The Driftway

While there seems to be a growing interest or awareness of "hauntology" as a movement, I've not read many articles which address the concepts and ideas on a personal level. The piece is by Bob Fischer and appears in the Fortean Times, issue 354. It's a really nice wide ranging article starting with Bagpuss and how some of us that grew up in the seventies are haunted by that past. It's something I strongly identify with and it did make me stop and think, photos of me as a child are mostly polaroids, garish colours now faded out with time. Moving images of me.... I think if it still survives there is a vhs tape of a band I played in circa 1990, other than that there's a much later vhs of    me playing a gig at Glasgow in the late 90's. As you might expect the piece covers lengthy discussions with journalists, artists both visual and musical that are part of the movement. If anyone can take credit for identifying the genre, then it's undoubtedly Simo

Record Store Day....... Well then, the dust as settled lets start with not quite record store day release from Polytechnic Youth / Horror Pop Sounds, courtesy of Norman Records ( who were excluded from the great event ). In the time it took me to actually get one of the 100 copies of the split XAM Duo / Au Fait singles, it sold out. Bonkers. Regardless, a thing of loveliness - heavyweight clear, lathe cut. The XAM Duo track is all minimal and motorik with vocoder voices and ping pong balls, while the Au Fait track is trippy and woozy with almost there vocals. Bottom line, if you like the kind of thing both labels put out, you'll love it, should you even be able to now get a copy. Onto Record Store day itself. This year Cumbria once again has an indie record store, The Vinyl Cafe in Carlisle and it's a very worthy successor to the late lamented Pink Panther. All things being equal we'd have been there at the crack of dawn with everyone else, but the previous ni

ART SEX MUSIC There are a couple of presumptions I am going to make in this introduction. Namely: you are familiar with Throbbing Gristle and industrial music. You are familiar with the four members of Throbbing Gristle. Hereafter referred to as TG. So, there are bands and there are bands. Many of them crap, some, by accident or design become legendary. TG are one of those bands. There isn’t a great deal in print currently: The Re/Search Burroughs/Gysin/TG book, which I have and is little more than a lengthy Gen interview. Wreckers of Civilisation: The Story of COUM Transmissions & Throbbing Gristle: The Story of Coum Transmissions and "Throbbing Gristle" – I don’t have, but due back in print in later this year. And The 33/3 rd Jazz Funk Greats, which is on the “to read” pile.  For such an important band there is precious little out there. With great anticipation, I ploughed into Cosey’s Biography on the day of release.  Prior to starting, what di

"A beginning is a very delicate time." What to expect here : ramblings on a variety of subjects. Hauntology and folklore, Ballard and brutalism, Sanders and synthesisers, Psychogeography and library music. More to follow......