You've never had it so good! (where have I heard that before? Bernard Matthews?) I'm not talking about the frequency of Ork Alarm! or at the other end of the spectrum the ease of aquiring a handgun at the age of eleven. No, if ever there was a prime time to be a music fanatic then it's now. With the explosion of the internet the world has never seemed a smaller, more accessible place and if you're prepared to do the finger work, then your computer is the musical friend you never had living next door.
The amount of information out there in WWWland is truly awsome and no matter what your hobby may be, you can find like minded people to share it with. The outcome of the explosion of information and awareness has been the ability for small musical projects to have a shot at making it, or at least have the possibility of getting some exposure. I doubt that anywhere near the amount of reissue material that has thankfully spewed out of the vaults would be released unless there was so much free advertising via the web. I also doubt that there has ever been a time when so many bands have the ability to commit their work to CD or offer it for download (check out The Joff Winks Band) and I'm sure that concerts of every kind are benefitting from the internet. Le Triton would be a prime exampe of a venue, tucked away in a Paris suburb, that now attracts a worldwide audience.
I feel a little sad that Paul Mummery, the person originally behind Ork Alarm! (the fanzine) could not be around to experience this. I'm sure that his version of Ork Alarm! (Online) would have been truly fantastic and as inspiring as the 25 issues of his fanzine were. To have witnessed the four weeks of Le Triton retrospective and to now be watching 35 years later Christian, Klaus, Jannik all on the same stage via the brilliant medium of DVD is something that I doubt even the most ardent of fan would have never believed a possibility. It's a testament to the quality of the music of couse! But it's also a celebration of how this new internet driven world that we now live in can harness enough interest to make some thing like the Mythes and Legends DVD project more than just a dream.
It recently crossed my mind how much fantastic music must be out there that I am never likely to hear. Lurking on a CD somewhere is possibly an artist that would have the same impact on me that, for instance, Magma, Hatfield and the North or Univers Zero have had. Obviously we've all got only one pair of ears but when you're being introduced to new bands on a regular basis via some of the great "Alternative Music" labels like Cuneiform or Musea and then take a further look at their vast inventory and then notice the amount of other record labels they also decide to stock and then consider the amount of product that never reaches their dormat and then multiply that by 100 and then take away the number you first thought of, and then add on a few more thousand (because it sounds good) and Voila! There are roughly 2,337 CD's that would currently be in my all time top ten had I been listening to music rather than writing this crap. As you can see from the lack regular updates to this site, sustaining a credible online version of Ork Alarm! is daunting to say the very least. Never mind, I'll just dabble at keeping the flag flying and treat this like a very occasional blog.
It appears that the mountain of artists demanding to be heard grows every year. Of course it's probably never been any different and it depends how narrow your bandwith of focus has been in the past as to how much you've been prepared to soak up. Me? I'm currently in sponge mode and much of it is being issued by the amazing Cuneiform Label run by Steve F over in the USA. I doubt that this is that much of a revelation to many. Anybody with an open mind to music and one that appreciates the alternative styles of Avant-Progressive (or what Steve F has christened "Rehearsal Intensive Music") must have at some stage bought a Cuneiform release. If you haven't, then I suggest you "do not pass go" but go directly to the Cuneiform website and take a listen to the variety of styles on offer. Cueniform have championed the causes of an astonishing roster of artists and I for one am totally hooked on the quality and scope that is available.
If you can get your hands on them, then Cuneiform's Sample CD's are a superb starting place and essential listening. Have you heard of Yang, Richard Leo Johnson, Djam Karet, Ray Russell, Ahleuchatistas, Graham Collier, Ndio, John Surman, Far Corner, Claudia Quintet, and the quite amazing Alec K Readfearn and the Eyesores? Well, I've just sent off my left testicle in an International Signed for Small Packet to Wayside (£3.30 for £30 worth of worry free insurance! Royal Mail Wankers) and the trouble is that I've just started to have another listen to the first two Sample CD's and it looks like the other bollock is about to be bubble wrapped and whizzed off. Of course this is rubbish as I've not sent my tackle over to the USA as a form of payment or bartering. It was just an expression, silly!. What I've done is use Wayside's excellent Shopping Cart to order a growing number of CD's and my mouse has had a nervous breakdown with all the activity. Which is another lie, as my mouse is an inanimate object incapable of rational or irrational thought, but it has started sticking a bit. I suppose that could be bits of toast though.
I just know I'll regret it, but I'm back in the DJ seat! I'm not sure I even like doing it. Phoenix FM has been in existence as a Community Radio Station for a decade now, broadcasting intermittently to the good folk of Brentwood (as long as you live in the high street because reception gets a bit dodgy any further than KFC) and Shenfield in Essex, UK. Up until recently we have been allowed a single month broadcast every other leap year when said February 29th falls on Easter Bank Holiday Monday and it's snowing. PhoenixFM have been trying for a full time license that would fit in with the the Government's policy of opening it's doors to Community Radio and guess what? We've finally got one! Yes!
On a number of occasions I've hosted a Soul Music show but decided to shelve the project, due not least to the fact I've run out of things to say and had been reduced to just one line of patter "here's another one of my favorites". Don't ask me how but I just know that the downtrodden of Brentwood are ready for a healthy dose of Art Zoyd, followed by some Guapo and then a taste of the Muffins with Albert Marcoeur for dessert. I mean, you know what they're like! They're just MAD! I know what they're like!!
Aural Moon
Internet Radio Reprieve
Whilst we're on the subject, if you haven't tuned in (logged on?, whatever!) yet to aural moon then give it a whirl. They went through a sticky patch a while back, mainly because they reside in the land of the free! So along with limiting the aspirations of online gamblers, the US mafia were hoping to charge fortunes for the privilege of providing online radio. Obviously the fees were going to be prohibitive and whilst you can understand that there must be a certain amount of consternation out there in "performing rights association land", let's face it. The game's up! Control freaks really must hate the internet. Right or wrong the cat is out of the bag, the horse has truly bolted, there's no use crying over spilt milk and a Rolling Stone gathers no royalties from internet radio .... for now!
The Gagliarchives hosted by Tom Gagliardi (Saturdays 10pm-2am ET and repeated Tuesdays 11am-3pm ET) and Progressive Shores hosted by Sean Macfee (Thursdays 9-11pm ET and repeated Fridays 3-5pm ET) are essential listening but drop in at any time any you'll probably find something to drool over
Oh my God! I've just logged on to You tube and done a search on Magma. How amazing to see all this footage (regardless of the legality) especially the early stuff, Klaus with his Big Issue beard, Christian without a boiler suit on! Isn't there something great about black and white TV footage. Snooker is much more fun to watch.
I could whack a load of links up here for you to visit but probably the best way is to just go to You Tube and get stuck in. The whole of MDK! with flocks of Geese?? ........ Just make sure that you have nothing planned for the rest of the week once you get started. Of course there is no way as yet of downloading them via You Tube (yeah right!) but I assume that somewhere somehow there is a filesharing site that is supplying that need