Diagonal blog spheres ~Belgian cracks~

Ahoy,

My Belgian-Dutch homestead of the 100% volunteer-run Gonzo magazine has also been blogging since a few months. About concerts/festivals, to keep the live thoughts flowing.



I did a writeup in 5(!) parts about the experimental K-RAA-K festival in Brussels a few weeks back. Yup, in Dutch though. To go along with my festival review, I even recorded a few excerpts of live sets that moreless contain a complete pattern, composition or song. Gonzo didn't want to put these recordings on the blog, not because they are sour folks or that K-RAA-K would object to it, but only because of Belgian copyright organisation SABAM. Apparently even blogs affiliated to media websites are not safe anymore for streaming/handing out music, whether it be unreleased, undefined or fixed recordings. Quite bizarre. How live excerpts can be used as a financial lever (or rather drain) by an organisation who have no intention to distribute the funds to said artists! Only 1 of the artists at the festival was Belgian and perhaps could be a memeber of SABAM, yet all the other +10 (international) artists surely aren't! How would these funds that would have to be paid by the magazine ever find their way to those artists? The mind boggles and I smell a scam. Bah.

Anyhow, for those who can read Dutch, take a peek at the review at the Gonzo blog.
Or else, read the blog road trip review which Kek, one half of noise duo Ice Cream Spiral, wrote at 9th of march.
To accompany both his and my writings in soundbites, here's the downloadable zip with live excerpts. -recorded on simple minidisc (since my recorder has been stolen about 2 months ago), so don't expect A+ quality....-

Up in old flames

Bzzzzzzz, the buzzer goes.

Last night I had about 3 hrs sleep which, considering the other nights of 5 hrs sleep each, totals up to a lacking habit. With internal glands injecting new adrenaline, you can't just feel anything other but your own monkeyshouldering junkie. It's a lovely high though, pity that most people are afraid of reaching this inspiring edge. It always propels me into an active, creative mode and things do get done. Better than in situations with plenty of free time. I really should feel myself submerged into articles that need be finished by tomorrow evening, but the fear of stress is somewhere behind me, sunken of anguish.

Instead the sun is out in bright white and spring has -momentarily- arrived in Utrecht. I just cycled back from work, the busy beehive of wooddust, screeching sawing sounds and old timey blues, where I did some spider webbing. Passing through the city centre I came accross an old girlfriend from my home town, 15 miles south of here. Actually my first girlfriend from when I was about 10 years old, when we still had to steal kisses and hide notes. Not that such things in the current age should change if you don't want to.... I reconized her, unchanged as she was and she might have thought the same beyond the beard and curly waves. There was no incentive to stop and pick up a communication gone dim about 16 years ago, more than half our lives. Would it matter? With instincts on cue, I have to say there would be nothing to revive except the reference to a distant past, a past that most people rather want to forget than to be reminded of. I do remember that the breakup had a ventriloquistic nature, however vague that might seem as a piece of puzzle magic. She always aspired to be a writer since I knew her from kindergarten and I expected her to become one, yet google doesn't turn anything up in the form of publications, poems or blogs. Also aspirations seem to cower a reference to a distant and perhaps forgotten past.

Below some sounds n blurbs, try to locate the common denominator if there is any.

Two songs by my current Belgian subject for said articles. He is sincere and severely soft spoken.
Thus it's low and drowned with feedback. Both taken of his latest 'III' album @ K-RAA-K3
Ignatz - Two Nights & a Day
Ignatz - Dead By Noon

...and during the reign of the monkey on the shoulder, with the last good bulk of Pepper spray left behind. Would you rather stay with the monkey or take another full shot of pepper spray? Niandra LaDes and Usually Just a Tshirt will tell you.
John Frusciante - Curtains
....sincerely speaking and on artistic terms? tough one, really.
John Frusciante - Running Away Into You
especially when dubbed down, see, no songwriters followed that hunch....
John Frusciante - Untitled #3
and after many clicks he becomes embazzled into a digital loop.
the law of repetition, repetition, repetition, repet.......
John Frusciante - Untold titled (SebCatLitter looped cutup)
but in the end, pop solved it all....

the eyeballs just stiffled from dryness and brought some much needed fluids in.
That's the turkey kicking in and me signing off until the next post.

El Abranis....or les Abranis for stubborn Francophones

I recently found some mp3's of an obscure band from the late 60's. I somehow thought they were Iranian, naively mistaking an LP titled *Waking up Scheherazade* as a hint. They're Algerian/Amazigh in fact, -doesn't all ear-tickling Maghreb music lately seem to come from those regions?- Karim Abranis is the founding member and vocalist, so hence the band name. Turn your surname into the band, easy does it.

The edgy thing about Abranis music is that he tends to play western music, though in some way it doesn't sound western -ofcourse the vocals are done in Tamazight, a southern desert Berber language. It's more like a smooth fingered take through Northern African guitar/lute riff techniques and hidden background cultures.

Here some early 70's style pyschedelic rock from the *Waking up Scheherazade* LP, which is somehow described as an Arabian Psyche Nuggets compilation, resisting to push the Tamazight culture. Dig that lushly coloured artwork though!



El Abranis - Athedjaladde

El Abranis - Ayetheri a l'afjare











Both are songs that could have easily been put on Sublime Frequencies' recent & excellent Algerian Proto-Rai Underground LP. Perhaps an idea for a dusted Amazigh release?

Here's some more info on the band, on what seem to be a fine French sound blog. Plus a lofi blues song done Algerian style. Those funky background guitar beeps hit the spot.
http://radiodiffusion.wordpress.com/2008/06/20/les-abranis/

Fired Up

The Gang Gang Dance show on Friday apparently was a real blast out, so I've heard -I didn't go-. So much that their instruments catched fire in the attic storage room @ Paradiso, A'dam. Seriously bad luck there, hopefully the insurance can sort out the done damages. But how does one go about replacing vintage synths? ouch. The band wrote a statement on their MS blog, some snippets;

"we had a blast, but unfortunately our morning was a bit tragic. We stored our gear in the club last night and when we arrived there today to pick it up and head off to Brussels for tonights show, we were informed that an electrical fire had occurred in the very room where our stuff was stashed. We didnt really know the scope of how bad the fire was until we arrived on the scene to find every piece of equipment we own scattered out in the parking lot...melted, charred, and still smoldering. Most of our gear is way beyond repair and the small amount of stuff that looks as if it wasnt physically destroyed by the fire itself has all been doused by the firehoses. So we have been left with synths that are melted, a charred guitar, cases full of wet pedals and cables, drums that are nothing but the metal rims, amps that look as if they've been doused in tar...the list goes on.".....

"On top of that we are stuck here in Amsterdam until we are able to meet with the insurance company that is dealing with the fire, if we were to leave then we would risk losing out on the compensation that will be necessary for us to build our equipment back up."

Here a track from their nice 2008 rekkid 'Saint Dymphna'
Gang Gang Dance - Bebey

And one from the 2007 'Rawwar' EP
Gang Gang Dance - The Earthquake That Frees Prisoners

It seems more and more like they're stepping up to fill the void between the now defunct outfit Out Hud and some dubby-delica/step spheres. So there.

BZzzZzzzzzzzzzzzt.

Awakening on friday the 13th

*****yawn******

awakening from blog neglected sleep.
*sniffing at new paint*

this for now:
Okkervil River - Listening to Otis Redding at Home during Christmas
Thanks to Nilo for his swell selected mix tape

Vosbikian Band - Yar Muneyi
Thanks to El Rikko for his excellently diasporic 'soft guide to Armenia' compilation.

An animist & animalist ode to friday the 13th, as well on Nesske's
365nights blog. Meet my adopted stray beach daughter of Portugese descent. The Africans downstairs are seriously wary of her. Just like most Africans tend to be scared of cats, I've noticed. She approaches them anyhow, rubbing her whiskers and fur against their legs while they try to hurry past her. Fledermaus love.