Problemi tecnici nello streaming hanno reso difficile seguire da remoto l'esecuzione collettiva di Conspiracies, composizione di Chris Cutler affidata il mese scorso a un gruppo di studenti del primo anno del corso di Esecuzione e Produzione Musicale presso l'University of East London; con loro c'erano Yumi Hara Cawkwell e Guy Harries, che all'UEL sono di casa come professori associati, oltre naturalmente a Cutler e per l'occasione anche alcuni titolari del progetto Household Objects. La performance è stata comunque registrata in video ed è ora visibile senza interferenze - priva però dell'interessante discussione che vi ha fatto seguito - presso il canale YT di Yumi Hara.

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A un anno dalla scomparsa di David Thomas (1953-2025) tutto tace al sito ufficiale dell'Ubu Projex e alla relativa vetrina su Bandcamp, alimentando perciò l'attesa - per ora delusa - di notizie riguardanti l'album cui i Pere Ubu stavano lavorando nel corso del 2024 malgrado l'improvvisa e dolorosa perdita di Gagarin (ovvero Graham Dowdall). Unica fonte semi-ufficiale di informazione e recupero di materiali d'archivio rimane al momento il canale Patreon, mentre su FB Kiersty Boon lascia filtrare almeno i messaggi e i contributi più recenti e rilevanti. Tra questi c'è senz'altro quello di Alex Ward a proposito del doppio-triplo evento del mese scorso a Brighton & Hove e Londra, con proiezione del documentario David Thomas and The Cup, mostra e scambio di cimeli e rarità, interventi del Moon Unit resi ancor più speciali dalla partecipazione di Steve Mehlman: "There is a general feeling amongst us that the Ubu methodology and personnel has plenty more to give in a live context (and it's well documented that it was David Thomas's intention that this should continue beyond the span of his own lifetime) - but who knows when you'll be able to hear this exact lineup next, as flying a drummer over from the US is sadly not something one can do every week. I know I'm not the only one who has been hoping for close to a decade to hear Mr. Mehlman's drums in person again, and the fact that I got to be standing only a metre away from him when it finally happened is about as potent as musical experiences get, even before one factors in the obviously emotionally charged nature of the occasion."

https://www.ubuprojex.com

https://pereubu.bandcamp.com

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Esce in digitale per l'inarrestabile Scatter Brixton 1982, un curioso documento audio inedito con protagonista Lol Coxhill assieme a Susanna Ferrar e Sylvia Hallett - più un quarto imprevisto ospite - registrato al volo a Londra a fine dicembre 1982 e preservato su audiocassetta dalla stessa Ferrar. E' lei a ricostruire i fatti di quello specifico evento, e per l'occasione aggiunge altri e successivi particolari sul suo rapporto con il compianto sassofonista: "I think I had met Lol a year or two before then, and Sylvia would have known him longer. I met him at Rougham Tree Fair one summer, when I was fairly new to the world of free improvisation. There was a directory of members of the LMC and people could ring up other members and suggest getting together to play. That was how I met Derek Bailey, for example, and a bit later Evan Parker. I had been going to as many of Evan's gigs as I could, so when Luc Houtkamp said to me, in 1986, I think it was, "Who would you like to play with but you don't dare ask?" I replied, "Evan Parker". He dared me to ask him and so I did - but that is a story for another time. When I met Lol, it was completely out of every other context. I was at the Fair with my family: husband and son. I heard the sound of Lol's saxophone from quite far away, but relayed over the speaker system. I wandered along, gradually tracking the sound to its source and there was Lol, standing on the stage with his soprano... I asked if I could play too and he said I could, so I did! After that we had ideas of going busking, but never quite got around to it, though we did play at the Millennium Dome in the year 2000, causing a certain amount of consternation in our small, contained way. In the week before he died, much much later, I had the immense privilege of being the last musician to play to him, in the hospital ward."

https://scatterarchive.bandcamp.com/album/brixton-1982