Wednesday, 9 June 2010

John Oswald - Grayfolded

Taken from over 100 performances of the Grateful Dead's 'Dark Star' between 1968 and 1993. These are built, layered and 'folded' to produce one large, new re-composed Dark Star.
Oswald described it in the following way;
"It's not a performably possible version of  'Dark Star'. You can't have three generations of Jerry Garcias live on stage together - but there's this illusion of it being the Grateful Dead playing in concert" 
And on another occasion;
"I've made a very unorthodox 'Dark Star' but I haven't tried to submerge the performances under a lot of technique. I've tried to let the performances still speak for themselves" 
The CD booklet contains an extensive essay on Oswald, plunderphonics, Dark Star and Grayfolded. The booklet also contains a fold-out chronology of the contents of the discs indicating the source Dark Stars used throughout.
Grayfolded was originally released as a single CD, Transitive Axis, the first disc of this set. Purchasers of Transistive Axis were encouraged to pay for a second disc, Mirror Ashes, in advance, to be delivered when complete. Subsequently the two disc were released as a double CD set.
The term plunderphonics derives from a paper presented by Oswald to the Wired Society Electro-Acoustic Conference in Toronto in 1985, entitled, "Plunderphonics, or audio piracy as a compositional prerogative"
In an interview in 1995 Oswald described how the project came about;
"Phil Lesh called me up and talked me into doing it. At that point, I hadn't listened to any Grateful Dead music in about twenty years. I did think I was qualified, because I do think it's often a good idea to come into a project without a lot of prior knowledge and get kind of an alien's overview of what the music seems to be, and then put in your own two cents of what you think it should be. And I think that was the case for this. During the course of working on it, I went to a couple of Grateful Dead concerts, but other than that, I haven't listened to anything except these hundred versions of 'Dark Star' that I found in the vaults" 
On another occasion Oswald said that he had been asked (by David Gans) to produce something very short, he explained his response to this suggestion;
"What interested me most about the Grateful Dead was their extended playing style. I wrote a counter-proposal to David saying, 'Well, I've been thinking about it and all I can hear is the opposite - something very long."
CD1 • "Transitive Axis"

1 Novature(Formless Nights Fall) (Oswald/Skjellyfetti)
2 Pouring Velvet (Oswald/Skjellyfetti)
3 In Revolving Ash Light (Oswald/Skjellyfetti)
4 Clouds Cast (Oswald/Skjellyfetti)
5 Through (Oswald/Skjellyfetti)
6 Fault Forces (Oswald/Skjellyfetti)
7 The Phil Zone (Lesh/Skjellyfetti)
8 La Estrella Oscura (Oswald/Skjellyfetti)
9 Recedes(While We Can) (Oswald/Skjellyfetti)


CD2 • "Mirror Ashes"

1 Transilience (Oswald/Skjellyfetti)
2 73rd Star Bridge Sonata (Oswald/Skjellyfetti)
3 Cease Tone Beam (Oswald/Skjellyfetti)
4 The Speed Of Space (Oswald/Skjellyfetti)
5 Dark Matter Problem / Every Leaf Is Turning (Oswald/Skjellyfetti)
6 Foldback Time (Oswald/Skjellyfetti)

The 'Dark Stars' on Grayfolded are taken from Grateful Dead shows between 1968 and 1993.
The musicians involved are therefore;

* Tom Constanten
* Jerry Garcia
* Keith Godchaux
* Mickey Hart
* Bruce Hornsby
* Bill Kreutzmann
* Phil Lesh
* Ron McKernan (Pigpen)
* Brent Mydland
* Bob Weir
* Vince Welnick

Performed by the Grateful Dead.
Produced, assembled, designed and compiled by John Oswald
Words from
Get it
HERE

(My thanx to Stylo305!)

Funnily enough...

Corsi's Emanuel/Greenberg/BP conspiracy doesn't make sense

Birther Queen: Obama Persecuting Me with Placenta Painting!

Orly Taitz, the queen bee of the birther movement, sounds distraught. “I’m going through hell,” she says.  The California dentist-lawyer had called to tell me about what she says is a campaign to scare her family so that she’ll abandon her quest to become California’s next Secretary of State. She says she’s endured death threats and an attempt to tamper with her car. But this time, she says, her opponents have gone too far. The final straw?  An elaborate oil painting of a nude Taitz, legs splayed, giving birth to… a pancake.
First, a little back-story. For two years, Taitz has been demanding that California’s secretary of state request more evidence that President Obama is truly an American-born citizen. In March, she got herself on the ballot to run for the job in the Republican primary. But since declaring her candidacy, Taitz says that Obama supporters have been targeting her children—she has two in high school and one in college—via their Facebook pages with disturbing messages and images of their mother.
Exihibit A, says Taitz, is a series of paintings of her by Dan Lacey, the so-called “pancake painter,” who achieved minor celebrity during the 2008 presidential race for his numerous depictions of a naked, muscular Obama perched atop a unicorn. He’s also painted Sarah Palin, John McCain and Mother Theresa, among other famous figures, with a pile of pancakes atop their heads.
But Taitz doesn't feel flattered to be in such company. She maintains that the painting titled Orly Taitz, Pancake Birther actually portrays her holding a placenta rather than a pancake. "This is really despicable,” she says, theorizing that one of her many political enemies put Lacey up to the work. But she says she’s more concerned about the effect the paintings are having on her children.
For his part, Lacey quips, "I thought all of these were rather sweet paintings of her giving birth so I don't know why her family would be upset. Perhaps her children now suspect that they are actually pancakes." He confirms that some of the original Taitz paintings were commissioned (though he won't say by who). But most of them, he says, were his own inspiration. Lacey listed the paintings on eBay, where one sold for about $200. "Orly remains a popular auction subject,” he explains, "though not quite as popular as Michael Jackson."
The famously litigious dentist has not sued Lacey, saying she fears that doing so would only bring him more publicity. But she has used the paintings in a legal filing against someone else: her opponent in the GOP primary for secretary of state, Damon Dunn. In March, Taitz sent a criminal complaint to the Orange County registrar of voters accusing Dunn of voter fraud and demanding an investigation into alleged intimidation aimed at her and her children. Taitz observes in the complaint that Dunn, a former NFL player, had never voted until nine months before deciding to run for the state’s top elections position. She also accuses him of having been registered a Democrat in Florida until just a few months before he declared his candidacy in the Republican primary—a fact his campaign has conceded.

Taitz believes Dunn’s campaign is merely one cog in a larger conspiracy to keep her out of office.  Her letter to the registrar includes a reference to the Lacey paintings and emails sent to her kids:
These e-mails were clearly sent with the intent to cause severe emotional distress to my children and to me and with an attempt to harass my whole family, and to intimidate me into dropping out of the race for the Attorney General [sic]. While the e-mail was signed as coming from Damon Dunn, I actually don’t believe that Mr. Dunn personally sent these e-mails. I believe these e-mails were sent by his supporters or by supporters of Mr. Obama, as I currently have an active legal action in the Washington DC Taitz v Obama 10-cv-151-RCV.
One of the Facebook messages allegedly sent to Taitz’s children came from someone pretending to be Dunn. It said:
Will you be visiting your mum in jail after she's sent there for approving of, publishing and encouraging her supporters to issue death threats against the family members (little children) of federal court judges in order to intimidate and coerce them into ruling in her favor?
Another, which went to her husband, read:
Is there some reason her family (ie you) haven't put her into some form of treatment centre for her full blown paranoid delusional state at this point?
In her complaint against Dunn, Taitz also mentions voicemail messages that have been left on her cell phone and offers to submit them to law enforcement for verification. She says one caller told her that,  “the best thing you can do for America, is slid [sic] your wrists, you fucking bitch.”
This isn’t the first time Taitz has complained of harassment. In December, in one of her many lawsuits challenging Obama’s legitimacy, she insisted that someone had tampered with her car (she included an explanatory drawing).
But for all the vilification that Taitz describes, she’s keeping her eyes on the prize. If she prevails in her bid for office, she’ll become the gatekeeper for the entire California elections system, meaning that Obama will have to go through her to get his name on the presidential ballot in 2012. And Taitz is emphatic about her intentions if she wins.  She writes, "If I become Secretary of State, I will demand proper original vital records from Obama." Pancakes or no pancakes.
Stephanie Mencimer @'Mother Jones'

Thom Yorke tells high school students 'it's only a matter of months till the music business folds'

Thom Yorke has revealed that he thinks it's "only a matter of months" till the collapse of the mainstream music business.
In an interview for a new high school textbook called The Rax Active Citizen Toolkit, the Radiohead man claims that the music industry is dying, reports ThisIsLondon.co.uk.
"[It'll be] only a matter of time," Yorke says. "Months rather than years before the music business establishment completely folds."
Advising aspiring musicians not to tie themselves to such a "sinking ship", Yorke adds that despite the fall of the music business, that it will be "no great loss to the world".
The textbook, which is due out on July 1 and is written by Jamie Kelsey, also features interviews with Ms Dynamite and broadcaster Jon Snow, and is aimed at helping 15 and 16 year olds become more politically literate.

Plumes of Oil Deep in Gulf Are Spreading Far

The government and university researchers confirmed Tuesday that plumes of dispersed oil were spreading far below the ocean surface from the leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico, raising fresh concern about the potential impact of the spill on sea life.
The tests, the first detailed chemical analyses of water from the deep sea, show that some of the most toxic components of the oil are not necessarily rising to the surface where they can evaporate, as would be expected in a shallow oil leak. Instead, they are drifting through deep water in plumes or layers that stretch as far as 50 miles from the leaking well. As a rule, the toxic compounds are present at exceedingly low concentrations, the tests found, as would be expected given that they are being diluted in an immense volume of seawater.
“It’s pretty clear that the oil that has been released is becoming more and more dilute,” Jane Lubchenco, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said in an interview. “That does not mean it’s unimportant — far from it. The total amount of oil out there is likely very large, and we have yet to understand the full impact of all that hydrocarbon on the gulf ecosystem.”
Scientists outside the government noted that the plumes appeared to be so large that organisms might be bathed in them for extended periods, possibly long enough to kill eggs or embryos. They said this possibility added greater urgency to the effort to figure out exactly how sea life was being affected, work that remains in its infancy six weeks after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded.
“I’m glad to see the levels are low,” said Carys L. Mitchelmore, an aquatic toxicologist at the University of Maryland who was not involved in the research. “But we’re talking about a huge Gulf of Mexico here. I want to see evidence that this is one of the main plumes and there’s not something way more concentrated somewhere else.”
The announcement of test results came as the White House said President Obama would make his fourth trip to the region next week, visiting Mississippi, Alabama and Florida on Monday and Tuesday.
The results on the plumes came from samples taken by researchers at the University of South Florida, in St. Petersburg. NOAA helped finance the research and joined in Tuesday’s announcement.
The test results, from samples taken in late May aboard the research vessel Weatherbird II, appeared to confirm information first presented three weeks ago by another group of researchers, who found evidence of large plumes of dispersed oil droplets in the deep ocean.
Those scientists have not yet completed their analysis of water samples, but one of them, Samantha Joye of the University of Georgia, supplied additional information at a news conference on Tuesday, including instrument readings taken on her most recent research cruise.
Those readings suggest that a large plume, probably consisting of hydrocarbons from the leak, stretches through the deep ocean for at least 15 miles west of the gushing oil well, Dr. Joye said. The top of the plume is about 3,600 feet below the sea surface; the plume is three miles wide and as thick as 1,500 feet in spots, she said.

SBTRKT - Soundboy Shift

    

Hyetal - Gold or Soul

   

Mexican demands investigation after boy dies at US border

Says it all really!

"The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work." 

Kim Jong-Il, they don't call him great for nothing!


Not only can the Dear Leader hide nuclear missiles, he also knows football tactics. Those are two pretty mean party tricks. Most reading types are aware of the Great Leader’s nuclear ambitions, but not too many folks are probably aware that North Korean leader and super-tactician Kim Jong-Il was also the inspiration behind North Korea’s march to South Africa. That’s right. And to think we’ve spent the better part of the last five months praising Roy Hodgson whose full time job is to manage Fulham. The Great Leader has to juggle tactical preparation with oppressing his people, rationing electricity, nuclear arms negotiations, collecting fabulous sunglasses, and forcible relocations. Take that Roy Hodgson, you one-trick pony.
According to Kim Jong Su of the North Korean Football Association, “The Great Leader gave in-depth guidance on the development of Korean football. He proposed the game’s tactics most relevant for the physiological characteristics of the Korean players.” Now that’s a leader.
Of all the North Korea previews I’ve seen (and there aren’t many), none of them try to get inside the head of the team’s tactical nerve center, the man himself, Kim Jong-Il. So here, only here, will you find some proper analysis that will enable you to properly place your bets on who gets out of the Group G, which many acknowledge is the 2010 World Cup’s Group of Death.

Tactics: Watch for the Unpredictable

The Great Leader is a big fan of the clandestine. Whether with uranium enrichment or general team information, Kim takes great measures to carefully conceal his hand. At the World Cup, the element of surprise weighs in favor of the North Koreans.
Kim has repeatedly duped foreign leaders, for instance, repeatedly entering into negotiations and then backing out when convenient. For the Great Leader, walking up to the line and quickly backpedaling is merely a form of exercise. If Kim passes on his erratic and unpredictable behavior to his team, watch out for 7-3 formations to start, shifting into 1-2-7 formations if the Koreans need goals. Completely disregard anything you’ve seen in qualification and friendlies, because what you see is not always what you get when the Great Leader is involved.

Style: In One Word – Hungry

The term “hungry” is often used to describe players who have an insatiable appetite to win. But with the North Koreans, the team might literally be hungry. And if they fail to impress, they could go hungry for some time. Kim Jong-Il is known for rewarding athletes who do well, while mercilessly punishing those who fail to meet his standards. So expect his side to get after it. The fashionable sides facing this hardened group of North Koreans may be in for a surprise when they learn what it really means to be hungry for success. And for the North Korean players, success will surely bring that reward that North Koreans desperately want and need, a massive, synchronized parade, full of all the color that has been removed from their daily lives. If that’s not incentive, I don’t know what is.

Adversaries: Escaping Death

Alongside the North Koreans in the “Group of Death” are Brazil, Portugal, and Sven-Göran Eriksson’s Côte d’Ivoire. Yes, the same Sven who was being lined up to potentially manage North Korea in South Africa. It makes you wonder whether Côte d’Ivoire’s placement in Group G is part of some nefarious plan concocted by the mind of the Great Leader. Too many variables you say? Well, Sven is capable of anything if the price is right. We all know that FIFA and bribery are good friends. And you can never underestimate the mind of a dictator when pride is at stake on the global stage. I’m just saying, don’t underestimate the mind of the man behind the sunglasses.
But back to the Group of Death. When you think of all the necessary characteristics that would enable one to overcome death, there’s an argument for each of Group G’s teams to escape group play. The Brazilians escape the death, kidnappings and Manchester City regularly. That’s a lot of evil to deal with. But I fear that Brazil may have become complacent with all of their success in spite of these obstacles. Portugal has a bunch of primadonnas who would rather look good than win. Faced with death, they’ll fold under the pressure and choose stylish losing. And Sven, well, he always escapes death, often getting paid handsomely in the process. But given that he cares more about his paycheck than he does about success, expect him to run well before it becomes a fight to the death. That leaves North Korea, a team of internationals that don’t even have refrigerators. As North Korean player Choe Myong Ho eloquently stated, “What’s a refrigerator for? It allows you to get cold drinks in the summer. And if you do that, you could catch a cold and not be able to train.” Yeah, in a Group of Death, I’m taking that guy.

***

And there you have it, my dark horse to make it out of the Group of Death, North Korea, heading into the knockout rounds with Brazil, the conventional pick. I’d have put my money on the completely unconventional duo of North Korea and Côte d’Ivoire if Sven wasn’t involved. But alas, he is.
Now that my selection is made for Group G, I need to find a proper North Korean supporters club, which is difficult since no North Koreans will be permitted to travel to South Africa for the World Cup. Fortunately, a stand-up crew of Chinese fans calling themselves the “fans volunteer army” have stepped in to support the North Koreans and have been given tickets from the North Korean government. How’s that for community service? It would be a sad day in South Africa to watch North Korea play without supporters, especially considering that the nation has a very strong flag, perfect for waiving and apparel. I hope the volunteer army accepts me. But just in case, I’m bringing platform shoes to show them that I’m down with the Leader.

Clive Longbottom-Fellow, Esq. @'Nutmeg Radio'

Orphan101 - Mix

Saigon Recordings is a brand new imprint out of Bristol, who claim to blend techno and dubstep to a new diamond standard, which they themselves call “Dub-Tech” (not to be confused with dub techno). Haughtiness aside, their first release seems to warrant this kind of superior attitude — “Tribtek” by newcomer Orphan101 is a steely and muscular two-tracker that rightfully should drum up hype when it’s released next month. To celebrate the launch of the label, we’ve got a Saigon Recordings mix by Orphan101, loaded with his own exclusive dubs as well as new sounds from Headhunter and his not-so-mysterious juke alias Addison Groove. The mix is beyond captivating, and the Orphan101 tracks run the gamut from throbbing, dark techno to tribal-influenced sounds to something that sounds suspiciously like trance, and blended in with the tracks from other producers it really does sound like a manifesto for a completely brand new sound — something which is ever rarer in the heady days of 2010. Check this tracklist:
1. Scribe – Orphan101
2. Similate – Orphan101
3. Corsa – Orphan101
4. Commune – Orphan101
5. Olo – Orphan101
6. 45 – Orphan101
7. Au Dela – Orphan101 & Bloodman Ft Soraya Saberi
8. Out Of The Sun – Arkist
9. Remote Viewing – Bloodman
10. Hocus Pocus – Headhunter
11. Deepfish – Bloodman
12. Propa – Orphan101
13. Home – Orphan101
14. Labella – Orphan101
15. Whish – Orphan101
16. Chasing Dragons – Addison Groove
17. V710 – Headhunter & Orphan101
18. What Do I See – Arkist
19. Worry Dolls – Wedge

@'OneThirtyBPM'
Coming from the musical melting pot that is Bristol England Orphan101’s Blend of four to the floor Dubstep and Techno have brought him fast acclaim and attention of genre impresarios like Appleblim (Apple Pips / Skull Disco), Headhunter (Tempa), Jus Wan (Apple Pips), DJ Pinch (Tectonic) and RSD (Punch Drunk Records) to name but a few.
His wide range of musical tastes have certainly shone through in his productions with labels such as Appleblim’s highly regarded Apple Pips label, British based alternative label Saigon Recordings and Deca Rhythm already signing tracks from him, all due for release in 2010 making this a very busy year for Orphan101.
His live DJ sets have gained a reputation on radio and in clubs as a new diverse sound with little or no boundaries to what he will play. His sets do not sound out of place whether it be minimal house, techno or dubstep This approach has recently earned him a residency in Berlin, Bristol and also Apple Pips nights across Europe.
His current production collaborations include Headhunter, Bloodman Appleblim and Gatekeeper to name just a few, with remix work being picked carefully to fit with his own production roster.

DV>CV

Originally released on VHS in 1982 by Doublevision.
1 Diskono
2 Obsession
3 Trash (Part 1)
4 Badge Of Evil
5 Nag, Nag, Nag
6 Eddie's Out
7 Landslide
8 Photophobia
9 Trash (Part 2)
10 Seconds Too Late
11 Extract From Johnny YesNo
12 Walls Of Jericho
13 This Is Entertainment
14 Moscow
Liner Notes:
Doublevision was a communication company founded by Cabaret Voltaire and Paul Smith in 1982 initially as a vehicle for this programme, and also with a view to releasing affordable music based video (video releases were generally between 40 and 70 pounds back then) for around 15 pounds. Material released by Throbbing Gristle, Derek Jarman, The Residents, Einsturzende Neubauten, Chris and Cosey (cti), 23 Skidoo, Tuxedomoon and many others,. To help finance / and compliment the video releases, records by Cabaret Voltaire, Chakk, Lydia Lunch, Arto Lindsay, Clock dva, The Hafler Trio, Eric Random helped to turn it also into a forward thinking record label which organised various audio visual events and club nights around England. The label continued throughout most of the 80s and left behind an interesting legacy of experimental visual arts and music.
RHKirk, Oct 2002

All videos by Cabaret Voltaire except "Obsession", "Nag Nag Nag", "Photophobia" and "Seconds Too Late" by St. John Walker of Plan 9 with special thanks to Roger Bush (Communication Dept. Sheffield Polytechnic). "Extract From Johnny YesNo" courtesy Peter Care.

Special Thanks to; Phil Barnes, Lyn Clark, John Lake, Steve Nall, Psychic Television, Jon Savage, Paul Smith-Boden, Christopher Watson, Tony Wilson, Tim Owen.

"Double Vision Presents Cabaret Voltaire" was one of the first independent long form videos ever made. As such it is a collectors item. The audio and visual quality of this programme may be of a slightly lower standard than is usual today.

US oil spill a disaster — but more oil is spilt in Nigeria every year

Only when the disaster is coming through the front door does it seem the West takes notice of the ecological catastrophes that are throughout the world, by and large through the inadequate safeguards put in place by Big Corporations. In the ever ongoing rush for higher profits for shareholders and the over-consumption of the general western public we are rapidly destroying vital environments that will take decades or longer to recuperate. With the "clean-up" underway in the US Gulf, it is vital that other parts of the globe are incorporated into the "clean-up" picture/action as well. Maybe there will be some lean years for the shareholders, but surely this is not the time to turn our backs on such pressing, global, environmental carnage. - Beeden

One small positive that may come out of the Deepwater Horizon spill is the slender beam of reflected light cast on the fascinating, tragic story of oil drilling in the Niger Delta.
On Sunday The Observer rather stunningly announced that “more oil is spilled from the Delta’s network of terminals, pipes, pumping stations and oil platforms every year than has been lost in the Gulf of Mexico”. Given the scale and longevity of the disaster in Nigeria the disparity in publicity is troubling.
 Rafiq Copeland @'Crikey'