These pics were taken November 19th at Bodega, Wellington. Huge thanks to Altmusic for putting on the Merzbow NZ tour!! It was a crushing good time. I even had the pleasure of playing host to Masami while he was in town – bird-watching photos coming soon!
Masami Akita, aka Merzbow
boneAhead – these red/blue gloves were controlling the sound via the laptop camera! So good.
“One of the most extreme and uncompromising musicians of the 21st Century… Delving deep into otherworldly extremes of industrial, metal machine noise and beyond, Merzbow’s blistering output runs the gauntlet of his definitive brand of Japanese noise – from charred & blackened subterranean lows to interstellar cosmic highs. Punishing, remorseless frequencies pour forth in a relentless onslaught of pure sound, decomposing electronic textures devolve into tsunamis of brutal guitar wreckage. Impossible to pin down due to his uncomprehendingly vast ouvre, simultaneously contemplative & aggressive, Merzbow’s sound is way beyond music, it simply IS.”
Tickets from > UTR
audiofoundation.org.nz/altmusic
merzbow.net
These photos were taken October 18-20, 2013 en route from Wellington to Hamilton to Auckland and back…
Mount Ruapehu
Sean at Bully Point, Lake Taupo
A tour favourite – chippy sandwiches and a cuppa tea!
Comfy Hamilton accom
Audio Foundation stairs, Auckland
Mean Girls at Whammy, Auckland
All Seeing Hand at Whammy, Auckland
Leisure time! Spa Road, Taupo
Dave sans pants
Ben. Dave told us we could increase our cortical functioning if we put our hands above our heads.
Dave on melted chocolate
Art by Zach Webber
This next-level 6-track EP is available for pay-as-you-like download from eyeholes.bandcamp.com
& if you like it, check out Zach’s solo-project, Paperghost! Masterly.
I never finished my 2013 film festival recommendations! Here’s another, more to come…
“Blackfish tells the story of Tilikum, a performing killer whale that killed several people while in captivity. Along the way, director-producer Gabriela Cowperthwaite compiles shocking footage and emotional interviews to explore the creature’s extraordinary nature, the species’ cruel treatment in captivity, the lives and losses of the trainers and the pressures brought to bear by the multi-billion dollar sea-park industry. This emotionally wrenching, tautly structured story challenges us to consider our relationship to nature and reveals how little we humans have learned from these highly intelligent and enormously sentient fellow mammals.”
And the article that inspired the doco > here
Speaking of ‘eco-terrorism’, this film is showing at People’s Cinema in Wellington tonight (Friday 25th October), in support of Marie Mason, an imprisoned activist in the United States – followed by a discussion on prisons and prisoners. 6.30PM.
“IF A TREE FALLS: A STORY OF THE EARTH LIBERATION FRONT tells the
remarkable story of the rise and fall of this ELF cell, by focusing on the transformation
and radicalization of one of its members.
Part coming-of-age tale, part cops-and-robbers thrilller, the film interweaves a verite chronicle of Daniel on house arrest as he faces life in prison, with a dramatic recounting of the events that led to his involvement with the group. And along the way it asks hard questions about environmentalism, activism, and the way we define terrorism.”
The New Zealand government is opening up our oceans to deep-sea oil drilling. We should be aware of the potential negative effects this could have. Greenpeace have released this video and a really good educational website on the matter > oilspillmap.org.nz
Meanwhile, 30 international Greenpeace activists/ journalists have now been held for over a month (in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day, being released for 1 hour a day into a ‘concrete block’) and denied bail in Russia under charges of ‘hooliganism’ (piracy charges now dropped) for attempting to protest on a drilling platform in the Arctic.
Here is the new project from the Wellington-based genius behind Paperghost, Zach Webber, in collaboration with vocalist Jess Arcus. Tis a mind-bogglingly finely crafted, off kilter, hip-hoppy, dynamic, nostalgic, cerebral, amazing wee EP!!! Have a listen below and pay-as-you-like download. What fun!!! Please spread the joy at will.
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