Vispo: Too Bookish? / 70s Teenage Rampage! / We're all crazy now! (full mental helmet) /Madness

 

Too Bookish?, RTomens, 2026

We're all crazy now? More on that later...

Can you be too bookish? I dunno. I found the quote 'too bookish, too literary' in a book (ha-ha!) about Ezra Pound. I haven't read the book; not more than a few lines. It's one of those books...you know, so cheap you can't resist and you really think you'll get something out of it - I'm not even that interested in Ezra Pound other than his current (?) outsider status, cancellation by the Common Sense police? Well, he did propagandise for the Italian fascist party, didn't he? Yes, he did. he was also a key figure in...the...modernist movement? Was he? 

I wasn't a bookish child but I loved books. Tom Swift...Stig of the Dump...The Borrowers...I borrowed them all from the library in my village. Actually, I was given the Tom Swift book as a prize for English at school and, you know what? I don't even think I have it anymore, which I really regret because it was one of the few actual documents testifying that I could achieve something at school.

School's out! Alice Cooper playing on the 8-track cassette player in my friend's older brother's Volkswagen. He drove us around in that. One day we came across a gang from another village and drove past, close to the kerb, with the passenger side door open. I can't remember if we hit anyone. Ah the good ol' days of mindless violence! 

1972. Discos. Birds. Clothes. Music. Punch-ups (not me). What more could anyone want from their early teenage years? I wasn't very bookish then. One of my abiding memories of books at secondary school is of the Great Book Battle that took place in the annex on the fourth floor before the History teacher came in. I don't know how it started, but when it was at it's peak the fluttering pages as their covers became wings was a site to behold. Some went out of the window. There were a few casualties from heavy hits by hardbacks. What fun!

'I wanna see everybody get your boots on - everybody, everywhere!'

Slade used to be skinheads, for five minutes when their manager suggested the jump on the bandwagon in the late-60s. But even after they'd gone full Glam they were still the band for ex-skinhead yobbos like us with our hair grown out (feather cut or just touching your collar) and baggies replacing Levis. Slade and Gary Glitter made the best foot-stomping gang anthems. It was us vs the greasers at the disco and we had the best tunes. They had Silver Machine by Hawkwind and Spirit In The Sky by Norman Greenbaum (the latter I now recognise as a classic, of course, but back then it was their music).

Fast forward 54 (!!!) years and I'm referencing Slade in an email to someone about the artwork I'm creating for a forthcoming William Burroughs event later this year (I'll keep you posted). 'We're all crazy now!' I quote Noddy Holder. Thankfully he's old enough to get the joke. In reference to what? Another joke I'd made earlier about not wanting to be driven crazy by constant reworkings of the art. 

I joked but...really...are we ALL crazy now? It's tempting to think so, largely because, courtesy of the internet, we're allowed access to the inner workings of maniacs all around the world. Not just maniacs, but nut jobs, political nut jobs...and those with 'mental health' issues (shucks, who ain't?). When online make sure you're wearing your (mental) crash helmet. It's best to actively work at avoiding falling into anyone's mentally disturbed 'rabbit hole'. Namely: don't follow them! Online lunacy is hard to avoid, I know. That person you befriended on Facebook out of the kindness of your heart is now filling your head with crap! Unfriend. 

A friend admitted recently that by backing away from politics I was probably doing the right thing. He's still trying to shake off the addiction that gripped a lot of us around 2020 in the lockdown days when we had nothing better to do (it seemed) but read/listen to Politics online. Thank god I got that out of my system, eventually. Nowadays I only read the headlines. That's enough to tell me what's going on. I'm not even tempted to watch footage of recent horrors in the UK. They used to call it 'car crash TV'. Today we all have endless channels of disturbing footage at the tap of a finger. What good does it do us? I'm not saying ignorance is bliss but it can be better for your mental health.

Is that what they call modern art? / Meeting actual people and being a snob / Print: Celestial Landfall

 

Yes, people like Thelma do exist! They did exist when this comic strip panel was created (1952) and still do - so what? It doesn't matter how other people see art...unless they directly hamper any progress you should wish to meke...as in someone important that you meet looks at your art and says 'I like pictures that look like something!' and shows you the door. Why did you want to impress them anyway? They own a gallery? They act as agents for artists? Etc...

When I was a lot younger it would bother me that some people didn't 'understand' art, as in even old-fashioned abstract art. Perhaps I still felt it was a battle to 'win' and worth arguing about. Pah! What a waste of time. People have different opinions and taste. That's all. So what if the Thelmas (and male equivalents) of this world only want pictures that look like something.

Here's a print I made a few days ago:

RTomens 2026

I've been called a snob many times for just knowing what I like and some of those things being 'obscure'. My accusers only saw part of the picture, though. I love Motown records. Snobbish? Hardly. I love old reggae tunes, John Wayne films, Laurel & Hardy and Pop Art. Do any of those signify snobbery?

These days you can find people online with similar taste to you in obscure music, Art, books etc. In a way, it takes the fun out of it, although I did used to pine for like-minded souls before the internet and once found they were seen as rare treasures. It might be that friend of a friend you were introduced to in a bar. That someone in a club. A chance encounter on the tube with someone reading The Ticket That Exploded. 

People who were actual flesh and bone rather than just names on a screen were akin to records, physical vinyl. They meant something other than virtual 'friends' never to be met and streaming music. You had to make an effort to get both. You could touch them, smell them, get a feeling from them via eye-to-eye contact...the record sleeve, the handshake or hug...

(Talking of records, in a charity shop the other day I overheard a young girl tell the shop assistant that she'd just spent fifteen pounds on vinyl, to which the woman (aged around 45) replied 'Do you have a vinyl player?'. A vinyl player?!!! It's a record-player! And the plural of vinyl is vinyl, not 'vinyls'! God that annoys me. Since when did records become 'vinyls'?)

I don't know if young people still go to bars and clubs and discuss music, art and books. It's easy to think that regarding culture this is a lost generation (well, their culture is different, it's largely online). But I often see lots of kids hanging around music venues in Camden so there are still are 'scenes'. I would hope their music annoys their parents but I fear that their parents are 'liberal' and tolerant in that respect. Parents take their kids to festivals nowadays, for god's sake. 

I like to think there are teenagers out there proudly being 'snobbish' about the culture they like; reading obscure books and listening to obscure music. With 'everything' now being available online though, I suspect that any underground scene worthy of the name would have to be either offline, or so miniscule as to avoid attention. It would certainly escape the notice of this old fart.

TTFN

Print art: What Is A Woman Really Worth? / Destroy All Monsters and Mimicking Authenticity / My Soft Need 23 artwork

 

RTomens 2026

Revisiting Destroy All Monsters' artworks and music inspired me to create some prints. I was keen to try and avoid blatant copies, of course, although LJ believes that to be impossible. She, bless her, is oblivious to software program capabilities in that respect. Of course you can click on the 'Grungy Xerox' button to give your images that look. But what look is it? The look of old Xerox technology. Or is it only that? I wonder...because it's not only a look, it's the product of a time, place, technology, attitude etc...a culture. 

In the same way that it would be very hard, I imagine, to recreate the sound of Jamaica circa 1972 (is their an Off-Center Pressing button for that slightly warped and woozy sound - oh and scratches) recreating a visual style that perfectly mimics an old one may, technically, be possible, but I doubt it's so good as to be indistinguishable from the real thing. No, I'm not going to research that.

There are plenty of typewriters fonts available online and I've used a few but to these eyes they still don't look exactly like anything produced on an actual typewriter.  The inherent variation in pressure applied to keys and the resulting different shades of type is absent. Don't tell me, there's a typewriter app that does vary the weight of lettering randomly. Huh! 

The Destroy All Monsters magazine, collected in one volume, is a treasure. Unfortunately, both books are pricey nowadays. Their aesthetic, visually and sonically, is spot on - raw, rock'n'roll. 

*

I'm not sure when my eyes stopped communicating properly with my brain but it's a worry, naturally. Why do I ponder this? Well, I bought Soft Need 23 (2020) from Typewriter Jim last year, about 10 months ago - flicked through, shelved it, flicked through again more thoroughly, shelved it and had another look a couple of weeks ago, this time noticing the comic panel joke on page 48...hold on...that's mine! I made that years ago! I think...I'm almost sure, but it takes some recall to say, exactly, so I search my old blog, Include Me Out, and sure enough, there it is. I'm uncredited in SN 23 because by the time they sourced it my name had become detached, I suppose. I don't mind. It was funny, though, that I didn't discover it for months.

Collage: The Pupal Case / Obnoxious flies / The Cramps and Kris Guidio

The Pupal Case, RTomens, 2026

Parts of the collage were cut from The Pictorial Encyclopedia Of The Animal Kingdom (1963) in which author V.J. Stanek does not hold back regarding flies...

...can you imagine anyone writing that today? You can't label flies 'obnoxious'! It is funny though, in retrospect. Most people now probably don't like flies much but, you know, a book on the animal kingdom wouldn't be allowed such a judgemental opinion. 

Human Fly...

Savoy Books' Kris Guidio monograph, Sinister Legends. 1988. He was a big fan of The Cramps. There's a cheap copy for sale here. It contains an interview and a lot more of his art. Recommended!

Interview with Kris...

Collage: Specimen 78 / Marvin Gaye and collage / Bryan Ferry in the supermarket?

Specimen 78, RTomens, 2026

As Marvin Gaye asked: "What's going on?" Except he was pondering the state of the world in 1971, wasn't he? Not the state of a collage, although I'm sure Specimen 78 would have provoked the same query from him. So I wondered what AI would come up with if I searched 'did Marvin Gaye like collage?' Here's what it said:

'The question of whether Marvin Gaye liked "collage" is open to interpretation, depending on how you define the term:

Musical "collage": Gaye embraced innovative production techniques in his music, particularly in his seminal album What's Going On. This album featured lingering intros and outros that connected songs, creating a continuous, seamless musical narrative, which could be seen as a form of sound collage or a concept album. He also incorporated complex polyrhythms into some compositions.'

You see? AI knows everything! I question its suggestion that What's Going On 'could be seen as a form of sound collage' though despite the fact that some tracks do merge into each other, don't they? I don't know, not having played the album in years. It was never as great to my ears as pundits make out. I rate Stevie Wonder's Innervisions more highly.

AI ends with: 'There is no specific information in the search results indicating his opinion on the art form of visual collage'. What a surprise - ha-ha!

How about Bryan Ferry? Is he into collage oh mighty, all-knowing AI? (I knew this would prompt an affirmative but asked anyway). Answer:

'Yes, Bryan Ferry is a significant enthusiast of collage and has explicitly stated that his interest in the art form heavily influenced his music, particularly the early work of Roxy Music. 

The Influence of Collage on Bryan Ferry

Art School Background Ferry studied Fine Art at Newcastle University where one of his tutors for a year was the renowned Pop Artist Richard Hamilton. Hamilton's famous collage Just What Is It That Makes Today's Homes So Different, So Appealing? was a major inspiration.

A "Collage of Ideas" Ferry described the first Roxy Music album as a "collage of ideas," noting that even within a single song, the mood would change, concentrating many different concepts. He found it interesting to collage disparate elements together, seeing it as a way to reveal his identity through his choices.

"Collages of Sound" The visual art of collage directly led to his interest in creating "collages of sound". This approach involved combining diverse musical genres, such as Bob Dylan, Lesley Gore, jazz, and Motown, which was considered innovative and ahead of its time.

Current Work The influence continues in his recent work. His 2025 album Loose Talk, a collaboration with artist Amelia Barratt, is described as a "collage of music, poetry and art" involving "spoken word and sound collages". Ferry has stated that he remains very interested in the idea of sound collage, which has "always been [his] thing" since the beginning of Roxy Music.'

So I had a skip through his latest album, Loose Talk, but couldn't find anything like a 'sound collage'. Is it so subtle that I didn't notice? Possibly. Or is Bryan talking porkies in an effort to lend the album more artic gravitas than is warranted? That's OK; Bryan can say what he likes...he's a music god. The 'collage' influence is clearly evident in early Roxy Music though.

Being a god, I wondered if He actually went to supermarkets. Can you imagine Him scanning the biscuits election? Can you imagine Him pushing a trolley? Can you imagine Bryan Ferry picking up a 9-pack of loo roll? I can't. He surely has reasonably well-paid slaves to do basic shopping for him. 

AI: 'While there's no definitive "yes" or "no" about Bryan Ferry's supermarket habits, he seems more aligned with traditional, perhaps more boutique, shopping, valuing unique experiences like vintage record stores, suggesting he likely prefers quality over mass-market convenience, though as a Londoner, he might pop into a high-end supermarket for specific items.'

I wondered if He was married, in relation to housemaids, because if He was, if I was His wife, I'd make sure the maid was really ugly.  You know what Bryan's like. I don't mean to imply that He's the unfaithful type, more that any girl/woman would be unable to resist 'accidentally' falling into His lap when delivering Him His tea. Even though He's now 80-years-old. Then again, if the maid was a musical ignoramus, she'd just see Him as an old man, wouldn't she? She may have Googled Him and seen how handsome He was, but now? Pah! Just a wrinkled old man! Mind you, if she Googled His financial status (estimated to have a fortune of £30 million in the Sunday Times Rich List of 2010) - yes! He's single, by the way.

Finally, I asked AI: 'Does Bryan Ferry like Robin Tomens' art?' Answer:

While there is no widely documented public statement from Bryan Ferry regarding a personal liking for Robin Tomens' art, Tomens is an artist and writer who has participated in exhibitions alongside other contemporary creators. 

Ferry’s documented artistic interests and collaborations typically center on:

Historical Fine Art: He studied under pop artist Richard Hamilton and has cited Édouard Manet’s Olympia as a major influence on his visual aesthetic and Roxy Music album covers.

Amelia Barratt: In 2025, Ferry collaborated extensively with painter and performance artist Amelia Barratt on the album Loose Talk, featuring her spoken-word prose over his musical soundscapes.

Contemporary Photography: Ferry often works with noted photographers such as Brian Aris, Karl Stoecker, and Deborah Feingold for his portraits and cover art. 

Robin Tomens has been associated with the UK art scene and has written about or participated in events involving experimental music and art, but a direct endorsement from Ferry remains unconfirmed in recent major interviews or retrospectives.'

Print: England / The remembrance of flavours past / Lou Rawls' You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine

 

England, RTomens, 2026

*

Despite the viral infection rendering my taste buds ineffective I accept LJ's offer of a slice of pandoro, saying "I'll remember its flavour!" So I do...conjuring up the vanilla flavour in my mind. This raises the question of reality vs imagination. I can imagine the flavour, but that does not truly replace the act of tasting the ingredients making up the flavour. It's a poor substitute, yes, but a substitute nonetheless,  therefore better than nothing.

*

The singer Lou Rawls died 20 years ago yesterday (Jan 6). This September sees a happier anniversary being the month his single, You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine, went to number 1 on both the R&B and Easy Listening charts 50 years ago. 

As I write '50 years' the number sends a small shock of realisation through me; a marker of so much time passed in my life. The record was a phenomenon in my 17-year-old life; in the lives of us working class lads who loved black music. But is it really 'black music'? Note that it was number 1 in the Easy Listening chart. We didn't even know what Easy Listening was back then. Only 20 years later did the genre reemerge in the guise of a 'cool' thing to get into. There were clubs playing it and compilations made. Exotica was 'hip'!

I'll leave the can of worms marked 'What Is Black Music?' closed, or slightly ajar, allowing a few thoughts to wriggle out...such as the obvious acknowledgment that most black music did not qualify as Easy, or rather, the light orchestral Easy albums as commonly recognised did not feature black band leaders. Then again, ditching the upper case 'E', we know that a lot of Jazz made popular by the likes of Ella Fitzgerald and even Billie Holiday could qualify as 'easy' listening. Ditto Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. 

It's mostly the piano on You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine which whispers 'Easy'. It's pure cocktail lounge, coming in as it does after an irresistible mid-tempo intro and Gamble and Huff's song borne on Lou's velvet baritone voice. You'd have to be a machine to deny it's charms! No ifs, or buts, or maybes, over the decades, this record has grown to embed itself in my being. Too profound? I mean, some records of our youth which meant so much then do fade away in terms of meaning. Some come back into our open arms. 

This means something deeply personal to me, beyond just nostalgia, but I can't put my finger on what, exactly, that thing is. I suspect it's to do with a girlfriend. Was it ------, who I 'dumped', despite the fact that she had a car and more to the point, was long-legged and quiet beautiful? What was wrong with me? In retrospect I can't fault her, but did my young, stupid mind find her lacking somehow? I'll never know. I was no doubt confused about everything, my future looming ominously rather than hopefully. I had a job but no career. Music, clothes and girls were all I could ever bring myself to study and, as you can tell, I hadn't yet passed my exams in the latter. If I had, I would have treated that girl better. 

Oh well, at least this record remains pure, like all great music, unsullied by time. 

What's On My Mind? Death / Biscuits as financial markers / Broken homes? /Punk (hair) roots / Vispo collage reconstruction

What's On Your Mind?, RTomens, 2025

On the bus the other day I thought 'In one-hundred-and-twenty years time everybody living now will be dead'. I played it safe, so I thought, only to discover that Jeanne Calment of France lived to 122. We're all supposedly living longer, so perhaps in 120 years time there will be quite a few people about to defy my prediction. Oh well.

*

If, like us currently, you have three types of biscuit in your full-up tin, you really are doing well, aren't you? I know this isn't an official marker of financial wellbeing, but perhaps it should be. Put it this way:

nothing but crumbs in the tin (poverty)

one stale biscuit (very poor)

two broken Rich Tea (poor)

half-full of chocolate digestives, or a third full of posh biscuits, the kind where you only get 12 in a packet (doing OK)

a full tin of various types (doing well)

See?

*

RTomens, 2025

Came across this sign at the Walthamstow Wetlands the other day. I wonder if it's ever encountered by someone undergoing divorce proceedings and fighting over childcare. If so, it would surely resonate...and probably prove to be quite upsetting.

*

Next year we'll see a tsunami of Punk nostalgia (what do you mean, we have one every year now! - true). I think. So I told Jane the other day, as if I'm some kind of expert. Something in the dark, dusty recesses of my mind told me '76 was important...what was it? I had to look - oh yeah - the first Punk single was released in the UK (New Rose by The Damned). But Punk's history isn't that cut and dried, is it? Of course not, except that by any measure, considering what Punk was/is, proper, New Rose hits all the right notes (there aren't many, they come thick and fast and go before you know what's hit you).

Yeah, yeah, you can trace Punk's roots back to 60s Garage...but how about this, from 1957?

How Punk was Jerry Lee Lewis? The attack! The physicality! The hair! Punk Rock 'n' Roll, for sure. None were wilder. He seems to be on the verge of predating The Who's smashing up of equipment by the looks of it. As if, given a sledgehammer, he would have taken it to that piano, thus not only preempting The Who but also Auto-Destructive Art which, if I recall correctly, did influence Pete Townshend.

Talking of destruction, I'm in the process of destroying old vispo pieces by cutting them up and reassembling them. So they are 'born again', united with other pieces to form one. Perhaps they'll all be a mess, or I may make some that are a little tidier, I don't know yet since it's early days in the process. I had to reduce the amount of pieces I have. They were driving me mad, sitting in boxes, useless. I'm only working on 'lesser' pieces, of course, leaving those which I consider to be totally successful. 

The Panic Is On, RTomens, 2025

TTFN

Ink drawing: Whatcha Gonna Do?

Whatcha Gonna Do?, RTomens, 2025

 

How To Write Poetry 2 / Book: To Ease My Troubled Mind - Ted Kessler / Thee Headcoats / Faversham boat yard

RTomens, 2025

'Decide what your poem is about'

Mine are often (not always) about nothing. But then...

are they really poems?

No.

*

When I worked in the bookshop I'd play Thee Headcoats and other Medway bands' music regularly. It seemed to suit the place, the place being a bit ramshackle, rough, raw around the edges. I found this book in the local charity shop the other day...

That sparked a fresh wave of Medway Sound listening again. 

Chatham is a Medway town. It's the only town I've ever visited that actually made me depressed. 

Rochester is good.

Gillingham is great for a walk where the River Medway opens up.

Heading East from the Medway towns you come to Faversham and a fantastic boat yard.

It's the kind of place I'd like to live...in a shack...alongside the creek...

...away from all the big city crap...with men who while away the days patching up their boats...get a bulldog and learn to play the banjo...drive an old Jeep...I can dream of the alternate lifestyle...

How To Write Poetry (1) / Heavy Metal addiction

How To Write Poetry 1, RTomens, 2025

Too much?

Are the drawn lines too thick? Do they overwhelm the typing?

I started a series called How To Write Poetry, based on the AI answer from a Google search. Perhaps I'll make enough of them to create a book. Imagining having done that, I then like to imagine some poor soul buying the book thinking they will learn how to write poetry. As long as they didn't buy it directly from me, otherwise they'd want their money back.

I'm not saying it's impossible for a How To text on writing poetry to succeed in helping to create the next ------  ------ (insert a great poet) but what does that even matter so long as whoever starts writing enjoys it? Don't be a snob! As long as I don't have to read the results...

How To Write Visual Poetry? Perhaps I should have asked that - damn! You can. See what 'it' says. 'It' knowing everything. AI can write Visual Poetry, I'm sure. Hold on, isn't half the fancy digital Text Art I see on X written by some kind of programming anyway? You know, the whizzy, pulsating, shimmering stuff you see. I blame Kenneth Goldsmith. 

So I printed part of the answer on paper that had already been treated then proceeded to type, first the vertical bank of lines running through it, then the double-typed angular lines and some wavy lines at the bottom. It wasn't enough. 

That noise you heard was me thinking (sounds like the rusty cogs of a knackered machine slowly turning). 

Pens! Yes, grab a pen and draw - that's what it needs. I picked out the Pentel N850 permanent marker and started. Minutes later I thought 'Fuck, that's too thick!'. But having started, what could I do? Abandon it? I very rarely abandon work. Carry on. Use some red. It was starting to look a right mess. 

Help! 

There's no-one to help you but yourself!

Spaces filled in on the right-hand side...yes...leaving holes through which some type is visible; I'm sure you noticed. 

How's it looking? Unusually, I couldn't tell. Is it total crap? OK? Good? 

Finally, black down the left-hand side to frame the typed section.

Put it to one side.

Get on with important stuff, such as listening to Venom...

As well as being addicted to typing Visual Poetry, I'm now addicted to Metal. It's never been fashionable. Never 'cool'. Now I like the fact that's it's neither. It was always there, since the 80s, being ignored by me. Gradually though, over the last year or so, I've been seduced by it (Metallica first, then Pantera and others). A few weeks back I bought A History of Heavy Metal by Andrew O'Neill in a charity shop. That did it. It's a humorous take but for a novice like me, informative too regarding bands I'd never heard of before. After all these years of listening to music, it's great to start enjoying a new (old) genre.

TTFN 

Vispo: Who's To Judge? / Crime and Dissonance Ennio Morricone comp

 

Who's To Judge?, RTomens, 2025

I am the judge.

Dense lines in the corner, but first the circles/globes on 'poles'. Initially empty save for the words, then filled with black lines and finally coloured in red ink.

You can be the judge.

*

Twenty years ago, when it was released, I was initiated into the other side of Ennio Morricone courtesy of the compilation, Crime And Dissonance. Previous to that, like many, I only knew his classic spag Western soundtracks. That's what he'll be remembered for more than anything else. Naturally. Squint Eastwood's sharp shooting Man With No Name was bound to continue reaching a wider audience than the many Italian horror and crime films bearing the maestro's sonic touch. Crime And Dissonance covers all the ground Morricone would explore, much of it genre-twisting, from modern classical to 'jazzy', 'avant-garde', even groovy Pop moods. Essential.

Three Vispo Pieces / How Much Art? - SSD

 

Wait And See, RTomens, 2025

Buy it here

Nothing Means Anything Anymore, RTomens, 2025

Buy it here

Anti, Anti, Anti, RTomens, 2025

Buy it here

Collage: Taking Notes / Morricone Art Ensemble mix up

RTomens, 2024

I hope you're all taking notes...is probably what a teacher once said in class...and I didn't...because school was a house of horrors to me, filled with terrifying subjects, such as Maths (double Maths was an excuse/motivation to leave the school grounds by the rear exit, walk into town and browse in the local record shop...yes, that's how I got where I am today!). 

Another horror: the chance of being thumped by a bully. I was the original 7 stone weakling Charles Atlas body-building ads were aimed at. I should have taken the course, except that, had I built myself a body like his perhaps I would have got into more fights and, inevitably, lost some because, like gunslingers in the Old West, there's always someone faster/stronger/meaner. 

Have you ever confused Ennio Morricone with the Art Ensemble of Chicago? Come on, admit it, you have. No, you've never been listening to one of Ennio's spaghetti soundtracks and thought it was the AEC, of course. You might, however, have been listening to the AEC, on shuffle, which later served up Ennio's Dialogo from Dimensioni Sonore 7 and thought 'It's the Art Ensemble again'...as I did ten minutes ago. Here's the track...

I don't want to say it again because I've told a lot of people but in case you're one who doesn't know. Ennio Morricone made some astounding 'avant-garde' music for 70s Italian horror films (sorry if I'm being patronising towards you). Also, the track above is from recording made for RCA in 1972. An epic release split with Bruno Nicolai. Both created fantastic sounds fusing Jazz with electronic mood pieces and orchestral modernism yada-yada. Treat yourself for Christmas, why don't you. Take note!

Vispo - Make it new? / Album: Fiasko! - Kaboom Karavan

 

Captured, RTomens, 2024

'Make it new' said  Ezra Pound - right - well you could in the early 20th century, but now? Make the art new? What? Is there anything 'new', as in a totally new vision/idea whatever? 

Relax, it's fine. You see, whatever you make, if you're true to yourself, will be a new take on something, surely. Not a new angle or direction necessarily, but unique to you, so, in a way, new. And we know that newness for the sake of it as a guiding principle is likely to lead to that principle being the sum total, rather than some inherently interesting work. 

I often try techniques that are new to me because I can't keep doing the same thing. Whoever can, good luck to them. The problem with continually doing the same thing, especially in these days of a restlessly scrolling audience, is that it can all start to look the same. I hope to avoid that, but the viewers will decide.

*

There's a carnival in town - something wicked this way comes? - it's filmed by Béla Tarr, scripted by Tristan Tzara and László Krasznahorkai and features mobile sculptures by Eduardo Paolozzi and Jean Tinguely with music by Bram Bosteels (Kaboom Karavan) and guests, Bart Maris (trumpet), Raphael de Cock (igir, jadagan and uillean pipes) and Stefaan Smagghe (violin and sarangi). Let the Fiasko! begin! Acts include a a hologram of Tom Waits playing the swordfishtrombone, the recreation of a New Orleans voodoo ritual by dancing skeletons and a Charles Mingus impersonator doing a table dance whilst cutting up Free Jazz records on three decks. Voices from the dead played at half-speed are piped through speakers all around the ground. It's fantastic, terrifying, funny, charming, mysterious...and very much worth a visit.

Kaboom Karavan

Buy it here

Print: Something Happened / JG Ballard paperbacks and judging books by their covers

 

RTomens, 2024

There's somethin' happenin' here...what it is ain't exactly clear...

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I have the complete JG Ballard short stories in two volumes but recently previous collections from the 70s have become incredibly appealing. First off, obviously they're attractive as items, as books that appeared at the time, being of their time, being what people would have read, how they would have read Ballard way back then. Secondly, I like slimmer books; ones that fit neatly into a pocket. Thirdly, the artwork interests me. 

So I got lucky in the week, coming across these three on one sci-fi shelf of an Oxfam shop. Usually the sci-fi sections disappoint me, lined as they are with big fantasy novels such as Game of Conquest Vols 3, 5 and 6. I heard someone else complain the other day that Fantasy is what's big these days. I wouldn't know, but it makes sense. How 'big' sci-fi is in terms of sales, I've no idea. I don't read contemporary sci-fi. Perhaps I should. Perhaps I should listen to more contemporary music and watch more contemporary films...and Art...and whatever.

The greatest artwork to ever grace a Ballard paperback has to be by David Pelham...

...that's one of several he did. He seemed to totally 'get' Ballard, which is no surprise since he got to know him through Eduardo Paolozzi, thus joining the inner sanctum, the righteous brotherhood of  post-New Wave lit/Pop Art in Britain. It was Ballard who insisted Pelham should produce the artwork for his books. Was England not the coolest place on earth during the 60s Art/New Wave (sci-fi) revolution? Michael Moorcock's New Worlds magazine, Ambit, Ballard, Paolozzi etc? I think so. And Ballard, like one of his literary heroes, William Burroughs, looked nothing like 'cool'. If WSB looked like a Southern gentlemen, Jim looked decidedly English conservative, very suburban. Also like Burroughs, he was older than the hip youngsters around him. They were never going to give up their sensible clothing for t-shirts and denim. No beards either. Yet, both inspire(d) generations to come through their writing. Here I am, judging books by their covers but metaphorically-speaking, it isn't always wise.

TTFN  

Art: Post-Industrial / What ChatGPT says about me / Demdike Stare revival / Ballardian boat of the Drowned World

 

RTomens, 2024

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'who is robin tomens?'

Robin Tomens is an author, music enthusiast, and blogger known for his work related to jazz music and record collecting. He has written books such as "Waltz in Time," which explore various aspects of music and culture. Additionally, Robin Tomens runs a blog called "Inconstant Sol," where he shares insights and reviews about jazz albums, including rare and obscure recordings, often delving into their historical context and significance. His contributions have made him a respected figure among jazz aficionados and collectors.'

A friend sent me the above, created by ChatGPT. I don't fear AI. It made me laugh. People assume fear drives a dislike of AI, as if those of us yet to be enthralled by it cower at the prospect of it taking over. Future scenario: AI is used to infiltrate the military industrial complex to such a degree that those controlling input can no longer stop the results, or alter them. AI creates wars which destroy the world. Somebody must have written that as fiction, surely.

How ChatGPT describes me is wrong anyway. Where does it get its false information? It names a book I haven't written and a blog I never wrote. I am certainly not 'a respected figure among jazz aficionados and collectors', despite having written this. More likely, because I wrote that.

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Ten years after my book was published, Demdike Stare released Tryptych. I mention it only because there's a Demdike Stare revival gathering pace...in my room...just because they came to mind, for some unknown reason...so I played Tryptych and was surprised at how good it still sounded...almost as good as when Sean Canty and Miles Whittaker seemed to rule the kingdom of 'hauntology'...they were so hip (ugh)...Mancunians from the murky North...a post-industrial landscape littered with the ruins of factories, crumpled pylons, rusting power generators...rubble...constant rain feeding giant weeds that burst through pavement cracks to thread themselves through smashed windows towards light that's never quite strong enough...in the new garden of evil...

They wouldn't thank me for suggesting they're finished. They're not. In January this year they released Sustain: FForward, a 'mixtape' merging all manner of beats and samples. But for my money, it's not as impressive as their Testpressing series, 2013 to 2015. 

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Talking of rampant foliage in the post-industrial world...the Drowned World, whilst walking around Chatham Docks this week I came across this...

...very Ballardian, eh?

TTFN

Painting/print: Cold Facts / Album Of The Week: Antolog​í​a 1: Obras para la Orquesta Experimental de Instrumentos Nativos - Cergio Prudencio

 

RTomens, 2024

Second in the silhouette series, using acrylic paint.

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Prepare to have your mind blown by Bolivian composer Cergio Prudencio (that or shrug indifferently and click off, it's your choice but if you choose the latter you need your ears checking). 

'In addition to forming ensembles with highland native instruments (sikus, tarkas, mohoceños, pinkillos, wankaras, seeds, drums, etc.), the foundation is laid on the three structural principles that govern Aymara music: "arca-ira," which means alternation of sounds between two musicians; "tropa," which involves the formation of large ensembles of instrumentalists and sound amplification; and "wakiña," meaning community strength. According to Prudencio, the acoustic and expressive identity of Andean-highland sounds originates from these principles, as does that of the OEIN.'

I had to quote because, to be honest, I'm lost for words, especially when fathoming what the hell I'm listening to and I've only started listening this morning, whilst it undoubtedly requires many more plays to even begin to comprehend the depths and, yes, what you're actually listening to. 

Whilst I think of the Art Ensemble of Chicago's slogan 'Ancient To The Future' that doesn't cover this anthology, really. It sounds, in part, 'ancient', as in traditional, yet is 'progressive', even avant-garde (I hesitate to use the term it can be off-putting). 

Imagine Edgard Varèse in the Bolivian mountains. If you like. I just did.

I'll shut up.

You listen.

Collage: Any Resemblance / My Year In Music on Spotify

 

RTomens, 2023

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It's the time of year people compile lists of their favourite books/films/albums of 2023, isn't it? Yes, I would...I might...if I had a memory left. Besides, my Favourite Books of 2023 would be a very short list. Ditto Film. Etc. So, thank god for Spotify because it can remember my musical year for me. or rather, it logs it. It knows everything about my listening habits. Slightly disturbing...slightly...in a way...the thought it 'it' keeping track...you know, the way technology does...

So because you're just dying to know, here's what I listened to and for how long and who etc...

Is this a long time spent listening to music? 

Surprisingly, my concentration is 'absolute'...well, I'm showing my age, I suppose. You know, I come from the pre-(computer)historic era, when we listened to albums all the way through...because we'd saved our money, gone to shops and bought the vinyl, therefore the effort required naturally meant we played the whole damned thing...no skipping through...no temptation to skip to another album...no easy way out...and sometimes, yes, the album hadn't been played in the shop and it turned out to be a dud so we had to skip back to the shop to change it...imagine that, kids! 

My top genres as burger contents - huh! It ain't fast food, y'know! Perhaps the burger graphic is apt for what most people listen to...yeah (he says, snobbishly) the musical equivalent of fast food! Seeing this I got to thinking that I may be on the rarer side of Spotify listeners, mainly, no, partly because the audience for Acousmatic music worldwide must be relatively small, but also because the types who listen to that and Experimental music are a snooty bunch who shun what they see as shameful streaming as opposed to buying vinyl or even CDs. Correct? I don't know. They're very serious about music...they support artists and labels...they relish the design, the type of card, the booklets that accompany albums...they have more spare cash than me too. I'm glad they do because they support labels with cash, whereas I just stream. Needs must.

It's not easy finding other people with similar taste...except for a few online, who I have a fake Friendship with. In ye olde days we naturally bonded over music, you know? Friends met in bars, clubs and gigs, naturally being into the same things, or similar. But they were real people, not names on a screen. It transpires that I should move to Berkeley, USA, if I want a good chance of bumping into musical soulmates. Spotify told me. I don't know what Brian Eno's doing in there because I don't listen to him that much. Sun Ra and Miles Davis, though, are two of my Most Listened To artists of all-time, probably.

Who did I listen to most in 2023? Well, look who it is...Conrad Schnitzler....I'm a Top 0.005% fan! I can't even work out what that means. Hello Conrad. 

So there it is, my musical year. 

Today I listened to another album all the way through...because I'm crazy like that. Here's a classic of electronic music from 1970 by Oskar Sala...