drekka

repost from the DREKKA NEWSFEED:



[ A MESSAGE FROM THE RABBIT BEHIND THE SCENES : SIXTEENTH DAY OF APRIL ]

DREKKA TO TOUR EUROPE IN NOVEMBER 2009

It's true... it's been years... since BLUE BUS MOUNTAIN, I think... 2005? I've been over for a couple shows, and on tour with rivulets... but, it's been a while since I've done a proper Drekka tour in Europe.

The recent DREKKA/DYLAN ETTINGER TOUR I did was a lot of fun and went really well. I've got a whole set of new material, plus a couple new releases coming up... sounds like time for a tour to me, right?

Currently planning out rough itinerary, so if you have any ideas or want to host a show, let me know.

I am working like crazy to finish up the new batch of releases over at BLUESANCT... BODUF SONGS 10", SYNTHESISIA CD, BODY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST CD... and a new series on my other label, ORPHANOLOGY... all of these will be unveiled soon on the BLUESANCT SITE.. stay tuned over there for news.

Once those are all in the can and in production-land, it's all about DREKKA and my post-punk band, TURN PALE, for the rest of the year baby! TURN PALE has been stalled in the water for our third full-length, awaiting my lyrics for the songs... I've got a sort of writer's block on it, as the words I wrote a couple years ago no longer mean anything to me... I need to just listen to the album a few dozen times and let the songs speak to me... come up with a new story to tell with it.

DREKKA, on the other hand, is NOT stalled in any way... it is clambering at the gate, ready to burst through with lots of sounds and releases.

My main project right now, the archiving of all recordings to date by DREKKA, will present it's first fruits in time for the tour, I hope... MORC will be issuing a CD (possible 2CD) containing the earliest released stuff I did in 1994-1996, including the first DREKKA tape, entitled 'Grieve'. On looking back through the archives, it seems I made several different versions for this album with alternate track listings. I am consulting a couple DAY2 experts to see what these track listings were, and come up with a definitive one for the CD release. If you, somehow, have a copy of 'Grieve' on cassette, PLEASE BE IN TOUCH and email me the track listing so we can make this as accurate as possible.

In addition to the archive releases, the new DREKKA album, entitled 'Tarwestraat' is taking shape. One track from it I have been playing in my recent live sets, and it is settling in nicely. I hope to have most of the tracks ready to play out on my autumn tour, and then come home and finish the last mixing before the end of the year. I am very excited about this album, the first totally new DREKKA full-length since... 1998? And I am very thrilled to have so many amazing players on it; Annelies Monsere, Wim Lecluyse (Morc/Circle Brothers), Chris Gowers (Karina ESP) and more to come. It is going to be the best thing DREKKA has done yet, I know it!

But, before 'Tarwestraat' is finished will likely come a couple new cassette releases. The follow up to my 'PIA' cassette on El Tule (which is almost sold out, BTW) will contain field recordings and performances from my trip to Nepal in 1999. I will also have a live cassette on the tape branch of the Digitalis Industries empire containing the beautiful 'Ancestral Cave Sequence' performances from last year, done as part of an installation performance with my friend ANDREW PERRY DAVIS.

So, yeah... always too much going on... but, I plan on delivering the goods! Trust me.

I love you all.
Mkl.

REPOST of the NEWS UPDATE from the DREKKA WEBSITE:

My good friend DYLAN ETTINGER just released a new DREKKA tape on his new cassette label, EL TULE. It's available NOW over at the BLUESANCT SITE.

This cassette, entitled 'PIA: Flight 831/761' is a 30 minute sound journal I recorded in the airspace of Pakistan on October 16, 1999. While travelling home from Nepal that day, my friends and I were delayed for a few hours in Karachi airport because there was a coup happening in Islamabad! We weren't in any danger, but it was still quite intense.

Side A features an extended spontaneous harmonium piece entitled 'Ke Garne' (Nepalese for 'What to do')... layered harmonium melodies blend with the sound of the airport and CNN reporting the coup live as it unfolds.

Side B features a 15 minute master-mix of the exciting in-flight entertainment offered on board PIA... enjoy the sound of the plane and an eclectic A.D.D. shitfest of sound!

This is the first in series of audio journal cassettes from the Drekka archives... the next one, recorded in and around Kathmandu, Nepal, should be out in a month or so... followed by... ?

(ps- If Kirstin or Andy or Justin or Greg or Sarah are reading this, shoot me an email and I'll send you a copy!)


In other news relating to Drekka and DYLAN ETTINGER, we will be heading east for a 'Spring Break 09' tour in March... most of the dates are confirmed and listed already on the DREKKA MYSPACE PAGE (and don't forget to friend us).

Let me know if you will be coming to a show so we can meet up.

( Cold Beat, Bloomington, IN 29 Aug 08 )

REPOST of the BLUESANCT NEWSLETTER I just sent to my mailing list:



( NEWSLETTER )

I've been meaning to post about the new Bluesanct release for a couple weeks now (came out October 12th). It's sort of a dream come true in many ways. I remember being a teenager in Weymouth and my friend Mike Collins first playing me his copies of 'In This World' for the first time and I thought how I wanted to put out records like that someday... and I have. (where are you Mike? I miss you... and I'd love to give you one)

CINDYTALK is one of my absolute favourite bands, and I have been friends with Gordon since they came over and toured in the mid 90's (thanks to Rick and Annie). And so, I am very happy to bring to the world the latest bit of bliss by them as a stunningly beautiful 10" art single...

Here's the 'official' blah blah blah from the one-sheet:
"BLUESANCT is incredibly excited that the third release in our ART SINGLES series is by one of our all-time favourite artists, CINDYTALK. This time it will be a 10", to facilitate the sonics involved. One-sided vinyl with screen-printed b-side and printed sleeve.

The concept behind this series is to celebrate the 10th year of the label with a series of releases that give us excuse to work with some of our biggest influences. And there is hardly a larger influence on my own music and art than GORDON SHARP and CINDYTALK.

'silvershoalsoflight' is quintessential CINDYTALK... written and produced by GORDON SHARP and MATT KINNISON... drum machine ticks along gorgeous bass pulses up against Gordon's vocals... leading to a climax of bliss and dissonance.

For those not familar with CINDYTALK's work, it is a sound that straddles several genres at once... ambient abstract industrial cinematic glitch post-punk... Gordon Sharp was at one time perhaps best known for lending his angelic voice to several tracks on THIS MORTAL COIL's classic masterpiece 'It'll End In Tears' (4AD, 1984), but those tracks are nothing but a footnote in history for Sharp and Cindytalk... since 1982, Cindytalk has recorded half a dozen fiercly challenging albums of devastating beauty... and there is no end in sight for this seminal group."

Go to the BLUESANCT SITE if you want ordering info and such.


(not a very good photo, but you can see how gorgeous the record turned out!)

On vacation for a little over two weeks, with Sarah, her mom and Claudio (and then her dad next week), Edwin, Nick.

Started on my birthday with a long drive to the coast from B'ton. Stopped overnight in Asheville, and got some really amazing food and some great vinyl.

Last few days have been all about swimming just before dusk, going on excursions during the day to find air conditioning and various treasures, hanging out doing not much and enjoying the quiet dark nights.

See FLICKR for my photo journal of our trip.

( TOP OF MY STEREO list )

Simon (photo by me).

Marty and I just went to see The Cure in Cleveland, and it was so incredibly good!

Driving home I was trying to figure out how many times I had seen them, and guessed correct at 14 times... then, figuring they play between 2hr and 3.5hr sets, I figured out I had been in the presence of The Cure, performing, for over approx. 36hrs of my life.

Thanks to the amazing website THE CURE CONCERTS GUIDE (which I admittedly pour over for hours at a time), I have compiled a list of all the shows I've seen...

( Warning: It get's really dorky under the LJ-CUT! )

I just cleaned my living room for the first time in a LONG time... it mostly involved putting all the CDs away that were piling up on...

...yup, the ( TOP OF MY STEREO )

Home again; home again. Been back a week, getting things back into place and the store back up and running... I posted the rest of my tour photos on my FLICKR page...

And here, belated and with a certain air of forgetfulness (that stuff just disappears as soon as I get home, for some reason), is the rest of the tour recap...

( Read more... )

So, Austrian Gay TV really DOES exist, it seems...

We had the day off yesterday, after an INCREDIBLE time in Croatia. Nathan and I decided to stay in Graz, halfway between Zagreb and Linz, and he randomly chose Hotel Daniel... which turned out to be the coolest, gayest, most Scandinavian hotel in all of Austria!

Here is a recap of the rest of Spain and on to Italia!

( Read more... )

drink specials... Trieste, Tetris Club... amazing place, lots of love from Italia.

The last leg of tour begins tonight, with Slovenia and then up through the old eastern block. I love it this area.

In a continuing series of recaps... The Rincon Pio Sound and Yiye... viva Extremadura!

( Read more... )

So much fish.

I will continue to recap... we'll see how far I get before I have to go.

( Read more... )

Hotel TV. What better than a nature show about monkeys and the spanish Survivor.

Now, if this guy at the internet cafe will stop eating his tuna sandwich RIGHT in my ear... seriously, it's making me nauseous.

Breakfast in Spain. Can you guess what is missing? Yup... food.

I will do a quick recap of the first ten days of tour. Siesta starts in fifteen minutes, so I'll have to be brief.

( Read more... )

This photo was taken a few days ago in Girona, Spain. I love the zoom on my camera so much. The little statues and stuff up high on buildings get ignored so often, but I love them.. I love the detail put into them, even though they are largly unseen.

We have been in Spain for four days now... this is day four, yeah.

Tour time moves so strangely. It seems like days ago we were in Girona, but it was yesterday morning. Girona is such an amazing city... well, the old part of it, at least. The rest of it is like any other city, really.

Sorry to be so very boring.

So, I finally got used to the German keyboard, and now I am contenting with French key configuration. It slows down the flow.

Here I am, doing what I do. Listening to The Knife on my iPod.

Getting into Paris looked like it would be easy, and of course... it wasn't.

But, a really beautiful show. In a very old cellar cave from the oldest part of Paris. Right in the very center of Paris.

Gotta dash. Toulouse awaits.

We are staying in a nice hotel in Dortmund at the moment, but internet is 8€ an hour... wtf?!

This is a photo of Nathan's set in Haarlem the other night at Patronaat. Probably one of the best rivs sets I've seen in a long time. It was simply one of those perfect nights.

Tonight, Dortmund... then, we start heading south to Spain.