EIC's 10Q's w/ Acteurs

"..extra exotic-androgynous.."

Acteurs

Banausic Automations

Acteurs Bio:

And so we splash into 2013 with an almighty throb, pulse-tone generators at the ready. This is Cloud Generating, debut record of malformed electronic-pop and modular fury from Chicago two-piece Acteurs.  From the chest-rattling opening kick of title track to the radon hailstorm of dub-techno epic “Freezing Fog” it’s clear that the pair, Jeremy Lemos and Brian Case know their way around a mixing desk. Both have long, immaculate CV’s with the cream of the U.S alternative scene, and here they stretch the studio to its limit.  Acteurs: proponents of bass to make systems quiver, drums that punch the gloom, electronics to scythe and screech into darkest night - a psychedelic overload.  Acteurs: purveyors of pop-not-pop...itchy Cluster tones...frazzled Factory keys...LCD oscillations...NEU-motorik thrust...Argabright playgrounds... repetition, repetition, repetition...  Dream an Acteurs dream. Sodium streetlights, grey smoke. Chromium staircases and black-glass buildings. Acid rains. Cyberpunk racers. Dead TV channels. Amped-out brains . Come join their future-primitive world of stark and brutal groove, metallic avant-pop and precise mechanical funk.

Hello, how are you?

Doing quite well, actually. I have had some time off, for the first time in a LONG time. It's been great to be home in Chicago in the spring! I have been hiding out drinking coffee and I haven't headed back into the studio. I make a living doing live sound, and I've been on the road for most of the year.

What are you currently listening to?

HA! Should I lie for this one? I'm embarrassingly listening to the recording of our first show at the Empty Bottle! I would normally never do something like that, but we worked really hard on trying to re-create the record live... When we made this record, we were never thinking about how we were actually going to PLAY these songs! We had to completely break them all down and decide what we couldn't and couldn't get away with. Modular synths were NOT designed to be played live, they are naturally a little unpredictable! This is the first band I've played in that has had "parts" in 10 years, so it's a little nerve wracking? Anything else I've done is improvised, and little changes didn't matter, but in this one I have solos I have to hit!  The challenge was to find a process with all my synths that left me the least margin for error... So, I wanted to listen back to the recording to see what REALLY happened that night... So far, it seems like we pulled it off? The next thing I'm going to put on after this is the new FC JUDD remix record from Public Info, Alex just sent me a copy!

When did this project come about, whom/what were your biggest influences?

This started about a year ago when Brian's other band (Chicago's best rock band, Disappears) was taking a little break and we would see each other in a cafe by my house. Brian is really into strange Electronic music, and I don't think he had an outlet for it with his other band... We started talking about all of these warped records we loved and it was only a matter of time until he came over to my studio to try it out. I'm always influenced by gear, to be honest with you. My other band (White/Light) was an outlet for my guitar pedal obsession, and this one seems to be my outlet for my modular synth obsession. I listen to a lot of new music, and that's always bouncing in the back of my head as well, but it's usually a new module I've recently found and that plants the seed for a new idea. Throbbing Gristle is probably my favorite band, and that's always in there too...

Why the name 'Acteurs'?

The name was hardest part of making this band! It's a good looking word, sounds good too? Not very good for googling, I suppose though... Names are important to a point, but after people hear the name it just means who the band is after that, you know? You never think of what a horrible band name the Beatles actually is, right? It's a terrible band name once you start to think about it, but you never would because you just think of what they are and their records.

Care to tell us a little bit about your debut self-titled release; themes, favorite tracks, recording snags?

It was actually really enjoyable to make it. Brian & I would get an early breakfast, then head back to my studio... Brian is a great editor, cause I have a tendency to over think things. I would tweak things out until they melted into nothing and Brian would make me stop and hit record! Each song was basically one days idea that we explored until Brian had to leave and pick up his son, and then I would clean in up a little before he would sing on it. I can't wait to work on the 2nd one when I get back from tour in June.

Will you be touring for said release?

I love making records with Brian, but I want to play! We have some shows coming up, but it's just hard to tour with a guy with kids, and another band  Not to mention I spent half the year traveling on tour already... We will find a way, now that we got that first show out of the way we know we can... That was part of the reason I was checking out the live recording, hopefully someone in the UK or Europe will hear it and help us get over there to tour!

Got any other projects we should know about?

Brian's other band Disappears just made their best record yet. It's called 'ERA' and it will be released on Kranky records late in the summer.

What movie would work best on mute while listening to you music?

I've been watching La Jetée a lot lately, that would work nicely...

You can only keep/listen to ONE album for the rest of your life ..which album would it be?

Folke Rabe's 'What?'  or...  ZZ Top's 'Tejas'. You know that question is basically impossible to answer, right?

Are you living your dream?

I think I can honestly say yes to that question.. But it makes me feel guilty for taking any days off if you start thinking like that! I get to travel the world mixing bands I like for a living, and when I'm home I get make music with my friends. It's been working like that for a while, and I can't think of any reason to change it!

Thanks Jeremy!

Acteurs are currently working on a follow up to their debut/self-titled LP as well as playing a few shows here and there...

Good (FREE) music laying around the interwebs.. Pt. 3

 Weaves - Hulahoop

&

 Throbbing Gristle - Distant Dreams (Part Two)

&

 Samn Johnson - Bäume Im Herbst

&

 Pete Drake - Forever

&

Nico - Frozen Warnings

~njoy.

EIC's 10Q's w/ Eskimeaux

"..eternally endearing and honest.."

Eskimeaux

Gentle Mechanical

Eskimeaux Bio:

Eskimeaux was originally a project started by Gabrielle Smith. It was a compulsive audio diary, used as a way to document physical stasis and emotional transience that one experiences while living in New Jersey. Through various six-degrees-of-separation connections, Gabrielle and Benjamin Schurr met in 2007 and after being heavily influenced by his project Br’er, they began working on music together. After the completion of their first collaborative record, the lo-fi I Am a Spiral, the follow-up record was shelved indefinitely as a result of a serious rift between the two, causing them to not speak to one another for several years. Over time, they set aside their differences and Benjamin and Gabrielle co-produced the record Two Mountains from across the several state borders between New York and North Carolina. Once Benjamin moved back to Philadelphia they decided to make Eskimeaux a collaborative effort once again and forever.

Hello, how are you?

We are great! We are currently in Greensboro, NC hanging out at Sessions Coffee shop with our dog. It's our first day off from tour in three weeks!

What are you currently listening to?

Ben: I would say that I have spent the few months leading up to the record being finished listening to 'The Infamous' by Mobb Deep, 'WIXIW' by Liars, Cabaret Voltaire, 'The Seer' by Swans, and '2nd Annual Report' by Throbbing Gristle. I pretty much only listen to music on vinyl these days, so I've been kind of obsessively delving deep into this specific rotation of LPs. I did, however, just get 'Return Of The 36 Chambers' when we were in Kalamazoo, so that will be taking up 100% of my time when we get home.

Gabby: I spend most of my time in transit, so I pretty much only listen to music on my ipod. There are only two artists on it right now, so I only listen to a cycle of Xiu Xiu albums. My favorite, right now, is 'The Airforce', but that changes weekly. In the car, we have been listening heavily to our holy trinity of albums, 'When You Think Of Us, Pray For Us' by Hollow Boys, 'Erasure' by Erasure, and 'Ex-Military' by Death Grips. Hollow Boys are this amazing band we got to surprise-tour with from Minneapolis, whose album we have playing most of the time. Erasure is pretty self-explanatory, it's extremely feel-good, a little bit scary gay bar synth pop. Death Grips is our I'm-feeling-stressed-out-by-this-highway-situation-and-need-to-be-comforted music.

Whats with the band name?

Gabby: I was adopted and the only part of my heritage that I actually know is that I am part Tlingit-Eskimo. The -eaux comes from Gabrielle being a French name, so it's a way of coming to terms with having gaps in my background and forming an identity around a lot of uncertainty.

When did this project come about?

Gabby: Eskimeaux originated as a soundscapey collage project with tidbits of songwriting. It was based on creating arrhythmic loops on Garageband and trying to make someone nauseous and uncomfortable, but be beautiful at the same time. It was kind of a "fuck you" to an ex-boyfriend who claimed that I wasn't doing anything with my time, so I told him I was working on an album, which wasn't true. I made the first album in one night in secret in our house. After I met Ben, however, I learned a lot about form and started writing actual songs.

Ben: We met at a Br'er show at Cake Shop in the Lower East Side of NYC in late 2007. Shortly thereafter Gabby moved to Philly, joined Br'er, dropped out of college, and started touring with us. During this process, Gabby was working on some songs and we organically just started working together on it. There were a few years after that when we were living in different states and not really talking to one another, but Gabby would still obstinately send me songs she was working on and we would collaborate long-distance. I ended up back in Philly in 2011 and we decided to actually start collaborating like a real-people band.

Gabby: It became really clear to us that we have the same aesthetic desires, which are to make pop melodies disguised in beautiful complex arrangements, with an undertone of feeling poisoned and nervous. We want to use our recordings to give people a sense of sonic spatial reasoning and texture.

Care to tell us a little bit about your latest album, theme, likes/dis-likes, etc.?

Gabby: The new album is actually a reformed collection of songs that were released in 2010 under the title Ixsixàn, which means "I love you" in the Tlingit language. They were songs that Ben and I were supposed to work on together, but we weren't talking for a lot of the time that I was working on them, so they kind of got the shaft as a result. We decided to re-record them (and add a new song or two to the mix), fully realized and nurtured and make this our self-titled album, since it's finally a jump from our original lo-fi sound into high fidelity and true collaboration. The theme of the record is emotional transience. Mostly all of the songs were written on the Bolt Bus when I was traveling back and forth a lot between New York and Philadelphia (which hasn't really changed, come to think of it). Actually, most of the beats for this album were made by Ben when he was riding the Bolt Bus to and from my apartment.

Ben: It's really interesting how many things simply fell into place with this band/record. In a weird way, I've seen this record as only having been able to exist at this specific period of time because Gabby's songs came from such a simultaneously musically raw, but emotionally guarded place. We synced up in a lot of ways because of this shared state. Interestingly, we actually had to record the album three or so times, because we started by recording the really quiet, "subtle" versions of the songs, and quickly realized that wasn't the kind of music either of us wanted to be making anymore. This album felt, in a lot of ways, like a powerful uprising against feeling inadequate when we were presenting ourselves as an acoustic band. There's something very powerful and visceral about the experience of seeing live, loud music and translating it to a recording. Since we're both electronic sound designers first and foremost, we wanted to present ourselves and our songs that way.

What is you favorite track from said album?

Gabby: My immediate reaction was "Littoral Lullaby", which is the banger of the record. My favorite, however, is definitely the last track "Curses".

Ben: "Your Fire Arms" emotionally wrecked me the first time I heard Gabby perform it and I was really anxious to work on it for this record. I think it's the most successful delivery of a very specific emotion, both lyrically and musically.

In a dream world whom would you pick to remix your songs?

Gabby: Jamie Stewart or Vince Clark, definitely. It would also be really cool if Balam Acab did a remix, he does really beautiful, crazy versions of songs.

Ben: Chris and Cosey, Havoc, Boards of Canada, or Vince Clark, always.

What movie would work best on mute while listening to your music?

Ben: 'The Piano Teacher', by Michael Haneke

Gabby: http://youtu.be/iRNqhi2ka9k on a loop

You can only keep/listen to ONE album for the rest of your life ..which album would it be?

Gabby: 'The Airforce', by Xiu Xiu

Ben: "Always", the CD maxi-single by Erasure

Are you living your dream?

Gabby: Definitely.

Ben: Always.

Thanx Gabrielle & Ben!

Eskimeaux just got back from a pretty massive tour, while they catch their breaths, check them out...

EIC's 10Q's w/ Matmos

"..delirious concepts.."

Matmos

Absurd Accent Analyzers

Matmos Bio:

Matmos is M.C. Schmidt and Drew Daniel, aided and abetted by many others.  Currently based in Baltimore, the duo formed in San Francisco in the mid 1990s, and self-released their debut album in 1997. Marrying the conceptual tactics and noisy textures of object-based musique concrete to a rhythmic matrix rooted in electronic pop music, the two quickly became known for their highly unusual sound sources: amplified crayfish nerve tissue, the pages of bibles turning, water hitting copper plates, liposuction surgery, cameras and VCRs, chin implant surgery, contact microphones on human hair, rat cages, tanks of helium, a cow uterus, human skulls, snails, cigarettes, cards shuffling, laser eye surgery, whoopee cushions, balloons, latex fetish clothing, rhinestones, Polish trains, insects, life support systems, inflatable blankets, rock salt, solid gold coins, the sound of a frozen stream thawing in the sun, a five gallon bucket of oatmeal. These raw materials are manipulated into surprisingly accessible forms, and often supplemented by traditional musical instruments played by the group’s large circle of friends and collaborators. The result is a model of electronic composition as a relational network that connects sources and outcomes together; information about the process of creation activates the listening experience, providing the listener with entry points into sometimes densely allusive, baroque recordings.  Since their debut, Matmos have released over eight albums, including: Quasi-Objects (1998) , The West (1998), A Chance to Cut Is A Chance to Cure (2001), The Civil War (2003)  and The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of A Beast (2006) and Supreme Balloon (2008). In 2001 they were asked to collaborate with the Icelandic singer Bjork on her “Vespertine” album, and subsequently embarked on two world tours as part of her band. In addition to musical collaborations with Antony, So Percussion, David Tibet, the Rachel’s, Lesser, Wobbly, Zeena Parkins, and the Princeton Laptop Orchestra, Matmos have also collaborated with a wide range of artists across disciplines, from the visual artist Daria Martin (on the soundtrack to her film “Minotaur”) to the playwright Young Jean Lee (for her play “The Appeal”) to Berlin-based choreographer Ayman Harper. Most recently, they have been part of the ensemble for the Robert Wilson production “The Life and Death of Marina Abramovic”, featuring Marina Abramovic, Antony and Willem Dafoe. Their next album, The Marriage of True Minds, will be released in 2013 by Thrill Jockey Records

Hello, how are you?

Drew: I am feeling manic.

Martin: At ease, though there is much to do preparing for the public enjoyment of our new record...right now photo editing and making handmade cards to go into the special editions of our introductory EP/single (whatever it's formal format designation is!) "The Ganzfeld EP"

What are you currently listening to?

Drew: I'm currently listening to the steady purr of air conditioning in the attic of our house, and from downstairs I can still make out the record that's playing: the Gruppo Di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza album "The Feedback", which is an oddity for them, it's got these chunky funk drums and their skronky free music playing on top.

Martin: Helmut Lachenmann' "Mouvement" on YouTube as we have just returned from the Darmstadt Ferienkurse for New Music and apparently this fellow is very important for a lot of composers, and I had never listened to any, so... If you mean in general, the environment at Darmstadt is very dense, musically, so wow, we heard a lot of stuff...the two best things I heard were John Cage's "As Slow as Possible" and pieces that I can't remember the names of by a crazy cool young man/composer called Johannes Kreidler...look 'm up on You Tube, I tried to find a particular thing to recommend, but I fell down the rabbit hole...so I suggest you do the same!

(for Drew) I've always been curious, what sort of things do you speak about/shed light on in your lectures? Also, how did the idea of you writing the 33 1/3 book for Throbbing Gristle's '20 Jazz Funk Greats' come up?

I've taught two lecture courses in the English Department at Hopkins, one on Shakespeare and one on "British Literature I" (a survey course) that goes from Chaucer to Spenser to Milton to Pope. In the process of which I rant/talk about a vast range of things: renaissance literature first and foremost, but in and through that magic, colonialism, psychoanalysis, chivalry, poetic meter, queer sex, capitalism, rhetorical figures, pagan gods, Jesus Christ, suicide, friendship, slasher films, classical epic, venereal disease, feminism, currency policy, social hierarchies, monstrosity, ugly and beautiful bodies, literature as fetish etc. As Matmos we sometimes "lecture" (in a super loose way) about our own music, musique concrete, how to make recordings and why, the history of various mediums and media, records we love.

I wrote a book about Throbbing Gristle because I fell in love with their music at the age of 16 and haven't been able to let it go ever since, and I felt that they would do something odd and critical to the premise of the series as a whole by being inserted into that list. They seem to me to be usefully opposed to the "greatness" rhetoric that tends to accompany that kind of fandom. Their work is hard to read, self-contradicting in a way that felt like it was worth writing about, some art is very strong but it doesn't merit lots of unpacking. I think their work seems in certain ways "weaker" than the canonical albums in that series but that's is the source of its odd power.

What is the theme for your upcoming EP and will you be touring for it?

The EP is an introduction to the concerns that drive the album as well. The EP comes out in October and the album in early 2013. We won't be really touring that material until the spring because I will be on sabbatical then, but we will have a few select shows in Baltimore, New York and London in connection with the EP. The EP and the album have the same conceptual basis: telepathy. For the past four years we have been conducting parapsychological experiments based upon the classic Ganzfeld (“total field”) experiment, but with a twist: instead of sending and receiving simple graphic patterns, test subjects were put into a state of sensory > deprivation by covering their eyes and listening to white noise on headphones, and then I attempted to transmit “the concept of the new Matmos record” directly into their minds. During videotaped psychic experiments conducted at home in Baltimore and at Oxford University, test subjects were asked to describe out loud anything they saw or heard within their minds as Drew attempted transmission. The resulting transcripts became a kind of score that was then used to generate music. If a subject hummed something, that became a melody; passing visual images suggested arrangement ideas, instruments, or raw materials for a collage; if a subject described an action, then we had to act out that out and make music out of the noises generated in the process of the re-enactment. It was very labor intensive and very fun.

How do you guys come up with your sound concepts (such as a snail slithering past a light sensitive theremin)? I bet you have some interesting brain-storming sessions don't you?

Drew: There are lots of discussions, arguments, moods, temporary obsessions and long burning passions that move in and out focus. Deadlines and feelings of guilt and stress can be assets because they crystallize your vague sense that something might be worth exploring more, it helps when there is a gun to your head and you MUST choose something, you MUST decide if an idea is good or not, because that stops the endlessness of discussion. Sometimes there are blind alleys and one of the two of us has to point this out to the other, which is painful. I would like to think that the strongest sounds and concepts survive and that the weaker stuff drops out as it is subjected to scrutiny. One thing that happens quite often is that we'll get obsessed with something, make a piece, and then test it in front of audiences quite a bit before committing to it becoming a song for a record, in this case we're a bit more like a Rock band than an Electronic band, I suppose. But "brainstorming" sounds like a corporate marketing meeting, and I would hope that what we do is often driven more by intuition, stumbling, drift and free association.

What movie would work best on mute while listening to your music?

Drew: I often watch a film on mute while chopping up audio. Silent films are often flickering at me. I've been particularly enjoying the minimal presence provided by the Warhol screen test films, they're perfect for that situation. But so is trash cinema like "Beast With A Gun" or "Gymkata!". There are certain films I can just bask in over and over and over: "Laura", "Rebecca", "Mishima", "Barbarella", "Wild Reeds", "The Conversation", "Night of the Living Dead".

Martin:  Laguna Pacific's "Brothers Should Do It"?  "Buster goes to Laguna"?  I'm not sure I would recommend muting films and listening to our music? Maybe silent experimental animations of the 20's 30's 40's?

You can only keep/listen to ONE album for the rest of your life ..which album would it be?

Drew: Today the answer is Willie Nelson's, 'Stardust'; tomorrow the answer might be Morton Feldman's 'Crippled Symmetry'.

Martin: Terre Thaemlitz's new full length 'Soulnessless'? It's 32 hours long...

Are you living your dream?

Drew: This question prompts a memory of a friend who lived in a rough, crime-ridden building who stumbled onto a prostitute servicing a john in a stairwell. Annoyed at the intrusion, she looked up at him and yelled "Leave us alone, damn! Can't you see I'm just living my dream?"

Martin: I try to take things as they go, so as to avoid disappointment. I really enjoy a lot of things that happen to me, though! Also, most of my dreams are very repetitive work-dreams!

Thanx Drew & Martin!

Matmos are about to release "The Ganzfeld EP" and soon after that (early next year) they will release their next LP..!

"XTG"

+

=

XTG(Peter Christopherson, Chris Carter, Cosey Fani Tutti & Co.)'s 'Desert Shore / The Final Report' (double album) comes out November 26th via Industrial Records Ltd.

This is it people, "the last of Throbbing Gristle", an era is ending:..[, so a new one shall begin.. More info here.

EverythingIsChemical Virtual 7" No. 21 - Br'er

"There's a certain word and a certain touch. A certain way and a way too much. There's a little bit here, and a little bit there. When you've done it all, it's too late to care. Oh I persuade you, Like always I persuade you." ~TG

Next release comes out July 22nd.

If only I lived here..(!)

Wishful Thinking: In Remembrance of Peter Christopherson (1955–2010)
Peter 'Sleazy' Christopherson was best known as a founder member of Throbbing Gristle and Coil, a designer at Hipgnosis, and a videomaker for Greenback Films. In summer 2010, AV Festival commissioned him to compose a work for the 2012 spring Equinox, to be staged at Durham Cathedral, where his father was University Vice-Chancellor from 1960–1979. Christopherson died in his sleep at home in Thailand on 24 November 2010 before completing the work.

This music, film and performance event is a celebratory remembrance of his life and work. It includes the premiere of three performance sketches with Christopherson‘s original collaborators for the commission: visual artist Alex Rose, sound recordist Chris Watson and vocalist Attila Csihar. Special guests Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti premiere live remixes from Throbbing Gristle’s nascent, and final, studio album: a 'cover' of Nico’s Desertshore, preceded by a rare screening of Philippe Garrel’s The Inner Scar for which Desertshore was soundtrack and inspiration. The evening comes to a poetic close with Derek Jarman’s The Angelic Conversation, with a soundtrack by Coil, Christopherson considered the film “truly, a timeless work of art”.

We miss ya Peter:..(

EIC'S10Q'S w/Chris Carter

"..inventor of experimental machine based innovations.."


Chris Carter
Empirical Pioneering Automaton

Chris Carter Bio:
He began his career in the late 1960s' working for various UK TV stations (Thames, Granada and LWT) as a sound engineer on numerous TV shows and documentaries. This gave him an invaluable grounding in sound and audio techniques and theories. He also found himself getting more involved in the visual side of entertainment, which eventually progressed into designing and presenting light shows and visual effects for numerous festivals, events and gigs, including bands as diverse as Yes and Hawkwind. This led to commissions for BBC Television shows, Colour Me Pop and The Old Grey Whistle Test. By the early 1970s' Chris was touring universities and colleges with a solo, multimedia show playing self-built synthesizers and keyboards and incorporating a myriad of lighting effects gleaned from his previous work. During this time he also worked extensively with visual artist John Lacey on many 8 mm & 16 mm experimental films and multimedia presentations.

In the mid 1970s', and through his connection with artist John Lacey, Chris began an experimental music/sound collaboration with Cosey Fanni Tutti and Genesis P-Orridge, who were also working as performance art group COUM Transmissions with Peter Christopherson at the time. The results of this musical collaboration was the creation of the now legendary Throbbing Gristle, Industrial Records and the birth of the 'Industrial Music' genre.

In 1976 Chris also worked at the London bureau of the ABC News agency as a sound engineer and during that time designed and constructed their London radio studio. In 1977 he was offered a contract to build another ABC studio in Rome but turned it down to continue his involvement as a member of Throbbing Gristle.

During the early years of Throbbing Gristle the four members each continued with other solo projects and work. It was during this period (1980) when Chris recorded his first solo album for Industrial Records called 'The Space Between', which is now available on Mute Records. Shortly after the demise of Throbbing Gristle in 1981, and with help and backing from Rough Trade Records, Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti formed their Conspiracy International (aka CTI) record label and began working together as Chris & Cosey and CTI. Initially releasing only music they soon moved into producing video works, and with the help of Doublevision released a number of Conspiracy International (aka CTI) experimental video films and soundtracks. In 1985 Chris released his second solo album Mondo Beat.

As well as successfully touring all over the world Chris & Cosey also recorded and collaborated on innumerable releases, most notably with Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart, Robert Wyatt, Coil, Boyd Rice, Lustmord, Monte Cazazza and many more. Chris & Cosey and Carter Tutti have also remixed tracks for Mortal Loom and Erasure, Pantaleimon, Throbbing Gristle, John Cage, Current 93 and Chris Ewan (FBH).

In 1994 Chris moved also into journalism and regularly has technical articles and reviews published in UK magazine Sound on Sound. Chris is also a keen photographer and graphic designer and in collaboration with Cosey Fanni Tutti has designed and produced numerous album covers, posters and art works. Chris returned to solo performance work in 1995 after a gap of 15 years. His performances included subtle references to his earlier works but with obvious influences from his more recent collaborations. In 1998 Chris released a compilation CD titled Disobedient, consisting of tracks from his 1995 Disobey tour (produced by Paul Smith). In 2000 he released a solo studio album: Small Moon. In 1998 the album Caged, a collaboration album with electronic musician Ian Boddy was released on the DiN label.

In 2000 Chris, in collaboration with Cosey Fanni Tutti, began producing and releasing a series of albums titled: Electronic Ambient Remixes. The first of these, EAR ONE, consisted of dark ambient remixes of his 1980 'The Space Between' album. In 2002 he released EAR THREE a further solo ambient CD, which consists of radical remixes of his original Throbbing Gristle industrial rhythm tracks.

In 2003 Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti stopped releasing material and performing as Chris & Cosey and began producing all their work under the title of Carter Tutti. One of their first appearances as Carter Tutti was a special quadraphonic performance in the Disney Theatre at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles in 2005. Chris Carter and the other original members of Throbbing Gristle regrouped the band in 2003 and released the TG24 CD boxed set, with an accompanying art exhibition in London. TG performances followed in London, Camber Sands, Turin, Berlin, Barcelona and Paris.

During 2007 Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti again worked on numerous Throbbing Gristle projects, recordings, installations, exhibitions and performances. These included their groundbreaking audio/visual performance at Tate Modern turbine hall and their 3-day 'public recording session' at the ICA London. Chris Carter has recently finished working on a new Carter Tutti album entitled: 'Feral Vapours of the Silver Ether' which is released on the Conspiracy International (aka CTI) label and is already being heaped with praise and rave reviews and is being acclaimed as "their finest yet". Chris Carter continues to work and collaborate with both Cosey Fanni Tutti and Throbbing Gristle. He is also currently working on a new solo experimental audio project titled CCCL. and is producing a new Carter Tutti film, due for release on DVD in 2008.


Hello, how are you?
I'm OK, but feeling a bit sore as I'm recovering from some recent surgery. And I am frustrated to being 'house bound' for a week or so.

What are you currently listening to?
Right this minute I'm listening to the remastered Throbbing Gristle test pressings - I'm multitasking.

Whom/what influenced you the most as a child growing up to make the sounds/gear you make now?
In equal measures: Jimi Hendrix, John Barry and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.

What have you been up to these days as far as new music is concerned?
For the last two years Cosey and myself have been working on our 'Harmonic Coaction' project - prior to a Carter Tutti performance we accumulate material from the surrounding area of the venue and incorporate those elements (field recordings, stills, video) into a live semi-improvised audio/visual performance.
Also this year we re-released our remastered early Chris & Cosey albums on vinyl and have been playing Chris & Cosey shows around the UK and Europe.

Can you tell us a little bit about the "Desert Shore" project, why that album & why now?
Well 'Throbbing Gristle's Desertshore' (to give the project its full title) was the brainchild of Sleazy, It was conceived by him on a flight from Bangkok to perform with TG in Berlin in the winter of 2006. Originally, and over three days of the summer of 2007 at the ICA London in front of an invited audience, TG recorded (as a quartet with Genesis providing vocals) what became the initial basic interpretations of the album.
But from the outset it was Sleazy's intention that TGʼs 're-imagining' of the album would mean inviting friends and artists to collaborate as guest vocalists and musicians. Sleazy was in the process of refining the recordings and readying to record the vocalists when he died last November. To fulfill his vision of Desertshore Cosey and myself are now in the process of completing the album and have just begun recording the guest vocalists parts. It will be the final Throbbing Gristle album and we intend to release it in 2012.

I was really bummed to hear about Peter passing away, got a funny/great story involving you and him that you'd like to share?
No, not really… I'm saving all those for my biography.

Has the future of "X-TG" been laid out yet, touring, new albums, etc?
X-TG came to an end when Sleazy died, as did Throbbing Gristle.

Out of all the songs you've had a hand in, which are you most proud of and why?
Wow there here are so many… but if you had a gun to my head it would probably be 'Woven Clouds'. I know the style and that kind of arrangement is not to everyone's taste, particularly industrial minded TG fans. But for various (personal) reasons it was a very difficult track for us to write and to work on and I'm really glad we persevered and completed it. And although I think it's one of the best songs we've ever written I still occasionally have trouble listening to it, if I'm in the wrong frame of mind.

You can only keep/listen to ONE album for the rest of your life ..which album would it be?
Abba's Greatest Hits

Are you living your dream?
Well I don't know about that… although with the state of the planet I sometimes feel as if all of THIS is all just some weird dream.

Thanx Chris!!

Chris Carter is currently working on a bunch or re-releases, both for his solo/side projects as well as Throbbing Gristle. Look for the last Throbbing Gristle album (:() sometime in 2012...

Throbbing Gristle news..!

From TG's site:

Sleazy' Peter Martin Christopherson (27/02/1955 - 24/11/2010) - We miss him dearly...

To eliminate any further speculation, rumours or disinformation: Throbbing Gristle (through these, the very saddest of circumstances) concur with Sleazy's comments of 10th November 2010:

"About the future of TG live. I do not regard it as possible for any changed band or variation of personnel to perform live as Throbbing Gristle without all the original four of us on stage.”

Industrial Records hereby announces it's official re-activation. IR is the sole representative of, and ONLY official label representing and releasing records by Throbbing Gristle.

TG’s contract with Mute/EMI expired in June 2010, and despite a number of other offers and proposals, all four members of TG elected to re-start Industrial Records to re-release the IR/TG catalogue and the final TG studio album "Desertshore" along with other archival recordings.

IR has purchased ALL the remaining warehouse stock of the Mute Records editions of TG recordings. The first batch for sale comprises of the last remaining copies of the original editions of "TGV" DVD boxed-set, "Part Two - Endless Not" CD and double vinyl LP along with bargain priced 'end-of-line' titles including; "The Second Annual Report", "D.O.A. The Third & Final Report", "Heathen Earth", & "20 Jazz Funk Greats".

To reiterate, TG will be re-releasing their best efforts on both vinyl(!) and CD/digital. Those come out in September. Also (sometime in 2012) Throbbing Gristle will (FINALLY) be releasing their version of Nico's classic/masterpiece "Desertshore", this will be their last full length as the core group. This news should make any experimental music fan's day (and then some).

REVIEW: David Shane Smith - Controls SM

8.75 out of 10

Find it here.

I had never heard of David Shane Smith prior to him sending me "Controls SM". That's so typical, some of the best/most unique talent out there, being ignored/going unnoticed (I know, I'm repeating myself). Any-how, now that I have (finally) become acquainted with Mr. Smith's talent/sound (over and over actually) I find myself slightly happier and fulfilled.

I'm not sure if you want to consider this his third official release or not, but on David's (third) release "Controls SM" you will hear him master his unique craft of mixing "Lo-fi-Indie-Experimental-Pop" with a bit of Electronics and "estranged" atmospheres a little more. His sound is somewhat unmatched. Although, you may hear slight nods towards a couple Indie bands of yesterday; Microphones, Fog, Clouddead (a tad bit anyways), and Throbbing Gristle (no, this album is not "Industrial") to name a few. "Controls SM" is an acquired taste, it is my taste (almost) 100%. It's an album that has that "good-kind" of weird vibe to it, makes you nod your head while listening to it, is completely relaxing/fun, and just all around astonishing (especially if you like any of those bands mentioned above). Each song standouts from (almost against) the next, but the absurdity in sounds is what makes this album so cohesive. Hand's down one of my favorite releases of 2011. This is probably the most unique experience your headphones will have this year. It's a shame this may/will go unnoticed. Oh yeah, (I almost forgot) Did I mention it (the album) is free (as well as a few others HERE.)?

HIGHLY Recommended (ESPECIALLY towards the proper set (the "right" kind) of ears).

Standout Tracks: All, All, All & Cool Pesticide, Freaks, Ifeelalive (Clouddead Vs. Throbbing Gristle--don't want this song to end), Shampoo, Global Warming Makes Me Hot (Feat. Ice Truck) (sooooooo yummy--reminds me of Air), Blackbirds (one of the best tracks of '11), Overfeeling (reminds me of Owen Pallett--kind of), Gasmask (reminds me of Aphex Twin--yeah, this guy really is all over the place..)

Riveting Videos..

21.

4.

8.

32.

16.

1.

29.

20.

9.

19.

Good (free) music laying around the interwebs.. Pt. 2

Two Bicycles - I'm Not Afraid To Wait For You
&
Throbbing Gristle - Adrenalin
&
13 & God - Old Age
&
Summer Camp - I Want You
&
Roof Light - Playground Sunburst
&
Porcelain Raft - Talk To Me
&
Mueran Humanos - Cosmeticos Para Cristo
&
Mandlebrott & Skyy - TT Races

~njoy.

R.I.P. Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson

R.I.P. Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson
1955 - 2010

Last night (between 2am & 6am), November 25th, Peter Christopherson aka "Sleazy" aka 1/2 Coil aka 1/4 Throbbing Gristle aka one of the most influential musical heroes in my life passed away peacefully in his sleep. A few TG shows were cancelled this past Summer amid rumours of a "possible illness". Not the best way to cap off the year.. this really sucks.

Genesis P-Orridge calls it quits with TG :..(

From TG:

In the evening 27th October TG members and their associated managements received two emails from Genesis P-Orridge stating he was no longer willing to perform in Throbbing Gristle and returned to his home in New York.

Cosey, Sleazy & Chris have concluded that once more, and for the time being, Throbbing Gristle has Ceased to Exist, at least as a live entity.

Therefore, and with deepest apologies, TG must cancel their scheduled performance at Archa Theatre, in Prague, Czech Republic on 30th October.

It being too short notice to offer an alternative set.

In order not to disappoint fans of the old quartet, Cosey, Peter & Chris have offered to perform live under the name X-TG at Arena Del Sole, Bologna, Italy on 2nd November & at Casa Musica, Porto, Portugal on 5th November.

We hope fans will appreciate and enjoy this new project and the trio is looking forward to performing exciting new and radical electronic musics together.

GD it! I just needed one more TG album, AT LEAST one more.. After the last album I'm left with wanting oh sooo much more. At least they ended on a high note I suppose (+ I did get to see them live:).. this sux:(

UPDATE: This may or may not be happening.

EIC'S10Q'S w/Health

"..like a rock refurbished Throbbing Gristle with a few more spazzed moments and louder tendencies. If piercing noise, crazy & sporadic rock, and experimental fanaticism is your thing you NEED to hear this band.."


Health
Obstreperous Abrasion Association

Health Bio:
HEALTH are the new frontier of noise rock. Formed in 2005, HEALTH self-recorded their debut album over the course of 9 months at Los Angeles D.I.Y. venue The Smell, birthing an urgent and extraordinary album which seethed with ghostly, epic pop and spurts of chaotic noise. Their shows grew wilder, kids danced & moshed, blogs freaked out, critics raved, and everyone wondered how in God's name HEALTH was going to follow it up. While the anticipation continued to build, HEALTH released a critically-acclaimed remix record HEALTH//DISCO, toured with the likes of Crystal Castles, Nine Inch Nails, and Of Montreal and played over 420 shows!

In April, HEALTH emerged with their first new single since 2007: "DIE SLOW" received immediate accolades from Pitchfork & NME, with the effects rippling across their DIE SLOW THROUGH EUROPE tour, resulting in a near-riot in Eastern Europe. The song's infectious fusion of noise and dance was the most fully-formed and undeniably rad piece of music from HEALTH yet. And it only served to rile up their fans more. The new full-length was desperately needed.

On September 8th 2009, HEALTH answer the call and release their second album GET COLOR. Recorded in an especially gnarly part of Lincoln Heights, L.A, GET COLOR is an exuberant proclamation of noise, rock and electronic splendor. It's a celebration of sound; pretty, harsh, soft and basked in a blanket of ethereal vocals. GET COLOR is the manifesto HEALTH have been promising since their inception. HEALTH are the band. GET COLOR is the record. NOW is the time.


Hello, how are you?
Very well, thank you

What are you currently listening to?
Science lectures, dying for some new music at the moment...

What are you guys up to these days? Any talks on the next album?
The next album and the remix album are all we are talking about at the moment. We are also trying to get other non musical things off the ground, more HEALTH video content, and more FASHION clothing stuff.

Who are your main influences when it comes to creating your signature noise?
At this point, ourselves, our equipment more specifically.

What/where was your craziest live show experience?
We played a mostly empty room in North Carolina, two kids came on acid and beat the shit out of each other during the show until they were covered in blood. The bouncer tried to kick em out, but after he realized they were doing it for fun, he let em stay. After the show they were mad we didn't play certain songs (which we did). Love those kids.

What do your parents think of your music?
My mom doesn't understand a thing. I could be playing a recording or cars crashing and she wouldn't know the difference. The other guys parents are fans.

If you could do the score to any existing movie out there which would you chose?
Planet Earth

You can only keep/listen to ONE album for the rest of your life ..which album would it be?
Fuck that sounds like torture. Black Sabbath "Master of Reality"? Actually thinking of what might stick around the best afteryears and years of repeated listen and being totally sick of it. ABBA "Gold", or Brian Eno "Apollo"

Are you living your dream?
Yes, it could always be better of course, but yes.

Thanx Jake!

Health are about to wrap up their next remix album, and then onto their next full length...