Event

Star Wars Secret Cinema

Secret Cinema X-WingThe veil of secrecy has been lifted and The Empire defeated. Lots of great photos are appearing on the Secret Cinema Facebook page from their Star Wars event now that its run is over. Above is Mike Massaro‘s amazing photo of a life-size X-Wing Fighter, complete with pilot, zooming down the trench to obliterate the Death Star. This recreation of the end of the original Star Wars takes place before the film screening, perfectly setting everyone up for viewing The Empire Strikes Back.

DeathStar plansI played around 15 shows for them this summer, from party sets in the main Death Star room (pictured above) to electro funk mixes in the Mess Hall clad in full, film-accurate Stormtrooper gear to African-flavoured selections in the Cantina bar dressed as a Rebel pilot.

secretcinema_3-1024x684After ‘leaving Earth’ and landing on Tatooine guests are guided through Mos Eisley‘s spaceport, complete with houses, market traders, rogue Jawas, Stormtroopers and a Cantina bar. Boba Fett roams around as do many of the characters from the film, all playing out scenes from Episode IV (an excellent recreation of ‘these are not the droids you’re looking for’ was re-enacted complete with full scale Landspeeder).

Landspeeder11026297_10153016065281053_5590223954546011755_n11880375_10153017546341053_4899257124730386281_nRebels are then smuggled ‘off world’ in a shuttle which is captured, sucked into the Death Star by tractor beam and boarded by Stormtroopers. Those who manage to escape can visit the Mess Hall bar area, explore various rooms and corridors and experience recreations of keys scenes from A New Hope before the big climax mentioned above.

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After the film people congregate back at the Cantina, drinking Jawa Juice or trying a Termal Detonator cocktail, dance with aliens or wander the spaceport and explore. Photos above are mostly taken from the official Secret Cinema archive, taken by Hanson Leatherby (Luke in X-Wing), Will Cooper (blue Stormtrooper), Paul Cochrane (Cantina), Mike Massaro (X-Wing, Imperial Commander on shuttle).

It was one of the most exciting and memorable events I’ve ever been invited to be a part of. Everyone involved should be congratulated as the attention to detail was second to none, it was like being in the film at times. I attended with friends and family twice as a punter and each time was different, we experienced so many things at each one that they could have been alternate universes. Equally I heard tales from friends that went who interacted with characters I never knew were even part of it despite exploring the site many times.

DJ Moneyshot has posted one of his mixes from the Mess Hall area here, a superb blend of electro & digital funk.

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The Dark Outside – September 26th – 27th, 2015

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What is The Dark Outside?
24 Hours of Music nobody has heard before in a place where nobody might be listening.

Who is taking part?
There are quite a lot of contributors, you’d best scroll down the list here.
I’ve contributed an unreleased remix but it’s hidden in the line up.

When?
Sept 26th-27th, 2015

Where?
Murrays Monument, Talnotry, The Galloway Forest Dark Skies Park, Scotland. More explicit directions are here

What’s the catch?
You need travel to one of the darkest places in the UK and bring a radio.

Can anyone contribute?
Yes! Send material to [email protected]

Where can I find more info?
http://www.darkoutside.co.uk/

What’s this?
TheDark Outsidelocation
The location that The Dark Outside will be broadcasting from (in the day of course)

PS. What is the Stolen Library?
Ah, that is something possibly even more wonderful

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The Delaware Road

This is slowly creeping up on us, a new release and launch party from Buried Treasure whose recent compilation of John Baker cuts, The Vendetta Tapes, I loved.

“London. 1968. Two pioneering musicians compose electronic themes for television & radio. They discover a recording that leads to a startling revelation about their employer. Fascinated by the occult nature of the tape they conduct a studio ritual that will alter their lives forever.”

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The Delaware Road is a psychological thriller & an audio-visual treat for fans of archived electronica, far out jazz & haunted folk grooves. Conceived & written by Alan Gubby. Additional material by David Yates. Compere: Dolly Dolly

Debut performance on Sat 14th Nov 2015 @ South Street Arts Centre, Reading, Berks.
Tickets here:

Live performances by: Howlround, The Dandelion Set, Ian Helliwell, The Rowan Amber Mill, Robin Lee, Loose Capacitor, Tim Hill, The Twelve Hour Foundation & Revbjelde.

DJs: Jonny Trunk & The Séance (feat. Pete Wiggs from Saint Etienne)

Tickets: £15 advance, £13 concession; £16 on the door.
Price includes free poster & advance download code for ‘The Delaware Road’ compilation album on Buried Treasure Records. All tickets are inclusive of booking fee

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RIP Colin Faver

Techno DJ Colin Faver has died, best known for his Abstract Dance radio show and club night, Knowledge. His and Colin Dale‘s shows on a Monday and Tuesday night on KISS FM in the early 90s were essential listening. It was there that I first heard the Aphex Twin and the emerging UK electronica scene amongst all the other great Hardcore and rave tunes. A pioneer.

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RIP – The Pizz

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Sad to learn from Jim Thirlwell that artist The Pizz has passed away. He was of the Ed ‘Big Daddy’ Roth school of custom cars and monsters, very much in the vein of Robert Williams, Savage Pencil and the whole ‘Lowbrow’ movement. I’ll always remember him best for the Steroid Maximus and Garage Monsters artwork he did for Jim.

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RIP Don Joyce

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I was away most of the weekend and was saddened to hear of the death of Don Joyce of Negativland. As a foremost practitioner of the cut up and a campaigner for the right to sample he was one of the pioneers. I never met him but Negativland were and are one of the bedrocks of the cut up/collage/sampling genre from their records to their Over The Edge radio shows. Here’s ‘Yellow, Black & Rectangular’ from ‘Escape From Noise’.

Their ‘Helter Stupid / The Perfect Cut’ is one of my favourite cut up records and their backing of releases like Jon Oswald‘s Plunderphonics anthology is admirable. Walking past a shelf of ephemera we have in the house today I spied this little set of badges nestled amongst them, half hidden, probably included free with a bunch of cassettes that I ordered from their website back in the midst of time. RIP Don.

Negativland badge set

Vicki Bennett aka People Like Us knew Don well and dedicated a radio show to him just last week and you can read Negativland’s heartfelt statement after his death on the KPFA radio station blog, home of Over The Edge.

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Longplayer


I only just discovered this – there was a launch for a iOS app to go with it last night – “Longplayer is a one thousand year long musical composition. It began playing at midnight on the 31st of December 1999, and will continue to play without repetition until the last moment of 2999, at which point it will complete its cycle and begin again. Conceived and composed by Jem Finer, it was originally produced as an Artangel commission, and is now in the care of the Longplayer Trust.”

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Christian Ward ODY-C signing at Gosh! Comics

spacemanI met Christian Ward last Friday when he signed copies of the new trade paperback of his and Matt Fraction‘s ‘ODY-C’, at Gosh! Comics, an epic psychedelic space take on The Odyssey with the roles reversed. If you like your female leads strong and ruthless, your Gods devious and wrathful and your art cosmic then this is the book for you, a gritty, multi-layered take on a classic with out of this world page layouts and colour.

Ward meets Food
(Photo © Gosh! Comics 2015)
He was kind enough to do me a quick Cyclops sketch and Gosh! are selling the lovely Spaceman print above for a very reasonable £20 which looks beautiful framed in my studio.

Ward Cyclops sketchSpaceman framed

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Secret Cinema Star Wars last night

RebelX passeswebI went to the Secret Cinema presentation of The Empire Strikes Back last night and all I can say is ‘GO!’ If you’re a fan of Star Wars then there is so much for you at this event besides the showing of ‘Empire…’. I’d advise going with friends rather than alone, getting dressed up and fully into the spirit of it rather than being an observer. When you buy tickets there’s a registration process to go through, do it and take note of the items they ask you to bring, you might need them.

No photos apart from my crew’s ID cards above, as none are allowed and that would spoil it anyway. It was actually nice to go somewhere where people weren’t constantly either looking at their phones of snapping away rather than taking in the experience (even though one of the first things you want to do is take photos!). It opened officially to the public today and runs until September so there’s time but weekend tickets are selling out fast. Kids from 8 years up are allowed and I’m definitely going back with mine…

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Peter Kennard exhibition at the Imperial War Museum, London

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I visited the Peter Kennard exhibition at the Imperial War Museum in London yesterday and was knocked out by his work. I’d seen pieces before but never put them together with a name and when my wife suggested we go because it was ending soon and we still hadn’t checked out the new, refurbished IWM it was a no-brainer. The new museum layout is very good, although they’ve crammed a lot in, the different levels take you from the first World War up to the present day with some chilling artifacts (the twisted wreckage of one of the Twin Towers’ windows is included).

Kennard’s exhibition is a treasure trove of posters, books, magazines and original art – tons of it. Seeing it all together you realise what an impact he had in the media and how much of his work pre-dates so many that came after him. Most fascinating for me is the original collage work with photos manipulated by hand rather than computer for the most part. The final room has an installation of many of his pieces, layered like fly posters but interspersed with business cards from various different companies which make for a chilling juxtaposition, “We never forget who we’re working for” – Lockheed Martin. It’s only on for one more week so try and find time to go, it’s free or you can donate to the museum as you go in.

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More ‘Art Pop’ and the record store in the basement

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I made time to actually visit the Keith Haynes ‘Art Pop’ show at Gallery Different in London last week after posting photos friends had taken on the opening night. I really wanted to see the cut up Bowie and Beatles sleeves and I wasn’t disappointed, they are beautifully executed and what becomes apparent when you view them up close is that Keith has selected covers with differing print qualities so as to make the contrast between the same sections more apparent. The same covers printed 20 years apart can be quite noticeable, especially in this digital age where the original films or photos might have been lost and an inferior scan used in their place. This is especially noticeable on the ‘Hunky Dory’ image below, try and check them out before the show ends on May 30th and there’s another surprise in the basement of the gallery that I knew nothing about.

Roger Miles has installed his version of a 70’s record shop underneath the gallery entitled, ‘Resonate – Generate’, complete with vinyl, 8-Track machines, vintage posters and more. Having just read Roger Perry’s ‘The Writing On The Wall’ it was a timely coincidence that evoked memories of the same era. His jogroglog blog is full of fascinating artifacts and information on his various art projects (one was in a local dump where he could use anything that was bought in – including a speed boat on a trailer!). Anything one best viewed in the flesh.

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‘Art Pop’ show by Keith Haynes

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The ‘Art’ Pop  show by Keith Haynes just opened at Gallery Different, 14 Percy Street, W1, just off Tottenham Court Road. The North American map above, entitled ‘Hitsville USA’, in made up of vinyl records, all laser cut and named after each of the states. Likewise the ‘Going Undeground’ maps all have relevant records associated with the stops they represent, a simple idea presented immaculately. In a subtle touch Haynes has used various colours from Factory Road’s extensive 45 adapter range to compliment the 7″ centres. I predict we’ll be seeing this ripped off for years to come.

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Musical icons such as the smiley and the target are rendered in coloured badges that remind me of the work of Ian Wright or Jimmy Cauty. ‘Cover Versions’ of Bowie & Beatles sleeves are cut up and modified, looking like physical manifestations of Photoshop filters. The mutated sleeves work well (the ‘Heroes’ one above is even preferable to Jonathon Barnbrook‘s reworking of same for Bowie’s ‘The Next Day’ last year) because he’s remixing the original physical media to form a new work, in the same way Christian Marclay has in the past. Where I find it less successful is when he’s recreated existing designs in vinyl – the Sex Pistols, Velvets (not shown) and Dylan covers for example. They’re beautifully done but they’re Reid, Warhol and Glaser designs, not Haynes’ and it irks me when I see artists reappropriating the iconic work of others. I feel the same way about the portraits of singers like Amy Winehouse, Blondie, Bolan and more in used copies of their old vinyl records.

It renders him as more craftsman than artist, reproducing and recontextualising the work of others, relying on the audience’s familiarity and love of the original subject matter to sell ‘his’ work. The same could be said for the smiley and underground map of course but these are now accepted cultural icons, as part of the public visual consciousness as Coca Cola or Apple. I love the look of his show but I’m conflicted because of some of its artistic origins. It’s on until May 30th, so still a month to check it out and make your own mind up. Photos courtesy of Leigh Adams

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