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The Masthead “I married Isis on the fifth day of…” Oops, sorry, wrong song, wrong place. I was trying to reach ICES 72, when my lines got crossed. Hang up and dial again: in this issue you can find Julian Cowley’s excellent piece about the International Carnival of Experimental Sound, the extraordinary, unprecedented two-week celebration of avant garde art and music that took place 40 years ago this August at London’s Roundhouse. Featuring 300 participants from more than 20 countries, the ICES programme today reads like a rollcall of the 20th century’s most significant minds, some of them then still at the fledgling stage: Charlotte Moorman, AMM, Annea Lockwood, Taj Mahal Travellers, David Rosenboom, Steve Beresford, Jacques Bekaert, future Crass members Penny Rimbaud and Gee Vaucher, and so many more. Unorthodox to the last, ICES began with a big bang show by John Cage, whose prestige/notoriety guaranteed enough media exposure for its inaugural event to sell out, only for every other ICES concert to play out before rapidly dwindling audiences. Not only did it end in financial disaster leaving a good many artists who’d travelled from afar to take part bruised and out of pocket, organiser Harvey Matusow’s original grandiose plans to commemorate ICES with a series of TV films and recordings were put on ice, so to speak, when he returned to America after exhausting the goodwill of all the photographers, recordists and film makers he’d brought in to document it. The lack of readily available documentation about ICES makes Julian’s piece about it all the more remarkable, the result of hundreds of hours of detective work spent tracking down so many of the festival’s surviving protagonists and then talking them through their longburied memories. His article reminds us, if only for a moment, of an age when Utopia was just a dream away. Message over, hang up, dial again. Next, a brief long distance call to West Berlin 1967–69, confirms that similar utopian arts laboratory experiments, albeit on more manageable human scale, were going on at Zodiak Free Arts Club, founded by the late Conrad Schnitzler and Cluster’s Hans-Joachim Roedelius, where early Tangerine Dream could electronically road-test their cosmic quests in a conducive atmosphere where anything so bourgeois as a conventionally structured song was seriously frowned upon. It so happens that the Zodiak was based at a theatre in Kreuzberg now known as HAU 2. I’d tell you more, but long distance calls are too expensive for history lessons. Hang up, dial again. Lines crossed, back to the here and now of HAU in December 2011, where a grown man in his mid-fifties is singing, “I think I am a telephone/A romantic little telephone”, in the needling voice of a teenager used to getting what he wants, over a garage surf melody so cute he just knows no one will refuse him. And indeed, the packed house gives in to his wishes, joining in on the song’s choruses in a perfect reenactment of pop communion. Zodiak’s former clientele would no doubt be turning in their graves at this approval of a three minute pop song. But this being Palais Schaumburg’s first concert in 30 years, things were bound to get emotional, especially when you take into account the circumstances of their breakup. Holger Hiller and Thomas Fehlmann formed Palais Schaumburg in Hamburg in 1980 with the intention of reinventing German song after decades of post-war neglect. Hiller had laid the first foundations on a pair of solo singles; Palais Schaumburg simply accelerated the construction process, reinforcing the punk rock principle of creating socially inclusive music playable by non-specialists with elements of teaching music picked up from their studies of pre-war modernists like Hindemith. The group went through a few changes before settling on the line-up of Hiller on vocals, guitar and keyboards, Fehlmann on trumpet and keyboards, Timo Blunk on bass and Ralf Hertwig on drums. For all the complex thoughts invested by Hiller in particular in their new German song designs, Palais Schaumburg converted them into fantastic pop music brimming with invention. They became enormously popular in West Germany, signed to a major label and got David Cunningham to produce their stlll astonishing debut album, Palais Schaumburg (1981). It was barely out when Hiller told the others he was quitting. 30 years later in Berlin, the reformed Palais Schaumburg finally delivered. Chris Bohn Distribution News stands UK, Europe & Rest of World (excl USA) COMAG Specialist Division Tavistock Works, Tavistock Road West Drayton, Middlesex UB7 7QX Tel +44 (0)1895 433800 matt.pryce@comag.co.uk USA IPD (Source Interlink Fulfillment Div) 27500 Riverview Center Blvd Suite 400, Bonita Springs, FL 34134 Tel 239 949 4450 rsonnenberg@ucsinc.com Bookshops Worldwide Central Books (Magazine Dept) 99 Wallis Road, London E9 5LN Tel +44 (0)20 8986 4854 sasha@centralbooks.com Independent record shops UK & Europe Shellshock, 23A Collingwood Road London N15 4EL Tel +44 (0)20 8800 8110 Fax +44 (0)20 8800 8140 info@shellshock.co.uk USA Forced Exposure 219 Medford St Malden, MA 02148-7301 Fax 781 321 0321 fe@forcedexposure.com Rest of World Contact The Wire direct Tel +44 (0)20 7422 5022 Fax +44 (0)20 7422 5011 subs@thewire.co.uk NB The Wire can also supply record shops in Europe direct 4 | The Wire | Masthead Subscriptions Print Subscription 12 issues UK £40 Europe £56 USA/Canada US$90/£56 Rest of the World (Air) £66 Digital Subscription 12 months Worldwide £30 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 by Wyndeham Heron Ltd. 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 management buy-out by the magazine’s 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 unsolicited manuscripts, photographs, illustrations or promotional items. Copyright in the UK and abroad is held by the publisher or by freelance contributors. Unauthorised reproduction of any item is forbidden. Issue 336 February 2012 £4 ISSN 0952-0680 The Wire 23 Jack’s Place, 6 Corbet Place, London E1 6NN, UK Tel +44 (0)20 7422 5010 Fax +44 (0)20 7422 5011 thewire.co.uk Publisher & Editor-in-Chief Tony Herrington tony@thewire.co.uk Editor Chris Bohn chris@thewire.co.uk Deputy Editor Anne Hilde Neset anne@thewire.co.uk Reviews Editor Derek Walmsley derek@thewire.co.uk News/Live Editor Lisa Blanning lisa@thewire.co.uk Editor-at-Large Rob Young rob@thewire.co.uk Art Direction & Design Ben Weaver art@thewire.co.uk Design Patrick Ward patrick@thewire.co.uk Pedro Cid Proença pedro@thewire.co.uk Advertising Manager Andy Tait andy@thewire.co.uk Licensing Manager & Advertising Sales Shane Woolman shane@thewire.co.uk Subscriptions, Circulation & Accounts Ben House ben@thewire.co.uk Subscriptions Daisy Hyde daisy@thewire.co.uk Online Editors Nathan Budzinski nathan@thewire.co.uk Jennifer Lucy Allan jennifer@thewire.co.uk Assistant Online Editor Katie Gibbons katie@thewire.co.uk Online Development Dorian Fraser Moore dorian@thewire.co.uk Office Assistant Sophia Ignatidou sophia@thewire.co.uk Archivist Edwin Pouncey edwin@thewire.co.uk Words Steve Barker, Mike Barnes, Dan Barrow, Clive Bell, Marcus Boon, Michael Bracewell, Britt Brown, Nick Cain, Philip Clark, Byron Coley, Julian Cowley, Alan Cummings, Sam Davies, Brian Dillon, Phil England, Kodwo Eshun, Mark Fisher, Phil Freeman, Louise Gray, Andy Hamilton, Adam Harper, Jim Haynes, Richard Henderson, Ken Hollings, Robin Howells, Hua Hsu, William Hutson, David Keenan, Rahma Khazam, Biba Kopf, Tim Lawrence, Alan Licht, Dave Mandl, Marc Masters, Bill Meyer, Keith Moliné, Will Montgomery, Brian Morton, Joe Muggs, Alex Neilson, Andrew Nosnitsky, Ian Penman, Richard Pinnell, Edwin Pouncey, Nina Power, Simon Reynolds, Nick Richardson, Bruce Russell, Peter Shapiro, Chris Sharp, Philip Sherburne, Nick Southgate, Daniel Spicer, Joseph Stannard, David Stubbs, Dave Tompkins, David Toop, Dan Warburton, Val Wilmer, Barry Witherden, Matthew Wuethrich Images Thomas Adank, Jon Baker, Dusdin Condren, Mauro D’Agati, Tara Darby, Jonathan de Villiers, Glen Erler, Jason Evans, Jason Fulford, Jamie Hawkesworth, Pieter Hugo, Jak Kilby, Heinz Peter Knes, Armin Linke, Benjamin McMahon, Tom Medwell, Jason Nocito, Niall O’Brien, Shawn Records, Beth Rooney, Savage Pencil, Jaap Scheeren, Michael Schmelling, Bryan Sheffield, Ben Stockley, Eva Vermandel, Kai von Rabenau, Jake Walters, Jeremy & Claire Weiss, Val Wilmer
page 5
Wire The Black Session, Paris 10th May 2011 Recorded live at Radio France’s Paris studios in May 2011, with Wire captured in razor-sharp form performing tightly honed versions of songs from ‘Red Barked Tree’ and choice cuts from their extensive back catalogue. Pink Flag CD Peter Hammill Pno, Gtr, Vox, Box (84 Live Performances) “Pno, Gtr, Vox, Box” is a limited edition (2000 copies only), deluxe box set which greatly expands on the original double cd released last year. FIE 7CD Box Set Azusa Plane Where the Sands Turn to Gold This luxuriously and lovingly packaged double CD with DVD is a labour of love in memory of Jason DiEmilio aka the Azusa Plane. Two CDs feature over two hours of music spanning the breadth of the Azusa Plane catalogue, while the DVD features a thirty-minute live set and eleven individual MP3 folders. Each folder contains rare MP3 tracks, never released Azusa Plane live recordings, an interview Rocket Girl 2CD+DVD Box Set Laura J Martin The Hangman Tree Mining the strange, darker underbelly of folk with untold layers of intrigue, she flits effortlessly between flute, mandolin and xylophone, as well as using looped vocals and instruments to great effect. Static Caravan CD Darren Hayman January Songs A deluxe 31 2CD physical release for the acclaimed online song writing project. Every single one of the 1500 sleeves is hand drawn by Darren himself. Belka 2CD Various I Have My Liberty!: Gospel Sounds from Accra, Ghana An album of sounds and performances recorded live in 2008 from the churches of Ghana’s capital city. This album is the missing link between American gospel records by artists like Rev. Johnny L. Jones and traditional African artists like those featured on Opika Pende: Africa at 78 RPM. Dust To Digital CD Various Qat, Coffee & Qambus: Raw 45s from Yemen Compilation of rare, Yemeni vinyl singles, showcasing the little-documented, evolving local music styles in the 1960s and ‘70s. Vintage oud and vocal music inspired by the qat-chewing, coffeesipping, qambusplaying culture of Yemen! Parlortone/Dust To Digital Vinyl Damo Suzuki’s Network Sette Modi Per Salvare Roma Documenting a vibrant live performance recorded in Rome in January 2011. The resulting music develops through a kaleidoscope of free rock elements, melting and reshaping into wide open sound forms, with multi layered texturing perfectly fronted by damo’s inexhaustible vocal presence. a further step into a sound journey with no end. Goodfellas CD Nurse With Wound/Graham Bowers Rupture This CD is the first collaboration of Steven Stapleton’s Nurse With Wound and composer/ sculptor Graham Bowers. An extremely unnerving, but also hauntingly moving listening experience. Dirter CD 17 Heathmans Road, Parsons Green, London, SW6 4TJ • phone 020 7731 5125 • fax 020 7731 3866 • email info@cargorecords.co.uk • www.cargorecords.co.uk 11_12_ad-print.indd 2 1/2/12 7:35 PM

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Wire The Black Session, Paris 10th May 2011 Recorded live at Radio France’s Paris studios in May 2011, with Wire captured in razor-sharp form performing tightly honed versions of songs from ‘Red Barked Tree’ and choice cuts from their extensive back catalogue. Pink Flag CD

Peter Hammill Pno, Gtr, Vox, Box (84 Live Performances) “Pno, Gtr, Vox, Box” is a limited edition (2000 copies only), deluxe box set which greatly expands on the original double cd released last year. FIE 7CD Box Set

Azusa Plane Where the Sands Turn to Gold This luxuriously and lovingly packaged double CD with DVD is a labour of love in memory of Jason DiEmilio aka the Azusa Plane. Two CDs feature over two hours of music spanning the breadth of the Azusa Plane catalogue, while the DVD features a thirty-minute live set and eleven individual MP3 folders. Each folder contains rare MP3 tracks, never released Azusa Plane live recordings, an interview Rocket Girl 2CD+DVD Box Set

Laura J Martin The Hangman Tree Mining the strange, darker underbelly of folk with untold layers of intrigue, she flits effortlessly between flute, mandolin and xylophone, as well as using looped vocals and instruments to great effect. Static Caravan CD

Darren Hayman January Songs A deluxe 31 2CD physical release for the acclaimed online song writing project. Every single one of the 1500 sleeves is hand drawn by Darren himself. Belka 2CD

Various I Have My Liberty!: Gospel Sounds from Accra, Ghana An album of sounds and performances recorded live in 2008 from the churches of Ghana’s capital city. This album is the missing link between American gospel records by artists like Rev. Johnny L. Jones and traditional African artists like those featured on Opika Pende: Africa at 78 RPM. Dust To Digital CD

Various Qat, Coffee & Qambus: Raw 45s from Yemen Compilation of rare, Yemeni vinyl singles, showcasing the little-documented, evolving local music styles in the 1960s and ‘70s. Vintage oud and vocal music inspired by the qat-chewing, coffeesipping, qambusplaying culture of Yemen! Parlortone/Dust To Digital Vinyl

Damo Suzuki’s Network Sette Modi Per Salvare Roma Documenting a vibrant live performance recorded in Rome in January 2011. The resulting music develops through a kaleidoscope of free rock elements, melting and reshaping into wide open sound forms, with multi layered texturing perfectly fronted by damo’s inexhaustible vocal presence. a further step into a sound journey with no end. Goodfellas CD

Nurse With Wound/Graham Bowers Rupture This CD is the first collaboration of Steven Stapleton’s Nurse With Wound and composer/ sculptor Graham Bowers. An extremely unnerving, but also hauntingly moving listening experience. Dirter CD

17 Heathmans Road, Parsons Green, London, SW6 4TJ • phone 020 7731 5125 • fax 020 7731 3866 • email info@cargorecords.co.uk • www.cargorecords.co.uk

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