There's a live video collection from Alt Vault experimental improvised noise/electronica nights here on Vimeo. Including yours truly at Mr Wolfs/The Junction last November. The visuals are all mine too btw.
This also means that the next Gusset gig IS BACK ON! Opening hours will be reduced to 3am as of 21 days from the hearing (14.01.10) but that will not affect this gig.
Video release. This is a quick 10 min version of the 45min Databent UrbEx live set I played at Bash Out at the Black Swan, Bristol on 20th June 2009.
All photographs and image & audio manipulation by Dan Gusset. Cover image courtesy of Lisa Furness
Source audio: Field recording of metal roof in the sun by Nick Adamson, MC Prof C and MC Doc G from Radio 4, Floreo De Lamas by Guamary, The Collier's Rant by Bob Davenport, Rubik's Cube: 10.56 seconds, Grow Grow Grow by PJ Harvey @ 33RPM, The Training of O, Mothers Talk by Tears For Fears @ 17RPM, White Chalk by PJ Harvey @ 33RPM.
:: Wednesday, June 03, 2009 :: The Bash Out Lectures with Dan Gusset and Friends
main room: jungle & multi core
the outside agency [aka dj hidden and eye-d - live bristol debut]
twinhooker & paulie walnuts [mad dem sound usa: soldiers in the streets tour]
duranduranduran [cock rock disco, planet mu - live birthday set!]
ely muff [headfuk/deathchant - live]
boep [aka schemeboy vs randomoidz - adverse camber]
bashout allstars [resident badmen]
upstairs: staggering bass abuse
rogue state ft. mc deadman [r8 recordings - bristol debut]
lief ryan [growth recordings - bristol debut]
noyeahno [rag’n’bone]
big d’s dancehall clearout
diode [aka el kano vs magimix - adverse camber]
davey t [dissident]
back room: the bashout lectures
dan gusset and friends
dubboy vs beavis inna rootstyle
& more tbc...
sat 20 june 2009 black swan, bristol 10 til 5, £8 b4 11, £9 after... tickets: £6 [plus booking fee]
The Bash Out Lectures with Dan Gusset and Friends
Dan Pope (aka Gusset) will be presenting an A/V performance of data bent versions of his urban exploring photos alongside a live drone/glitch soundtrack in room three of Bash Out at the Black Swan, Bristol on Sat 20th June (10pm – 6am).
Data bent images are intentionally corrupted digital images where the files have bits altered, cut around, have channels moved or filtered, and are otherwise bastardised to cause all forms of distortions and bizarre effects. Often the results are disappointing fields of black or images that refuse to open at all but persistence and luck can lead to intriguing results.
Like it's close relative circuit bending, where any electronic sound making device, usually a cheap children's toy, is dismantled and its circuitry randomly rewired, it's something that anyone can try. It may just be noise with occasional recognisable hints of what it once was, but there is a beauty to be found in there either by close study or by allowing it to wash over you.
Among the friends Dan has filled the rest of the line-up with will be a Dub Boy & Beavis - Inna Rootstyle, films from public space hijacker and Occasional Cinema organiser Badoni, and beatless soundscapes from Freq.
:: Thursday, May 07, 2009 :: South Bristol Arts Trail
This shot of mine will be among the Second Look group shots on display at Southbank on Dean Lane as part of the South Bristol Arts Trail 2009. 11am - 6pm Sat 9th and Sun 10th May. Framed 12"x16" prints are £45.
Thanks to everyone who came along to the Boomshank Redemption gig on Saturday. It was my first London gig and I really enjoyed it. It went well and the crowd were great. Thanks too to everyone I caught up with and chatted to, especially Johnny for putting me on the bill (happy birthday btw), Phil and Sigrid for putting me up, Rory, Ameet and Sarah for their great sets, James, it was good to meet you finally, and the dude I met previously at the Wrong gig in Brighton, sorry I've forgotten your name again.
I'm still playing Mixxx DJ sets at the moment since my move to Ubuntu but it's given me a lot of freedom to match the set to the crowd, so this one was heavy on the gabba and breakcore as that's what people were asking for.
When I'm having a good gig I do like to chat a bit over it and this was the first time I used a Mark E. Smith style rant I'd written after some friends lost their jobs recently. I used it over the final tune and ended it abruptly to see what the reaction was. In the sudden silence that followed me pulling the cables I heard two lone voices from the front of the crowd. One said, "thank fuck for that," the other, "that was intense." I take the second one as a compliment, just, but the first tells me I over did it a bit. Useful feedback.
"Sunday morning in a cafe near Paddington Station. The wobby reflection in the bar was a nice analogy of how I was feeling."
:: Monday, March 02, 2009 :: The Boomshank Redemption
London gig this Saturday.
The Boomshank Redemption
Saturday 7th March 8pm-5am
Visions Video Bar 588 Kingsland Rd, London, E8 4AH
£3 before 11pm. £5 after. No admission after 3am.
Randomoidz – DJ/Live Winner of both the Bristol and London 2008 Laptop Battles. His sets merge many different styles and are likely to raise a smile or two, but there are no gimmicks. Randomoidz is on fire! Wicked music to move your feet to. (Adverse Camber / Ninja Columbo)
El Kano – DJ Another AdCam boy, El Kano promises bass ragga and noise. He has devastated many soundsystems throughout the country for several years now with a blinding selection of heavy tracks from death metal to jungle via bhangra and dark techno. (Adverse Camber)
Gusset – Live The one man Gusset live experience courtesy of Dan P. He's a fundamental part of the Bristol breakcore collective, co-presenting the Goatlab Radio podcast, promoting shows, producing, playing live and has just started a netlabel. Expect oddness! (Death$ucker)
Wombcorps – DJ Sarah has been DJing all over the shop lately. Expect only the finest cuts of Jungle-shank and Hardcore-rump. (Bad Sekta)
Alan Titmash – DJ/Live The puerile breakcore influence refuses to fade, but Titmash's DJ sets inject a lot more funk and groove into the proceedings. (Blunt Force Trauma / Structural Damage)
Shredexx – DJ Fresh dubstep from the past, present and future (white labels!). (DehdBeatz)
My netlabel is now live. Head over to WEFT to see what's on offer. To kick things off the sold out Gusset CDr releases from 2003 and 2004 are both now available as ZIP downloads of the MP3s and artwork.
:: Saturday, November 15, 2008 :: Important Announcement
I have had to cancel my appearance at the Oxjam gig tonight due to the technical failure of my laptop. I will be reinstalling my OS when I should be parting for charity, unfortunately.
This is the first time I've ever cancelled a gig and I feel terrible about it.
If you do still go along I'm sorry I'm not there. I have left a box of free CDs at the venue for people who turn up. Please donate to Oxfam if you take one.
I was reading someone else's Metro over their shoulder on the bus last night when this photo caught my eye. I love the way the pedals at the front make it look like some dancer is in the middle of some extreme noise improvisation performance. In fact, it's just Katy Perry having a wardrobe malfunction near a guitarist, but I prefer the noise idea. Maybe she consider it as a back up career.
:: Saturday, September 27, 2008 :: Freq'y Wrong Lab
I've teamed up with Freq and Wrong Music to pull together this fairly last minute gig so Hardoff would have a Bristol gig while he's in the UK in a couple of weeks.
Shitmat (Planet Mu / Wrong Music) Hardoff (V/Vm Test / Digital Vomit) Gusset (Death$ucker / Disco_r.dance) Parasite (Peace Off / Clash) Demon Cabbage (Wrong Music) & Tripledot
The Attic, Stokes Croft, Thursday 9th Oct Time: 9 - 1 £3
Other Gusset gigs coming up include at Oxfam benefit at The Farm in St Werburghs on Sat 15th Nov, Wrong Music at the Black Swan ("Wrong at the Swan"?) on Sat 29th Nov and maybe another Freq colab with Dev/Null at the Attic on Thurs 20th Nov (TBC). More news as I get it.
:: Monday, July 14, 2008 :: Gusset Marriage Number Two
Congratulations to Sean and Ref!
Gusset, as a project, has taken a bit of a back seat recently. To Sean to a massive extent because he’s been arranging his wedding - he left for his honeymoon yesterday - and to a lesser extent for me because I was his best man. It was because of this public speaking engagement I volunteered for the stand-up set at Bash Out, I knew it would all be good practice. Anyway, as I spent a fair amount of time on this I may as well post it here. Aside from a few adlibs on the day this is how I rehearsed and (mostly) memorised it. It won’t all make sense but I’m sure you can work it out. Thanks to Amanda and Slim for there help and guidance with it.
------------------------
Dan's Best Man's Speech for Sean and Ref's Wedding
Well, it was here but here's a little message from Sean instead:-
Thanks Dan, you did a lovely job on the speech and my friends and family enjoyed it. The rest of the world will have to wonder what you said sorry.
“Gusset, with Parasite, at one point puts Lily Allen’s ‘Smile’ through a rapid wash cycle and his faders-to-10 set closer is a thrilling jack hammering explosion of drum & bass and a highlight of the evening that sets the room properly dancing. “
This was actually a Gusset back-to-back with Parasite set so full credit to Armin too. I think that final track referred to was one of his selections. As I remember, it went something like this: Exillon – Acid Panda Laptop Death Parasite selection Alan Titmash – Ditch Pig Parasite selection The Teknoist & Scheme Boy - Leppers on Garys … vs Microphist – I Love Lily Allan (cranked up a bit)… vs Julie Andrews – The Lonely Goat Herd (cranked up a lot) Parasite selection Gusset – Gussetbusters (Ghost Busters theme mash-up) Parasite selection
So thanks to Jay, Jon, Mike, Ash, Dunc, Julie, Spokesy and Armin for their input there!
I did my first stand-up / spoken word performance at Bash Out on Saturday and I'm actually really pleased about how it went. It could be massively improved but I know what needs doing to it. Despite the room being empty when I was due to start I managed to pull in 20 or 25 people and keep them there with my 'The Matrix: The Pantomime' piece and then filled the rest of my allocated hour(!) with a recording about identifying bat calls (thanks Vilas) and some slides of bat photos stolen from the net. It was a massive rush to pull together. I wrote most of the perfromance on Wednesday and then spent Saturday afternnon pulling the graphics together. Thanks to Spokesy for help with that. It was really good fun and went down well, so thanks to everyone who came along.
It's a pretty poor camera-phone shot of my studio, with little change since I last took one (I think the 45prm canvas in the bookcase might be the only new addition). I just wanted to update it for Bristol Breakcore Blog. I'd like to get a series of shots of musicians workspaces as a running feature, so if you have something you'd like to contribute, no matter how minimal or insane, please get in touch.
:: Tuesday, May 06, 2008 :: Goatlab Indoor Festival Rave!!!
Trippmatic Poland's Biggest Breakcore DJ makes his UK debut @ the Goatlab! Trippmatic has been organising gigs and playing at virtually every breakcore gig in Poland for the last two years! He did a wicked mix for Peace Off called "Break Beathoven Got Heroin" and used to live in Bristol! Check out some of his mixes here: www.myspace.com/trippmaticsk.
War Against Sleep Goatlab brings the outdoor vibes to the back room of The Croft with a special set from local festival favourites War Against Sleep. Expect a psychedelic audio-visual feast with a goaty twist.
Michael J Rocks As the 1manarmy collective continue to push the boundaries of live electronica, one act stands out from the rest for both the most intense live experience and for having the best comedy name. Prepare to Rock. To Michael J Rock. s.
+ all the regulars Fri 20th June 08 @ The Croft, Bristol 10pm - 4am £5 Entry
main room: multi core bong ra & mc mike redman [special ‘10 years of bong ra’ set - live] fff [mindbender/planet mu - live] - bristol debut! autopsy [audio damage/deathchant - live] - bristol debut! putsch [no fixed abode - full av live show] - bristol debut! randomoidz [adverse camber - live] bashout allstars [resident badmen] --- upstairs: bass abuse warlock [rag'n'bone] 3d!t [coin operated - live] - bristol debut! arsequake [the blast] stylatron [fire] davey t [dissident] p.r.a.n.k. dancehall clearout --- back room: the bashout lectures audio and visual edutainment, special dj sets, powerpoint displays & more... Lineup TBC (Gusset, Various Bashouteers & More...)
The Gusset Bashout Lecture:
The Matrix: The Pantomime
Abstract: From folk stories and fairy tales to science-fiction and fantasy, western literature has always used metaphor and simile as devices to put across an idea or philosophic argument removed from the prejudices that may otherwise surround it. This lecture will analyse “The Matrix” series of films from the perspective of a traditional British pantomime to draw parallels between the mediums and demonstrate how this abomination of poor story telling, worse acting, and designed-to-date special effects could be better enjoyed with cross-dressing, smut and audience interaction. 'Where’s Agent Smith?' 'He’s behind you!'
:: Sunday, April 13, 2008 :: Goatlab @ The Croft, Fri 18 April 2008
Syntheme (Planet Mu / WeMe) Lou Wood make's her Bristol debut with her phenomenal fucky acid. If you liked the The Doubtful Guest's acid rinse out at the last Goatlab you don't want to miss this. Another Planet Mu newcomer shows us how it should be done. Rumours abound about her true identity. Want to know more? Come and see for yourself.
Toecutter (System Corrupt / V/VM) - Australia All the way from Australia, Toecutter is the original breakcore mentalist. And it's been a long time since he was last in Bristol. Having shared a house with Candi Hank in 99 and taken his name from the character in Mad Max, the desert sun must have got to him as he became the most frightening and original thing to mash it's way across musical styles in memory. Or is it just "Progressive Progressive Progrsv House"? Either way, he's a long way ahead of the rest of the game. With releases on System Corrupt, V/Vm Test, Digital Vomit, Bruchstellen, Mutant Sniper, and Death$ucker you know this must be quality.
General Disarray (Blunderphonics / Laptop Battle) Matt Jackson one of Bristol's most talented up-and-coming breakcore producers! He is also one half of the Blunderphonics crew, who have organised many a good night down at the legendary Black Swan. He beat Parasite in the first round of Laptop Battle 5 only to be knocked out in the final by house favorite Defazed. His music is raw and full of energy, and he has also been known to play his live set entirely from a game pad using Max/MSP! See for yourself:
Before the Gusset vs Hoonboy set at The Cooler on Thursday Thom and I were setting up and practicing backstage. That turned out to be the highlight of the night as it was sounding good but in the end we didn't get to play. I bailed out at 1am as there was hardly anyone in the place, we weren't due to start until 3am, and the sound was awful for poor Rich Defazed. We tried to get the venue to sort it out put the sound guy had already fucked off home. We were told, "there's nothing wrong with it, it's been set up by professionals." What? Professionals who go home and leave it to run itself? Anyway, I cut my losses and got out and that turned out to be the right more as the venue decided to shut down an 2am anyway. Shame, it was a great line up and could have been a great night, but a Thursday was not the time for it and the promotion could have been better.
Chatting during set-up I mentioned how cool it would be to have a tracker in a VST. Thom pointed out ReViSiT, which does it already. I presumed it would exist but hadn't been bothered to search for one. Cheers, Thom. And sorry you wasted a night coming down from Manchester for a gig you didn't play.
We also have an interesting couple of hours chatting with Juxtaposeur, and have put the breakcore world to rights. Maybe more on that later.
Reminder: Gusset vs Hoonboy Death$ucker mash-up tonight at The Cooler, Part St, Bristol. We'll probably be on 3-4am. Although I'm hoping it wont be that late as I have to be in work tomorrow morning! Oh well, burlesque dancers should make up for it.
You don't expect to see the phrase "widespread gusset anxiety" in the Guardian everyday, but it was there yesterday, when quoting Jeremy Paxman nonetheless.
Jeremy Paxman, the Newsnight anchor famous for grilling cabinet ministers and airing his robust opinions on subjects as diverse as the future of broadcasting and the latest entries in Who's Who, has now voiced his dissatisfaction on another matter of importance to the nation: Marks & Spencer underpants.
The broadcaster is so concerned about the declining standards of men's underwear that he has written to Sir Stuart Rose, the chief executive of M&S, detailing his "anxiety" about its gussets, which he said no longer offered "adequate support".
"Like very large numbers of men in this country, I have always bought my socks and pants at Marks & Sparks," he wrote. "I've noticed that something very troubling has happened. There's no other way to put this. Their pants no longer provide adequate support. When I've discussed this with friends and acquaintances it has revealed widespread gusset anxiety. I do feel that someone should take up this mighty battle.
I have to say I'm with him on this, on two counts: 1. I also buy my underwear in Mark's and its quality has been declining over the years, and 2. It gets the word 'gusset' in the broadsheets.
Flyers for New Born @ The Cooler on Feb 28th Shows both Sean and myself in the Gusset picture but it’ll just be me playing along with Hoonboy. One hour back-to-back Death$ucker mash-up!
The flyer for the Feb 15th Goatlab @ The Croft, Bristol is below. However, please note that The Doubtful Guest has unfortunately had to cancel. Flyers and posters had already been printed and we are awaiting confirmation from a replacement artist. News here when we get it. More information about who is playing on thegoatlab.com
I've also just agreed to play a one hour Death$ucker mash-up vs set with (against?) Hoonboy at New Born @ The Cooler on Park St, Bristol on Feb 28th. Finalised flyer to follow.
SeeqPod is a great music search engine that plays from the results page. It even finds all of the Gusset MP3s on this here site and streams them from our server for you. Handy. [via grom]
The Christmas madness is nearly behind us. I’ve already played the first Gusset gig of 2008, at 2:30 this morning. It sounded good and I think I played quite well, but attendance at the Hijack NYW party was disappointing and lower still by the time I played. Never mind. I had a wicked night nonetheless. Really enjoyed the sets from Wascal & Superisk, Phaeleh, and Cheeba’s midnight set, great way to welcome in the New Year! Chime just before midnight, auld lang sign with breaks, then Killing In The Name. Inspired!
Thanks to Weasel for this picture of us enjoying the night:
The next gig is on Thursday, when I'll be selecting my Desert Island Disks at the Hillgrove from 8pm. Then I'm taking a break until the Valentine Goatlab in Feb.
dSWAT £3.00 + p&p Quotes the Press Release (that I wrote)
Norman Records £6.49 + p&p "Ask Dr Kim' by Gusset on Deathsucker is a right old load of hardcore breakcore gabba crazy noise featuring tracks by Shitmat, Parasite, Jason Forrest, the rather hilariously named Hard Off and many many more. Not one to play around your mum unless they like getting twatted at raves and hanging around with brightly coloured spazzes. Nonetheless it's a reasonably enjoyable romp through the harsher end of electronics. Dark and daft... great sleeve too."
Boomkat £6.99 + p&p "This remix compilation draws together reinterpretations of Gusset's Skidmark EP by notable breakcore production bods like Parasite, Shitmat, Jason Forrest and other such pranksters. Unusually for a collection of reworkings, Ask Dr. Kim carries off a very unified, consistent sound. If that comes across as a backhanded compliment, well, it is, because the level and depth and variety of production style is a tad underwhelming. Jason Forrest comes off with some credit, knocking out militantly tasteless '80s MOR rock with chopped-up glee on his 'Opus Fruits' cut, but otherwise, expect a deluge of homogenous beat dismemberments and dismal sample distortion."
Toolbox Records 16.86EUR "A wise melt of melodious breakcore and brutal punxxx breakcore... Excellent compilation feaaturing loads of Gusset tunes melted with some famous tunes from Parasite, Donna Summer, ..."
:: Wednesday, December 05, 2007 :: Spreading the gusset marmalade
Knowing you are unlikely to be low on things to do over Christmas and the New Year I though playing a gig for your entertainment was just as likely to clash and interfere with you personal calendar as it was to compliment it. To overcome this problem I have whored myself liberally across as many gigs as possible this festive season. If your winter festivities are shy on Gusset, you may wish to consider attending one of the following. And if you are hardcore enough to attend all of them the sets will be different at each.
Gowers Review Bingo The Rambler marks the first anniversary of the Gowers Review into intellectual property law with a quick summery of its recommendations, and a note of hope that it may be implemented now that the person who commissioned it is in number 10.
Incidentally, I've just noticed that when that post was published two weeks ago, GussetBlog also turned five! Hooray for us!
GoatLab Radio with Dan Gusset, Anarchist606 & special guest Dr. Richard Wigglesworth - November 2007 Direct link [61MB MP3] Tracklisting: 1. Pitchshifter - Underachiever (Earache) 2. Richard Wigglesworth - Ethereal (unreleased) 3. Microphyst - Taking Chances with Oncoming Traffic (Proboscus) 4. Gusset - Maniac Gene Time (Death$ucker) 5. Richard Wigglesworth - Hampton Court (unreleased- but was on future music cd aug 2007!!!) 6. Rabbit Junk - Start the Riot (oops!! DHR cover on DTrash) 7. AFX - Cilonen From Analord (Rephlex 2005) 8. DHC Meinof - Revolution Action (DHR cover on DTrash) 9. Gusset's slAYer MeGA miXXX!!!lol (feat. Doormouse, Duran Duran Duran, Atari Teenage Riot, John Williams, Slayer, Dokaka, Skimall)
Mary Anne Hobbs had a live session from Amon Tobin this week and also played a dubplate of the forth coming Meat Beat Manifesto on Planet Mu (a match made in electronic music heaven!), which sounds like pumped up dubstep influenced versions opf the RUOK ...in Dub material. There's a tracklisting and links to a two part rar of the show here.
Electronic Explorations "Electronic Explorations is a weekly 2 hour podcast that promises totally exclusive mixes from the cream of the electronic world; deviously crafted patchworks of carefully sewn rhythms, sonic contortions and delicate melodies - dubstep, minimal electronica, techno and anything else that’s pushing the boundaries of electronic music." Guest mixes include: Milanese and Marlow (available to download now) and coming in the future Vaccine, Tes La Rok, Herd, Datach'i, Ranking Records, Bitesize Beats, iTAL tEK, Somatic Responses, Surgeon, Vex'd, Geiom, Forensix, plaNt, Panda, Reso & osymyso.
Last Wednesday was No Music Day again, although I missed it this year. BBC Radio Scotland embraced it - didn't play any music and had loads of interviews with Drummond all day. Thanks to Taras for this recording of the interviews [Rapidshare 37MB MP3]
Did I mention that Gusset's Ask Dr Kim remix album is out now on Death$ucker? Oh, ok. We'll, did I menntion that there are 500k MP3 samples of every track on the dSWAT page? No, well here you go.
Raoul Sinier - Huge Samurai Radish Trailer (Ad Noiseam) "12 new tracks including remixes and collaborations with Lynx and Ram, Datach'i, Vast Aire (Cannibal Ox), Wisp and La Caution. Out on Ad Noiseam in December."
:: Tuesday, October 30, 2007 :: Drop Beats Not Bombs
"Drop Beats Not Bombs ... the bi-yearly anti war event that donates 100% of its profits to the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and Campaign Against Arms Trade.
"Our aim is to educate the people on these important issues whilst they have a good time. So from the start we have made it our mission to put together an event that comprises of a broad spectrum of sounds and styles. From Drum & Bass to Techno to Indie to Hard House, we aim to leave you breathless as we relentlessly seek out the cream of up coming talent as well as established acts/artists. And we hevent even mentioned the incredible visual displays at every event. This truly is a full on assult on the senses."
Next event: The Custard Factory, Birmingham, Sat 10 Nov 2007
(Gusset will be playing after Shitmat in the Medicine Bar)
Tickets are also avalable from the following outlets: Jibbering Records 136 Alcester Rd 0121 499 4551 Swordfish Records Temple St Birmingham 0121 633 4859 Disorder 14 Needless Alley Birmingham 0121 643 2131
:: Thursday, September 27, 2007 :: Skip to the End
I will be guest gusseting on Juxtaposeur's Skip to the End radio show this evening, 9-11pm, BST. (That's 10-12 GMT btw)
From the mailing list: "My second Skip to the End radio show is this Thursday at 9pm. Expect: 1 - nervousness before my special guest arrives. 2 - neo-geek talk about music and technology. 3 - cheesecore goodness. 4 - a 30min mix from my guest. Listen to it at Beat-Boot-ique.co.uk/ or on my actual Skip to the End webpage. + send me requests (for me to ignore) or send me a message via the chat room or email. Hope you can join me."
My 30min mix is ready and I'm very excited about it. A lovely collection of electronic classics, prog goodness, radiophonic weirdness, kids TV, Indonesian pop, noisecore, and brass bands. What more could you ask for? Hope you can listen in!
As I mentioned on Friday I've been asked to guest on the Skip to the End radio show later this month. It'll be live on online from 9 to 11 pm (BST) on Thursday 27th September, and available to download shortly afterwards.
Among my duties for this, as well as providing inane rambling conversation obviously, will be to provide a 30min mix. I've decided to take requests, so if there's anything you'd like to hear, please drop a comment below or email me if you have any suggestions. Regular readers are particularly encouraged. Requests so far are: Kate Bush – Wuthering Heights (Mrs P) Poddington Peas theme (Spokesy)
Yeah, the summer lull (also known as the festival season we didn't get booked to play in) has ended and the club nights are starting up with a vengeance. The illusive powers behind the GoatLab have been deliberating whether they want to carry on running the night, so I've stepped in as co-promoter and moved it to a new venue. It won't be restarting until December but will now have a regular slot on the last Friday of alternate months at The Croft. More news as and when.
In addition to this Gusset will be playing at the anti-war fundraiser Drop Beats Not Bombs at the Custard Factory in Birmingham on Saturday 10th November. The line-up will look something like this, although is still subject to change: Wrong Music Grott Bag Acid Experiment, STIG Noise, Mully(Acid/House), Demon Cabbage (Fill Room Full on Rave!), Teknoist, Vex Kiddy, Shitmat VS Shitnat, Gusset, Comp Winnder Set! and Wrong Music DJ's. All of this will be in the Medicine Bar and there will be loads of other stuff going on across the rest of the complex. Plus the Gusset set will include a rare live appearance by Spokesy!
The official website hasn’t been updated yet. I'll update as things come together.
P.S. Remix album release is imminent. The meeting to finalise track order and artwork is this weekend. Rush your gusset pictures in now if you want a chance of appearing on the cover!
:: Tuesday, June 19, 2007 :: Call For Gusset Photos
In album news I had a chat with Death$ucker head honcho Parasite over the weekend and we've finally slated a release date for the Gusset remix album that was now been THREE YEARS in the making. This September you will see a bargain priced CD of remixes from Gusset's Skidmark CD-R release (last few left on dSWAT). Ask Dr Kim – clever anagram, see? – will feature remixes from The Teknoist, Shitmat, Jason Forrest, Parasite, Binary, Atki2, hard.off, m||m, Hoonboy, Twocsinak and more!
We gave up on the slutty nurse photoshoot idea due to budget restrictions (ie, £0). So instead we will be making a collage of gusset photos. Please send photos of your gusset to: gusset[at]gmail.com. You don’t have to be wearing the item, just pose your pants and snap away. Photos will be used under a CC licence and you will get a credit in the artwork. You won't get paid mind, but you get the satisfaction of being able to point and say;
"Check this; that's my gusset on that album cover." "Get away!" your friends will say. "No really, look, my name’s on the 'thanks' inside, here," points. "You magnificent bastard!" they will declare.
:: Wednesday, May 09, 2007 :: Ashton Court Festival Benefit Gig
Gusset have agreed to play at an Ashton Court Festival benefit gig at Timbuk2 in Bristol on 15.06.07. I've always been a fan of the festival (also known as the Bristol Community Festival), and thanks to my parents enthusiasm too I went from an early age. This photo is from 1977 I believe:
The festival has always struggled financially and are very open with their predicament, which seems to have them teetering on the verge of bankruptcy year on year. A whole bunch of people are campaigning to raise funds through various means to help ensure it's future.
The line up for the benefit gig is as yet uncertain but it looks like a highly varied line-up of exciting local talent ...and Gusset. More news as I get it.
:: Friday, May 04, 2007 :: Mrs Ps 7" Collection - MP3 Friday Special
The long anticipated 'Mrs Ps 7" Collection' DJ set finally happened at Goatlab on Friday night. It was messy. It was my first vinyl mixing DJ set and was full of mistakes and gaps. I got asked to play at somebody's wedding. And I recorded the whole two and a half hours of it for you lucky people.
Room 2 - Front Room: 10:00 - 11:00 Nim Chimpski 11:00 - 11:45 Punksi 11:45 - 01:00 Jay Nom 01:00 - 03:15 Dub Boy b2b Ironside 03:15 - 04:00 DJ Ruk
Room 3 - The Lab (Access via far end of Main Room) 12:00 - 01:30 Descend 01:30 - 03:00 Gusset - Mrs P's 7 inch Collection Set!!! 03:00 - 04:00 DJ Goat Bot
:: Saturday, March 31, 2007 :: Laptop Battle Debriefing
Yey hey! Out in the first round by a unanimous judges decision!
Congratulations to Headphobe and Defazed (Ned and Rich) for a deserved win, they trounced everyone in every round, there was no doubting they were going to walk away with it.
By extreme ill fortune we were drawn against them in the first round, which we had been dreading. They really hammer hard with their live drum triggering rather than loop based play. We thought we might be able to compete with them in one of the longer later rounds, as Parasite thought they were struggling to keep it up that long when he saw the last battle. In the two-minute opening round it's very very hard to prove yourself and we had no chance against them.
Michael J Rocks was cruelly knocked out. He was the only person who played two two-minute tunes with a beginning a middle and an end (like they teach you at school). Everyone else just kept making noise until they were told to stop. It leave the crowd wanting more but it's not quite as satisfying as a whole.
I think we could have gone further with a different draw but that's life. Was still great fun and the night in all was great. All the neigh-sayers who think its just a geek fest really should see it; there was a brilliant vibe, the crowd were well up for it (there was almost a mosh pit at times) and no beardstroking in sight. Well done to everyone involved and thanks to the promoters for putting it on.
At least I squeezed in a DJ set early in the night so I did play for more than four minutes, and I got to have a little jam with DJ Asian Hawk (UK DMC champion and 2nd in the world, apparently), which was fun.
I've learnt a lot about software and performance though doing this and my normal live sets will improve for it too. It's been a valuable learning opportunity. For the technically minded the advice I received is mostly in this Mu thread. The exception was an email string with Steve Milanese who adviced me not to try to learn software (when I mentioned Pd) in a short space of time, "practise drumming shit a lot and not worry too much about using mad software." It worked for Ned and Rich, as they were much tighter than I've ever seen them before last night. The practice pays off. Well done guys.