shards… of glass in yo ass

But REAL blogging isn’t about Director’s cuts. It’s not some fanzine Heaven’s Gate. It’s about real people finding a voice and connecting with people, not about polishing your online CV. Criticize a a blog all you want — fuck, I’ve slagged off enough people on here, why I’ve even slagged off Ingram, and he’s slagged off me — but let’s not get too, ‘ow you say, bourgeois about it. Let’s not impose turgid PROFESSIONAL standards on the people’s press. Let’s not go all 1974 ya dig?

Says it better than I could. Scenius vs genius again?

Here’s blogspot, here’s a template, here’s some links, now start your own…

On joining


The thing that strikes me about occult organisations… all the way from the Roman Catholic Church to the wiccan coven that organises bake-sales and grooves on lunar empowerment… is that they are essentially mechanisms for externalising the neuroses of their members. A way of turning irrational belief into concrete power structures. A way of limiting the imagination.

This far, and no further… and just cos TOPY’s (as one example) this far is a good deal further than the Church of England’s this far, doesn’t mean much when you’re talking about the infinite potential of the human imagination.

I’m in favour of getting involved with stuff because it throws up the unexpected. It’s the randomness of having other people involved with what you do that makes those leaps of understanding. When groups are bad they are what Jim describes, but when groups are good they are the opposite – they provide a structure for the unexepected.

When we started to actively do things of our own in T.O.P.Y. London we found we had to use all our skills to present our ideas to the general public. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t, but at least we got the chance to argue our case and see what worked and what failed.

When it really worked, we got people joining in who had no interest in Psychic TV or the usual gamut of ideas that the people who originated T.O.P.Y. were interested in.

These peoples’ input had a massive influence on me which wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t got involved with something larger than my own imagination. It’s good to have people around you who will innovate and criticise, people who can do things you can’t and will value the things you can do.

And if you ARE going to change the world, you need to have some sort of structure which allows people to face in the same direction (at least some of the time…) and work together.

and the people I meet as I walk down the street say…

...hey! what's your name?

Excellent write up on the Dave Howard Singers over at Gutterbreakz. Nice! Interview, Mark Stewart trivia, thoroughness! Proper…

I saw the Dave Howard singers on a couple of occasions, I think, the best being a gig at the Town and Country club where they were bottom of the bill. Much madness ensued as Dave ran around the stage with his acetone on a wheelchair. He also dragged some unsuspecting guy out of the audience to do a keyboard solo. It was great and only just surpassed by the next two acts – The Sugarcubes (I think their second UK appearance) and SWANS (in full-on “Children of God” mode).

My specs got mashed up by people crawling over me to get to Michael Gira. He stuck his arse in the front rows’ faces and rolled around on a carpet. It was a great night!

I also have a live DHS track called “I am a bunny” on a comp called “You Bet We’ve Got Something Against You” which is about a rabbit answering the door to the Jehovah’s Witnesses while trying to do a stir-fry. Wicked.

owww

Having only just got rid of a thumping hangover-induced headache, I am loathe [loath! I’m back on the beer now so the vocabulary has returned] to comment on this. But it was a good night.

Probably something more intelligible on this later, but for my money T.O.P.Y. was never an “occult organisation” despite what some people involved in it thought…

Babylon’s Burning

R-349253-1145373927_jpeg

Crooklyn Dub Outernational: Certified Dope Vol. 4 is now out!

The first three volumes did my head in for most of the early part of 2003. Seriously moody and dark stuff – kind of claustrophobic in places but all the better for that in small doses (i.e don’t play it all back to back for a week like I did – messy). As I’ve probably pointed out before, one thing I like about reggae and dub is the interplay between tradition and futurism. CDO is up there with Burial Mix and The Bug in terms of people trying to push the envelope, IMO.

The label, Wordsound, is also a possible candidate for Matt’s “Un Ra” list, judging by the bit of their website titled The Other Side.

Looks like vol 4 is another must have if this review by my man Greg Whitfield is anything to go by.

Pounding System

My constant nagging campaign against comrade Dubversion has finally paid off with him upping sticks to a new blog called Pounding System. Looks spiffy and he’s thrown up several new entries already. Plus some good links including one for an Iration Steppas official site which I had never seen before. Niiiice.