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The Mire

Wanted: Goodiepal

Eccentric electronic composer/lecturer/performance artist Goodiepal (real name Parl Kristian Bjørn Vester) from the Faroe Islands who has been living in London for the past few years doing workshops at his residency in Bethnal Green, is now on the run from Danish Police. Sort of. This morning he booked a series of full page adverts in The Wire , to be published in the July issue, and subsequently phoned me from the Faroe Islands where he managed to get to by boat from Iceland. Goodiepal left the Århus conservatory of music in 2008, when he was fired - as he puts it himself - because, according to the university’s heads, he wasn’t following the teaching plan. He’s since spent his time touring his performances and lectures wordwide, preaching, in his own peculiar fashion, how to reinstate the notion of utopia back into electronic music. Sporting a handlebar moustache and wig - he’s every bit the mad professor –...

The Mire

MWC at Outer Church

A quick heads up for Brighton Wire folk: Joseph Stannard's psych/prog/kraut/cosmic/electronic extravaganza The Outer Church touches down again on 9 June, with a special guest DJ in the shape of Moon Wiring Club’s Ian Hodgson, who promises "AN ELECTRONIX FIZZPOP SLURRED ITALO SYNPOP SPACE EXPLOSION". We don't know as yet if he'll be DJing in capitals. That's his marvelous flyer above. There'll be the usual music from Giorgio Moroder to Mordant Music to Magma. It takes place at The Penthouse @ The Freebutt and it's FREE.

The Mire

Sublime Frequencies - In The Streets Of Mexico City

elnicho , a mail order project for experimental music (who co-curated the recent Radar festival in Mexico City ), has curated an evening celebrating the musically omniverous, globe-spanning Sublime Frequencies series. The evening will feature tunes and projections culled from the extensive Sublime Frequencies catalogue, along with wild dancing. It all takes place on 13 May at the Galeria del Comercio , a gallery for free public art projects on the streets in Mexico City (in this case, one particular corner). Links: • press page with streaming playlist, videos and articles • elnicho blog (in spanish): focus on Sublime Frequencies with Alan Bishop's interview and selected reviews • SF on elnicho (in spanish and available in mexico only) • Event on Facebook

The Mire

Susan Philipsz: The Internationale

Sound artist Susan Philipsz has been nominated for the Turner Prize this year (along with The Otolith Group , one half of which is The Wire contributor Kodwo Eshun). It reminded me that we shot some footage of an installation of hers at the ICA back in 2008. The Internationale was shown for two days at the ICA in central London off The Mall, a wide boulevard leading from Trafalgar Square up to Buckingham Palace (monarchs use The Mall to impress during state visits and other ceremonies). To experience the piece, a small group of visitors were led to the rear of the ICA and up a ladder onto the bare roof terrace. A single loudspeaker attached to the façade of the grand building broadcast Philipsz’s voice softly warbling its way through the anthem of international socialism , blending with the background...

The Mire

Steve Reid Memorial Session

The folks at Soul Jazz Records have organised a night at Cafe Oto to celebrate the life and work of the late drummer Steve Reid, who over the course of his long career worked with a wide array of artists including Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, James Brown, Fela Kuti and Sun Ra . Details on the flyer below.

The Mire

TG Vids (and others...)

Check out some recent footage shot by Chris Carter of a jam during Throbbing Gristle's soundcheck in LA as part of their US tour which ends tonight in NYC with a sold out show... Next up is June 19th show in Copenhagen followed by two appearances on the 21st (the earlier show is already sold out) in London [ check out their site for more info ] LA Soundcheck Jam from Chris Carter on Vimeo . Also out there in the eVideosphere UbuWeb continue their expansion with a few interesting vids: Craig Baldwin's 1995 film Sonic Outlaws which looks at copyright infringement, music and art including Negativland (and their run in with U2 and Island Records) And on the TG theme, UbuWeb's also posted Tony Oursler 's Synesthesia interview...

The Mire

The Wire Salon, Revenant Forms: The Meaning Of Hauntology

A new series of monthly events in East London curated by The Wire Magazine. The evenings will consist of readings, talks, panel debates, film screenings, DJ sets and live performances. The first instalment is Revenant Forms: The Meaning Of Hauntology at London's Café Oto, 1 April, 8pm, £4 on the door only Mark Fisher (K-Punk) leads a panel with Adam Harper and Joseph Stannard debating the uncanny quality of so much contemporary audio, from spektral disco to dubstep, Hypnagogic pop and beyond. Plus screenings of films by Julian House (Ghost Box, The Focus Group), a live set by Moon Wiring Club and eldritch vinyl interludes courtesy of Mordant Music. Below we've compiled a short online reading and listening list in anticipation of the event: Ian Penman's Black Secret Tricknology , first published in The Wire issue 133 A transcript excerpt from Joseph Stannard's interview with Broadcast , which...

The Mire

The Bob Medley

Following its reissues of Robert Wyatt’s UK solo albums, the Domino label is about to release His Greatest Misses , a 2004 Japan-only compilation. If you're looking for a one-stop comp that distills Wyatt’s unique essence, this is it, right down to the sleeve art, which reproduces a number of cute crayon drawings by the six year old Robert. It pulls key tracks from all the solo records from Rock Bottom (1974) to Cuckoo Land (2003), plus it contains a number of Wyatt’s inspired cover versions, including "At Last I Am Free", originally written by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers for Chic's 1978 C'est Chic album. In his glittering history of disco, Turn The Beat Around (Faber And Faber, 2005), Peter Shapiro devotes a whole chapter to illuminating the ambiguous emotional and socio-political...

The Mire

Plastic People under threat

The big news doing the rounds of London club culture last week was concerning the future of Plastic People, the longstanding home of the FWD>> club and a key part of dubstep’s history. The Metropolitan Police have applied to review the license of the club, citing reasons of prevention of crime and disorder and public nuisance. DJs such as Kode9, Theo Parrish and Mark Ernestus have regularly appeared there, and it’s one of London’s most intimate venues, a small space designed for close listening. An organisation called The Friends of Plastic People has been formed, which aims to help the PP management to comply with the licensing conditions. On a personal note, I find this disturbing and bizarre news. Plastic People is certainly one of the most welcoming and most trouble-free places I've ever been to. Compare with the rest of the Shoreditch area – one of the most densely populated places for strip clubs and...

The Mire

Parallel Voices: Missing Link - tix on sale now

Tickets for the Carsten Nicolai curated Parallel Voices: Missing Link at London's Siobhan Davies Dance Studio (sponsored by The Wire ) will be going on sale from 8 February. The three day event, which features talks and performances from Blixa Bargeld, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Christian Fennesz and Chris Carter amongst others, takes place 17 - 19 March with tickets priced at £15/£10 (multibuy ticket) or £9/£6 per night... Get them while you can as there is very limited space available at the venue! Click here for more information

The Mire

Arkestra Get Busy In London

After being grounded in London by an erupting volcano in Iceland, the Marshall Allen-led Sun Ra Arkestra, added two extra evenings to their residency at Café Oto, both of which sold out in hours. Now, news from the BBC Radio 3 twitter feed tells us that they're continuing to make the most of their London, Earth-bound hours by heading in to the Jazz On 3 studios to record a special "Volcanic Session" for the show...