December Drudion

December 2003ce

Fellow Islanders, Continental Drifters,

I’m sitting here listening to Passierzettel, a bunch of mad Germans who sound like early Faust – same catchy vocals and lax attitude to percussion. Try and get a hold of their LOST TUNES: PSYCHEDELECTRONIC MUSIC FOR HEADPHONES. It’s a behemoth, babies, at the very least! Last night I returned from a full-on Sardinia trip (with brief extraordinarily waterlogged times at Fontanaccia dolmen, in Corsica, during ‘le tempete’ that stopped the ferry for two days) that terminated with the acquisition of an album of music by Gurdjieff and Thomas De Hartmann in Alghero airport, with a song on it entitled ‘Armenian Love Song 27’. Synchronous U Betcha! Yup, the shop had a load of cheap Sardinian sheep’s cheese, some Ichnusa beer, only about 25 CDs, but one of which was by George Gurdjieff. The day before, I’d been surveying (and I does mean surveying) the magnificent and sunwise Li Mizzani monument on the north-east of Sardinia, that also happens to appear on the sleeve of the new highly-limited Comets on Fire album on Head Heritage’s new Mid Price label Fuck Off & Di [sic]. Phew! It’s all become so intermixed I get a bit blasted from it all, and already it’s December and advent calendar time. Now, I’m listening to ‘Rock Section’ by the Colours Out of Time, and wondering why they never made it bigger than supporting the ruddy Teardrop Experience! Dammit! I reckon there’s gotta be a compilation of lost post-punk just itching to get a release soon. As I remember it, Colours Out Of Time were too rock for the northern scene and not apocalyptic enough for Stoogedom. Sounds pretty darn tootin’ now though, me ducks… And extra love to Miss Alessia and Miss Angy, who drove me round the island of Sardinia in a state of high anxiety and super expectation. I was so blown away by the place I kept falling asleep as we drove between sites.

Back home, it’s lovely to hear Ken Livingstone denouncing Bush as the “greatest threat to life on this planet that we've most probably ever seen… The policies he is initiating will doom us to extinction.” Ken held a peace party for anti-war groups in City Hall and said: “I don't formally recognise George Bush because he was not officially elected. So we are organising an alternative reception for everybody who is not George Bush.” Just makes me wanna pay inner city parking over’n’over for the guy. Hey, I can’t believe its Advent Calendar time already. My poor mind is blowed to pizzas, and my girls are running around looking for the X-Mass stuff. Last year, we got the tree up so early we made the Winter Festival about a month too long. Reckon I couldn’t abide that this year, but hail babies, dontcha just NEEEEEEED a fucking break? Me three!

By the way, the Comets on Fire album won’t be ready for the Merchandise till the new year (yeah, yeah, I know we had a few around for ROME…) and even then it’s strictly limited. The idea is to get stuff out there for vibrational purposes only, so if you don’t score a copy of our release, I suggest you try their formidably-named vinyl bootleg BONG VOYAGE! We’re also aiming to get the first Stairway to Heavens E.P. out on Fuck Off & Di, but I ain’t counting on when, so you mustn’t neither. Glad most people seem to have dug ROME WASN’T BURNED IN A DAY. Lots of friendships were forged in its afterglow, and it looks like Holy McGrail will be contributing to some more doom in the near future, on a forthcoming project from Stephen O’Malley of Sunn0))). And get that new Khanate album THINGS VIRAL, it is extremely everything and will clog your plumbing at the very least. McGrail’s COLLECTING EARTHQUAKES is in the manufacturing stage, so hold on kiddies for the feelgood catchy chorus of next winter. Altogether now… L A D Y H O L L E R, L A D Y H O L L E R…

Okay, I’ze outer here ‘cause I got some colouring to do. THE MEGALITHIC EUROPEAN is already halfway designed, and Jo Ridgeway is really on the case (what’s new?) so we gotta prime super-monolithic edition coming at ya afore-ye-all-knows-it.

I’m Livin’ it!

JULIAN (M’Lud Yatesbury)