02/02/12, 8PM Upstairs, Bull’s Head, Moseley, Birmingham. B13 8HW

Line up:
Samekhmem
Papa November
Arc Vel
The Quite Good DJs
Visuals by Hellocatfood

£3 OTD

Poster by Gareth Courage

Xero, Kline and Coma

21 January – 12 February 2012
Saturday – Sunday 1200 – 1800
258 Hackney Road, London E2 7SJ

The Cult of Quatermass is a sculptural installation of a laboratory control room containing video works, an audio work and machines for producing sounds that can be mixed, live, by the audience. Individual panels in the control room are based on control panels from science fiction movies, such as Soylaris, Star Wars, and Dark Star.

The narrative that runs through the audio and video works revolves around the characters of Professor Quatermass, of the British Sonic Research Unit, a drone band called Samekhmem, a cult of people called ‘Receivers’ and the ‘sacred eternal drone’ that is the obsession of Samekhmem, Receivers and Quatermass alike.

At 2100, during the opening of the show, AAS moved to positions within the audience, with a step ladder, and began an 18 minute audio performance using parts of the installation as sound sources. Some of the equipment was played to destruction and there was a distinctive smell of burning components in the air. These have since been replaced.

Review: Art Blather

Throughout history, Receivers, like you, have often gathered together to parade around drumming and chanting, getting into a trance state so they can hear The Eternal Drone.

The Eternal Drone is the infinitely slow sound of the universe, born in the Big Bang with space and time, which it binds together. The Eternal Drone is the ground from which all other sound arises.

The band Samekhmem create audio rituals that prepare people to be able to receive The Eternal Drone. Their performances often draw Receivers together, but people with a particularly developed ‘Third Ear’ are sometimes able to have a spontaneous gnosis of The Eternal Drone, and only later seek out others like them.

Instructions

1. As part of a group, or by yourself, prepare to receive The Eternal Drone.
2. Draw a circle with a dot at the centre on your forehead.
3. Perform actions that will allow you to enter a meditative or trance-like state.
4. Open your Third Ear and listen.
5. Return to yourself, taking with you whatever you need from the experience.

Please send your video footage of this process, or links to the footage online, in an email to tools.and.principles@gmail.com. This can be from a mobile phone or basic camera, as the intensity and atmosphere of these collective activities are what really counts. Selected footage may be included in future projects

Tracks from the Samekhmem performance at The Event are available for preview on their last.fm page:

Live at The Event

Full quality versions will be available to buy soon.

     Protocols:

a) Hold an image of a diamond forming in your head

b) Produce a continuous drone

c) Beat out a rhythm on a drum

d) Chant in the same rhythm to create a collective noise

e) Decrease in speed

f) Once time has slowed down sit quietly and relax

The sacred object was identified as the Café’s hot milk thermometer and was purified with a salty sage solution. I’m not entirely sure why this was the sacred object, when I had previously assumed that it was going to be the column, but the group decision was for the thermometer, so there it is.

The four cardinal points of the compass were purified with colour, sound, symbols and sage. The colours of the bells, and the symbols drawn on the walls using the sage solution were traditional alchemical symbols for the compass points to symbolise bringing balance and harmony to the venue… sage it traditionally used in purifying rituals and the use of water relates to the Hindu practice of washing a statue of Ganesh to bring good fortune to a new home (something that was also done on the same night by Ridhi as part of a separate ritual).

The central supporting column was purified with sage water… I’m no longer sure why this was done, since it was no longer considered to be the sacred object. I thought that, in terms of what audience there was present at this early point of the evening, this worked much better as a visual index of the performance than purifying the thermometer, not that visibility is necessarily at issue in this case.

… and ringed with salt.

The sage candle was lit. Actually a candle with sage in the well of melted wax at the top. Later in the evening, Ana had to rescue this from starting a fire as excessive sage flamed so hot that the sides of the candle collapsed and spilled out. I think we should consider either sourcing some sage candles from somewhere or making our own.

The middle portion of the evening was not documented, but involved offering ‘green milk’ to audience members at the launch as a means of selecting people to ‘join’ the group as drummers during the subsequent performance. Those who drank the green milk also had their forehead marked with the ‘third eye’ ʘ, which is also the alchemical symbol for gold and the astrological symbol for the sun (a sideways reference to drone metal band Sunn o))) ). Green milk is a mixture of goats milk, honey and spirulina powder. The spirulina is a reference to shamanic diets that are high in triptophan in the period preceding rituals in order to promote trance, while the milk and honey is a reference to ‘the land of milk and honey’… I think.

During the performance, I think we all had a fairly negative response to the situation and some of the events, but having viewed the video back I am satisfied that it was an ok performance. Not great, just ok. I think that after the performance at The Event festival we all had high expectations.

To begin, we hadn’t sound-checked properly or rehearsed for more than five minutes because we had been focused on the earlier stages of the ritual in our preparations. We had decided to lay out the drums at the edge of the ‘stage’ ready for calling forth the drummers… unfortunately, we hadn’t accounted for how drunk people would be at this time of night and how poorly the selected drummers would follow instruction. In the event, two people picked up drums at too early a point in the performance, and one of them hadn’t even been invited to do so… they also chanted unexpectedly, which I thought was quite good actually. The mixing desk changed hands half-way through the performance for some reason, so the singing bell got mixed out for a bit because the new guy mistook it for feedback! In the end most of us managed to get into a reasonable trance, even if it did result in Ana going a little feral with the vocals, which I personally thought worked really well in the context of the overall event.

- Stuart

Event opens 7pm
Ort
500-506 Moseley Road (opposite Moseley swimming baths)
Balsall Heath, Birmingham. B12 9AL
(The 50 bus can be caught from Moor Street)

Clearing Ritual Score

• Identify the sacred object
• Surround with a ring of salt
• Purify the object
• Light a candle and burn sage
• Identify the toxins
• Transform the toxins
• Produce a continuous drone

Line-up for the evening

Samekhmem are part of the AAS universe

Should show up here during the performance times AND as an archive after the event.
http://static.bambuser.com/r/player.swf?username=thisistomorrow

The table was a bit large for 6 people, so we took out the YES slice and used that to sit around, and chatted about some places and points of significance that had come up over the last few days in New York.

We decided to go somewhere that we all wanted to go and to do something we all wanted to do: this might sound obvious but it’s an important part of making a collaboration fruitful.

The plan was made to go to Coney Island and make a short film in one take that required no editing, partly for practical reasons, but also because it seemed a good way of making something that had a lot of energy and wasn’t overthought.

When we got to Coney Island, it was off season so the amusements were closed, and it was gorgeously bleak. We acclimatised by eating at Coney Islands finest culinary delight ’Nathan’s Famous’, home of the annual hot dog eating competition.

Walking down the boardwalk we looked for inspiration to develop some of the ideas we would include in the film. We saw a man with cardboard signs who told us we had an appointment with God, a T-shirt with a label that said ‘Next Level’ and an action figure of Carl Jung. The more we walked the more amazing things we saw.

On the main high street we discovered a flower shop with two figures of Roman soldiers and a clown girl.

To find out if any of these made it onto the film, watch it here:

Later, at FluxFactory, we were joined by Chuck and Justin while we attempted to gather messages from the future that were buried deep within the video we had recorded.

Transcript:
Open up please. Go green. Can you come to the front, please? Health form. I need someone to go and get me.
And sign me. I don’t know where you’re going. He’s here.
Reverse.
I don’t need a bag. Drinking water here. Our evil purpose.
No, no, he was just…
Didn’t buy any. Yeah, it was, like, five kittens.

Want a sailor. I was like, John, you… he wasn’t into me.
I wish you could film that in the subway. I had the eye dropper. That was so funny.

All I got. Is this the real me?

Hey guys. You going that way?
Capture Mark.
Did he get a hernia? Hang out this way.

NORMAN! Hey, yeah, damn. Screaming to the top of my lungs “Norman! We need the car keys!”

You’re stepping on it. A La la lamb.

Stand up Sue. I fight, like, two cats.

Grey stone! That’s a nice present. That sneeze. OK, sure, OK. I know that one’s… yeah. That’s a chicken butt.
I’m not kidding. Are we all clear? Muscle crap.

Thank you. Enjoy.

A virgin put a hole in a little stumble.

Muscle damage. Sure.

Start it from there. Bango bango hot sandwich. Burger. Get that.

Are you ready to order? Are you guys? Uhm… Hot mustard, yeah. Go along. I think an out.

Not very smart. One time castle. Anybody?… Pulaski.

What? Hahahaha

Right, it snowed. What? I kneeled never to come home… See you on third.

A hat? Can I get some moles?

These whole… someone facing me. Get someone’s hair. No, no, rat.

Gotta go down on me. Hey that’s down. Ah… my teeth. That’s all. Order.

Hi, can I get a cottage? Tell all my buddies. He’s all ready. I want some sprag.

I’m impressed by that Catholic sauce. Do you want owls? Three Turk and them…

I got change
horseradish got the time
You don’t want a falafel baby?
Guy’s right there. Man, yeah, basically.
Mhm, alright.
Ahem, yeah. Do you have a follow much?
get over. Dark glasses, head shaven to the side, looking everywhere… ha!
Ozzy loves that shit. Yeah. Oswald…

…and such. CDs sail right through to…
yo, where that at? what part? what street was that thing going?
I think it was miller street.

Bitchy dog

Dreams. I got Thursday off. I work Friday.
grey sky at night. Alice!
Oh my god.
You dropped watcher on the floor, we’re gonna make you eat it.
Dabbo!
Let me get that. It’s a real trail blazer
yeah, little bit
want those burgers to go?
It’s actually like uh. How much are they? Paper!
I want that Flava!
What flavour you want? Uh…. Pistachio.
That’s like they’re all gober metals
The other day
I think some body should feed it
California
It’s Boston, there’s an alligator
we’re gonna burn $30,000
Is there a little burnt sausage down there?
ok fine
On your marks, set, go!
Push through, push through Tara, you can do it
take him over, you can do it you can do it you can do it
hahahahaha
She may be like butter smoosh, but you know…

I need to eat, I’m a human being, goodbye

No, I want to, but I’m too much prepared for lunch I’ll probably go Hey Hey
OK, see you on the bridge, we also gave one to dad
Hi hey, sorry I would
what’s this
X1
thank you put a dot. I like fur yeah, I got a baby person i don’t breaky man i used to watch that i need a signature from you… that terrible idiot woman… i nee you to fill out these forms… oh my god… can i get you both to sign. the bald headed guy…

Ass
Uh, reload, that’s it that’s the one

yeah, time to operate. It’s mom’s appointment.
awesome, we are like quality emporium
yeah, exactly
marketing, yeah. sidewalk, yo
hey cheese
hot, right on the corner here
it’s like a museum, going there right now
working. you not working no more?
I’m fired!
That’s good, take the day off…

they’re building something here, like a bazaar, on the left

hey, talk to my dog angelo, tell him it’s a hot summer

let’s see you hold her
looks like buffy, so army…
right, so what’s going on over there?

yeah, we and hundreds of people, seems pretty boring. Ass…
Roger?