Just some brief news spurts for now. Not presently enough spare moments to prod at these Random Notes, really, but some things are afoot and warrant mentioning, despite of my yearning to hold back until there’s time enough to go into some other matters that may or may not concern Lumberton Trading Company.

Firstly, both the Andrew Liles LP and Sion Orgon CD are about to go into production. These will then be followed by the equally long overdue limited edition print and one-sided 7″ by Volcano The Bear’s Nick Mott before the compilation LP, a Steven Severin reissue LP and Human Greed album rear their rather fine heads into view before, it is highly anticipated, the summer. Somewhere along the way, the Faust album might also still appear on the originally mooted limited edition vinyl format, but this idea is no longer directly in our hands, unfortunately.

Whilst all of this is going on, the Adverse Effect/Fourth Dimension website is very shortly going to be given an overhaul that will see it look more contemporary and easier for me to add new material to. And, indeed, there’s plenty of new material gently rustling in the wings.

Fourth Dimension itself will also be occupied during the next two months or so. Firstly, a compilation CD which should have surfaced last year (featuring 15 minutes of music each by Dickson Dee, Band Of Pain, Merzbow, Zenial and Freiband) is scheduled to finally cough its way out and, secondly, a new Circle 2LP is very much on the agenda.

Besides Fourth Dimension’s own releases, the soon-to-be-revamped website will once again work on its mail order section. There are already a number of new titles waiting to be noted here, and more coming in soon.

2007 was, ultimately, a rather slow year. However, it was punctuated by several highlights for me, personally. Besides the (perhaps convoluted) label activities themselves, I was invited by Krakow’s annual Unsound Festival to do a label presentation back in November, which itself was made even more pleasant by my having a chance to meet Lawrence English, plus both Steven Severin and Michael Begg of Human Greed visited last month to purely meet and, well, suck some of the air in here. Back in March, of course, the Whitehouse dates also furnished me with something to feel proud of, even if they were discoloured somewhat by (mostly minor) problems. Also met Dickson Dee, too, after his performance here, which was likewise enjoyable.

This year should promise more, and already there are ideas for a small festival being discussed that will centre around our friends at AudioTong but, of course, forever remain tainted by LTCo’s presence. Outside this, there’s tentative talk still going on to try and bring Steven Severin, Human Greed and Consumer Electronics over.

Let’s hope everything unfolds as planned. For a change.

Richo x

Didn’t realise it had been quite so long since I was last here. Time brushes past so quickly these days. And, as noted in the previous entry, I seem to be snagged on so many things now it can be rather difficult to keep up sometimes. Besides the already noted MySpace profiles for myself, Theme and Splintered, I also recently succumbed to a Facebook profile and, indeed, am presently contemplating getting a LTCo profile onto MySpace as well that would then also double-up as a place to access news concerning Fourth Dimension and Adverse Effect. Only an idea at this stage. Somewhere between the notion of accessing all areas and creating yet another rod for my own already twisted back pokes an answer I’ll contemplate over a little more. Meantime, however, let’s bring you up to date with what’s going on here at Lumberton and with my other concerns. All may appear fairly quiet on the surface but, deep down in the bowels of these operations, rivers of sweat, blood and tears are flowing as strongly as ever. To begin with, the Faust release is finally in production and should be available during early October. It will only appear as a 2CD for the moment, though. The limited edition 2LP version will follow somewhere between late November and January and has simply been delayed because of the release’s coinciding with Faust’s new studio album. Once the 2CD is out, the Sion Orgon and Andrew Liles albums will soon go into production, whilst the now long held up limited edition Nick Mott print has both been changed and become a combined one-sided solo 7″ and print that’ll be screen-printed and, I hope, finally made available shortly following or around the same time as the Sion Orgon and Liles releases. As usual, just keep visiting the website for updates on these releases either in the Releases or News sections… Work on the (as yet untitled) compilation album has also finally commenced. This will, once again, be a limited edition vinyl-only release and feature new work by Sleazy, Steven Severin, Andrew Liles, Sofia DeVille, Human Greed, Theme, Sion Orgon, Miss del Real, Volga, Thighpaulsandra, Nick Mott and possibly one or two other artists. Depending on whether some of the contributors can deliver more than one track, the album may also be a double. Furthermore, there should be a couple of surprises there in the form of collaborations between a few of the artists involved… The compilation album may well also be preceded by a very limited split-10″ comprising the tracks by Steven Severin and Sleazy. Following the compilation release, LTCo will launch a reissue campaign of Steven Severin’s solo albums on limited edition vinyl, plus work towards a Human Greed release of one kind or another. Ideas are being bounced around as I write. Other news amounts to the fact Volga’s title track from their ‘Pomol’ album should appear soon in a BBC documentary, ‘Russia Revealed’. At present, I know nothing else about this, but I am pleased that somebody, somewhere, has been paying attention to perhaps Moscow’s finest group. The Fourth Dimension label also continues to pump blood via the latest release by Circle: a CD reissue of last year’s ‘Arkades’ LP featuring an extra disc of equally wonderful and often quite insane live work. The ‘Five Times Fifteen’ comp. CD (featuring Merzbow, Zenial, Band Of Pain, Li Chin Sung and Freiband) is likewise being primed for release, whilst a limited edition Theme 10″ will then follow as a joint-venture between Fourth Dimension and Betaphonic. On the subject of Theme, the next album should be ready in Spring 2008. It will also feature an exclusive Steven Severin remix… Splintered’s proposed burst of activity has been held up due to a couple of reasons, but will begin to make some progress soon enough… And, finally, the Adverse Effect website will be updated with heaps of new material around late October. Autumn always smells so good… Richo x

Never seem to have time enough to add much here these days. Not helped by the fact I now maintain three MySpace profiles (my own and one each for Theme and Splintered) and am often caught spluttering out my spleen in the form of anything that may happen to be on my mind at any given moment, either. And, of course, have the Adverse Effect website (housing Fourth Dimension Records) to also think about (of which, more reviews and the
latest FD news will appear there sometime during the next week or so).

It’s likewise been absolutely manic here since the previous Random Notes entry. To begin with, I co-organised two Whitehouse shows in Poland back in March with the AudioTong team and then had a hand in bringing Colin Potter of Nurse With Wound to Poland last month (a matter itself made more complicated by Theme supporting him in Krakow - see the few photos in Theme’s Artists section for evidence or, indeed, go to Theme’s MySpace
profile or the AudioTong link here, if interested). Additionally, I’ve been as much embroiled in Fourth Dimension activity as I have with LTCo. On the former, the debut CD by The Fields Of Hay, ‘Songs for Nine Ladies’, has just been released and a 2CD reissue of Circle’s ‘Arkades’ (plus extra live disc) is presently at the manufacturer’s, whilst recent LTCo releases amount to Volga’s ‘Pomol’ CD and Formication’s ‘Icons for a New Religion’ CD.
Details concerning these last two releases can, of course, be found in LTCo’s Releases section.

Simultaneously, the Faust ‘Live in Krakow’ 2LP/2CD joint-release with AudioTong is now being primed, alongside (finally) the Nick Mott print, Sion Orgon’s CD and Andrew Liles’ LP. And then there’s the V/A ‘Five Times Fifteen’ comp. CD/booklet (featuring artwork by Theme’s Jeanne Boyer) also being prepared for Fourth Dimension, a comp. LP also being slowly prepared for LTCo (featuring Steven Severin, Human Greed, Theme, Andrew Liles,
Sleazy, Volga, Miss del Real, Sion Orgon and others, plus sleeve art by Maria Husarska), a limited edition Theme 10″ for Fourth Dimension/Betaphonic, more work towards the next Theme album (also to include a Steven Severin remix), new Splintered recordings to think
about (we’re working on a 3CD set with guests such as Robert Hampson, Amaury Cambuzat of Faust/Ulan Bator, Andrew Liles and Sion Orgon), and work towards getting Andrew Liles to Poland again in October for two or three dates.

Somewhere along the way, I’m supposed to get together a new edition of Adverse Effect for the website, too, featuring interviews with David Tibet and Steven Severin…

Coupled to the fact I also have to keep the many wolves at bay by working ‘properly’ (as a TEFL teacher), it’s little wonder I both feel like I’m forever on the verge of collapse and can barely keep up with everything as well as I’d like to. I need an assistant who’d be prepared to do all of this for little more than, at this stage, the simple rewards afforded by being
involved, to be honest. Of course, Hassni’s still there in LTCo’s wings, doing whatever he can to help whenever the need arises, but he also has countless other commitments to drown himself in. Never mind.

Always find time to keep up with some music and books, though, despite everything. And, of course, going out far more often than I should to alleviate the pressure via a few Polish beers and games of chess. There’s only so much being glued to a computer screen or going to the Post Office each week with countless parcels, etc. one can take.

If you’re at all interested in reading further details about my sorry existence, anyway (and there’s no reason why you should be), simply visit the already noted MySpace profile at: myspace.com/richo_j

Thanks.

Richo x

Not been here for a while, so this update is long overdue. Ultimately, as largely expected, matters in my personal life strayed towards the usual rounds of turbulence after the last entry, but LTCo’s engines are still ticking over regardless. Nothing ever really stops in this respect, despite appearances to the contrary. I’m well aware of the fact the entire website
needs updating, but this will hopefully happen during the next week or two.

Volga’s ‘Pomol’ CD is actually ready, but not officially released till the end of April. Copies can be purchased directly from us meantime, but stock handled by our distributor won’t be available in the shops until Monday 30th, due to the present promotional campaign we’ve undertaken. The very same month will also see the Faust ‘Live in Krakow’ 2LP/2CD go into
production, so expect some news on this very shortly. Likewise, the Nick Mott print will finally appear during April. Once, however, the Faust album is out, the plan is to then focus on the releases by Sion Orgon, Formication and Andrew Liles and attempt to get them all out before the summer. Ultimately, everything rests on the cash flow, really. I’ll spare you
from the full mundane mechanics behind getting a release out, but can at least illustrate the fact each one takes a while to recover its costs once in the distributor’s hands, no matter how hard they actually push it. The whole process is a slow one and, well, LTCo simply doesn’t have the funds to function beyond its control. All the same, we’re getting there. Slowly…

Once these releases are out, the next (perhaps tentative) plan is to put together a limited edition compilation LP featuring exclusive material by artists who will have so far appeared on the label and a selection of other tracks by affiliates such as Sleazy, Steven Severin and Human Greed. It’s an idea which won’t even be prodded at until at least the summer months, though, so watch this space.

Otherwise, my Adverse Effect website is now in operation (follow the link from the appropriate section here if interested) and, indeed, further updates concerning Theme and other activities of mine can be found via my MySpace profile at: www.myspace.com/richo_j

At both the AE website and the MySpace profile, you’ll also find the latest news on Fourth Dimension, too. The label is once again going to soon spring back into action via a 2CD reissue of Circle’s ‘Arkades’ album (including an extra live disc), the debut CD by Stuart Carter’s The Fields Of Hay and the long delayed ‘Five Times Fifteen’ compilation CD (featuring Merzbow, Zenial, Li Chin Sung, Band Of Pain and Freiband).

Okay. Time to return to my dusting off of some music by Pierre Boulez, Pascal Comelade and Swans. The party here just never ends…

(RJ)

Another fucking year, bringing with it, I daresay, more hurdles, drama, disappointments, stupidity and strife. And that’s just the more positive stuff. Seriously, though, all looks set to continue more or less the same way as the last one, really, and by this I’m referring as much to matters revolving around Lumberton Trading Company and my other endeavours as those perhaps concerning my (not so) private life.

As I write, the Michael Gira LP is out and doing its thing and the Volga CD is, following another last minute set of hitches, also in production and will hopefully be ready, at least, for Volga’s tour of Germany which commences sometime next month.

Meantime, the limited edition Nick Mott print is also very near to being made available as well. Ultimately, what with my TEFL teaching commitments taking a hold of me once more, I’m being torn in a few too many directions to actually find the spare couple of hours I need to attend to this, but it’s at least finally nestled near the top of a vast and sprawling backlog, anyway. Mostly, the past two or three weeks has seen me strapped to getting a new Adverse Effect/Fourth Dimension website going and, indeed, although the online version of the AE magazine itself is still far from complete, it was deemed good enough to go live only yesterday. Of course, the existing link to it here at LTCo has also been updated, but here’s where you’ll find if so inclined: www.adverse-effect.co.uk

Not a great deal else to add actually. The Steven Severin tour I was helping out with via co-organising three dates in Poland during May has just been cancelled; the Sion Orgon and Andrew Liles releases for LTCo are primed and almost ready to go soon after the Volga CD is released; Theme are still trundling along slowly with recordings for our next album; other projects and ideas remain hanging over every waking minute…and so on.

Despite increasing piles of review material stacked up all over my place, I’m mostly fishing out anything from Gorecki to Alva Noto to The Misunderstood to Andrew Weatherall to Thelonious Monk and Sun Ra from the collection at the moment. All the same, Formication’s latest release is getting aired frequently, too, plus Polish avant-jazz group Pulsarus’ ‘Squared Rotoscope’ CD and a heap of other jazz and electro works recorded for me or loaned by Maria Husarska. Hopefully, now that Adverse Effect is online, however, I’ll
finally start working my way through these other mountains of music during the next week or two.

It’s been said before by many, but if only there were more than 24 hours a day…

More soon, I’m sure…

(RJ)

About time I threw something else on here, so here goes the latest…

The Michael Gira ‘Songs for a Dog’ LP is now out and, apparently, looks fantastic. I’m presently still waiting for my bundle of copies to arrive from Hassni, so I can’t comment at this stage, but I’ve no reason to doubt either our distributor or Hassni himself on the matter. This release, of course, will keep LTCo occupied during the next few weeks, anyway. Then, the wheels will start turning on the Volga CD and the Faust 2LP/2CD that’ll
be joint-released with AudioTong. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, but I think next year is going to prove itself an extremely busy one…

Not only for LTCo, either. Firstly, my other (much older and somewhat more erratic) imprint, Fourth Dimension, has a couple of new releases due during the first two or three months of 2007. Namely, the first volume of my ‘Five Times Fifteen’ compilation CD series, featuring Band Of Pain, Li Chin Sung, Freiband, Zenial and Merzbow, and, secondly, the debut CD by Stuart Carter of Theme’s Fields Of Hay outlet, which also features contributions by Sonic Boom, Lukasz/Zenial and myself. In the meantime, the Andrew Liles
limited edition (only 25 of each) t-shirt and signed prints are also finally ready and can be purchased directly from me (via LTCo’s email address) for, respectively, a paltry £15.00 or £4.00 plus p&p. The t-shirts feature the very same ‘The Brevity of Enamel’ artwork featured on the print, in black on white (and in limited numbers of sizes S, M, L or XL), whilst the
prints are likewise black on white, A4 size, and are hand-numbered, labelled and comprise a signature and an exclusive passage of Liles’ text individualising each. Usually, of course, this would be noted more fully on the Adverse Effect website but, unfortunately, this has been sitting in limbo during the past few months and will very shortly be replaced by a new one that will both continue from where this left (and comprise Fourth Dimension) and
commence Adverse Effect online; bringing with it the new e-’zine version of my magazine devoted to exploring the many contours created by today’s more interesting musicians, non-musicians, artists, writers and suchlike as well providing a forum for discourse, debate and anything else I deem worth including. The contents of the unfortunately now abandoned (due to having zero finances) final paper version of the magazine will appear here, anyway. More news soon.

Besides all of this, I’m once again in the throes of helping to organise more concerts here in sunny (and, seriously, it IS very bright here at the moment!) Polska with the AudioTong chumps, Marcin and Lukasz. Whitehouse should, all going well, be visiting in March and Steve Severin will play three dates in May (the first of which, hopefully in Krakow’s magnificent Teatr Groteska on May 17, will be supported by the group I’m involved with,
Theme). Meantime, indeed, AudioTong are responsible for hosting many other concerts as well, and (as ever) I recommend you check what’s going on precisely via their own website. These people are doing good things.

Music furnishing my humble abode at the moment amounts to Human Greed, 48 Cameras, Lisa Germano, Steve Severin, Coil, The Velvet Underground & Nico, Contrastate, The Cure’s ‘The Top’ reissue, Amir Baghiri, William Basinski, Arvo Part and tons of other stuff awaiting attention at Adverse Effect. The stereo barely rests when I’m not here.

If there’s not another Random Notes entry before the end of the year, thanks to everybody who has supported all of our endeavours here during the past twelve months. Both Hassni, myself and, I’m sure, absolutely everybody else either involved with LTCo or any of our many other concerns, sincerely wish you nothing but the best for 2007.

xXx

(RJ)

Well, the Faust concert here in Krakow on November the 15th was nothing short of wonderful. Although it was disappointing (and slightly financially stinging for me) that less people saw it than anticipated, the actual night itself was perfect. The audience was enthusiastic, and Faust put on what was probably the best show I’ve personally seen by them. Actually, let’s scratch the ‘probably’ and declare quite boldly that it WAS the best time. Although I was directly involved with the organisation of the concert (alongside
Audiotong’s Marcin), and had been afforded a chance to meet up and hang around with Jean-Herve and Amaury during the few days before the concert, my objectivity remains intact. Faust simply seemed to really enjoy themselves and put a lot into the performance, and the audience’s highly mobile reaction only appeared to enhance this. It’s not often that I’ll claim a concert (and, let’s face it, Faust NEVER really put on a mere ‘concert’) was an actual OCCASION, but in this instance it’s completely justified. I just now hope that the (professional) recording we did of it is as flawless as Marcin has said he’s been told…

Of which, I’m in the throes of discussing the release being a 2LP and 2CD, in order to catch the entire performance, or at least most of it. Jean-Herve so far seems to be firmly in agreement as well, which is good news, but we’ll return to this after Faust’s concert in London on Friday, December 1st. All going well, the live album will appear in February 2007, anyway.

What else? I saw Volga play here in Krakow, at the Unsound Festival, on Friday night. An incredibly engaging mix of pounding rhythms, traditional elements, occasional live flute and guitar, spiralling shards of space-crackle, restrained squalls of white noise, jagged structures and powerful vocals that surpassed my already lofty expectations. This band
deserve to be HUGE.

Also met Volga’s Alexei again yesterday a couple of times, amongst the final day of Unsound’s shenanigans, and not only got invited to supply guest vocals (read: spoken word) on an album he’s presently working on by another Russian group but also got asked whether I’d be interested in curating an event of some description over there next year, if the Institute of Culture can formally invite me to. Needless to say, it would be an honour to
participate in both. Alexei proved himself to be an extremely charming chap, too, and I’m presently looking forward to devouring the handful of CDs he plied me with during the course of the next couple of days.

Only other news is that the Gira LP should be ready in a week or so and that Volga’s CD is going into production this week (although won’t be released till late January).

Apart from the fact that the girl I fell for now resides in Dublin, all presently seems good.

Current reading amounts to Kurt Vonnegut’s classic, ‘Slaughterhouse-Five’, which (perhaps surprisingly) I’ve never read before, and moremoremore Saul Bellow and Kosinski. Music, on the other hand, amounts to everything from Lisa Germano, Stuart A. Staples and The Cure to Contrastate, Andrew Liles, NWW, Coil, Faust and some Harmonia, whilst recent viewing has been wrapped around the perfect blend of nihilism, soul-searching strife and comedy that is the ‘Peep Show, Series Three’ DVD.

Deeper and downwards…

(RJ)

Well, the Crooked Stylus radio show that Hassni and I appeared on as guests a couple of weeks ago can now be heard online at www.totallyradio.com (go to Crooked Stylus from the menu). We were both nervous, but I think it’s far more noticeable in my bumbling between songs, to be honest. Although I’m happy to talk about the music I like to anybody, generally, I always feel somewhat compromised when in a comparatively unnatural ‘interview’ situation. And, well, given the fact this was the very first time I’d participated on a radio show in this context (my previous group, Splintered, did three radio sessions; two of which were for the late John Peel), I was perhaps understandably feeling slightly more awkward and disconcerted than usual. Having said this, however, Darius was a fantastic host and made both Hassni and I feel especially welcome. And, to that end, it would be a
genuine pleasure if he invited us back sometime in the future. Anyway, if interested in hearing us previewing the Michael Gira and Volga releases alongside a selection of songs/pieces by Coil, Echo & the Bunnymen, Nalle, Arvo Part, P.I.L., C93, Joe Meek, Jack Rose, The Hamilton Yarns, Cromagnon, Plastikman and others, then you know what to do…

Onto some other news now, the Michael Gira test-pressings are expected to arrive anytime now, so as soon as they’ve been approved, we can give the green light to the production. I think we’re still on target for the LP being out this month, if there are no problems at this stage. Equally, the Nick Mott print should be ready soon enough, too.

On the other hand, the Volga CD will not now appear till January 2007, due to the fact that, although it’s just about to go into production as well, we need to spend at least five or six weeks on promoting it as best as possible. A task that will, of course, already be disrupted somewhat by the looming Yuletide and related festivities.

Around the same time as the Volga CD, LTCo will be also be concentrating on a joint-release with Poland’s Audiotong of a live Faust LP/CD which will both mark their Polish debut here in Krakow on Wednesday 15th November and represent Audiotong’s debut non-download-only release. More news will follow soon about this, of course.

Once both these last two releases are at the production stage, or even out, LTCo will press on with the Sion Orgon CD, Andrew Liles release (the format of which we’re still undecided upon) and Formication CD. Next year certainly looks busy…

Things are busy here otherwise with the pre-Faust preparations (Audiotong’s Marcin being the brains of the operation, but I’ve been roped in after being keel-hauled a few times as some kind of spiritual guide, or something…). Am slightly apprehensive, but it’s probably unwarranted. Fingers crossed we get the anticipated audience on the night.

On a massive Coil trip at the moment. Bought both the ‘Black Antlers’ and ‘The Remote Viewer’ 2CD reissues and can’t stop playing them. Alongside Max Richter’s ‘Songs from Before’ CD (FatCat), Flim’s wonderfully reflective ‘Ohne Titel 1916′ CD (Korm Plastics) and Jack Rose’s ‘Two Originals of…’ CD (VHF), my stereo’s being given its usual run to the max every day that I’m actually at home and not teaching in a town some 100km away called
Polaniec.

Also finally catching up with my backlog of DVDs. Just watched Richard Linklater’s ‘Waking Life’ and Darren Aronofsky’s ‘Pi’. I saw the latter when it first came out, and it certainly revisited my praise this time round, too. ‘Waking Life’ is also very good, tho’ I can understand it not being appreciated by many people due to Linklater’s usual complex
philosophical tricks and layers of introspection and over-analysis. All the same, it worked for me.

Am also working my way through more Saul Bellow and Kosinski books.

No wonder I feel like having a couple of beers most days.

RJ

Just a quick update on the Crooked Stylus radio show. Hassni and I will be recording it on Friday Oct 27 with its presenter, Darius Akashic. Not sure when it’ll be broadcast, though, but there should be a link to it elsewhere on our website now, should you be interested.

No time to report anything else, really. I fly to England tomorrow morning and have umpteen tasks to attend to today. The Gira LP is at the pressing plant, however, and the Volga CD will follow in about another week’s time. I’m hoping the latter will be ready for their two concerts here in Poland nearer the end of November.

Over and out. For now.

(RJ)

Just spent a few days with fellow Theme-mate, Stuart, and a couple of other pals from Leicester, Dougie and ‘Egg’, paying a visit to my humble shack here in Krakow. Stuart and I managed to at least get some more recording done and deal with a couple of other matters, though. Hopefully, Theme will play in Krakow again in December to both test some songs from the next album and see how they sit with a few from the last two CDs. Meantime, however, I’m hoping to at least try to get a preview of one of the new songs on to a new Myspace page we’ve now, finally, set up. Of course, the horrors of signing up to Myspace have long been established and, indeed, are many, but I feel we’re compromised by the world we live in. Besides, there are plenty of advantages as well. Anyway, for those interested, it can be found at:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=113864554

And, massaging my self-indulgent tendencies even further, my own Myspace can also be found here:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=36702410

Onto more comparatively more important matters now, I’m pleased to report that the Michael Gira ‘Songs for a Dog’ LP is a few days away from going into production, whilst the Volga CD is presently being primed to follow a week or two later. After a rather quiet few months, Lumberton is once more ready to lumber on, and the website should pay witness to a number of updates during the oncoming weeks, so please keep checking on it…

Amongst the big news at LTCo recently, however, is Hassni’s decision to leave the label. It’s very sad, but he now wishes to simply remain as a founding figure and somebody who’ll now only work for the label from the wings (in the same manner as he helps me a lot with Fourth Dimension). His talent and enthusiasm for packing and mailing out releases is unlike anybody else’s, so (outside maintaining the LTCo website and attending to other
duties once in a while) his role here will remain invaluable.

It’s hoped that he’ll be bowing out of the label by accompanying me for a special radio programme by Darius at the Brighton-based Crooked Stylus show sometime soon. This radio programme will comprise of an interview with myself/us, some music from the label(s), and a selection of songs that I/we can take along by some favourite artists. Should be interesting, I hope. If all goes according to plan, we’ll be recording the show during my next trip to England nearer the end of the month. I’ll ensure that it will be noted here once confirmed, anyway.

As ever, it’s all go, really.

Unfortunately, however, the Whitehouse shows I was co-organising with Audiotong over here in Poland for later this month have been postponed until, I imagine, next Spring. Nothing we could do about it, unfortunately.

Still, Colin Potter has confirmed he’s still likewise interested in playing here, plus I received an email from a friend earlier stating that it seems as though Volga will have three shows in Poland next month, too. I look forward to finally getting an opportunity to meet them.

The soundtrack here at the moment mostly amounts to Stuart A. Staples’ ‘Leaving Songs’ album. Given the fact that the closest girl to me for the past few years, Ania, is moving to Ireland at the end of the month for a new job, the sentiments resonate pretty deeply. On the other hand, Max Richter’s ‘Songs from Before’ CD (FatCat), Lisa Germano’s ‘In the Maybe World’ CD (Young God Records), C93’s ‘Sleep Has His House’ CD (Durtro) and an eBay win of the ‘God Bless…’ Tiny Tim LP are equally commanding much in the way of heavy rotation here.

Life goes on…

(RJ)

Listless. That’s how I feel right now. In limbo. Vague. Between spaces. Anchored to emotional turmoil and far too many late, late nights where the beer, wine or grass has been plentiful and all plans, hopes and dreams lost accordingly.

At least somebody’s reading this, anyway. I know, because she told me only two nights ago. And her husband as well.

Which is good.

This was following an incredible performance at Krakow’s Solvay Art Centre by Sheffield’s Martin Archer, actually. He was over here for a weekend break with his wife, Julie, but collaborated with the Audiotong team to play a set mostly built around pieces from his latest CD release, ‘Heritage and Ringtones’ (Discus), which itself absorbs everything from jazz, folk and deconstructed rock to electronica and noise in a manner pretty much exclusive to Archer himself. What was particularly striking about the actual concert, however, was both how visual Martin is and how much humour played a part. And the latter wasn’t either overstated or the kind that could so easily spiral towards dubious and contemptible forms of ‘wackiness’. Rather, it hemmed in the music perfectly, and salubriously displayed that artists of Martin’s standing don’t all have to be po-faced, no matter how serious they are about their music and its concerns. Ultimately, there was a real
sense of occasion to the concert. The general sense of a (highly talented) musician giving it his all, both sonically and as a performer clearly intent on keeping his audience enthralled, was undeniable. Invigorating, mesmerising and refreshing. He deserves wider recognition.

After this, last night, there was also another fantastic concert at a rather enticing watering hole in the Kazimierz (the Jewish Quarter) called Alchemia by an improv trio comprising Kazuhisa Uchihashi, Franz Hautzinger and Jacek Kochan. Between them, they knocked out two absorbing sets which worked around a quarter tone trumpet, drums, electronics, guitar and so many styles it was impossible to keep up. Severely coloured by jazz and prog rock,
just about everything else was fluidly embraced and reshaped along the way. Indeed, Japanese guitarist Kazuhisa Uchihashi (known for a prolific and large body of work including Ruins, Ground Zero, Altered States besides many other collaborative or solo releases) ALONE somehow managed to turn Chuck Berry upside-down, whacked in some chugga-blues, went buzzsaw to plaintive without once sounding forced, and reminded me of The Pop Group or No Wave somewhere in the whole process. Then, on top of that, the entire unit themselves swam through small pools of brooding malcontentment before
working up some real lava-streams of near-deranged excitement. The inverted funk of the penultimate piece was treasure enough to make me realise life’s worth holding onto in itself. Fucking wonderful.

It all goes to show, once more, that there’s much to keep me bound to Krakow. The nearest I got to anything like this in Herne Bay was dire local pub groups churning out the kinda slop only the braindead could cherish. As I’m sure you can imagine.

Otherwise, onto usual matters I’ve not yet found the time or inclination to deal with via the more appropriate sections on the website, Michael Gira’s LP, ‘Songs for a Dog’, should be with us and ready to go into production during the next two or three weeks. I imagine, and hope, it’ll be out sometime later next month. The one song Gira has so far sent me, ‘Promise of Water’, is staggering, too. And I write this as though I expected anything less…

Updates concerning the other imminent releases will appear on the website shortly as well, of course.

Anyway, time to retreat. The postman’s just delivered my ordered copy of ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm series 5′ and a Linda Perhacs CD, amongst some other items. With distractions such as these, is it a wonder that matters sometimes slow down around here…?

(RJ)

Does anybody actually read these Notes, I wonder? Not that I care. At this point in my life, I’ve long adjusted to the fact that most of my splutterings simply spiral uncontrollably into the void. Whatever, I’m at something of a loose end right now, with Solar X’s ‘Timeless’ LP (Alternative Tentacles) blasting out in the background to help fill another afternoon of general listlessness and idle reflections before I have to go to a meeting about the schedule for English lessons over the next five days. I dunno if it’s just me, but I always find it difficult to get my tombstone teeth stuck into anything when such engagements lay ahead to punctuate, or even puncture, the day…

Which is why I’m here again. Already. So soon after the last entry.

Hard news is that over the past week or so, I’ve been preparing an agreement for the limited edition Michael Gira LP we’ll be releasing soon, and emailed it to the man himself earlier this morning. Fingers crossed all now falls into place fairly quickly. I think it’s fair to surmise that both Hassni and myself feel quite honoured to be releasing something by somebody whose work has soundtracked our lives for over twenty years. On the other hand, and to perhaps help illustrate the fact we’re not sicko-phantics (hur!), we feel honoured to release anything by all the artists who’ve either so far graced LTCo with their presence or have at least promised to. There’re some decent people out there, and it feels good to know that we’ve played a part (albeit small) in making some of their work available. Equally, of course, to know that enough people also appreciate this and make it worthwhile.

Jeez. I think I must’ve got out of bed the wrong side today. I’m beginning to sound happy. If I carry on like this I’ll start walking about with a smile. And then what will I do?

Other news is that Sion Orgon’s finally finished his album and, heck, after a few weeks of informing us that we’ll be able to hear it “very soon”, has actually got copies in the mail to us. We look forward.

Am also in the middle of organising three shows by Whitehouse here in Poland between the 19th and 21st October, with much help from Lukasz Szalankiewicz. It seems somewhat odd that they’ve not played here before, actually. It’s a country that surely commands Whitehouse concerts more than many others. It needs a little grit thrown in its eyes. More importantly, however, there are a number of people over here who want to see them, and I’m happy to lend a withered hand…

Before Whitehouse, though, there’ll be other shows over here. Not least the Crank Sturgeon concert that Audiotong have arranged for this coming Thursday, which the Rekonfiguracja team (myself and Mark, plus Audiotong’s Marcin Barski this time) will DJ after. I dunno what to expect from the ‘living noise machine’ that is the USA’s Crank Sturgeon, really, but I
daresay it’ll be engaging enough. For a while. Am looking forward to the DJ set with Marcin, though. A perfect opportunity to hit everybody with more of The Residents, Tiny Tim, NWW, Stockhausen, The Hanatarash, Mogollar, Jean Jacques Perrey, Boris Kovacs, etc. as well as some exotica and other slices of strangeness from Marcin himself. I just hope my recently won (via eBay, of course) LP of music for depressed housewives, from the ’50s, arrives in time. And the Helmut Schmidt & Franz Josef Strauss ‘Bonner Hitparade Das Duel’ LP. An hour or so of this muck and everybody will soon be craving Mark’s ska, rockabilly and The Clash records, I’m sure…

Anyway, time to spruce myself down ready for this meeting. At least I’m getting paid today.

Life, as they say, goes on…

(RJ)

Finally, you will have noticed that I’ve just found time spare enough to trawl through the site and update or amend most of the pages and entries. Things are definitely afoot now. Firstly, we are in the middle of negotiating the limited edition LP release with Michael Gira at the moment and, secondly, both the Volga CD and Nick Mott print are being primed
to be unleashed sometime during late September.

On top of all of this, Andrew Liles’ ‘Auto Manipulator’ LP and Sion Orgon’s CD look set to appear anytime during the next two or three months as well. It seems as though everything’s beginning to fall into place, at last, but let’s not get carried away just yet. The beast that is LTCo has a nature of it’s own, as I’m sure you are all only too aware of by now.

Fourth Dimension’s just released the ‘F.I.D.’ 2CD by Merzbow, by the way, and I’m also in the throes of discussing either a Circle CD version of the now almost sold old ‘Arkades’ LP or a 2 or 3CD set that’ll feature the WFMU radio session on this and maybe some other such sessions. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for the latter, but everything rests with Jussi,
naturally enough. I just wish the recent Circle tour had embraced Poland as well, really.

Otherwise, pretty fucking drained right now. The medley of early morning English lessons I’ve conducted recently, all these other pursuits, general everyday activities and chores, plus maintaining the kinda slightly debauched social life I’ve been only too easily pulled in by during the past year, is starting to take on a different kind of toll for me. If Panda eyes
ever become fashionable, I’m front cover material right now.

Where will it all end?

It’s not entirely work and beating my doubtlessly wrecked liver up, though. Time’s still spared for recently returning to some Camus and Henry Miller, watching Hancock’s Half Hour DVDs and chipping away at a backlog of films (Santa Sangre, The Incredible Shrinking Man [which was one of my favourites as a kid, next to the original Frankenstein] and The Proposition), sitting on my balcony with a glass or two of red in the evening (although the
weather’s just become very ‘British’ during the past few days), booking a holiday to see my children and, well, generally scratching my balls whilst vainly hoping that, one day, everything will get better, despite the fact that life could be far, far worse in certain other countries right now…

Of which, our ‘artworker’/pre-press man, Howard (who’s been living in Los Angeles for around 10 months now, with his beau) very recently emailed me a huge advert for some live ammunition that, needless to say, can be readily purchased over in the States. I contemplated the idea of getting him to pick up a few boxes worth for me and sending them over so that I could then mount a bullet on each cover of the imminent AE mag. I liked the idea of then having the slogan “Sponsored by Bush in the War Against Terrorism”
emblazoned over it, too, and maybe having each bullet engraved with an Arabic name. Half of them could have been popular Muslim names and the other half Jewish. Then, stretching the notion still further, the back cover could have been represented by an advert for a gambling company’s hotline number to take calls for bets on who’ll win the war with, of course, the Stars & Stripes in each corner of it. Neat, huh?

Andrew Liles’ ‘The Dying Submariner’ LP, Scott Walker’s ‘The Drift’ CD, the C93/OM split-10″, Tetsu Inoue’s ‘Yolo’ CD, regular fixes of Love’s ‘Forever Changes’ in honour of Arthur Lee’s untimely death, and much anticipating of the arrival of a Rhythm & Sound LP and Thom Yorke’s solo album are the order of the day here at the moment, though. Not politics (with a capital ‘p’), bigotry, prejudice, blind rage or mass stupidity.

Not for now, at least.

(RJ)

Apparently, there’s something of a heatwave sweeping across the UK at the moment. I’ve had family and friends there complain that the temperature’s been in something like the mid-30s for the past week or two. However, it’s been like that here in Krakow for the best part of five or six weeks now, give or take the occasional day or two’s break for a storm or a drop to a temperature more conducive to feeding one’s motivation. Quite frankly, it’s fucking unbearable, too. I feel completely crippled by it and, well, apart from having to contend with conducting a few more English lessons each week, it’s difficult to muster the strength to do much beyond prodding at a CD to review here and there, gulp down gallons of water, keep up with correspondence and stay either indoors or in the shade with a good book or a copy of the Guardian’s international edition.

As such, it’s probably just as well that, although there’s still a little scurrying about behind the scenes here, LTCo matters are generally on hold for another month or so. Essentially, the plan is to return during September with the Volga CD, Nick Mott print and, I think, possibly the Sion Orgon CD, which is now completed and on its way to us as I write.

Meantime, the Theme album appears to be garnering a few reviews (see Theme’s section amongst Artists, if interested). Mostly positive as well, I hasten to add, which is encouraging.

Since the last entry, I’ve been to the Malta Festival in Poznan and had a pretty good time, despite the fact Ania & I arrived for it just as Antony & the Johnsons finished their penultimate song. All the same, we caught Coco Rosie, an impromptu (and improvised) 10 minute piece by Antony and one of the Coco Roses (hastily pulled off to fill a lengthy gap whilst technicians looked for a missing piece of equipment), and the positively invigorating
Animal Collective, whose own ecstatic set seemed charged enough to power the entire city for the night. What with the festival taking place in the grounds of a castle under a decent, clear and star-lit sky as well, it made for yet another night that’ll stay with me forever. Well worth the 7 hours train journey and price of a nearby hotel room, believe me.

Phill Niblock also performs here in Krakow in a few days’ time as well. I only have the ‘Young Persons Guide…’ 2CD of his, but it promises interesting things and, indeed, hats are off to the Audiotong boys (and Mat Schulz, I understand) for organising it. Hard to imagine that I sometimes get asked if or when I’ll move back to England, really. Why the fuck would I want to return there when there’s so much to keep me here? Just a shame that, during the summer, Krakow’s spoilt by hordes of Englishmen on stupid stag parties, being predictably loud, obnoxious, drunk and generally cretinous…

Music otherwise padding out the desire to cool off here amounts to Rhys Chatham’s sublime ‘An Angel Moves Too Fast to See’ LP (Radium/Table Of The Elements), Michael Cashmore’s quaintly beautiful ‘Sleep England’ debut CD (Durtro), Formication’s ‘Redux’ CD (Harmful), Italian (Etre)’s ‘A Post-Fordist Parade in the Strike of Events’ CD debut, and some blasts of P.I.L. and Mahler’s second symphony. All fine stuff for helping to keep that tan at bay.

On my Adverse Effect magazine front, read between the lines above re: my descent into a state of sun-baked lethargy (although I am chipping away at it, slowly, and it is far closer to being finished than not…). However, the Merzbow 2CD on Fourth Dimension finally materialises any day now, after having encountered a series of different problems when it initially went into production.

Anybody familiar with endeavours either Hassni or I are involved with by now should, I hope, have long adjusted to the fact nothing ever goes smoothly for us. Really.

More soon enough, anyway…

(RJ)

It’s too soon after the last entry to actually expand on anything to do with LTCo, really, although you might have noticed that the website’s been updated at certain points in the meantime. Ultimately, I’m simply here again so soon because I just want to go over a few matters which may or may not be worth sharing. They might not have much to do with anything or can be criticised for being self-indulgent or whatever but, hey, nobody’s forcing you to read them…

Anyway, on Friday, as some of you might well be aware, Pope Benedict arrived to pay Krakow a visit for the weekend, following his first appearance in Warsaw, and unwittingly incited the kind of commotion usually reserved for beings landing from another planet. Prior to this visit, however, the local government decided to prohibit the sale of alcohol and ban ’sexy’ adverts from the billboards, papers and suchlike throughout the duration. The ban began at 18.00 on Friday and was supposed to remain in place for 48 hours. Not only were posters emblazoned with scantily clad models covered up but also, unbelievably, those advertising products for feminine hygeine and sanitary products as well. Evidently, women don’t menstruate according to the Catholic Church. Especially when Papa’s on a pilgrimage to the land his predecessor was born in.

Besides this, there were also reports of certain shops taking down or hiding their displays of women’s underwear, plus a huge clean-up campaign was enforced to render all the streets the Pope would parade along welcoming and pleasant. Graffiti bearing the territorial tags of local gangs and footie supporters was hastily painted over, litter and dog turds were collected, tramps were swept into a heap somewhere near the river (out of sight) and
Polish flags or those sporting the Vatican’s colours were planted at every available opportunity instead.

I set off to meet Ania and Anton Black early Friday evening and had to contend with hordes of people standing aimlessly in anticipation of Papa Bennie’s visit (mostly also holding flags or flowers), roads being cordoned off, the market square being reduced to a maze to traipse through and a long enough search for one of the few bars that would stand against the prohibition and still serve beers. The first place we eventually found was a despicable Irish Pub that had its doors locked but could be entered nonetheless once it was apparent to the guy manning them that we were not plain clothed policemen. This place was full of drunken twats from Ireland, though, clearly on a stag party and intent on ruining everybody’s enjoyment by not tarnishing the general reputation of ‘British’ stag parties on
the continent. When one of the most overweight cunts from the group helped himself to a drag on Ania’s cigarette (before then proceeding to take his jeans down), the three of us decided it was time to leave. Within minutes, however, we stumbled across a far more sedate place also serving beer under the guise it was a private party for a mysterious girl called Magda. The idea, of course, amounting to the fact that a loophole allowed bars to
still serve alcohol for such occasions and that, naturally, if this particular watering hole was rumbled, everybody there was simply honouring Magda’s birthday. Considering the fact there were only about ten people there, however, it soon became clear she was a popular girl, anyway. All the same, with the ruse in check, we finally had a chance to have a quiet couple of beers and moan about what was going on around us. Of all the Catholic countries, Poland has to be the most conservative, I’m sure, and I tend to agree with certain pals of mine who claim it’s at least half a century behind the UK in many respects.

Luckily, however, Ania and I were afforded respite from the shenanigans by virtue of a trip to Prague. This was based on a virtually last minute arrangement to see Current 93 on Saturday night (originally, we were supposed to see them in Berlin tonight, but some training at Ania’s day job curtailed that plan…). Despite the fact a 7 hour train journey was
involved in getting there, and the fact we knew we’d feel more dead than somebody in a deep coma throughout, it proved to be a more than viable alternative. The short supporting sets by Baby Dee and Pantaleimon were fantastic and primed us perfectly for the main event. The venue, a disused church, couldn’t have been more appropriate, either. Current 93 were on great form, with David (Late) Tibet appearing more confident and lively
than the last time I saw them, at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall in 2003. A lot of the set was built around the new ‘Black Ships…’ album, but these are some of the strongest songs Current 93 have so far put their name to. Overall, there was a lot of energy and power throughout, reminding me very much of the Angels Of Light’s own reign over both dynamics and a sense of occasion. Virtues which are sadly lacking from so many others these days.

It was difficult to spare a thought for friends of mine back here in Krakow who I knew would find it hard to retreat from The Visit and its repercussions. Anton was invited to an ‘Anti-Pope’ party on the Saturday night, which apparently included a ‘Pin the Devil Horns on the Pope’ game, but it was hardly an alternative comparable to the C93 concert, despite the amount of goths in attendance (Ania and I were amongst a minority not wearing black).

Once we returned to Krakow yesterday evening, we set about finding a place to get a meal and a beer. At about 19.15 we settled upon a cheap restaurant that can usually be relied upon, but discovered it still refused to serve beer. It then transpired all the surrounding bars and suchlike were still not serving alcohol as well, once more pointing to the fact that
Poland’s very slow at doing things sometimes. Lifting a ban at the right time in this country, I should have guessed already, would have been far too much to ask.

Welcome to Krakow.

At the moment, I am preparing for two native English speaking lessons I conduct, listening to Fortner Anderson’s ‘Six Silk Purses’ CD which arrived today, contemplating a trip to the Post Office and otherwise generally feeling slightly listless. Hence my writing this, I suppose.

I honestly don’t know where time goes, though. Since I quit my day job in Canterbury last August, I have more spare time than I’ve ever been used to, and yet loose ends still always need to be tied. On the LTCo front, things should be fairly busy during the next month. Volga have their album ready for us and we anticipate having it ready for production during the next two weeks or so, whilst Nick Mott’s limited edition print, ‘Easter’, will appear
sometime beforehand and both Sion Orgon and Jim Sallis are apparently near to completing their albums for us. Busy times ahead, for sure. Meantime, the saga concerning the Theme CD has hit difficulties due to the manufacturer now disputing the fact there’s a pressing fault (even though there clearly is and everybody else who’s heard the original can detect it from distances comparable to a canine’s ability). Although we are still intent on remedying
this situation as soon as possible, everything has dragged on for so long that we are now simply promoting and selling the release as per usual. When and if the situation gets resolved, we’ll do our utmost to ensure replacement new discs reach those who have so far purchased the discs and/or will encourage everybody concerned to get in touch to request a copy. Apologies for the inconvenience. It’s entirely outside our control and, given the fact both Hassni and I were involved directly with the album as well, we’re more pissed off about it than you can imagine.

My own Fourth Dimension’s equally busy, too, and finally has the Merzbow 2CD primed ready for production during the next couple of weeks. Afterwards, a limited edition compilation CD featuring 15 minutes work each by Zenial, Band Of Pain, Freiband,Merzbow and Dickson will appear sometime, alongside an album by Theme’s Stuart Carter’s solo platform, The Fields Of Hay. The latter also includes contributions from Experimental Audio Research’s Sonic Boom and, for better or worse, myself. Hopefully, the Adverse Effect
website will be given a long overdue update soon, anyway. Of which, the latest edition of Adverse Effect itself is finally almost ready to publish as well. Features in it this time include lengthy interviews with William Basinski and Andrew Liles, amongst others.

Had an email from Sion Orgon earlier confirming that his imminent album has had Thighpaulsandra enthusing that it sounds like a bastard blend of NIN, Fleur, Stockhausen, King Crimson, Coil, Morton Subotnik and Thighpaulsandra’s own work. Sounds intriguing. Thighpaulsandra also contributes to it, alongside people as diverse as Sleazy, Mike Edwards
(Jesus Jones), Frank Naughton (Rocketgoldstar and ex-Uziq), The Grangetown String Ensemble, The Chung Chinese Ensemble and a number of others. I can imagine that, ultimately, it’ll claw at the same far-flung spaces created by Orgon’s debut, ‘Orgonised Chaos’, where dull moments aren’t afforded an opportunity to creep in. Can’t wait to both hear it and, of course, help nudge its birth.

Anton Black & I played our first DJ set at a neat little cellar bar called Imbir a couple of Thursdays ago and it proved to be more successful than we anticipated. It was the first time we’d DJ’d together since our rather alcohol (and speed)-fuelled stint at The Horse Hospital in October 2002, but we generally kept our minds set on the job at hand this time and, despite the occasional burst of ineptitude (my starting a record at the wrong speed
and later accidentally turning the music off completely, for example), seemed to keep everybody interested and even dancing. It was rewarding to see so many people responding positively to anything from NWW, The Residents, AGF and Coil to Echo & the Bunnymen, Leftfield, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, some dub and Anton’s medley of punk, ska and rock ‘n’ roll classics. As a result, we’ve been granted a fortnightly slot and play again tomorrow, after a local punk group do their thing. The plan is to try and
hold onto as much of their audience as possible when we commence at around 22.00 by playing The Dead Kennedys, P.I.L., The Buzzcocks, The Feederz and suchlike before we then hit them with far more diverse music. If I can get some punks dancing to Bob McFadden & Dor’s ‘The Mummy’, I’ll declare the mission accomplished…

Not really anything else to add, to be honest. The present soundtrack here is healthily fleshed out by Our Brother The Native’s ‘Tooth & Claw’ CD (on FatCat and out very soon!), Omit’s ‘Tracer’ 2CD and the Volga album we’re releasing. I’m also looking forward to the arrival of The Castanets’ ‘Cathedral’ CD and C93’s latest album, plus indeed going to one of the latter’s concerts in Berlin on the 28th. Just a pity the weather here has recently started resembling what I’ve been used to in the UK over the years. Maybe just as well, though. Relaxing with a couple of chilled beers by the river could otherwise become a habit I shouldn’t succumb to… RJ

Some things good, and other things perhaps not so. The weather here in Krakow for the past coupla weeks is having a strange effect on me, though. I have developed something of a passion for the slightly summery psychecholia of The Flaming Lips. Besides their epic and sometimes Prog-ish pop sweeps, they kinda lift my spirits a little and serve as a necessary respite to the usual tide of releases by laptop boffins and generally austere avant gardeners I’m mostly immersed in. I’m not averse to pop music if it’s done smartly enough, anyway. And I certainly don’t subscribe to any goddamn ‘cool’ factors, either. Nobody should be ashamed of what they like or listen to and, equally, just being true to themselves as best as possible. Mind you, for all of this, I did rather drunkenly upset an American teacher acquaintance of mine a few nights ago by suggesting that U2, Coldplay and REM all be shot for their crimes against music but, hey, that’s life. It’s full of contradictions…

Onto LTCo matters, however, the Theme CD released a few weeks ago has a manufacturing fault on it (a jump between tracks two and three), so has hindered our trying to promote or sell it properly at the moment. The repressed discs will be with us in another week or two, though, so we’ll get the ball rolling then. In the meantime, you might have noticed that we’ve added some sound files to the artist entries we’ve so far done releases by (EAR, Thighpaulsandra and Theme). The samples are deliberately short but hopefully at least long enough to provide you with an appetiser for the albums themselves. This is a practice we’ll maintain with future releases as well. Of which, the Volga CD masters are finally with us and, likewise, a disc of artwork by Volcano The Bear’s Nick Mott that we’ll be selecting
something from soon to form a signed limited edition print. More news on which will follow soon. By the way, we do welcome feedback here at LTCo. If you’ve any thoughts to share on what we’ve done so far, or what we’re trying to do, or even anything outside of all that, feel free to email or drop us a note. We can’t guarantee having the time spare to answer everything received, but it’s still good to hear from you. Sometimes.

Little else to report, really. My new Adverse Effect magazine is almost ready to publish. Likewise, Hassni & David Bourgoin’s latest edition of Progress Report. A Merzbow 2CD is also just about to be released on Fourth Dimension, called ‘F.I.D.’ (Fur is Dead). It will include information about animals affected by the fur trade and donate £1.00 per release to PETA, as chosen by Masami Akita himself. Should be out in late May 2006.

Meantime, Anton Black & myself are hoping to host some DJ nights here in Krakow in the not-too-distant future. There are plenty of fantastic bars in central Krakow, but most are let down by their nearly always playing bland muck tailored for the student population, hence my record collection now being discussed as a possible causeway to some different ground. Seems as though we’ll have to still keep things relatively simple if this idea goes
ahead, but it’ll be nice to throw in ‘Hamburger Lady’ or some Jac Berrocal alongside more foot-gyrating music such as Nick Cave, Kraftwerk and The Arcade Fire. Sounds like a plan worth holding on to…

Anyway, I’d better keep it here for now. A shorter entry than usual, due to Ania having just arrived to raid my fridge and indulge in more episodes of Seinfeld. I was doing fine with my Devendra Banhart until being distracted by that fucking annoying bassline that ruins Seinfeld. Some kinda large bee-like insect just banged into the window from the outside, too. Although it’s a surefire sign that summer’s beginning to open the door, I wonder if it’s head presently feels like mine usually does…

RJ

Well, wha’ d’ya know? The mounds of dogshit-encrusted black snow are finally giving way to some rays of sunlight, and new shadows are beginning to dance in my earnest abode that I’ve not seen for a considerable while. Thankfully, nothing came of the Mac the Knifeski encounter, noted in the previous entry, beyond my only recently walking past him again one afternoon on a busy street to find him this time smiling and nodding. Does it mean he’s priming me for something far larger or that, simply, we’ve broken whatever ice it was that existed between us to begin with? Heck, maybe we’ll be sharing beers together before we know it and shooting the crap about the best military shops to go to around here and mugging German or American tourists? Sounds a blast. Otherwise, I cannot complain about being harrassed by anybody in Krakow at all outside the usual flow of English speakers who impose themselves on you in bars or whatever because they evidently feel we
might share some common ground (Yeah, pal, we have something in common in that we both speak native English…now fuck off and leave me alone!). What is it that drives certain people to eat into your own space? Or the fact some seem duty-bound to get to know you more for the most tenuous of reasons? I don’t get it. Mind you, despite appearances and the fact I’m compromised by being overly polite, I’m an unsociable creature at the best of times and feel very content to remain that way.

I prefer to keep myself occupied with Fourth Dimension & suchlike. Of which, releases by Andrew Liles and Circle have recently been squeezed out and a coupla others by Merzbow and The Fields Of Hay are imminent. The latter is Stuart Carter of Theme’s own endeavour and is probably noted elsewhere on the website, actually. Nonetheless, for reasons best known to himself, he’s decided to include some of my vocals somewhere on the album, plus E.A.R.’s Sonic Boom is contributing a remix or, uh, ’sounds’ to one of the pieces. Should be good, anyway.

As for Theme, Hassni has decided to leave the group, but we’ll continue regardless and hope to play a handful of live shows again during the summer months (with Lukasz of Zenial helping us out). Ideas for the next album are falling into place as well, but held back somewhat by geography, time and money. The usual constraints.

Otherwise, I had an opportunity this month to meet Michel Banabila again a couple of times, and feel compelled to recommend his latest releases. The first is his ‘Live Mix’ collaborative CD/DVD with Monoscope, on Requiem Records (www.requiem.serpent.pl) and the other is a self released 2CD called ‘Hilarious Expedition’, which comprises music for four theatre productions and is somewhat more abstract & convoluted than most of his recordings. Works for me, though. Beyond this, I have piles of material to contend with for the new edition of Adverse Effect and keep returning to the Colleen ‘Mort Aux Vaches’ CD (Staalplaat), Zoviet France’s ‘Just An Illusion’ (Staalplaat) and William Basinski’s ‘The Garden of Brokenness’ CD (2062). In between spells by the Six Organs of Admittance, Mirror, The Clash, The Skatalites and Nick Cave & Warren Ellis’ ‘The Proposition’ OST, no less. Moments of strangeness on Volcano The Bear’s ‘Five Hundred Boy Piano’ are equally keeping me entertained as well. Most kind of Nick Mott to include a copy of it with a framed piece of artwork of his I recently bought. On a definite hunt for more Colleen, though. The tender and melancholic slant of the noted album still appears ripe for these dark evenings generally otherwise comforted by beer, incense (that my boys keep buying me) and Michel Houellebecq’s ‘The Possibility of an Island’.

Also attempting to keep my hand in with writing. Not only with the mag but some other muck as well; one project of which is a collaboration with Anton Black and unlike anything I’ve attempted before (yet, oddly, have always entertained notions of doing). Probably not the time or place to elaborate yet, but when I first sounded Ania out about it she scoffed and inadvertently motivated me to dig my heels in. I enjoy digging my heels in, sometimes.

Hassni has not long returned from a trip to NYC and appears slightly shaken by some (personal) events over there but, mostly, I think he had a good time. At least he’s back and can finally get a box of the new Theme CDs to me, anyway. Sod personal traumas, I want my albums! No, more seriously, I hope that he’ll get stuck into Lumberton matters again. Distractions, distractions, distractions. These are what we need in order to avoid staring at the truth; our destinies in dust. As such, Lumberton has a Volga album looming and, furthermore, Sion Orgon recently wrote to say that his own new album is almost ready. I’m looking ahead, despite my own present bout of relationship turbulence.

Time for another mug of coffee (or kawa, as they say over here) and either more procrastinating or whipping myself into another whirlwind of energy. You work it out yourselves. (RJ)

Well, over a month has passed since we last added anything here, so it’s probably time we remedied the situation although, in all honesty, there’s actually little to report. The bulk of the past few weeks, for myself, has been consumed by Fourth Dimension operations, really, when not either having done whatever I could to help the new Theme album fall into shape
(along with Hassni, Stuart and our resident ‘house’ artwork/pre-press man, H, of course) or working on the handful of weekly native English-speaking lessons I give here in Krakow. Otherwise, somewhat typically, after furnishing myself with a few hopes for this year following the last entry, I’ve found myself being recently hounded by a knife-wielding psycho fuckbulb during the past week who clearly lives in the vicinity and has no qualms about brandishing the said weapon on a busy street in the middle of the afternoon. Maybe he resents the fact I have more hair (despite his being clearly younger) or possibly the way I strut about with my eyes glued permanently to the ground (in order to, mostly, avoid stepping into something he might well be related to)? Or perhaps he can guess I don’t support his football team (or any football team, come to that)?

Whatever, although the police have been informed (for what it’s worth - let’s face it, I might as well have spent my time going through everything to an elderly shop assistant…), it’s mildly disconcerting and, at times, perversely amusing, too. The situation (which may or may not have ended, I don’t know - I’ve not encountered him for a couple of days) certainly hasn’t prevented me from trying to get on with my life, anyway. Of which, this includes presently being addicted to Phillip Sollmann’s wonderful ‘Something is Missing’ album
(Dial, Germany), Coil’s ‘The Ape of Naples’ CD (Is it just me, or is there a whiff of Ian Curtis to some of the late Balance’s vocals here…?), Anthony Moore’s ‘Pieces from the Cloudland Ballroom’ reissue from 2002, Fovea Hex’s ‘Bloom’ CDEP (Die Stadt, Germany) and a small pile of Circle & Acid Mothers Temple releases sent by Ektro. Besides a fairly routine dusting of some albums by Fripp & Eno, Augustus Pablo, The Six Organs Of Admittance, Pink Floyd, Echo & the Bunnymen and Marvin Gaye. Beyond that, weekly visits to free film screenings at one of the many bars at the very heart of Krakow have proved to be, mostly, an entertaining enough diversion to my own ever-expanding collection of unwatched DVDs as well. Seeing ‘The Honeymoon Killers’ and ‘Kiss Me Deadly’ on the big screen, without parting much beyond the necessary for an accompanying glass or two of Zywiec, can’t be
bad…

Oh, and just to round things off for now (while I still can, I guess, before Nutski sticks me one in the guts…), I guess we at LTCo should raise our (forever half empty) glasses to Jello Biafra for being the only person, so far, to indicate exactly where we got our label name from. More soon. Hopefully…

(RJ)

As noted in the last post, we will use this part of the website to keep you informed of some of the latest developments here. As such, we are now pleased to announce that the Thighpaulsandra LPs have finally arrived and shall be mailed during the next week. Also, Theme’s album has just been mastered by Sion Orgon and both his own CD and Volga’s are looming. If all goes according to plan, 2006 should prove itself to be a busier one than last year for us. We are also presently contemplating the idea of producing a limited edition art-print that will be given to all the subscribers as a gesture of goodwill towards their patience.

Anyway, here are some of our respective thoughts concerning the previous twelve months.

Hassni Malik: It’s been a year of extremes. The good, the bad and the downright ugly. I’ll skip griping about our painfully slow progress with the label, but I’m pretty damn impressed by both the faith and patience you lot have shown in what we’re trying to do. If I had a hat to tip, I would tip it to you.

It’s not a case of picking out individual moments as being the Best of the Year, it’s more a general impression of the fine things that are out there. They take their time to reveal themselves, but when they do they stick with you for life. What never fails to amaze me is just how many great artists there are out there who have yet to have their work ‘properly’ released. It’s been an ongoing problem, of course, but the standard (excuse the lousy word) of work appears to be so much higher than it used to be. Someone upped the ante while no-one was looking. Formication being a case in point. Now there’s a band that will appear in more lists during the course of this year. I hope that Lumberton will some day soon have the resources to start expanding its interests and start releasing books and DVDs, hold art exhibitions and create spaces within which art can thrive. There’s so much out there that needs to be documented; someone needs to do it and it may as well be Lumberton. Locally, it’s always been a pleasure to see the likes of Leopard Leg, Blanket and Hamilton Yarns play. Not the kind of thing that you’d expect on Lumberton but when something’s good, it stays good. If you like your sounds homemade and tunefully melancholic, you can’t do better than Blanket.

Otherwise, what’s struck me about the year is the building of links with strangers through the utterly random use of the internet. Friends made, and all too often lost again, but the ones who stay go on to work with you in some capacity. I can’t quite get my head around it, but it works.

Lows of the Year? Walking away from loved ones for no apparent reason. Bad habit, that.

Things that made me go Oof!:
Atlas Press - every book a revelation. Mark Ryden, Chris Hoglund, Lori Earley - artists that restore faith in paint.
Poland - Playing a show at a Gdansk art gallery that was also exhibiting Gerhard
Richter’s paintings has to rank as one of the best moments of my life. Also, discovering a wealth of music and art in eastern Europe that those fine chaps at Tamzdat only hinted at. Poland’s proved to be a gateway to it all. Now if only we could work with (Czech Republic violinist) Iva Bittova.

Richard Johnson: 2005 was a year of (big) changes for me. After an eternity in the same day job and having lived in the same area my entire life, I finally acted upon a decision made over a year beforehand to emigrate to Krakow, Poland. Although it has meant that I cannot see my children, family & friends in the UK as often as I’d like, it has so far proved itself to be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Krakow may appear to be a strange choice to many, but it is a beautiful city with much to offer and is far more affordable than the UK. On top of this, there are people here who have made me feel especially welcome and who burn with an energy I rarely encountered in my old home town of Herne Bay. These include the Audiotong team and, of course, the girl responsible for igniting such an idea in me to
begin with, Ania. Also, I should mention both that friend, Anton Black’s move to Krakow has likewise been an asset and that Lukasz & Marcin of Audiotong have been virtually instrumental in introducing me to plenty of other musicians & suchlike prone to visiting the city (the extremely affable Dutch soundsmith Michel Banabila being the latest in this respect). Despite the best of my intentions to continue working on my next Adverse Effect magazine and even a book, it seems as though barely a week goes past without a reason to meet somebody in one of the many enchanting nearby bars.

Musically, 2005 was crammed full of good things, but the Angels Of Light/Akron Family concert in Wroclaw, Vashti Bunyan’s ‘Lookaftering’ album (FatCat), the Hand/Eye label, Minamo’s ‘Shining’ CD (12k) and my rather belated discovery of Boris Kovacs stand proudly amongst them. Equally, my 13 year old son, Rowan, self-released a 7″ around a month ago of the kind of bedroom punk I used to hear on the late John Peel’s shows many, many years ago crossed with some more contemporary sensibilities. I’m just pleased that my complete & utter lack of musical talent hasn’t rubbed off on him, really. And, no, I’m not kidding.

Otherwise, there have been plenty of films and books, too. Jim Jarmusch’s ‘Broken Flowers’ saw him back on form, whilst everything by Michel Houellebecq continues to see him tapping perfectly away at the cracks in our collective psyche.

I think this year, at a personal level, looks quite good, so far. Hopefully, following last year’s collaborations with Audiotong on concerts by Andrew Liles and Theme, more such work will come. Likewise, my Fourth Dimension imprint is soon to get busy again and, once more, Lumberton itself seems poised to continue mapping out plenty of wonderful corners. Without doubt, everything looks better now that I’m in Krakow. At least for the moment,
anyway.