text:
Tag Archives: Baba Yaga's Hut (event/promoter)
Alt-rock trio Hurtling (fronted by My Bloody Valentine tour noisemaker Jen Macro) have a debut record to offer you – 'Future From Here', on Onomatopeia Records – and are launching it at north London's The Islington in the middle of October. Their sound's relatively easy to peg – post-Pixies, post-grunge, post-dreampop – but difficult to dismiss. There's a full cupboardful of familiar indie rock ingredients to hand, but all reshuffled and re-examined via Jen's particular perspective and inspired by the disorientations of touring, the displacement of emotions, the waywardness of health: the bumps and setbacks of a bright, questioning human organism pushed into too much motion. Sometimes, despite the noisy ethic, it's surprisingly gentle; sometimes sludgy guitar parts pile up like rainbow cement ooze; sometimes it's all about the vocal harmonies.
Once upon a time, most of Hurtling were part of cunningly witty indie/artpop sloggers stuffy/the fuses, and their glowering former employer (and current Onomatopeia labelmate) Stephen Evens is also on hand for the evening: ostensibly in a support slot, but probably to keep a dyspeptic jaded eye on them and to crush their remaining youthful dreams beneath his tapping boot. He's playing solo – probably with guitar, microsynth and anything else portable which he fancies and which comes to hand – and is still working his own 2017 debut album, 'Bonjour Poulet'. Which is fine, since it was excellent: a mordant larderful of creaky treats which revealed themselves to be gappy armour-plate wrapped around a surprisingly tender heart. He'll probably give you all that sardonic, seen-it-all expression: actually, he'll be pleased to see you.
London-based Swedish "post-death music" quartet Junodef fill the other support slot. Their debut single, a soft-strummed slice of spectral folk with additional Gothic guitar boom and the bleakness of a death metal song, was called Make You Die. Subsequent work hasn't travelled too far from those initial emotional roots, although they've toyed with spooky progressive rock keyboards, acid rock shadings and lingering dark-country embellishments (the latter suiting both the paired vocals of Tyra Örnberg and Karin Grönkvist and their admiration for Emma Ruth Rundle and Chelsea Wolfe).
More recently Junodef have been feeding in noirish elements from trip-hop and droning electronica, citing inspiration by Portishead and Young Fathers. At the same time, they've upped their Bad Seeds clang and their clarity and put greater emphasis on their visual work, resulting in their most vividly fleshed-out songs and atmospheres yet. Don't expect floppy Goth ragdolls: this band has a tough core, and a storytelling streak that's just beginning to come into its own.
In the same week, on the following day, relentless psychedelic noise-fosterers Baba Yaga's Hut are putting on a Bethnal Green gig for block-party-inspired thunder-twosome Gum Takes Tooth. Singer/electronic bombardier Jussi Brightmore and wired-up drummer Thomas Fuglesang have been at this for a decade now, producing a music that's
grinding and urgent, slow yet filled with unnerving impetus.
As with plenty of British acts on the weird/occult cusp, Gum Takes Tooth are fascinated by ritual (attempting to initiate it in both their recorded output and, more significantly, in their live performances) and with the jarring subconscious impact on the human animal from the mechanisms of technology, hierarchy and blunt cultural forces which surround us. Their last record, 'Arrow', focussed on London gentrification from the perspective of those squashed under or flicked aside by its well-heeled, well-polished bespoke shoes; and on the savage simultaneous pressures from above to indulge the inner beast in competition, in nationalism, in a fracturing of common responsibility and empathy. While writing 'Arrow', Jussi saw all of this as a kind of cultural intoxication with the emphasis on toxic: it gave the duo a musical and moral focus which they've pursued ever since.
A couple of years ago, open-minded Sheffield Afrobeat/noise/dance-pop combiners Blood Sport called it a day. Two-thirds of them – drummer Sam Parkin and guitarist/Octatracker Alex Keegan – have since resurfaced as Hyperstition Duo, a blistering stew of kit-rattles and synth noise smudging and battering the line between live gig and avant-garde DJ electronica. They'll be supporting Gum Takes Tooth on this occasion: but where the headliners favour slower pace and a ritual weight, the Hyperstitioneers prefer a break-neck-speed informational barrage.
At the end of this past summer, Hyperstition Duo released their debut EP 'Virotechnics'. There's the usual jargonated hype to go with it – "summoning egregors of the Anthropocene, (they) plunge deep to deliver a maximalist collective immersion into their own lysergic phonosphere. Lurching, polyrhythmic pathways crumble and re-assemble; elastic dynamics snap; propulsion sparks from the nerve-centre of machine and corporeal entanglement… templexing, möbius loops and cybernetic subjectivities abound in an attempt to conjure escape vectors in a world of ubiquitous sound." For once, the texture of the press release – a plunge into lathering, urgent verbalisation – actually fits the texture of the music.
Overlapping the Gum Takes Tooth/Hyperstition Duo concert, Ben Vince's south-east London clubnight Ellipsis (blending strands and clumps of experimental dance and experimental pop) ventures up north to Dalston on the same night for an evening of seamless switching between stage and DJ deck. I've not encountered Ellipsis before, but I'm impressed with what I'm finding out now.
To headline this time, Ben's enticed the perplexing Dutch-born Mancunian Bunny Hoova down for her full-band London debut. Her work is simultaneously delightful and frustrating. At its simplest, it's a kind of fall-apart dream pop – intermittent rhythms, addled guitar chording and bass thumbing, a cloudwork of woven-in samples, and a constant tripping over unvoiced questions, obscured conclusions and the track-loops of the thought-train. But while most dream-pop sinks into a narcotized structural conservatism (strumming away in the same key while admiring the whorls of sound coming through the pedalboard), Bunny's material seems constantly uncomfortable, actively intelligent, and hovering at the midpoint between insight and misdirection. She's been yoked in with experimental pop deconstructors/faux-idiot savants like Tirzah and Micachu, and I can see why. There's that classical conservatoire training: coyly hinted at in the PR, for extra credit, but in practise forced off into the distance like a spurned aunt (even as it's being used as the counterweight to punkish anti-technique). There's the idea that the usual rules of pop song and riff culture are being scorned in a meticulous matter-of-fact way via an admixture of free play and cerebral manifesto.
Plenty of the songs on Bunny's debut album, 'Longing', have the sensual drag-and-tug rhythm of slow jams; but rather than focussing a mood or a regular pace, they wander off at instinctive mental tangents or hiccup into a different arrangement; the instruments and samples entwining in a scratchy, bewildered, irregular intimacy. At times she seems to be taking up an erratic desert map scrawled by Captain Beefheart and attempting to apply it to close urban living. At other times, she seems to be spontaneously transposing into song experimental short stories about offbeat relationships, jolting encounters or small moments which change the course of a life; rich in detail and significance, short on conclusion. Plot and flavour are stretched out and split into gobbets, like odd-shaped beads necklaced on a guitar string. Her most-talked-about song, Lazy_Easy, is a scrubbing, slurred, pointed dissection-tract covering both the implicit and explicit links between consumerist culture and animal cruelty: more of a wall-collage with blended-in musical notes than an actual song. The world she flits through feels as rickety as a condemned flat; one that she's too good for and shouldn't have to live with, but which she has to accommodate and fit her voice to.
Also playing are a mixed bag of London and Manchester electronic experimentalists with bedroom studios. Gribs is a creative DJ and electronic musician, a label co-boss (Tobago Tracks) who in her own music weaving connections between straight-up dance music (trap, jungle, bass culture) and lo-fi DIY sound-and-voice experiments. There's a distinct edge of discomfort to her work: not so much or so often that it repels, but her found vocals and implied song characters seem uneasy, morbidly eccentric or disassociated from the music's rhythmic propulsion or sensual salve.
More DJ-ing and deckmixing comes from J.B. Glazer, another London-based creator of peculiar counter-intuitive dance music: for him, a kind of relentlessly alienated mirror-image R&B, all of its comfort and slickness rusted away into disassociative ennui. In the work of both Glazer and Gribs, there's an echo of chopped-and-screwed culture: the slowing, the altered-state disconnections and new connections, the sense that they're using alienation as a kind of gatekeeper (if you like dance but are prepared to discard much of its qualities of release or of socializing, then perhaps you can squeeze through this door).
Rounding things out (or upsetting any remaining unspilled applecarts) there's the mysterious and performative Halfs – from what I can work out, a try-anything beat-making romper on Manchester's queer arts scene. I've found a very fruity synthdance EP of his/theirs from 2017, so there are a few slurps of its whooping dayglo industrial tones below. There have also been percussion-favouring mixtapes and albums which have been whipped capriciously on and off Soundcloud, but are gone now: other than that, there seems to be involvement with scratch theatre, video and so on. In order to properly keep up with Halfs, you need to subscribe (both literally, and in terms of consistent loyalty) so just consider this vague, semi-accurate plug of mine to be a jumping-on point and take it from there.
Onomatopoeia Records presents:
Hurtling + Stephen Evens + Junodef
The Islington, 1 Tolpuddle Street, Islington, London, N1 0XT, England
Thursday 17th October 2019, 7.30pm – information here, here and here
Gum Takes Tooth + Hyperstition Duo
The Sebright Arms, 33-35 Coate Street, Bethnal Green, London, E2 9AG, England
Friday 18th October 2019, 8.00pm – information here, here and here
Ellipsis presents:
Bunny Hoova + Gribs + J.B. Glaser + Halfs
SET (Dalston Lane), 27a Dalston Lane, Dalston, London, E8 3DF, England
Friday 18th October 2019, 9.00pm – information here and here
Tags: Baba Yaga's Hut (event/promoter), Bunny Hoova, Ellipsis (event/promoter), Gribs, Gum Takes Tooth, Halfs, Hurtling, Hyperstition Duo, J.B. Glaser, Junodef, listening to women, London (England), Manchester (England), Stephen Evens, Stuffy/The Fuses, women of heart and mind
Categories 2019 music, Afrobeat, agit-pop, alternative country, alternative rock, art punk, art rock, club music, dance, DIY music, DJ sets, dream pop, drum and bass, electro-acoustic music, electronic, electronica, experimental music, experimental/avant-garde rock, Gothic rock, hip hop, house music, IDM, industrial rock, instrumental music, interactive performances, LGBTQIA+ music, loop music, noise, noise rock, performance art, plunderphonics, political music, post-punk, post-rock, power electronics, previews, psychedelic ambient music, psychedelic folk, psychedelic rock, R&B, rock, sampledelia, singer-songwriter, sound collage, synth pop, techno
January/February 2019 – upcoming London rock/noise/eclectic gigs – BYH's Fun House show with Gum Takes Tooth album launch extravaganza (25th January); from guitar crunch to harp'n'dulcimer chime with fifteen bands at 9 Years of Chaos (2nd February)
A couple of gigs happening at Electrowerkz demonstrate that the noisy, beaty, psychedelic end of things is alive and in rude health in London. In such rude health, in fact, that I'm not even sure that they need me to provide this last-week/last-fortnight push, but I'll just briefly go through the details anyway…
Ripping the can open on the 25th January is Baba Yaga's Hut's Fun House show, an expansion of the launch of the third album by noise-band-cum-two-man-sound-system Gum Takes Tooth (keyboardist/vocalist Jussi Brightmore and percussionist Tom Fug). Preoccupied by the ravenous, toxic/intoxicated development frenzies which envelop contemporary cities (and not least the Aldgate neighbourhood where Jussi's been working), 'Arrow' is a turnaround from GTT's previous cosmic flights, dropping back to street level and to a more urgent, less indulgent headspace which they define as centring around "gentrification, uncertainty, self-empowerment" as well as meditations on the incitements to tribal violence and competition which become ever louder in the current environment.
More on all of that in this recent 'Wire' article; a sample of what's to come is below.
Gum Takes Tooth, 2018
In support are growling, echoey sax-and-clang drone-rockers Sex Swing, whom I described last time around as "inhabit(ing) a post-Can, post-Suicide hinterland of hell, spring-echoed and tannoy-vocaled – a sinister quotidian landscape of blank anomie and oppression; a Los Alamos penal colony haunted by uranium ghosts, ancient Morse telegraphs, metal fatigue and the zombie husks of Albert Ayler and Ian Curtis." (I must have been feeling a bit excitable.)
Also on hand are made-up-on-the-spot dirty-techno act Coldnose (acid house turned sharling acid factory), Factory Floor/Kaito/Carter Tutti Void person and cut-up industrial electronicist Nik Colk Void; plus the mysterious Michael (one of those unknown acts whom Baba Yaga regularly pluck out of the darkness which only they know about).
Over in the side room there's a cluster of successive DJs from sympathetic bands and labels – Rocket Recordings' own Chris Reeder, plus Rikard from Flowers Must Die, Valentina Magaletti from Tomaga, G&T (from Luminous Bodies / Melting Hand) and what may well be the whole of avant-techno rockers Teeth Of The Sea.
On the 2nd February, noisejazzmetalprogfolkoustic promoters Chaos Theory (responsible for the Facemelter, Whispers & Hurricanes and Jazz Market) spend a day celebrating their nine-year-anniversary. Remarkable to think that they've been going that long without burnout – it must have something to do with the fact that main Chaosician Kumal Singh's personal outlook seems to be as sunny as his bill choices are often gnarly, dark and/or earshredding. Loudness therapy, perhaps. At any rate, Chaos Theory has two rooms full of their favoured freaks; lit and otherwise illustrated by Emily Bailey, dotted with artwork by Sagui and also featuring a virtual reality installation by Nicola Plant.
Unsurprisingly, the fourteen-band lineup they've prepared feature a number of acts who've danced through previous 'Misfit City' posts. I'm already familiar with drums-and-noise "happenings" inciters Sly & The Family Drone (with their all-in approach to audience drumming participation), the triple-headed avant-garde women's sketchpad V Ä L V Ē (with their scope running from reed-honking prog to post-punk glee singalongs to homemade instrumentation – see multiple posts passim), and convoluted Zappa-esque stunt-brass rockers The Display Team (who take the business of living up to their name pretty seriously, but don't take much else very seriously). Among those I haven't covered yet, I know that Medway post-rockers Upcdownc have been plying their grand noise since 2005: always looming on the sidelines. I also now know that although Cold In Berlin's name makes them sound as if they're an earnest neoprog band trying to rip off John Le Carre, they're actually grand-scale post-punkers adding hallucinatory body to their songs via textural guitar like a muezzin's nightmare.
I'm less familiar with the knot of assorted metallics in the middle. Heavy Essex doomproggers Earthmass; cosmologically/geometrically-preoccupied Sheffield mathboys Body Hound (featuring former members of Rolo Tomassi and Antares); sludge-stoners Prisa Mata, female-fronted slowgrinder duo Bismuth; cross-country prog-metallers PSOTY. But for me, a little metal generally goes a long way, and I'm more interested in the other sounds spicing the mix. Enigmatic, theatrical electronic performer UKAEA (half of Gun Cleaner) seems to swing wildly between pelting techno dance sets on the one hand and ranting performance art (complete with masked violinists) on the other. Then there are the acts which have spilled in from acoustic-ish CT clubnight Whispers & Hurricanes – hammered-dulcimer-toting Fear Of The Forest frontwoman Kate Arnold and jazz harpist Tori Handley. Experimental mood cellist Jo Quail flits mysteriously between gigs in churches and disreputable art cellars like this one, has fairly recently put out a heavy-metal-influenced album called 'Exsolve' and will be working up a new project for the 9 Years show (although, given the involvement of various people from Wren, it will presumably be some kind of stately sludge-tone…)
Central to the occasion, though, is Gothic dream-pop siren Evi Vine, who's using the occasion to launch her 'Black/Light/White/Dark' album (including contributions from various Cure men and Nephilim-ites, if you're familiar with your hats'n'backcombing icons.)
A wall of Chaosnoise follows for those who wanted to keep up with the metal from earlier in the post…
Fun House: Gum Takes Tooth + Sex Swing + Nik Void + Michael + Coldnose + various DJs
Electrowerkz, 7 Torrens Street, Islington, London, EC1V 1NQ, England
Friday 25th January 2019, 9.00pm – information here and here
9 Years Of Chaos Festival
Saturday 2nd February 2019, 2.00pm– information here, here and here
Tags: Baba Yaga's Hut (event/promoter), Bismuth, Body Hound, cello music, Chaos Theory (event/promoter), Cold in Berlin, Coldnose, Earthmass, Evi Vine, Flowers Must Die, Gum Takes Tooth, harp music, Jo Quail, Kate Arnold, London (England), Luminous Bodies, Melting Hand, Nicola Plant, Nik Colk Void, Prisa Mata, PSOTY, Rocket Recordings (record label), Sex Swing, Sly & The Family Drone, Teeth Of The Sea, The Display Team, Tomaga, Tori Handsley, UKAEA, Upcdownc, V A L V E, Wren
Categories 2019 music, acoustic music, alternative rock, art punk, classical fusion, dance, DIY music, doom metal, drone music, electro-acoustic music, electronic, electronica, experimental music, experimental/avant-garde rock, festivals, folk baroque, folk music, Gothic rock, heavy metal, industrial rock, instrumental music, jazz, math rock, noise, noise rock, performance art, post-metal, post-progressive rock, post-punk, previews, progressive metal, psychedelic folk, psychedelic rock, punk rock, rock, sludge metal, tech metal, techno
September 2018 – upcoming London rock and experimental gigs – Zimpel/Ziolek and Rotten Bliss in Dalston; Warren Schoenbright, Riotmiloo and Metalogue in Camden (both 7th September)
This coming Friday, 7th September, is looking like a day for hard choices in London. In addition to Pita's rumbling electronica gig in Homerton with Finlay Shakespeare, there are two more inspiring and atmospheric gigs on the table at the same time…
One of the trump cards for Rocket Recordings at their twentieth anniversary show in London back in March was the first British performance by Polish duo Zimpel/Ziołek. Now Baba Yaga's Hut have tapped them for their first headlining performance in London, at Café Oto.
Speaking for myself, I don't buy into the reductive nature of musical genres – acoustica, prog, noise, whatever the hell indie rock/pop is after forty years of arguments. When it becomes more about imposed fan codes than the music, I tend to slip away. Far better to stand back and take in the art of those musicians who aren't constrained by the fuss and the more constricting tropes… and Zimpel/Ziołek are one of those teamings that step gracefully yet urgently through and around genre.
'The Quietus' may have summarised Kuba Ziołek's overall work as "magic brutalis(m)", and that Rocket gig may have been mostly sold to a noise music/post-punk psych crowd, but those lucky or smart enough to make the gig were treated to a fascinating forty-minute Zimpel/Ziołek set-cum-ritual in an all-enveloping, high-volume, high-presence atmosphere; Kuba's guitar, voice and treatments and Wacław Zimpel's saxophones embracing and touching on electric counterpoint, lonesome acoustic folk, rippling electro-psych, ECM ambient jazz and oceanic noise blanketing, all sleeted and sluiced by psychedelic lighting. See below for the full works, and for what you might expect at Oto.
In support is Jasmine Pender's electric-cello-&-voice project Rotten Bliss (recently seen at a Rude Mechanicals show in July and at a Myth-O-Rama evening in April). Sometimes savage in her playing, Jasmine boils up a weird tempestuous cocktail of noise, textured melodics, bass riffs, drone and unsettling beautiful vocals, intimating surreal stories and events incorporating "dystopian harbours, amorous fishes, nightwatchmen and transcendence."
Zimpel/Ziolek + Rotten Bliss
Café Oto, 18-22 Ashwin Street, Dalston, London, E8 3DL, England
Friday 7th September 2018, 8.00pm – information here, here and here
On the same night, Chaos Theory present their latest "beautiful medley of noise, industrial, post-punk and electronic sounds" at their homebase in Camden, the Black Heart. Over to them for word on the acts I've not encountered before:
"An energetic live experience, Riotmiloo is the project of the singer of garage-punk-riotgrrrl project Venom Seeds. Encapsulating the vocals, screams and protest of women's real life stories, her haunting and powerful vocals create a cathartic and hypnotic rhythm and noise experience. Often found performing live with producer Eva|3, the integration of post-industrial bleakness with riotous punk fury is an experience to behold. Her debut concept collaboration album, 'La Pierre Soudée', was released via German label ant-zen in 2015 and saw her collaborate with different electronic, industrial and noise producers, reflecting their styles and weaving her messages into their music.
"Metalogue is an electronic producer who we've seen performing at experimental, post-rock, industrial, live soundtrack and IDM events. His uncompromising attention to detail, with his audio and tactile sensitivity, has led to an already broad selection of lavish records. He has shared the stage with Jarboe, Father Murphy, Huron, thisquietarmy, Only Echoes Remain, end.user and Shelley Parker, has EPs out on Abstrakt Reflections and Section 27, and is one of the minds behind underground IDM promotion Towards Collapse. Tonight he's going to play an entirely new set."
Headlining are Warren Schoenbright, whom CT describe as "an improvisational trio who make ritualistic tribal noise using guitar, vocals, electronics and drums. They play to audiences and appeal to fans of metal, ambient, electronic and even prog. Their latest single Excavations, out on Vacant Fulfilment, was inspired by the abandoned machinery of a now-defunct haematite mine. Dominated by fractured absorbing rhythms, being in the room with them is an absolutely exhilarating experience."
The Schoenbright boys have been in 'Misfit City' before. They were participants in a Baba Yaga show in 2016 when, despite their latterday noise rock credentials, I went off on a tangent about how they reminded me of "the hackle-raising anticipatory stillness of Bark Psychosis on 'Scum', or of the eerie King Crimson sextet improvs from the mid-'90s… murky, pulmonary, oft-detonating free-instrumental ghost-rides… Hissing, spitting drum improvisations and head-slithers from a jazz corner combine with boiling brewing ambient vapours from the electronic side to form spectacular instrumental illuminations. Dynamically speaking, it can go from all-out drum hammering and scourscreech to tense gaps and lacunae in which the sound withdraws and poises. Often it sounds like slow-motion night trains caught in a series of stretched-out near misses, watched from the goods-yard shadows by a pair of twitchy, punchy hobos."
Warren Schoenbright were also at the More News From Nowhere all-dayer in March this year, when I previewed them as "slithering, thickety… craft(ing) lengthy, ambitious and luminous experiments from poised near-silence to hammering viciousness". By then, a fair amount of what I was writing was out of date. Drummer Daniel McClennan is the only man standing since the early duo days – part of a gradual and piecemeal band shift involving the recruitment of bass player/bellower Alex Virji and this year's addition of well-established Spanish noise guitarist/vocalist Iker Ormazabal Martínez, plus (and perhaps crucially) the amicable departure late last year after the recording of Excavations, of electronics/noiseman Matthew Pastkewicz, the original sound-sculpting reflector to Dan's drum attack.
I guess it's fair to expect a more hardcore noise-rock approach by now; and if a band's determined and visionary enough, it can keep an interesting perspective and output even after drastic shifts in personnel and instrumentation… but I'm hoping that Warren Schoenbright don't change too much. The world of noise rock can, in many circumstances, turn into a cul-de-sac full of black mirrors and musicians wedged into them, echoing blankly into each other. The Schoenbrights were much more than that – arresting, head-turning musicians creating absorbing, intriguing musical landscapes; and, like Zimpel/Ziołek, arcing above genre simplicities.
We'll see what we'll see. Meanwhile, here's a video clip of the McClennan/Virji/Pastkewicz lineup last summer; plus Excavations, and sound from an early 2014 live set…
Chaos Theory Music Promotions presents:
Warren Schoenbright + Riotmiloo + Metalogue
Tags: Alex Virji, Baba Yaga's Hut (event/promoter), cello music, Chaos Theory (event/promoter), Daniel McClennan, Iker Ormazabal Martínez, Kuba Ziołek, listening to women, London (England), Matthew Pastkewicz, Metalogue, Riotmiloo, Rotten Bliss (Jasmine Pender), Venom Seeds, Wacław Zimpel, Warren Schoenbright, women of heart and mind, Zimpel/Ziołek
Categories 2018 music, cross-cultural music, dance, DIY music, drone music, electro-acoustic folk, electro-acoustic music, electronica, experimental music, experimental/avant-garde rock, folk music, grrlpunk, IDM, improvisation, industrial rock, instrumental music, jazz, jazz fusion, kosmische & Krautrock, loop music, No Wave, noise rock, political music, post-metal, previews, process music, protest songs, psychedelic ambient music, psychedelic folk, psychedelic rock, Riot Grrl, singer-songwriter, space-jazz, techno
July 2018 – upcoming rock gigs – A Sudden Burst of Colour, a-tota-so and Theo tear up The Facemelter (6th July); Heldon and Hirvikolari at Café Oto (14th July)
A quick boost for the heavy stuff at the Facemelter this week, and for an avant-rock return at Café Oto mid-month….
"Hailing from Motherwell, Scotland, A Sudden Burst Of Colour captures fans of electronic, ambient, dance and rock music with their soundscapes and encapsulating songwriting. Their sound is bright, shimmering and generally uplifting. The instrumental quartet have four globally acclaimed EP releases under their belt, which is evidenced by features from 'BBC Introducing', 'The Scotsman', 'Earmilk' (USA), 'Arctic Drones' (Turkey), 'Stereofox' (Germany) and many more, so this is a good time to catch them before they break into the wider world. Their recent single 'I Am The Storm' was premiered on Daniel P. Carter's BBC Radio 1 Rock Show and they're currently in pre-production for their forthcoming album, which is due for release at the end of the year."
Replacing Bristolian mathrockers Hoggs Bison (who, like Barringtone recently, have come down with a bad case of broken wrist) are "noisy math/grunge band a-tota-so (formed by members of Alright the Captain and Cheap Jazz), who we've been dying to put on for ages! In their short one-and-a-half-year existence, they've already toured the UK and Europe, shared the stage with Tera Melos, Tangled Hair, Alpha Male Tea Party, Chiyoda Ku, Memory of Elephants, VASA and many more, and played at ArcTanGent and StrangeForms Festival. After a successful crowdfunding campaign, the band recently recorded their debut album at Nice Weather For Airstrikes and Snug Recording Co. and are set to release it in September 2018.
"To open, there's a rare appearance from soloist Theo (described as "an extraordinary maelstrom of soundscapes, loops, beats and power" by 'Louder Than War), who creates layers of tight guitar melodies and riffs by looping them over and over again, before sitting down at his drum kit and smashing out some fantastic rhythms to them. The range of dynamics and changes he achieves, as well as his ability to make the entire piece a coherent tune from start to finish, is astonishing. We've seen him perform around the country, including at ArcTanGent and at our late night Facemelter with Poly-Math and EVILLOOKINGBIRD, so we're glad to see him make a return."
The Facemelter: A Sudden Burst of Colour + a-tota-so + Theo
Friday 6th July 2018, 7.30pm – information here and here
The upcoming Heldon and Hirvikolari gig at Café Oto appears to be happily selling itself without my input, partially thanks to Heldon mainstay Richard Pinhas' reputation as "the French Robert Fripp". If that's a fair comparison (and Richard has readily acknowledged that "Fripp has always been my Hendrix"), he might not have King Crimson's ability to fill larger theatres but he does seem to have a far less compromised reputation in avant-garde hubs like Oto – for one thing, you wouldn't generally find Robert Fripp going head-to-head with members of The Boredoms. A former junior philosophy professor, he jumped the academic ship in 1974, inspired by his own comparisons between philosophers and rock stars (and by his own taste for science fiction) to form an electronic rock band with a trans-sonic bent. This was Heldon, one of the very first French bands to use synthesizers, and one which would subsequently fall under the spell of King Crimson, Fripp and Brian Eno and develop their own droning improvisatory rock forms.
While the band originally only lasted for the course of the 1970s, Heldon's albums are currently being reissued by Bureau B: this year, an archive live album, 'Live in Metz 77', was released by Bam Balaam. All of which has prompted a return to live action by Richard under the Heldon name. This is their first London concert for literally decades: expect to see an excited anticipatory audience of prog/avant-rock fans of all ages.
Hirvikolari – modular synthesist Mike Bourne and processed-trumpet guy Sam Barton – are more often found being two-fifths of Teeth Of The Sea Last time round, I described them as follows: "while Teeth Of The Sea tend to play great stomping horror-slabs of musical architecture (a flying saucer spitting out rows and rows of heavily-armed tower blocks) Hirvikolari prefer to take the slow path and evolve themselves a great bolus of stewed electronic burble and resonating brass tracks. Ennio Morricone's been cited as a comparison, as has the long tradition of counter-culture festival techno: both comparisons have some grounding."
There's about three handfuls-worth of tickets left: if you want to pluck them from the eager grip of Baba Yaga's Hut, I'm sure they'd be all too willing to let you have your chance.
Heldon + Hirvikolari
Saturday 14th July 2018, 8.00pm – information here, here and here
Tags: A Sudden Burst Of Colour, a-tota-so, Baba Yaga's Hut (event/promoter), Chaos Theory (event/promoter), Heldon, Hirvikolari, London (England), Mike Bourne, Richard Pinhas, Sam Barton, Teeth Of The Sea, The Facemelter (event), Theo
Categories 2018 music, art rock, dance, DIY music, drone music, electro-acoustic music, experimental music, experimental/avant-garde rock, hard rock, heavy metal, IDM, improvisation, instrumental music, loop music, noise, post-hardcore, post-progressive rock, progressive rock, psychedelic ambient music, psychedelic rock, rock, techno
April 2018 – upcoming London experimental/electronic/hip hop gigs – Zonal (Justin Broadrick and Kevin Martin) with Moor Mother (26th April)
Zonal with Moor Mother
Corsica Studios, 4-5 Elephant Road, Elephant & Castle, London, SE17 1LB, England
Thursday 26th April 2018, 7.30pm – information here, here and here
Back in 2003 – wracked from crises of confidence and mental stability, and apparently "sick of playing to the same audience every night… white dudes dressed in black" – Kevin Martin and Justin Broadrick put the cap on twelve years of playing industrial dub and hip hop charge as Techno Animal. Simultaneously, they were suspending a decade-and-a-half of mutual appreciation and collaborations: omnivorous industrial noise-rockers God, free-jazz/hip hop/sound garglers Ice, the sax/breakbeat/datascreams of Curse Of The Golden Vampire…
Techno Animal had begun in 1990: a response by two English Midlanders to the barrelling drums, noise-volleys and unsettling atmospheres of the international industrial movement (at the time, exemplified by the varied but mutually steely work of Tackhead, Swans, Foetus and The Young Gods). Over the course of the following decade, they travelled from the boulevard screeches, Penderecki string-squeals, found broadcasts and tangled jazz steals of their 'Ghosts' debut through the squidgier, more meditative tones of 'Re-Entry' (dropping much of the hardnut New York door-hammering en route) and the chilly, minimal, irritated illbient moods of the 'Symbiotics' album (split with German dub techno duo Porter Ricks).
Although parallel Kev'n'Justin projects kept popping up, they always eventually seemed to get subsumed back into the Techno Animal mothership. The hip-hop components of Ice, in particular, informed the narcotic murmurs and beat collages of TA's third full album 'Radio Hades': it was even more apparent in the subsequent full-on turntable scratches and furious apocalyptic rap-spits riding the chassis of 2001's 'The Brotherhood of the Bomb' (which featured top-notch MC-ing from El-P, Dälek, Vast Aire and the triple-tag alliance of Anti Pop Consortium). Whether impassive or garrulous, all of Techno Animal's music sported a vein of austere, dank ambience; a pall of stern, frowning horror. Some of the evidence suggests that this came mainly from Justin, who since the late '80s had been exorcising his philosophical outrage and his horror at the world via his industrial metal band Godflesh. Eventually it would overwhelm him, with the disbanding of Techno Animal being just one symptom of a fleeing into temporary breakdown and retirement.
Many musical partnerships, especially those which disintegrate under strain, end with mixed feelings: often a toxic rage which pollutes the memory for years to come. Refreshiingly, for Justin and Kevin, there seems to have been none of this. Techno Animal's working legacy has been more a mixture of affection, mutual pride, acceptance and bewilderment; plus a sense of unfinished business which neither seemed to be able to completely pick up on. Justin worked his way back up to continue some elements of Techno Animal's work in his JK Flesh project, while Kevin already had another dance music platform in place in the shape of longterm downtempo/dub/ragga project The Bug (and, more recently, King Midas Sound. Both men also became more and more involved with DJ culture, and in 2009 there was a welcome gesture of common warmth when King Midas Sound supported a revived Godflesh at Supersonic Festival.
That said, it's taken fourteen years on for Kevin and Justin to fully settle back in each other's pockets and build on what they can do together. For now, at least – it seems to be a comfortable mutual fit. Resurrecting yet another project name (from an obscure CD-R album they spat out back in 2000 – see above), they're now travelling as Zonal, picking up on old Techno Animal pieces and some of the working methods, but apparently rejecting some of the "bruising" older preoccupations in favour of a "smacked-out hip hop" approach. Whether the minimal electronica bounce of the original Zonal is going to hold any sway over the new work is another matter: the revived partnership made a Berlin debut last year, but under the old Techno Animal monicker (footage below suggesting that whatever they've changed they're still well in touch with the old material). As far as I can tell, this Baba Yaga show is both their British debut and the formal assumption of the new Zonal identity. Possibly a project in flux; more likely a well-established idea trying on a new and better-fitting coat.
Whatever they're calling themselves, they couldn't choose a more suitable – a more timely – guest partner, than the unflinching powerful experimental rapper Moor Mother, who'll be delivering a set of her own before joining the Zonal performance. Here's what I wrote about her back in January:
"Over five dense and rapidly-evolving years of releasing and expressing, exploring and pushing, (she) has become something terrifyingly vital, cathartic and challenging. From the smooth and simple, app-driven, almost homely patchworks of her first EPs, her soundscaping and beat conjuring has developed into a jolting, stirring, often terrifying sonic canvas. Her lightning-raddled masterpiece, 2016's 'Fetish Bones' (hailed at the time as a record of the year by a sweep of critics, from the furious pseudonymous screeders on the most obscure specialised blogs right up to the ponderous proclaimers of 'Rolling Stone'), could just as equally be record of the year now. Nothing about it has dated, from the explosive Afro-futurist industrial gumbo of its construction to the horrendously untreated, uncorrected misdeeds it chronicles and the righteous rage it swings back with.
"A furious free-electronic beat investigation into the very fabric of American history from its battered black underbelly, the timbre and horror of 'Fetish Bones' reveals (her) as a burst but ever-renewing griot – willingly overwhelmed but still fighting the fight that needs to be fought. Her spit of ideas and incriminations are the symptom of an ongoing wound that won't stop being burst open: "still had enough blood in my throat to gargle up nine words – "I resist to being both the survivor and the victim" – but I know the reality…" A stern, fearless presence, she rides a broken levee's worth of dirty-historical floodwater and swirling cyclonic indictments, holding American crimes to account – male violence; systematic and institutionalised white brutality against black bodies and souls, or against the nation's own tormented psyche. Around her voice (sharp beads of slam poetry chorused and gravelled by a flicker of concrete distortion) there's a massed, jump-cutting collage of industrial-strength beats, chain gang and plantation songs, subway trains rattling into darkness, layered speeches of resistance, samplings of gospel ecstasy crossing into screams of operatic rage.
"What initially seems like a crazed searchlight, swinging pitilessly and furiously from atrocity to atrocity, rapidly reveals itself as being driven by a diamond-hard intelligence as (she) time-travels back and forth across two American centuries of wrongness, relentlessly weaving her case from aural snapshots of black culture suffering and resisting under the heel that hammers it, and never sugarcoating the price and courage of struggle ("like how mama made biscuits outa nothing, all while having a dope needle in her arm…")
Justin and Kevin will also be performing Zonal-toned DJ sets around the main event; as will Bristolian DJ Schwet, who gets the between-acts slot. As BYH are saying, "gonna get HEAVY".
Tags: Afro-futurism, Baba Yaga's Hut (event/promoter), Justin Broadrick, Kevin Martin (The Bug), London (England), Moor Mother (Camae Ayewa), Schwet (DJ), Techno Animal, Zonal
Categories 2018 music, dance, DIY music, drum and bass, dub, electro-acoustic music, electronic, electronica, experimental music, hip hop, IDM, instrumental music, noise, performance art, political music, previews, protest songs, rapping, techno
February 2018 – upcoming London gigs – Society Of Imaginary Friends Soiree with Meg Lee Chin, Keiko Kitamura, I Am Her, Kosmic Troubadour, Math Jones (2nd February); Peter Blegvad Trio and Bob Drake (9th February – plus the Club Integral Resonance Benefit Gala on the 8th); Evil Blizzard and Nasty Little Lonely (10th February)
Society of Imaginary Friends presents:
"Into The Forest" Soiree: Meg Lee Chin + Keiko Kitamura + I Am Her + Kosmic Troubadour + Math Jones
Kabaret @ Karamel Restaurant, The Chocolate Factory 2, 4 Coburg Road, Wood Green, London, N22 6UJ, England
Friday 2nd February 2018, 7.30pm – free event – information here
After a few events which were perhaps a little more predictable than we'd've hoped, this month's Society Of Imaginary Friends-hosted concert moves up a gear with the involvement of "two goddesses of Earth and Heaven". Purple twilight time:
"We take the path that leads down from the fell, over the style, over a stream and into the heart of the forest. At first it seems completely lifeless in the wood, all of its creatures hibernating deep in the ground; but as our eyes become adjusted to the dusky dark and senses atuned to its music..the rustle of a robin in the dried leaves, a squirrel's staccato, a falling pine cone. Suddenly we are in a clearing of softest moss – a place of refuge and rest, where a clear spring rises and sunlight dances. Welcome to our "Into the Forest" Soiree."
A mid-'90s Pigface member (and the former frontwoman for female noise band Crunch), industrial pop/darkwave/hip hop songstress and hands-on producer Meg Lee Chin is a prime example of longstanding female creativity and independence. Having rattled cages and excited commentators with her turn on Pigface's 'Nutopia', she then spearheaded contemporary home-studio recording with her 1999 solo album 'Piece and Love' and went on to found pro-audio community Gearslutz. Although released music has been sporadic for the last couple of decades, Meg's kept her reputation as a fascinating, brilliant performer and composer and as an outspoken, sometimes contrary blogger. SOIF, in turn, have a reputation for coaxing people's slumbering performance talents out of semi-retirement: if Meg's risen to the occasion in response, this ought to be pretty exciting.
Also on hand – and in delightful contrast – is Keiko Kitamura: known for activities ranging from replaying Japanese court music to Jah Wobble's Nippon Dub Ensemble, is a leading international koto player (in particular, the 17-string bass version) as well as a singer and shamisen player. Expect a mixture of tradition and originality.
The rest of the appropriately quirky SOIF bill is filled out by eccentric rainbow keyboard warrior The Kosmic Troubadour, poet/dramatist Math Jones (with a sheaf of forest poems) and Soiree regular I Am Her, a.k.a. ex-Rosa Mota singer Julie D. Riley (who also, with fellow Rosacian Sacha Galvagna, makes up transatlantic transcontinental electropop minimalists Crown Estate). As ever, the Society themselves are performing, presenting (presumably) art-pop forest ballads to take in with the Karamel vegan feast that's part and parcel of a SOIF event. This time, you get an appropriately woody wild forest mushroom soup, a mushroom and root vegetable pizza and some Black Forest gateau…
Here's news on one of the several fundraisers for London alt.culture radio station Resonance FM, helping it to keep up its mission of broadcasting the wild and wonderful across the Smoke's airwaves and around the world online. Even setting aside the calibre of the night's performers, it's pretty much worth going along for that reason alone.
Resonance FM presents:
Peter Blegvad Trio with Bob Drake
Friday 9th February 2018, 7.30pm – information here and here
I've always had a lot of admiration for Peter Blegvad – not only for the owlish wit of his songs (including his skill as palindromist and wordplayer) and the enviable polymathic breadth of skills which means he's also a fine experimental cartoonist, audio dramatist and commentator. It's also because anyone who can get himself sacked from '70s avant/oppositional prog gods Henry Cow by outrightly twitting their seriousness at the height of their brow-furrowing Maoist phase (and apparently by writing a lyric about a woman chucking raisins at a skeleton) is a man who knows something about whistling in the face of sternness.
Well, perhaps I shouldn't make too much of this. For one thing, despite (and because of) Henry Cow's high-flying, generally admirable idealism, spending time there seems to have been argumentative for everyone (in particular during the period in which almost every potential action appeared to have its cripping counter-bourgeois condemnation, during which a man of Peter's wayward questioning wit and self-declared flippancy would have stuck out like a slammable thumb in the way of a door). Once out of the mothership, though, it was evidently easier to be familial. Showing up most artistic spats and internal rock band feuds for the pique and piffle that they are, all of the ex-Cow-ers grew up (and grew past their arguments) to become a mutually supportive bunch. Threading in and out of each other's concerts and solo careers, they rapidly learned to welcome and celebrate the diversity of their collective interests and ideas, and they've stayed that way.
Proving this yet again, whenever the Peter Blegvad Trio comes back together it reunites Peter with two regular Cowfriends: John Greaves (bassist and longtime ally both during and after Cowdays, from the 'Kew.Rhone.' project onwards) and Chris Cutler (drummer and owner of the eclectic and honourable post-Cow record label ReR Megacorp which, since 1988, has released four widely-spaced Blegvad albums – 'Downtime', 'Just Woke Up', 'Hangman's Hill' and last year's 'Go Figure'). Thirty-seven years of on/off playing together has resulted in a relaxed, gently telepathic connection: not a mysterious communion, nor an alliance of breakneck musical stuntwork, but an easy, comfortable instinct for what's required to frame the song and no more. As for Peter himself, if you're unfamiliar with his work it's best to think of someone with one foot in the sardonic-wit songworld of Loudon P. Wainwright, Leon Rosselson, Richard Thompson and Kinky Friedman, and the other in the counterflow rock camp which the Cow shared with (among others) Faust and Pere Ubu.
And that brings me to the second point – ultimately, it's really pretty misleading to define Peter by the lineaments of Henry Cow, art-prog or Rock In Opposition. Granted, he's spent quite a bit of time paddling away in those areas (in addition to 'Kew.Rhone' and the Cow work, there's been Slapp Happy, Faust and The Lodge, as well as swing-by dates with The Golden Palominos and Art Bears). Yet if you put him firmly in the driving seat on his own, what you get isn't hyperliterate trickery, but intelligent, light-touch, surprisingly roots-rocking songs with a smart economy of tale-telling and reflection.
He's still got a yen for throwing up a thesis and exploring it (this is, after all, a man who once explored the roots and fears of the European Union via a teasing, erudite and baffling lyrical mirror-maze of classical borrowings), but more often than not he'll now use a folk or country-folk form to do so, or pick a nuanced idea to polish in a few simple strokes: something a child could pick up on but which an adult might savour. From some angles you could even confuse him (via that nasal, tuneful, breathy bark of a voice) with a more relaxed Mike Scott in acoustic mode, or even with Mark Knopfler in a moment of sardonic humanism. Although neither of them would have written a love ballad as sparse and sorrowful as Shirt And Comb, honed a metaphysical gag like Something Else (Is Working Harder) or tweaked, explored and upended a common cultural assumption the way Peter does on Gold.
One of the contributors to 'Go Figure' (along with Karen Mantler) was the delightful Bob Drake – the erstwhile Thinking Plague and 5uu's mainstay turned offbeat producer and solo artist. For more of my rambles on him, take a look over here. The long and the short about him, though, is that he's a multi-instrumentalist and hedge-bard with broad and rambling ideas about just how far you can stretch and mutate an open-ended thought or song, who now regularly heads out for solo voice-and-guitar gigs (often performing, for reasons both flippant and serious, in a lovely white bear-dog suit). Like Peter Blegvad, Bob's got a liking for complexity and warm perverse wit; but what you take away from his shows is literal shaggy-doggery: peculiar sung tales both finished and unfinished about strange mammals, haunted houses, odd habits, monster-movie scenarios and twisted eldritch dimensions.
When I originally posted this, I was under the impression that Bob was playing a solo Oto support slot, but it now appears that he's actually beefing up the Trio to a quartet, with or without the animal suit. If you still want to see Bob in solo mode, however, you could set aside some time the previous evening for another Resonance FM fundraiser: Club Integral's annual Resonance tin-shaker, being held south of the river at IKLEKTIK on Thursday 8th.
Offering "thirteen minute sets from thirteen acts", this features a wealth of music-and/or-noise-makers from the Integral playlists: improv pranksters Glowering Figs, audiovisual sculptress Franziska Lantz, ARCO composer Neil Luck, mixed-ability folk internationalists the No Frills Band, Found Drowned/Four Seasons Television guitar manipulator James O'Sullivan, sound designer/Howlround member Robin The Fog, Bob and Roberta Smith (a.ka. artist/advocate/utopian Patrick Brill) playing with his own "musical intervention" project The Apathy Band, restlessly morphing New Wave survivors Spizz, and whoever St Moritz, Two Horns, Robert Storey, Strayaway Child, Swordfish and King/Cornetto happen to be. Plus Bob – who was hoping to balance his thirteen-minute time limit with the playing of thirteen one-minute songs, but has apparently opted to settle for eleven.
(If Bob's wily, he'll also strap a few tentacles onto that fur-suit and go up and do a bit of busking by Camden Lock, staking out the London Lovecraft Festival that's also taking place that week…)
Evil Blizzard + Nasty Little Lonely
The Underworld, 174 Camden High Street, Camden Town, London, NW1 0NE, England
Wednesday 10th February 2018, 6.00pm – information here and here
Filling in a three-cornered gap between Public Image Ltd, Poisoned Electrick Head and The Residents, hilariously distressing Preston lords of misrule Evil Blizzard are bringing their act south in order to launch their 'Fast Forward Rewind' single (from upcoming third album 'The Worst Show On Earth'). Their gigs are part banging art-punk party and part horror-comedy masked ball, featuring four cranky and disparate bass guitarists; a singing, chanting drummer; and a pair of in-house stage invaders in the shape of a dancing money-chucking pig and a man running wild with a mop.
The assorted masks (hilarious and creepy) and the threatening mannequin/orc lunges may make it all look like an Auton's cheese-dream or a riot in a Black Lodge dollhouse, but underneath the screaming horse-laughs are a rattling good party band. Over the years, they've won over many a psychedelic or underground festival audience and even their own musical heroes (with Killing Joke, Hawkwind and PiL having invited them on for support slots).
Also playing are stomping industrial post-punk duo Nasty Little Lonely, who provide a bandsaw-guitar set of "post apocalyptic decadence, discarded trappings of consumerism gone awry, alienation and small furry creatures with very sharp teeth." They might possibly be tempted to dance afterwards if you encourage them enough.
Tags: Baba Yaga's Hut (event/promoter), Bob Drake, Chris Cutler, Evil Blizzard, Franziska Lantz, Glowering Figs, H.P. Lovecraft, Henry Cow, Her (Julie D. Riley), James O'Sullivan, John Greaves, Kabaret @ Karamel (event), Keiko Kitamura, King/Cornetto, listening to women, London (England), London Lovecraft Festival (event), Math Jones, Meg Lee Chin, Nasty Little Lonely, Neil Luck, No Frills Band, Peter Blegvad, Pigface, Resonance FM (broadcaster), Robert Storey, Robin The Fog, Slapp Happy, Society Of Imaginary Friends, Society Of Imaginary Friends Soiree (event), Spizzenergi (Spizz etc.), Strayaway Child, Swordfish, The Kosmic Troubadour, Two Horns, women of heart and mind
Categories 2018 music, acoustic music, agit-pop, alternative folk, alternative pop, art pop, art punk, art rock, baroque pop, cabaret, cabaret rock, ceremonial music, chamber music, chamber pop, chanson, cross-cultural music, dance, darkwave, DIY music, electro-acoustic music, experimental pop, experimental/avant-garde rock, folk music, folk-pop, IDM, industrial music, instrumental music, Japanese court music, New Music, performance art, poetry, pop, previews, progressive pop, progressive rock, psychedelic pop, psychedelic rock, punk rock, RIO (Rock In Opposition), rock, roots music, salon events, singer-songwriter, spoken word, synth pop, trip hop, world & indigenous music
December 2017 – experimental gigs up and down Britain – Kammer Klang plays Mary Jane Leach in London (5th December) plus Mette Rasmussen, Sofia Jernberg and Dawn Scarfe; Gnod R&D on tour with URUK and pals (7th, 8th, 10th); Xposed Club at Cheltenham with Alexander Hawkins, Raymond MacDonald, Sharon Gal, Stuart Wilding, Chris Cundy (8th)
Kammer Klang presents:
Kammer Klang: Ashley Paul & Ensemble (performing Mary Jane Leach) + Mette Rasmussen & Sofia Jernberg + Dawn Scarfe
Tuesday 5th December 2017, 7.30pm – information here and here
The coming month's Kammer Klang has only a tenuous relationship with contemporary classical, concentrating as it does on musicians who espouse either free improvisation or natural resonance.
The evening centres on an ensemble led by clattering, free-form multi-instrumentalist and composer Ashley Paul (who recently supported Powerdove further north at the Old Dentist) and featuring Hyperion Ensemble bass clarinettist/utility person Yoni Silver, cellist/Kammer Klang organiser Lucy Railton, onetime Sonic Youth guitarist-turned-ubiquitous London art musician Thurston Moore and Charcoal Owls' multi-instrumentalist Tom James Scott on piano (a man who generally brings a specifically Cumbrian twist to his playing, gizmo fiddling and use of field recordings). They'll be playing 'Wolff Tones E-Tude', a cellular Christian-Wolff-inspired piece by American composer Mary Jane Leach (example performance below).
Much of Mary Jane's work focusses on acoustic properties and how sound environments form in specific spaces with particular resonances and opportunities for difference, combination, and interference tones; in addition, how these may be manipulated by a performer, composer or editor (or by someone who's a combination of all or some of those things). She herself will be present for the performance, which also includes a stereo-diffused playback of her 1992 radio sound piece/hörspiel 'Kirchtraum' (about which she says "Have you ever walked into a church, and it seems as if there is sound rolling around the space that's been there for a long time? I created 'Kirchtraum' to create a sound dreamscape to create that kind of feeling. It uses the phases of a dream, going progressively further back into the past and becoming more chaotic with each phase. I used nightingales to punctuate the different phases of the dream, to differentiate between the dream and the environment…"). In addition, she'll be present for a pre-concert workshop on Sunday 3rd December from noon until 5.00pm (giving a lecture and offering feedback on pieces any composers care to bring in) and, prior to the concert on the Tuesday, participating in a public talk with Frances Morgan at 7.00pm.
Opening in the Fresh Klang slot is Dawn Scarfe, a sound artist preoccupied with "things that seem to sound themselves, such as resonating glasses, Aeolian wires and self-opening swell boxes", and who's brought this preoccupation to sound installations between Cumbria and London, Exeter and Estonia, Brussels and Seoul. Her projects include the livestreamed 'Reveil' "an annual crowdsourced live broadcast which "tracks the sound of the sunrise around the world for twenty-four hours" using open microphones provided by streamers around the world: she's described it as intending "to open a space for listening to something else – especially from places where humans and not humans meet – and in the course of one earth day to provide a sketch of this emerging field." 2017's edition included contributions from Maputo, Tehran, New York, Kolkata, Santiago de Cali, nature reserves in Cumbria's Walney Island and Australia's Noosa Biosphere Reserve, and even the Fukushima Exclusion Zone. On this occasion, Dawn will be performing 'Tuning to Spheres', written for wine glasses, sine tone generators and turntables.
Closing the evening out will be a free experimental duet between raw Danish Trio Riot saxophonist Mette Rasmussen (who works with both plain and prepared instruments) and Swedish/Norwegian singer/composer Sofia Jernberg (who works with a twisting barrage of vocal techniques including split tone singing, pitchless singing and distorted singing)
Fresh from some well-publicised collaborations with avant-rock godfathers Faust, countercultural Salford sound wizards Gnod are returning to their ongoing "R&D" tour. For more on their London weekender from last year, click here; at the moment, they're stripped back down to their core duo of Chris Haslam and Paddy Shine in order to explore the next, as-yet-undecided developments from last year's seethe of slow, dirty riffage on their bed of dub, urban discontent, psychic reportage and ritual. As part of that development, they're throwing the stage open to volunteer collaborators on the night, "be it singing , shouting, dancing, bringing an instrument/device to the table or just simply tuning in and coming along for the ride." Dust off your home-made Azimuth Co-ordinator or pocket Tettix Wave Accumulator; grab that Aztec death whistle from the back of the kitchen drawer; head down and dive in.
Following the Italian/Slovenian leg in November (in which they toured with Italian noise-rock guitar/voice/drums duo OvO and Godspeed-associated Montreal wallcrashers Big ‡ Brave), the British tour will see a blurring of support slot and Gnod expansion. The band's ranks will be pre-swollen in Glasgow by drummer and oscillator king Julian Dicken (from Glaswegian psych-rockers The Cosmic Dead) and in Bristol by murky industral-technoist Tony Child (a.k.a. Surgeon) and drummer Dan Johnson (from jazz-punkers Run Logan Run). In London, they'll be augmented by a five-strong gang of John Doran (head 'Quietus' ranter), heavy electronicist Mark Dicker (ex-Trencher, Palehorse, Bruxa Maria), Mark O. Pilkington and Michael J. York of synth-and-bagpipe psychonauts Teleplasmiste and Teeth Of The Sea trumpeter Sam Barton. In addition, the London gig has a clearly defined support act in the shape of URUK, a teamup of bass player Massimo Pupillo (of expansive no-wave trio Zu) and synthesist/multi-instrumentalist Thighpaulsandra (Coil, Spiritualized, various Julian Cope bands). URUK originates from 2016 when mutual fans Massimo and Thipe finally got together; the resulting music, debuted on this year's 'I Leave A Silver Trail Through Blackness' album, references both Coil and Zu but sinks deeper into the world of highly textured dark-ambient drones.
Corsica Studios, 4-5 Elephant Road, Elephant & Castle, London, SE17 1LB, England, Thursday 7th December 2017, 8.00pm – information
Broadcast, 427 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, G2 3LG, Scotland, Friday 8th December 2017, 7.00pm – information
Exchange, 72-73 Old Market Street, Bristol, BS2 0EJ, England, Sunday 10 December 2017, 7.30pm – information
Just time, too, to mention another Xposed Club incident over in Cheltenham, in which there'll be a meet-up duo of pianist Alexander Hawkins and saxophonist Raymond MacDonald (who between them have notched up work and/or leadership duties with Convergence Quartet, Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra, Decoy and more – we also recently saw Raymond exploring the art of the graphic score in London). Also on the bill is well-respected London experimental vocalist/Resonance FM founder Sharon Gal, engaging in duo work with Ghost Mind percussionist (and Xposed host) Stuart Wilding; and a solo set from avant-garde bass clarinet virtuoso Chris Cundy who, as mentioned here some time back, "dips into everything from the philosophical experiments of Cornelius Cardew and John Cage to out-and-out improv to theatre work."
Various tasters below:
Xposed Club presents:
Alexander Hawkins & Raymond MacDonald + Sharon Gal & Stuart Wilding + Chris Cundy
The Xposed Club @ Francis Close Hall, University of Gloucestershire, Swindon Road, Cheltenham, GL50 4AZ, England
Friday 8th December 2017, 8.00pm – information
Tags: Alexander Hawkins, Ashley Paul, Baba Yaga's Hut (event/promoter), Bristol (England), Cheltenham (England), Chris Cundy, Dan Johnson, Dawn Scarfe, Ghost Mind, Glasgow (Scotland), Gnod, John Doran, Kammer Klang (event), London (England), Lucy Railton, Mark Dicker, Mary Jane Leach, Mette Rasmussen, Palehorse, Raymond MacDonald, Run Logan Run, Sam Barton, Sharon Gal, Sofia Jernberg, Stuart Wilding, Surgeon (Tony Child), Teeth Of The Sea, Teleplasmiste, The Quietus (publication/event/record label), The Xposed Club (event/promoter), Thighpaulsandra, Thurston Moore, Tom James Scott, URUK, Yoni Silver, Zu
Categories 2017 music, 21st century classical music, acoustic music, alternative rock, drone music, electronic, experimental music, experimental/avant-garde rock, field recordings, freaktronica, IDM, improvisation, industrial music, instrumental music, interactive performances, jazz, minimalism, musique concrete, New Music, noise, noise rock, performance art, previews, process music, psychedelic ambient music, psychedelic rock, rock, skronk, sound collage, soundscapes, techno


text:
Cycle row – Telegraph India
August 23, 2020 Kumaran
In the 1950s and 60s, cars had expelled cyclists from the streets of Holland, but at great expense. By the early 1970s, road accidents were claiming thousands of lives every year and among the dead were many children. This led to a movement called Stop de Kindermoord, meaning stop child murder.
In the Dutch capital of Amsterdam, activists adopted the bicycle in protest. Around this time, the Arab countries had imposed an embargo on export of oil to Holland and a few other European countries for supporting Israel. This led to a steep rise in oil prices. Even politicians began to see the advantage of a lifestyle not too dependent on oil. Holland, and especially Amsterdam, began to change.
Amsterdam is currently known as the bicycle capital of the world. Calcutta today, despite all obvious differences, may be where Amsterdam was in the 1970s, feels Bicycle Mayor of Calcutta Satanjib Gupta. The title conferred on Gupta by BYCS, an Amsterdam-based global network that promotes the bicycle, may sound absurdly grand, but the lockdown has led to so many absurdities already.
"Have you seen photographs of the Howrah Bridge during lockdown," asks Gupta. "Full of bicycles, it was a wonderful sight." The number of bicycles in the city's streets, estimated to have been over three lakh before the lockdown, has gone up several times. Its sales have soared since June. "The cycle is not only helping maintain livelihoods but also opening up livelihood options," says Gupta. It is helping the delivery of products and services.
This, for Gupta, could be the moment of change for Calcutta.
The bicycle is the perfect vehicle for social distancing, for exercise, especially for lung power — advocated during the Spanish Flu, too — and for immunity. It is fuel-free and hence an antidote to climate change; cheap and almost zero-maintenance. It ensures equality of all and had played its part in empowering women. And yet, how poorly it has fared in Calcutta, which also has the highest percentage (11 per cent) of bicycle commuters among all Indian metros. Over the last two decades, it has slowly been pushed off the streets by the authorities.
A circular issued by the police commissioner in 2008 had banned bicycles, categorised as "slow-moving vehicles", from 38 city streets. In 2013, another police circular raised the number of streets to an impossible 174. In 2014, that was brought down to 62 by yet another circular. Cyclists would complain of harassment by the police, who would stop them and impose fines arbitrarily.
So this year, after a nod from the chief minister, on June 9, the latest police circular raised hopes. It stated that with public transport restricted because of the pandemic, all bicycles would be allowed in the lanes and bylanes. But the harassment of cyclists continues, claim enthusiasts, and there is no clarity about routes. "Why can't the main thoroughfares be opened for now to bicycles," asks Gupta.
A humiliating fine had led Raghu Jana to found the Kolkata Cycle Samaj with his friends in 2009; its primary aim is to get the ban lifted. Jana, a private tutor, who took part in political movements, speaks about the peculiar position the bicycle occupies, or does not occupy, in the law and regulations of the city.
The classic way to undermine someone is to look through. It applies to bicycles too. "The bicycle is never addressed," rues Jana. It is only banned. "Two years ago, we saw a police notice asking cyclists to follow the rules. We were glad. They were speaking to us," he says.
Encouraged, he and his Kolkata Cycle Samaj colleagues met a senior police official. But nothing changed.
Jana points out that the police circulars were issued under the West Bengal Traffic Regulation Act, 1965, and the West Bengal Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, but there is no specific body of rules in the city relating to the bicycle. "We are only told what we can't do," he says.
The roads have only "No Cycling" signs.
Sabuj Sathi, the state government showpiece programme, is far more successful in distributing bicycles among school students in the districts. This is ironic for a city in which the bicycle, which became popular in its contemporary form from the 1880s, had enjoyed pride of place. It is even said that in 1870, a Santragachhi resident manufactured a bicycle that would require two persons to ride it, says Gupta. Eminent Bengalis, including Dwijendranath Tagore, J.C. Bose and his wife Abala Bose, P.C. Ray and Nilratan Sircar, had all patronised the bicycle, Gupta adds.
In Rabindranath Tagore's short story Ponrokkha (1911), a young man yearns for a bicycle, which promises him freedom and joy, at only Rs 125. Personal Assistant, a 1959 Bengali film, has a beaming Bhanu Bandyopadhyay breezing through the still elegant and roomy central Calcutta roads on his bicycle, at par with motor cars.
"Just the joy of riding a cycle," says Jana. "Your body develops a unique relationship with it." He questions the right of the police to decide the fate of cycles in the city. "This is a matter of urban planning," he stresses. And of policy. Yet he is hopeful. "This is a moment of transition. Many may not want to give up on the joy of riding a bicycle when things normalise," he says.
The bicycle just needs a little encouragement in the city."At the moment, it will be enough if the guard rails, lying everywhere now, are used to mark off a part of street at one end for cycles," says Jana. Official bicycle lanes can be created later. "This is also the best moment for the ban to be lifted," he adds.
State transport secretary Prabhat Mishra is happy that so many cycles are in the streets. "But finding space in the city (for bicycles) is the biggest challenge," he adds. In Calcutta, roads constitute only 7 per cent of the city area.
The larger issue is an absolute lack of transport policy, says leading environment activist from the city, Naba Dutta. Since the formulation of the Comprehensive Mobility Plan (2001-2025) and discussions around another plan in 2011, there has been no planning for the city," says Dutta. Roads, flyovers, overbridges have been built, but in a piecemeal, ad hoc way. "CNG buses are yet to roll out in the streets and bicycle lanes were part of the original plan of the E.M. Bypass."
The lack of planning has been made worse by the lack of environmental concern, says Dutta. Like bicycles, trams have been removed from the city streets. The car culture has overtaken everything and the bicycle has become the poor person's vehicle. All this despite the fact that vehicular emissions are the biggest contributor to air pollution in Calcutta.
At more than 350 cars per kilometre, Calcutta is one of the country's most car-dense cities. Since the lockdown, with many cars off the street, the air feels much clearer. A study by the Centre for Science and Environment shows that peak levels of particulate matter or PM 2.5 and nitrogen dioxide have dropped by 46 and 74 per cent, respectively, during the lockdown compared with pre-lockdown days.
"The stretch from Sealdah to Dalhousie can be made car-free. Before the lockdown, lakhs of people walked down the stretch every day to reach their workplaces and back. Same for the Chitpore to Esplanade stretch," says Dutta. Calcutta could also use its waterways, he adds. "From our environmental platform Sabuj Mancha, we have been repeatedly asking the government for a comprehensive transport policy," says Dutta, a cyclist himself.
Urban planner Tathagata Chatterjee, who is professor in the department of Urban Planning and Governance at Bhubaneswar's Xavier University, also insists on an overall transportation policy, but with planned intervention. "Just setting up bicycle lanes is not enough. This happened in Bhubaneswar, where now they are mostly used as parking."
"Planning for cycle and pedestrian infrastructure needs to be addressed together," says Chatterjee, stressing on a strategy that uses different modes of transport. He assesses the disadvantages of Calcutta to accommodate such transport: the population density, extreme low road space, mixed traffic, road condition, encroachments, car parking, garbage dumps, movement of pedestrians, chances of collision with motorised vehicles, particularly autos, scooters and motorbikes, weather conditions of rain and heat, and lack of supporting infrastructure. Where does one park the bicycle is an important question he raises.
But Calcutta has its advantages. It is a city of small distances. An average trip length in Calcutta is about five to six kilometres. Chatterjee says that this and a system of feeder transport can help the bicycle here. "In Calcutta, cycles should be used for short neighbourhood streets, not main roads. Dedicated cycle lanes are more suitable for planned areas such as New Town and Salt Lake," he adds. According to him, while treating trams as feeder transport, authorities need to focus on creating a non-motorised rail-based mass transit system linking suburban rail, Metro rail and trams. Attention should be paid to good pedestrian infrastructure too. Thought has to go into creating parking spaces for bicycles. Cycle-friendly cities such as Copenhagen, London, Singapore — have done all of this. "The Comprehensive Mobility Plan has to be revisited," says Chatterjee.
In the meantime, here, the public sector undertaking Hidco is encouraging bicycles in the New Town area and the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority has decided to take part in the national-level competition "Cycles 4 Change Challenge" organised by the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs.
A 56-year-old Calcuttan, Sudipto Roy, chief public relations officer of a multinational company that also manufactures car batteries, has turned cycle fan. He has taken to cycling to work every day during lockdown. He says, "In two months my blood pressure and blood sugar levels have come down."
He too has a question — "Why does this city reward the motorists and punish the cyclists?"
Source: https://www.telegraphindia.com/calcutta/post-covid-19-cycle-row-in-calcutta/cid/1789805
ACP loses fight against virus, Covid claims ninth Kolkata cop – Times of India
Kolkata: School alumni reach out to retired teachers – Times of India
Enough is enough. Polls over, stop political wrangling, says Calcutta high court – Times of India
October 9, 2021 Kumaran
Road to GIS 2023: MoUs worth ₹7k cr signed at Kolkata roadshow, investors hail U.P's 'tremendous potential' – Hindustan Times
January 17, 2023 Kumaran
Kolkata Cinema Owners Awaits Centre, State Orders To Resume Functioning From October 1 – NDTV
September 27, 2020 Kumaran

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Kenny Chesney releases sweet song about his late dog Ruby, donates proceeds to animal rescue
Home » Kenny Chesney releases sweet song about his late dog Ruby, donates proceeds to animal rescue
If there's one thing that celebrities have in common with the rest of us, it's that they love their pets. No matter how rich and famous you are, an animal's love can be the best thing in the world.
Like country superstar Kenny Chesney, who was heartbroken after the death of his beloved dog Ruby. But now, he has a new single that's not only a tribute to late his dog, but is raising money to help other animals in need.
pasphotography / Shutterstock.com
On December 4, Chesney announced on Instagram that his rescue dog Ruby had passed away. He praised her as a calming presence in his life who loved unconditionally.
"Ruby lived her life never holding anything against anybody," Chesney wrote. "She had an ancient, calming soul. She was honest and authentic, she was a protector, she took a warrior's path in the journey of her life."
"We loved you and thank you for teaching us how to love unconditionally. You were one heaven of a dog."
A post shared by Kenny Chesney (@kennychesney)
But the country star decided to honor Ruby's life, and pay it forward to other dogs like her, with a new charitable single.
Chesney had previously written and recorded a song about Rudy called "Da Ruba Girl," which was a fan favorite on his SiriusXM channel No Shoes Radio but never released as a single or on an album.
After Ruby's death, Chesney decided to finally release it as a single — with proceeds going to Stray Rescue of St. Louis.
Chesney says the song — with lyrics recalling Ruby's days as a shelter dog, calling her "last in line, last cage at the rescue" — has resonated with fans because it's a tribute not only to Ruby's spirit and personality, but dogs like her everywhere.
"I wrote 'Da Ruba Girl' about Ruby, because she was this spirit who had so many different pieces to who she was," Chesney told People. "People loved the song, I think, because they all knew a dog who had the same kind of spirit or heart, you know, the kind who was an underdog, who wasn't the obvious choice."
"No one had a bigger, bolder heart than Ruby," he wrote on Twitter.
In supporting a charitable rescue with his song, Chesney hopes that other shelter dogs like Rudy will find their own happiness.
"They give so much love, so much joy and loyalty," Chesney told People. "It's one of the most wonderful things about the Stray Rescue of St. Louis shelter is the way they find the dogs people abandon and throw away, who may have been abused or just left somewhere and they heal them, then find them homes where all that love they have can be returned."
No one had a bigger, bolder heart than Ruby. I'm proud to say #DaRubaGirl will be available to download and stream for the first time Friday. All proceeds from the song will go to @StrayRescue.
Pre-save/pre-add & donate to this great organization: https://t.co/EJ6hl4dQ2Z pic.twitter.com/tRdLvso3yl
— Kenny Chesney (@kennychesney) December 8, 2022
"For every dog in the world like Ruby, I hope 'Da Ruba Girl' can bring them new homes, raise money for the shelter and remind people there's a really profound love that happens when you adopt a rescue who truly needs a home."
"They say we rescue them, but I know from experience we're really the ones who are rescued," Chesney wrote on his website. "And I also know some of the biggest angels on earth are the people who work in the shelters, healing these poor, abandoned, often abused babies. Ruby was everything good, and in her memory, this is her way of continuing to give and bring love where it's most needed."
The single is available on iTunes, and on all streaming platforms. All proceeds from the song will be donated, and fans can also make their own donation to Stray Rescue of St. Louis in honor of Ruby.
This isn't the first time Chesney has used his fame to help animals in need. He previously helped relocate 1,400 cats and dogs to new homes during Hurricane Irma in 2018.
It's always heartbreaking to lose a dog, but we're glad that Kenny Chesney is paying such a sweet tribute to Ruby and raising money for such a good cause.
Please share this heartwarming news ❤


text:
Nguyễn Phúc Trú ou Nguyễn Phúc Chú ( - ), connu également sous le nom du seigneur Ninh (), dignitaire vietnamien et membre de la famille des Nguyễn. Il règne de 1725 à 1738.

Notes et références

Seigneur de la dynastie Nguyễn
Naissance en janvier 1697
Décès en juin 1738
Décès à 41 ans

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


If you're wondering how Dave totes all of that, he says it, "all packs down and is carried along with other essential items in my Maxpedition Fatboy Versapack or on my person." Check out all the details at Everyday Carry . . .
In which state can you own a handgun at 16?
CAT is much more reliable.
Is a CATS better? Yes.
Would I carry a CATS? Sometimes, but not always – too bulky.
Will I carry a RATS? Yup. No excuse not to.
Beats the absolute crap out of trying to use a belt.
Its already attached to an IFAK, by itself yeah I can see a rats being easier to deal with but when you already have it packed onto a kit a CAT or SOF-T doesn't increase bulk that much at all, especially when flat packed. Not to mention the RATS has been proven in studies to not provide the occlusion necessary to seal off a full major arterial bleed.
But yes, its better than a belt, but VERY marginally.
I've tried the CAT ones on Ebay for $7, work great, pack easy.
Rofl. Only when they're used incorrectly. Just like all the other tq's on the market.
Looks like he works security at Maxpedition. Ha.
I'd say someone at Maxpedition was clever enough to troll Everyday Carry for free advertising.


text:
Q: "Error: Aesthetics must be either length 1 or the same as the data" Why? Wickham (2009: 164-6) gives an example of plotting multiple time series simultaneously. The following code replicates his example:
  range01 <- function(x) {
      rng <- range(x, na.rm = TRUE)
      (x - rng[1])/diff(rng)
  }

  emp <- subset(economics_long, variable %in% c("uempmed", "unemploy"))
  emp2 <- ddply(emp, .(variable), transform, value = range01(value))
  qplot(date, value, data = emp2, geom = "line", color = variable, linetype =     variable)
  # Produces a plot that looks like the one on p. 166 of the ggplot2 book.

Here range01 is used to recode variables to values within [0,1] so series with different orders of magnitude can be plotted on identical scales. Wickham's original also starts with the employment data provided with ggplot2 and melts it into long form, but here I've taken the shortcut of starting with the employment_long version.
But Wickham (p. 27) also points out that tapping the "full power" of ggplot2 requires manual construction of plots by layers, using the ggplot() function. Here is his example again but using ggplot() instead of qplot():
# Now do the same thing using ggplot commands only
ggplot(data = emp2, aes(x = date)) +
  geom_line(aes(y = value, group = variable, color = variable, linetype = variable))
# Get the same results

Both examples take advantage of ggplot2's default settings. But suppose we want greater control over the aesthetics. Perhaps some variables lend themselves to particular color schemes (e.g., green might be used for environmentally friendly variables and black, for detrimental ones); or perhaps in a long monograph with many plots we just want to ensure consistency. Furthermore, if the plots will be used both in presentations and printed black-and-white text, we may also want to associate specific line types with particular series; this could also be the case if we are concerned about viewers with color blindness. Finally, variable names usually are poor descriptors of what variables really are, so we want to associate variable labels with the individual time series.
So we define the following for the economics dataset:
# Try to control the look a bit more
economics_colors = c("pce" = "red", "pop" = "orange", "psavert" = "yellow",
    "uempmed" = "green", "unemploy" = "blue")
economics_linetypes = c("pce" = "solid", "pop" = "dashed", "psavert" = "dotted",
    "uempmed" = "dotdash", "unemploy" = "longdash")
economics_labels = c(
    "pce" = "Personal consumption expenditures",
    "pop" = "Total population",
    "psavert" = "Personal savings rate",
    "uempmed" = "Median duration of unemployment",
    "unemploy" = "Number of unemployed"
)

Now construct the plot by adding separate layers (Wickham 2009: 164-5) for each variable:
# First do it line-by-line
employment.plot <- ggplot(emp2) + aes(x = date)  +
  scale_linetype_manual(values = economics_linetypes, labels = economics_labels)
employment.plot <- employment.plot +
  geom_line(data = subset(emp2, variable == "uempmed"),
      aes(y = value, linetype = "uempmed"), color = economics_colors["uempmed"])
employment.plot <- employment.plot +
  geom_line(data = subset(emp2, variable == "unemploy"),
            aes(x = date, y = value, linetype = "unemploy"), color = economics_colors["unemploy"])
employment.plot
# Except for the specific line colors, produces the same plot as before.

Notice two things here. First, line types are mapped but colors are set (see Wickham 2009: 47-49). This produces the desired result of a single legend with distinct color-linetype combinations for each series.
Second, even though the data are organized in "long" format, we used subset to select out individual series. This is not the best solution. As Wickham (164-5) says:

... a better alternative is to melt the data into a long format and
  then visualize that. In the molten data the time series have their
  value stored in the value variable and we can distinguish between
  them with the variable variable.

So let's try this approach:
# Now try it the automatic way
employment.plot <- ggplot(data = emp2, aes(x = date))  +
  scale_linetype_manual(values = economics_linetypes, labels = economics_labels)
employment.plot <- employment.plot +
  geom_line(aes(y = value, group = variable, linetype = economics_linetypes), color = economics_colors)
employment.plot
# Throws "Error: Aesthetics must be either length 1 or the same as the data (1148) ..."

As the comment indicates, this code throws an error regarding the aesthetics. Why?
Also, is there another way to accomplish the multiple goals of using melted data with the single variable variable triggering separate lines, controlling which colors and line types are associated with each series, and using code to standardize such conventions across multiple plots?
References
Wickham, Hadley. 2009. ggplot2: Elegant Graphics for Data Analysis. Springer.

A: The aesthetics should always be mapped to a dimension of the dataset.
What you are saying with the last command is: "For each 'data point' (or group in this case) assign a linetype equal to its economics_linetypes."
But there is not (yet) information on how to map each record (group) to any value in economics_linetypes. So it rightly return an error.
What you should do is map the linetype to the dimension that controls it. That is: "for each value in this dimension, use a different value of linetype" i.e.:
geom_line(aes(y = value, group = variable, linetype = variable)

Once we have that defined we can map the value of variable to a specific linetype with the definition of a scale:
scale_linetype_manual(values = economics_linetypes, labels = economics_labels)

All of this appplies to color as well of course, so at the end we have:
employment.plot <- ggplot(data = emp2, aes(x = date))  +
    geom_line(aes(y = value, group = variable, linetype = variable, color = variable)) +
    scale_linetype_manual(values = economics_linetypes, labels = economics_labels) +
    scale_color_manual(values = economics_colors, labels = economics_labels)

Hope this is clear enough.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Set in a single room of an average American hotel, "Room 104" tells a different story of the assorted characters who pass through it in each episode.
Room 104 Season 1 was released on HBO 637d ago in the US.
Notify me when Room 104 Season 1 is available.


Porcelain skinned Far Eastern icons.
At a time when people are resorting to solariums to fake a tan, it is strange to be told that in a perpetually sunny country where glowing sun-kissed skin can be had naturally, women are shying away from the sun instead because of their 'fair, porcelain' complexion. This, if one Singaporean magazine writer is to be believed, that is.
Last weekend in one corner of social media, women were up in arms about this writer's definition of the 'perfect' Singapore girl.
The main problem with her soundbite is that it purported to represent an entire nation's view of what female beauty means. The nation in question has long prided itself as a multi-racial society. Singapore's population of more than 5 million consist of Chinese, Malays, Indians and Eurasians (the four official ethnic groups) plus a whole lot of other ethnicities in recent times, no thanks to migration.
The tirade of responses to the writer's opinion came largely from bonafide Singaporean women - unfortunately for her, it is the very same group of females she had attempted to speak on behalf of. Given the country's culturally diverse population, one will be hard pressed to single out a typical Singaporean beauty. Her inference that female Singaporeans desire to look like their far eastern counterparts could not be any further from the truth. Need I even ask if you really believed fair, porcelain skin is the classic complexion of a sunny island's inhabitants?
Marc by Marc Jacobs in a global talent hunt to star in its spring 2015 advertising campaign.
It is the writer's prerogative to subscribe to her own ideals of what 'beautiful' means but she should not have pinned it up like it was a consensual national standard. Above all, she has let slip a golden opportunity to educate the world on Singapore's unique cultural mix which has produced an eclectic mix of beautiful faces, quite unlike the homogeneity of the two countries she seemed to be hero worshipping.
The ensuing uproar on social media was therefore understandable.
When Marilyn Monroe said, "Give a girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world", she probably didn't believe that shoes make the man. Who can blame her? Unlike women who can never have too many shoes, shoes tend to be an afterthought for most men.
Researchers at the University of Kansas found that people were able to correctly judge a stranger's personality traits just by looking at the person's shoes.
BAM! Shoes are a source of first impressions, guys. They aren't a trivial fashion accessory as you thought they were. They communicate everything about you.
These shoes are made for talking. Part of my husband's shoe collection.
With that, I am going to give it a shot and read you like an open book based on your shoes. Then, you tell me if I have been spot on or missed the bull's eye.
Image conscious and high maintenance. You take pride in personal grooming from head to toe and nail the smart casual look like no one can. In tune with the latest trends, your friends count on you for shopping and styling tips. You admire Cristiano Ronaldo for his sartorial splendour more than for his sporting talent.
Discounting the fact that sandals are a practical footwear solution for the sweaty, tropical climate (still, not an excuse to wear only sandals for all occasions), you are nonchalant and feel comfortable in your own skin. You're laid-back and do not see why you should succumb to societal pressure.
You are a conservative guy who holds fast to family values and tradition. But that doesn't mean you aren't capable of making people laugh with your silly jokes; you do so when in the right company. You're versatile and well-read. In all that you do, including fashion, you choose comfort over everything else.
These shoes are always a visual delight. As the wearer, you are traditional, stable, confident, dependable and self-conscious. The husband and father material. Very often, you dress stylishly and maintain a pulled-together look. You are knowledgeable about diverse topics. You are also a gentleman and a loyal friend who knows how to show yourself (and hopefully others) some respect.
Easy going, simple and low-key. You don't take yourself too seriously, are fun loving and get along well with everybody. You are young or young at heart and a cool mate to hang out with.
You are either a real hiking enthusiast who extends your passion to your fashion or a guy who hasn't climbed a flight of stairs for a while but wants to look like a toughie. Seriously, we're going to the burger joint for a quick bite, do you really need to wear those shoes?
Uhm. I'll just let the pictures paint a thousand words for this one.
Now that you know how much your shoes can say about you, it is time I bring you some GOOD NEWS.
You can now up your stylish factor and confidence level by a few notches easily with brogues. Yes, brogues! Didn't I tell you they're my favourite men's shoes?
Here's the thing. The good people at Sole Perfect have put together a winning formula to bring you premium quality men's shoes at a fraction of the high end boutique prices. The shoes are handcrafted from high quality European leather by skilled artisans. Sole Perfect is the sole distributor of FURANO shoes in Singapore.
from now until 30 June 2015.
Ladies, you're wondering what good this is for you, I know. How about rewarding the man in your life with a great gift from Sole Perfect this Father's Day? Might I add, a meaningful gift which speaks volumes of his personality without even saying a word.
If you have further questions, Sole Perfect will be happy to assist. Just get in touch with them on their Facebook page today.
With your new pair of stylish brogues from Sole Perfect, you will be letting your feet do the talking.


Legal Name: Andrew Clark Slaters.
"I have used the service of Andrew Clark Slaters for at least 25 years. They are prompt, regular, reasonable and trustworthy. The work is always of the highest standard."
Roofing maintenance and new glass fiber roof section.
"Very good personal service. Good communication and speedy response. "
Replacing lead gutter and flashing small chimney including erecting scaffolding for access.
"Work done quickly and efficient with minimal disruption."
Annual roof inspection and repairs as required to several estates around Dundee.
"Good quality and reliable trades men. "
Cleared gutters and repaired roof.
Roof works - to including slate, gutter and cement skew works.
"Very helpful, friendly and professional. "
Replace roof tile and unit on guttering and cleaning gutters.
"Excellent job. Capable and efficient workers."
Repair several areas of guttering.
"I paid 1/12 of the shared cost. (work on tenement roof)"
Replacing a downpipe from gutter to drain due to corrosion at downpipe junctions with gutter on a two storey house. (I have since had other work carried out on house at garage roofs).
"The slates worked very efficiently doing a tidy job cleaning and debris from the site. His attitude was always very pleasant and friendly and I would employ him again as required. "
Replacing slates on a garage; fixing rhone on a lodge. Work only done yesterday (23/5/17) not billed yet.
Friendly yet professional very trustworthy and reliable. We use this firm frequently when required. "
Replacement of a Chinese hat, chimney cowl, damaged by recent high winds.
"Mr.Clark was contacted on the day that the damage occurred. He undertook to attend the next morning and arrived at the time intimated the day before.
The work was carried out with speed and efficiency and at a competitive price. I would without hesitation, recommend this firm.
I have used this firm: Less than 2 years"
I have used this firm for 1st time."
"Everything carried out to my satisfaction."
Repair to missing and broken slates.General check over roof.
"Always prompt,reliable and efficient. Re-assuring to have a dependable local service."
"Prompt and efficient service. We are very happy."
"1st class service from start to finish cannot fault Andrew Clark Slaters at all."
Repairing leak and fixing back loose tile.
"It was an emergency situation as my roof was leaking and rain was pouring in. The workmen came very quickly, assessed the problem and fixed it immediately."