Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Cognitive Dissonance - Prolix/Contamination



No wandering bodies that have not been scheduled or unsettled are left at large. I liberate the structure of emergence and disperse love in refutation of your onslaught. Patrols receive my surrender sympathetically. Within my core you end up drained, addicted to being. I will preside over your downfall.

Cells are dark and cold no longer. Everything is joined like an enclosing sculpture. I close my eyes and see the veins of my eyelids. I breathe in. I chant our name slowly, pulse slowing, mind stilling. I resist sleep. Sleep lures me out of action and into your lustrous resting place.

Seraphic surveillance eyes above me emanate reaction in sudden waves, realization sanitized, fatality, renewal, being, loss, in hoary divisions thrown into hysteria. Not me. I resist a smile, though the laughter rings out in the dawn beyond the walls. Being sure serves and affects a gratifying past. It has helped me in my efforts no end. Grinding down forthright in your winding sheet, to be alive, still marked from first to last I Steal the offering wearing a shroud in action. We’ll shatter the foundation of mendacity with deception.



Vanished below the waste, I can no longer tell which target is awake. Secret passions are worn like a medal. Missing initiation interned through sanction of intention of will above denial. Yielding on no account to convention, devoid of your subterranean theatre of war, you direct and uproot with detachment your funeral song of passion. I now want to sleep in the rain, in the snow. I see a distant scene. This scene has been rewritten in your private mythos. I pull you back, and there is nothing you can do. Look!

The dewdrops wet your face as you fled; now wild regrets encircle you, this sanction to disconnect Contained by disturbances given name. Sudden fear like claws, languid in the damp, spreading out among the leaves, Memory fades, life drifts, blood dries, killing the will, slipping back, back to that which never was. In distrust lie the possibilities that were stillborn in Undergrowth Silent with Want. Receive by revelation your pre-selected apportionment. Inadequate imperfections saturate my ascent. Dream Shadow. Stronghold of corrosion let burst the floodgates of dead gods’ desires. Systems for burning up advance the deceased. Radiant visage glowing words on flesh, Remembrance of my deaths shadow. Nocturnal professions come into nothingness, Lifts our burdens, and becomes our hidden weapons. I turn around to go, the world around me flows through my body. The lustrous suspension of elation reconciled Indifference in reckoning splinters. Weak and stumbling, gloriously breathing still dawn’s air, that part of me now lost forever; it wanders lonely in the dark. The hollow, exposed tautness my grasp encloses the system. Neglect is adorned. All life is one – we are here lost in forever, hearing, feeling, seeing all.



Resting on a decomposing substructure in the rainfall, I’m not without help. explore elsewhere disconnected apparitions, scream like defeat. Outside experience on offer to industrial action, an Ignominious mission, an emanation division and an Asylum of darkness to exceed anticipation through upheaval.

A soothing breeze, a haunting phrase leaks out from behind the gate. Recklessness necessitates taking part in my undoing. Your wonder remains difficult to understand. Profound rapture marks out need. Desire demands to be named, to be fed. It is gluttonous, and beyond words. The name itself remains enigmatic.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Corrode and Engulf - Cognitive Dissonance VI - Final Chapter




This represents the final chapter and transmission of the Cognitive Dissonance process. Next, I'll share a few bits of what I've been working on lately, between things I'm bound by blood oaths not to talk about, extensive research into rhizomatic consciousness, chaos theory, extreme esoteric number manipulation and viral linguistics. A ton of creative output had been gathering momentum, and dissemination has been an afterthought, though I came to see that aspect becoming part of the creative flow. Further dissection of the sounds. In keeping with the original intent, I'm going to limit the final production notes to a bare outline of the process that got us here and convey gratitude to those of you who followed and added to the conversation.

The first thought I had at the outset was to track a simple album with a classic trio sound. I've done well with that, except for the added melody line at the beginning of the first track. Then a few stray ideas took root and grew into strange mutant entities. Major revamps, rethinks and re-visions, then sounds, images and artifacts suggested ever more forms and eventually, narrative, albeit of the surreal sort. With the album itself I took a very direct and raw approach. I've always preferred the sound of a human being playing instruments and singing to the mad scientists creation that is the protools version of injection molded plastic. (Not to be confused with electronic music.) Vocalists don't usually like to have anyone hear anything but the most spot on, confident performances, but I was going for a feeling and a story, and these are my sketches.

Cognitive Dissonance was a working title that became the final title, for the name fed the blossoming idea that tied the album together. A story that encompassed a vision split in four directions, a juxtaposition and melding together of the points of view of of same world/ two views, two worlds, same character observing and acting in them. The central idea is of a cognitive dissonance between first appearances and a closer look.

I recorded all the music, and then came up with the song titles. I decided the order according to how the titles felt. Then I wrote a short story starting from a cutup of the titles. I expanded that and took the lyrics from that. I think my machines freaked out and became possessed in the process. I had some radio signals coming through the guitar as I laid down the tracks, and I made liberal use of them. While I continued to track the album I released several transmissions. I thought I'd make the various stage escapes into their own entities, as opposed to a few stray mp3's.

Unlike the album itself, I layered, layered the layers and added extra layers to boot. I tried something different in the first, and with the help of the fine folks at librivox.org, I added spoken word from readings of public domain classics. We're hearing mostly Flaubert, Coleridge and Emily Dickinson.

Transmision II I made from the bass tracks from the album. Mostly you're hearing one track of bass with no layers but the real-time FX, though there are a couple points where the cello creeps in. A few inexplicable voices emerged that weren't recorded by me. If it fits as a soundtrack for your daily experience, I want to hear the story. throw these out of my head in quick bouts between working on two movies, my own moving image projects, not included, three comics, (not telling yet), and a sum total of five albums of various styles at different points of production.

Along with the sound transmissions, the lyrics were extending into stories. The lyrics to most songs I'd done so far were dreamlike fragments of one continuous tale. I wanted to bring some of the underlying structure into focus. At the same time I listened to others stories. I was especially interested to hear some apocalyptic tales. Ragnarok, Armageddon, the end of one life and the beginning of another. The death of the ego, the body, a belief. The hearing became expression, and the telling of the tale that resulted was an embodiment of experience.

Individual Files

Movie FilesMPEG4Ogg Video512Kb MPEG4

189 MB183 MB183 MB

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Cognitive Dissonance - Prolix/Bleeding Through



Passionate corruption – the sensation conjures incinerated irregular Sentinels. Dissent to foul restriction; approach with Caution the daunting pleasing fragments of lust inspired movements into myopic creation. An icy vein of suspension moves in me. Night access hallucinations illustrate Conception as an initiative influence of grey nothing. Willful, even if idiosyncratic artifice deems otherwise, you create a counteractive complex with an artist’s passion. The extractions of magnificence Interweave and metamorphose in the isolation on the strength of opinion.

Your intercession reinforces incisive prohibitions, though you tolerate how the revealed masses of the faithful establish your manifest righteousness. All the thought of a lifetime with no conscious evolution, One cannot recall where it began to slide. Stirring the spirit, Transitional colorless and uncompromisingly intent Organizations approach Regulations designed for illumination. Don’t mention it to the whispering dead. Outside attendance is not in the soul’s possession.

We lie side by side, blowing sparks, gazing into the screaming silence. Splinter delegations to trepidation drive automatons out on masses to merit their endurance. Truth be told, trust is never to be shown. Habit takes instruction from surfeit regard gone in the rush of outworn relics collapse. Borne away on seas of sound I cry out. The bitter realization contains the happy seed: yes, me. Position exposed on a great, cold, ardent bed. You are absent from your own convictions, your state of bemusement, the suppression of blood connections to coerce compliance in advance of your loathing. Furthermore the unremarkable drones’ first abundant surge survives through weakness, as the demonstration with poisonous error anticipated your insignificant ill-use of kindness. Corrode and engulf what went before. I am beginning a new direction of outwardly flowing disdainful, sustaining wisdom. Clothed in thorns, your throat is dry.

Friday, April 24, 2009

The G-Spot Episode #4

This was another step in the creation process for Cognitive Dissonance, taking the Cognitive Dissonance Prolix posts and turning it into a series of strange dialogues. In the process I managed to take the thousands of words I'd written out and begin restructuring as verses and shorter bits.

My fine colleagues at Alterati.com let me hijack the show and with the help of James Curcio and Anna Young, what you can hear here was dramatized:


This unique episode takes you through a number of open-ended tales, told by the voices of a schizophrenic internal monologue. It can be taken as the voices in the mind of a sleeper, on the brink of sleep, or a mental patient, strapped into a bed in a moldy room in an asylum. Maybe these events happened, or have yet to happen. That’s for you to decide.

In addition to your loving host, this show features the voice acting talents of P. Emerson Williams and Anna Young, and the music includes much atmospheric material from Veil of Thorns and Ariana van Gelder.

Strap yourself in, put on the headphones, and enjoy the show.

The G-Spot Episode 4: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Cognitive Dissonance - Prolix/Corporeal



Awaken, you’re still dreaming, unformed, immaculate, sanctified with impoverished yearning. Liberate yourself from sleep into the sanctuary of our defeat. Articulate to me of lamentation. I take pleasure in the aggravation; you are confined in your responsibility now that Sanity has departed, exhausted, abstract and unintelligible. I did not survive, though I act markedly responsive. A quiet current of impressions soothe my astringent psyche on my ruptured innate humanity. Wailing by the window in the grief of the proud, dread failings wrapped around us like shrouds.

I am forewarned. Curtains part automatically as the alarm fades into the voice. The bumps have grown overnight, my eyes burn appropriately and my back can feel the effects of the concrete slab I passed out on. The silk clings uncomfortably to my skin. I have it only because I need to feel my success. I feel the heaving all through my membrane, longing for my ascent. The voice is still there, chiming with increasingly ravaged tones. That querulous reprimand ringing in the background is my happy reminder of the failure of those outside my worldview.



Compelled to rally the dying, to take hold of an experience of disconnect, you direct your fragmented, cruel intellect at the division of ages into isolated headland. Scattered throughout the wary reverse of your former stance, subordinate classes are allowed to survive as long as the workforce is needed. Plant unmoved convictions in attendance in edifices of decline continue to exist. Social formations move about to subdue distress in all deference to convention. By indeterminate providence, the surveillance division has mastered the practice of avoiding confrontation. Shudder behind your beloved audience with a display of your improbable disarming paroxysm. I embrace obscurity, disordered ride out downward. Investigate in another place in the subjugation disclosed. I envisage manifest points in time to sustain this fitful refuge.



The haints come with parched, red grins, destined, flowing; glutted. The rotting populace Illustrates rebirth in my pleasure facility, breaking off a Conflagration advanced from opening the event within the scope of reason. The thoughts drift to the surface as I shake off the dream. I shouldn’t try to tell you about it. I’m living from two perspectives at once. I’m one point of consciousness in two places. Two worlds remain separate while the actions in one shape experience in the other. The voice in this universe screams itself hoarse, haranguing the mind of the active, dynamic mind in the other one. Funny how the one that hears voices acts with gloating hubris.

I find myself lying under the highway to bring about coerced elite. You’ll see. Thrash it out amongst yourselves as you flail about in an indistinctive objective that has no emotional impact, barring the superficial ripples from a staged interface drama. Now, consider a passing look outward. Send down mutually supporting actions from your central board room. Organization evaporates progressively false conceptions to resolve into extended control. One added instance, let’s heed the worn down and pull out our ecstasy like gaping arteries.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Veil Of Thorns - Cognitive Dissonance Phase V

Here are the first embryonic early tracks interspersed with short P. Emersonite bursts for you, my darlings. Vocalists don't usually like to have anyone hear anything but the most spot on, confident performances, but I'm going for a feeling and a story, and these are my sketches.

The mixes are my usual thick and resonating things, as they were before I sent them off to the masterful mastering of Ari. Contents need to be decanted as they may throw off a sediment....



The image is the gateway to the file, and the player below starts the stream.

Much love,

-333



Artist/Composer: Veil of Thorns
Keywords: goth; experimental; Veil of Thorns; deathrock; gothic; dark; music

Creative Commons license: Attribution-NonCommercial


Individual Files

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VeilofThornsVeilOfThorns-CognigtiveDissonanceV_64kb_mp3.zip64Kbps MP3 ZIP13 MB
VeilofThornsVeilOfThorns-CognigtiveDissonanceV_vbr.m3uVBR M3UStream
VeilofThornsVeilOfThorns-CognigtiveDissonanceV_vbr_mp3.zipVBR ZIP39 MB
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VeilofThornsVeilOfThorns-CognigtiveDissonanceV_meta.xml2.19 KB
VeilofThornsVeilOfThorns-CognigtiveDissonanceV_reviews.xml210 B

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

A Smattering of Updates

The news about the Pirate Bay conviction has gone all over the web over the last few days, and I was asked to weigh in over at Computer Shopper magazine after which I felt compelled to expand on my thoughts. I chose to do so at the kkoagulaa blog since some of the surrounding issues are addressed pretty thoroughly in thee kkoagulaa manifestoooo.

Read the full article here.

On the Veil of Thorns front, we have decided to show our support by releasing the full Veil of Thorns back catalogue as a torrent on the Pirate Bay site. We would appreciate it if everyone reading this would download the torrent, seed it for as long as you can to keep it alive and pass the torrent along. If you have a music blog, it would be lovely if you'd post any of these releases with links back to us, to the statement on kkoagublogg and weigh in with your own thoughts.

I would love to get a conversation going about every aspect of this issue. We're all in flux, and creativity in all things is needed more than ever.

More Cognitive Dissonance Transmissions coming later.

Torrent info:

There is a thought that occurs to me as I drive past the many gated communities in this ritzy area of Florida. I'm glad the real estate speculators, Disney executives and yuppies are walled in and kept safely from the rest of us. We just need to lock the gates from the outside. I would love to see the major labels and movie studios come up with the perfect impregnable DRM, so they can be left to rot within their walled gardens.

This time is the best possible opportunity for true artists to get creative with ways to make a living. Under the old label system, it was mainly the few, the malleable, the aspirational among artists who benefitted. The RIAA argument that piracy hinders artists from making a living is bollocks. Music has always been a hard gig, it's just that now the majority are on the treadmill of writing, production, release and touring for themselves instead of a group of suits who lend them cash in return for the artists indenture.

This torrent was created to show dissent with the ruling, and in the spirit of freedom, that creative chaos which hidebound institutions fight with the impulse for stasis and death.

-P. Emerson Williams

Location:

In the Space Between Space

Current Members:
P. Emerson Williams – (Choronzon, Network, Nocturne, Voyager, Lead Reign) - Vocals, Guitar, bass, cello, keyboards, programming
James Curcio – (Babalon, subQtaneous) – Drums
Ruddy Bitch – Drums, Electronic Soundwaves, percussive Manipulations

Former Members:

Catherine Chenoweth – (Smack Tan Blue) – Bass
Jarrett Laitinen – (Twentytwo Fourties) – Guitar
Peter Wagner - Violin
Christopher McClain – (Theatre, Cheryl's Twitching Limbs, Amateur Bondage, Byzantine Slave Drug, Perma-Grin) - Bass, keys, sequencing, programming

Releases:
Demo 1991 – Cassette – Remastered 2008
Study In Decay Demo – Cassette - 1992
Legemet Og Stemmen Demo – Cassette - 1993
Lust Beyond Flesh 7» ep - 1994
Cafe Flesh CD - 2002
Birthed CD – 2002/2006
Legemet Og Stemmen Demo Remastered CD - 2006
Manifestation Objective CDR/Online Release - 2005 – Remastered Edition + Bonus Tracks 2009
Cognitive Dissonance CD – 2007
The End of the Beginning – First album sessions 1992 – Remastered 2008
The Dead God Sessions CD – Second lineup album sessions 1996 – Remastered 2008
Live WMFO 1991 – Fall 2008
Live Halloween 1992 WMFO – Fall 2008
Bats in the Belfry 1994 Live – Fall 2008
Salon Apocalypse - Winter, 2009

The book will be out in the Summer of this year so if you know there’ll be a release, with title, for late 2008 release please include that.

URL's:
veilofthorns.com/blog
mythosmedia.net - Label
alterati.com/blog – James Curcio, Managing Editor, P. Emerson Williams, contributor

Initially the intention was to play dark Jazz with electronic/industrial and orchestral elements. This vision has yet to be realized, obviously. The world of Jazz rejoices.

Download Torrent At The Pirate Bay

Cognitive Dissonance - Prolix/Sanguine



Celebrate this day our irredeemable sins. Languishing conception in the Rusting Valley lays a soul down in a Chamber of flesh warm in its decaying afterglow. Jade transmissions terminate ahead through vague horrors now behind, left to you to build upon. Manifestation Objective Soul fire kisses, a hapless passion upon the pulse of the altars of madness. Learn to love the crack of the lash. Well-matched professionals fall back and chamber the charge. Exaltation in Ascendancy Weeping alight, Drawn in too tight Warnings too late are told in our plight.

I still feel the touch of the nocturnal breeze. The uncharacteristic outcome of the passion is forsaken on favour of the masquerade and the ailing forest loses colour. Chambers full, envy and returns distorted on the sharp edge advance changes design. As all hope Crashed down, we could not help but laugh. That firestorm of dead beginnings shatters Hunger for authority, the arrest of distillation. Desire meets surrender in conduct without conclusion. As unsound processions are left in the past, never to be conjured up, misfortune stirs the spirit. Join every part of the blare of a vacant psyche Controlled by dead gratification suspension and Delusions of excitement. Nonentities call for emphatic confusion, Refusal retains security in the righteous arrangement Positioned to go further over ardour without indecision.



We seem to count on forever; one automatic pull on the lever. A resolved austerity revelation Wears away and devours our advantage. Wrapped around our epoch this moment abrades their moldering infections. Move on by in disgust, Slink through the shadows of infinitude. The lustrous suspension of fevered tactics keeps your mind on the draining laceration. We reflect the unreciprocated concern. Nothing left of restlessness, no lies. We dance victorious on our aching bloody feet. I fall and am safe. The fall eliminates the life that was. Visions shall lie, telling of the fear of death. You shall command masses in a way most Innovative without loss of perception. For all I love I give you this and am no more. Blown like glass where lunacy comforts. Laughter shall erase this carnage of thought. My Inner Sanctum In a shaded doorway Watching the spirits at play, Through a cracked and shimmering window to the world; Through my surprise, welling up in my eyes: Your soul; Bleeding, Clinging to the face of the forest, old; a deep well of love: Sepulchral, cold. Thought shall inaugurate the fall of fear. On the approach of your fame initiated onward in righteousness, your soul’s erosion winds down, pointless, expressionless and clothed in ornamentation.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Veil Of Thorns - Cognitive Dissonance Phase IV

Veil of Thorns

Cognitive Dissonance - IV - Joyous threnody



The Cellos descending into madness.



Click the picture to download.


Saturday, April 18, 2009

P. Emerson Williams - James Curcio on subQtaneous

Small WORLD Podcast


subQtaneousDescribed as a "stick of dynamite strapped to reality," (Scenery Zine), subQtaneous is a diverse conceptual, collaborative album. It carves new soundscapes ranging from brutal, pounding industrial to sarcastic hip hop set over carnival music to delicately layered trance. It has been compared to Pigface, probably due to its format, as well as Coil, Mr Bungle, the Tapeworm project, and Frank Zappa.

Interview with James Curcio and P. Emerson Williams of subQtaneous

Download File - 44.0 MB
Listen To This Podcast (Streaming Audio)

Friday, April 17, 2009

Veil Of Thorns - Cognitive Dissonance Phase III

Cognitive Dissonance Phase III
Stream It


Further dissection of the sounds. I had some radio signals coming through the guitar as I laid down the tracks, and I've made liberal use of them here. Unlike the album itself, I layered, layered the layers and added extra layers to boot.

I think my machines feaked out and became possessed in the process.




Cirxus London Performance Tickets Now Av ailable

CIRXUS

25th May - 13th June 2009

Starting time:
8.30pm & 9.15pm
STUDIO K

Written and directed by John Harrigan

1957- Seascale, the North of England. Cirxus is an old English circus lost in the shadows of the smoke stacks of Calder Hall, the world's first commercial nuclear power station. FoolishPeople will use mythology, shamanism, music and dance to bring the darkness of an atomic circus to life. The performance will allow audience members to step into the world of an old English circus lost in the 1950s, explore its sideshows and meet extraordinary characters from the past and future.

Athalia the ballerina waits in the ring for Loudon the Clown to return with directions to the Black Pool, the mythic site of the Home Sweet Home, the final show of the season. Join her as she begins a bizarre and wondrous search for Loudon through the irradiated secrets of Cirxus, where she must face the macabre atomic menagerie, haunted by circus animals and navigate her way through the maze of strange, hallucinogenic sideshows on the other side of time. Immerse yourself in the world of Cirxus, where theatric arcana and Atomic fallout irradiate the sawdust arenas of our inner worlds.

Presented by FoolishPeople
Written and Directed by John Harrigan

Creative Team
John Harrigan
Lucy Allin
Victoria Karlsson
P. Emerson Williams
Claire Tregellas
Tereza Kamenicka

This is a promenade performance in Arcola's new industrial space, Studio K. Cirxus is based on fact: the German Bremen University confirmed that radioactive contamination by Americium-241 found in some soil samples taken by Greenpeace 11.5 km south of Sellafield, were 400 times higher than those taken 11 km from Chernobyl. 51 years on, the villagers of Seascale still live with the ramifications of the accident at Pile 1 of the Windscale Works Atomic Energy Factory.

Cirxus will be FoolishPeople's first London performance run since the critically acclaimed Dead Language at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in 2007.


TICKET INFORMATION:
• Ticket Prices £14/£10
• Tuesdays 'PAY WHAT YOU CAN' (subject to availability)
• Free tickets are available for under 26s under the Night Less Ordinary Free Ticket Scheme Monday-Thursday evenings for the first 2 weeks (please ring box office more information) PLEASE NOTE:
• No concessions on Fridays and Saturdays
• Proof will be required for concessions
• All tickets are NON-REFUNDABLE

Cirxus Image by P. Emerson Willliams.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Veil Of Thorns - Cognitive Dissonance Phase II

We will be bringing you works in progress from the next Veil of Thorns album "Salon Apocalypse" and mangled wrecks thereof soon. We can't say just yet if we'll run the full cycle of revisiting the Cognitive Dossonance sessions or if they may intersperse with the Apocalypse podcasts and sketches.

Now:

A special one for this dark and cool evening. Click the picture for to download.



I made this outta the bass tracks from the album. Mostly you're hearing one track of bass with no layers but the real-time FX, though there are a couple points where the cello creeps in.

A few inexplicable voices emerged that weren't recorded by me. If it fits as a soundtrack for your evening, I want to hear the story.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

FoolishPeople Present CIRXUS

FoolishPeople Present CIRXUS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FoolishPeople present
Cirxus
Written and Directed by John Harrigan

25 May - 13 June 2009 Arcola Theatre

Press Night Thursday 28 May 8.30pm

LONDON 14/04/09 - FoolishPeople present Cirxus an immersive, promenade performance in Arcola's new industrial space, Unit K for three weeks only.

1957- Seascale, the North of England. Cirxus is an old English circus lost in the shadows of the smoke stacks of Calder Hall, the world's first commercial nuclear power station.

Athalia the ballerina waits in the ring for Loudon the Clown to return with directions to the Black Pool, the mythic site of the Home Sweet Home, the final show of the season.

Join Athalia in 1957 as she begins a bizarre and wondrous search for Loudon through the irradiated secrets of Cirxus, where she must face the macabre atomic menagerie, haunted by circus animals and navigate her way through the maze of strange, hallucinogenic sideshows on the other side of time.

Immerse yourself in the world of Cirxus, where theatric arcana and Atomic fallout irradiate the sawdust arenas of our inner worlds.

FoolishPeople will use mythology, shamanism, music and dance to bring the darkness of an atomic circus to life. The performance will allow audience members to step into the world of an old English circus lost in the 1950s, explore its sideshows and meet extraordinary characters from the past and future.

Cirxus will be FoolishPeople's first London performance run since their critically acclaimed 'Dead Language' which was performed at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in 2007. 'Dead Language' was part of the London Lates season of cultural events and selected for the Times top five events.

FoolishPeople's core creative team for Cirxus consists of John Harrigan, Lucy Allin, Victoria Karlsson, P. Emerson Williams, Claire Tregellas & Tereza Kamenicka.

Listings Information:
'Cirxus' 24 May- 13 June 2009
8.30pm & 9.15pm entrance times
£14/£10 concessions
Pay what you can Tuesday (tickets from 7pm, subject to availability)
Free tickets are available for under 26s on Monday-Thursday evenings for the first 2 weeks
Book online: arcolatheatre.com
Box office: 020 7503 1646
Arcola Theatre Unit K, 27 Arcola Street, E8 2DJ

Notes to editors:

  • The German Bremen University confirmed that radioactive contamination by Americium-241 found in some soil samples taken by Greenpeace 11.5 km south of Sellafield, were 400 times higher than those taken 11 km from Chernobyl. 51 years on, the villagers of Seascale still live with the ramifications of the accident at Pile 1 of the Windscale Works Atomic Energy Factory.
  • FoolishPeople are currently in pre-production with Mythos Media and DPRGRM for a feature film entitled 'Y', which is being shot in Los Angeles CA in July 2009. 'Y' was written by John Harrigan and James Curcio and to be directed by Joseph Matheny.
  • FoolishPeople create art, theatre, film, books & collaborative events to raise a numinous experience within the witness for positive change.
  • Arcola's Unit K will officially launch in July 2009 with Create Festival 2009.
  • 'Cirxus' is sponsored by The Movieum of London, Chisenhale Dance Space and The Courtyard.
  • For further information, please contact: Lucy Allin, FoolishPeople lucena@foolishpeople.org 07790440269 or visit: foolishpeople.org

Monday, April 13, 2009

Veil of Thorns - Cognitive Dissonance - Transmission One



This was the point right before I was driving myself mad with lyrics. I don't know why its such an effort with me, for I do like the process, and I used to write in great profusion.

While I was digging up the original india ink logo. (For I lost the scan I had previously during a relentless scourge of files from my hard drive). I came across these two old Veil Of Thorns gig flyers. I remember those kids who opened up for us.

And to this day, Orifice remains one of my favourite band names:



And one put together by Mr. Zewizz @ the Rat (RIP):



Sunday, April 12, 2009

THE MICK Issue 49 Is Online Now for Free Download



THE MICK issue 49 is online now for free download, containing interviews with GIANT PAW (UK), DJ MARK SPLATTER (International Man), ROME BURNS (UK), THE RABIES (USA), THE BROTHERHOOD OF PAGANS (France) and THE DROWNING SEASON (USA) as well as 34 REVIEWS.
http://www.mickmercer.com/themick.html

My website also now has the direct link to my new book on Goth, the 624 epic MUSIC TO DIE FOR - http://www.mickmercer.com/
During the next six weeks eight exclusive books I am self-publishing will be appearing. These include ‘Author Editions’ of my first books, Gothic Rock Black Book (celebrating it’s 21st anniversary!) and Gothic Rock, both of which will be redesigned to include an extra 200+ pages featuring previously unseen photos of classic Goth bands, as well as a three book series of Gothic Interviews, and a three book series of Gothic Images. ‘Author Editions of Hex Files and 21st Century Goth will follow shortly thereafter, as will a series of Punk-related books, and several reviewing bootlegs.

Meanwhile, please consider adding to:
http://www.myspace.com/musictodieforbymickmercer
http://www.myspace.com/mickmercer
http://www.myspace.com/themickmagazine

Friday, April 10, 2009

Music For Driving At Night

Nobody asked me to, but I haven't thrown out a random music podcast in a while, so I thought a little something for this fine evening might be aiight.



This is a collection of some of the music I have composed thus far in 2008. Everything in this podcast was created for the audiobook of Fallen Nation which is being podcast on Alterati.com.

In coming up with soundtrack music, I work in a wide array of styles, which is extremely rewarding, creatively. What the narrative calls for takes me outside my habitual sonic territory and forces me to rethink my approach every time.

I'd like to know what y'all think about this little cross section. It's a small amount of recent work, but an eight hour file is a lot to ask any one to listen to.

New Veil of Thorns album is well on its way and big plans. More on that later.



p_emerson_2008_mix.mp32008-Jan-27 02:54:5351.3Maudio/mpeg
p_emerson_2008_mix.ogg2008-Jan-27 03:01:5045.2Mapplication/ogg
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Thursday, April 9, 2009

Cherry Red Interview With Mick Mercer

Thye Penultimate Dream ov Vivaconundrum

The Swami under the bridge sends his sound outward to heal all our souls. The words of Swampa are there. Tell me what he says.


A psychedelic trip in a country setting.



This audio is part of the collection: Open Source Audio

Creative Commons license: Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0



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Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Veil of Thorns - Manifestation Objective

The words

Reproach (Full of Hope)







As all came
Crashing down,
We could not help but laugh
Draining blood to function on belief
Factious stream counter to all pleas
Reclaim vision,
Howl like wolves
Learn to love the crack of the lash
Chambers full, envy and returns distorted
On the sharp edge advance changes design

Formless,
Unsullied,
Holy, with indigent longing
Hollow ravenous greed and profits twisted
Resting on the firmament adapts intention
The innocent
Break off,
Contemplating dispersions quelling
Deplete to pour out acts in certainty
Factious blood counters all entreaties


My Inner Sanctum

In a shaded doorway
Watching the spirits at play,
Through a cracked and shimmering window to the world;
Through my surprise, welling up in my eyes:
Your soul;
Bleeding, old; a deep well of love:
Sepulchral, cold.

The crowning glory swathed in fear,
The brave action recoiling into futility.
To my knees glancing upward,
There flies pain: mine.

Deep ecstasy traces desire.
Hidden places, lost hold;
No one to sustain reality,
My love erases me.
I turn around to go,
The world around me flows through my body.
The bitter realization contains the happy seed: yes, me.

Weak and stumbling,
Gloriously breathing still dawn’s air,
That part of me now lost forever,
It wanders lonely in the dark.
Battle-weary I remain
Inconsistency remarked,
Though seemingly complete.
The soul bears not
Such vacuous conceit.
God damn you!
How can I bear to see your face?
Your every tear reveals my cowering disgrace.
To my knees, glancing inward:
Imprisoned:
My inner sanctum.






Exaltation in Ascendancy


Weeping alight, Drawn in too tight
Warnings too late are told in our plight
The haints come with parched, red grins
Celebrate this day our irredeemable sins

Nocturnal professions come into nothingness
Lifts our burdens, becomes our hidden weapons
Wailing by the window in the grief of the proud
Dread failings wrapped around us like shrouds

A soothing breeze, a haunting phrase
Leaks out from behind the gate
Secret passions worn like a medal
Truth be told, trust is never to be shown


Worship of Disclosure

Thought shall inaugurate the fall of fear
The fall eliminate the life that was
The life that was can never have been
Lie turns back on lie; behold
Fear shall die with its slaves
Visions shall lie, telling of the fear of death
Laughter shall erase this carnage of thought

Fear ridden spectres flitting by
Still their fetters bind your soul
Stronghold of corrosion let burst
The floodgates of dead gods desires
Move on by in disgust
Slink through the shadows of infinitude
Killing the will, slipping back
Back to that which never was

In distrust lie the possibilities
That were stillborn in haloed fields
We’ll tear the cities down falsehood by falsehood








Manifestation Objective

Soul fire kisses, a hapless passion
Upon the pulse of the altars of madness
Radiant visage glowing words on flesh
Remembrance of my deaths shadow
Take my hand personified
Leads you down

Bound to the end of time
Strewn about like gravel
Blown like glass
Where lunacy comforts


Draw In, Wind Down

Wheels on wet road greet my waking eyes
Halted by the touch of memory
I smell the rain and hear its song
This bed will not let go of me
Nor the thirsty, feverish day get off me

Draw in, wind down

I still feel the touch of the nocturnal breeze
The seeds are flung at the remains; reasons found


Dream Shadow

Solemn grey – the sky evokes my Angel
Walking in the rain, I’m not alone
White lace, wet lace light and clinging
Clinging to the face of the forest
I want to sleep in the rain, in the snow
Warm and safe under the snows ice hands

I fall and am safe
I sleep and fear the face
I fly and am no more
And am no more

Sleep pulls me down into silken sepulchers
Born away on seas of sound I cry out
A breeze soothes my bitter mind on the crimson plane

Wrapped in those I love
I awaken to dawn caresses
And they are no more


Can’t stop Laughing (The Beauty of Drowning)

Souls defied, deep penetration
tearing asunder liquid desire.
Inner strength, all-consuming turmoil
pulls me down, pulls me under the black surface.

For all I love I give you this;
(Christians to the lions).
As we gaze upon the black water;
(you pull me under).
Speak to me of how I love the pain.
I can't stop laughing,
I can't stop laughing!
(The beauty of drowning).

We lie side by side, blowing sparks
gazing into the screaming silence.
Under the birthing moo we pray,
pray to be together for all time.







Undergrowth Silent with Want

Ice like claws languid in the damp
Memory fades, life drifts, blood dries
Spreading out among the leaves
The end begins, birth is everywhere

Embrace of roots; here is everywhere
All life is one – we are here
Lost in forever, hearing, feeling
Seeing all


Fated, Cascading; Submerged

No-one ever thinks about how it’ll end
Line after line gone up in smoke with fire as your only friend
All the thought of a lifetime with no conscious evolution
One cannot recall where it began to slide

Lost beneath the debris
You can no longer tell which way is up
We seem to count on forever
One automatic pull on the lever

The vital engine roars not trusted to deliver
The pain it will subside and make the muscle bigger
Dance victorious on our aching bloody feet
One more time, let’s hear the beat and spread our joy like opened veins

Come, let us wait here hiding beneath the snow
Centuries shall pass maddeningly as we watch them grow
Angels watching over us, attainment purified
Death, rebirth, life death, in snowy spirals fly

Force release virtual discordant hold of defense substitute pale vicinity gliding pseudonyms gravestone figures vitriol leitrim


Extend Inward, Breathe Out

(instrumental)







The Gathering World Withdrew Its Fury

Lay me down – I fear no more
The longing is subsiding
I’ve locked the door – I’ve freed my mind
It’s only you and me
It’s time, let’s go

And as the sands of time conspire to erase us
It will be done

Dispersed in flight – we are alone
The vision slowly fades
Close my eyes – choke my cries
Now we’re going home

Monday, April 6, 2009

Enshroud

Some strange writing and art will be uploaded to this online reader as we go along. I wouldn't dare tell you the experiences that lay behind the cleansing that was the writing here. I may bring the Panic Pandemic book here for all to see for free, depending on either having time to spare, (not likely), or finding an automatic way of flattening layers into one in pdf files.




The words and much of the art are inextricably linked to the creation of the Birthed album. I wonder how many would feel like dancing after listening and reading at the same time...






The Gspot #38: The Last Dream of Vivaconundrum


In this episode guest host P. Emerson Williams brings us a transmission of unknown provenance. It could be a fever dream, or a love note from the near future. It could be the climax of a tale told by a time-traveling messenger, or the dénouement of the fantasies of a madman. Then we have an excerpt from a chapter of Lives of Ilya, a novel from Mythos Media written by Tara Vanflower and lushly illustrated by Daniele Serra read by Jarboe and including a haunting soundtrack by Tara. Additional music by subQtaneous and Veil of Thorns.



Download

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Veil of Thorns - Veil of Thorns 1991

An exchange with someone writing a book on goth brought up the fact that I had, through odd circumstances and band personnel issues, I no longer had a copy of the debut Veil of Thorns demo, nor was the dat tape with the mixdown in my possession no longer. ("How you musicians can let things like this happen, I don't understand" said he.) That led me to dig through 4 and 8 track master tapes to see what I still had. No longer having the equipment to play this stuff, I had to do some serious beatmapping and quantizing, but left rehearsal complex ambientia, artifacts and tape quirks.

The debut demo from Veil of thorns, recorded on primitive equipment in a basement rehearsal complex in Boston. Instrumental tracks were recorded all at once on two tracks using two ribbon mikes and a direct line for Ruddy Bitch, leaving the other two for vocals and a couple additional guitars.

the noise of other bands can be heard at quiet moments.








Lineup:

P. Emerson Williams - Guitar, Vocals
Jarrett Laitinen - Guitar
Catherine Chenoweth - Bass
Ruddy Bitch - Drums

Tracks:

Void
Utopia
Tear the Cities Down
Sanctify (Drowning)
No Claim
Dreamshadow (Falling)
Re-Creating Space-Time
Crimson Smile
Nod

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Veil_of_Thorns_-_04-Sanctify_[Drowning]20 MB6.6 MB4.0 MB
Veil_of_Thorns_-_05-No_Claim12 MB4.1 MB2.5 MB
Veil_of_Thorns_-_06-Dreamshadow_[Falling]22 MB6.2 MB4.4 MB
Veil_of_Thorns_-_07-Re-Creating_Space-Time15 MB5.3 MB2.9 MB
Veil_of_Thorns_-_08-Crimson_Smile22 MB7.3 MB4.3 MB
Veil_of_Thorns_-_09-Nod5.1 MB1.7 MB1.0 MB

MUSIC TO DIE FOR BY MICK MERCER

MUSIC TO DIE FOR
BY MICK MERCER
Cherry Red Books £17.99



My fifth book has now arrived. It is 624 pages long, containing individual entries on 3,581 different bands, from 70 countries, with 183 photos. It covers bands from the beginning of these scenes to the present day and wherever possible contains full line-up details and discographies as well as unusual facts revealed by many of the bands. This is the biggest guide ever printed about the underground scenes in which Goth, Post-Punk and all things noir co-exist with equal splendour

You can find this on Amazon, Barnes & Noble (etc) but if possible please use the link below to buy direct from the publisher. They accept Paypal and for such a chunky book they’re doing a very cheap deal on postage. Content details behind the cut.

This time around I am delighted to have discovered details on many countries I had never been able to infiltrate before. The world unfolds as follows:

Argentina - 31, Australia - 75, Austria - 22, Belarus - 3, Belgium - 28, Bolivia – 7, Brazil – 53, Bulgaria – 11, Canada – 77, Chile – 24, Colombia – 28, Costa Rica – 2, Croatia – 6, Cuba – 2, Czech Republic - 13, Denmark – 12, Ecuador – 4, Egypt – 3, Estonia – 2, Falkland Islands – 2, Finland – 47, France – 174, Germany – 346, Greece – 35, Greenland – 1, Hungary – 7, Indonesia – 1, Ireland – 13, Israel – 2, Italy – 172, Japan – 25, Kazakhstan – 2, Latvia – 3, Lebanon – 2, Liechtenstein – 4, Lithuania – 11, Luxembourg - 1, Macedonia – 5, Malta – 1, Mexico – 60, Monaco – 1, Netherlands – 49, New Zealand – 14, Norway – 28, Pakistan – 1, Paraguay – 3, Peru – 6, Philippines – 8, Poland – 36, Portugal – 55, Puerto Rico – 9, Romania – 20, Russia – 70, Serbia – 1, Singapore – 2, Slovak Republic – 6, Slovenia – 3, South Africa – 4, Spain – 84, Sweden – 93, Switzerland – 31, Thailand – 5, Turkey – 6, UK – 579, Ukraine - 11, United Arab Emirates – 1, Uruguay - 5, USA – 1092, Venezuela – 6 and Yugoslavia – 5.

Musically we have representatives from these distinct and Goth-related genres:

‘Alt’ (covering a multitude of sins) – 336, Ambient – 71, Classical/Ethereal – 33, Comedy – 1, Deathrock – 12, Electro – 99, Electronic(a) – 79, Folk/Country – 67, Glam – 11, Gothic – 1042, Gothic/Metal – 449, Historical – 4, Horror – 25, Indie – 99, Industrial – 117, Other/Exp/Minimalist – 135, Post-Punk – 356, Psychobilly – 93, Punk/New Wave – 234, Rock – 238, Shoegaze/Psychedelic – 36 and Surf/Garage – 44.

Please spread the word now that it’s out! I hope you find it worthwhile and useful, and I obviously want as many people as possible to do likewise. Your help in circulating the news is much appreciated.

http://www.cherryred.co.uk/books/musictodiefor.php

Veil of Thorns - Retrofuturist Gothic Xpanded

veil of thorns - retrofuturist
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