radar magazine: the life of breyer p-orridge

Interesting how I got back to some old roots just in a day - found a long interview with one half of Breyer P-Orridge, Genesis P-Orridge - whom a couple of you might know from Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV and its direct transfiguration PTV3, Thee Majesty and lots of other cooperative works (from XPK to Download, and then some), then found myself digging through longish histories of The Process and TOPI as well. The Radar Magazine interview is an insanely touching piece of work that got me interested in the sheer will and love that formed Breyer P-Orridge into life. So much more to say, so much silence. (link, via technoccult)


pikachu circuit bending, devilish fun

It's been a few months that I last posted anything about circuit bending. It's been yesterday that I wreaked havoc on the entire office with the bodymod Pikachu and its clone brothers, all of them being musical instruments. Behind all the amygdala-wrenching fun is Japanese circuit bender Kaseo, check his amazing video feed, I've only posted two pieces of gritty wisdom, the Bent Pikachu Limited Edition being so much on par with the Furby torture scene. (via pinktentacle)


no thanx: emoból cyberpunk? nem. nem, nem.

Lóg a petyhüdt telihold az égen, az Animal Cannibals szerint drogos szomorú emók a cyberpunkok, az Origo egy hete cikkezte ki, hogy cyberpunk lett az első magyar "hivatalos" emo-grupp, a No Thanx, lehet valami a levegőben. Egy pillanatig elgondolkodtam azon, hogy bedobom ide a videót, hogy meg lehessen róla bizonyosodni, hogy nem azok, de higyje el minden olvasóm, kurvára nem azok. Hogy az Origo szakavatott újságírója miért használja a catchwordöt, nem tudom, de ha annyira menő dolog lehet, hamarosan felvirrad a PDnek és gyönyörű, gyönyörű napjaim lesznek.

Ami menti a helyzetet, az a Magyar Képregény Akadémia és jegyzett tagja, Geek, aki a Gépregény (legutoljára ezt Bernáth/y Sándor apánk játszotta el kísérleti techno-magazinjával, a Gépszavával, amiben amúgy több fantázia és design volt még tíz évvel ezelőtt is, mint a hazai lappiac jelentős részénekjelenleg) albumhoz rajzolt kísérő-képregényt. Felkérem olvasóimat, juttassanak el hozzám egy példányt, mert garantáltan nem fogom megvenni az albumot érte.

A gépek és az emberek világát ötvözõ, cyberpunk hangulatú füzet elkészítésére a Magyar Képregény Akadémia tagjait kérte fel a kiadó, így a képi világért Ábrai Barnabás, vagy mûvésznevén Geek felelt. A többek között a Pinkhell és a Sushi Strip képregényantológiákban is megjelent rajzoló mellett olyan kiváló illusztrátorok mûködtek közre, mint a Zorro de Bianco néven is ismert Fehér Zoltán, vagy az Unicum képregényes kampányát jegyzõ Gáspár Tamás, írja az Origo és függetlenül attól, hogy amúgy jogosan siker- és lehetőségéhesnek tartom a hazai képregényrajzoló szcénát és egy pillanatig nem tartom rossz ötletnek azt, hogy lehetőséget adnak nekik még egy ilyen ötlethez sem, a magyarjának csak a képzavar fog megmaradni. Az is rosszul.


korg ds-10: something to cling to

Cptamorf (blog, deviantart) knows me and my love for modular soft synths, touchscreens and electro, so he says "you'll so NEED this" and sends me this video. So what do I need now, two Kaoss Pads or this?


beardyman with a kaoss pad: party futurism, in a way

Although Beardyman, UK's premiere beatboxer is definitely not someone to be taken for a cyberpunk (oh my god, no), the very concept he's showing off at the 2008 Beatboxer Convention with a Kaoss Pad surely is a progressive trait in today's party culture. I remember talking to Mr. Rage Incarnate Alec "Atari Teenage Riot" Empire last year in Berlin and what he said was today's party culture in all its glory is nothing but a piece of horseshit. You visit a party and what you hear in the first five minutes will haunt you for the rest of the night. And then he invited us over to check out the eeriely beautiful performance art of Zan Lyons (distorted violins, a PowerMac and a wallful of Blade Runner). So what you see in these two videos is something along those lines - take the basic beats, take the technology, take the human factor and combine them into something new. Party organizers. Reinvent your ideas about everything.


the tenorions: pr-stunt turned sore and stale?

Pierre's just sent me the link (Hungarian) to Japanese threesome The Tenorions that sounds and feels pretty much like a very half-assed PR-stunt for the "new" Yamaha e-instrument called Tenori-On, which is basically a hand-held tracker.

My readers are probably aware of my fondness for Asian girls with a tech flavour, but really - the girls (named Nynn, Cici and Fiona) are not stage-ready, the music has no common axis with the fundamentals of live electronic improvisation and the whole performance is just not credible. Or I'm just seething with pure envy because I cannot own a Tenori-On (yes, girls, Fruity Loops is so much better) and the girls are just pure hot den material (I'm sorry, not. Hope they won't stab me anywhere near their gigs, tho'.) The whole meme vaguely reminds me of T.A.T.U. and it just doesn't kick. Have fun digging after them, I warned you. (via midi.blog)


magnetic: funk falsetto dystopia from 1983

IO9 recommends Earth, Wind & Fire's (*gasp!*) 1983 PV "Magnetic" with all the eighties' SF sensibilities that rage from shifty street dealers (under neon) to teeth-gritting policemen (under neon) and gladiators (under neon). Instead of hacking a video player into this site, just click on the pic to get to youtube. This one is very much not to be missed. (No, I promise I won't get as low as Jem, Mask and DJ Kat Show. Really.)


attigo tt: touchscreen turntablizm

Dundee University student Scott Hobbs is all responsible for the new zeitgeist here. DJ's can use the ATTIGO TT touch screen turntable for looping, sampling and scratching waveforms, the size is basically the same as a standard turntable and what you can see on the vid is a working prototype. (via psfk)


we are the world (japanese impersonators)

Sugoi! If you're such an old fart as myself (and I'm sorry but ladies can also qualify as farts, you'll probably hate me for this), you surely remember the charity song We are the world that brought lots of mainstream singers under one roof from Cyndi Lauper to Stevie Wonder (whom recently Zoog from Angelspit had publicly recommended to you all. Shocking, isn't it?). Now this is all done by Japanese impersonators and even by my standards (and trust me, I've seen a lot of this kind of stuff) this is amazing.


blood death ivory previews on last.fm

Angelspit's new album BLOOD DEATH IVORY (with a release date of June 2008) has 30 sec previews up on last.fm, key points are Skinny Little Bitch (full track) and Paint Hell Red. And basically, all the rest.


opening the bandwidth for the cosmic signal

Az élet apró örömei 0200-0300 CET közé vannak targetálva. Tíz éve mozog Westbam Celebration Generationje az örök adrenalinvasutak között, abból a századból, aminek alternatív (értsd, jobb) lefutását a glowstick, az Amerika Kapitánynak öltöztetett rave-drusza, Keith, annak shotgun-fogú adverzáriója, Goldie, valamint annak csaja, a nôiesség és a dilettantizmus között vérprofi nyugalommal lavírozó Björk fémjelzett. Marusha sapkája artifact, azzal a szerepjátékos felügyelet foglalkozik, két példányban, minimum 10 oldalban, hétfô reggelre.

Tíz éve Westbam, Outzider/Darkzone, $volkraq, a Future Crew jelentették a mûvészetet, a mainstreamtôl 6 órában kikandikáló unitokat, a föld alatti roham meg a Leaether Strip volt, a Front Line Assembly meg a Clock DVA, fanzinokba, kiváltságosok polcaira bújó megannyi relikvia. Heti egyszeri zarándoklat az I9-J9re, listát bámulni és másolt kazettákat hallgatni. Azóta már másnál a lista, mások bámulják, a váltópénz viszont 250 HUF helyett a friendship lett. Igaz, azt nem is lehet megenni.

Ücsörgés egy háztetôn, valahol egy körüti házról, lelátunk a hektikus pontokra. Egy sávon sincs semmi, nincs deal odalent, tinik vannak, alkoholmámor van, baszás van. A Jolt pezseg kicsit még, a telefon nôi hangon bebúg, "incoming transmission". Moll, te sem tudsz egy jó pillanatot találni a hívásra. Harminc másodperc adott a menetfelszerelés összekapására, azzal nincs gáz. "Hát te?" A szemek parázslanak a tetôn. "Felhívás van egy játékra.", mondom, aztán nekilendülök, elnagyolt a szaltó a levegôben, de még a sikoly se hasíthat bele az ívébe. Hat másodperc freefall. Visszanézek, a falba lapul a rémülete meg a hitetlensége. Nem baj. Az is jó lesz még valamire. Got your distress signal, girl.

(Death Beat Club, 014)


blood death ivory: more news on angelspit, new mp3

Sydney-based duo ANGELSPIT (also inventors of rock) just started releasing digital snippets of music and artwork to promote their new album BLOOD DEATH IVORY. The album - which, according to one of the band's blipverts - elaborates on the concept of beauty, that much we know - also available is the complete track list and now we have the first "bloodpack": an assortment of one new track (Skinny Little Bitch), a wallpaper and a 10% discount web sale voucher. (Bloodpack available here, voucher's valid from 01/05 until 15/05.)

Album design is done by DestroyX, photography by Helen White (who also did the sleeve & artwork photography for Krankhaus, so that's a promise in itself) and you can expect more slashing surprises in the upcoming weeks. Skinny Little Bitch is one motherfucker of a stomper much in the vein of Angelspit and will probably be one nice addition to the live repertoire - one thing I really miss is some cringing lines of 303 and some more distortion!

ROCK!


508: dreamfish

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One of the best albums in the ambient genre, easily surpassing Higher Intelligence Agency, Orb, Future Sound of London and all the others I cared to listen to during the past decade (yes, I'm that old. Fuck.) - Dreamfish by Pete Namlook and Mixmaster Morris. Unavailable at Amazon at the moment but you can find it on the Internet if you're smart. (And please, send me a webshop source, I so wanna buy it. Autographed, if possible.) Top listeners, anyone?


505: blade runner revisited at meltdown festival

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io9.com sez: Mixing 1980s SF dystopia with electronica, this year's Meltdown Festival in the UK will include a couple of performances that may be of interest to fans of Philip K. Dick, Ridley Scott or DJ-friendly orchestras. (...) Plus the festival will give fans even a special one-off IMAX screening of Blade Runner: The Final Cut along with a hipper, younger version of the soundtrack. (...) will include a collaboration between the Heritage Orchestra and Massive Attack, performing Vangelis' complete soundtrack to Ridley Scott's 1982 adaptation of Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?.


the birthday massacre - looking glass PV released


Official video off the new album Walking with Strangers. Got this gut feeling that they should stick to live videos as those are miles better than the conceptual wonderland stuff they put out and also, Looking Glass is not the best track off WwS. Still, enjoy.


RIP Ana/Despair

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As some people will already be aware, Ana took her own life on March 24th, 2008. It is with a sense of horror and great sadness that I am obliged to make this the first official statement on this, the Official Myspace profile for DESPAIR.

At this time, this terrible loss is still very raw: and it is difficult for me to put into words the conflict of emotions I feel. I will make a full statement in due course.

In the meantime, I would ask people to refrain from e-mailing us directly with questions about this subject: please allow us to deal with our grief privately.

If you wish to leave some message of condolence, I have opened the ’Comments’ board to allow you to express yourself in this way.

I have also uploaded what now becomes Ana’s final song with DESPAIR - ’Gash’ from the new DARKER WATERS compilation. The release date of this compilation has been changed to June 7th: the same date that we - along with many of Ana’s other friends - will play a concert in her memory at Shinjuku Marz (Tokyo Dark Castle).

The answer to the question ’Will DESPAIR continue?’ is ’Yes: of course’. As others of you may be aware, Ana had in fact already played her final show with DESPAIR in February: and Rieu and myself were already recording material for the new album without her. However, I had hoped and believed that one day she might return: something which can now never happen.

I will write in more detail when I can collect my thoughts better. Until then, please bear with us at this difficult time.

Thanks
JUDE (Despair)