohol is a seductive, motherless bitch to anyone who lets her have her way. She slams doors of friendship shut and, under her influence, Zbigniew slammed a few more than his share.

When Zbigniew moved to Tokyo, he was fortunate enough to meet Atsuko (I never did hear her last name), who stayed together with him for fifteen years, travelled to Greece to spend a last several days together, saw him off in Paris for the flight to Peru. If she and I never meet, here I send her a huge, heartfelt Thank You.

So today, and many more days like it, will be spent thinking of that laugh, that love of entertaining friends, that cavalier and uncompromising sense of daring. One of the first phrases in Japanese that Zbigniew said he learned was 'Omanko wa oishii' -- 'Cunt is delicious'. Here, too, he was absolutely right."

(John Duncan, 13.12.2013.)

Xopher Davidson + Zbigniew Karkowski - 'Processor'

The whole idea is to play this album extremely loud with ultra powerful loudspeakers. So loud that the plaster falls off the wall. Something you can't do at home, I suppose, unless you want to rebuild your home very cheaply. I played this at low volume. The low rumble caused some anguish downstairs.

Zbigniew Karkowski (feat Anton Lukoszevieze) - 'Nerve Cell_0'

The whole piece burbles away a bit. But when you sit long enough into the music, something incredible happens around the 30th minute. The composition starts to move... Hear for yourself! Not on YT of course. The real thing. Play it really loud so the foundations of the house start to shake... That's the whole idea! Play it as loud as you can.

Favourite albums of the year 2013.

BJARNI GUNNARSON - Processes and Potentials (3Leaves) - Einóma man releases a very intricate and organic solo album on field recordings label 3Leaves.

DALGLISH - Niaw Ot Vile (PAN) - Chris Douglas aka O.S.T. aka Dalglish gets picked up by the PAN label for an excellent and eclectic album.

C. SPENCER YEH/OKKYUNG LEE/LASSE MARHAUG - Wake Up Awesome (Software Studio Series) -Ubercellist Okkyung Lee teams up with Yeh and Marhaug for an album that really has it all, it's funny, it's clever and it's moving.

IRA COHEN feat. TESTING VAULT - Fungoid (or the Multimedia Shamanic Poetry of Ira Cohen) (Looney-Tick Productions) - Dani from Testing Vault took some spoken word tracks by the late Ira Cohen and gave them the shruti or Coil treatment in a very respectful manner, it works and it is a nice tribute to one of the greatest poets.

ZBIGNIEW KARKOWSKI (feat ANTON LUKOSZEVIEZE) - Nerve Cell_0 (for cello and computer) (Sub Rosa)- This one was lying on my desk the whole year since it came out, I even managed to play an excerpt on university radio. What can I say? The man died recently in one of these human tragedies...

XOPHER DAVIDSON + ZBIGNIEW KARKOWSKI - Processor (Sub Rosa)- This one too to remember the late great Karkowski.

FRANCK VIGROUX - Prisme (D'Autres Cordes) - The busiest experimental musician of France got it right again with his new album. I wrote somewhere that'Ressac' feels like concrete beats falling on your head. A beast!

GINTAS K - Slow (Baskaru) - Underrated but lovely album by Lithuania's finest experimental artist.

SOLAR BEARS - Supermigration (Planet Mu) - Overlooked but brilliant album by the best Irish band of the moment.

UNSUNG MINDS - Soundpoem Remix Project feat. Tom Smith, Emmanuel Mieville, Gintas K and Dalglish (unalee.bandcamp.com).

"ON THE PERIPHERY - David Sylvian: A Biography - The Solo Years."

http://www.sylvianbiography.com/

Ira Cohen feat Testing Vault - 'But What In Your Other Hand Lies Concealed'

Excerpt from the album 'Fungoid (or The Multimedia Shamanic Poetry of Ira Cohen)' by Testing Vault featuring the voice of Ira Cohen, A Looney-Tick Productions, 2013.

C. Spencer Yeh / Okkyung Lee / Lasse Marhaug - 'The Mermen of Poetry'.

T/SMS Artwork.

« Secret Brussels » – Carte Blanche Peter Wullen @ Radio Campus 09.11.2013 from 6pm till 8pm

Lucrecia Dalt – Glosolalia (from 'Syzygy')

OHNE – Track 7 (from OHNE-1)

Scott Walker – Pilgrim (from 'Bisch Bosh')

Peter Wullen & Una Lee – Societies Rust Suns (Tom Smith rework)

Dalglish – Ciaradh (from 'Niaw Ot Vile')

Peter Wullen & Una Lee – Incestuous Sisters (Dalglish rework)

Franck Vigroux – Ressac (from 'Prisme')

Einóma – Minióma (from 'Tvenna' EP)

Bjarni Gunnarsson – Concomitance (from 'Processes and Potentials')

Bérangère Maximin & Richard Pinhas – Carnaval Cannibale (from 'No One Is An Island')

Reinaldo Laddaga – excerpt from 'Things a mutant needs to know' (from Unsounds book + 2xCD)

Linea Aspera – Kinabalu (from 'II' EP)

Francisco Lopez & Reinier Van Houdt – Untitled #275 (Movement 1)

Zbigniew Karkowski – Nerve Cell (feat Anton Lukoszevieze)(excerpt from 'Nerve Cell_0)

Gintas K – Reik (from 'Slow')

Dajuin Yao – Words without a song (feat Jerlian Tsao) (from 'Cinnabar Red Drizzle')

Dj Cheb I Sabbah & Ira Cohen – Song to Nothing / Letter to Caliban / End of a Line (from 'The Majoon Traveler')

T/SMS – Unreleased (from the forthcoming T/SMS album)

Phill Niblock – Feedcorn Ear (featuring Arne Deforce) (from 'Touch 5')

broadcast dedicated to the memory of Ira Cohen and DJ Cheb I Sabbah

www.radiocampus.be

Lucrecia Dalt, 'Inframince' from the album 'Syzygy'.

Lucrecia Dalt's music might sound frail and fragile at first listen but titles and lyrics are full of references to art, literature and films. Like a philosophy student dabbling with music. You don't need to know all that though to enjoy her soundscapes. Here's 'Inframince' from her new album 'Syzygy'.

'Солярис | La Chambre d' Андрей A. T.' by Roland Quelven.

Солярис | La Chambre d' Андрей A. T. from Roland Quelven on Vimeo.

'Secret Brussels' on Radio Campus Brussels.

I assembled an impressive playlist for a show that i'm hosting on Saturday Nov 9 on Radio Campus, the free radio of the French university of Brussels, from 6pm to 8pm. The show will be called 'Secret Brussels'. It’s an independent playlist with some close ties and connections with Brussels. It's also an awesome list of ‘new’ albums from ‘new’ artists, who are mostly not widely known by the general public, but who are making groundbreaking music, sometimes already for years, without necessarily being noticed! Their music can be soft and hard. I could have easily filled up 4 hours with edgy and experimental music, but here’s a random selection of artists represented: Bjarni Gunnarson (of Einóma), Berangere Maximin, Pinhas Richard, Franck Vigroux, T/SMS, Gintas K, Emmanuel Mieville, Lucrecia Dalt, Dalglish, Linea Aspera, Una Lee, Okkyung Lee and many many more… Podcast will follow.

www.radiocampus.be

Kazat Akmatov - 'Munabiya' & 'Shahidka'.

Kazat Akmatov is the National Writer of Kyrgyzstan, a Kyrgyz author writing in his own language. Although his work is still largely unknown in the West, and must be translated from Kyrgyz to Russian and then from Russian to English, Hertfordshire Press must be applauded for its mission to promote this author’s poetic brilliance, uniquely Kyrgyz literary style and exposure of Central Asian culture to a broader public. I myself am lucky to be married to a Kyrgyz girl. I don’t pretend to understand everything Akmatov writes but I do understand a little bit of this strange culture and that’s a good start! I was initially quite shocked by how familiar Akmatov’s written words seemed to me but I soon realized that his phraseology was exactly akin to that spoken by my wife. It made me appreciate that they belong to a hidden world steeped in ancient traditions , more than a thousand years old. What Akmatov describes lives on in the hearts of the Kyrgyz people, even though the majority now live in cities, leading ‘modern’ lives. I don’t think that the content of the stories is necessarily the most important feature here, but just like Manas, there’s this general feeling and emotion behind the stories, which are universal for the Kyrgyz people and express their true national identity. It is hard to imagine a society that still lives on the brink of the Middle Ages and still clings to such old values even if all of this is quickly being dispelled by contemporary means of communication! Take the short story ‘Munabiya’ for example. It’s a story about a remorseful son visiting his old widower father. The old man lives on his own in an aul or village in rural Kyrgyzstan. This is a tale about the ‘moral values’ of this small, closely knitted society. The story circles around concepts of ‘spite’, ‘remorse’, ‘complex family ties’, ‘family feuds’, ‘pride’ and most of all ‘respect for the dead’. Admittedly, the father is not totally innocent. He is not completely alone either. He is in fact surrounded by women who look after him. There’s the spirit of his dead wife hovering around. Then it seems that the father also had some sort of relationship with the woman Munabiya, who was considered a witch in her village. An affair that started some twenty years ago and went on till the old man died. There’s the jene , or auntie, the wife of his middle brother, who strongly defends the ‘family honour’, by keeping the feared Munabiya far away from the home of the old man. Her plans don’t work out because in the end his last wish is exactly that Munabiya would ‘sit by his body at his head’ at his funeral, which causes a terrible shock and angers the fierce and jealous jene. A family feud arises at the funeral whereby the jene blocks the entrance so that Munabiya cannot enter the yurt where the dead man lies. The aksakals or village elders, play an important role in solving this family feud. They intervene and decide that the last wish of the old man should indeed be honoured. Munabiya enters and finally earns the respect of the village by singing a beautiful siren song at the old man’s deathbed. I will not explain the whole story here. Suffice to say, it takes more than one reading to fully enter this world. It’s up to the reader to read and reread and discover the rest of the carefully woven threads of this family tragedy where not everything is said out loud. This is a beautiful story which moved me profoundly. If you want to get to the heart of the Kyrgyz people, I recommend that you look to the novels of Kazat Akmatov. You will be well rewarded!

‘Munabiya' and 'Shahidka', two short stories by Kazat Akmatov were published by Hertfordshire Press.

'Societies Rust Suns' (Tom Smith Rework) - based on 'Incestuous Sisters' by Una Lee & Peter Wullen.

'Society Rust Suns' is a new work by Tom Smith loosely based on the Una Lee + Peter Wullen soundpoem 'Incestuous Sisters'. It's a challenging piece. The sonic brouhaha continues for almost 10 minutes. Tom used excerpts from sessions he did earlier with Aaron Dilloway.

Dalglish, 'Niaiw Ot Vile' on PAN.

It took a long time, twenty years to be exact, but here he is finally resurfacing on the excellent PAN label! Chris Douglas aka O.S.T. aka DALGLISH, has been producing the most stubborn, singleminded, singular electronic music since 1993, a string of albums under different names on various underground labels. Until now he was mostly ignored by the rest of the music world. And indeed, this is immensely difficult and uncompromising music. But it's finally paying off after two decades. His new album under the DALGLISH moniker comes out on Bill Kouligas distinguished PAN label. Respect!!! I already had the chance to have a listen to the new album in its entirety! It's a quite a stunner. It is abrasive and at the same time it is DALGLISH at his melancholic best. The nice thing is that Douglas can be melodic on one track (listen to 'Venpin') and then change to almost abstract on the next track (see 'Noscrlu') and then back to the almost sweet with 'Viochlm' or the cosmic weirdness of 'Out_Kutzk' or 'Sclunt'. It's a well balanced and varied album that showcases Chris' talent with a lot of different moods. I can already tell you that the first track on the b-side, the glowing track 'Ciaradh', which was also included on the Bill Kouligas' PAN mix on XLR8R, pulls the album completely open with its glorious sound and is one of my favourite tracks of the last months. It's about the best music you will hear this year! The album 'Niaiw Ot Vile' has been mastered by Rashad Becker and you can hear that... The sound is crystal clear and ultradeep with a lot of space for sonic details. We are very f**** excited about this release. Ha!!!! The world will finally hear.

A1. Venpin A2. Noscrlu A3. Viochlm A4. Out_Kutzk B1. Ciaradh B2. Donsfe B3. Seit Nuin B4. Sclunt B5. Mothlitz B6. Oidhche

http://www.pan-act.com/

https://soundcloud.com/gntln

'Incestuous Sisters', rework by Dalglish, by Una Lee and Peter Wullen.

Very proud to say that mr O.S.T. aka DALGLISH (Chris Douglas) made a mindblowing and fantastic futuristic rework of the Una Lee + Peter Wullen track 'Incestuous Sisters', original voice + sounds: Una Lee, words by Peter Wullen. Check also: DALGLISH (O.S.T.) 'Niaiw Ot Vile' LP (PAN 45) out November 8th!

'Ressac' from 'Prisme', by Franck Vigroux.

'Prisme' is the new long awaited album by French experimental musician Franck Vigroux on D'Autres Cordes. It's an all together different beast than his excellent album 'We (Nous Autres)' that came out a couple of years ago. The fierce 'We (Nous Autres)' was the sound of souls consumed by fire. 'Prisme' is the crackling of smouldering ashes and buildings collapsing after that devastating fire. Listen for example to the first track of the album 'tesla', 15 minutes of noise and silence, noise and silence,... The second track 'ressac' features electronic beats as heavy as concrete blocks falling on your head. My favourite track is the claustrophobic 'capsule', that ends the album. Totally awesome!

Bjarni Gunnarsson, 'Processes and Potentials'.

Talking about Icelandic music. This is an excerpt from 'Processes and Potentials', the new Bjarni Gunnarsson album on 3Leaves. Bjarni is one half of the duo Einóma, who released some very distinctive yet quite obscure albums the last 10 years. Releases by Einóma have become a bit scarser lately, but the two members have been working on their solo projects for a while now. Bjarni did some great audiovisual stuff with Cedric Dupire lately. 'Processes and Potentials' could be the nonlinear & experimental core sound of Einóma, but unwilling to give in to anything you ever heard before. It's excellent: full of grainy textures & microsounds that flitter all over the place. The detailed meticulous sound reminded me a bit of Rashad Becker's recent, appraised album on PAN. It is maybe even more singleminded. Standout tracks are 'Momentaries', firmly held together by some kind of deep drone & 'Concomitance' with it's metallic dehumanized voices at the end. I still haven't absorbed everything. Have to listen again a couple of times. Bjarni's 'music' is demanding & extremely complicated. But for me this is definitely one of the best experimental albums of this year. Out on October 1rst.

'Practicing Landscapes' by Ian Kubra, soundtrack by Una Lee & Lynlee.

Practicing Landscapes from Ian Kubra on Vimeo.

'Cioran', poem by Peter Wullen, read by Bart Stouten.

'Fragment', poem by Peter Wullen, read by Bart Stouten.

'-lalia' (Emmanuel Mieville rework), by Una Lee & Peter Wullen.

A Scott Walkerish nightmare. One minute of total postmodern pooh weirdness. The fourth and last installment of our soundpoem remix project is called '-lalia'. And It was kindly remixed by the wonderful Emmanuel Mieville once again. It is quite cutting: a strange breed full of impish voices & strange sounds. This one might be the most experimental and conceptual of all the soundpoems we created. Loads of thanks to Una Lee and Emmanuel Mieville for taking it to another level.

'Story1' & 'Story2' (Gintas K rework), by Una Lee & Peter Wullen

'Hoplitis Spoliata' (Emmanuel Mieville rework) by Una Lee & Peter Wullen

'Maimed' (Tom Smith rework) by Una Lee & Peter Wullen

'Satisfaction of Oscillation' by Dao Dajuin.

The Body Electric Poetry Film Festival.

'Persian Cat Blues' @ The Body Electric Poetry Film Festival.

astarte from ian kubra 道 studios on Vimeo.

The videopoem 'Persian Cat Blues' - a collaboration between Korean experimental musician Una Lee, Russian film director Ian Kubra and Flemish poet Peter Wullen - will be published on the website of The Body Electric Poetry Festival with an Honorable Mention. It was chosen out of 237 submissions.

http://thebodyelectric.co/

'Putain' @ The Body Electric Poetry Film Festival.

Our videopoem 'Putain' has been selected for screening at The Body Electric Poetry Film Festival. Out of 237 submissions 36 poetry films were selected. 'Putain' is one of them and will be shown to a live audience on May 4th at The Lyric Cinema Cafe in Fort Collins, Colorado, USA.

http://thebodyelectric.co/

'Drop in the Ocean', by Moonshake.

'Fyt' by This Mortal Coil.

'Odonna' by Woob.

RM74 - 'Orkas Dream'.

RM74- Orkas Dream from Sera Timms on Vimeo.

Sera Timms is not only very famous in the LA area as a singer with the bands Ides Of Gemini, Black Math Horseman and her own recent solo project Black Mare, she is also a keen photographer and a video artist. Here's the excellent video she made for Swiss band RM74's 'Orkas Dream' from their new album 'Two Sides of a Triangle'.

'Grey Seeds', by Cedric Dupire & Bjarni Gunnarson.

GREY SEEDS from Cedric Dupire on Vimeo.

I know this is just too much for a lot of people but I think it's great! This video by Cedric Dupire is just top of the bill. The sounds were made by the more experimental side of the Icelandic duo Einóma, Bjarni Gunnarsson... The whole video is just splendid and miles away from what he did and is still doing with Einóma.

'Afloat', by Una Lee.

Afloat from paxsincera on Vimeo.

'Entrailles' by Franck Vigroux.

ENTRAILLES - Extraits - Excerpts from APRÈS LA GUERRE on Vimeo.

French sound sculptor Franck Vigroux has done some excellent work lately. Some time ago he released the fine album 'We (Nous Autres)' on D'Autres Cordes. On the other hand he's been working a lot with Belgian video artist Kurt D' Haeseleer. His latest project is a dvd called 'Entrailles' ('Insides') shot with Gregory Robin in a deserted coalmine in Saint-Etienne in France. It's very apt surroundings for Vigroux. You see some eerie and stark images of machines, name tags, empty elevators going up and down the mine shaft. In the middle of it all Vigroux experiments cooly with his digital music machines. In a bit more than a half an hour you see him shifting from abstract noise to some chopped down beats. But the most interesting moment is when he straps on a red guitar - Vigroux is in fact a guitarist - for some real guitar noise. The dvd is in fact well balanced. The attention shifts from Vigroux to the deserted mine and then back to the musician. The contrast is there. The dvd felt a bit too short but it's well worth a view...

http://records.dautrescordes.com/fr/32-entrailles.html

'A Rolling Mind', by Una Lee.

A Rolling Mind from chris h lynn on Vimeo.

'Persian Cat Blues' in Dublin.

Sound Device n.2 The lineup:

■Intro: Pride & Prejudice: movement: past, possible, present plus letters: verbs [overlay] | Maura Hazelden

■tsuka mo ugoke | Olivia Louvel

■Persian Cat Blues | Una Lee & Peter Wullen

■L’Étranger (deducted) | Jamez Dean & Albert Camus

■Ombre | Daria Baiocchi

■Video: One Quick Memory | Jonathan Johnson

■Video: Cullando Parole Svanite | Trama afonA

■Caladan: Landing | Florian Hartlieb

■Tales from Space | Chiara Passa

■Caladan: Exploration | Florian Hartlieb

■L’Imaginaire | Elsa Justel

■Guest artist: Steve McCourt, introducing his piece ’Ideomas: 2nd and 3rd movement’, Q&A

Limited seating, booking advised: sounddevicesdublin [at] gmail.com or registering in person at Rathmines Library

Selection curated by La Cosa Preziosa

http://sounddevicesdublin.wordpress.com/sound-device-n-2/

"Persian Cat Blues" by Una Lee & Peter W on YouTube.

'Persian Cat Blues' by Una Lee & Peter W on Bandcamp.

'Persian Cat Blues' by Una Lee & Peter Wullen.

'Persian Cat Blues', soundpoem by Una Lee & Peter Wullen.

New soundpoem comes out on December 12. It is based on a my brand new poem 'Persian Cat Blues' or 'The Truth About Astarte'. Yes, the Persian godess of fertility or she-from-the-womb... It's promising to be an exotic and enigmatic mix of strange sounds & strange words. Kind of conceptual, if you like. South-Korean artist and experimental musician Una Lee read the poem and provided her own soundtrack.

Listen to the soundpoem here: https://soundcloud.com/paxsincera/persian-cat-blues or here: http://unalee.bandcamp.com/track/persian-cat-blues.

More sounds by Una Lee on soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/paxsincera

and on bandcamp: unalee.bandcamp.com.

Kyrgyzstan - 20 Years of Independence : Between scandals and corrupt elite

Kyrgyz government is definitely on the good way in their fight against corruption and greed. A couple of weeks ago an attempted coup by Bakiyev loyalists was stopped and the instigators were put into prison. Maxim Bakiyev, son of the ex-dictator Bakiyev, who seems to have financed and organized the failed attempt and one of the biggest criminal minds in the history of mankind, has effectively been arrested in London and will be extradited to the American authorities. The curtain falls for the dictators in that part of the world.

Producer Guy Fixsen: 'Nieuw My Bloody Valentine album komt er zeker!"

Guy Fixsen over 'Loveless' van My Bloody Valentine

Leg de intro’s van Isn’t Anything en Loveless van My Bloody Valentine naast elkaar en je gelooft je oren niet. Het lijken twee albums van twee verschillende bands uit twee verschillende werelden. Een rollende percussiestorm domineert vanaf de eerste noot “Soft As Snow (But Warm Inside)”. “Only Shallow” begint met enkele weggemoffelde beats die nauwelijks een paar seconden duren. De ritmetandem O’Coisoig en Googe lijkt grotendeels afwezig. Ceremoniemeester Kevin Shields gooide voor Loveless het roer helemaal om. In de plaats van zelfgeproduceerde rauwheid kwam een veel preciezer en gesofisticeerder geluid. Circa 16 geluidstechnici en producers werkten aan het album. Guy Fixsen (Pixies, Breeders, Moonshake, Laika,…) is de producer met de langste staat van dienst. Anderhalf jaar hielp hij sleutelen aan de ongeëvenaarde sound van het unieke album. Een ijl perfectionisme dat tot nu toe nog niet geëvenaard werd.

Hoe raakte je betrokken bij de opnames van het Loveless album?
Guy Fixsen: “In die tijd was ik een piepjonge producer die ingehuurd werd als geluidsingenieur in de Protocol studio’s in Highbury. Kevin was op zoek naar een studio met een matig prijsbudget. Hij kwam eens langs om de boel te bekijken. Hij had toen al bijna alle studio’s bezocht. De plaats beviel hem en hij besliste om het met ons uit te proberen. Op andere plaatsen had hij de meest afschuwelijke problemen ervaren om Loveless van de grond te krijgen, zowel technisch gezien als qua personeel. We kwamen uiteindelijk zo goed overeen dat hij besliste om onze studio te gebruiken. De band voelde zich er comfortabel. Ik was toen al een grote fan van MBV. Het hielp waarschijnlijk ook dat ik al mijn geluidstechnische kennis stak in de productie van dat album. Ze zijn er uiteindelijk een volle 16 maanden gebleven.”

Welke technische problemen ervoeren jullie bij de opnames van het album?
Fixsen: “Kevin had al enkele basistracks opgenomen, gewoon wat gitaar en akoestische drumtracks. De meeste van die opnames werden echter niet gebruikt voor Loveless. De technische problemen waren zo veelvuldig en gevarieerd. Een ganse waslijst van kleine onvolmaaktheden waar andere muzikanten niet over zouden vallen in zo’n geperfectioneerde studio-omgeving. Kevin was echter niet als de anderen! Hij wilde dat de plaat perfect zou klinken zoals hij ze voor ogen had.”

Je hebt het over een studio met een redelijk prijsbudget maar volgens de urban legend bracht Kevin Alan McGee op de rand van het bankroet door de enorme kost van dit album?
Fixsen:“De studio kostte ongeveer £300 per dag. Dat is redelijk goedkoop als je het vergelijkt met het gemiddeld budget om een album te produceren. Het is een mythe om te beweren dat MBV Creation op de rand van de afgrond bracht. Eigenlijk spendeerden ze niet eens zoveel geld en Loveless bracht zijn geld ruimschoots terug op. Wat geeft het ook? Een groep als Primal Scream neemt op in zeer dure studio’s, betaalt voor grote producers en orkesten. Bands als Primal Scream vormden toen het echte probleem voor het label.”

Hoe was de stemming in de studio tijdens de opnames?
Fixsen:“Het was een lange tijdspanne die uiteindelijk een jaar en half aansleepte. De atmosfeer wisselde nogal van dag tot dag. Er was altijd genoeg tijd over voor lange en intense gesprekken over alle mogelijke gespreksonderwerpen. We keken veel tv. Als de zaken niet zo vlot verliepen, werd de sfeer wel eens gespannen. Maar al bij al was het een heel vruchtbare en creatieve periode.”

Wat is je favoriete nummer op Loveless?
Fixsen:“Mijn favoriete nummer was altijd “To Here Knows When”. Eerst en vooral omdat het zo’n vreemd en mooi nummer is. Ik hoorde nooit een beter voorbeeld van pop in combinatie met experimentele vernieuwing. Maar het was ook een heel speciale tijd voor mij. We begonnen te werken aan het nummer op mijn 22ste verjaardag en besteedden de ganse volgende week aan de opnames van een klein stukje percussie. Dat waren maar twee beats die geloopt werden doorheen het volledige nummer. Dat kon een hel geweest zijn voor me. Maar ik vond het fascinerend om zo diep te gaan voor zo’n klein element.”

Je werkte anderhalf jaar met Kevin. Je leerde hem dus heel goed kennen. Wat soort personage is hij? Klikte het ook op persoonlijk niveau? Zie je of hoor je nog van hem?
Fixsen: “Kevin als persoon is zeer moeilijk te omschrijven. Hij is een zeer beminnelijke persoon. Hoog intelligent. Zeer intens. We hadden gesprekken over de vreemdste zaken die soms duurden tot een gat in de nacht. Ja, we kwamen altijd zeer goed overeen op persoonlijk vlak. Ik heb hem de laatste jaren niet meer zoveel gezien maar ik reisde ook de helft van de tijd rond.”

Geloof je dat jullie ooit terug zullen samenwerken?
Fixsen:“Ik hoop dat we ooit opnieuw samen zullen werken. Of het echt zal gebeuren, daar heeft iedereen het raden naar, maar het was altijd een privilege voor mij om met Kevin samen te kunnen werken. Of er een nieuw MBV album uitkomt? Daar heeft iedereen ook het raden naar. Alles hangt af van Kevin. Hij moet zijn toestemming geven. Er zijn al verschillende valse starts geweest. Ik denk echter dat het ooit wel zal gebeuren.”

Als ik je goed begrijp, is het ‘materiaal’ er wel, maar Kevin laat gewoon niet toe dat het uitgebracht wordt?
Fixsen:“Neen, eigenlijk bedoelde ik het meer op een psychologisch niveau. Ik geloof wel dat hij in al die tijd het equivalent van verschillende albums gemaakt heeft. Maar er is niks waar hij echt tevreden genoeg over is om het uit te brengen.

Wat betekent My Bloody Valentine voor jou persoonlijk? Toen en nu?
Fixsen:“MBV was de band van mijn late tienerjaren die het spel voor mij volledig volledig omdraaide. Zij deden me realiseren (sorry voor de pun!) dat muziek baanbrekend kan zijn voor de kunst en gevoelens kan reflecteren waarvan je niet eens wist dat ze in je zaten. Zij waren en blijven een enorme inspiratie.”

interview met producer Guy Fixsen binnenkort op www.enola.be

• ep’s 1988-1991, remastered van My Bloody Valentine is uit op Sony Music
• Isn’t anything, remastered van My Bloody Valentine is uit op Sony Music
• Loveless, remastered van My Bloody Valentine is uit op Sony Music

www.mybloodyvalentine.co.uk

Locrian: '9 albums for the final epoch'

André:

Vic Chesnutt “At The Cut” – I love this album. It’s super sad and beautiful. This album gives me the chills every time I hear it. It’s no surprise that Vic’s life ended shortly after this was released. It’s not an uplifting album for me, but it’s one of the few albums of recent years that really touches a chord in me.

Anne Briggs “Anne Briggs” – I remember going to see bands play in Toronto and Montreal when I was a teenager and really liking the bands that would face away from the crowd. Something about them made me feel like there was something more authentic about them for some reason. That probably says something about why I like this album so much. There’s just something really authentic about this music. She later disappeared from the music scene. It’s too bad for us and perhaps better for her.

Karen Dalton “In My Own Time” – She was part of the early Greenwich Village music scene. She didn’t leave us with too many recordings, but this one is perfect. Her voice is beautiful and her songs are much more effective to me than her contemporaries in the Greenwich Village folk scene. She hated recording. Apparently her producer had to tell her that the microphone was off in order to get her to play. Some of the best music around. There have been some home recordings of her surface recently and they are also amazing.

Steven:

Here are three records that have changed the way listen and look at music, please note that this is only three, there are many records, artists, and shows that I have seen and heard that have impacted me in some way or another, but these three really had a powerful effect on me and the way I approach my playing.

Main “Motion Pool” (Beggars Banquet) 1994 - This one of the first “Ambient” records I ever bought. I remember it was the winter of 94’ and I was living in Seattle, I’m not sure why I bought it, I hadn’t read anything about it in any magazine or small press zine’s, I think I was just into the artwork, and that it said “…Drumless Space” on the back (What the fuck did that mean?). During the first listen I was hooked. This record took me on an amazing journey, and still does every time I listen to it. The lack of drums, percussion, or a beat didn’t matter to me at all, all the other sounds that filled the space was exactly enough, not to mention that “lack of” sounds that happen on the record. This release really opened my ears to sound, and the idea of paying attention to what’s in-between the music. I’ve had this record since it’s release, and I guarantee I’ll never part with.

Pan American “s/t” (Kranky) 1997 – I got introduced to this record when I was living in Portland, Oregon back in 98’. I was working at a record store, and a friend/co-worker turned me on to this record. I had just started to discover the music of Chain Reaction (label), and artist like Brian Eno, FSOL, Final, and Divination, which I was enjoying. So hearing Pan American it was like all these elements of this music I was into, condensed into one record, and still holding true to this minimalistic approach and outcome. It was absolutely beautiful, and done to perfection. It was just pure random luck that a few years later, after I moved to Chicago, Mark and I would end up playing/writing music together, and becoming very good friends. As far as I’m concerned this Pan American record is a classic and should not be overlooked.

Supersilent “1-3” (Rune Grammofon) 1997 - I actually didn’t hear this record until 2000 – a friend gave me a copy, he was guessing I’d be into it since at that time I was listening to quite a bit of jazz, free-jazz and electro-acoustic improvisation. After hearing all three discs a few times, I was totally blown away (and confused). I became obsessed with this band for several years, in fact back in 2002 I flew to Dresden, Germany just to see them play because at that time I was convinced that I would never get a chance to see them on US soil. It was a mind altering gig (jet-lag didn’t help either) and it was then that I got to meet Helge Sten, and we ended up working together a few years later when he mixed the first On record (Type Records [reissue]). A few years after that I finally DID get to see them in Chicago. Complete deconstruction and reconstruction by four amazing musicians with pinpoint accuracy. It’s hard to describe this record, but it changed the way I hear and look at improvisational music. I don’t think this is their best recording to date, but it’s definitely stellar. If you haven’t heard it, please hunt it down and give it a listen. After you absorb 1-3 for a few please move on to Supersilent 4 and 6, you won’t be disappointed.

Terence:

Wolf Eyes "Dread" - I come back to this album often. Its sparse, simple, yet compelling. Dredging a dub sensibility with homemade dread and fear. Everything sounds like it is falling apart, the ring modulators, burnt circuits, the stomping drum machines programmed by sausage fingers, total rhythmic chaos and the rantings of a dispossessed half-insane man burning his house down, letting the smoke rise in a desert of glue. I always thought this was the soundtrack to the Rust Belt states in the United States.

Yes "Close to the Edge" - It made Bill Bruford leave the band (though he went on to join King Crimson and be a force on "Larks Tongues in Aspic"). "Close to the Edge" is so focused, not so disparate as their past efforts, where solid tracks are surrounded by noodling. And that bass tone! So here only three songs, two of which are multi-part epics of serious quality. I think I have referenced this album on almost every Locrian record in our titles and lyrics. Not that I expect anyone to notice. But seriously there were so many good ideas in this record.

Brian Eno "Ambient 1: Music for Airports" - I can say I would probably not even care about synthesizers or tape loops if it wasn't for this album. I had read about this in an interview and then that week saw it in the local record store when I was in high school, just picked it up because the artwork looked enigmatic enough and immediately it clicked. Immediately I got it. I wanted to live in this album. From start to finish. It also made me work backwards towards Roxy Music and all of Eno's solo material and become obsessed about anything Conny Plank touched. I actually listen to this in every airport I am go to, I find it unbelievable how it grows over time. I wish it was installed at LaGuardia still, maybe I should do that sometime.

http://www.enola.be/muziek/columns/20409:column-linkeroor-5-locrian-9-albums-for-the-final-epoch

http://locrian.bandcamp.com/

'Cioran' @ Visible Verse 2012.

Confirming our presence @ the Visible Verse festival in Vancouver, Canada on the 13th October between 7pm and 8pm: "Cioran | Swoon Bildos/Belgium 2012. DVD, 3 mins., on screen 13th October @ 7pm @ Pacific Cinémathèque, Vancouver, Canada." http://www.cinematheque.bc.ca/visible-verse-festival-2012

Scott Walker - 'Bish Bosch'

www.bishbosch.com

Peter Wullen vs Inge Depraetere

“Halfweg 2008 stuurde ik op aanvraag enkele gedichten naar John Maes van de Harelbeekse Kunstkring De Geus. De gedichten werden gepubliceerd in het tijdschrift Art04 van december 2008. Door persoonlijke omstandigheden kreeg ik het tijdschrift echter pas drie jaar later in handen. Mijn leven was intussen volledig dooreengeschud. Ik was verhuisd van Kortrijk naar Laken, was opnieuw gehuwd en had een baby. Zelfs na zoveel tijd en met zoveel afstand was de publicatie voor mij een aangename verrassing. Mijn gedichten stonden afgedrukt naast de kunstwerken van de Harelbeekse kunstenares Inge Depraetere. Dat was een intrigrerend toevalstreffen. De verrassing was zo compleet dat ik na enkele jaren relatief stilzwijgen mijn literaire activiteiten opnieuw opstartte. Ik schrijf intuïtief. Ingrid heeft dezelfde intuïtieve schilderstijl. Ik nam contact op met Inge en we besloten om samen een tentoonstelling te organiseren in De Geus. Ziehier: 10 gedichten, 10 kunstwerken. Ze passen bijna naadloos bijeen. Vernissage van de tentoonstelling op zondag 7 oktober om 11u00 in De Geus in Harelbeke.”

'Putain', by Kris Yves J. Verdonck.

'Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer', by Kris Yves J. Verdonck

Saikal & Manas

The story of Kirghiz hero Manas and the maiden Saikal is one of the greatest love stories in world literature. Manas meets Saikal at the lists, a kind of contest on life and death. This time it is between Kirghiz and the Kalmaks & the Kazakhs. Nobody dares to fight the Kirghiz, but then this girl Saikal steps forward. Manas is impressed by her beauty and courage. He decides not to kill her, but to give her the upperhand and to only slightly wound her. A kind of playful and loving battle starts which is among the funniest and greatest epic poetry ever written. They brush, they stab, they touch eachother but they try not to hurt eachother too much. "I will not fight Manas!" she said, "Not even if you cut off my head!" she exclaims. Sadly, this is oral poetry. The love story never develops properly. In a kind of timelapse Manas exclaims "Such a maiden as wife I'd prize!" Evening came and people went home. And that's all! We never hear of Saikal anymore in the rest of the epic....

“Clouds of dust are rolling there yet!
At the lists Manas then appeared,
And Saikal again then cheered,
Cried aloud her slogan ‘Zubun!’
As she galloped upon her roan.
Earlier there Manas had gazed
On her beauty with longing, amazed.
Therefore he carefully aimed his spear,
Not to destroy such beauty dear.
By her red cheeks he had been charmed.
How could he take her yet, unharmed?
Now he had changed his capturing thought
Though he desired her, and eagerly sought,
He was offended, and flew in a rage!”

(‘Manas’, in a version of Sagymbai Orozbakov, translated by Walter May, part II, 1760-1773)

http://www.discovery-bookshop.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=1299

'Cioran' in America.

http://unshodquills.com/2012/06/23/marc-swoon-bildos-featured-artist/

Linkeroor #4 - 'De takken van Sub Rosa'

http://www.enola.be/muziek/columns/19854:column-linkeroor-4

'Das Kapital' by Ian Kubra 道 Studios

das kapital from ian kubra 道 studios on Vimeo.

HF Thiéfaine - 'Fièvre Resurrectionelle'

Sub Rosa - 'Fuck You'

'Fuck you' is a superinteresting doc by the great people of Sub Rosa about the electronic underground in China. It raised a lot of questions when I watched it. How can noise - even devoid of any meaning - ever be apolitical? Can a government forbid young people to make abstract noise? If so, is it a political gesture after all? Even if what they do is just copycatting Western and Japanese acts and if they use noise as a means to escape the very harsh reality for young musicians in China. Subversive 'nihilism' as an act of revolt maybe? Most of the footage was shot with a hidden camera. I was very impressed by the interview with the poet Sun Meng Jin in some restaurant or cafeteria. He is an opposing voice and he took a great risk by saying some surprisingly shocking things about politics that if known could easily land him into a Chinese prison. On the other hand you have an interview with the interesting young Chinese experimental artist Wang Changcun denying by all means that his art has any political implications. It is a frightening vision of a society that controls its citizens with a strong iron fist. Three cheers for Zbigniew and what he does for Chinese musicians! The doc revolved mainly around him. he is an extraordinary man. Admirable effort! See also my article about the Chinese electronic underground from some years ago: http://www.urbanmag.be/artikel/627/post-concrete-chinees-voor-beginners

Francisco López - untitled #284

I don't agree with people who maintain that Francisco López has been doing the same thing all over for years. It even seems to me that he has been seeking a slightly different direction lately. His collaboration with the Dutch MAE Ensemble on 'untitled #275" and some pieces on 'untitled (2009)' even tend to the 'classical' as I may say so. Although for a noise artist it sounds preposterous to make 'classical music', for López it looks like a completely natural evolution. It looks like his looking for a more organic sound while using computers anyway. His new composition 'untitled #284' is a commisioned piece for the Teatro Municipal Maria Matos in Lisbon. The composition features treated environmental sounds that sometimes sound like a spectral orchestra in complete overdrive. I especially love the first 5 minutes that sound like an orchestral drone pounding one spectacular note at a time. Truly impressive piece of work! http://www.cronicaelectronica.org/?p=066

ECCE HOMO - Portrait of Célestin Deliège, the Last Master of the Modernists

I just finished watching this DVD that I received a couple of days ago from the good people of Sub Rosa about the enigmatic Belgian music theoretician Célestin Deliège, the Antonin Artaud of Belgian musicology. In the beginning he declares quite frankly that 'democracy is bad for music' and that music is in 'decline since the end of the fifties'. But isn't all art? The film is a very moving portrait of Deliège being interviewed by several composers like Pascal Decroupet, Fred Lerdahl, Ictus Ensemble, and others... The part about 'Index of metals' by Fausto Romuletti is revealing to say the least. Although very sick and already at the end of his life during the interviews he retained a keen memory and a fighting spirit. The interviews range from rightly polemic to didactic and truly amiable. Overall, it is an homage to a man that i've really start to admire very much who is maybe not well known to the general public but who certainly deserves a little bit more attention. http://subrosa.itcmedia.net/en/catalogue/dvd/ecce-homo.html;jsessionid=408F71012E8D266FE79B8E63FE8DBB9C

Cioran by Swoon

Linkeroor #3 - 'Monument voor Fukushima'

New column on www.goddeau.com with reviews of release on obs* label from Rostov on Don in Russia: Chris Whitehead, Richard Garet, Denis Shapovalov/Five Elements Music, Takanobu Hoshino and Takanobu Hoshino/Roel Meelkop. http://www.goddeau.com/content/view/10349

Calliope Tsoupaki - 'Medea'

I've been listening to this one for a week now continuously and I still discover things that I didn't hear before. 'MEDEA' is an excellent composition by Dutch-Greek composer Calliope Tsoupaki and very beautiful in an unusual way. I am one of these people who is convinced that 'classical' radio should be much more audacious and daring. Slip some new music ensembles between the usual Currans, Luciers and Scelsis. Nobody will notice. Or, maybe yes, they will surely notice... Take Dutch ensemble MAE Ensemble who boldly dare to go where no musician has gone before. The stark intensity and dramatic musical evolution of 'MEDEA' threads a fine line again between tradition and experiment. The first ten minutes are very alluring: it's all about prepared piano, violons gliding off tonescales and bell-like sounds. The 8 instruments of the ensemble are very surprisingly a combination of violin, recorder, e.guitar, piano, percussion, clarinet, trombone and contrabass. The cd is lavishly designed with images by Isabelle Vigier. Very nice album! http://www.unsounds.com/28u.html

'Putain' op Moving Poems

http://movingpoems.com/2012/04/putain-by-peter-wullen/

Swoon about 'Cioran'

Voor ik aan deze kon beginnen, kwam er een uitdaging mijn kant uitgewaaid: "Hei Marc, durf je het aan om één van mijn meest beeldende gedichten in beelden te vatten? Ik daag je uit." Getekend Peter Wullen. Een handschoen die ik met plezier wilde opnemen. Hij stuurde me enkele gedichten en liet Bart Stouten (Klara) ze inlezen, ik koos voor Cioran. http://networkedblogs.com/wtgPn

Bérangère Maximin - 'No one is an island'

Interesting new name on Sub Rosa: Bérangère Maximin. On her brand new album Maximin worked together with luminaries like Fennesz, Rhys Chatham, Richard Pinhas Richard and Frederic D. Oberland. I've really come to appreciate this one. Even if I don't particularly like her singing though on 'Knitting in the air' - it sounds a little bit too artificial - this is largely compensated by two outstanding tracks: 'Bicéphale Ballade' with its suppressed singing sighing sounds exactly like a Christian Fennesz track and it probably is too. And I could swear that Ekkehard Ehlers played on 'Where the skin meets the bone', which sounds like a deranged Jon Hassell track. Very nice one, this!

http://subrosa.itcmedia.net/en/catalogue/new-series-framework/new-series-framework-11--berangere-maximin.html

Linkeroor #2 - 'Synesthesie & muziek'

New column on www.goddeau.com with reviews of From The Mouth of the Sun, Franck Vigroux, Andrea Belfi, Sven Kacirek and Marcus Fischer.

http://www.goddeau.com/content/view/10282

Keiji Haino/Oren Ambarchi/Jim O'Rourke - 'Imikuzushi'

Listening to the 24-minute long track "invited in practically drawn in by something facing the exit of this hiding place who is it? that went in…" on 'Imikuzushi', the new Keiji Haino/Oren Ambarchi/Jim O'Rourke album on Black Truffle Records. I wondered what 'imikuzushi' meant in Japanese. I thought it meant something like 'erase all colours till there's nothing left'. That would fit the gray, colourless sleeve of this album exactly. I checked with my Japanese FB friend Yukihiro Takahashi.It actually means 'meaning' (imi) 'destroyed' (kuzushi). What an apt title. The album sounds exactly like the title suggests. Like nothing else. Like poetry. Wonderfully addictive! Get it before you die! Then die!

www.blacktrufflerecords.com