Even after years of terminological presence it remains difficult to pin down what a VJ does, what makes one a VJ, what legitimises a VJ, what a VJ is. Depending on the context, the terms »VJ« and »VJing« are used in such heterogeneous frameworks and are associated with such an array of different fields of activities that it would take several chapters merely to explain the term »VJing« and its nature.

This text, however, attempts to create an audiovisual dispositive which departs from common designations for VJs, and instead takes a detour around so-called video bands to display the many possibilities for novel audiovisual live art. This will be exemplified by Metamkine from France and Granular Synthesis from Austria.

Text originally published Nov. 2006 for VJ Theory; www.vjtheory.net/art/metamkine_and_granular.htm

Minimal Wave is crashing back in on Europe. An Interview with Oppenheimer Analysis and Mark Warner (Sudeten Creche, Rossetti’s Compass) at the club event Brave Exhibitions Berlin. (See skug #85 print issue for a full article in German on the modern Berlin Wave club scene: »Weniger ist mehr, Herr Bargeld!«)

Andy Oppenheimer/Martin Lloyd (Oppenheimer Analysis), Jen Ellerson (Brave Exhibitions), Mark Warner (Sudeten Creche, Rossetti’s Compass) @ Brave Exhibitions Berlin, 21.10.2010. Photo: © Kristal Burtrum

Back to the future. Or maybe tape labels have never really gone away. Anyway, I like the Connecticut based tape label Goaty Tapes because of its careful and naïve hand-collage layout that ties together a well-selected bunch of artists. A word with its founder; history student Zully Adler.

»I could demand in the contract that I have a 20 hour sound-check.«

In French there is an odd common expression that I never quite got right as it obviously states one thing and its radical contrary at the same time: »On n’a pas tous les jours vingts ans« (»one doesn’t turn twenty every day«). Twenty What/What »twenty«?

I am not always sure anymore that the Django open reference is a plus for all productions. Of course it allows fans and afficionados to recognize the file quickly but […]

With his debut CD »The Music Of Belief«, ex-junknoiser and now full time hypnagogic pop star Lieven Martens released one of the defining releases of its genre.

An interview with Pieter Schoolwerth about New York’s groundbreaking Cold Wave label Wierd Records, joined by two of its highly acclaimed musicians, Liz Wendelbo (Xeno & Oaklander) and Sean McBride (Martial Canterel, X&O).

Photocredits: Liz Wendelbo & Sean McBride, Diana Daia

Der schwedische Klangkünstler Carl Michael von Hausswolff über seine CDs »Råttor«, »Maskar« und »Kryp«, Soundinterferenzen, Körperfrequenzen, Burroughs vs. Gysin, Neil Young und Kuratierungen von Sound-Installationen.

Fotos: Rainer Dragan

An interview with postpunk-legends Artery (Sheffield)

In the interview, Terre Thaemlitz talks about »Soulnessless«, his ideas about soul music, its technical aspects and its (dis-)connections towards the Western music industry.

The preoccupation with contemporary music is for 30 years program of the Nickelsdorfer Konfrontationen. Here an music-interested public comes together, which is hungry on new stories, which by international musicians and artists in most diverse clay/tone languages are told.

Rhys Chatham, one of the pioneers of the New York music scene, since 1988 living in Paris, was invited by Superamas (F/A) to play a concert for the series »Insel Nr. 3 – It’s Our Pleasure« at Tanzquartier Wien on 28 November 2008.

So it\’s James Lavelle here, and the previous album s called »War Stories«, and we re galored with a huge list of features (Josh Homme, Chris Gross, Gavin Clark, Joel Cadbury, James Petralli, etc.). So far the approach and mixes got much to do with Coldplay or Sigur Ros meets New-Wave-in-Pop-Charts. Is it all a…

Micky Green has been heavily working out her looks and concept. If you don’t catch the album just from its cover, she would have missed something already. So did I, […]

From the way they sound I immediately look for places and particularly origins. This only happens in the States, you don’t get that sort of deep fried fat rockin‘ shuffling […]

Got that one obviously too late: »The Kick« celebrates 2008’s Euro Football thing, that already happened now. Lyrics are juicy like hell, and suddenly flashes you back to the long-long […]

I feel a bit like arriving in the middle of a familly dinner, while I play that album. First I have no clue to the »Vol. 1«, not much more […]

A Miracle Reissued Today.

»Blue« (1993) is the last film by English filmmaker Derek Jarman, who made 11 feature films between 1977 and 1993, as well as numerous super 8mm »shorts«.

…on new CDs from Elisbeth Flunger, Manon-Liu Winter/Klaus Hollinetz and Maria Frodl.

Remember 1985: In the 2000’s a lot of art forms have been facing a liftingin order to hide the fact that they weren’t anything esle but a revivalism and a merchandise. To return is not somthing you partcularly want to do unless you have exciting places to depart to.

Very personal review by Jean-Hervé Peron (FAUST) …

Forgive me this one, but almost inconsciously, the first thing to come in my mind while listening to this album is the early Chico Hamilton quintet. Of course it isnt without any reasons. First the instrumentation is the same here : Hans Koch ( Bass Clarinet and saxophones), Michael Moser ( Cello), Martin Siewert (Guitar…

Where and who is Manuel Mota in 2007 ? I’m not talking about finding his email adress or website or trying to locate him on a map. No map will do, he is his own. He is a presence, a passion, a source of light and inteligence, an evidence. – Two discs : one says…

In the Reggae world, if there was a Rub-a-Dub Army, U Roy would surely be General …

»Electric Dread« short-circuits Parisian Ground … Makavibes …

Who is gonna stop dem now … The Congoman is comin\‘ … back!!!

Jason Kahn/Tetuzi Akiyama: »Till We Meet Again« (For4Ears 1645)So here we are among Jason Kahn’s music, his label Cut and the other very well known recording company For4Ears. It is all based in Switzerland but if we follow the personal paths we will very soon find three basic routes leading there. The one from Berlin;…