tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72777092024-03-13T17:45:07.540+00:00The Mekano SetAdventures in Sound and Spaces: personal ramblings on Alternative Underground Culture / Politics / Freedoms / Gender / Experimentation / Gurdjieff / Fourth Way / Situationism / Sneering at Music ProductionMekanosethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07282876182114622154noreply@blogger.comBlogger195125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277709.post-56880071150958806682018-04-18T12:53:00.001+01:002018-04-18T12:53:17.287+01:00Controversy, Conspiracy and Community<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
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<b>"You've just come at the right time. We're having a
bit of a party. Do you like... you know what?"</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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Some people claim their music can heal you of your
ailments. Some people describe their music as entertainment. Those are bold and
dangerous claims. Instead, I'd like to offer you a night of music that will
both nourish you and make you feel slightly uncomfortable in your own skin.
Served up with an extra-large portion of dry ice, drones, ritualistic grooves,
minimalist complexity, and divine chaos:<o:p></o:p></div>
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With performance therapy from Mad Pride
troubadours The Ceramic Hobs. They did it their way. And they still do!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Raw, fragile, ritualistic pop aestheticism from Vukovar: conjuring vast sonic landscapes out of the bare bones of an ultra-minimalistic
Post-Punk.<o:p></o:p></div>
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And The Mekano Set plan to bring a mix of dark
electrickery, drones, bass and soundscapes. Probably. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Dead Radio DJs will play a nourishing mix of deep cuts throughout
the night: left-field outrider post-everything grooves, darkened skylines, novelty records, answerphone
messages and 1960s TV theme tunes. Expect to hear The Prisoner, The Pink
Panther, Ivor Cutler, Swans, Killing Joke, pagan voodou, Morricone and more.</div>
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Thursday 19th April at the brilliant 81 Renshaw Street,
Liverpool.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It's recommended that you buy tickets in advance as
there's strictly limited capacity: <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://www.ents24.com/liverpool-events/81-renshaw/ceramic-hobs/1073865475">https://www.ents24.com/liverpool-events/81-renshaw/ceramic-hobs/1073865475</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.mekanoset.com/DeadRadio/">http://www.mekanoset.com/DeadRadio/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1492291670847833/">https://www.facebook.com/events/1492291670847833/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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The last time we played with Vukovar the night almost got
pulled. The bar staff were concerned that it was going to be some sort of dodgy
Neo-Folk bash (Vukovar were performing with Rose McDowall who has worked with a variety of people on the Post-Industrial avant-garde scene). <o:p></o:p></div>
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Rose is a vocal anti-fascist. But I was a little worried that there might be one or two swastika lickers in the audience. The kind of “I'm not political but...”
dudes who feel somehow duty bound to bore you to tears: they'll tell you how their SS uniform is actually a very expensive replica that was used in some film in the 1980s; they'll tell you that swastikas are a positive symbol actually,
and that it's not cool that you spilled your drink over their expensive replica SS uniform,
because it was used in this film that came out in the 1980s...). These dudes
“don’t’ judge” but their Talking At You quickly
tends towards over-population, how certain social (ethnic) groups are a burden on society and shouldn’t be allowed
to have children, and how it’s a form of social injustice that women don’t go for Nice Guys like
them.</div>
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You only have to take a quick look at our twitter or facebook to see where we stand politically, philosophically
etc. Call a bigot a bigot, and steer well clear. You can't save them. Don't give them an inch or they'll make a dramatic mountain out of it. And then bar you from climbing it, or going round it. And then express outrage when you show no interest in wanting to climb or go around it.<br />
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And at the end of the day, we Anarcho Romantic Situationist Fourth Way Feminist Sonic Explorers do have more fun. </div>
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Anyway, the band and Rose were just incredible and the crowd were lovely. The night blew me away and I'm still not over
it. As we all said at the time: why the hell isn’t this our Friday night
out, every week?<o:p></o:p></div>
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It's been really refreshing to play with bands that are influenced by more than just the usual, unavoidable run-of-the-mill
music. That's twice we've played Maguire's with bands that are doing
something brave and eclectic (the night we played with Venusian /
Cynthia's Periscope / OLA was equally inspiring); Bands that
understand that Punk isn’t just about macho men with expensive guitars, and that experimentation can include melody and narrative as much as a lack of structure, objective or groove. Bands that have been a pleasure to work with at a time when we've been operating in uncertain times, on zero energy with zero confidence. Maguire’s just isn’t the right venue for it.<br />
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Vukovar work a sonic alchemy out of the minimum of ingredients: drums, bass, voices and a sliver or two of synth. Less gear than your average rock band. No effects. No massive amps. No vintage guitars.</div>
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Some bands have the
ability to create or change atmosphere before they've even played a note. From
the moment they start playing (or rather, take to the stage to the near-silence
of equipment malfunctions). Something was happening. Something willowy and uncertain, with a hint of danger shining in the glare of a caged trouble light. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Musically, a band always seems to stand out when there's an element
missing. Vukovar don't have a guitarist. They don't need one. With just one
voice and two drums they conjure more atmosphere than your average band manage
with an entire Shoegaze Starter Kit of several thousand pounds worth of
bespoke, overpriced neo-vintage analogue gear.</div>
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Where most bands mine the Post-Punk period for
elements that have become played out, tiresome and cliche' (the cargo cult of bluesy pre-punk
guitar riffage, posturing, the leathers, the noodling
folk metal guitar filigrees, the snobbyness, the panto-metal leanings of the
worst Sisters albums etc.), Vukovar have embraced the mystery, the dynamics, the
minimalism and expansiveness of Coil, Nurse With Wound, The Virgin Prunes, early
Psychic TV and T.G. But crucially, they also lyricism and melody as
elements to embrace as equally as silence, chaos, tension and
release.</div>
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Vukovar are a coiled spring. The adaptability and intensity of the beat and bass - a real creative rhythm section (no plodding, no flash, no needless self-indulgence
or unnecessary frills), such a rare thing nowadays. The raw vulnerability. Brutalism as mechanism for the generation of something sacred. </div>
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So continuing onwards and upwards (and two doors to the left) with the deep-cuts /leftfield / no-filler vibe: this next one is taking place
in the amazing live room at 81 Renshaw! The room has a really excellent sound
system and the staff always make us feel really welcome. So we're really
looking forward to this one.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://www.ents24.com/liverpool-events/81-renshaw/ceramic-hobs/1073865475">https://www.ents24.com/liverpool-events/81-renshaw/ceramic-hobs/1073865475</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.mekanoset.com/DeadRadio/">http://www.mekanoset.com/DeadRadio/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1492291670847833/">https://www.facebook.com/events/1492291670847833/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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Meanwhile, here's some random snaps:<br />
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Spotted our CD in an genuine Record Store was pretty awesome. Next to Le Tigre no less!<br />
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Mekanosethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07282876182114622154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277709.post-46296263941635409532017-06-29T18:30:00.000+01:002017-06-29T22:21:35.874+01:00Things get weird with The Mekano Set: Emotion Wave 9 = Liverpool 81 Renshaw Street<div data-contents="true">
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<span data-offset-key="21on-0-0"><span data-text="true">Saturday night show was sublime, refreshing and a load of fun. </span></span>81 Renshaw is one of Liverpool's hidden gems: a perfectly sized live room with a great sound system, hidden away behind an unassuming, un-hipsterish cafe and brilliant record store full of Post-Punk, Psych, Hawkwind and cool Jazz on vinyl. Emotion Waves is a night devoted purely to adventurous, contemporary electronic music - and that's as far as restrictive genres go.</div>
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<span data-offset-key="21on-0-0"><span data-text="true">Emotion Wave's crew were so welcoming and their pure love of music / sound / noise was immediately apparent. They're putting on nights for the love of music, not their own egos, opinions or posturing. There was no sense of competition or info-dumping. </span></span><br />
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<span data-offset-key="c4872-0-0"><span data-text="true">We did a fairly chilled set including a couple of songs from our <a href="https://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/album/imaginary-weather">brand-new CD</a>. I mean, chilled for us. So it was still a bit disturbing. And Rachela, our secret weapon materialized for the last song (the still un-released, still evolving NotNow)</span></span> for a ritualistic dance to finish things off in style. <span data-offset-key="c4872-0-0"> </span>I haven't listened to the recording yet but there's a link at the bottom of this post.<br />
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It was genuinely enjoyable (even if I was a bit very under-rehearsed). The on-stage sound was nicely balanced, I could hear our sound echoing in the room with a real sense of... spaciousness. Or something.<br />
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Even the moment when I completely messed up the beat of a song, rendering it completely unrecognisable and us unable to find the groove to sing became something genuinely funny and entertaining. "This is for all you lizards out there..." Because as we all know, Pete Price is a Lizard.<br />
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Here's a pretty frank and in-depth interview I did for the Emotion Wave show: <a href="https://medium.com/@emotionwave/the-mekkano-set-q-a-eed5eab5b0f4">https://medium.com/@emotionwave/the-mekkano-set-q-a-eed5eab5b0f4</a><br />
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And some ace snaps below thanks to TomyBlue:<br />
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<span data-offset-key="5h8am-0-0">Emotion Wave Fb Group: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/1625447444360393/">https://www.facebook.com/groups/1625447444360393/</a><br /><br />The Mekano Set Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/mekanoset/">https://www.instagram.com/mekanoset/</a></span><br />
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Imaginary Weather (Digipack CD!): <a href="https://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/album/imaginary-weather">https://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/album/imaginary-weather</a><br />
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81 Renshaw: <a href="https://twitter.com/81renshaw">https://twitter.com/81renshaw</a><br />
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Tomy Blue Photography: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/tomybluePhoto/">https://www.facebook.com/tomybluePhoto/</a><br />
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<span data-offset-key="ap02i-0-0"><span data-text="true"><a href="https://www.mixcloud.com/neil-grant/the-mekano-set-live-at-emotion-wave-9/">https://www.mixcloud.com/neil-grant/the-mekano-set-live-at-emotion-wave-9/</a></span></span></div>
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Mekanosethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07282876182114622154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277709.post-10559883460324635882017-06-27T14:33:00.000+01:002017-06-27T14:33:40.387+01:00IMAGINARY WEATHER<a href="https://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/album/imaginary-weather">Imaginary Weather</a> - our latest adventure in sounds and spaces - has entered into the really real world as a rather slick looking Digipack.<br />
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<a href="https://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/album/imaginary-weather"><img alt="https://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/album/imaginary-weather" border="0" data-original-height="1007" data-original-width="1112" height="361" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_d7B-MMLGmTYt5_4zQPNDUwx1f41_by7z53ME1PeCxazNYVdy-mlWD_I-kzHP6UJa6uuw5bo9-DZxEPjDYm-h_MWg2nO76MgKPCXkoi5vsQUl_rh1DdDciKcZvHG9WYpEM7P2/s400/Imaginary+Weather.png" width="400" /></a> </div>
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It's a strange place to be in now it's all done and dusted. It's been a massively productive twelve months (and more). I've learned so much and it feels like we're better able than ever to realize the sounds in our heads. </div>
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<a href="https://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/album/imaginary-weather">Imaginary Weather</a> - to my ears at least - manages to include all of our essential ingredients: the cinematic vibe, the drones and extra-demnsional noises, the heavyweight grooves and the glimpses of dawn through a smeared windscreen. It's very "cinematic" according to some early adopters.<br />
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So we should probably take a well earned rest. I'm having days where I'm not doing anything which is really out of character for me. I feel like it's a good sign to not just be diving into the next project. But we've also been rehearsing - jamming / remixing a set of songs from now and then, and working on a couple of new ideas. A couple of really great collaborations in the works too. <br />
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We have a really exciting gig coming up on Saturday. Here's an interview I did with the night's organisers which was a lot of fun:<br />
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<a href="http://can%20you%20give%20us%20a%20potted%20history%20of%20the%20mekano%20set/?%20When%20and%20where%20did%20it%20all%20start?%20%20There%20was%20fear%20and%20hope,%20heart%20ache,%20obsession,%20betrayal,%20revenge,%20hidden%20doorways,%20evil%20twins,%20an%20ancient%20curse,%20a%20hilarious%20mix-up,%20a%20daring%20escape,%20and%20redemption.%20Finally,%20a%20cliff-hanger%20ending."><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Can you give us a potted history of The Mekano Set? When and where did it all start?</strong></a></div>
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<a href="http://can%20you%20give%20us%20a%20potted%20history%20of%20the%20mekano%20set/?%20When%20and%20where%20did%20it%20all%20start?%20%20There%20was%20fear%20and%20hope,%20heart%20ache,%20obsession,%20betrayal,%20revenge,%20hidden%20doorways,%20evil%20twins,%20an%20ancient%20curse,%20a%20hilarious%20mix-up,%20a%20daring%20escape,%20and%20redemption.%20Finally,%20a%20cliff-hanger%20ending.">There was fear and hope, heart ache, obsession, betrayal, revenge, hidden doorways, evil twins, an ancient curse, a hilarious mix-up, a daring escape, and redemption. Finally, a cliff-hanger ending.</a></div>
<a href="https://medium.com/@emotionwave/the-mekkano-set-q-a-eed5eab5b0f4">https://medium.com/@emotionwave/the-mekkano-set-q-a-eed5eab5b0f4</a><br />
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<a href="https://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/album/imaginary-weather"><img alt="https://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/album/imaginary-weather" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUjB3iC_L1dFQ3Gc3UVFa03vmBH3nJeV2pkjdjsf9WaQL3O-PsiGyTKn5XyF3HXhn9a0Or5SEXqS_6isEyocbWFugj6apEcgP9EqeeoR2ewsK6d9f1tBnBYrdw4ImBE5Ztldju/s400/IMG_2594.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/album/imaginary-weather"><img alt="https://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/album/imaginary-weather" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH049HI8KISo3mMJL7zTRJrZPvQGgATatnipNV7PSTieR-c_eSMrl9N8RlEJN-ytAFIt61CRy-ONxBo1wkNbDnSfdk46diz2TaeVAwtwl_Qgo5R-wMwj-PGDAcWFVAMY57NCLg/s400/IMG_2595.jpg" width="400" /></a> </div>
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We're playing live on Saturday 25 June: <a href="https://medium.com/@emotionwave/the-mekkano-set-q-a-eed5eab5b0f4">Emotoin Wave @ 81 Renshaw Street</a>. </div>
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/172436429945939/">https://www.facebook.com/events/172436429945939/</a><br />
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Mekanosethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07282876182114622154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277709.post-24516707930751401072017-02-14T21:32:00.002+00:002017-02-15T00:22:30.426+00:00Dystopian Daze<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKtkubvxHd7EvLTg3EwKMrUKf_NCc5DeRJhzJYu97-9R88DRIomumBr6jCthUtNgDSoSDLJROft_TFlxWs0WEv60ZJBMktKCpxiiTZyq8P2vFnUmGQlGY1URAD9Lvg-Q-42VLC/s1600/Imaginary+Weather.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKtkubvxHd7EvLTg3EwKMrUKf_NCc5DeRJhzJYu97-9R88DRIomumBr6jCthUtNgDSoSDLJROft_TFlxWs0WEv60ZJBMktKCpxiiTZyq8P2vFnUmGQlGY1URAD9Lvg-Q-42VLC/s400/Imaginary+Weather.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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We never dreamed that the future would look like this. A new age of superstition, scapegoats, victim blaming and the currency of fear. Misanthropes and xenophobes and greed guide the fate of nations. Freedoms reduced and no good can ever come of that. Nationalism is a vanity, where vanity is a kind of pride in something you don't really have. What a world.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDFsve9DaUwrfFwxsM7ZUJSklnaQzglelE_ghiozwG8xRP7725BKHTlRxAmzcOypGCU75Y2iJJryW8VJXh44FbisrTjcavxCkw21SeCGlwTHeOKOrLJ71qf5UfuzxypMcSF5s_/s1600/12472271_10154165828962932_8429359815462082598_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDFsve9DaUwrfFwxsM7ZUJSklnaQzglelE_ghiozwG8xRP7725BKHTlRxAmzcOypGCU75Y2iJJryW8VJXh44FbisrTjcavxCkw21SeCGlwTHeOKOrLJ71qf5UfuzxypMcSF5s_/s400/12472271_10154165828962932_8429359815462082598_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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With my fellow Mekano Set co-conspirators scattered across the planet. Distant transmissions firing off across boarders, received by failing equipment. Uncertainty. Things lost in translation. Words come out all wrong. Everyone being pushed, tested, shoved through emotional / intellectual / spiritual grinders. Surviving. <br />
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And I waste too much time and energy on negativity. So I must balance that out. I have to put some of that energy into something productive, something positive. It's easy to be angry, it's more challenging to do something with that anger. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimIeFQVx5kY0b3uvjy_LVGP-flZ6PuNKt41ZZC1ElVwInBSYv6VuUt5xXi6i-cCAKbryDVSl7yTi92Tyav8vmwhoZbTGRLP1Mq3pQCI3zRoJGWj2PydVfPj0SaBtx-ivDbTDjm/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-02-14+at+21.24.27.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimIeFQVx5kY0b3uvjy_LVGP-flZ6PuNKt41ZZC1ElVwInBSYv6VuUt5xXi6i-cCAKbryDVSl7yTi92Tyav8vmwhoZbTGRLP1Mq3pQCI3zRoJGWj2PydVfPj0SaBtx-ivDbTDjm/s400/Screen+Shot+2017-02-14+at+21.24.27.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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So we pushed ourselves and we had a proper night out on Saturday playing with Esa Shields at Dumbulls in Liverpool. We improvized a bit, dusted off Dirty Hand Job and NotNow. We took new song <a href="https://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/album/imaginary-weather">The Diseffect</a> for a spin and finished off our set with an element of surprise: a fire dance that happened unannounced in the middle of the dancefloor.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rachele conjuring The Mekan - Photo: Tomy Farrant</td></tr>
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I think I got the beats and bass bigger and clearer than ever; my guitar in full deep-space reverse-filth mode; a dash of vocodered cymbal and the addition of some pulsating analog synths and reverby sax from Jez; noise, words and objects by Jewelly MePresents; and wonderful projections from Simon Jones and Projectile Vomit: there were some definite Hawkwind moments I reckon. We just need to find our Lemmy... <br />
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It had been a while since we'd done anything live because I'd devoted so much time over the last year to finishing <a href="https://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/album/imaginary-weather">Imaginary Weather</a>. So it was a nice way to celebrate it's completion. It's available now on <a href="https://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/">our bandcamp</a> and will be out on CD, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon etc. soon.<br />
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/tomybluePhoto/photos/?tab=album&album_id=10155898157908306"><img alt="https://www.facebook.com/tomybluePhoto/photos/?tab=album&album_id=10155898157908306" border="0" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpOCDmy8yWNgfBuAzOC_YznBk0SIdYX20AwxoLJq25_5A1YoZN4SlNc1VMsTPln0cclXwL_M5YeaW9p79rftEvMApChiasnS4rz_n80_er6AcxlsWlq7V5zMzmr6BuCtmcDU2x/s400/Rachele+fire.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Imaginary Weather is available now:</div>
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<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2073921969/size=large/bgcol=333333/linkcol=e32c14/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 470px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/album/imaginary-weather">IMAGINARY WEATHER by The Mekano Set</a></iframe></div>
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Thanks to Esa Shields for inviting us to play, Dumbulls crew for making us feel welcome, Rachele Cerelli for fire and movements and Chucky for turning up even though her breaks weren't working.<br />
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More pics from the event: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/tomybluePhoto/photos/?tab=album&album_id=10155898157908306">https://www.facebook.com/pg/tomybluePhoto/photos/?tab=album&album_id=10155898157908306</a><br />
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Some recent pics + videos: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/mekanoset/">https://www.instagram.com/mekanoset/</a> </div>
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Mekanosethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07282876182114622154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277709.post-72753603549014533022016-09-17T20:29:00.000+01:002016-09-17T20:29:20.596+01:00The Sin perspectiveHello kids. Sin here.<br />
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You may all know me as the cosmopolitan, jet-setting, affair-having, sexual adventurer-warrior that I play in everyday life, but behind the facade lies a human being that actually cares about her work. ...well, a little at least.<br />
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I saw a pair of shoes online today. The six inch heels were made of some sort of petrol coloured metal and the rest of the shoe was floaty-white and feathery (with actual feathers stuck to it). Needless to say I ordered three pairs, one for me, one as a backup and one just in case.<br />
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I might run out of money for this month.<br />
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Anyway, I think these shoes are a great metaphor for how I work, and how I think.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuNE_dpLewQv0LFaOV7bBmh4438Ry5XeI2jC5lB7QFru9ddyzBc30o4iXH6DfHMgoWGjG6-oC3iqzbAZi-Tl-makHZ4Ek_ScwDg7alTb5-4xuNy8UToYfx4b1K8n2wcyW9SjaZ2w/s1600/cowgirl-shoes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuNE_dpLewQv0LFaOV7bBmh4438Ry5XeI2jC5lB7QFru9ddyzBc30o4iXH6DfHMgoWGjG6-oC3iqzbAZi-Tl-makHZ4Ek_ScwDg7alTb5-4xuNy8UToYfx4b1K8n2wcyW9SjaZ2w/s320/cowgirl-shoes.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">like this, except completely different</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I'm also planning my next excursion (not: holiday!) in order to find the most exotic and interesting sound samples that the band I represent (the Mekno SEt) can use on their next album which is due in 2020.<br />
I've been trying to collect sound samples around where I live in the good old U of K, but so far the bins I've been recording have not turned up much apart from a slight crackling from the odd freshly disposed-of crisp packet or two. I like to nod enthusiastically and act as if I totally <i>get it</i> whenever I meet up with the band, but to be completely honest I'm not sure what they meant when they said they were looking for a "behind-the-bins sort of sound". I'm going out again this afternoon to buy guacamole and might see if the clothes recycling bin behind Tesco's turns up anything more useful than what I have so far.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji6JPcuDmPwRLDdB42ucwx26Lfly0ilw_2n0QsoeGDj_WoSQoV8b2qk_LHXM49lxAUjho3xziYXzmFSa6Pb7_VjVpbSwI4S5UW-CG0AfE4O9mV4cEedfUq_mZSlQvwjnbsvYIa2Q/s1600/IMG-20130619-00052.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji6JPcuDmPwRLDdB42ucwx26Lfly0ilw_2n0QsoeGDj_WoSQoV8b2qk_LHXM49lxAUjho3xziYXzmFSa6Pb7_VjVpbSwI4S5UW-CG0AfE4O9mV4cEedfUq_mZSlQvwjnbsvYIa2Q/s320/IMG-20130619-00052.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
The last time I spoke to my cousin to try and clarify the matter, all she said was "Sin, I've got sublimation coming out of my ears, I can't really talk right now" and hung up the phone. And they tell me <i>I'm</i> the weird one. Although on second thought, it was 4 a.m. so she may have been anywhere between actually asleep/high/drunk/sleep-deprived/severely annoyed that I woke her up/still mad at me for that time I was convinced she was wearing a wig made from my hair.<br />
<br />
The point is, I'm a very busy woman and I'm worried that I'm wasting my time on recording stuff they won't be able to use, not even as the background noise you give to Milk which then gets mixed so low that it might as well not be there at all (but he still insists it adds to the <i>timbre</i> of the song, whatever that means).<br />
<br />
I have my own issues thank you very much.<br />
<br />
But yeah, they're gonna do music and apparently that is all that even matters.<br />
<br />
...x<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">(hesitant kiss)</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
Sin Tuckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17573647600563356692noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277709.post-16619044636428798422016-07-09T10:57:00.003+01:002016-07-09T11:05:49.668+01:00Abuse, Stalking, Racism, Leave Voters and Englishness<br />
<br />
Last night my partner was verbally abused and stalked by a vocal Leave voter, because she 'looks Polish'.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
These proud people increasingly believe it's their duty to voice their misinformed opinions and misguided beliefs, and to demonstrate through vile, disturbing and illegal actions.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
My partner is beautiful and she happens to be one of the most alive and sweet people I've ever met. Like all British people, she isn't 100% English. I'm sorry but no one is - even racist, predatory lowlifes.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Voicing your tragic, ill-informed tabloid poisoned views to people who can only perceive you as wilfully ignorant, broken and dangerous. Following a lone woman around at night in your car. When you 'won your country back' did you believe that this kind of illegal activity would somehow become acceptable?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Your notion of a pure Englishness is a total fiction. Your behaviour is just downright sinister. Is this the English way now? Verbally abuse random people because they don't conform to your tiny, imaginary perception of Englishness? And then follow them around the streets? Gods help you man, because you clearly do need help.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Do you get tired of yourself? Do people around you look tired when you're around? Scared even? All that negativity must be a drain. Because it never leads anywhere does it? It never makes you any friends, and does nothing to help the unfortunate people that have to listen to your ill-informed nonsense, and watch your creepy, illegal behaviour. When you're driving around late at night, alone in your car, what exactly are you looking for? What are your intentions?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Are you touring the land that you believe you've reclaimed, for your imaginary English tribe? Are you laying the blame for your own struggle, isolation, fear and confusion on people with even less power than you?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Look up from the pages of the fear mongering tabloids, see the world around you: you won't find your enemies. Look at yourself: are you behaving like a rational, dignified Englishman?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Get some help man, before you fall too far.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I could make jokes about pasty, illiterate skinheads clad head to toe in fake sports gear - but your lack of education and physical appearance are just random acts of birthplace, beyond your control. Like everyone else's.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The vast majority of people in this country make conscious decisions to not behave like hostile, predatory racists. Hell, they don't even need to decide to live this way, it's basic human instinct to not behave like an enraged animal.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
You're wrong man, and your behaviour is criminal. You're not an avenger of the oppressed white male, you're just wilfully making life worse for yourself, and the people around you.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Until you look up and beyond the lies of the tabloid headlines, you'll never see what it is to be British; you won't represent Englishness, and you never will.<br />
<br />
<a href="mailto:mekanoset@gmail.com">mekanoset@gmail.com</a></div>
Mekanosethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07282876182114622154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277709.post-31734442710890877972016-05-18T08:37:00.003+01:002016-05-18T08:37:44.045+01:00BERLIN II<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoP9lIBR52hC444dlnXLfX6MT7XEAVPa0Nr1AAoS9YhqwykawJ0ZblkneLK2-f-g4K5g9o6R0TPNq9mo6zXPAUNsEsNvy9zQkYrWc-lngVc84fmO1ZsZNr6yXwzbE0SxoSoXcN/s1600/13102898_10154258989912932_693843751555599593_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoP9lIBR52hC444dlnXLfX6MT7XEAVPa0Nr1AAoS9YhqwykawJ0ZblkneLK2-f-g4K5g9o6R0TPNq9mo6zXPAUNsEsNvy9zQkYrWc-lngVc84fmO1ZsZNr6yXwzbE0SxoSoXcN/s400/13102898_10154258989912932_693843751555599593_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<b><u><br /></u></b>
<b><u><br /></u></b>
<b><u>THE LANDING PARTY</u></b><br />
<br />
We're having a picnic on the landing outside the apartment we're renting. We're back in Berlin. We're on the landing because the keys we've been given don't fit the lock. The key fits, but the teeth won't work the mechanism.<br />
<br />
We've all had a rough time recently, our collective impatience has no fuse. Justine is on the phone in negotiations with the landlord, her tone balanced between humor and hostility:<br />
<br />
"You told Milk we could get access to the place from midday? I've been trying to get in since 3 pm? It's now 11 pm."<br />
<br />
In reply, I hear the landlord say, real casual like: "What would you like me to do?" As if none of this is his fault. I picture the snake from The Jungle Book, coiling around a phone line. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNuzsKRxnZIzX_437AsSFA_2ZxG7znnZu2EL5l0A7KSrlQ2fcMwSEXJrG4d6GWxttKZ5xMdt45jAwAjnPaeruAyl9YgKsg8_DpfLM1o3n-nmdz5ZiAljEhizU4mh_bl4Jnf_U8/s1600/13220596_10153502446136524_9205528033113621911_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNuzsKRxnZIzX_437AsSFA_2ZxG7znnZu2EL5l0A7KSrlQ2fcMwSEXJrG4d6GWxttKZ5xMdt45jAwAjnPaeruAyl9YgKsg8_DpfLM1o3n-nmdz5ZiAljEhizU4mh_bl4Jnf_U8/s400/13220596_10153502446136524_9205528033113621911_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><u>WE'RE NOT REAL(ISTIC)</u></b><br />
<br />
We Meks are a nomadic people. We're from everywhere and nowhere. We have come from across the globe in pursuit of the perfect dirty deep-space groove and we are always moving. Bands are supposed to be 'from' a place. But we're not a band, and we're not from anywhere.<br />
<br />
We were going to Berlin, then things happened that meant we weren't going to Berlin. Now suddenly we're in Berlin. Sitting on the landing, we are reminded that in the life of The Mekano Set, nothing is ever straight forward.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG-91RefTMZul6VNjWZM6adCoV2yuNB9ZCi5YMUTO5E-l5uPaHf65hcRdU9P4Q-RtJmjfvt8tGxUdQum_6BjZvL_68j_D6z0ykdAYSHVAdq1pbZ_mUwux_eQ6mLdNJrAR-GkY6/s1600/Sucker+bow+and+arrow+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG-91RefTMZul6VNjWZM6adCoV2yuNB9ZCi5YMUTO5E-l5uPaHf65hcRdU9P4Q-RtJmjfvt8tGxUdQum_6BjZvL_68j_D6z0ykdAYSHVAdq1pbZ_mUwux_eQ6mLdNJrAR-GkY6/s400/Sucker+bow+and+arrow+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Double-Sucker-Headed Arrow of Not Paying Attention</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
I have a new song I want everyone to contribute to in some way: Everyone on the same song at the same time - something we've never done before. It's not realistic. But when did we ever care about realism?<br />
<br />
We have very rarely all been in the same place at the same time. We once had five of us on stage at the same time, but that was an accident. We've had more members in the audience than on stage more than once. Some of us have never even been introduced. Anyway, there's no time, and not all of us are here, it's not going to get recorded today.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKffy3s8RX1sjVod-j6uNobp2bqxcjR-ZfmODvCDFk944xJ1XNF0Hs9hZEg3hFyd6hce7EKIa-Jw109d-a_dp06A7JRhf2IOvawUDrjhXkkD8WG_zAMwB5v1Bexg4cGn0bz_f5/s1600/13245506_10156931637840296_2012147577842132320_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKffy3s8RX1sjVod-j6uNobp2bqxcjR-ZfmODvCDFk944xJ1XNF0Hs9hZEg3hFyd6hce7EKIa-Jw109d-a_dp06A7JRhf2IOvawUDrjhXkkD8WG_zAMwB5v1Bexg4cGn0bz_f5/s400/13245506_10156931637840296_2012147577842132320_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Landing-Party</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
It is after midnight when we finally gain access to the apartment. It's another hour and a half before we have privacy.<br />
<br />
By way of apology, the landlord offers us a tiny plate of antipasto. What we'd really like is a cold bottle of sparkling wine, and a locksmith. We'll settle for an absence of men we don't know coming and going. <br />
<br />
The landlord suggests we find somewhere else to stay for the evening. From the table where we have arranged our warm beers and flight cases, our collective gazes suggest he leave, which he does, through a hole in the floor.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrfanYgEq6LM5exSTBqrkV-8KsS9o2UZ-3rsFJDtObpCRTivmUaiNnxVPxy2bq7TbEID9j60DUBK9mSZWjfn_wo0tlW7e0Cgfsm_0uH_MflHgbsKVyTnryCfCnWQbBfMge_wca/s1600/Sweet+Tooth.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrfanYgEq6LM5exSTBqrkV-8KsS9o2UZ-3rsFJDtObpCRTivmUaiNnxVPxy2bq7TbEID9j60DUBK9mSZWjfn_wo0tlW7e0Cgfsm_0uH_MflHgbsKVyTnryCfCnWQbBfMge_wca/s400/Sweet+Tooth.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SWEET TOOTH?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<b><u>(NOT LITERALLY) AN EYE FOR AN EYE<br /></u></b><br />
The sound we're looking for is something akin to a satellite, picking up random radio signals, drifting further and further out into interstellar space, gathering dust and debris.<br />
<br />
I frequently find myself wanting to make references to escape plans, maps, escape routes secreted between rooms, between buildings. I think 'I Made You a Map' was the best idea I had. Just the title. <br />
<br />
Liverpool still has a little mystery to it. It doesn't quite conform to the maps. Berlin is the same. We are drawn to places with uncharted territories because we don't like the idea that everything has been quantified, understood, answered. The questions are more fun than the answers. The answers never quite satisfy. And nor should they.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimXSTLKPcYR2M8R8bcGJh7Q1GGe0IrS2KA-92qTq0xBgqApDUXwbSUtCbYVN1iPmm5rDqf5Fbw-VfupfEr6qThvhm13NQQ0y17ZbpFBAek9ofEDzGeDTvyH77RAmICECSG9nxq/s1600/13256003_10156931638535296_8190361371667981153_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimXSTLKPcYR2M8R8bcGJh7Q1GGe0IrS2KA-92qTq0xBgqApDUXwbSUtCbYVN1iPmm5rDqf5Fbw-VfupfEr6qThvhm13NQQ0y17ZbpFBAek9ofEDzGeDTvyH77RAmICECSG9nxq/s400/13256003_10156931638535296_8190361371667981153_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Throughout our stay we keep seeing and hearing references to eyes and teeth. To the point where it stops becoming interesting and starts to get annoying. I try to think of 'an eye for an eye' in the sense of giving up on a closed view (accepting answers to mysteries), and opening up to a wider view (observe without making assumptions; get energy from the friction that creates where your brain itches from unanswerable questions).<br />
<br />
We're talking about this when we look up to see that we're standing outside a record store called Oye. There is a tooth graffed on the wall. We carry on walking and pass tooth after tooth, eye after eye, on posters and signage, in songs and in books outside second hand stores.<br />
<br />
Gurdjieff talked about the idea of giving up the materialistic view of life for a more objective, energetic view. Not sure about the teeth though. Food for the spirit as well as the body? Germany has the best wheat-free foods, and they play more than just mainstream music in the bars. So that's good eating on both counts.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaD-C0d3Um8Udb76bIMso2u88M8LTJ1m27IwjOBWtdbCvO7iqAE7BaoGQJlWvWUXB1ezFHmn81RVZ5A5tpeXzU2bOOfFhK4L6wxJ0xf2CUrNQUiXYd2MyBsMvgOIQoYxlfBvCb/s1600/13224195_10154274181802932_1158591338_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaD-C0d3Um8Udb76bIMso2u88M8LTJ1m27IwjOBWtdbCvO7iqAE7BaoGQJlWvWUXB1ezFHmn81RVZ5A5tpeXzU2bOOfFhK4L6wxJ0xf2CUrNQUiXYd2MyBsMvgOIQoYxlfBvCb/s400/13224195_10154274181802932_1158591338_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Awesome Doorways</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Berlin is warm. The sun is shining. The people are relaxed, the streets aren't strewn with bodily fluids and shattered glass. Our frazzled attitude seems anachronistic. We don't have a lot of time. We find Madame Claude's bar, one of our favourites. I have new material to finish, but life has gotten in the way. Everyone is entitled to a holiday.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEUtwE6o_x1eBnmM0E9mHK-FbjY-o4WR-buxR4hE10xNkLfrmJ4tKI31PoQyFZ-0gOxutF8OhjyxTcCgN8Ko3Q-IL7WNh5SIP-GgyOqowcRYp1ksDr9nHxkDs47XYIqaHYgbiu/s1600/13234744_10154274186077932_1683562142_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEUtwE6o_x1eBnmM0E9mHK-FbjY-o4WR-buxR4hE10xNkLfrmJ4tKI31PoQyFZ-0gOxutF8OhjyxTcCgN8Ko3Q-IL7WNh5SIP-GgyOqowcRYp1ksDr9nHxkDs47XYIqaHYgbiu/s400/13234744_10154274186077932_1683562142_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br /><br />
<br />
We sit in the park again, reminding ourselves that we have itchy feet, we're hungry for more, our eyes want new sites.<br />
<br />
All too soon we have to go our separate ways once again. It's too warm. And then there is a storm. And flights are delayed AND we're too early. And when I get back home, in the morning my coat is still wet with Berlin rain.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
"Path within, signposts without." Whitley Strieber, The Key.Mekanosethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07282876182114622154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277709.post-32544313637992373972016-04-25T13:59:00.001+01:002016-04-25T14:06:21.530+01:00Songs That Shaped My Brain<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYyO092uaCoZ0B49RDIs6iAUUa6D9gcu6NX1HQe4E-ZtYwW4ZdpIyHkNtPll5OKU-P4RATSeXP_pywSoL3GuJLjsIhLHN-WZlEJyPzaXokn_2afkPduT8aNrSMeoCry0do3cg0/s1600/Curve+vinyl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYyO092uaCoZ0B49RDIs6iAUUa6D9gcu6NX1HQe4E-ZtYwW4ZdpIyHkNtPll5OKU-P4RATSeXP_pywSoL3GuJLjsIhLHN-WZlEJyPzaXokn_2afkPduT8aNrSMeoCry0do3cg0/s400/Curve+vinyl.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
<br />
I got tagged to list some music that I like and I got carried away. I needed the distraction. Doing things like this remind me that I do have not entirely obscure influences and I am not actually operating in the dark:<br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
<b><u>Leftfield + Toni Halliday : Original.</u></b> Leftfield were a House / Trip-Hop act (but) this and Open Up with Johnny Rotten confirmed their Alt credentials. Electronic / dance music was the music of people from all kinds of scenes. Early raves and clubs didn't have a uniform. They certainly weren't the kind of places you'd find the white trainer brigades and you'd see everyone from older hippie types and Madchester heads to Goths and Grebos and everything in-between. It's a shame that things have become so divided again but that's the way the old boys network want it. Divide and rule.<br />
<br />
I'm pretty sure this is how I got into Pil and then the whole Post-Punk thing. Those two singles made me see that dance music wasn't just about clean, laminated safe sounds. Their work, along with people like Underworld and Autechre had that edgy, dark side that is the secret ingredient to a good tune. If something is too positive, or too negative, it's never going to feel nourishing enough. I still have this on vinyl (covered in bleach and Directions Poppy Red) so I'm claiming it as an 'album'.<br />
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<b><u>Cocteau Twins: Otherness e.p.</u></b> Again, on really heavyweight vinyl so Album. This helped me onto the path of using guitars as sound-source, instead of synths. This is a really dubby ambient re-mix set by the Seefeel bloke. Cocteau's Simon Raymond has to be one of the most underrated musicians of the 80s and 90s. Playing bass with an actual bassy tone at a time when most were opting for macho twang and plodding route notes, he’s also a great pianist and guitarist, and got a lot more out of those old 60s surf 6 string basses than The Cure or Joy Division ever did. <br />
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<b><u>Kate Bush: The Dreaming</u></b> Because my parents had it and growing up listening to this introduced me to the idea that it's not just your ears that 'listen' to music. Because shivers down the spine and hairs on end. Seeing her live was the single most moving gig I've ever been to. And the spooky-pop vibe. The emphasis on percussion, drone notes and groove. Big influence.<br />
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<b><u>Curve: Cherry </u></b>I heard this when I was still in school. Dean Garcia's from-the-heart mix of grimy growling bass and dirty beats and Debbie Smith's gritty-funky non-macho guitar woke me up on every level. They also looked effortlessly cool. I had never had any interest at all in making / playing music until I heard about 30 seconds of Clipped on some crappy TV show. I'd always seen guitar music as too macho and dance music too middle-class and this helped me cast off a load of useless snobbery.<br />
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<b><u>Techno Animal: Re-Entry:</u></b> At a time when I totally did not want to hear anything even vaguely melodic, this confirmed for me idea that beat + noise + drone = more than enough. It also made me realize that it doesn't matter what the instrumentation is, if the end result works, it's doesn't matter whether it's guitars, synths, samples or the god-like sound of Jon Hassell's trumpet.<br />
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I've followed Bug Man's work ever since. I've seen / heard him go from strength to strength in the pursuit of the perfect slice of noise and groove. Heavyweight music without the machismo, electronic but massively dirty and organic. I've been pursuing that ever since.<br />
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<b><u>Kind Migas Sound: Aroo:</u></b> This and their live shows at the time pretty much defined everything that I wanted to do with The Mekano Set: immersive sound, lights aimed at the crowd, a wall of sound and smoke. Pure bliss-out noise with solid beats. Playing the mix not just playing a vintage bloody Fender guitar. K Martin laying out vast yet intimate sonic spaces for Kiki and Roger to explore with an intoxicating cocktail of emotions, uncertainties, fears and longings. Awesome. <br />
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<b><u>Talk Talk: The Colour of Spring</u></b> but any and all of their albums. The voice. The voice! Is he shouting or is he whispering??? The way that the band was a drummer and a bassist without a guitarist meant so much power and room were devoted to the beats and the melodic bass. The zero-tolerance to industry / journalist bullshit, the no compromise attitude and the fact that they were obviously influenced by all kinds of music made me realize that that tends to be what real musicians are about.<br />
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<b><u>Hawkwind Hall of The Mountain Grill:</u></b> I was lucky to find this when I was about 10 - it brought down a lot of the barriers of ignorance and fear that I was growing up around. This was rock but also opened my ears to experimentation, drone, groove, electronics, heavy bass end, psychedelics, real punk attitude, singing in working class British accents, ignoring preconceived genres and just mapping out your own space.<br />
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<b><u>Scorn: Evanescence:</u></b> This came out four years before Massive Attack started exploring darker, minimalistic, Post-Punk inspired Trip-Hop on Mezzanine. Again, a mix of great looped / programmed / sampled beats; heavyweight bassy bass and guitars that totally push the barriers of what a guitar can do. On heavy vinyl too. <br />
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<b><u>The Sisters of Mercy: Floodlands:</u></b> my Dad had this on cassette and he'd play this, Bryan Ferry and Ian Dury on repeat whilst we drove around the wilds of Wales as kids. Deep, almost crooning, edgy vocal styles... But I forgot all about it until years later me and my friend met a bunch of Indie Techno Goth girls and introduced us to the world of Alternative culture (we were not alone!). The minimalism, the 'spooky pop' vibe, the baritone vocal, melodic bass and massive drum-machine grooves must have made their mark. Spooky Pop music is the best pop music. Weirdly I can't get my head round any of their other stuff - it all sounds too much like drug-fueled Metal.<br />
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<b><u>Magazine: Play:</u></b> My long time musical collaborator Ade B (Mutate / Stray Dog City) introduced me to the world of Post-Punk properly at a time when I had become sick to death of guitar music. The guitar is there and it rocks, but it also has an exotic, angular edge and works with the other instruments to create the groove. Barry Adamson's bass is just incredible. No bass player has ever had a better tone to my ears. <br />
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<b><u>Tricky: Maxinquay:</u></b> The voices. It's all about the voices. Also, as a massively commercial album at the time it was obvious that Tricky and Martine were freaks like us. I heard this at a time when there didn't seem to be any music that spoke to me or wasn't trying to reduce me while listening to it. It was soothing. The world is fucked, let's fall asleep in a space-ship and watch it on TV. You could totally hear Tom Waits, Indie guitar music, real Hip-Hop and The Specials in their sound and attitude. I loved the fact that Tricky was tough but in a vulnerable way and he seemed totally into embracing his feminine side. Martine's voice is a kind of medicine. <br />
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<b><u>Climate of Hunter by Scott Walker:</u></b> another one I was lucky to take on board when still a kid. It's massively stripped back and only really goes to the same couple of places over and over again. It's just that voice, a pounding beat, some nicely understated fretless bass, droning synths laying low and a hint of crashing guitar here and there to beak the ice. There's something wonderfully post-apocalyptic about the whole flavour of this album. This, and the first three songs on Nite Flights by The Walker Brothers reveal Walker as someone who was more than able to transcend his times. He's gone on to do some of the most extreme, adventurous music of someone in his or anyone's position. They weren't brothers you know? The emptiness made a big impression on me. I don't have the guts to do anything half as spacious. <br />
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<br />Mekanosethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07282876182114622154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277709.post-2544180190284152372016-01-21T10:18:00.001+00:002016-02-15T23:09:00.171+00:00You can make a map, but you can't show people the way : Remembering 2015 with The Mekano Set<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mekan Rising by Lee C</td></tr>
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I've just got back from my first trip to London in about four years. Wow. After a while you kind of feel that everyone has probably forgotten all about you. Was amazing to catch up with some old friends and trash a hotel room with <a href="https://twitter.com/JustineMarzack">Justine</a> and <a href="http://mepresentswords.blogspot.co.uk/">Jewelly</a>. OK maybe not trash it exactly but we certainly did leave a hell of a lot of dust and biscuit crumbs oh boy.<br />
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Batteries rebooted if not recharged, where are we, who and why?<br />
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What a mess. What an absolute brilliant mess. 2015 was about living - living in a way that I think I haven't in a long time: a lot of hiding away, listening to music, not worrying (or worrying less) about deadlines or trying to prove something illusive; trying to take a deeper look at what it is I'm trying to do, and once again making a more conscious effort to put the sounds that I want to hear onto the sonic canvas. But not just being locked away working on music, in a flood of cables and scraps of paper tattooed with coffee rings. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6AaSMf05JD9duhbZDhjfZNT1qEQGuPs29mGVYVCa-EXmi1lrj01O-odOAXjdyw_0yuaC0Fz6Nq3WieIHiKyzqiFd_PqqqROf_14_qh-c1PIJkBP-cqQxZ3Tp3oFpHo9vMEHl1/s1600/10409777_10153485079007932_7077176970234120087_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6AaSMf05JD9duhbZDhjfZNT1qEQGuPs29mGVYVCa-EXmi1lrj01O-odOAXjdyw_0yuaC0Fz6Nq3WieIHiKyzqiFd_PqqqROf_14_qh-c1PIJkBP-cqQxZ3Tp3oFpHo9vMEHl1/s400/10409777_10153485079007932_7077176970234120087_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jewelly enjoys a Small Berlin Gin + Tonic</td></tr>
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Our trip to Germany really drove the feeling home that Britain - England at least - isn't really doing too well. Up and down the country I'm watching so many unique places and nights get shut down or cancelled one by one - to make way for designer homes or coffee shops (seriously - how many damned coffee houses does any one town need????) or the same old tired retro events.<br />
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Bands existing in a pre-1980s time-warp peddling bland 60s rock-pop are the norm once again. The kind of bands that belong in tourist-trap bars and wedding parties are being hailed as the saviours of rock and or roll. It's all just a bit fucking tiring.<br />
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Germany: its streets aren't littered with shattered glass and bodily fluids and they play more than just the safest most commercial options in the bars. Can you imagine living like that? And I have to say Youg Fathers were incredible live. All you need is those guys baring their souls and the drummer with some huge kick drums. Awesome. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">We have Van</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Mekano Set @ Dumbulls</td></tr>
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We played a handful of performances this year, each something different. At our best, every gig is an event because every gig is a little - or a lot unique. That has always been a big part of our genetic makeup: we're not predictable, we're not lazy. We once did a great hour long (soundcheck) set of upbeat noisy tunes to an audience comprising of Anarchistwood and Cowley Club heads in Brighton, and then did a fifteen minute, soft slow and gentle version of Don't Eat The Sweets as the main performance, and that was it. Because it felt right. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A night off</td></tr>
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<a href="https://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/album/pareidolia">Pareidolia</a> came out just at the end of 2014, so there was no new E.P. from us this year. However, in May we performed <a href="http://mekanoset.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/water-flowing-up-hill-meks-do-light.html">Water Flowing Up a Hill</a> three times at the legendary Everyman Theatre in Liverpool; a new thirty minute piece specifically written Liverpool Light Night.<br />
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This was the first time we had really combined research, politics and adventurous sonics. It was a great opportunity to combine so many elements that bands nowadays can't often get away with: thirty minutes without breaks, thinly veiled polemic, no conventional beats or riffage.<br />
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Politics is not enough - it's doomed, it inevitably excludes and alienates someone, but it's there. How can anyone be apolitical in times like these? You are always signifying something, and a lot of the time it's out of your hands, but you can play around with it, and observe the results. <br />
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We also played gigs at The Gregson Institute and The Kazimier - another venue that has since closed down.<br />
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We finished off the year with a gig at Dumbulls: one of Liverpool's very last remaining underground, independent places.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looping Kathy Bates backdrop @ Liverpool Dumbulls</td></tr>
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It's easy to fall into a routine with gigs. I think sometimes we forget that we're not an Indie Band and while it's fun to go where you don't belong sometimes, it's not good to waste time and energy.<br />
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We have always struggled to find a way to present the sounds physically / visually. It's a side of things I'd kind of given up hope of ever sorting out. But it's become clear to me again that like it or not, the visual element is always going to be there: so you may as well play with it.<br />
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When we first started doing things live there was some debate about how we would go about it. One or two of us were adamant that they would in no way compromise: they would wear their dullest clothes on stage, they would not stand up whilst playing, they might not even face the audience. While we never tried to talk people out of this approach, it did make me realize that going down that road would probably draw more attention to them - not less.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/goog_121373100"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjirRV_HxCrwVUyTeMqcX7gl8i2p3lBkn_XsHdA2JphZ79KafT65cmDObd0uARAE0JtKtpWd1V8TZ0xXCE9RlNlJBiOKKoln12BGhzQF-PDvGEJ3-4xFkKgR7MwtSMvQQ3glTVm/s400/11800102_10153600328352932_2833282922590822839_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/55jkqftbRJ/">Artwork by Joey Chainsaw</a></td></tr>
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We look at the <a href="https://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/album/pareidolia">last E.P.</a> again now and I think it's fairly clear that our whole thing gets a little clearer, more distinctive and refined with every release. I have no idea what the next one will be like - or even if there will be a next one.<br />
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We were all massively pleased with how Matchmaker came out: something that combined three distinctive voices (my 'Gothic Foghorn', Chucky's lost-in-space and Arthur's fragile child-pimp-magus), with a hint of Cocteau Twins going on in the warped-tape reverb.<br />
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There is as-yet unreleased material from those sessions. I have been working on some new ideas plus we've been playing around with some different formats in collaboration with <a href="http://mepresentswords.blogspot.co.uk/">ME PRESENTS</a> (including a 'wide-screen' hardback book) . A compilation is hopefully on the cards, plus a new e.p. entitled Imaginary Weather that will hopefully be released on the usual formats, plus on cassette!!! It's all about the titles.<br />
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But I don't want to rush things and it's healthy I think to give sounds time to evolve a little between releases.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Mekano Set Flash Books - Widescreen Version</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A demo-page from a Mekano Set book</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsZNgTFBDWVRIRn5v87lr82wbAnV6HXsww5Y64LTxTWYu8r1Cjid7XAFvXbMZXQ2xHYe-SNewXyZiCOcQOrLkoqREFBLqnF45w214ngIISBZmoQI5o_fGb5dXTO5fCNVOo8bc0/s1600/12360015_10153880494352932_4478469230254683238_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsZNgTFBDWVRIRn5v87lr82wbAnV6HXsww5Y64LTxTWYu8r1Cjid7XAFvXbMZXQ2xHYe-SNewXyZiCOcQOrLkoqREFBLqnF45w214ngIISBZmoQI5o_fGb5dXTO5fCNVOo8bc0/s400/12360015_10153880494352932_4478469230254683238_n.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frank Sidebottom + Invader Zim + The Mekano Set</td></tr>
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<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I tell you one very important thing to say each time when longing come. You will say it first time and maybe notice nothing. Second time, maybe nothing. Third time, maybe notice something. Say: "I wish result of this my suffering be my own, for being". Forсe such as this have special results - makes chemicals, has special emanations. This saying can maybe take force from animal and give to being. And you can do this for many things for any denial of something that is a kind of slavery. - G.I.Gurdjieff</blockquote>
<br />
We also found time to indulge in other creativities between sessions,
including our irreverent reviews and social commentary blog The
International Cheese Fries Review: <a href="http://internationalcheesefries.blogspot.co.uk/">internationalcheesefries.blogspot.co.uk</a><br />
<br />
Once again our web provider has failed to deliver - Mr Nathan Barnes a.k.a. https://www.yorhost.net - you'll be getting no more money from us and we advise against anyone using their services for anything online. www.mekanoset.net appears to be dead in the water - but we do have <a href="http://www.mekanoset.com/">www.mekanoset.com</a> and will be based their from now on.<br />
<br />
There's still so much I want to do - there just aren't enough days in an hour.<br />
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Mekanosethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07282876182114622154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277709.post-40427671930707286822016-01-17T19:17:00.001+00:002016-01-19T21:53:27.225+00:00IMAGINARY WEATHEROur website is down - apparently for good. <a href="http://www.mekanoset.com/">www.mekanoset.com</a> will be taking its place. Just got back from a wonderful trip to London (first time in three years??). Have a look out our <a href="https://www.instagram.com/mekanoset/">instagram</a> for some visual evidence of recent exploits. <br />
<br />
Working on new material but trying not to rush. <br />
<br />
We're still here. Hope you are too.<br />
<br />
Will post a full news update soon.<br />
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BAc5z2ytbfd/" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">A photo posted by The Mekano Set + Milk (@mekanoset)</a> on <time datetime="2016-01-12T20:00:08+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Jan 12, 2016 at 12:00pm PST</time></div>
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<a href="http://www.mekanoset.com/">The Mekano Set</a>Mekanosethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07282876182114622154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277709.post-42349615510149521932015-11-09T23:48:00.000+00:002015-11-21T12:43:33.015+00:00Thomas Truax @ Drop The Dumbulls<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<br />
Just about a year ago we were all set to play a gig with lupine troubadour Thomas Truax at Liverpool's <span data-dobid="hdw">louche</span> boho loitering-hole MelloMello. We were understandably very excited about this. A day or two before the gig we discovered that the place had shut down. We were as equally un-excited about that.<br />
<br />
We'd been rehearsing in the venue's basement on and off for a few weeks, partly because the place wasn't populated by the usual twitchy amateur DJs, poodle-haired rock kids and beige pantalooned hipster toffs. They had also stopped caring about whether they charged us or not - which should have been a sign that things weren't quite so mellomello behind the scenes.<br />
<br />
We turned down the offer of playing a Jazz Night at Kazimier (which is now in the process of being shut-down too) instead, and thankfully a slot was found at the newly established home of the anti-hipster underground arts venue Drop The Dumbulls.<br />
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<br />
Truax is an anomoly. He's honouring a kind of tradition that barely exists in contemporary culture, with the exception of moments of Tom Waits, The Dresden Dolls, Nick Cave, P.J. Harvey.<br />
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<br />
<br />
He makes me think of antiquated carnival acts: those fairground games where someone in a striped suit and bowler hat guesses what you had for dinner once when you were nine; eerie Eastern-European stop-animation, fairy tales that end in death and destruction.<br />
<br />
It's all oddly familiar, even comforting - but the instrumentation (a unique collection of automaton drums and found objects retro-fitted with echo-boxes and digital tape-loopers) gives him an edge of originality. And no, Truax is not Steam-Punk.<br />
<br />
He isn't Steam-Punk in exactly the same way Michael Moorcock isn't Steam-Punk: some people just do their thing: some people try too hard to imitate that thing.<br />
<br />
<br />
Where Amanda Palmer is readily and easily imitated (because nothing that she does is particularly original): the rag doll attire, the Brechtian theatrics, an upright piano sound and an effected 'politely appalled at the world' attitude; anyone trying to copy Truax is doomed to a life of singing into washer-dryer parts, endlessly pursuing the perfect pinstripe suit. Nobody needs to see that.<br />
<br />
Truax is crumpled and quirky without coming across as annoying or too geeky. There is a definite nod to Tom Waits in the music - particularly on record.<br />
<br />
And you can't fault his dedication to doing things his own way: with an array of unique, fragile home-made instruments that must be a pain in the ass to transport and set-up, he certainly isn't making life easy for himself.<br />
<br />
We play Drop The Dumbulls Saturday 12th December, with Liverpool Electro Post-Punk Double Echo. <br />
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<br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/DropTheDumbulls">https://www.facebook.com/DropTheDumbulls</a><br />
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<br />
Image c/o <a href="http://thehearingaid.blogspot.co.uk/2010_11_01_archive.html">http://thehearingaid.blogspot.co.uk/2010_11_01_archive.html</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.mekanoset.net/">The Mekano Set</a>Mekanosethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07282876182114622154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277709.post-61268886004869383792015-09-08T12:06:00.003+01:002015-09-08T12:11:06.201+01:00Everyman Theatre - Light Night 2015 - The Mekano Set - Alchemy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I remember this day quite well. It started after I'd logged my digital
doppelganger offline. The sun was suggestive, the wind was lazy, even ignorant. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In the blissfully immigrant ALDI I stood wearing a hat
and listening to someone husky. This was an effort to smooth the edges
of my guilt for not helping with the gear for the gig. Schweppes and lemons! And
I've even bought Gin! Sim-sala-bim! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Will the Everyman Theatre always smell like a new building? I was on-time-early and I was not<span class="text_exposed_show">
wearing stripes (Zoviet / Gulag / The Prisoner / sailor homage) because I had to. </span></span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="font-family: inherit;">I was wearing shirt and tie, which could have
said many a-thing about me, but was, in fact, a lie. Among the
commotion on the ground floor <a class="profileLink" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/user.php?id=718557931" href="https://www.facebook.com/milkovitch">Milk</a> greeted me with a firmly-Pink-Black-Triangle-Socialist-Party deliberacy. </span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="font-family: inherit;">We went
upstairs, my rubber soles squeaking black polished footsteps. He
showed me the room, which was about the size of a Wilhelm Reich's Orgone
accumulator. Great. As it was going to be used for exactly the same
purpose. It had secret doors and invisible windows and carpet under the
laminate. And 'behind-the-screens' back-projector. </span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<span class="text_exposed_show" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text_exposed_show">As we stood on the
smoke-free balcony contemplating man made contradictions we saw <a class="profileLink" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/user.php?id=822657169" href="https://www.facebook.com/seeIreckon">Sandra Tsch</a>
cheerfully approaching the bread to make the Mek sandwich. She was also
wearing stripes and her smile was real curved. </span>Then we started setting
up, but that part escapes my recollection. I began to feel dry. </span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="font-family: inherit;">The
pre-show existence is complete purgatory. Each of us picked a corner and
began to assemble their transmission-communication devices. Once the
three rivers were merged into one, the chairs were generated onto the
bridge and the sky appeared in the mirror above. We were free to meet
the angles in the staff communal area. So we took the staff staircase,
which for it's undeniably Brutalist concrete properties will become a future
location for the famous getaway scene in the not-yet-renowned ambient
thriller 'Sterile Sinfulness', and in the communal area we met
ourselves and had some lemons. </span><br />
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<span class="text_exposed_show" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/arthur.habsburg">Arthur Habsburg</a>, Liverpool / Münster September 2015<br /><br /><br />A live recording of the performance of 'Water Flowing Up a Hill' with visuals from the projections can be viewed at <a href="https://youtu.be/Q3FlV_0bu9w">https://youtu.be/Q3FlV_0bu9w</a></span>Mekanosethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07282876182114622154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277709.post-21300001654026356282015-07-14T11:44:00.002+01:002015-07-15T11:06:47.607+01:00The Mekano Summer Set<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibH5kHdNAv1rDgAgqsGXXHuA751oyOPUkCOaU7LDG0YJGfoUkEILB1J7yEzotmIC_qICv_kPtep7HGFmcWFrn8j-9yHIuwFCY-vyIiBfOa1m0Lwg214dslgIEZmfT11C4xAjF2/s1600/64282_10153487897477932_5385853823468531643_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibH5kHdNAv1rDgAgqsGXXHuA751oyOPUkCOaU7LDG0YJGfoUkEILB1J7yEzotmIC_qICv_kPtep7HGFmcWFrn8j-9yHIuwFCY-vyIiBfOa1m0Lwg214dslgIEZmfT11C4xAjF2/s320/64282_10153487897477932_5385853823468531643_n.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Berlin Graffitti</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 1.428571em;">Following our inspirational expeditions to the mega city of Berlin (imagine a place where you can hear adventurous music in public seven days a week, grab a vegan feast on every street, and a decent beer for less than £1), w</span><span style="line-height: 1.428571em;">e've completed a mix and remix for London dirty-electro sleaze merchants Blindness.</span><span style="line-height: 18.5714225769043px;"><br /></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKFvMp2L4ELIgFQCn5FuyPEFXixhAmsOx7Eiz4A-MNCBNlMKeNbQBxsZz_rSPi1QK6YzfiYWW2Zf_boG_bRQ3v-bWvgoaHqjPLkOR9ArjcpQO3HeEEukBnG5wDhoGYqQrRzY7R/s1600/10372509_10153487898607932_4913217829735276428_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKFvMp2L4ELIgFQCn5FuyPEFXixhAmsOx7Eiz4A-MNCBNlMKeNbQBxsZz_rSPi1QK6YzfiYWW2Zf_boG_bRQ3v-bWvgoaHqjPLkOR9ArjcpQO3HeEEukBnG5wDhoGYqQrRzY7R/s320/10372509_10153487898607932_4913217829735276428_n.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Abstand : Berlin : Prost!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18.5714225769043px;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18.5714225769043px;"></span><span style="line-height: 18.5714225769043px;"></span>Plans for gigs are temporarily on hold as Arthur continues to explore That Europe inside aeroplane machines (intent on bringing back new and exotic sound samples), and Chucky having temporarily departed into the 1920s via the medium of Acting (and possibly a time machine). But come late July, we should be back on track to take the Meks back into the streets and alleys for your aural disturbance.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small; line-height: normal;"><br /><br />Our last live outing (Liverpool Kazimier) was such a blast and it was great to really get into exploring certain grooves like </span><a href="https://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/track/heatwave" style="font-size: medium; line-height: normal;">Fires Made Safe</a><span style="font-size: small; line-height: normal;"> and </span><a href="https://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/track/fires-made-safe" style="font-size: medium; line-height: normal;">Heatwave</a><span style="font-size: small; line-height: normal;"> all over again.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: normal;"><br /><br />In the meantime, we are looking to polish up and publish two or three new songs, one of which (8 Mile High Cloud) was previously only available on the CD version of the</span> <a href="https://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/album/pareidolia">Pareidolia e.p.</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 1.428571em;">Work continues on Mekhan Rising - the sequel to our audio documentary</span><span style="line-height: 1.428571em;"> </span><a href="https://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/album/behind-the-sins-o-s-t" style="line-height: 1.428571em;">Behind The Sins</a><span style="line-height: 1.428571em;"> </span><span style="line-height: 1.428571em;">- a Mekstory Channel audio doc that explores the legend of The Mekhan: a mythological Springheel Jack-liked trickster figure and features new music from us.</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 1.428571em;"><br /><br />I'm also tidying up a live recording of our performance of <a href="http://mekanoset.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/water-flowing-up-hill-meks-do-light.html">Water Flowing Up a Hill</a> at Liverpool's Everyman Theatre in May. And we also have videos for Pages and The Lighter (from the Pareidolia e.p.) - see below</span><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 1.428571em;">...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">"The essence of reality is not fact but question. There are no facts, only truths." <span style="line-height: 1.428571em;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9299849-the-key">The Key, Whitley Strieber.</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Mekano Set : Pages</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lBLZHW3IWuA" width="560"></iframe><br />
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The Mekano Set : The Lighter (edit)
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<a href="http://www.mekanoset.net/">The Mekano Set</a></span><br />
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Mekanosethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07282876182114622154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277709.post-19808165999015267682015-05-16T15:02:00.001+01:002015-05-16T15:02:50.705+01:00Water Flowing Up A Hill – The Meks do Light Night 2015<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkRGNUO879LoATU_Ht1nwUY4k8M60KKSdJeCrD05P0zWBAAMgF2BipW7gvKAULBJb23j3XPdZ6pTDHMplpEleF__T8woZesBr3IEto0E1SIvjU7rm5EB1Ozk2XovNUqOiAAfOV/s1600/11055319_10153281360107170_6451073438165273231_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The Mekano Set grinning silly" border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkRGNUO879LoATU_Ht1nwUY4k8M60KKSdJeCrD05P0zWBAAMgF2BipW7gvKAULBJb23j3XPdZ6pTDHMplpEleF__T8woZesBr3IEto0E1SIvjU7rm5EB1Ozk2XovNUqOiAAfOV/s400/11055319_10153281360107170_6451073438165273231_n.jpg" title="The Mekano Set grinning silly" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hello</td></tr>
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<br />
Yesterday evening was Light Night, and as previously
announced, The Mekano Set played a live soundtrack to a video montage of our
own making at the Everyman Theatre.</div>
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Rehearsals had been a bit of a mixed bag... we managed to
record some footage early on, and Milk wrote lyrics that centred around the Liverpool / maritime / docklands
theme that had some political undertones (and bits that were downright
obvious). Then came the question of the actual music.<br />
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Despite problems with our
various technologies, ranging from “oh, the laptop turned itself off in mid-recording again ha ha ha” to “I'm
playing a G on the keyboard but that clearly isn't the note that's coming out
of the speakers” and everything in between, we finally settled on three
sections to accompany the video (which Milk had now painstakingly sellotaped
together in spite of the unruly machines): a minimalistic intro; slow-paced title
track “Water Flowing Up a Hill” (which cheekily repeats the Everyman's “Play on”
slogan many, many times); and “Cruiser Rules” – this one had a little bit more
of a groove and thus allowed Arthur to make the best of his new oil-drum drums and gave him
a chance to really shine (which he did!).<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-KpKSpxKKSmka5TEDtiikezb-GGnkoVLCpvrnBxaxwQ9tAV5H9Mphbs9lc7Cj16AFJtI8X7-PQn9QueWLw8mqAzJGLJGrjSsOG8uKE1vD_1PJ8EwL2PyA_7TX1n5MMxLaoW4V/s1600/10292143_10153396955557932_5433527149764065586_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="silhouette milk and large projection of clouds" border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-KpKSpxKKSmka5TEDtiikezb-GGnkoVLCpvrnBxaxwQ9tAV5H9Mphbs9lc7Cj16AFJtI8X7-PQn9QueWLw8mqAzJGLJGrjSsOG8uKE1vD_1PJ8EwL2PyA_7TX1n5MMxLaoW4V/s400/10292143_10153396955557932_5433527149764065586_n.jpg" title="silhouette milk and large projection of clouds" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Milk and Water, Flowing up a Hill</td></tr>
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Aside from technical glitches, there were also discussions about
how much (if any) silence should be involved in the soundtrack, how many drums
would be needed, the balance between planning and leaving space to improvise,
and what our impish patron demon, the Mhechan, would make of all this, what
with his name not being mentioned once in the whole performance.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz3dvD_5t2_TMOW1YgTm73JMyVySfZOSxk1feMFqKHdTdl-DxbzlifqyL6O15FFLtTUvAoSV1M7MMn-RBBWOrOjgxKkgMvb3Oa8RuiId5PW2SsqKp46OTbBI6rQmjoDZzatkFG/s1600/2015-05-15+17.07.03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz3dvD_5t2_TMOW1YgTm73JMyVySfZOSxk1feMFqKHdTdl-DxbzlifqyL6O15FFLtTUvAoSV1M7MMn-RBBWOrOjgxKkgMvb3Oa8RuiId5PW2SsqKp46OTbBI6rQmjoDZzatkFG/s400/2015-05-15+17.07.03.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The typewriter is an essential part of the percussive selection.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDI6JzzyLUmuSNOzDAgclF6MUlib0vdCsftaYyICVyhx5INjok-t4MHzzCDVzDF5ai74rwdxigWVYDJq0gfua7eR5teBAhYlo1WUGi0aZRwvunh7MQMZpXPU_GHCJy6-jmTIGO/s1600/Capture.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Dramatic clouds: still from Water Flowing up a Hill" border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDI6JzzyLUmuSNOzDAgclF6MUlib0vdCsftaYyICVyhx5INjok-t4MHzzCDVzDF5ai74rwdxigWVYDJq0gfua7eR5teBAhYlo1WUGi0aZRwvunh7MQMZpXPU_GHCJy6-jmTIGO/s400/Capture.PNG" title="Dramatic clouds: still from Water Flowing up a Hill" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCz3i3Wx5GXO5gVdpnamdOt2xOlPh2Rfnlq9gRyTI94OBxIMsI88zqgydTGIJS3SHoPFoZ_M0cjw7HVNcGqbkLIlYeBGHejh870xBT1n9Hxnbj0gdT-itJ8EAPW6MbHXIlcP3Z/s1600/2015-05-15+17.23.28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCz3i3Wx5GXO5gVdpnamdOt2xOlPh2Rfnlq9gRyTI94OBxIMsI88zqgydTGIJS3SHoPFoZ_M0cjw7HVNcGqbkLIlYeBGHejh870xBT1n9Hxnbj0gdT-itJ8EAPW6MbHXIlcP3Z/s400/2015-05-15+17.23.28.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We're wearing the same shirt... well, this is going to be awkward.</td></tr>
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So imagine how pleased we were when it did all come together
in the end, sounded good to our ears (and to at least some of the audience who
kindly told us so afterwards), looked great projected onto that big screen which
took up one whole end of the room, and felt as if it actually flowed, with
quite a few of the lyrics matching up with the footage in places we hadn't even
planned!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoEHqjUUUuUxnMyNc12zjXVvbDeoLdE08iCUwk_bB_ZfbNBSKPMlPoOzgl-1pwF_kmqZxt8VZ56dpKD9kRp6FGwFR0DBlR4dylkEX5yNSCBCDk4hZlrRB7VbMnZ6X2IuhIrHbA/s1600/11168031_10153396949757932_1847714702919580729_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoEHqjUUUuUxnMyNc12zjXVvbDeoLdE08iCUwk_bB_ZfbNBSKPMlPoOzgl-1pwF_kmqZxt8VZ56dpKD9kRp6FGwFR0DBlR4dylkEX5yNSCBCDk4hZlrRB7VbMnZ6X2IuhIrHbA/s400/11168031_10153396949757932_1847714702919580729_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Although we didn't get to sample the numerous other delights
that were happening throughout the city for Light Night, the newly redesigned and reconstructed Everyman
Theatre was a great place to be. We had a quick snoop around into the
Auditorium which had been transformed into a dark ocean of calm, and an even
quicker peek into the room where the evening’s debates were happening.<br />
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The
whole building was buzzing with people, so thankfully we also got a fair share
of passers-by, looking in on us, sitting down, staying for a few minutes or the
whole performance. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2gPFAUZbjRvhz9EZQy3gBU1MDml09kpKx7aH3i2AuEveGE58cAIoEE5kAFfZ5EzXCFuTH3jd_HK3kOrvseLYxFIOAheAQ_N8vW-fXqzAhVcOJBRLLdNBIcNGIEmHDR3zo7RXZ/s1600/2015-05-15+18.41.05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2gPFAUZbjRvhz9EZQy3gBU1MDml09kpKx7aH3i2AuEveGE58cAIoEE5kAFfZ5EzXCFuTH3jd_HK3kOrvseLYxFIOAheAQ_N8vW-fXqzAhVcOJBRLLdNBIcNGIEmHDR3zo7RXZ/s400/2015-05-15+18.41.05.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Big thank yous go to the Everyman Theatre and its staff,
Victoria Junashko and Jo Stapleton who supplied us with superb additional visuals,
Alan for snapping some super cool silhouettes of us (and sticking around for
all three sets), Cath and Andy at The Gregson Institute, Thomas Lang and everyone else who came to listen and show their support. </div>
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We're a happy bunch. </div>
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Also:</div>
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Coming soon - <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/813717405388731/" target="_blank">The Mekano Set Play That Weird Little Alley InThe Kazimier Garden That They Had Wanted To Perform In Ever Since They Set Eyes On It (O.m.g.)</a><br />
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xxx</div>
TheChuckyEgghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07316619091065512368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277709.post-60869736086035409522015-05-07T13:15:00.003+01:002015-05-15T08:13:17.283+01:00Water Flowing Up a Hill by The Mekano Set: Liverpool Light Night 2015 Everyman Theatre Hope Street<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.15pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7JI1b41rY8AVGNTc4NHUweB6ANWCJ196OBXuxdDo1M0ucyIS2aIWDKxqArpvLkKnCmqJE82_Rdx-apyRzFhD-GxRhO7PcCAXp-QjOtKnz1284-dEmPQAE7vB923OuVxba_pG4/s1600/sea9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Sky photograph by BeatnikSoup" border="0" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7JI1b41rY8AVGNTc4NHUweB6ANWCJ196OBXuxdDo1M0ucyIS2aIWDKxqArpvLkKnCmqJE82_Rdx-apyRzFhD-GxRhO7PcCAXp-QjOtKnz1284-dEmPQAE7vB923OuVxba_pG4/s1600/sea9.jpg" title="Sky photograph by BeatnikSoup" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We have been asked to contribute something to this year's Liverpool Light Night. We're been working on a new 30 minute video + live soundtrack based around the theme of Liverpool / Merseyside life. It's been great to work on something that has inevitably become quite politically charged and (hopefully) sonically and visually adventurous.<br /><br />We were originally asked to produce something around the story of the RMS Lusitania but the work quickly blossomed into something wider reaching.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It feels really good to be working on something that has organically come to be about some quite specific things (the history of Liverpool as a place rich in industrial / creative / anarchic energies - which is quite in-keeping with the <a href="http://www.theskinny.co.uk/theatre/interviews/curtains-up-liverpools-everyman-reopens" target="_blank">"</a><a href="http://www.theskinny.co.uk/theatre/interviews/curtains-up-liverpools-everyman-reopens" target="_blank">forward-thinking, renegade, democratic, naughty kind of spirit of the Everyman" as Everyman Theatre's Gemma Bodinetz puts it</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So we've been researching, physically exploring and sampling the landscape of the Merseyside dunes, docks, backstreets and secret spaces. And we've come up with something that sounds like us, but it's not a set of pop songs (even by our standards). The opaqueness is still there, but beneath the surface you can hopefully glimpse some sharp details...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /><b>Water Flowing Up a Hill</b> will be performed three times at Everyman Theatre (upstairs in Ev 2, next to the Theatre Bar) as part of Liverpool Light Night, Friday 15th May 2015. <br /><br />Performance / Projection times will be at 7 pm, 8 pm and 9 pm. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Everyman Theatre, 5-11 Hope Street, Liverpool L1 9BH</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A short talking-heads piece created by <a href="http://picturepalace.org/" target="_blank">Kim Ryan from Picture Palace</a> and voiced by Alex Cox will also accompany our performance. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />There are currently no plans to record or release the material. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />I see water flowing up a hill <sup>1</sup></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The blush of dawn</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Fire blooming in the ruins</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Salt for wounds </span><sup style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">2</sup><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We never learn</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We never forget</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The sin of indifference and</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The glory of blame</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A cool breeze of regrets</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The dark warmth of shame</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Downtrodden for decades gets you underground, underground</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Hidden depths, secrets, walkways tunnels leading down and out, down and
out</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">They are painting you pictures while you lie bruised and beaten down.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">They'll hang portraits of your wounds in great galleries for you.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNkLuEkwLfS7CA1ALrhllUXbQ8ksY4l14WAzXgN28S718N7qAWOgOs1eIcmqJWtAEQ_PqrOO6r2o0PvbWJs-N-hNGb3nqc03ocmRzmoBZO7gK0QZlYCTfyu5JHQ63XLfWty0B-/s1600/bh5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Sky photograph by BeatnikSoup" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNkLuEkwLfS7CA1ALrhllUXbQ8ksY4l14WAzXgN28S718N7qAWOgOs1eIcmqJWtAEQ_PqrOO6r2o0PvbWJs-N-hNGb3nqc03ocmRzmoBZO7gK0QZlYCTfyu5JHQ63XLfWty0B-/s1600/bh5.jpg" title="Sky photograph by BeatnikSoup" width="278" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Written and produced by The Mekano Set. Visuals by The Mekano Set, Jo Stapleton / BeatnikSoup, Victoria Junashko.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />S. Tschackert: voice, keyboards</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />A. Habsburg: voice, percussion</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">M. Taylor: voice, baritone guitar</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />Special thanks to Thomas Lang, Catherine Odita and The Gregson Institute.</span>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We have produced work of this nature in the past (video collage / live soundtracks) and it's always great to have the opportunity to do more.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />1. Chancellor Sir Geoffrey Howe said reinvigorating Liverpool life / industry would
be like "trying to make water flow
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">2. "It was like salt was
being rubbed into our wounds," <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-22073199"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-22073199</span></a><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #047ac6; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; padding: 0cm;"></span></span></div>
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Mekanosethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07282876182114622154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277709.post-45798730915293860822015-04-28T13:30:00.000+01:002015-04-28T17:09:32.156+01:00Esha Shields + The Mekano Set @ The Gregson Hall Liverpool Sunday 3rd May 2015<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On Sunday we will be playing live in Liverpool with experimental Dreampop adventurer Esha Shields at the wonderful <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/630702513731029/" target="_blank">Gregson Hall</a>. It's worth coming just to see the space alone. Really looking forward to this one. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: center;">Here we are watching ourselves rehearsing: </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How do we do that?</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Esa makes some seriously unique, adventurous sounds; songs that exist like little worlds. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">His overall sound makes me think of the atmospheric avant-pop of This Mortal Coil but i</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">t's difficult to place his influences and reference points. I think that's a massively positive thing in an age where you can generally recognize a band's (limited, safe, played-out) influences within moments of them playing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /><br />So it's massively refreshing when you hear someone coming from a refreshing angle: doing something that is both experimental AND really melodic. So many people use 'experimental' as an excuse to hoard a load of over-priced electronic toys (or vintage instruments / effects) in order to make a directionless noise. I think it's way more adventurous (and challenging) to attempt to do something new within the confines of a 3 - 5 minute song, in 4/4 time, with groove and melody AND elements of experimentation.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAtCK0f0JVugcHzKN-7EGojwVuX0qBo4O05eAMatJ6_Pa1qGNFlpxmi8VNMyU4DkPS4kyP0V2YRCK9eHGyHu2YuoqTqh3muvN4BHtORv3lADwvwyByAGH_lb2N0RAqsFmnLxoC/s1600/11080928_10153288066822932_6471662347449374552_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Mic stand, cables and machete percusison" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAtCK0f0JVugcHzKN-7EGojwVuX0qBo4O05eAMatJ6_Pa1qGNFlpxmi8VNMyU4DkPS4kyP0V2YRCK9eHGyHu2YuoqTqh3muvN4BHtORv3lADwvwyByAGH_lb2N0RAqsFmnLxoC/s1600/11080928_10153288066822932_6471662347449374552_n.jpg" height="400" title="Mic stand, cables and machete percusison" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I've been enjoying getting my live guitar sound going again. I've said before that I take pleasure in the way that our guitar sound tends to offend guitar bands - even Shoegazers. Plus, our guitar setup is seriously basic compared even to your average rock guitarist's - which pisses them off even more hehe (we also use a tiny, tiny 5 watt guitar amp!). All of the droning / hi-pass filter style sounds AND the big guitar riff that comes in later on <a href="https://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/track/the-lighter" target="_blank">this (The Lighter) for example</a>, were done with: </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAb5r-3zY1J9b_5Wi2LoIPGM-Mv60CyQZ_lBV30XuGHLWqRJLcs8shXkvQT1Xs9mlCGKmPrbgoQcalTXOTzzGWhY-0nYe_uI9E3ozxjYvl5R3_dYsHkJ2JnLBNdEFg4uIemk2M/s1600/10446700_10153358959217932_4025449185964245806_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Cheap guitar effects" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAb5r-3zY1J9b_5Wi2LoIPGM-Mv60CyQZ_lBV30XuGHLWqRJLcs8shXkvQT1Xs9mlCGKmPrbgoQcalTXOTzzGWhY-0nYe_uI9E3ozxjYvl5R3_dYsHkJ2JnLBNdEFg4uIemk2M/s1600/10446700_10153358959217932_4025449185964245806_n.jpg" height="400" title="Cheap guitar effects" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That's not even a 'real' vintage fuzz box #shockhorror<br />
(Korg ToneWorks AX1500G (my secret weapon)<br />
Danelectro Wasabi Forward-Reverse Delay Pedal<br />
BOSS - FZ-5)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We'll be doing some new songs, tracks from our <a href="https://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/album/pareidolia" target="_blank">latest E.P.</a> and a couple of old favourites. We'll also be performing a traditional Imercian lullaby all about the Mhekan and his terrible curse...</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMtotEKRQB52KEWanSl4f9Eb2OvNKis-R1nnAOuxLUMvh-YQTcJlo148-Uy4VVocBEDjcyAqy9DMgE8DrWbSmZf9zrBFlG8arXpYUw5hlqa_UsmD9_TxbogyquZAX4xhX7QYIy/s1600/11127556_10153358959147932_7227650970452945371_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Chucky plays cheap keyboard wearing a hat" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMtotEKRQB52KEWanSl4f9Eb2OvNKis-R1nnAOuxLUMvh-YQTcJlo148-Uy4VVocBEDjcyAqy9DMgE8DrWbSmZf9zrBFlG8arXpYUw5hlqa_UsmD9_TxbogyquZAX4xhX7QYIy/s1600/11127556_10153358959147932_7227650970452945371_n.jpg" height="400" title="Chucky plays cheap keyboard wearing a hat" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Channeling the Mhekan</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It's actually been a bit of a challenge to re-learn how to play some of the new songs live. But it's definitely worth it. Really enjoying playing </span><a href="https://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/album/pareidolia" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">Matchmaker</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> at the moment, and exploring </span><a href="https://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/track/fires-made-safe" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">Fires Made Safe</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> (one of my all-time favourite songs) with live drone guitar and live drums - no loopage. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A bass drum + a Melodica: essential tools for any guitarist surely?</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/630702513731029/" target="_blank">Music at The Gregson Hall Liverpool Sunday 3rd May 2015 from 7 pm until 8.30 pm: music starts right on 7 pm so don't be late or you'll miss out!</a></span></div>
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Mekanosethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07282876182114622154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277709.post-61001032196726352082015-03-16T14:59:00.002+00:002015-03-16T17:14:17.545+00:00Light Night 2015<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This week we begin work on a brand new audio / video piece... On Friday 15th May we're going to be doing three thirty-minute sets (music with video projections) at Liverpool's Everyman Theatre.<br />
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The plan is to perform the piece three times during the evening of the 15th as part of Liverpool's Light Night celebrations. The visuals will explore a tidal, docklands, watery lunar theme and the live soundtrack will comprise material written specifically for the piece (although we will probably squeeze an <a href="https://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/album/pareidolia" target="_blank">existing Mekano Set song or two</a> as well).<br />
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The set will be site-specific and won't be repeated again after the 15th. Performance times and more info will appear closer to the time.<br />
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This will be a free event.<br />
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<a href="http://www.lightnightliverpool.co.uk/">http://www.lightnightliverpool.co.uk/</a><br />
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We had the first rehearsal / noise making session today, having not made any noise in a couple of weeks. Some nice moments where you're hearing more than what is actually being
played, some 'phantom voice' moments where you can hear voices / words when no
one is speaking. Check out the new drums (Trommus toms and jazzy Tamma kit):<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="mailto:mekanoset@gmail.com" target="_blank">The Mekano Set</a>Mekanosethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07282876182114622154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277709.post-24324828477094528132015-02-20T16:26:00.001+00:002017-03-07T12:49:49.797+00:00HAWKWIND: DO NOT PANIC - EDUCATE YOUR EARSHawkwind and the politics of guitar music...<br />
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Bands nowadays tend to bare an uncanny resemblance (sonically and visually) to the one or two bands they are influenced by (ripping off). We've never done that. I don't understand how any group of people can do that. It almost feels like duty to go the other way. Like really, really far. Too far maybe. I used to feel that what we were doing as a (Post-Everything) group suffered due to a lack of recognizable influences. But now I'm not so sure.<br />
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We are a group of people (The Mekano Set) making music that doesn't fit into one genre. This was never a calculated thing. That would be a big compromise, a contrivance. It must require a hell of a lot of time and effort to copy, wholesale, someone else's groove (and wardrobe). We work real hard to realize our own sound, our own sonic landscape. That puts us in a serious minority. But we're not alone, right?<br />
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When you grow up listening to a band like Hawkwind you receive a musical education. You're better able to understand and appreciate so much more music because it's all there in those Hawkwind albums: droning post-rock, neurotic punk, edgy techno, blissed-out ambient, psychonautical dub, interstellar psych-rock, holographic kraut-rock etc. You also quickly get over any troublesome phobias about whether something is cool or not. You don't wait for someone else to tell you it's OK to like what you already know you like.<br />
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My teens were spent latching onto a random selection of weird and wonderful acts (Public Image Limited, Cocteau Twins, David Sylvian, Curve, Magazine, Tricky, Tom Waits, Kate Bush, Leftfield, Seefeel, Autechre) as well as random snippets of unusual sounds old and new recorded off of radio shows by Gilles Peterson and Saint John Peel. Hawkwind were the first band I got into that hit the spot for me. And I feel very lucky that I found them. They opened my ears, enabled me to look beyond genre and just appreciate music, sound, noise...<br />
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The Shoegaze thing that's had a revival recently seemed kind of derivative to my ears; and a little bit too middle-class: all those vintage guitars and bespoke stomp boxes require some serious disposable income. Indie guitar scenes are like that, unfortunately. A major factor for me was that I was never able to afford stomp boxes, big amps, or guitars that stayed in tune as a kid. Fuzz? Delay? They sounded like sex aids. <br />
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Of course, when I eventually got hold of a cheap second-hand delay pedal (and a knife...) - it all started to make sense. A world of sound revealed itself. But things like our treasured white-noise guitar sound was a happy accident generated by a noisy power supply putting a lot of hiss through a cheap plastic wah pedal. We don't always use it because it doesn't always happen.<br />
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Same with the medium-wave radio signals that sometimes creep into our mix (via the combination of a cheap guitar cable and a cheaper compressor pedal): happy accidents generated by a couple of cheap bits of kit. It doesn't have to be all about vintage Fender Jags, huge amps and 200 quid a time fuzz boxes that sound oddly similar to what happens when you plug a guitar into an old (and much cheaper) tape recorder. Seriously - give it a try. <br />
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Just give me a bit of reverb on the guitar and we're good to go. The swirl and intricate harmonics tend to happen without the aid of too many effects, if you let them. The fetishization of equipment is a sign that maybe they are less interested in making music, and more interested in buying shiny stuff.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBAUhS6wrdNYrP4xamMn1-GfylA_G_Ro3HuavTGICUYpOKLf7PKinuFt_QA96eli_D_bQF9LGOCwdUQeDwEGvULW2GXQ0MlCxHa2YgESqy-g6N5FK7ncEckmI1aBtfCYrSbK3i/s1600/Effects.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Broken guitar effects pedals" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBAUhS6wrdNYrP4xamMn1-GfylA_G_Ro3HuavTGICUYpOKLf7PKinuFt_QA96eli_D_bQF9LGOCwdUQeDwEGvULW2GXQ0MlCxHa2YgESqy-g6N5FK7ncEckmI1aBtfCYrSbK3i/s1600/Effects.jpg" title="Broken guitar effects pedals" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look at all our shiny stuff.</td></tr>
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Having had songs like <a href="http://youtu.be/a4B_CG53KhM" target="_blank">Psychedelic Warlords</a>, Back in the Box, Images and Wings (see vid links below) on my playlist on a daily basis for months again recently, it finally hit me just how much we owe to Hawkwind. That and the fact that the last time we played live we had sax (through a load of fx), and a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BQdbau-j6Ux/?taken-by=mekanoset">fire dancer</a>...<br />
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The 'often misunderstood Hawkwind': a grimy, narcotically moody, sci-fi tinged bunch of sonic explorers; fond of pulsing synths, swirling yet gritty guitars, urgent bass riffs, chaos and groove; drones, electronic noise, motoric beats and anthemic dirge. Sound familiar? Remind you of anyone?<br />
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Tense, dystopian ( a word you'll be seeing a lot of in this post), anarchic, blissed-out soundscapes... Getting warmer? I type this out and it all makes sense. Where would we be without them?<br />
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<a href="http://evenstevens.viinyl.com/">http://evenstevens.viinyl.com/</a><br />
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Eventually I began to recognize that sound and music are a kind of foodstuff. They can be (potentially) nourishing. But almost everything around me just sounded that little bit too macho, aggressive and egotistical. So it took me a while.<br />
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Long before I had any interest in music or music making, I was lucky enough to have read Michael Moorcock's Cornelius books (a heady cocktail of experimental writing, gender, politics, sex, psychedelia, anarchism and anachronisms), where the likes of Hawkwind, Lemmy, The Sex Pistols and Siouxsie Sioux made appearances alongside a cast of intriguingly enigmatic ficitonal characters.<br />
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I found <a href="http://youtu.be/a4B_CG53KhM" target="_blank">Hall of The Mountain Grill</a> in a second hand vinyl store sometime during the mid 90's (either Piccadilly Records in Manchester, or Mike Lloyd Music in Hanley or Wolverhampton). I recognized the band name from the Cornelius books and figured I'd give them a go. I soon went back for more. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX3GpvLyzUeYd_JfYtMSGca8_y13Jx3kQy23h8ONb3t76bDqrfzYKOUIamOuFDkia9vMdxzDWVLBmfZCYJyRCtW2QXc-E1KuN4lY_IsoEILu8VXdwDN-8rnMpQOLkgqIoe1OTW/s1600/Hawkwind.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Space Bandits by Hawkwind" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX3GpvLyzUeYd_JfYtMSGca8_y13Jx3kQy23h8ONb3t76bDqrfzYKOUIamOuFDkia9vMdxzDWVLBmfZCYJyRCtW2QXc-E1KuN4lY_IsoEILu8VXdwDN-8rnMpQOLkgqIoe1OTW/s1600/Hawkwind.jpeg" title="Space Bandits by Hawkwind" width="320" /></a></div>
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I got hold of 90s albums Palace Springs, Space Bandits and Electric Tepee (terrible titles, great albums): kinda slick but also edgy electro-rock all radiating a dark dystopian psychedelia.<br />
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There was a lot of surging bass end powering away up-close in the mix, and a sense of near-chaos; but that grimy minimalist drone-rock guitar and pristine drumming held it all together. And there was a lot of space left over for the listener's imagination. This was exactly what I'd been looking for and I lost myself in it.<br />
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It was angry stuff too but not in a macho, formulaeic Metal way. The presence of Bridget Wishart's urgent vocals, Harvey Bainbridge's lush analog synths and Simon House's violin (sometimes plaintive, sometimes unhinged) added a sense of depth to these Post-Everything sonic explorations.<br />
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I found a VHS tape of a gig from around that time (<a href="http://youtu.be/1rOHeVdp1MI" target="_blank">Live Legends?</a>) and was fascinated by the contrast between the musicality and the sense of chaos on-stage. There was nothing Prog about this stuff. It was all about a manic, surging Punk energy. There was none of the lumpen, horribly dated 'we're classically trained and must play a million notes a minute' daftness of Yes or whoever. It was raw, gritty. If this was Space Rock it was the grimy grunge future of Alien and Bladerunner. <br />
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The surreal-bordering on downright nightmarish theatrics, smoke machines and video projections definitely made an impression on me too. We've had a few gigs where we've delighted in swamping the crowds in smoke, strobes and video footage hehe (and again - I never made the connnection at the time). Audiences either love or hate this stuff. Which is great. The last thing you want is a passive audience that just stands there stoney-faced, politely applauding when it's safe to do so, and more interested in what equipment you're using than how it sounds. Seriously.<br />
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Hawkwind was definitely music to get lost in, and with a dark 'everything is not going to be OK' undercurrent that made total sense to me (I was looking for music to escape into, from an environment that was pretty damn bleak: happy trippy hippie music wasn't what I was looking for).
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The way that 'Awkwind didn't restrict themselves to conventional song structures (a track like Images goes from an amphetamine surge to 'fallen off the edge of the world into dreamspace' and then back again); the way they can take one churning riff (or no-riff) and make it groove made total sense to me.<br />
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I loved how they were unafraid of technology too. I needed that because even early on I found myself wanting to hear and make use of non-musical sounds in a musical context. And I didn't care what I needed to use to realize that. The snobbishness of the musicians I met early on was a real drag. This is the 21st Century - this isn't the goddamn 1960's!<br />
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It was years before I found out that the drums on albums like Space Bandits were actually programmed (by the excellent drummer Richard Chadwick on discovering that he couldn't face having to play live drums in a studio environment); something that obviously had a subliminal effect on me.<br />
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I love drums AND drum-machinery and I don't see why you can't have both! We now use programmed (and de-programmed) drums, acoustic and electronic drums AND a load of exotic percussion instruments. Give me more drums!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpE_rCS47SGuJTIVQ4EaFw1qQUPKDPhUhDruJdPn1hhBHB_fjwU1YyvMB-9ogEqtFxp3cO38amkmcvXqN8wLPSQXHH9vQOrQ0kfN7KcrdW23aS5F-19f8wxncru8kq0vnupC24/s1600/Militant+Percussion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Cowbell, congas and shakers" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpE_rCS47SGuJTIVQ4EaFw1qQUPKDPhUhDruJdPn1hhBHB_fjwU1YyvMB-9ogEqtFxp3cO38amkmcvXqN8wLPSQXHH9vQOrQ0kfN7KcrdW23aS5F-19f8wxncru8kq0vnupC24/s1600/Militant+Percussion.jpg" title="Cowbell, congas and shakers" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mechete-style shakers (spot the cowbell)</td></tr>
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It was disappointing as a kid when I eventually connected with local outsiders on the alternative scene, to find that the majority of the Techno heads, Goths and Metallers alike all thought Hawkwind (and Pil) sounded like unlistenable noise. You'd think these people would love a bit of chaos. Hell no. Hawkwind were far too multi-dimensional for that lot.<br />
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Looking back, they were just your average small-town small-minded people, shopping in different places to their leisure-suit and white trainered counterparts. A band that wasn't on TV or on the cover of certain magazines wasn't acceptable. It still pisses me off to this day the way that so many people can't decide whether they like something until a certain magazine or TV personality says so first. Like you need permission to simply enjoy music?<br />
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Discovering Hawkwind whilst still in my teens broke down some barriers in my head, so when I eventually heard some decent electronic, dance, Post-Punk, Dub and experimental music - I was ready for it, I recognized it, it made sense. And as you grow up and go further afield you meet other people that see no problem in being a fan of both electronic and rock music, and bands that play a mash-up of both. Sometimes you even meet musicians that like that too.<br />
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I can see now that we owe Hawkwind a lot. So I'm forever singing their praises. They are one of my obsessions, along with obscure / overpriced analog drum-synths and the equally underground sonic heaven-and-hell explorations of Kevin Martin (The Bug, Techno Animal, King Midas Sound).<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/n0PBw1Avngg" width="420"></iframe>
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<b>Synths + guitars + a load of delay + spoken word bits...</b><br />
<br />
<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2073921969/size=large/bgcol=333333/linkcol=e32c14/tracklist=false/artwork=small/track=2572329263/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 120px; width: 100%;"><a href="http://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/album/imaginary-weather">IMAGINARY WEATHER by The Mekano Set</a></iframe>
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How many bands that have been going for... five decades can honestly say they have embraced - and been embraced in return by - everything from Punk, Metal and Dub Reggae to House, Alternative Rock and Techno (the darkness AND light of the psychedelic drug - dance -trance experience) and beyond?<br />
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I think the later-day Electronic / Underground / Alternative scenes owe more to the likes of Hawkwind then they realize. Pounding beats, a sense of impending doom and a generally grimy approach to production values... Hawkwind were on that groove decades before the mainstream was even capable of perceiving such a thing was a possibility.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nOhDn6xZ8J0" width="420"></iframe>
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<b>That bass.....</b><br />
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Like any band with longevity they've gone astray, their sci-fi inspired antics can sometimes end up horribly one-dimensional, and I've got no time for anything resembling a 12-bar blues. But these are momentary glitches and the good albums far outweigh the bad.<br />
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I'm playing people Back in the Box and Psychedelic Warlords (along with things like Scorn, King Midas Sound, Young Fathers, The Bug) in an effort to prove that hey, we're not operating out on a limb, we're a part of the underground tradition of not giving a fuck about genre, and you CAN have a sense of dread AND a groove in the same mix!<br />
<a href="mailto:mekanoset@gmail.com"><br /></a><a href="mailto:mekanoset@gmail.com">Milk</a>Mekanosethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07282876182114622154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277709.post-79632796697104135352015-02-07T11:58:00.003+00:002015-02-10T18:41:20.203+00:00Tricksters and Charlotte Annes: The Manichean Set<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">News, reviews, and an interview:</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 22px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's <b>Very Internet</b> to see new music appreciated less than pictures of the equipment used to make the music.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thinking about originality. I am always going on about how angry it makes me to see people championing people that aren't doing anything new (or are basically a tribute act with a different name, and slightly different lyrics). And are you ready for everyone and their neighbour to start forming Shoegaze bands any minute now? </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I'm often told 'but if you do something totally original no one will understand it.' And I used to agree with that. But now I'm not so sure. Because ever since I was a kid I have always been on the look out for music that sounds like it's from another planet. I want to be shocked by music. I want to listen to something and have no idea how the sounds were made. That's why I was so excited about people like Jon Hassell, Techno Animal, Autechre, Coil, drone-music etc. Music that was clearly coming from a very adventurous, other-worldly space. Gotta keep that in mind in future.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Organic + Mekanic</b><br />
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So, we managed to survive another year. Wow. And what a f*cking year it was: weird, scary, productive, fun, and unpref*ckingdictable to the last.</span><br />
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The rising tide of vile Right Wing Extremism in Europe and the UK was a constant source of genuine fear and concern. How the hell has it come to this? You don't have to be a Loony Lefty to see that the far right has never done anything but destroy. Xenophobia and hatred do nothing but sap energy and insight violence, fear and confusion in the hearts and minds of people. F*ck that. </span><br />
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The people with all the power laying blame on those with none: politicians demonizing the most humble, vulnerable and powerless members of society is just incredibly devious, cruel and unjust. Evil exists, running through the veins of blinkered, power - money greedy people with no regard for the consequences of their random, ignorant reasoning.</span><br />
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On a more positive note, we had a pretty damn productive year noise-wise. With the last couple of releases I think we've really realized our sound, and found more of a balance between the electronic and organic ingredients. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It's also been great for me to have more input from people like Arthur and Chucky. The great thing about collaboration is you get to be surprised. The end results are bigger than you and it's easier to be objective about them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/album/pareidolia"><img alt="Pareidolia picture" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAEWOaxwqG-wdBQ43JdO7SnlFwzYb29rY-yBtIYfc5dtY0AgyiwnpxEFaXKFAL6lKTNAEIVedwPFHk358U4byQnKMM8dTvNx_TcJY6EVgHmDH-qk6e1UbpELkWaFgA4C1FdOs2/s1600/Pareidolia_Artwork.jpg.jpg" height="320" title="Pareidolia" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/album/pareidolia">Pareidolia</a> is fresh off the desk as of 1st January: mixing gritty grooves with silvery guitar drones, juicy bass and some contrasting vocal elements (fragile and sinister in equal doses), spoken word and soundscapes. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">For Fans Of: Cocteau Twins, Dreampop, Grooves, Shoegaze guitars, Dirty Beats, stories and sci-fi soundscapes.</span><br />
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<a href="https://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/album/pareidolia">https://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/album/pareidolia</a></span><br />
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There will also hopefully be some juicy remixes from the likes of Hollow Press, Blindness, Mutate and Meatbreak coming soon. Oh yes! We've also reduced the prices of everything on our<a href="https://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/music"> badcamp site</a> in celebration of the new year!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A review of Pareidolia by Intravenous Magazine: <a href="http://www.intravenousmag.co.uk/2015/01/review-mekano-set-pareidolia.html">http://www.intravenousmag.co.uk/2015/01/review-mekano-set-pareidolia.html</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And check out an interview with us from The Devil Has The Best Tuna from last week: <a href="http://besttuna.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/TheMekanoSet.html">http://besttuna.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/TheMekanoSet.html</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />You can find daily updates from us via <a href="https://twitter.com/mekanoset">twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheMekanoSet">facebook</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The exploits of our assistant S.W. Tucker also make for fun (not informative) reading:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Matchmaker, a play in one act by The Mekano Set.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Featuring:<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;"><br />Arthur Habsburg as a smooth-talking purveyor of mail-order brides<br />Milk M Taylor singing a chorus he doesn't know the words to<br />Sandra Tsch with the lil' faraway sighs</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Meanwhile tell me, how young is your mother?"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/track/the-matchmaker-2" rel="nofollow" style="cursor: pointer; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.5636348724365px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">https://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/track/the-matchmaker-2</a><br /><br /> <a href="https://twitter.com/mekanosetpress">https://twitter.com/mekanosetpress</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />Have joy!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
<a href="http://www.mekanoset.net/">The Mekano Set</a></span><br />
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We are putting the final coat of paint on a new set of songs. It's more eclectic than the last set - more contributions from the gang on this one. Stories, soundscapes, diry grooves and swirl. I'm really chuffed with this batch and really looking forward to doing them live. Gonna be a serious challenge... There are currently 4 teaser tracks: <br />
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<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3677568968/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=de270f/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 470px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/album/pareidolia">PAREIDOLIA by The Mekano Set</a></iframe>Mekanosethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07282876182114622154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277709.post-80636281049367328292014-09-19T13:27:00.000+01:002014-09-19T13:30:07.089+01:00Kate Bush - With Spoilers - live in London Tuesday 16th September 2014<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIT18Je9jkvtl7MoljgDYnWh_Ag6l_Ko9asekz5bLKOT6vrPhP7U4nOmWf2WnsUnMnuZio9w074Y0aFpXyuvtbbGfZqBNZjiPoBzqOAUeKRdwKA8IsCfsdEJtugHNFEJx4R3xm/s1600/Kate+Bush+live.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIT18Je9jkvtl7MoljgDYnWh_Ag6l_Ko9asekz5bLKOT6vrPhP7U4nOmWf2WnsUnMnuZio9w074Y0aFpXyuvtbbGfZqBNZjiPoBzqOAUeKRdwKA8IsCfsdEJtugHNFEJx4R3xm/s1600/Kate+Bush+live.jpeg" height="245" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kate Bush performing live in London 2014</td></tr>
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A real artist is something more. They take building blocks, simple materials, they tug at our heart strings, they wake us up, they reduce is to tears. A real artist is an alchemist, transforming base materials into something precious, something nourishing. Kate Bush is a magician. A musickian.<br />
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The night starts out as a conventional gig, then right in the middle of a song, the entire thing comes to a halt. The impact is doubled by the fact it doesn't end on a beat, or the end of a chorus, it just stops mid-sentence. Then we get something else. Something unique.<br />
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The show explores a visually rich theme that still manages to remain suitably amorphous. The use of excellent lighting, good old fashioned smoke and mirrors, pristine video projections, movement, stage and sound design - it's all only reminiscent of Pink Floyd because they're one of the rare few who embrace a kind of technical intertextuality / epic theatricalities / visual SFX in an attempt to mess with your head as much as embellish their own concerts. There is a playful humour present too. But there is none of the vacuous pomp or hollow gestures of stadium rock here. This is more like a modern day Music Hall show.<br />
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Think of the way the teenage John Lydon in the early Sex Pistols gigs seemed to have an unlikely air of Norman Wisdom about him, a Dickensian urchinery, like a kind of other-worldly Music Hall entertainer. Like Lydon, Kate Bush appears to exist in-between mediums.<br />
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It's refreshing to see someone mix elements of live music, performance art, theatre, video art, lighting and contemporary stage design and make it really work. And it doesn't come across as pretentious. This is clearly who she is, what she needs to do to realize her idea of a live concert.<br />
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This is something very different to Gaga's bombastic sensationalism for its own sake, or The Knife's other-dimensiony Drug-Fi live adventures.<br />
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I never realized how much her songs owe to a certain kind of dystopian pre-punk rock: the spacious power chords, the drones, the emphasis on rhythm (think Hawkwind or Floyd at their most epic / doom-laden). But she transcends it, makes it her own. It's not about clever chord changes or tricky time signatures. These songs are mood pieces, and they tug at the heart strings and the hips as much as the head.<br />
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The only time it tips into West End Musical territory - sadly - is when Bertie's nasal 'let's do the show right here!' vocal stylings take the spotlight. But given that he is partly responsible for Kate Bush's return to live gigs, it's almost forgiveable.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxEUFzlJ2_qSEiBE71PCiIZVuHFX_4uHw6sFwojtuBmrG51L2QWwZW3Yn8aO6Sgn8TxSB3HkQ-pSyw3kZxZXPw01CtXlKIcvu4GnvqrjozYcVa58v_vjr8Y2ORQ2I6wp4tH4LJ/s1600/2014KateBush_Press_BeforeTheDawn210314.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxEUFzlJ2_qSEiBE71PCiIZVuHFX_4uHw6sFwojtuBmrG51L2QWwZW3Yn8aO6Sgn8TxSB3HkQ-pSyw3kZxZXPw01CtXlKIcvu4GnvqrjozYcVa58v_vjr8Y2ORQ2I6wp4tH4LJ/s1600/2014KateBush_Press_BeforeTheDawn210314.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kate Bush ship-wrecked but still singing.</td></tr>
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The band is epic - bringing out the grooves at the heart of these songs. There are no solos, no histrionics, no blues licks. It's all tight chops, bass you can feel, shimmering percussion and pounding beats. Arrangements are honourable to the originals, but there's a freshness to the sound. Nothing feels dated. This is not Prog. Everything is in service to the atmosphere of the song.<br />
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There's never a dull moment, but you're never overloaded. There is always some space, on stage and in the arrangements. There are moments where the vocal harmonies threaten discordance, but are ultimately resolved. This reminds us that Kate Bush is no hippie, no New Ager. It's not all sweetness and light. She's not afraid of tension and darkness.<br />
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Embracing some innovative in-your-face stage design, there are some stunning moments where the show delves into a dimension somewhere between an amusement park, confrontational performance art and dystopian cinema.<br />
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There is a fine balance here between bold tech and minimalist, gentle theatricalities. Highlights include Kate's backing vocalists (wow but that name does them a serious disservice) roaming the stage in matching life jackets emitting red beacon lights in the gloom. Lush video projections, lazer-light and vast swathes of billowing cloth conjure up some lush virtual oceans.<br />
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A brilliant custom-built bellowing sound system / smoke machine / lighting rig steals the limelight to stalk the audience in search of our ship-wrecked protagonist.<br />
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And then of course there's our fearless band leader, Kate Bush - who appears entirely at home on stage. Humble, but clearly in her element. Her voice is flawless and it's clear that she's totally in control of it.<br />
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The entire experience is ultimately more than the sum of its parts. Does it come down to the fact that the music is the result of someone who clearly makes art for the pleasure of making art? Rather than the usual quest for attention, fame, wealth. She is a rare creature in that respect: a performer guided by something more than just ego.<br />
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<br />Mekanosethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07282876182114622154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277709.post-78230267998491045822014-07-21T11:05:00.000+01:002014-07-21T20:41:51.053+01:00Where Have You Been? The Cinema of Sound<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8U-DfwvEIBkxHzW88znKoQEeMUMx3I5XCoqAFVpbBBHF-2DvWMHXRS54lK9-HcOgMkGNFFW_fyb9Mj9xP0qku9I_llNgqJAQ_XcnhvR7Wau-ThKsmwcmOpOxxDsIu_peElHCh/s1600/IMG_20140721_095734.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Milk looking concerned" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8U-DfwvEIBkxHzW88znKoQEeMUMx3I5XCoqAFVpbBBHF-2DvWMHXRS54lK9-HcOgMkGNFFW_fyb9Mj9xP0qku9I_llNgqJAQ_XcnhvR7Wau-ThKsmwcmOpOxxDsIu_peElHCh/s1600/IMG_20140721_095734.jpg" height="320" title="Milk looking concerned" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You want to hear it <i>without</i> reverb?!</td></tr>
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I always feel like I'm being lazy, but whenever I write one of these I realize we are at least getting a few things done... I've been told I'm too impatient and should slow down but hell, why stop now?<br />
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We've got two new goody bags and some news about future projects:</div>
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<b>A brand new </b>set of 9 songs - released July 2014: I Made You a Map - (the title track, released as a single via Pretty In Noise earlier this year - has been given a little update).<br />
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This one was good therapy. It's dark, with a hint of<span class="st"> self-deprecating</span> nostalgia. The spitefulness has been cleansed, and now we're back to business. Exotic electronics, tiny spirals of noise leading the way through the noise and swirl. The beats are still big but they hopefully massage your parts rather than sound like they are trying to split them into pieces: </div>
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<a href="http://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/album/i-made-you-a-map" target="_blank">http://themekanoset.bandcamp.<wbr></wbr>com/album/i-made-you-a-map</a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/album/i-made-you-a-map" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="I Made You a Map Artwork" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB9T5L4Wuzv57uvsi_p_1iFvggPZxSSAAlJ1F2If_fpKsFi9W4zxRQfh5iQVuHQlJ0_ZwTTDsEqK960-SrKtRjHf06DM6HFwR8Dq6drAe5MJmZVhu2z7BQxvUrnhBtiKMiXdTb/s1600/Maps+crop.jpg" height="261" title="I Made You a Map Artwork" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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<b>The Black Aspirin E.P</b>. is now available via iTunes, Amazon, Spotify and others, thanks to Stray Recordings:<br />
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Another audiophonic journey... The Meks deliver us a new slab of post-punk-tinged-super-stylish-electronic-alt-rock, simply because... it's in their DNA.<br />
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From biting commentary to ocean-size dronefests, this release hails further broadening of the Meks sound - the massive beats, swirling noise guitars and beautiful production are there, as ever, but the lyrical content and atmosphere that some of these songs convey is heavier, and all the better for it. You are unwittingly being fed information whilst your body is busy involuntarily moving.<br />
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It seems effortless, the way the work is conveyed, but we all know it takes a lot of hard work, and the magic is in making all that work come across so naturally. Consistent, consistent, consistent.</blockquote>
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<a href="http://strayrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/black-aspirin">http://strayrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/black-aspirin</a></div>
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<a href="http://blackaspirin.viinyl.com/" target="_blank">http://blackaspirin.viinyl.<wbr></wbr>com/</a></div>
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Spotify the EP: <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/1XahBFgI3EBKpauURzTjvf" target="_blank">https://open.spotify.com/<wbr></wbr>album/1XahBFgI3EBKpauURzTjvf</a></div>
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iTunes: <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/black-aspirin/id882820288?uo=4" target="_blank">https://itunes.apple.com/gb/<wbr></wbr>album/black-aspirin/<wbr></wbr>id882820288?uo=4</a></div>
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Amazon: <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Aspirin-Mekano-Set/dp/B00L2BFLNC/" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.co.<wbr></wbr>uk/Black-Aspirin-Mekano-Set/<wbr></wbr>dp/B00L2BFLNC/</a></div>
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Earlier this year I was asked to do come up with a guest post for <b>The Devil Has The Best Tuna</b> about my 'top picks' for 2014. Have a read if you're in need of some new noises - I know I am: <a href="http://besttuna.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/Tipsfor2014_11.html" target="_blank">http://besttuna.blogspot.co.<wbr></wbr>uk/2014/01/Tipsfor2014_11.html</a><wbr></wbr><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLo_RVpATS2tY0AC-Pp6aZ_po3Ci1A_JXvGWK3LLoikYDa5W52sCGJIFJbtf0jOhkbPiVMGeBxlECneqWFtaTfk2BG1fngvaLRS3G6j0NkaZZSk6GTKwG47Pn0uKSJAiReTYy1/s1600/photo3+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Hop flask and cymbal" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLo_RVpATS2tY0AC-Pp6aZ_po3Ci1A_JXvGWK3LLoikYDa5W52sCGJIFJbtf0jOhkbPiVMGeBxlECneqWFtaTfk2BG1fngvaLRS3G6j0NkaZZSk6GTKwG47Pn0uKSJAiReTYy1/s1600/photo3+(2).jpg" height="320" title="Hop flask and cymbal" width="215" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prepared Hip-Flask</td></tr>
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In other news, I've been putting the finishing touches to an E.P. by a new band: <a href="http://public-apophenia-council.tumblr.com/"><b>The Public Apophenia Council.</b></a> I'm contributing some vocals and reverby baritone guitar. The PAC material has a more organic feel to it, featuring acoustic drums, percussion, melodica, fretless bass, harmonica and accordion. But with me doing production duties it's still going to have plenty of bass end, grit and reverb. </div>
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There's an odd almost Morricone moment or two, and some spoken word tracks with some rough and ready grooves. So it's definitely something different to The Meks, but I think you'll be able to tell I'm in there routing around in the workings. Sample track: <a href="http://pareidolia.viinyl.com/" target="_blank">http://pareidolia.viinyl.com/</a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1A6-ZnAmN4sAykEueuWYu7bpbfruFdRy9NaqPPwL5da7PC31Bpnitni2G4E9Z2BquL8w08huMg9do7TBI4OhWIyFeIUjCd8E1pAInvrpyGkFK-kJsgopT7LoBnEMPYGMlkZt3/s1600/photo1+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1A6-ZnAmN4sAykEueuWYu7bpbfruFdRy9NaqPPwL5da7PC31Bpnitni2G4E9Z2BquL8w08huMg9do7TBI4OhWIyFeIUjCd8E1pAInvrpyGkFK-kJsgopT7LoBnEMPYGMlkZt3/s1600/photo1+(2).jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arthur and some sort of analog synth?</td></tr>
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I've also been working on some arrangements for a Liverpool based female singer with a really great soulful rock voice. It's been ages since I've worked with a great rock voice. The best rock voices are really soul voices. Machismo takes all the joy out of guitar music. Soul voices have ache, the great romantic, sexual ache. All the joy and sorrow. <br />
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I've been going for an electronic / Post-Punk vibe, with a couple of tracks featuring an entire brass section lending things a kind of SpyPunk / Magazine / John Barry kind of vibe. In my head at least.<br />
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A song is potential. It's a shame when musicians only view a song as an opportunity for cash or attention. The potential of sound is infinite. The potential to move air, limbs, hearts and minds.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBRCGsDiWxuW1nHWISy3-BIvGyzGalFWQrKth8c5IUjxaFyO_DFHawQi18X5PNesLX_D0MPynKfvZXwYdhDOgkZN_HNTmC-SncG4aoeeEx5e3euCPaKRMf0TMnXZbOT_A0et5K/s1600/breakfast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBRCGsDiWxuW1nHWISy3-BIvGyzGalFWQrKth8c5IUjxaFyO_DFHawQi18X5PNesLX_D0MPynKfvZXwYdhDOgkZN_HNTmC-SncG4aoeeEx5e3euCPaKRMf0TMnXZbOT_A0et5K/s1600/breakfast.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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Music moves us, takes us to places, triggers movements, emotions, memory.<br />
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You hear a good vocal performance sitting in the middle of a Painting By Numbers arrangement or production job: nailed to a genre. Guitars all sweaty, legs akimbo, trying too hard to sound like it's being played by an American, maudlin piano all frills no soul, a general fear of minor chords or a beat that isn't some kind of funkless stomp. Scrubbing all the dirt out of the mix. EQing all the life out of it.<br />
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I've been pushing myself to broaden my horizons, try things I would normally avoid (live drums for starters).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3x4Hd5R7NtJ6gilMtIIKIQnA4ZzWrt-oidLZiwtIDg-ZqmSk9Whou0-BaymlwQOM4Ir60sSeLXf4mPNQ6tQW7imof2hCFTJSORwU2ljXwtc2p5EL4u9bxBgerwc90xFTUzlz8/s1600/photo-9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3x4Hd5R7NtJ6gilMtIIKIQnA4ZzWrt-oidLZiwtIDg-ZqmSk9Whou0-BaymlwQOM4Ir60sSeLXf4mPNQ6tQW7imof2hCFTJSORwU2ljXwtc2p5EL4u9bxBgerwc90xFTUzlz8/s1600/photo-9.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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Ade MUTATE and me have also been working on a new <b>Stray Dog City E.P.</b> (Automatic Writing) with three or four juicy slabs of noise, bass and beats to sink your teeth into coming soon. </div>
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<a href="http://routserthemagickclubmix.viinyl.com/" target="_blank">http://<wbr></wbr>routserthemagickclubmix.<wbr></wbr>viinyl.com/</a></div>
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There may be a London gig coming up soon, but no solid plans for live things at the moment.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsKHVaaEtJJufF6E3O6sD0qua-0dmqRtDDEm_YjbUqbahhhT0Oql3dPlLWidcEzpJxyGBrXLB1tTbsl5yrQvMTCapqBdMlOoeCjcOlr0aZNznIb9K0McebodsyIGP4Xla3Ys9C/s1600/Bass+Head.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsKHVaaEtJJufF6E3O6sD0qua-0dmqRtDDEm_YjbUqbahhhT0Oql3dPlLWidcEzpJxyGBrXLB1tTbsl5yrQvMTCapqBdMlOoeCjcOlr0aZNznIb9K0McebodsyIGP4Xla3Ys9C/s1600/Bass+Head.jpg" height="400" width="295" /></a></div>
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Hope you get yourselves a productive week!<br />
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Milk<br />
xMekanosethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07282876182114622154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277709.post-65049407431846386292014-04-28T18:57:00.001+01:002014-04-28T19:09:14.068+01:00ApopheniaSo I haven't typed much lately. Been immersed in the process of putting together some new noises, and moving (yes, again).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6w6Nj5nmHGGSRJzXZd_Xqw47xUUgc46Tri2lXKVccJrUUUp9qARdYhtV_0EcSNj4XGT-Xcju8L0ozQEXXXJ8Wz7UHsQo3xtmltHcw6wh1aHHtgdZB4bbtCt2z_LWRhf2WMfmR/s1600/dogwitheyebrows.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6w6Nj5nmHGGSRJzXZd_Xqw47xUUgc46Tri2lXKVccJrUUUp9qARdYhtV_0EcSNj4XGT-Xcju8L0ozQEXXXJ8Wz7UHsQo3xtmltHcw6wh1aHHtgdZB4bbtCt2z_LWRhf2WMfmR/s1600/dogwitheyebrows.jpg" height="320" width="239" /></a></div>
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I've been holding back on the next <a href="http://fightingfearwithfire.viinyl.com/">Mekano Set release</a>, want to let it stew a while. I've always rushed out stuff in the past, without allowing songs to mature as they tend to once we've gigged them a few times. The latest batch of songs are more <a href="http://offline.viinyl.com/">electronic</a> - less guitar riffy - but also more gritty / grimy / swirly. And the guitars are there - more swirl and skattered / shattered noise. Yummy.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2T-Z0PMTQ9CRjSBgjlBN5XD3oBlz2SSfdxZKWB5HB9DG0wlxwtRmuSI2HSH6XHvhPcio61wgH3mdQ_fG2bDfAXG6oAZeTIpCM5qq25SQ6Dqdn_HLEtPrLLLREgDhuS-TaNY3G/s1600/photo%252817%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2T-Z0PMTQ9CRjSBgjlBN5XD3oBlz2SSfdxZKWB5HB9DG0wlxwtRmuSI2HSH6XHvhPcio61wgH3mdQ_fG2bDfAXG6oAZeTIpCM5qq25SQ6Dqdn_HLEtPrLLLREgDhuS-TaNY3G/s1600/photo%252817%2529.jpg" height="320" width="236" /></a></div>
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Saying that, we've accidentally knocked something up this week that is a full-on guitars / melody thing, complete with vaguely melodic vocals and near discernible lyrics<a href="http://aphonerings.viinyl.com/">! </a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitCGKmqo7SVXKy2OXJ4xwkrfgmKEpcaangXCyhQgvfo-kN5ePBMp1yyxbJaOOojy6cx0GXd1xvADKtK9R5oE9a4dvK12sBig1jtLl6qraxAKNGCKrrXv7MI_1FBOj3vxcwew-M/s1600/photo4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitCGKmqo7SVXKy2OXJ4xwkrfgmKEpcaangXCyhQgvfo-kN5ePBMp1yyxbJaOOojy6cx0GXd1xvADKtK9R5oE9a4dvK12sBig1jtLl6qraxAKNGCKrrXv7MI_1FBOj3vxcwew-M/s1600/photo4.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://pareidolia.viinyl.com/">Pareidolia</a> is a new song I recorded with Arthur Hasburg and Sam Bertram - the former rhythm section of Liverpool pop band The Jackobins. We have two exotically grooving songs and two spoken word / soundscapes mixed and ready for a debut E.P. <a href="http://pareidolia.viinyl.com/">http://pareidolia.viinyl.com/</a><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibyQu05TwN2dZ3Yg9EgjGwg7se5mDuWibBbNkKYeQqK5D71gxTY8mW6t0fDmNlMpUDqG45AnIkvNE8iF5amGyXtUF4XSt8aEOc2H1yo4VarLWPt5TYAL3QF0G4qOP3M-y5qwiV/s1600/photo2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibyQu05TwN2dZ3Yg9EgjGwg7se5mDuWibBbNkKYeQqK5D71gxTY8mW6t0fDmNlMpUDqG45AnIkvNE8iF5amGyXtUF4XSt8aEOc2H1yo4VarLWPt5TYAL3QF0G4qOP3M-y5qwiV/s1600/photo2.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our rehearsal space in need of a tidy-up</td></tr>
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It's been a challenge to work with a different sonic pallet, and the songs are generally a little bit more melodic than my usual stuff. We're aiming for an organic groove. As well as making use of my baritone guitar textures and location recordings, we've been using melodica and harmonica, various bit of percussion, stories, fretless bass and acoustic drums. And we plan to make use of accordion and trumpet!<br />
<a href="http://spoiltchild.viinyl.com/"></a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjszqcQw7NYmG8tKBBurJuCavoM1_t6WbjUEDdzLMANz_KWQboAVyuyX5KRxedn9CS_FdMLoZmBzlEV0xgWmo9BDiWp2xaDeL_nO9aQxrHpohArXTyEotVNwu_h_BRjePmybK4/s1600/Milk+and+Arthur.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjszqcQw7NYmG8tKBBurJuCavoM1_t6WbjUEDdzLMANz_KWQboAVyuyX5KRxedn9CS_FdMLoZmBzlEV0xgWmo9BDiWp2xaDeL_nO9aQxrHpohArXTyEotVNwu_h_BRjePmybK4/s1600/Milk+and+Arthur.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Live @ Liverpool Lomax for Hope Fest 2014</td></tr>
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Spoilt Child is a spoken word piece from the as-yet untitled E.P. : <a href="http://spoiltchild.viinyl.com/">http://spoiltchild.viinyl.com/</a><br />
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I've been thinking about the state of the music / movie industries recently.
If movie torrents die out, DVD / Blu Ray will face a further die back.
The industry needs to fund a solid, worthy physical format. It can do that. It
can invest millions in research and tests without fear. Those people just
need to get over their own destructive greed.<br />
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A book lasts lifetimes. A DVD / CD barely survives a decade. <br />
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Let's not forget that the people who run the corporations behind all of the serious labels don't even need to make a
profit anymore. Their industry is dying because of their greed - not
ours. Recent statistics have shown that people who file share are <a href="http://www.eteknix.com/biggest-file-sharing-pirates-actually-spend-more-money-on-content-than-normal-people/">MORE</a> likely to purchase music and films than people who <a href="http://www.eteknix.com/biggest-file-sharing-pirates-actually-spend-more-money-on-content-than-normal-people/">DON'T</a> file share. <br />
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It's not enough to offer better quality formats.
People still love mp3, VHS and cassettes and they're not the best
quality. Blu Ray has not replaced DVD - and it won't. It's too little
too late - and it's packaged in such a lazy way (almost identical to DVDs).
Blu Ray albums won't be enough either. <br />
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Vinyl survives because the physical form has weight and quality. CD did not because the form was weak + over-priced.<br />
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People
want to purchase, we like shiny things. It's such a shame to see real record stores across the globe closing their doors for good.<br />
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Still, people are always coming up
with new, quality, innovative physical formats. But the industry is increasingly artless and blinkered to
the path of Most Cash Profit. The fat cats need to step up and consider the
craft and the art otherwise just step aside, go back to marketing
toothpaste, cigarettes and trainers.<br />
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<a href="http://trogoautoegocrat-3.wikispaces.com/"><img alt="Hafler Trio CD packaging" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgISBjkL4DIWJE2oKOYlmLIbvV585de7AQHsOrsx_XtN7dpwmRbmyPqwO6aJKlCKu08mtv4HVOq4I4S-qfPau2xupgttCRFnX7ascTbUsOPcj1eiPHTr6XkQvdlErG4ZZVK2CUc/s1600/Hafler+Trio+no_1.jpg" height="320" title="Hafler Trio CD packaging" width="291" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.soisong.com/"><img alt="Soi Song hexagonal CD" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSJP1urOjMloUtUKIdnJI3plbTvJdpJ8RkZOPm6CvjW6p8i_fpzai8APghR7g2S5MNMIsYVZTcVLF_hZjtvRAnagetlIbF8RCT4gO2R7j4S8Ss7T_wOstO0o9u8byOQR6hDZtS/s1600/3466218884_258356a3b3.jpg" height="219" title="Soi Song hexagonal CD" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.mekanoset.net/">The Mekano Set</a>Mekanosethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07282876182114622154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277709.post-67892703786705968882014-02-03T12:40:00.000+00:002014-02-03T12:40:26.054+00:00I MADE YOU A MAP<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZbh5bXBD8GsTM5g7kWd6gFV-dyDb9f674plz6BN4fVugFn58rb5TxWUDzL_ZD_3a5ZDwBE67bJlsiBFos-EUvZ4NUY_WPu7JItzl6D_8TMusBKNsc-oZ4gyhyt2YR9o_DDJbR/s1600/One+globe+wide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZbh5bXBD8GsTM5g7kWd6gFV-dyDb9f674plz6BN4fVugFn58rb5TxWUDzL_ZD_3a5ZDwBE67bJlsiBFos-EUvZ4NUY_WPu7JItzl6D_8TMusBKNsc-oZ4gyhyt2YR9o_DDJbR/s1600/One+globe+wide.jpg" height="151" width="400" /></a></div>
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Feeling pleasantly wobbly and wasted. Having a black aspirin and a gluten-free bagel. <br />
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Had a great weekend visiting the family out in the sticks and the smelly little Welsh dogs. Proper decent gig on Saturday night - Ted Wildbillbuttock done us proud on the mix (did a better job than I did last time) so we felt nice and relaxed on stage (so I was actually singing rather than shouting lyrics at the drunk black clad masses this time). Got a few old punks jumping around and offended a few macho Metal boys which is always nice. Ate far too much and didn't drink enough.<br />
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We played as a duo so the sound was a bit more stripped down and Shoegrimey. I managed to get my white-noise wah guitar sound back which was a pleasant surprise. And a splash of car-crash reverse-reverb baritone. <br />
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In other news, we have a new single out! <a href="http://prettyinnoise.bandcamp.com/track/the-mekano-set-i-made-you-a-map">I Made You a Map</a> is out now via Pretty in Noise. 15 minutes worth of grainy baritone guitars, undulating sub bass and pounding beats. Flickering between disturbing and groovy.<br />
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<a href="http://prettyinnoise.bandcamp.com/track/the-mekano-set-i-made-you-a-map">I Made You a Map</a> is a split single with fellow Liverpool / Euro centric sonic adventurers Onde Sphérique. It's a free download too!<br />
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Looking at some video footage and plotting out the week. <br />
<br />
<span class="userContent">"The Mekano Set's latest track sounds quasi
religious. They've transformed their "nihilistic electro punk nonsense"
into something beautiful. It sounds like a gang of tripped out
Cistercian monks playing with electrical tools and gently beating a
radiator with a rubber hammer. Trust me this is something you need in
your life."<br /> <br /> <a href="http://besttuna.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/Mekano.html" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">http://besttuna.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/Mekano.html</a></span><br />
<a href="https://facebook.com/pinmusik">https://facebook.com/pinmusik </a><br />
<a href="http://besttuna.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/Mekano.html" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank"><br /></a> <br />
<br />
<a href="http://prettyinnoise.bandcamp.com/track/the-mekano-set-i-made-you-a-map">http://prettyinnoise.bandcamp.com/track/the-mekano-set-i-made-you-a-map</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.mekanoset.net/">The Mekano Set</a>Mekanosethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07282876182114622154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7277709.post-17874434335046171122013-12-29T15:50:00.003+00:002013-12-30T20:13:49.805+00:00Shoegrime<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaG5kIzvpTeKYr9mJu7y4TRzdP_H0xLlXSZPYaIjbDTIBfA67DZa5OXcA2YQXC3oThspXXgMxTnLwqOb1OdmchNSqPgfi0U-8T2ZnHRF0MMgv62J2l2167jcxLXS-GG9PfpUgs/s1600/Chucky+Drinks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaG5kIzvpTeKYr9mJu7y4TRzdP_H0xLlXSZPYaIjbDTIBfA67DZa5OXcA2YQXC3oThspXXgMxTnLwqOb1OdmchNSqPgfi0U-8T2ZnHRF0MMgv62J2l2167jcxLXS-GG9PfpUgs/s400/Chucky+Drinks.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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So 2013 is almost done an dusted. We are living in the future. It's a lot like the past except the TV's are thinner, and Britain now has a fascist government. Certainly didn't see that one coming. Never imagined the future would be quite so... backwards? We need an island. A new one.<br />
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"I need new shoes."<br />
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It's certainly been a busy year for us. Productive, in that we've released a hefty chunk of music, and played some fun gigs (some storming nights at Cowley Club, as well as getting to play some fantastic Alternative events: Dead and Buried in London, Dark Waters Festival in Nottingham, and back to The Dark Room in Wolverhampton). The year has also been a bit manic, in that I've managed to move house, four times.<br />
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"TV keeps you off the street." <br />
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We set out to try and not repeat ourselves this year. We've put out a number of EPs on CD, iTunes, amazon, Spotify etc. and that felt like a real achievement. But we're always looking to try something new.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkmqp625rAi8vhRkBQldwi6pvqoGS816VMlYnf1FUlVrrogM2PyZKialtLelMuT41T2osvmzelGJW2c1cR9jewOKWT0hQ_EPjqnj21IwPRypTzoZW-VIW5FQa3EhsM7t9UkVtc/s1600/Persian+Cats.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkmqp625rAi8vhRkBQldwi6pvqoGS816VMlYnf1FUlVrrogM2PyZKialtLelMuT41T2osvmzelGJW2c1cR9jewOKWT0hQ_EPjqnj21IwPRypTzoZW-VIW5FQa3EhsM7t9UkVtc/s400/Persian+Cats.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No One Knows About Persian Cats...</td></tr>
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In January, we put together a set of songs for a follow-up to the <a href="http://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/album/hahaharem">Hahaharem EP</a>. <a href="http://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/album/going-up">Going Up</a> was done and dusted really quickly, and looking back it's a great set of songs - totally what we were aiming for: a strong rhythm section and adventurous guitars. But we felt it wasn't enough. We also wanted to try something different:<br />
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<a href="http://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/album/behind-the-sins-o-s-t">Behind The Sins</a> started out as a kind of tongue in cheek documentary. We had a lot of fun recording it, and it's got some really cool drones and location recordings - it's not just a joke: an audio collage of interviews, stories and previously unreleased material. Aired several times by Radio Reverb, the CD version boasted a cool gatefold design by Lee C which ran out pretty quickly. Sins gave us a great opportunity to clarify our views on everything from gender to the underground music scene, and also to mystify and experiment with some random cut / paste sound collage. <br />
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We also tried a few different ways of playing live.<br />
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It took me six months to mix<a href="https://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/album/the-three-thieves-ep"> The Three Thieves EP</a>, a collection of guitarscapes, skewed bass-riffs and heavyweight beats. Big, painful learning curve there. <br />
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Then came <a href="https://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/album/black-aspirin">The Black Aspirin</a> single, which is actually a <a href="https://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/album/black-aspirin-two">two part EP</a> comprising 10 songs. naturally. A stomping, cynical protest song aimed at hipster bands ripping off Post-Punk acts. Yes that's inevitable, but that doesn't mean we have to accept it. So we channeled some energy into a totally overblown and more than a little offensive 'taking it back' anthem. Finished really quickly, thanks in part to what we learned from working on <a href="http://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/album/the-three-thieves-ep">Three Thieves</a>. Check the <a href="http://mekanoset.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/and-hipsters-sing_26.html">blog entry</a> for <a href="http://mekanoset.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/and-hipsters-sing_26.html">the full story</a> and a link to the cheeky .pdf manifesto.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Bhq1Ix2FNadHC0VdmdR1_m3K2bKdCPBg4ZzMvaKn4xHiW_cIWpYOAEWzTvjj-ed4AH1MoGJpC4LbsM6nux7HfXvrNQkMlrsuoaGq6gJ4UqnzIhfNQrgovRJg2tDH2GqdhOH3/s1600/Barry+and+Milk+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Barry and Milk" border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Bhq1Ix2FNadHC0VdmdR1_m3K2bKdCPBg4ZzMvaKn4xHiW_cIWpYOAEWzTvjj-ed4AH1MoGJpC4LbsM6nux7HfXvrNQkMlrsuoaGq6gJ4UqnzIhfNQrgovRJg2tDH2GqdhOH3/s400/Barry+and+Milk+2.jpg" title="Barry and Milk" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's a shit business.</td></tr>
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As a final Christmessy treat we did a little DJ set of some of our favourite tunes. The <a href="https://x.mixcloud.com/mekanoset/the-shoegrime-mixtapes/">Shoegrime Mixtape</a>. is up now on <a href="http://www.mixcloud.com/mekanoset/the-shoegrime-mixtapes/">mixcloud</a>. Hopefully it provides some insight into where we're coming from, in that it illustrates that we're not entirely alone in what we do. So there's some 'classic' tracks from Curve, Cocteau Twins and Jesu, and some recent noises from the likes of Weekend Wolves, Blindness, Keluar and King Midas Sound. There's a few surprises, and a couple of our own songs including an extra-shimmery swirly mix of the Crashback song: <a href="http://crashbackchristmasmix.viinyl.com/">http://crashbackchristmasmix.viinyl.com/</a><br />
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We're now carving out an extended piece - I Made You a Map - for a split EP with fellow Liverpool / Euro centric sonic adventurers Onde Sphérique for the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pinmusik">Pretty in Noise label</a>. This is a great opportunity to explore the groove over time, and we've lined up some great grainy baritone guitar tones to play with. <a href="https://facebook.com/pinmusik">https://facebook.com/pinmusik </a><br />
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We also have about 8 new slices for the new project but we're holding back on them because we don't want to repeat ourselves. We're still exploring the shapes and spaces of the thing - cutting away chunks of fencing to explore the waste ground behind the song. These tracks are a little bit... phatter and slightly more exotic than our usual noises, but we still want to push them out a little further.<br />
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Hope you're having a good one. <br />
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More soon x<br />
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<a href="http://www.mekanoset.net/">The Mekano Set</a>Mekanosethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07282876182114622154noreply@blogger.com