Artwork by: Skag Arcade
Free download: here
What goes through your head, between throwing yourself off, and actually dying? I wondered what you thought of it. Perhaps you could call me and tell me because it would help me, because I have a terrible fear of heights, and for me, just the idea of falling, so far, and being alive… And I just wondered if things go through your head you know, people that you love, and that, or things that you feel that you should’ve done flash before you, but you can’t do anything about it. I just wondered what you thought.
Siamo lieti abbiate scelto di passare il Santo Natale con noi. Il Natale è il 24. Siamo lieti stiate leggendo queste nostre parole, stiate sfogliando questo post, felici ne possiate essere interessati. L’articolo in questione non rappresenta né una recensione, né una trattazione organica di un tema, ma, al contrario, un rassegnato e distaccato resoconto, sottoforma di mix. 64 minuti (circa). Testimonianza disperata. Qualcuno deve essere rimasto vivo (qualcuno lo è, effettivamente). Un racconto sfrenato, più che una sequenza di tracce. Esposizione (finale) di un artista (uomo). Il messaggio: ‘il suicidio è un’alternativa’. Quale miglior occasione del Santo Natale, con l’insieme di valori edificanti ed emozioni calde ad esso annessi, per questa presentazione?
Abbiamo voluto condividere THREAT #5 nel mese di Dicembre, nonostante l’uscita poche settimane fa di THREAT #4:: Future Roots (rompendo quindi lo schema di uscita mensile), per una questione di urgenza. Per offrire un regalo speciale. Nell’immagine qui sopra (la calligrafia è dell’artista stesso) ed in coda all’articolo è possibile trovare la tracklist, la quale riserva una serie nutritissima di pezzi (ben 37), accomunate più che da un’appartenenza di genere, da un tema emotivo comune. Suicide’s an Alternative, You’ll Be Sorry è un lavoro spiazzante, disperato e violento. Ma, soprattutto, fortemente originale. Raramente capita di osservare Atrax Morgue, Ike Yard, Stockhausen, Ligeti e Xenakis efficaciemente miscelati con Slint (!), Tortoise, Swans e Roy Montgomery. Sorprendente. Invitate i vostri parenti ad ascoltarlo. Radunate la famiglia attorno al focolare. Il suicidio (di massa) è un’alternativa. Condividete gioia e tepore ultimi. Disponete di Skag Arcade, in prima persona. Unitene i brandelli.
“Testing…one, two, three. Well…Well fuck, I mean, I just don’t know what to say. I’m very glad to be here with you tonight, I’ll be able to talk to you about some things…that I know a great deal about. Everyone knows that you are fucked up. And everyone knows that I am fucked up. But, does everyone know that you are more fucked up than me? Well, I know that. And you know that. But [my] purpose is to tell everyone that.”
Qui di seguito è possibile trovare i contatti principali dell’artista: mixcloud // soundcloud // youtube. Il debut-album di Skag Arcade è intitolato Post Tenebras Lux: un’efficacissima presentazione della bandcamp-release è stata fornita dagli amici di Futurismi.it. I tag di genere riportati sulla pagina Facebook stessa sono: °Abstract / °Drone / °Harsh Noise / °Dark-Ambient / °Power Electronics / °Post-Industrial / °Musique Concrète / °Acousmatic / °Field Recordings [..]. Poco spazio alla leggerezza, insomma. La musica del disco è una miscela di spazi oscuri, beat sommessi e rumori ponderosi. Deprivazione di vita. Irrisolvibilità fondante. Il vero e proprio debutto fisico è di prossima uscita per i primi mesi del 2016: un lavoro a quattro mani con il brindisino meanwhile.in.texas, per LUCE SIA. Il nome dell’alias è, come facilmente osservabile, derivato da una combinazione di titoli di dischi devastanti (musicalmente ed emotivamente): Skag Heaven ( :: ) e Zen Arcade. I passaggi di testo inseriti e le immagini presentate rappresentano un contributo aggiuntivo al mix da parte del musicista stesso. Alcuni di essi, occasioni per riflessioni profonde:
I can never, never, never find peace in this life. I ask myself where does lust come from is it something to yield to or be overcome. I ask myself: why love can never touch my heart like fear does? Why can’t love ever touch my heart like fear does?
Altri, un sentito tributo a gruppi e personaggi centrali per il background del producer. Ad esempio Matt Johnson (si vedano le poche righe qui sopra). Oppure Enrico Piva (Piscine sommerse ed altre immersioni, via) e Marco Corbelli (Sono una ferita all’interno di un’altra ferita, via), entrambi protagonisti scarsamente celebrati, per non dire parzialmente dimenticati, di due diverse stagioni della musica estrema – per attitudine e per forma – in Italia. Per quanto riguarda il primo, è in preparazione un box retrospettivo di 5 CD che raccoglie il materiale a nome Enrico Piva / Amok e curato da Vittore Baroni – il quale, auspicabilmente, contribuirà all’invigorimento di interesse nei confronti della sua produzione musicale ed artistica. Per ulteriori informazioni rimandiamo ad un contributo su Diaforia.org ed a Blow Up #198, contenente una retrospettiva. Parlando del macabro e visionario genio di Atrax Morgue invece, l’attenzione nei confronti del progetto artistico / musicale ( / umano) in questione non ha mai subito flessioni. A prova di ciò le diverse recenti uscite, collezioni e tributi da tutto il mondo. L’inserimento di tali rimandi nel mix è espressione di un sincero sentimento di fascinazione, strettamente correlato alle morti di questi ultimi due personaggi. Entrambe autoinflitte, quella di Corbelli in particolare mediante l’uso di un cappio. Sentimento privo di intenti di spettacolarizzazione o banalizzazione di tali atti, ma al contrario sospinto da profondo rispetto e comprensione.
Skag Arcade è fascino morboso per la Fine, specie se auto-indotta. Skag Arcade è testimonianza, ricerca ed affermazione dell’Eroismo. THREAT#5 ne è la celebrazione. Che sia Eroe colui il quale compie l’estremo gesto verso sé stesso? Che le comunemente accettate e condivise nozioni di Vita e Morte siano state maldestramente, colpevolmente scambiate di posto? Che sia la totale mancanza di Coraggio la vera ed unica spinta alla base del trascinarsi della vita umana? Che sia il Suicidio il definitivo e disinteressato atto d’Amore? Il timore che la risposta a queste domande possa essere affermativa è un forte deterrente per continuare ad indagare in quella direzione. Una motivazione sufficiente per impedire di soffermarsi sull’argomento più di un istante, addirittura. In caso, al contrario, l’analisi della prossimità all’oblio possa interessarvi (o, meglio ancora, attrarvi), l’enorme buco nero sibilante di Suicide’s an Alternative è l’ascolto che dovete regalarvi per questo Santo Natale. Nessuna paura. Sarete nuovamente Vivi ( .. ) nel giro di un’ora.
Gente che fotografa su sedie in plastica, immobili tra la folla, occhi chiusi mentre lampi divampano tra bambini e signore di taglia robusta. Barboncini appena toelettati sull’asfalto umido. Cabine telefoniche e case in vendita, barche in vendita, grida mattiniere di pescatori, probabili parole. Alta marea, quattro porti, venti porti, mitili sommersi, cappelli annegati aquiloni morti, cormorani in apnea, quaranta secondi sotto una croce, quindici secondi sotto una croce. Croci. Croci su menhir.
ENGLISH VERSION
Free download: here
What goes through your head, between throwing yourself off, and actually dying? I wondered what you thought of it. Perhaps you could call me and tell me because it would help me, because I have a terrible fear of heights, and for me, just the idea of falling, so far, and being alive… And I just wondered if things go through your head you know, people that you love, and that, or things that you feel that you should’ve done flash before you, but you can’t do anything about it. I just wondered what you thought.
We’re happy you decided to spend the Holy Christmas with us. Christmas is on the 24th. We’re glad you’re reading these few words, browsing this article, that you could be amused by it. The post is neither a review nor a well-organized treatment of a particular topic. On the contrary, it stands as a resigned and detached confession in the form of a mix. About 64 minutes. A desperate tale. ‘Someone must have stayed alive’ (someone has, actually). An unrestrained musical report, more than a tracklist. Final exposure of an artist (/ a man). The message: ‘suicide’s an alternative’. What better occasion than Christmas – together with its bunch of uplifting values and warm feelings – to present it?
We choose to share with you THREAT #5 in this very month, despite we had already been releasing THREAT #4:: Future Roots in December (i.e. breaking the monthly schedule), because we feel it’s so good it’s urgent to put it out. To offer a special gift. In the picture above, written by the artist himself, and by the end of the article, it’s possible to find the tracklist: it shows a huge amount of pieces (exactly 37), related one to the other by an overall mood, rather than the same musical genre. Suicide’s an Alternative, You’ll Be Sorry is a disorientating and violent mix. Above all, a very original one. It’s a rare event to see mixed tracks by Atrax Morgue, Ike Yard, Stockhausen, Ligeti and Xenakis together with Slint (!), Tortoise, Swans and Roy Montgomery’s. Amazing. Tell your parents to listen to it. Gather the whole family around the fire. (Mass) suicide’s an alternative. Share the joy and the (final) coziness. Have Skag Arcade at your own disposal. Connect back its pieces.
“Testing…one, two, three. Well…Well fuck, I mean, I just don’t know what to say. I’m very glad to be here with you tonight, I’ll be able to talk to you about some things…that I know a great deal about. Everyone knows that you are fucked up. And everyone knows that I am fucked up. But, does everyone know that you are more fucked up than me? Well, I know that. And you know that. But [my] purpose is to tell everyone that.”
Here are the socials of the artist: mixcloud // soundcloud // youtube. Skag Arcade’s debut-album is called Post Tenebras Lux: a very good presentation of the bandcamp-release has been provided by our friends of Futurismi.it. The tag genres listed on the artist’s Facebook page are: °Abstract / °Drone / °Harsh Noise / °Dark-Ambient / °Power Electronics / °Post-Industrial / °Musique Concrète / °Acousmatic / °Field Recordings [..]. No room for lightness then. The music featured in the record is a mixture of dark spaces, hushed beats and heavy noises. Life deprivation. Intrinsic unsolvableness. The first physical release is planned for the first months of 2016: that’s a four-hand work together with meanwhile.in.texas (from Brindisi, Italy), on LUCE SIA. The ‘Skag Arcade’ moniker, as can be easily observed, is a combination of words out of two crushing classical punk records’ titles, which are Skag Heaven ( :: ) and Zen Arcade. The text passages along with the few images represent a further contribution to the mix by the musician itself. Some of them, are glimpses of deep thoughts:
I can never, never, never find peace in this life. I ask myself where does lust come from is it something to yield to or be overcome. I ask myself: why love can never touch my heart like fear does? Why can’t love ever touch my heart like fear does?
Some others, are heart-felt homages to key bands and artists for the background’s producer. For example, Matt Johnson (see the few lines right here above). Otherwise, Enrico Piva (‘Piscine sommerse ed altre immersioni’, via) and Marco Corbelli (‘I’m a wound inside another wound’, via), both of them crucial figures – and scarcely commemorated too, not to say almost forgotten – of two different extreme-music seasons in Italy, in terms of form and contents. Talking about the former, a retrospective-5CD box is coming out soon, gathering a lot of unreleased Enrico Piva / Amok material collected by Vittore Baroni. It’ll hopefully contribute in addressing more interest in the character’s musical and artistic production. If you’re looking for some more informations, see Diaforia.org and Blow Up #198. Considering the macabre and visionary genius of Atrax Morgue, instead, the hype on the artist has never faded in the years following his death (2007). As a proof to it, there are a lot of posthumous releases and collections from all over the world. The fact that Skag Arcade wanted to pay his tribute stands only as the expression of a true feeling of fascination, strictly related to their sudden deaths (both of them self-inflicted). Avoiding to turning into spectacle and to trivialize them, a deed out of respect and sympathy only.
<![endif]–>
Skag Arcade is morbid attraction for the End, expecially if by your own hand. Skag Arcade is the affirmation and the expression of Heroism. THREAT#5 is its celebration. What if a true Hero were the one giving up on life? What if the values of Life and Death had been clumsily and guiltily interchanged? Might lack of Courage be the very only reason why human existence keeps going on? Might Suicide be the last, unbiased act of Love? The fear the answers to these questions could be positive stands as a strong deterrent for them to asked further. A way to avoid to even think about the whole question too. In the case, instead, a deeper look at the abyss would interest you (or, better, it’d appeal you), Suicide’s an Alternative’s whizzing black hole is what perfectly fits you. Give yourself a present for Christmas listening to it. Don’t worry, you’ll be Alive again ( .. ) in about an hour.
‘People taking pictures of plastic chairs, standing among the crowd, eyes closed while lightnings blaze between children and fat ladies. Fresh-cleaned poodles on the damp tar. Phone cabs and houses for sale, boats for sale, fishermen shouts in the morning, most common words. High tide, four docks, twenty docks, submerged mussels, drawned hats, dead kites, cormorants holding their breath, fourty seconds under a cross, fifteen seconds under a cross. Crosses. Crosses above Menhirs’
TRACKLIST:
1. Eliane Radigue – Kyema – Intermediate States
2. Swans – I Was A Prisoner In Your Skull
3. Enrico Piva – 35 kgs
4. Factrix – Splice Of Life
5. Atrax Morgue – Plastic Bags
6. Suttcliffe Jugend – I Never Met A Woman Who Didn’t Deserve To Die
7. Enrico Piva – Flogging Hour In The HKA
8. The The (Matt Johnson) – Electric Moonlight
9. Karlheinze Stockhausen – Mikrophonie I
10. Dark Day – Uninvited Guests
11. Iannis Xenakis – Persepolis
12. The The (Matt Johnson) – Leaving Earth
13. Ike Yard – Loss
14. Ramleh – Blues For Herb Mullin
15. Tortoise – Djed
16. The The (Matt Johnson) – Meat Fever
17. Amok (Enrico Piva) – Untitled
18. Gyorgi Ligeti – Atmospheres
19. Tangerine Dream – Zeit
20. Slint – Rhoda
21. Burial Hex – The Book of Delusions
22. The The (Matt Johnson) – Dark Summer Day
23. Function – Counterpoint
24. Pan American – Coastal
25. Skag Arcade – Fires On The Plain
26. Merzbow – Track 2
27. Final – A Message To Man
28. Atrax Morgue – Ripped
29. Skag Arcade – Pentagram
30. Krzystof Pendercki – Fluorescences 2
31. William Basinski – Melancholia XIV
32. Ulver – Not Saved
33. The The (Matt Johnson) – Blind Spirit
34. Coil – Is Suicide A Solution?
35. Roy Montgomery – Rock – Sea – Muse – Seek
36. Labradford – Midrange
37. Eliane Radigue – Kyema – Intermediate States
Are you enjoying what you see on PAYNOMINDTOUS? If that’s the case, we’d like to kindly ask you to subscribe to our newsletter, our Facebook group, and also to consider donating a few cents to our cause. Your help would be of great relevance to us, thank you so much for your time!
PAYNOMINDTOUS is a non-profit organization registered in December 2018, operating since late 2015 as a webzine and media website. In early 2017, we started our own event series in Turin, IT focused on arts, experimental, and dancefloor-oriented music. We reject every clumsy invocation to “the Future” meant as the signifier for capitalistic “progress” and “innovation”, fully embracing the Present instead; we renounce any reckless and ultimately arbitrary division between “high” and “low”, respectable and not respectable, “mind” and “body”; we support and invite musicians, artists, and performers having diverse backgrounds and expressing themselves via variegated artistic practices.