Levenshulme Bike Orchestra comes back to life…
A few pics from practise the other night plus see below for added theortical rigour… www.levenshulmebicycleorchestra.com
The group operates in an as yet undefined area between intuitaive ritualised musical theatrical performance and shared collective improvising around musical and lyrical themes developed by all members of the group. There are various aims and objectives.
To function as an accepted method of therapy for members to express and explore ideas and behaviours in forms that would be unacceptable outside the realms of performance.
As a theoretical machinery that allows the musicians and audience to interrogate their own ideas of the boundaries and interrelations between sound, music, tone, vibaration, movement, theatre, performance, spectacle, art, and catharsis.
As an ongoing process of instrument building, adaptation and reclaimation from that which is not specifically an instrument but with which sound can be made. This use of scrap, discarded and recycled objects rebuilt as instruments locates a utilitarian power with the players and for anyone who wants to imagine and construct their own instruments.
Noise Upstairs Podcast
Cerebrus Shoal, Lee and Ant outside the ALL FM studios
The good folk at the Noise Upstairs improv night asked us toproduce a kindof last shout posthumous Northern Wire podcast for them to be played out at one of there forthcoming monthly sessions, below is whats on it…
Sweetleaf Black Sabbath
Barabadabada Ivor Cutler
Lovely Sky Boat Alice Coltrane
Black Jerusalem Teeth Mountain
I chose a random strange and stalked the shit out of them Kylie Minoise
Poeme Electronique Edgrad Varese
Fat Librarian Inca Eyeball
Reqiuem for Dying Mothers Stars of the Lid
Forwards and Back Music for One
Sonata for solo Violin Fuga Bela Bartok
Schizophrenia Sonic Youth
Room Temperature Suite Don Caballero
Orginal Suffer Head Fela Kuti
This what we said about the show: read and weep: apologies to anyone we forgot:
“The Northern Wire was a radio show on Manchesters ALL FM. Show was started in 2002 by David Armes who passed the baton on to Anthony Saunders and David Birchall around 2005 they ran with the show til its retirment earlier in this year; 2009. The show was characterised by a totally lack of musical policy resulting in a spontaneaty and honesty that was hard to recreate; Black Sabbath would be followed by the sound of howling wind in Siberia, Art Ensemble of Chicago would mould in unidentifable harsh CDR noise freakouts, Bartok would wrestle with mid 90s hardcore while some very real but ultimately sub Laurel and Hardyesque routine was wheeled out live in the studio. Another great feature of the show was live sessions from Vialka (France/Canada) McWatt (UK) Cerebrus Shoal (USA) Lianne Hall (UK) DBH (UK) Klaus Kinski (UK) Noise Upstairs Trio (UK) Smear Campaign (UK) Part Wild Horses Mane on Both Sides (France)”
Open Eye Ensemble in Lyon
Brief snatch of Open Eye set from Lyon earlier this year recorded by the ever vigilant DBH. Pascal is out of shot playing percussion, Nick, Kelly and myself are just visible; Kelly applying tape to my goodself and guitar nearly became an escapology trick. Everyone else in the room has gone wild with the same kindof scritchy noise as the group make, bits of tin cans, discarded parts, glas.
Sculpted Violin
violin scultpure woodlawn court gardens
a bit of a different perspective...
So we have really rad communal gardens in the new flat but a slightly oppressive socialist regime running the place (re: no games of any sort on the grassed areas etc..) its just crying out for this kind of things.. .more to follow im sure…
Kalbakken Gamelan
A brief snatch of Nick and I improvising a piece of our Kalbakken set from the Ruby Lounge gig with a Hawk and a Hacksaw at the end of June.
Citylife said this about the performance:
“Fellow Norwegian-Mancunian Kalbakken was more intense, reinterpreting traditional Norwegian folk songs with trancelike guitar playing and frantic sleigh bells, as well as a metal bowl tapped with a paintbrush.”
Malaga
Just dredged up this Kalbakken tour photo post gig in Malaga with the incredible Pamplonian hardcore band Antigua & Barbuda outside the Casa Invisible squatted social space. Shortly after this photo was taken they tried to hidnap Kirsty using banned substances as bait. The streets were covered in wax from the wild pointed hat and candles Easter parades the week before and made the most incredible screetches on car tires.
