A song for Mary

Mary Bateman was was executed for murder 203 years ago. Her humiliating posthumous punishment is ongoing, her remains are displayed as a tawdry attraction at the Thackray Medical Museum in Leeds. Today I am accompanying the vocal beauty of Layla Bert Smith (Wyrd England Gazetteer), we play with the hope of setting her free:

O! What do ye Wesh i’ the Beck

George H. Cowling

“O! What do ye wesh i’ the beck, awd wench?
Is it watter ye lack at heame?”
It’s nobbut a murderer’s shrood, young man,
A shrood for to cover his weam.(1)

“O! what do ye cut i’ the slack, awd hag?
Is it fencin’ ye lack for your beas'(2)?”
It’s nobbut a murderer’s coffin, sir,
A coffin to felt(3) his feace.”

“O! what do ye greaye(4) at the crossroads, witch?
Is it roots ye lack for your swine?”
“It’s nobbut a murderer’s grave, fair sir,
A grave for to bury him fine.”

“An’ whea be-owes(5) coffin an’ shrood, foul witch?
An’ wheas is the grave i’ the grass?”
“This spell I hae woven for thee, dear hairt,
Coom, kill me, an’ bring it to pass.”

1. Belly. 2. Beasts, cattle.. 3. Hide.
4. Dig 5. Owns,

Coded Transmissions

Crystals and Waves

I’ll write more about the gig when I get the recording/video until then, this is the pure sonification of X-ray crystallographic data.

I’ll be joining the institute of stone age sex at the end of March to play in the temple works in Leeds and teh elitist at http://ytims.wordpress.com/ has asked me to go over to Sweden to play in his local park as part of his university studies which is very exciting. More about these gigs to follow…

Bang The Bore

 

The Rumour is about to be revealed, the lie that has existed from the beginning of time will manifest itself through me today. I am excited and terrified, there is no burden of shame. Rumour will continue beyond me, she will appear anywhere, everywhere. So Aghartha is coming to life, she sought chaos, without realising chaos sought her. Trouble abounds, rumours, lies. But today I take temporary ownership of the biggest lie and through pheme will share it will anyone who will listen.

What lies are these?

Soundtracks Vol. 2 | Ilse

ILSE’s second compilation of the year has been released. Download it, or listen:

http://ilse.bandcamp.com/album/soundtracks-vol-2

 

Compilers, Collectors, Collaborators & Combinations

I L S E music

I L S E is a labour of love, a non-profit label which distributes beautiful music in a  selection of formats. The collection of releases is breathtaking with many of my favourite artists and wonderful collaborations. The creator and guardian of the label is inspiring, clearly devoted to the purpose he makes no money but does make wonderful music.

Mary Bateman

An old friend recently contacted me about collaborating on a project which will include noise and mischief. The main goal of her project is to release the remains of Mary Bateman from captivity in the Thackray Medical Museum.

Combination of strings 

Bang The Bore XII: Coded Transmissions

The full line-up has been announced, Tim Hodgkinson from Henry Cow! Joe Evans who works with microtonal scales and mathematical algorithms. Spoils and Relics who make fantastic physical noise. Magical Parents will be playing found object percussion to juxtapose the idea of mathematical synthesis as art.

Pheme’s words have breathed life into Aghartha; she is on the bill.

The hollow flux

Esotericism flows, manifested as phenomena it is matterless flux. As religion and science are to mass, esotericism is to energy, proportional only by time (the speed of light). Manifest as a ‘blind’ Aghartha was a fleetingly accepted scientific theory. It has been a common occurrence through time; for Rumour to trick men of God and Men of science. A miscalculation, a vivid dream, a lie, may permeate into the world of matter and, for a moment, energy and mass are united. Unity; gnosis. The hollow earth is an ancient folly, Newton’s error gave rise to the scientific theory and Halley, terrified of atheism, was all too willing to give it scope. Through a viscous universe hollow entities may process but their course is not obviously determined. Cyrus Reed Teed’s electrical alchemy provided later opportunity for the politicisation of the hollow earth a theme which has not since ceased. The battle rages on, to occupy the city and determine a singular frame of reference.

Astronomer Royal, Halley, grasping his diagram of the hollow earth.

Aghartha tells the story of lost worlds and the creation of duality within a single sphere. I fear we are there now, that the cosmic spheres have been replaced by electrical nodes. The ether is thick with electricity which we cannot escape, and the synarchy of harmonious rule has been replaced by  the synarchy of idealogical progress.

 

Music: The Devadasi

Time isn’t moving forwards but it still flows, perception of flux is dependent on the centroid. If at the centre there is a hole, we must fill it.

Barbara Hepworth: Sculpture with Colour (Oval Form) Pale Blue and Red

Science Fantasy – Stanislaw Lem

Trurl and Klapaucius are mechanical men, they are the creators. Creators of great (and not so great) machines. Stanislaw Lem captures parts of the world that I have vaguely glimpsed upon and makes them humourous and wonderful. I am in awe of the illustrations – Daniel Mroz appears to have inspired me before I had seen his work and now there is no escape from his influence. His robots are beautiful and complex, melancholic.

News(Possibly an unusual and unnecessary diversion from my usual posts):

I have two live shows lined up for March next year, I’ll be playing both as Aghartha but the themes will deviate a little from Aghartha and Auto-mechanical fixation as neither of those concepts are quite ready yet. I’ll be playing bang the bore in Southampton early on in March, the details of the event haven’t been released yet but I’ll exploring an interpretation of Rumour for my piece (specifically the effect of noise on data). I’ll also be playing a set for an all day noise gig in Leeds on the 24th, the details for this aren’t final yet either but I will be posting information about both of these up when I have it. Any noise people in either of those areas should definitely consider going, the other acts will be really interesting, and there are possibly a few ‘names’ playing at both.

A recent doodle: