Self-assembly Flatpack.

 These are the sleeves for our lathecut vinyl editions. After a bit of folding and sticking we'll end up with 2 45's, from recordings lovingly mastered by Shaun and Matt Kassel at Barrow's Seahouse Studio. There's also some great footage in the offing from AOIRE/Shaun's FON gig, recorded by Laurence Campbell, associate dust photographer. 

We are Dust Mites / We are Golden.

I've been allowing dust to settle on this LP record for about two and a half years, and today filmmaker / editor Laurence Campbell - who did the video for me and Shaun at FON the other week, and records all their shows - has recorded some marvellous video footage of my pick up-arm ploughing through the dust and of it gathering on the stylus.

An excellent afternoon. Thanks Larry.

Yes Master.

 

Right then.  The masters for me and Shaun's singles are in the hands of Ben at Plasticraft the vinyl lathecutters. Alex is assembling his ranks of picket line indiekids (or something) while me and Jim work on the packaging. The animation is looking good and Ellie is working on a flickbook.  I had a trip to Chesterfield last week to talk to their Museum about a similar project dahn theeyer, and stopped off to talk to Phil, late of The Instructions about their brief and bewildering journey from a flat on Steamer St to the Ambrose for the latest of the heritage interviews project. Then back here for further chats with Glyn Fogharty on drummers and drumming, and Sue Gill on Blast Furnace. I'm stoppininternate it's baltic.

 

Busy Old Week

 

A very busy and very good few days on Reverb. Song Of David, Jim's animation took another giant step, and  We were at Full Of Noises in Barrow Park last week for a performance. We showed a teaser loop from  and I played some of the recordings that will make up the soundtrack and a vinyl release called Familiar Music next year. This was followed by a performance by Aoire.  Aoire deep-mines rehearsal tapes and cassette  releases by for stems and samples, and subjects them to a granular, forensic examination. What emerges is like a hazy memory of youth glimpsed from a middle aged perspective, it floats in a suspension of blue pub air and valve amp hum, pinpricked by shards of clarity. You also heard recordings from what had been the Edisons night club on Abbey Road, kindly made by Jon Borgia,and voices from audience tapes of performances there.

Cassettes of Aoire's music are available here..

https://www.johnhallartistcumbria.com/product-page/aoire-the-keening 

There is video of the evening and the set-up on the way from Laurence Campbell, and audio from various sources, this will be included in the final presentation in March at the Barrow Dock Museum, along with Alex Blackmore's collective Pop Culture Figures. We got the first 3-d proofs of these from Andy at Fusion 3D in Barrow  the day after the show, and they look marvellous. 

You might also look in on Second Spin, Barrow's new vinyl venture on Crellin Street,and our friend Steve Cook's Sergeant Pepperry mural of Barrow music legends, which, I'm proud to say,includes a shot of the Artfly  Jukebox from the Play One Of Your Own exhibition.

Our thanks to all who came to the FON

show,to Larry Campbell for his photos,  and to the FON team for their hospitality.

Great few days.             

                    

 

Colossal, Yoof*

Good day at the office yesterday...This is Andy from Fusion 3D Printing in Barrow In Furness.  Andy's firm will be scanning and printing the edition of Alex's Yoof Culture figures. We don't know the extent of the edition yet, Andy is kindly providing us with some options, and we'll let you know.

All very exciting. If you want to  know more about what Fusion 3D Printing can offer you, here's their site. Cheers Andy.

https://www.fusion3dprinting.co.uk/

* A No-Prize to anyone who gets the reference.

 

Meat on the bones and Bass under the floorboards

Alex Blackmore's small scale sculptures of pop culture tribes are accumulating detail and character. There is meat on the bones and more than a hint of demeanour. I'm seeing the austere anti-glamour of

the Eighties, taking a step back from of the social-realist wing of punk and into the bookish, mushroomy activism of post-punk. 

Meanwhile, here is Jon Donohoe in Sheffield adding bass to my soundtrack for Jim Alexander's attic animation. 

  

 

Phil and Fiona: John Peel Ears

This is  Fiona Ogilvie (front, in black) and Phil Musker (beard)  in Ulverston with the popular singing group Meat Raffle.

Fiona and Phil have the open ears and curiosity that they had as kids. 

They find things by going to look for them. They travel, they go to sampler shows and  all-dayers, in search of something they don't know about. One discovery leads to the next. Their internet is a source of information rather than music. They find shape shifting and amorphous scenes inhabited by pools of do-ers and activists,  villages of musicians, designers, t shirt people, putting on festivals without name bands or even headliners. There are echoes of counterculture; of Co-ops and communal living, ways of doing things that have risen out of both necessity and nous, a determination to be in control of the vehicle; an insistence on fleshy, real time relations within overlapping scenes; a pleasure in operations on a human scale, with a core audience that is big enough to maintain you and small enough to get to know.

They never miss a support act.

They still have what Phil called  their John Peel ears.

NOW...Reverb writer and pal Geoff Cox and me met up with them for a few beers with a view to collaboration of some sorts . After , Geoff said this, and sent this diagram /score...

Hi John,

I’ve been thinking about what I’d be interested in chasing via the Reverb project, stuff we’d be able to include other folk in and discover some interesting ideas. I’ve been doodling a first pass at what that content might be - the diagram atttached is a big-picture take. If you think this is where we should be going I’d be happy to refine some questions for each of the 7 areas, though I’m not sure we’d need much more to get folk talking?

Anyone out there fancy getting involved?  artspacebarrow@gmail.com