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.