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The Mire

Juxtavoices

Martin Archer, the Sheffield based improvisor, composer and owner of the Discus label, has started an avant community choir project called Juxtavoices in South Yorkshire, and is looking for more eager voices to swell its ranks. Choir membership is open to any singer irrespective of training, ie no previous experience of either group singing or improvising is required. The repertoire mixes simple scores and instructions with improvised elements, which often allow the choir itself to determine the shape of the music as it progresses. Rehearsals begin with workshop style exercises which are designed to encourage the choir's confidence in using non standard techniques, including improvisation. The choir meets once a month in Sheffield, and the objective is to be in a position to perform and record in 2011. The choir currently has 25 members, including a large slice of Sheffield's leftfield music, visual arts and literary communities, but is looking to double that number. Anyone interested in joining should contact...

The Mire

Indomitable Lions

Readers in the UK should run come rally to check out Babylon , the 1980 reggae drama set in South London which the BBC has got on its iPlayer for the next few days. I'd not seen this before, but it's terrific, with a young Brinsley Forde sympathetic but spiky as the deejay of the Ital Lion soundsystem which the film follows. It feels factually a little off target (overt intimidation of one soundclash crew by another, negotiating for ages and massively upping the ante to buy a prerelease rhythm of just one single track, stealing speakers from schools), but it always manages to to feel right somehow. There's enough grime, oil and solder to somehow make the plot stick, and the dedication, the grind, the gallows humour of keeping a soundsystem up and running is right there. It pinpoints that atmosphere of sitting in a van with jack shit...

The Mire

[Reciprocess: +/vs.]

[Reciprocess: +/vs.] , which was compiled to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Marseille-based BiP_HOp label and was given away exclusively to all The Wire ’s subscribers with copies of the March 2009 issue, has been nominated for Compilation of the Year in the sixth edition of the Qwartz Electronic Music Awards. The nominations for the awards were chosen by a jury that this year included Gudrun Gut and Alejandro Jodorowsky. Since 1 December the public (that's the rest of us) has been able to listen online and vote on the jury’s nominations. The winners will be announced in April 2010 at a ceremony in Paris. To hear the nominations in all categories and vote on them go to the Qwartz site. [Reciprocess: +/vs.] takes the form of an 80 minute piece of music assembled by BiP_HOp label boss Philippe Petit. The piece includes input from...

The Mire

Sonar 2009: Omar Souleyman

Fresh from the successful Sublime Frequencies UK tour last May, Omar Souleyman continues on through Europe, kicking off his set at Sonar 2009, 19 June: Sonar 2009: Omar Souleyman from The Wire Magazine on Vimeo .

The Mire

Sonar 2009: Konono N˚1

Another new vid: Congolese group Konono N˚1 were set to play at last year's Sonar festival but unfortunately had to cancel at the last minute due to visa problems... The video below is of their soundcheck about a half hour before their scheduled set on friday 18 June. Though the lighting is low it's definitely the clearest view I could get as once the hall filled out it was nearly impossible to stay still from everyone dancing! Sonar 2009: Konono N˚1 from The Wire Magazine on Vimeo .

The Mire

"High"

American artist and musician (and bandmate with Mike Kelley in The Poetics) Tony Oursler recently opened an exhibition at the Lisson Gallery in London. The show, which runs until October 3rd, features a mixture of his work from the 90's along with new work from this year, if you're familiar with Oursler's art then there won't be many surprises for you, but it's still well worth a visit. Using sculpture, painting, video projection and sound, Oursler combines a hand-made DIY aesthetic with images of obsessive habits such as chain smoking, internet addiction and compulsive gambling along with the sound of indistinct mumblings and sharp angry whispers. Wandering through the darkened galleries as the emanations from each work overlap with one another creates a sense of being in a space of conflict and psychological violence; as if caught up in an argument between a roomful of tatty puppets, disembodied heads...

The Mire

Videos From Sónar 2008

Check out three video clips from The Wire's visit to Sónar 2008: The final performance of the Yellow Swans , a Mark Fell (of .snd) installation and a work by the Spanish artist Pablo Valbuena (both exhibited at the Centre d’Art Santa Mònica) Yellow Swans 20 June 2008: Mark Fell Installation: Pablo Valbuena Installation: There's higher resolution versions of this through The Wire's main site here .

The Mire

'It's not your imagination ... who's there?'

Steve Goodman's presentation at the excellent hauntology event last week focused on the phenomenon of 'audio spotlights', which deploy ultrasound to precisely target sonic messages at individuals. Predictably, the use of this Philip K Dick-like 'holosonic' technology - explained in the YouTube clip above - is being pioneered by advertisers to cut through the urban cacophony to reach consumers as they pass billboards. It's interesting that the 'related videos' on YouTube are predominantly not about technological developments but the paranormal - not surprising when you watch the clip below, which shows how advertisers have insinuated an insistent voice saying 'It's not your imagination ... who's there?' into the heads of passersby. (I'm reminded of Carpenter's Prince Of Darkness , in which technicians transmit a message into the sleeping mind of the receiving subjects, saying 'This is not a dream'.) It as if the voice flips...

The Mire

'Other People Went To University...'

I didn't mind being on the dole. I had a lot of time on my hands as a result. Other people went to university, but I read books, smoked cigs and looked around most days. It's good to have a period like that in your life, when you're not being forced to think like others. Don't get me wrong: I had my fair share of dull days and my diet wasn't the most healthy, but I read a lot of good books and wrote a lot, most of which found its way on to our first LP. I didn't think of it like that when I was writing, though. I just felt an urge to write. If you're a cod-psychologist, I guess you could trace most of the Fall's output back...

The Mire

UNINSTAL

Sound poet Christian Bök performing at Flarf vs. Conceptual at NYCs Whitney Museum, 2009 A precursor to the INSTAL festival of new and experimental music and sound (scheduled for November), UNINSTAL , kicks off 9 May with the first part of a walk/screening event, In The Shadow Of Shadow , led by artists organisations The Strickland Distribution & Ultra-red . The walk focuses on the gentrification of Glasgow. Following this, field recordist Eric La Casa and musician Jean-Luc Guionnet present House , one-shot subjective sonic portraits of four houses, their inhabitants and their relationship through sound, 13 May. On 14 May, philosopher Ray Brassier, Jean-Luc Guionnet and percussionist Seijiro Murayama present Used Sound 15 May hears Loïc Blairon's, It Doesn’t Say What It Says , followed...

The Mire

The Wire Salon, Enigma Machines: How To Decode Graphic Scores

The Wire ’s monthly series of salon events continues with an evening dedicated to unlocking the mysteries of graphic scores and other revolutionary approaches to musical notation. A panel made up of The Wire ’s Philip Clark, composer Claudia Molitor and pianist Ian Pace will discuss how graphic scores can be used to access entire new dimensions in sound. The night will also feature screenings of Claudia Molitor’s 3D graphic scores (3D glasses will be provided), and a special audience participation graphic scores Invisible Jukebox session. London Cafe Oto, 3 June, 8pm, £4. Check out some online content in anticipation of the evening: • Notations 21, website for the book on contemporary musical notation and graphic scores, written by Theresa Sauer. Check out her blog here . • A transcript of a discussion between composers Morton Feldman and Earle Brown with the German...

The Mire

Blow Up: Exploding Sound and Noise (London - Brighton 1959-1969)

An exhibition curated by The Wire ’s David Toop and Tony Herrington that investigates the links between artists from different disciplines who were active in London and Brighton in the 1960s, as well as the simultaneous emergence of a shared ‘Noise’ aesthetic. [caption id="attachment_495" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Still from Jeff Keen's Marvo (1967)"] [/caption] The exhibition features material on a host of Swinging London’s counterculture figures including artists John Latham and Gustav Metzger , jazz musicians Joe Harriott and Coleridge Goode , Pink Floyd’s Syd Barrett, improvisors John Stevens and AMM, composer Annea Lockwood , film maker Jeff Keen , and sound/text poet Bob Cobbing . London Flat Time House , 24 June–25 July. John Latham's Encyclopedia Britannica (1971)

The Mire

Swamp Thing at Sonar 2010

Ah, Sonar. We love your beautiful home city of Barcelona – full of gorgeous people, delicious food and sunshine. We love the excellence of your stages' sound systems and the way you refute the notion that the clubbing/raving experience is necessarily depraved and dirty. We relish your stellar organisation and helpful, civilised staff. And even though – after 17 years of programming – there are now many hours of bland beats blanketing a few acts of interest, we still love to go to Sonar. Ah, Hyperdub. We were surprised that your party was off-Sonar, but frankly all of the parties surrounding Sonar, not officially included with Sonar, are part of what make it such a great festival to go to. If you don't like the main course, you can fill up on appetisers and desserts and this party was one of the best things on the menu, even for tired old Londoners like ourselves. We were a little overwhelmed by the...

The Mire

Radio Joy: The Strangeness Of Existence

The Wire 's Biba Kopf has curated a show for Band Of Holy Joy front man Johny Brown's internet radio station, Radio Joy. The episode, which was originally broadcast on 27 June, includes music from Robert Piotrowicz, Male Instrumenty, Za Siodma Gora, Rongwrong, Scianka and more as featured in Kopf's article "Poland's Hidden Reverse" about the contemporary Polish experimental underground ( The Wire July 2010). The Strangeness Of Existence: Polish Visions In Sound From Witkacy To Scianka is now available online as a podcast along with previous Radio Joy shows, here .

The Mire

Area10: Call For Support

[caption id="attachment_563" align="aligncenter" width="407" caption="Image by atty"] [/caption] Experimental arts space Area10 is calling out for support to secure a longer term lease on their premises at Eagle Wharf in Peckham, South East London. Their lease is set to run out on 15 July. Area10 have been in the warehouse space behind Peckham Library for the past eight years. Along with studio and rehearsal space for artists, they host and organise a wide variety of international art exhibitions, workshops, performances, and Audiovisual Art Lab , and other collaborative events. They're currently working with the local council, Southwark, to gain a longer term lease so as to keep – and increase – their activities: They're asking their supporters for help and to sign a petition, along with a testimonial http://www.savearea10.org/ Area10 Area10 event archive A10 Art Lab...