Genesis P-Orridge

is the (wo)man! I have only pretty recently been turned on to the music and work of P-Orridge, but it's fascinating and inspiring. P-Orridge used to front the bands Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV, both of whom have played pivotal parts in the British industrial, rave and independant movements. He has been a poet, artist, occultist, exile and agent provocateur. His most recent project was to physically transform himself and his wife into the same person, "The Pandrogyne", through plastic surgery and body modification. Unfortunately his wife Lady Jaye died in 2007 (gutting!) but the project continues anyway.

For more info on the great (wo)man, here's hir wiki entry, and here (s)he is being interviewed by Ian Svenonious on Soft Focus.



A more indepth interview focusing on the early years (and specifically Throbbing Gristle and thier notorious Prostitution show) is below, taken from Disinformation's "Infinity Factory" broadcast. Highly recommended!

Flash Fiction; Riding the waves

Lost in my own head somewhere in the strange hours of the morning...

"The brain feels like it’s bursting, breath slows while I try to focus into being the abstract solar flares that rip through the darkness when I close my eyes. The darkness flooded with golden trumpets, neon archetypes and indescribable multi-faceted shapes. Bent through dimensions. The sting of the collision, the migraine of dimensional intersection. The nexus where mind collides with imagination. Ape thought scuffling round the edges of lysergic structures. I ride the bass drop, trying to cling to the flow and twist of pathways, trying not to drown myself in the thrill and ecstasy of intense experiences. Cling to your rational, find the centre of being, the questioning space child. The Buddha. The magician spouting abstract in the street. Spare a thought for Mad Tom - so immersed in understanding, his outward behaviour is too alien to comprehend. Accelerate down blinding highways of understanding, feel the asphalt melt beneath your feet.
Try to hold back the tears that flood your vision, and see what really happens when the G-force kicks in. Would all the headnauts please report to the dance floor. Would all the headnauts please report to the dance floor. Would all the headnauts please report to the dance floor. Move beyond physical and pay close attention, because this shit’s important."

This flash fiction brought to you by the artwork of Paul Laffoleyand the music of Monolake. I highly recommend the Free Track of The Month Archive over at Monolake.de, particularly the Termulator X project. Robert Henke (monolake) and Jay Ahern jamming with a 303, an 808 and various effects processors. Indescribably powerful analogue sound art - Direct download from Monolake.de, right click
Find more about Termulator X here

Download

I love rediscovering things far too late - I recently found the first The Invisibles trade paperback at a friends, and finally re-read the series in it's entirety. It still has the same thought-searing, adrenaline-powered intensity as the first time I encountered it... Warren Ellis (often seen as a diet Grant Morrison), talks in Desolation Jones of Phillip K Dick's enlightenment encounter as "information-rich pink laser from orbit." That's sometimes how The Invisibles feels, though it's more for setting you towards digging deeper into other philosophies, and opening doors.

Is it a 5-dimensional antibiotic? a condensed hypersigil intended to trigger a shift in the mass collective subconscious? a powerful magical tool for expanding minds? Perhaps. I simply love the intricate literary construction, the ideas it introduced me to and the sheer Fuck-You sharpness of the narrative and dialogue.

So yeah, frantic message, beamed through time from the nineties steals sleep from Glasgow resident. Not the snappiest headline ever, but I'm still buzzing from it. I recommend the entire Monolake discography as a soundtrack.

On the comics tip, Warren Ellis has finally completed Planetary. Between issues 26 and 27, both he and Artist John Cassady have completed runs on New X-Men. It's been too long. Previews are out.

'Nuff Said.