Gone to Oxford

I am away to Oxford for a few days...

Avalon*..#41

Here in Glastonbury stands the Tor..

This is supposed to be king Arthur's Avalon actual location. On the very day when Britain needs him again, the earth will open and the horses will rush in anger along the slopes of impressive Tor to carry again Arthur of the Britains to rescue his people and his land.
The last time I climbed up the Tor nearly ten years ago, I was unpleasantly surprised to meet at its top under the tower, some representatives of the New Age community sitting there and eating apples .. because it is written in the books you should eat apples when near Avalon. I guess Roxy Musi knew more about Avalon than those second hand hippies.
But I have to say the place is magic..

One year's best Indie band in the world, #40

Here is another stunner like some beauty anyone would like to meet one day. Those of you who are familiar with the music of Certain General will be delighted to finally discover what the band sounded like before and after "November's Heat". This is some lost classic, like the second album which never made it , and it better stands for this title than "these are the days .. " (1998-Fantastica). "An Introduction to war" contains two CDS. "Savage Young Generals" is the band live during 1981/82 and the whole set is there, the music is incredible, raw and is like some crazy electrosurfpsyche-music. Phil Gammage produces great surf licks with tons of reverb and still stays very modern in his guitar playing. All those songs have never been released before and it is amazing to see the inspiration Parker Dulanny was floating on. The other CD entitled "Dead rabbit gang" is that lost second album though "killer in the house" does not appear here unfortunately. But "In a bad way","the rain", "Nowhere" and other favourites are truly there in their first renditions which are easily the best ones I have heard.. The introduction song "Uptight" inspired by the reading of the Velvet Underground's biography with that title could have been as successful as "Maximum G", had it been released regularly. Here is a new chance to hear that lost nugget. Then "Keys in the carpet" opens by a dedication to Patti Smith, and Edgar A. Poe among others and they truly are good relays to Certain General works..
There are even covers on those cds, and not the most predictable ones, "White rabbit" and "In-a gadda-da-vida" revisited in the shrieking surfy Certain General mould. From old modern writing to new one, from garage music to elctronics, Certain General is the initiator of "Avant-garde Garage music" !!! Listen !!

The meaning of borders ...#39

Borders, limits, thresholds are fascinating...one goes from one phase to the other, finding sometimes a new world, sometimes different sensations. I thought of this as watching the new advertising Darjeeling publicity which is displayed along the streets of Paris. There it is, the incredible power of seduction from the border. The top limit of the stocking is just there to invite the access to the no man's land above, inducing also why stockings are more desirable than hoses..they are a way through their borders to invite us to a perfect dreamland.

somewhere in Brittany..

DSCN1964, originally uploaded by zapcomix.

La Bretagne Bleue..#38

Brittany, la Bretagne Bleue or la petite Bretagne to distinguish it from the Great Britain ..land of grey, of wild tales and egomaniac fairies. the country of Merlin and of the bucaneers. Saint Malo city of sailors and of great travellers.. a strange harbour out of time . The land behind the seaside is incredibly monotonous sometimes, nearly repetitive. This is why megaliths break the landscape so powerfully. The rivers which flow to the sea are on the other hand oozing a poetic flavour. this land is magic indeed and always mysterious.