In 1984,Issue 4 of British magazine "Abstract" published a three-page article about This Mortal Coil. I am scanning some of it here since it contains a Gordon Sharp photo that you seldom see,together with questions regarding Gordon's work for Ivo's project.
Although The Freeze ceased to exist officially by 1982,I was pleasantly surprised to find them mentioned in an American punk magazine last year. The Issue no. 4 of Loud Fast Rules,published in the summer of 2008,contains a 7-page special titled "Scotland's Punk Rock Heritage". Consisting basically of the same review found in the punk77 website (click on this post's title to follow the link)),for a band whose discography comprises just two singles,it is quite an achievement to be remembered after so long! Interestingly,The Freeze item appears on page 66...
pursue this gold this gift you hold deep within and deep below scratch and scrape beneath the surface using bare hands for purity's sake pursue this love this breath you take
During the recording of Wappinschaw, a track titled "Old Jack Must Die" was recorded and discarded later.It was felt at the time that it didn't quite fit in the album as a whole. The main ideas behind the song were possibly covered by other tracks in the album already and this song was finally shelved. We are recovering it here in our player to pay further respects to Matt,whose powerful bass so muscularly propels the song forward as the heart of the voice and the network of nerves within guitar and drums propagate the signals. Impulse for change!
"One year on... One year since the passing of our dear friend Matt Kinnison. It has been a very very difficult year but it's clear to me that Matt has been with us (all) throughout it all. We will never be able to write or perform a single song without bringing him with us.
The latest number of Datacide (10) includes "SilverShoalsOfLight" in one of their DJ charts (DJ Nemeton from Darkmatter Soundsystem). The 10" is also sold through the related Praxis Records shop. Datacide and Praxis have been a massive inspiration to Cindytalk since 1993 and it was Christoph Fringeli who first introduced Cinder to the Jacques Attali quote "nothing essential happens in the absence of noise".
Scott Heim's latest novel "We Disappear" contains an appendix titled "Further Reading and Listening" where he explains the importance of music in his creative process:
"My writer friends think I'm nuts because I often listen to music when I work. I wish I could create a soundtrack for my books:certain sounds and textures and atmospheres that could accompany the reader's experience of the narrative. Although I listen to a pretty wide variety of music,there's a certain type I play the most when I write. It's often instrumental;it's often dreamy,eerie or sad. Some of the album titles even illustrate the mood of the music: A Strangely Isolated Place;Music to Submerge In or Disappear Through. Below,I've made an alphabetical list of the recordings I listened to the most during the years I was working on We Disappear..."
The list of author's picks include Cindytalk's "In This World",which he also used as the soundtrack for the book's trailer.
-Have you ever collaborated with a musician in another way, like write lyrics for someone to sing? Have you recorded any music yourself?
*When I was in college, I was in three different bands. I played drums for years--I tried to emulate a lot of the drummers on Factory Records, heavy on the floor tom, that kind of thing. One of the bands I was in did some demo tape stuff. But that career never got off the ground, obviously. Now, though, one of the greatest things about publishing a few novels is it's made me feel legit when approaching musicians I love--I can send a person something I've published, and say "Your music has inspired me, here's my book." I'd be overjoyed if someone ever asked me to collaborate with them. I've become close friends with Gordon Sharp of Cindytalk and John Grant of The Czars, but I haven't actually worked on music with them.
"This is the 3rd release in the 'Art Series' singles by the friendly BlueSanct label, of which Pantaleimon's 7" 'Under The Water' is also part. In all cases, an artist is asked to compose a track, which then is released in limited edition on vinyl. On the unplayable reverse side,it then features artwork by another artist. The choice for this release was the obscure, yet influencial Cindytalk. This project of the Scottish androgyne Gordon Sharp has been releasing albums since 1983; they vary from chaotic and emotional Sturm und Drag over poetic movielike soundscapes to pastoral neofolk with a noisy edge. Besides this, Gordon Sharp is mostly known for his contributions to This Mortal Coil's debut single '16 Days/Gathering Dust' and the subsequent album "It'll End In Tears". This Mortal Coil was somewhat accessible, Cindytalk rarely are. This 10" also excels in unconventionality. In exactly 5 and half minutes Gordon Sharp and Matt Kinnison lead us through a dark soundscape, mixed with Sharp's half-muttered vocals... to end in Cindytalk's noisy side. They will (hopefully) never get tired of it... This piece wouldn't have been out of place on the more acoustic part of the two-piece 'In This World' or on their soundtrack 'The Wind Is Strong' made for the movie 'Eclipse'. To those who can't get one of the 500 copies of this little gem, there's hope: BlueSanct already hinted that Sharp & Co are again recording. To coincide with this release, Cindytalk have been performing live again for the first time since... 1994(?). Who will bring them to Belgium soon?"
In the mid-1970's,Gordon Sharp went to see the legendary Van Der Graaf Generator many times. They were a fairly strong influence on the music of The Freeze and Cindytalk. Currently their drummer,Guy Evans,plays with Subterraneans.
Debbie Smith,of SPC Eco,Curve and Echobelly,was in one of London's first lesbian punk bands,Mouth Almighty. Debbie Wright,once a Cindytalk member,also played with them.
On Dec 10th 2008 Cindytalk have been invited to play a gig alongside Subterraneans and SPC Eco at The Gaff,London.
Water flowing / feather burning Angelic drone floating A bell chimes (several times)
The voice
Multitude of sounds - ever heard of sonic constellations ? - Always up NOIZE poetry LOUD very LOUD Attacked Almost surrendering Still... Going UP UP UP
And then
DOWN CRASHING INTO THE SEA
Calmness of the endless horizon The gentle moving of waves
To the bottom of the sea, she sang (mermaid cindy doll) Quietly burning / quietly drowning Caressing guitar chords... unexpected
Down to The bottom of the sea
Like luminous fishes dancing into the Abyss
That was Cindytalk that night 10/12/08 @ the Luminaire in Kilburn London "
Today sees the official release of "SilverShoalsOfLight" on Bluesanct Records. This 10" vinyl is a limited edition of only 500 copies on black vinyl with a screenprinted b-side and letter-pressed sleeve. The sleeve was created by Chicago-based Rebecca Ann Rakstad of Rar Rar Press. Rebecca does letterpress printing using handset wood and metal type and a Vandercook Universal I press to stunning results. Here we have stacks of the printed letter-pressed sleeves:
The offset printed front: This is the plate on the press for the back side of the sleeve: Rebecca decided to make a poster with the remaining extra paper and came up with this!: Type used for the poster: The vinyl print on the b-side of the record featuring the image at the top of this post was made by Keith Wright at What Press.
"CINDYTALK will be celebrating the release of their 10 inch vinyl picture disc release on BLUESANCT Records on the 12th October by playing at the LUMINAIRE (311 High Road Kilburn London NW6 7JR - tel 020 7372 7123). We are obviously hoping to have copies of SILVERSHOALSOFLIGHT with us for sale on the night but add a note of caution that it is being sent over from the U.S. especially for the event,so fingers crossed that it arrives on time. We will be selling the record for a special £5. The song was written between Matt Kinnison and Cinder and following Matt's death earlier this year. Some of the money from this sale will be going to an elephant sanctuary in Africa. Appearing with us at the LUMINAIRE will be JOHN & JEHN plus TENEBROUS LIAR - who will be celebrating the release of their new album LAST STAND on TV Records.Doors will open at 7.30pm. £5 for tickets in advance/£6 on the night. We would very much like to thank everybody who came to see us at the 12Bar in June - it was a great night and we hope to see you all there again on the 12th."
Matt Kinnison's memorial at the London Natural History Museum was a very special event. Among other things,it involved a quiz where the attendees had to go round the museum's premises answering simple questions relative to stuff Matt had an interest in,therefore interacting with Matt and the place itself. A previously unreleased track was especially finished for this event and has been added to the player. "Vitriol In Memoriam" (For Matt) features music composed by Matthew Kinnison and Neil Woodbridge on which Gordon Sharp was invited to sing on.Words come from a poem written by Matt and Gordon some time ago. A "Matt pack" was given out containing a CD,a booklet of Matt's illustrations,a wooden elephant,a letter by one of Matt's close friends,Sara Crowley,the words for Vitriol (scroll down the page) and a packet of freshly ground coffee!
Photos
One of the last band rehearsals Matt attended in 2007 before stopping altogether due to his illness. Band members at the time (from left to right): Matt Kinnison,Paul Middleton,Andie Brown,Gordon Sharp.
Matt lost in bass,2007 (Both photos by Shrill)
People standing looking at the sign for Matt's memorial,wondering why the dinosaur was called Matthew Kinnison!
Quote by John Berger found inside the museum's Emerald Room. John Berger is the author of "Hold Everything Dear",part of the inspiration behind the upcoming Cindytalk release of the same title. (Photos by Cinder)
Quote on screen (photo by Andie Brown)
Thank you to all those involved in organising the event and those who attended on this very special day.
A memorial celebration for Matt Kinnison will take place today in London's Natural History Museum. My thoughts are with all those attending. Since Matt was very fond of Stockhausen,I am dedicating this bit of dance to him.As said elsewhere,"forever with us".
"Helikopter",music composed by Karlheinz Stockhausen and performed by the Arditti String Quartet. Choreographed by Angelin Preljocaj.
Spaewaif asked freelance artist Len E. Burge a few questions regarding his animation short film "The Next World" with music by Cindytalk.
1.Could you tell us a bit about yourself?
This is always a hard question for me but I'll try. I am a 41 year old sculptor living in Ventura Ca with my bride to be and our three wonderful children. They are my life and ultimate inspiration! As for career,I am a freelance sculptor-artist-animator-toy designer-inventor or whatever someone wants me to create. I'll find a way. My interest in creating film or video only comes when it is a total creative and free process. So, I don't do it very often. I am currently creating sculpture work that I lightly manipulate on a computer to create images from my brain. This is my first endeavor in total inspired art that I would love to show in galleries. Finding the right gallery is another story.
2. You once wrote this self-introduction: "My work borders on the edge of the pre-sleep imagination. That space right between consciousness and unconsciousness where brilliant thought might enter the feeble mind." I can very much relate those thoughts to Cindytalk's own work.When did you become acquainted with Cindytalk's music?
High school 1983?. A friend's mother lent me some very interesting records. The one I fell in love with was the first "This Mortal Coil" . I then learned of the different artists like Gordon Sharp and the different labels creating great new music. An amazing awakening. As for "Pre-sleep imagination and brilliant thought entering the feeble mind",this is a state I hope and wish everyone on the planet and beyond might feel at some point. Where consciousness and unconsciousness meet. They blend to reveal thoughts or many patterns of thoughts changing and revealing images or thoughts totally forgotten by the waking mind. The feeling that you have all the answers in the universe and that you are totally aware, BUT! You wake up. Often times the waking mind will erase this and make it feel too simple. Maybe so you will forget and go on with your daily routine. Maybe it's too soon for evolution of the mind to take place. I don't really know. Anyway, the end.
3.Your short film "The Next World" features music from "The Wind is strong". When Gordon Sharp and I talked about it,he was particularly impressed with the way the images fit the music. How did you script the film? Did you first weave music into images or images into music?
"The wind is strong" is probably my favorite record I hold right up there with other ambient works from Eno to Budd. This kind of music is like a soundtrack to my life-work. Enhancing creativity rather than distracting. Creating a dream-like atmosphere in which to work to. I knew which track I wanted and I knew the look and the style of the film. So, I sat down and created timed storyboards. That is essential to animation because time is of the essence and every frame is used. Obviously, I am very indebted to the great work of "The Brothers Quay", their work is amazingly flawless and beautiful. With "The next world" I was going more for an old fashioned German expressionist style.
4.Time and its fragile but inexorable passing seems to be one of the themes of your film. I am also curious about the character that falls down from above after peaking into a world seemingly beyond their position inside the clock... Can you tell us more about the main ideas behind it?
The first little character in the film is under the impression that it controls and maintains the timeless dimension of "The next world". In his lonely curiosity he discovers another entity behind the scenes, so to speak. This startles him so he falls, destroying his outer shell and revealing that that he is the simple metal frame that he glimpsed in the beginning. Distraught, he sits and ponders when the real caretaker comes to meet him. Arms outstretched, he remembers and goes with the caretaker. The caretaker shows him the door to the next world. He enters and starts the cycle over. He will continue to repeat this life until he gets it right. This is how I view life. Repeat until you get it right. I hope I'm getting it right.
5.The figures in your film are so full of life yet so fragile! Which materials did you use?
This film was very "green": 97% recycled wood and antique parts from an old film studio. Having only $10,000 to work with this was a necessity that really worked out well.
6.When did you film this work? Also,there seems to be a funny connection with Schindler's list...
I was approached, I think it was 1994?, by a rock band. They wanted me to direct an animated video for them. They only had $10,000 so I said I would if I had total creative control. They agreed. I made the Cindytalk film. Then I put their music on a copy and gave it to the label. Nothing happened with it except for the experience and enjoyment of film making for me. The studio I was working with supplied me with 35mm color film. I really wanted black and white. I called a lab and they said they would trade the color for leftover Schindler's list stock. So,of course! It was the highest quality b/w film on the market at the time. I was very lucky.
7.Which other Cindytalk music would you put images to?
So many! Well, Snowkisss would be wonderful although I really like what someone did on youtube. Very interesting. All of the Wind is Strong. That would be nice.
The Wind Is Strong was released in 1990. Cindytalk members for this "diversion" were:
Gordon Sharp Ivan Unwin Matthew Kinnison Paul Middleton
This video excerpt includes the following tracks (laptop material in lower case, band performances in upper case): I Walk Until I Fall (partial) | A USEFUL MELANCHOLY | If We Meet, We Meet In Silence | PRINCE OF LIES | Shibuku (partial).
"There can't be many groups who I started listening to almost twenty-five years ago who are still going, let alone ones whose output still means much to me. In fact, of the handful of artists whose work I liked then and who are still active, none has released anything that has struck much of a chord with me for quite some time. The people who I tend to think of as my long-term favourites came slightly later, in the mid-to-late 1980s.
Only one band I was listening to at the age of sixteen still has the power to intrigue and excite me and that band is Cindytalk. The wayward, enigmatic Cindytalk, whose last "proper" album was released in 1994 (though a couple of subsequently planned releases have surfaced via the internet). The band who I'd only ever seen perform live once, in late 1995 at the Dublin Castle in Camden. The band who I'd ever wondered if I'd see on stage again.
It's funny how things go. They did a gig towards the end of last year in London, but I couldn't make it. A couple of months ago, I found myself enthusing about them to a friend of a friend. I ended up re-immersing myself in their albums, making a compilation CD of what I considered to be their most intriguing material. This influenced one of my written pieces at the time. Then, a few days later, a London gig was announced.
Chance, or fate? Who knows. Where Cindytalk are concerned, anything is possible. A band cursed and blessed: cursed with a considerable degree of bad luck surrounding the ownership and re-releasing of their back catalogue; blessed with an extraordinarily singular vision, an individuality and a purity that has seen them charting solitary territory throughout their existence. A band without peers, with all the joy and terror that this implies.
The problem I always have with Cindytalk when trying to convey their appeal to others is trying to encapsulate them in a way that does them justice. I used to describe their debut album Camouflage Heart as "the soundtrack to my dreams". That's probably a more honest reaction than rattling off a list of comparable band names, but it's also the only approach I've ever been able to take. They don't sound like anyone else.
So, here's my conundrum: how do I review this gig? For a start, it comes with a weight of expectation, the pent-up appetite of over a decade. All critical faculties desert me as I approach its convulsive beauty. The most realistic tack would be to say nothing, to urge you to click on the YouTube excerpt above and experience it for yourself. And yet, I'd feel rather selfish doing that. I need to try, at least, for the people who couldn't be there.
The set lasted around forty-five minutes. It was mixture of ambient laptop backing and four-piece band performance. Straightforward, in many ways: guitar, bass, drums, vocals. Oh yes, those vocals. Gordon Sharp still has one of the strongest, most beautiful voices I've ever heard. A voice that connects with something elemental yet floats amongst the stars, matched by a musical backdrop of considerable subtlety and power.
In fact, the music was something of a surprise. If there's any long-term trend to Cindytalk's output, it seems to be one of de-structuring and dissolution. However, the band performance was remarkably melodic and song-oriented, amongst the expansive, ambient electronica of the backing material. Also, it was great to hear the excepts from Ghost Dance (a favourite film of mine) featuring as part of the set.
Watching Gordon on stage, I'm thrown back to that first startling moment when I heard his voice on This Mortal Coil's unexpectedly compelling 16 Days Gathering Dust cover version. I'm sixteen again, alive to the overwhelming possibility of the world: the potential, the beauty, the desire, the rawness. And yet, here we are: I'm forty and I feel no different. The ongoing journey has only made these things more precious.
Cindytalk do this to me. No amount of hyperbole is going to frame it, express it or contain it. They are, utterly, without doubt, one of the defining bands of my lifetime. I wish they were more well-known, but at the same time I know that the very things that epitomise them work against that. If they start playing gigs more regularly I might stand a chance of becoming more objective and critical. Until then, I'm content to be overawed."
Video & Words by Stuart aka Hydragenic Photography by Richie Young
Set list:
The titles in capitals are those played by the group, the rest are the tracks played as part of the laptop set:
How Soon Now... | Above The Paving Stones, The Stars | SPEECHLESS CAGE | Fly Away Over Here | Hanging In The Air | LOST BETWEEN US | Maglev | WIDENING THE FOCUS | From The Mountain | I Walk Until I Fall | A USEFUL MELANCHOLY | If We Meet We Meet In Silence | PRINCE OF LIES | Shibuku | OUTSIDE OUT | Signalling Through The Flames | A Distant Kite | The Eighth Sea | MY DRIFT IS A GHOST |...until we disappear...
"We've had a bit of a longer wait than expected on this one, but it's because we want it to be PERFECT... and it going to be so gorgeous, I promise you! Esp. in light of the passing of Matt Kinnison, this release must SHINE brightly and resonate with everyone who sees and hears it. AND IT WILL! We have the vinyl pressed: CHECK. Colour front of sleeve: CHECK. Letterpressed back of sleeve: soon. Screenprinting of vinyl b-side: in progress. The backside of the vinyl is a gorgeous half-toned photo of reeds reflected in water... it's taken many different tests to get the image half-tone correct. We've finally got a stunning test print, and are ready to do the final printing of all the vinyl. SO, thanks for sticking with us, and it will be worth the wait... shouldn't be long before I have a price worked out, and then we can do pre-sales to be sure you all get yours before they go bye-bye... I expect it to sell quite quickly once released. SOON SOON SOON!"
