The Masthead
Composer, film maker and director of New York’s Experimental Intermedia Phill Niblock may have died in January at the age of 90, but his legacy lives on. For decades, the organisation, which he hosted from his Chinatown loft, was an incubator for experimental composers and a gathering place for the avant garde. Niblock especially took an interest in younger artists, and was a friend and mentor to several generations. Last week, his extraordinary life was celebrated at London’s Goldsmiths over two evenings, curated by CTSC x Iklectik and featuring work by the likes of Rie Nakajima, Rhodri Davies, Loré Lixenberg and Katherine Liberovskaya. The latter was collaborating with him on an opera based on hardboiled detective novelist Dashiell Hammett at the time of Niblock’s death.
Iklectik itself was one of those spaces, like Niblock’s loft, that nurtured conversations and encounters between artists across disciplines and generations. Even though it lost its venue in London’s Waterloo earlier this year, thanks to the shenanigans of property developers, Iklectik lives on as a roving events promoter, organising celebrations like this one.
Another indefatigable organiser, Robyn Steward, trumpeter and host of the Robyn’s Rocket “inclusive conscious” club nights at Cafe Oto, brings together musicians and improvisors with and without disabilities at her events, including musicians from Heart N Soul and Total Refreshment Centre. Clive Bell’s feature in this issue reveals how her friendly, sometimes raucous events are designed for comfortable interaction for everyone, and now pack out the venue.
Elsewhere, minimalist composer Arnold Dreyblatt explains to Peter Margasak how he was inducted into the New York underground of Niblock, Tony Conrad, La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela. Dreyblatt plunged himself into the experimental multimedia scene at The Kitchen in the early 1970s, and like Niblock, he wants to pass that inspiration on. “I am infinitely grateful for all of the older artists who personally assisted, taught and inspired me over the years, especially at the beginning when I faced enormous difficulties in starting on this path,” he says. “As the older generation – my peers – gradually leaves us, I am finding myself one of the elder generation, often surrounded by younger musicians and artists, eager to hear my stories. I really feel the responsibility here.”
Whether or not they want that responsibility, for the past three decades Chicago’s Shellac have certainly been inspirational, in both their heavy riffs and sheer cussedness. In our cover story they explain how they’ve always done things their own way, making records on their own time and refusing to chase publicity. The trio came up through the US punk and post-punk underground, where DIY was a way of life and bands made things happen with whatever materials were around. Steve Albini gives credit to the outsiders who survived on a shoestring, telling Emily Pothast, “I feel like being formed in that scene tempered me as a person and made me rational and comfortable with less, is a way to describe it. And those scenes were all full of such freaks and weirdos, you know?” Let’s hear it for the dedicated enthusiasts who keep it all going. Emily Bick
Distribution
Subscriptions
News stands UK, Europe & Rest of World (excl USA) Seymour Distribution Tel +44 (0)20 7429 4000 UK Vicky.Waterland@ seymour.co.uk Export Kerrie.Callow@ seymour.co.uk
USA ANC Tel 1 866 466 7231
Bookshops Worldwide Central Books Tel +44 (0)20 8986 4854 sasha@centralbooks.com
Independent record shops UK Shellshock Tel +44 (0)1603 626221 neil@shellshock.co.uk
Europe state51 Tel +44 (0)20 7729 4343 distro@state51.com
USA Forced Exposure Fax 781 321 0321 AVisser@forcedexposure.com
Rest of World Contact The Wire direct Tel +44 (0)20 7422 5022 Fax +44 (0)20 7422 5011 publisher@thewire.co.uk
Print Subscription 12 issues UK £65 Europe £90 Rest of World (Air) £100
Digital Subscription 12 months Worldwide £40 See page 96 for details, or go to thewire.co.uk/subscribe
The Wire is published 12 times a year by The Wire Magazine Ltd. Printed in the UK by PCP. Typeset in Unica77 (Lineto.com). The Wire was founded in 1982 by Anthony Wood. Between 1984–2000 it was part of Naim Attallah’s Namara Group. In December 2000 it was purchased in a workers’ buy-out by the magazine’s then current staff. It continues to publish as a 100 per cent independent operation. The views expressed in The Wire are those of the respective contributors and are not necessarily shared by the magazine or its staff. The Wire assumes no responsibility for any unsolicited material or promotional items. Copyright in the UK and abroad is held by the publisher and by freelance contributors. Unauthorised reproduction of any item is forbidden.
Issue 484 June 2024 £6.50 ISSN 0952-0686
The Wire William Pitt Room, New Wing, Somerset House, London WC2R 1LA, UK Tel +44 (0)20 7422 5010 fax +44 (0)20 7422 5011 thewire.co.uk @thewiremagazine Subscriptions subs@thewire.co.uk Events listings listings@thewire.co.uk
Publisher/Director Tony Herrington tony@thewire.co.uk
Commissioning Editors Emily Bick emily@thewire.co.uk Joseph Stannard joe@thewire.co.uk Caroline Whiteley caroline@thewire.co.uk
Sub Editor Derek Walmsley derek@thewire.co.uk
Advertising & Licensing Manager Shane Woolman shane@thewire.co.uk Advertising Sales James Gormley james@thewire.co.uk
Online Editor Meg Woof meg@thewire.co.uk
Listings Editor Phil England listings@thewire.co.uk
Newsletter Editor Kay Grant kay@thewire.co.uk
Subscriptions & online shop Misha Farrant subs@thewire.co.uk
Art Direction Guillaume Chuard (ard.works) guillaume@thewire.co.uk Design Gareth Lindsay gareth@thewire.co.uk Sean Charlton White sean@thewire.co.uk
Photo Editor Sean Charlton White sean@thewire.co.uk
Online Development Dorian Fraser Moore dorian@thewire.co.uk
Editorial Consultant /Director Chris Bohn chris@thewire.co.uk Subscriptions & Systems Consultant/Director Ben House ben@thewire.co.uk
Words Yewande Adeniran, Vanessa Ague, Jennifer Lucy Allan, Kehinde Alonge, Steve Barker, Mike Barnes, Dan Barrow, Robert Barry, Tristan Bath, Clive Bell, Claire Biddles, Abi Bliss, Gabriel Bristow, Britt Brown, Madeleine Byrne, Helena Celle, Philip Clark, Byron Coley, Lara C Cory, Julian Cowley, Raymond Cummings, Laina Dawes, Josh Feola, Phil Freeman, Noel Gardner, Michael A Gonzales, Francis Gooding, Kurt Gottschalk, Louise Gray, George Grella, James Hadfield, Andy Hamilton, Adam Harper, Jim Haynes, Ken Hollings, Miloš Hroch, Jo Hutton, Leah Kardos, Kek-W, Joshua Minsoo Kim, Biba Kopf, Matt Krefting, Steph Kretowicz, Chloe Lula, Dave Mandl, Howard Mandel, Peter Margasak, Marc Masters, Ryan Meehan, Noel Meek, Bill Meyer, Frances Morgan, John Morrison, Joe Muggs, Deborah Nash, Daniel Neofetou, Louis Pattison, Hannah Pezzack, Stephanie Phillips, Antonio Poscic, Emily Pothast, Edwin Pouncey, Chal Ravens, Mosi Reeves, Tony Rettman, Simon Reynolds, Mariam Rezaei, Ilia Rogatchevski, Bruce Russell, Sukhdev Sandhu, Claire Sawers, Dave Segal, Stewart Smith, Rosie Esther Solomon, Daniel Spicer, Richard Stacey, Richard Thomas, Dave Tompkins, Spenser Tomson, David Toop, Rob Turner, Val Wilmer
Images this issue Guy Bolongaro, Sara Carpentieri, Lyndon French, Diana Pfammatter, Eric Ruby, Caroline Tompkins
The Wire / The Masthead
4
