Gig #50: Requiem for and by the newly dead: Chris Austin, Shadow Morton, David Parland, Zbigniew Karkowski, Faye Hunter, Mick Farren, Scott Miller, Akifumi Nakajima/Aube, Tim Wright, Lindsay Cooper, Bernard Parmegiani, Mike Boone, Jason Molina, Dick Dodd, Albrecht/d., Reg Presley, Jeff Hanneman, Kevin Ayers, Sten Hanson

Chris Austin (1975 – 2013) (Tape Error) Lesson a New Fear
‘Chris Austin was 38 when he defied doctors last week and walked out of Medway Maritime Hospital. He died with his family by his side. His family had noticed he looked ill earlier this year, but thought he was overworked. Eventually he sought help and was diagnosed with late-stage liver cancer last Tuesday. Chris’s most recent band was acoustic group Tape Error, one of the biggest names on Medway’s indie scene. They had just signed to a label and released an EP. Someone once called Chris Austin’s songs “nightmare lullabies”… It’s imagery that sat well with the band, themselves generally dysfunctional and often at odds with the world around them.’ — collaged

Shadow Morton (1941- 1913) (The Shangri-Las) Past, Present and Future
‘George “Shadow” Morton was an American record producer and songwriter best known for his influential work in the 1960s. In particular, he was noted for writing and producing “Remember (Walking in the Sand)”, “Leader of the Pack”, and other hits for girl group The Shangri-Las. In 1967, his successes continued when his production of Janis Ian’s “Society’s Child”, became a hit record. The same year, he discovered a group called the Pidgeons, who became Vanilla Fudge, and produced their first three albums, which included their hit version of “You Keep Me Hangin’ On,” followed by a foray into aural collage called The Beat Goes On. The experimentation was largely Morton’s idea, resisted by the band, and poorly received by critics. He also produced all-girl group Isis, and worked with The New York Dolls, producing their second album Too Much Too Soon.’ — collaged

David Parland (1970 – 2013) (Dark Funeral) My Funeral
‘In 1997 David Parland founded Infernal (also known as Infernal 666) and also joined fellow Swedish Black Metal band War (also known as Total War) during the same period. In War he played guitars on the band’s only two releases, their Total War EP from 1997 and their only full length, We Are War, from 1999. War split up in 1999. In Infernal, he played guitars, bass, and performed vocals as well as writing lyrics. Infernal released three fantastic EPs (Infernal, 1999, Summon Forth the Beast, 2002, The Infernal Return, 2010), and also a split album with his other band Dark Funeral in 2002 titled Under Wings of Hell. Being the sole core member of the band, Infernal came to an end upon David Parland’s death. At the time of his death, David Parland was also working on a solo project, titled Blackmoon’s Darkwinds, although the only release was a split album with U.S. Black Metal band Nocturnal Abyss, titled Beyond the Nothingness.’ — bestblackmetalalbums.com

Zbigniew Karkowski (1958 – 2013) live @ nouveau casino in paris 16 05 2006
‘Karkowki was regarded in experimental-music circles as one of noise music’s most fearlessly extreme practitioners. Stories circulate that his music once cracked a toilet at San Francisco’s Bloody Angle Compound studios; a 2001 performance at Montreal’s FCMM, playing needle-nosed sine waves tuned to the resonant frequency of the room, sparked a fire in a speaker and sent chunks of the ceiling tumbling to the floor. But he was also known as one of noise music’s most contemplative thinkers. (When a reporter asked him if he was afraid of damaging his hearing, following the FCMM performance, he replied, “Sound is like a wild animal; it will only hurt you if you are afraid of it.”)’ — Spin

Faye Hunter (1954 – 2013) (Let’s Active) Waters Part
‘Faye Hunter, the founding bassist of the Mitch Easter-led jangle-pop outfit Let’s Active who played on the band’s 1983 debut EP Afoot and follow-up full-length Cypress in 1984, died Saturday night in Advance, N.C., of an apparent suicide. Hunter formed Let’s Active with Easter and drummer Sara Romweber in 1981, and the band signed to IRS Records that same year. The group was closely associated with and performed alongside R.E.M., and Easter rose to fame producing that band and others, including Pylon. A friend of Hunter’s said that she had “been talking about this for quite some time. The past three or so years were really bad,” as Hunter had “become physically worn down, very thin and having physical problems from the stress of working and caregiving.”’ — collaged

Mick Farren (1943 – 2013) (The Deviants) Billy the Monster
‘Veteran musician Mick Farren has died after collapsing onstage while performing with his band the Deviants at a gig in London on Saturday. He was 69. Farren, a former journalist for music magazine NME, was onstage at the Borderline music venue as part of the Atomic Music Festival when he collapsed and lost consciousness. He was later pronounced dead but no further information was available. Born in Cheltenham, England, Farren formed the Deviants (originally Social Deviants) in 1967 in Ladbroke Grove in west London, and the band went on to release three albums between 1967 and 1969. Farren described their sound as “teeth-grinding, psychedelic rock” somewhere between The Stooges and The Mothers of Invention. The Deviants have been described as a transition between classic British psych and the punk/heavy metal aesthetic of the 1970s.’ — collaged

Scott Miller (1960 – 2013) (Game Theory) One More for St. Michael
‘Scott Miller, a singer, songwriter and guitarist best known for his work in the bands Game Theory and the Loud Family, died on Monday. He was 53. Game Theory formed in 1981 in California, releasing four LPs and a smattering of singles and EPs with various lineups throughout the Eighties. The group, a college-rock favorite associated with L.A.’s “paisley underground” scene, developed a strong cult following before disbanding when their label, Enigma, folded. Miller went on to form Loud Family in San Francisco in 1991. The band released their last LP What If It Works in 2006.’ — Rolling Stone

Aube (Akifumi Nakajima) (1959 – 2013) Vent
‘I have gotten the sad news that my old friend Akifumi Nakajima passed away in September. It seems the news is only just creeping out and took a while to reach everyone outside of Japan. Nakajima was probably best known for his work under the name Aube, which was one of the more prolific, and for me most interesting, noise acts from Japan in the 1990s. He had an impeccable sense of design and appreciation for the materials, taking packaging beyond just using regular old paper. His label G.R.O.S.S. presented an impressive selection of international artists and was an important part of the Anomalous Records catalog. I could really go on and on about his achievements and biography, but I think it is well documented online.’ — Eric Lanzillotta

Tim Wright (1950 – 2013) (Pere Ubu) Final Solution
‘Tim Wright was a founding member of Pere Ubu in 1975 and played on the Cleveland group’s early singles, including “30 Seconds Over Tokyo” and “Final Solution.” He also appears on a pair of songs on Pere Ubu’s 1978 debut LP, The Modern Dance, though he left the self-described avant-garage band that year and moved to New York, where he joined Arto Lindsay’s no-wave group DNA. Wright was a member of DNA until the band broke up in 1982. He also worked with Eno and David Byrne on their 1981 album My Life in the Bush of Ghosts.’ — Rolling Stone

Lindsay Cooper (1951 – 2013) (Henry Cow) Beautiful as the Moon
‘Lindsay Cooper was an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians. She collaborated with a number of musicians, including Chris Cutler and Sally Potter, and co-founded the Feminist Improvising Group. She wrote scores for film and TV and a song cycle Oh Moscow which was performed live around the world in 1987. She also recorded a number of solo albums, including Rags (1980), The Gold Diggers (1983) and Music For Other Occasions (1986). Cooper was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in the late 1970s, but did not disclose it to the musical community until the late 1990s when her illness prevented her from performing live. In September 2013, Cooper died from the illness at the age of 62, 15 years after her retirement.’ — Wikipedia

Bernard Parmegiani (1927 – 2013) The Transparent Screen
‘Alongside Luc Ferrari and François Bayle, Bernard Parmegiani was a key figure in the collective of musique concrete composers assembled around Pierre Schaeffer. Parmegiani’s tape-splice wizardry helped set the stage for the future of sound recordings made up of other sound recordings, from the likes of Mike Patton and Autechre have cited him as an influence to the sample-crazy world of early hip-hop. Electronic musicians Laurel Halo, Keith Fullerton Whitman, and Drew Daniel (Matmos/Soft Pink Truth) were among those paying their respects upon hearing the news. Parmegiani came to to electronic music from a job as a tape operator for French TV. He joined Schaeffer’s Groupe de Recherches Musicales (RGM) collective in 1959, and by the mid-’60s he was composing album-length pieces. The Paris native continued creating works across multiple media into the 2000s.’ — collaged

Mike Boone (1973 – 2013) (Sourvein) Witch Rides Out
‘This week there seemed to be endless posts on Facebook from locals pouring out their thoughts and grief over the loss of bassist Mike Boone, a local musician who played in many bands over the years locally — Betrayer, Silver Judas, Notch, HarryBillyBooneband, Sourvein and S.O.L. After playing to a sold out show with Sourvein at Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn, N.Y., last Saturday night Boone passed away in his sleep. Sourvein was to play a show at Orton’s tonight with local acts to celebrate their 20-year anniversary as a band. The sludge and doom metal band that formed locally in 1993 released six albums and EPs over their career and were making a new album as of this summer.’ — Star News

Jason Molina (1973 – 2013) (Songs: Ohia) Blue Factory Flame
‘On March 16, Songs: Ohia and Magnolia Electric Co.’s Jason Molina died of natural causes in his Indianapolis home. The 39-year-old songwriter’s organs gave out after a longstanding battle with alcoholism. His body crumbled under the physical and emotional toil that he faced in his treacherous road back to sobriety. Like many musicians, Molina didn’t have health insurance. His medical bills amassed as he checked in and out of rehab facilities and received medical treatment after cancelling his last scheduled tour in 2009. When Molina needed money to cover his costs, he pleaded for donations from fans and friends alike. “Jason never gave up,” Secretly Canadian’s publicist Lucy Robinson told me. “He made music until the last day of his life. He was in bad shape, but it was his body that gave out.”’ — Stereogum

Dick Dodd (1945 – 2013) (The Standells) Sometimes Good Guys Don’t Wear White
‘Lead singer and drummer for the ’60s garage rockers the Standells, has passed away. He was 68 years old. Though they only had one Top 40 hit, the Standells have long been considered gararge rock royalty among fans with countless classics like ‘Why Pick On Me?,’ ‘Try It,’ ‘Sometimes Good Guys Don’t Wear White’ and the theme song from the movie ‘Riot On Sunset Strip,’ in which the band appeared. Despite the ‘Boston, you’re my home’ lyrics in ‘Dirty Water,’ Dodd was California born-and-bred. He was an original member of surf rockers the Bel-Airs, and as a child, was a Mickey Mouse Club Mouseketeer.’ — collaged

Albrecht/d. (1944 – 2013) Endless Music
‘There is not too much information on Albrecht/d. to be found on the net. When you google for him, you will mostly find Albrecht Dürer and of course there is a connection: as an instant performance and as a contribution to the Albrecht Dürer Jubilee in 1971, Dietrich Albrecht changed his real name officially to Albrecht/d. He worked and performed with Joseph Beuys, Throbbing Gristle, Wolf Vostell, Nam June Paik and many more. He invented permanent instant performance. He saved Raoul Hausmann from being forgotten. In 1979 he was part of the Stuttgart punk & art posse: the young common time punks hated him for being an artist, but he inspired a lot of the art core noise explorers.’ — last.fm

Reg Presley (1941 – 2013) (The Troggs) I Can’t Control Myself
‘Reg Presley, the lead singer of the 1960s rock band The Troggs, has died at the age of 71. Presley died at his home in Andover, Hampshire from cancer. Presley’s swaggering vocals characterised a band that was credited with influencing generations of punk and garage musicians, including the likes of Iggy Pop and The Ramones. Jimi Hendrix famously covered the song “Wild Thing” at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, when he spontaneously burned his guitar before smashing it on the stage. The Troggs had a string of other hits, such as “Love is All Around”, “I Can’t Control Myself” and “With a Girl Like You”, which reached number one in the UK.’ — The Guardian

Jeff Hanneman (1964 – 2013) (Slayer) Raining Blood
‘When news broke in the early evening of May 2, 2013, that longtime Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman had succumbed to liver failure at age 49, a shockwave of atomic force rippled its way across the metal community that left many stunned. As Facebook and Twitter became overrun with postings of shock, grief and recollections from fans who had spent the better part of their lives following Slayer like Rottweiler puppies, you could feel it—this one was different. This one hurt. To anyone who came of age in the mid Eighties wearing a denim jacket and studded wristband, Slayer was their introduction to aggressive speed metal, with riffs that cut like a buzzsaw blade and dark lyrical themes that often crossed into objectionable territory—and Hanneman was the primary force behind it.’ — Guitar World

Kevin Ayers (1944 – 2013) Oleh Oleh Bandu Bandong
‘Kevin Ayers, who has been found dead at the age of 68 at his home in the medieval village of Montolieu in south-west France, was one of the great almost-stars of British rock. A founding member of Soft Machine, he was a key figure in the birth of British pastoral psychedelia, and then went on to enjoy cult status as a singer-songwriter in the late 1960s and early 70s. Among his champions were the late John Peel and the influential British rock journalist Nick Kent, who later wrote: “Kevin Ayers and Syd Barrett were the two most important people in British pop music. Everything that came after came from them.”‘ — The Guardian

Sten Hanson (1936 – 2013) Les Sabots Du Bouc
‘Sten Hanson made his appearance in the early sixties as an experimental poet and composer. From an early stage he was aware of the importance of tape-recording techniques in the renewal and development of poetry’s resources. Text-sound-visual image, often combined with intensely personal ‘live” performances, are vital ingredients in Sten Hanson’s artistic workmanship and he is ore of the forerunners in the field of multi-media art. His works include electro-acoustic pieces as well as instrumental and vocal compositions. From the end of the sixties up to 1979, he worked essentially with electroacoustic music and created, with Lars-Gunnar Bodin, Åke Hodell, Bengt Emil Johnson, the theory and the practice of a new aesthetic field: “The electronic text-sound”.’ — Ubuweb

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p.s. Hey. Even though Xmas morning looks like it’s going to be pretty much the same as any other day for me, it will be Xmas nonetheless, and I reckon that a bunch of you will be doing the gift thing or sleeping off something, so I’m going to go blank tomorrow, blog-wise. I.e., there’ll be no post/p.s. tomorrow, and I will see you again on Thursday. ** Gary gray, Hi there, Gary! Zoning, nice. Or it could be worse at least. I assume you’re back in LA now? ** les mots dans le nom, Hi. What’s kind of interesting about The Mill’s snow globes, which I didn’t note because I decided to go text-less, is that their snow globes are part of a charity thing. If you donate a certain amount of money, and I forget how much, to their cause, they will make a snow globe with your house in it. So, those were miniaturized donators’ houses in those globes. I’ve had these allergies since 1991, so I’m pretty used to them, and they’re just what they are, but thank you for your condolence. That’s an interesting way to think about gift giving. Huh. I guess I think the opposite and more normalized way about gift giving, which is interesting. I mean it’s interesting that I just think about gift giving traditionally or something. ** Scunnard, Howdy, Jared. That makes me a bit sad too. ** Wolf, Wolf King! Ooh, take pictures of the Xmas apocalypse junior that IKEA helped you create please. So, the mysterious buche. I put a couple of photos of it at the bottom on this p.s. It was designed by Gisele with some input from Stephen, and I had it fabricated at a local patisserie, and it was a Xmas gift from Gisele and me to Zac, who began chowing it down yesterday. Cool, right? And it’s delish, too, since I got to try a slice. Sorry that it plays with the traditional model, but that was Gisele’s pick, and hopefully it transcends snobbishness? Ha ha, yeah, I thought ‘small potatoes’ was a really commonly known homonym thing, but I’m constantly having to explain what that means, which kind of spoils the effect, obviously, and, oh boy, I’m sure you can imagine the hell that little phrase and its French translator went through when the poem was transformed for the French market. I can’t remember what it became ultimately, but it had zero to do with potatoes. Its opposite, whoa. I think it has none, right? That’s its, uh, beauty, right? When I was making the snow globe post, I did find two snow globes that were housed within robot figurines, but they looked stupid, and I don’t think the robots functioned. Cool aside, though: Zac has a electric robot fan, i.e, a rotating robot with a fan as its upper torso. ** David Ehrenstein, Hi, Doyle’s are cool. ** Bollo, Hi, J! Yeah, I don’t know. I love Xiu Xiu, but I just think his Nina interpretations sound shallow and sap the intricacy out of her versions or something by comparison. I don’t know. Wait, you’re in Norway? Of course you are. Man, it must be hella Xmas-y looking up there. I’m very envious. We’re intensely without snow, but there’s this crazy wind blowing through Paris today, and the sky is full of twirling dead leaves, and it’s not too shabby, at least. Merry Big Day to you, buddy! ** Tosh Berman, I hear you about the dead Xmas spirit thing. Yours does sound like duty work, yes, sorry. But you and Lun*na: 25 years! That’s wild, that’s awesome! Happy Anniversary! Everyone, today is Tosh Berman and his brilliant other Lun*na’s 25th wedding anniversary! Wish him a great one or at least think him a great one! **  Etc etc etc, Hey! Good to see you, man! You’re in Orange County! Weird. Or not weird. Cool that you’re reading. Yeah, Houllebecq, I like his books okay, but I’ve never gotten the genius claim stuff re: him. Same with Murakami. I don’t know. Xmas in Paris is super beautiful to look at. Really, the city is in incredibly gorgeous mode. I’m not doing much of anything to mark Xmas Day itself, though. I didn’t do any ‘Weaklings’ readings. I did a handful of interviews. I envy you getting to slip into LA. What did you do there? ** Sypha, Hi. Snow globes are good fodder for stories and poems and art and so on and so forth. They’re a heavily untapped creative resource. So, I assume you get tomorrow off from work? And I assume today at work is going to be very hellish? ** Keaton, Hi. That’s what those tattoos are? Interesting. I’ll go back and click/enlarge the photo, if you haven’t deleted it, and try to match what you say they are to how they look. What’s the project with local artists? That’s interesting. Yeah, what is it? A Xmas gift! You shouldn’t have. Aw, that’s so sweet of you, really, and it looks complex and great so far. I’ll unwrap its internality in a minute. Everyone, Here’s a really cool seeming, rich, insinuating, finessing Xmas gift from the one, the only Keaton for all of us! ** Torn porter, Hi, Torn! Welcome back! I still have the snow globe fascination thing. Whenever I go to any tourist attraction place or theme park or whatever, I always make a bee line for the gift shop to see what their souvenir snow globe looks like. And they suck 95% of the time. I got your email, yes! I haven’t watched the thing yet because yesterday was sort of my heavy Xmas Day, but I will today. Thank you! And exciting that you’re almost over here. You get over here-ish the day before I go over there-ish, i.e, to Japan. ** Rewritedept, Hey. Happy to have populated your alley. Well, your Xmas sounds okay and Xmas-y. More than mine. Although I’ll figure something out. So, that’s your final assessment on the post-SY members’ efforts? We’ll have to see what Steve Shelley comes up with. Maybe he’ll surprise us all. My weekend was pretty superlative, you’re right. I don’t know what the ‘Codex Seraphinianus’ is unless I’m spacing. I’ll check it out somehow. Google it, I guess, yeah. Hope your errand became an accomplishment, and enjoy whatever Xmas angles your way. ** Allesfliesst, Hi, Kai. That globe is just untraditional enough. In fact, it’s downright odd. Weird that it lost so much water without the water turning tobacco yellow. The water must be really high quality or contain the best chemicals. Everyone, here’s Allesfliesst’s ‘rather traditional’, ‘one third vaporized’ snow globe. My text has a surreptitious dad’s porn kind of quality about it maybe. What are you doing on the big contextual day or, I guess, tonight if, like most Europeans I know, you’re into the ‘jumping the gun’ way of celebrating Xmas? ** Bill, Hi, Bill. The Halloween globe seems to have been the hit. I don’t know why I didn’t expect that. That globe by JD Beltran and Scott Minneman looks really cool, and I haven’t even watched the video yet. Thanks! Everyone, courtesy of Bill, here’s the “Golden Gate Bridge” Cinema Snowglobe by artists JD Beltran and Scott Minneman. ** Chris Dankland, Hi, Chris! Thank you for asking me the questions. That publishing possibility for the interview is a really cool one. Fingers crossed. I wish you a very merry Xmas too, my friend. And enjoy your IRL festivities very much! Love and hugs in major return! ** White tiger, Whoa, hi, pal! What a cool Xmas gift! You’re being here, I mean. Wait, and not only that, you also brought along an actual gift for us! Let me see what it is. Hold on. A new Blank Frank sonic/visual masterstroke! Very cool! I’ll imbibe that really shortly. Everyone, more Xmas gifts! This time from the very legendary d.l. and multi-talented artist White tiger also known as the well known, godlike Math Tinder! It’s here, and it’s visual and musical at the same time, and, yeah, go see/watch it, you guys! So good to see you, pal. An infinity of love from a moist, windy location in the 10th arr. of Paris! ** Steevee, Hi. Yeah, I can see that about CV’s major label phase, although it does have many fans out there. I liked the first major label stuff, but not so much the last two or three releases where it seemed like there was a bit of kowtowing to what else was going on in electronic dance at the time. Did you see the big overview of CV’s work in The Wire a few issues ago? It was pretty thorough and interesting whether its assessment was totally agreeable or not. ** Statictick, Hi, N. Glad you liked the globes. Listen, I’m nothing but way thrilled about your love and its spillage here. Love is the great motherfucker, and enjoy every detail. I would be pleased as punch if you want to do an Odd Hours post, of course. That would be really great! Thanks for wanting to do that. Yeah, you just sound so great, my pal! Have an awesome Xmas, and I have a feeling that you will. ** Kyler, Hi, Kyler. Thank you for thanking me for my clockwork like dedication to here. My pleasure. Good news that everything has gone smoothly with the parental types so far. You saw George? And he’s surviving the weirdly warm NYC jaunt? Cool. Oh, that’s why my ears were burning. So, I guess I should send you and G. the medical bills from my stay in the local ER’s burn unit? Consider it done. ** Right. So, I seem to have given all of you blog readers and participants a very melancholy music gig for Xmas. You have two days to get what you will from it, and then the blog and I will be back to push forward in time again starting on Thursday. Happy Xmas to everyone whether you celebrate the thing or not!

Buche design: Gisele Vienne (w. Stephen O’Malley). Fabricator: DC. Carver: Zac.