Populuxe

I was looking through some old mixes and found one that I totally don't remember making. I think this was around 2006 or 2007. It's very French and soft focus and floaty. This was a blatant ripoff of the kind of mixes Norm Chambers was making around the time (hi Norm!). Anyway I'm kind of digging this trip down memory lane so I thought I'd post it up.


COMME UN POT DE FRAISES - JO MOUTET 
POUR PAUWELS - GUY SKORNIK 
QUENOUILLE - DOMINIQUE LAURENT 
LE BATEAU - LAURENCE VANAY 
POÄME (JEAN PEYSSON) - LES REFLETS 
SANCTUAIRE D'EOLE - SERGE BULOT 
UN JOUR... LA MORT - CATHERINE RIBEIRO ET ALPES 
DIS-MAIS-DIS - TOTAL ISSUE 
LA MORTS AU PUITS - FRANTZ 
A CLOCHE PIED - RICHARD VIMAL 
CHERE CHAMBRE - FAUST 
UN NOEL ENSOLEILLE - MIKADO 
JE MARCHE - JEFF 
QUIET THEME - OSCAR ROCCHI 
OFF AND ON - FIELD 
DAWN; THE CAULDREN OF REGENERATION - CAN AM DES PUIG 
SUITE LYDIENNE (PART 2) - SERGE BULOT

Peter Kuttner, "Edible Rainbow" (1971)

Rewind

I've been reading about the early days of British video art and putting all sorts of new art heroes up on the pedestal: Catherine Elwes, Sue and David Hall, Madelon Hooykaas, Elsa Stansfield, Brian Hoey, etc. Not all of them used music (Hooykaas and Stansfield worked with Delia Derbyshire on a number of occasions), but to me these figures still have the aura of bands, suggesting a cooler shadow history of 70s British art rock with fewer guitars and more electronics. Such a heady time it must have been. It's fascinating how British video grew out of the activist ferment of squatting and so forth; early collectives like Graft On! and Inter-Action used video as an organizing device, and as a way of documenting scenes of abuse. "Television has been attacking us all our lives... Now we can attack it back." Searching for info on a 1975 Serpentine Gallery exhibit on video art, I stumbled upon rewind.ac.uk, which has an absolutely amazing database of British video art history. Well worth a long browse. Here are some images from the collection, mostly of posters advertising screenings. I downloaded so much stuff at once that I can't keep track of what's what -- but I do remember that the woman making the bed is a Hooykaas/Stansfield piece.

Jonas Mekas

Esso Rivista

Italian journal Esso Rivista circa early 70s. I believe this is a trade magazine of Esso (as in Exxon oil), with the title also signifying as "It Magazine." All images ebay.it

Next of Kin

Sugar cube pyramid from Next of Kin (1982), via Andy Votel's awesome shortlist of horror soundtracks.

Art of Movement Studio

Surprised by and a little afear'd of the uncanny weirdness on these made-for-school records from the Art of Movement Studio in Addlestone, Surrey. These kids almost sound like they are trying to break through to the spirit world.

*** Listen and Move 1 ***

*** Listen and Move 2 ***

So thankful for this. A dream album. 2013 has officially begun.