Arcane Candy

“Well, I’m smokin’ to live.” Alvarius B performs at Resident in Los Angeles, California on May 6, 2018.

Los Angeles, California
May 6, 2018

Alvarius B is one of the alter egos of Alan Bishop, who is best known as one third of the legendary third eye staring band the Sun City Girls, who existed from 1981-2007. In more recent years, AB has led two outfits based in Cairo, Egypt: the rock band The Invisible Hands and The Dwarfs of East Agouza, who play highly improvised music. As a solo performer, Alan occasionally appears as the aforementioned songsmith Alvarius B or, much less frequently, the cantankerous spoken word artist, Uncle Jim. He is also one of the founders of the Sublime Frequencies label, who release raw music mainly from Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

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Sir Richard Bishop performs at the Bootleg Theater in Los Angeles, California on May 4, 2017.

Los Angeles, California
May 4, 2017

Upon arriving at the venue, the first thing I noticed was that it’s called the Bootleg Theater. I’m pretty sure that means if you fellas go to a show there, you’re automatically officially authorized to make bootleg recordings, GUYS. First up was Sir Robert Millis, a six-string slinger from Seattle who won’t hesitate to vigorously apply patches of modeling clay to every area of your face if you so much as glance in his direction. Mr. Millis completely dominated the stage, stomping around like King Kong (as you can see in the photo below) on a rampage through the pre-Keiji Haino city of Tokyo. He played several songs off of, I assume, his numerous albums. I’m not sure exactly which ones, so feel free to hire an attorney and take me to court. What the hell do I look like, the Discogs database?

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Sir Robert Millis performs at the Whistle Stop in San Diego, California on April 25, 2015.

San Diego, California
April 25, 2015

Sir Richard Bishop is a seller of rare books and guitar player who is best known as a member of the Sun City Girls, a one-of-a-kind band that was busy churning out Top 10 hits (at least in a few peoples’ households) from 1981-2007. Sir Robert Millis is a writer, videographer and musician who is part of an experimental outfit called the Climax Golden Twins. (According to the invisible friend inside my mind, their name is a tribute to the Climax Blues Band, Golden Earring and the Thompson Twins.) Both Rick and Rob are also world travelers who have contributed to the Sublime Frequencies label of raw international music.

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Sublime Frequences at the Silent Movie Theatre in Los Angeles, California on August 6, 2013.

Los Angeles, California
August 6, 2013

“Sublime Frequencies is a collective of explorers dedicated to acquiring and exposing obscure sights and sounds from modern and traditional urban and rural frontiers via film and video, field recordings, radio and short wave transmissions, international folk and pop music, sound anomalies, and other forms of human and natural expression not documented sufficiently through all channels of academic research, the modern recording industry, media, or corporate foundations. Sublime Frequencies is focused on an aesthetic of extra-geography and soulful experience inspired by music and culture, world travel, research, and the pioneering recording labels of the past including Ocora, Smithsonian Folkways, Ethnic Folkways, Lyrichord, Nonesuch Explorer, Musicaphone, Baronreiter, Unesco, Playasound, Musical Atlas, Chant Du Monde, B.A.M., Tangent and Topic.”

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Randy Biscuit Turner at home in Austin Texas, circa 2004. Photo ©2004 by Rich Jacobs.

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To Rococo Rot at Kim’s Underground in New York, New York in 1998. Photo ©1998 by Pat D. Photo enlarges.

Kim’s Underground
New York, New York
1998

“To Rococo Rot were a Berlin-based trio who combined electronic and analog elements to create instrumental post-rock and electronic music. Pitchfork described the band’s sound as “unmistakably digital, yet 100% human.” The group was composed of bassist Stefan Schneider and brothers Robert Lippok (electronics, guitar) and Ronald Lippok (drums, effects). The band’s name is a palindrome, as it can be spelled the same both forward and backward. To Rococo Rot formed in 1995 and were active until 2014, releasing eight major albums and numerous collaborations, remixes, singles and EPs. They were known for their minimalist, musically engaging live show, and gave their final performance on December 17, 2014 via a live-streamed ‘In Stereo’ session in the Boiler Room.”–Wikipedia

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Charles Gayle Trio at Olé Madrid in San Diego, California on Tuesday, February 27, 1996. Photo ©1996 by Rich Jacobs. Photo enlarges.

Olé Madrid
San Diego, California
Tuesday, February 27, 1996.

“Charles Gayle is a free jazz spaceship engine that has been igniting New York launching pads like the Knitting Factory for the last decade or two. This evening involved two long sets of ’60s-inspired free clamor divided by a half-hour break. The stand up bassist and drummer each soloed up their fair share of intense improv freedom as Gayle offered up anti-abortion / pro love / pro-Jesus sentiments punctuated by scratching sawmill violin; crude, ominous Casio keyboard chords; and cascading waterfalls that shoot up into the Sun via some really intense sax note / sheet wailing. It was a spontaneous sound aquarium that simultaneously stapled me to my chair and hurled me through distant expanses of beautiful uncertainty. It’s safe to say this performance was pure lift-off that took me a little bit further than out on a limb.”–GSD, Lou’s and the Abstract Truth (Lou’s Records newsletter), February 1996

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The cover of Iannis Xenakis’ Le Diatope program, circa late 1970s.

Here we have a few visual treats from a program published on the occasion of avant-garde Greek composer Iannis Xenakis’ Le Diatope, a spectacle of architecture, light and sound to celebrate the opening of The Pompou Center in Paris in 1978. “Made of red vinyl stretched over a metal frame, the Diatope’s curvilinear form recalls the famous Philips Pavilion designed by Xenakis and Le Corbusier for the Brussels World Fair in 1958, which housed the Poème Electronique of Edgard Varèse. Indeed, the immersive multimedia plan of the Philips Pavilion was the model for a number of later works Xenakis called Polytopes. He created four of these prior to the Diatope: the Polytope de Montreal in 1967, an open-air spectacle in Persepolis in 1971, and two Polytopes in the Parisian Abby of Cluny in 1972 and 1973. Inside the Diatope, Xenakis arranged a light show involving 1600 flashbulbs and four lasers guided by four hundred adjustable mirrors. Both abstract and representational figures were meticulously choreographed and traced by light. Xenakis’ sketches for the light show mention shapes such as lotuses, galaxies and wheels.”–Socks Studio

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