Monday, March 31, 2008

Is it too late to name my album of the year for 2007?






I recently filled in most of the holes I had in the Ghost Box catalog and today instead of downloading the whole world, I remembered that I had some new Ghost Box material to listen to. Anyway all i can say about the most recent Focus Group disc, "We Are All Pan's People" is WOW! Great Great Stuff!



Wednesday, March 19, 2008

. . . Huh, What War?



PEACE ATTACK

3 FEB O3 PEACE
PEACE ATTACK
EARLY BOOK WHISTLING
WHISTLING EARTH
WHISTLING EARTH DAY OFF
NATURE SEX
NATURE SEX YAWN WINKING
REMINDER

OF THE GREAT
OF THE GREAT ANTI-HATE
SPRINGTIME IS WARTIME
ALL EYES TO THE CRIMEBOSS
ELECTRIC GUITAR STRING
BELLY FLOWERS


Really what is there to say on this fifth anniversary? SO MUCH BULLSHIT!

I don't know. That Thurston Moore/Sonic Youth song always reminds of the beginning. I think, I read somewhere that Thurston was writing a poem a day for a month or something which is where this song comes from, explaining the "3 Feb. o3" line. And then the "Belly Flowers" line comes from a protest sign Allen Ginsberg made that Thurston has in his collection,I can't remember the rest of what was on the Ginsberg protest sign, though.

Posted too soon, I found the text of the 1964 Ginsberg protest sign:

Down with Death!
War is Black Magic!
Belly Flowers
To
North and South Vietnam


Those lines were originally from a much longer protest sign/poem from Ginsberg's first protest in October 28, 1963 demonstrating against Madame Nhu when she came to San Francisco. As far as I can tell the poem is uncollected? I found it along w/ the above information in a contemporary interview from the period, the complete poem is:



Man is naked without secrets armed men lack this joy
How many million persons without names?
What do we know of their suffering?
'Oh how wounded, how wounded! ' says the guru
Thine own heart says the swami
Within you says the Christ
Till his humanity awakes says Blake
I am here: saying seek mutual surrender tears
That there be no more hell in Vietnam
That I not be in hell here in the street

War is black magic
Belly flowers to North and South Vietnam
include everybody
End the human war
Name hypnosis and fear is the
Enemy—Satan go home!
I accept America and Red China
To the human race
Madame Nhu and Mao Tse-Tung
Are in the same boat of meat