#the Lancashire reaper

[cryptid-called-ash]

On the bus, so let’s talk about the immortal mahiru au.

Mahiru starts out as a courtesan’s son in the heian period

He ends up accidentally gaining immortality from a god he unknowingly helped. (Probably a sun god, for symbolism reasons)

He doesn’t notice at first, but eventually it becomes obvious he hasn’t aged at all in the last ten years.

It’s an adjustment for sure, getting used the immortality and the innate magick that comes with it.

So he does the only rational thing he can think of. He fakes his death and leaves the country.

Spending the next couple decades country hoping, he finally decides enough is enough and temporarily settles down in a small English town in the county of Lancashire.

He meets the local shepherd, a pretty young man named Adam, who offers the wanderer a job on the tenet farm he runs. It was left to him after his parents passed away from sickness.

It doesn’t take very long for a romance to blossom between the two. It’s the first time in almost a century mahiru can really connect to someone.

This doesn’t last of course. Adam dies, rather horribly I may add, and mahiru is once again left to pick up the pieces of his scattered life.

He leaves town after the funeral, that’s nothing left for him here anymore. He keeps Adam’s small golden cross necklace, wearing it constantly.

He spends the next several centuries wandering, mostly working as a travelling exorcist. It’s surprising common how often he can find work, Europe has some serious spirit problems.

There is one rumour he can’t bare to actually check. Rumours of a wraith clad in a tattered black cloak and a ram skull mask, carrying a black sword with black roses on the hilt. The Lancashire Reaper, folk called the spector.

Though he could never bring himself to return to Lancashire, he never actually left Europe. As much as it hurt, England was always the place he’d find himself walking back to.

He meets other immortals along the way, though he never stays long enough to form long lasting relationships. He just won’t risk that kind of heartbreak again.

Some of the immortals speak in hushed whispers about a faceless man and the demonic vampires he created. Few actually payed these rumours any mind.

Eventually mahiru settles down again, this time in London. He gets a job teaching history at a local university. Things are going well for a while.

He’d been walking home from work when he came across the cat. A small black stray. It seemed hurt, so mahiru took it home.

It seemed normal until he got home the next day. He’d just hung up his coat and bag when a voice made him jump.

“So, you’re the man messing about somewhere he ought not to be.”

It was rough and sarcastic, but so achingly familiar. Mahiru almost didn’t want to turn around, but he did.

He met the stranger’s eyes, the man perched atop a shelf opposite the professor. Blood red eyes, ice blue hair, a slight point to his ears. Soft freckles dusted his cheeks, dark circles frames his eyes. He was pale and looked exhausted, but he was undeniably beautiful in a strange unearthly way.

But it was the man’s expression that had mahiru’s interest. The way it has changed from a look of apathetic disinterest to confusion to shock to disbelief and pain. The way he’d raise a shaking hand to his pretty trembling lips. The way his eyes went wide. The way the words fell breathless from his tongue.

“No, no, that’s not possible.” The words made mahiru frown. He knew better than to push his luck. But now he was curious. So he asked his question. “What’s not possible?”

“Mahiru?”

He forgot how much he loved hearing his name off those lips. His fingers traced the small gold cross that hung around his neck. That scarlet gaze followed his fingers, a soft gasp and a quiet “you kept it?” Was all he needed to hear.

That first kiss left them both breathless, but that didn’t matter. It wouldn’t be the last kiss that night. Or any night after.

Mahiru wasn’t about to lose his love twice.

[dailyanarchistposts]

The Red: Haymarket Centennial

The history of the modern May Day originates in the center of the North American plains, at Haymarket, in Chicago - "the city on the make" - in May 1886. The Red side of that story is more well-known than the Green, because it was bloody. But there was also a Green side to the tale, though the green was not so much that of pretty grass garlands, as it was of greenbacks, for in Chicago, it was said, the dollar is king.

Of course the prairies are green in May. Virgin soil, dark, brown, crumbling, shot with fine black sand, it was the produce of thousands of years of humus and organic decomposition. For many centuries this earth was husbanded by the native Americans of the plains. As Black Elk said theirs is "the story of all life that is holy and is good to tell, and of us two-leggeds sharing in it with the four- leggeds and the wings of the air and all green things; for these are children of one mother and their father is one Spirit." From such a green perspective, the white men appeared as pharaohs, and indeed, as Abe Lincoln put it, these prairies were the "Egypt of the West".

The land was mechanized. Relative surplus value could only be obtained by reducing the price of food. The proteins and vitamins of this fertile earth spread through the whole world. Chicago was the jugular vein. Cyrus McCormick wielded the surgeon's knife. His mechanical reapers harvested the grasses and grains. McCormick produced 1,500 reapers in 1849; by 1884 he was producing 80,000. Not that McCormick actually made reapers, members of the Molders Union Local 23 did that, and on May Day 1867 they went on strike, starting the Eight Hour Movement.

A staggering transformation was wrought. It was: "Farewell" to the hammer and sickle. "Goodby" to the cradle scythe. "So long" to Emerson's man with the hoe. These now became the artifacts of nostalgia and romance. It became "Hello" to the hobo. "Move on" to the harvest stiffs. "Line up" the proletarians. Such were the new commands of civilization.

Thousands of immigrants, many from Germany, poured into Chicago after the Civil War. Class war was advanced, technically and logistically. In 1855 the Chicago police used Gatling guns against the workers who protested the closing of the beer gardens. In the Bread Riot of 1872 the police clubbed hungry people in a tunnel under the river. In the 1877 railway strike, Federal troops fought workers at "The Battle of the Viaduct." These troops were recently seasoned from fighting the Sioux who had killed Custer. Henceforth, the defeated Sioux could only "Go to a mountain top and cry for a vision." The Pinkerton Detective Agency put visions into practice by teaching the city police how to spy and to form fighting columns for deployment in city streets. A hundred years ago during the street car strike, the police issued a shoot-to-kill order.

McCormick cut wages 15%. His profit rate was 71%. In May 1886 four molders whom McCormick locked-out was shot dead by the police. Thus, did this 'grim reaper' maintain his profits.

Nationally, May First 1886 was important because a couple of years earlier the Federation of Organized Trade and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada, "RESOLVED... that eight hours shall constitute a legal day's labor, from and after May 1, 1886.

On 4 May 1886 several thousand people gathered near Haymarket Square to hear what August Spies, a newspaperman, had to say about the shootings at the McCormick works. Albert Parsons, a typographer and labor leader spoke net. Later, at his trial, he said, "What is Socialism or Anarchism? Briefly stated it is the right of the toilers to the free and equal use of the tools of production and the right of the producers to their product." He was followed by "Good-Natured Sam" Fielden who as a child had worked in the textile factories of Lancashire, England. He was a Methodist preacher and labor organizer. He got done speaking at 10:30 PM. At that time 176 policemen charged the crowd that had dwindled to about 200. An unknown hand threw a stick of dynamite, the first time that Alfred Nobel's invention was used in class battle.

All hell broke lose, many were killed, and the rest is history.

"Make the raids first and look up the law afterwards," was the Sheriff's dictum. It was followed religiously across the country. Newspaper screamed for blood, homes were ransacked, and suspects were subjected to the "third degree." Eight men were railroaded in Chicago at a farcical trial. Four men hanged on "Black Friday," 11 November 1887.

"There will come a time when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you strangle today," said Spies before he choked.

[abybweisse]

Anime episodes and BotA vs Manga Masterpost, part 2:

Here’s part two of a reply to this anon ask:

Season 1 episodes (cont.):

11. “However You Please”. Ciel recalls the night of the attack and the fire, and of his parents’ deaths. Lizzie becomes distraught and goes missing. While Sebastian tries to compile a list of suspects of whomever might be taking these girls, Ciel is encountered by Grelle, who says it’s because of a puppeteer named Drocell Keinz. They go to a tower where Grelle fights off animated dolls, and Ciel tries to stay out of Deocell’s grasp. Sebastian shows up at throw tower, too. Drocell strikes me as an anime parallel to both the manga’s Joker (and the troupe from the circus arc) and Blavat Sky. Joker and the circus troupe for kidnapping children and Blavat for luring in the general public and taking/keeping Lizzie. The circus troupe and Blavat both use music and general fanfare to attract their targets... and there’s a use of drugs in both cases (to make the kidnapped children not realize what’s happening... and to make music hall visitors sleep while blood is taken from them). The dolls, created by Drocell, from these girls recalls not just the lobotomied children in Kelvin’s manor and the brainwashed people at Sphere Music Hall, but also Undertaker’s Bizarre Dolls. None of this makes it into the anime until the “Book of Circus” and “Book of the Atlantic”; the blue sect arc hasn’t been animated (yet), but many aspects of it are foreshadowed or paralleled in the first two seasons of the anime.

12. “Forlorn”. Sebastian saves Ciel, but Lizzie is still under Drocell’s control, and she attacks Ciel. This is a lot like how Lizzie in the blue sect arc has joined the side of real Ciel, Blavat, and Undertaker... for now. Sebastian and Grelle release Lizzie from this manipulation before she can be turned completely into one of those dolls, defeat the apparently dead-girls-turned-dolls, and then defeat Drocell... who turns out to be nothing more than a corpse-turned-doll, too. Then they try to confront the supposed master, but it, too, is a puppet of some sort, controlled by another from some distance.

Why Sebastian doesn’t immediately pursue it has not been answered to my satisfaction. Anyway, he doesn’t. Lizzie throws a 13th birthday party for Ciel. This birthday party completely replaces ch14 in the manga. Meanwhile, the little puppet goes to its true master, who turns out to be Angela Blanc. This is one of the many reasons why I think John Brown in the manga is a parallel to Angela/Ash in the anime: John Brown is seen many times using a hand puppet of the deceased Prince Albert to placate the queen when she despairs in mourning for her late husband....

13. “Freeloader”. This (and the next two episodes) is a greatly altered anime adaptation of the curry or yellow butler arc from the manga. Ciel and Sebastian meet Soma and Agni, who are looking for a runaway servant, Mina. Sebastian is stunned by Agni’s agility, then the tables are turned, and the Indian prince and his khansama end up at Phantomhive manor as unexpected guests. We get the story of Kali, and we get the fencing match (that ends in a draw) between Sebastian and Agni. Agni gets the other servants to help with dinner, then he explains he’s looking for Soma’s former nursemaid, Mina, who has run off with some unknown wealthy Englishman.

14. “Supremely Talented”. Part two of the anime adaptation of the curry/yellow butler arc. They discover it’s Harold West, a wealthy merchant, who has wed Mina and brought her to England. We get the deer-headed Sebastian scene, but then Sebastian tells Soma that Agni will abandon him one day. Ciel, on the other hand, tells Soma to never give up on his goals, citing his own parents’ deaths as his example. There are many departures from canon in this, since manga Sebastian praises Agni’s loyalty, and manga “Ciel” tells Soma he’s foolish for caring about some servant who has left his service. There is then mention of a curry festival to be sponsored by the queen... and West’s intention of using Agni’s mastery of curry-making to win the contest. Agni recalls his own shady past and Soma’s actions that saved him. At the curry contest, Mina is seen and confronts Soma with the fact that she left his palace (and India) to escape the caste system. Queen Victoria shows up at the beginning of the contest with her butler, Ash Landers; this is a departure from the manga version in two major ways: in the manga, she shows up at the end of the contest just in time to break a tie between Agni and Sebastian, and in the manga, she is accompanied by her horse-master, John Brown... along with the aforementioned hand puppet of Prince Albert.

15. “Competing”. Sebastian uses chocolate as the revealed secret ingredient in his curry and makes curry buns (just as in the manga). Agni relies on not just his culinary skills but also blue lobster, much to the Viscount of Druitt’s enjoyment (also in the manga). However, here a third competitor uses a mysterious spice provided by Angela. Sebastian wins with his curry buns, but the people who tried the curry made with the mysterious spice become possessed and violent; order isn’t restored until each of them is forced to take a bite of the curry buns. (This reminds me of s2’s Hannah using one glass instrument to control people until Sebastian uses another to break the spell.) Afterwards, Soma and Agni simply return to their homeland. That is another of the biggest changes to the curry arc, since those two stay in England in the manga; they are sent to manage the Phantomhive townhouse in London and play important roles in other arcs. In order to fix this, they had to be brought back to the anime later....

16. “In an Isolated Castle”. Abandoned Ludlow Castle is on the Phantomhive estate, and it’s been slated to become a hotel and resort (with a bathhouse, I believe). The workers are too spooked by the ghosts of two princes assassinated four hundred years ago — Edward V and his younger brother, Richard, Duke of York. Ciel loses a game of chess to this Edward, and Edward selects Sebastian as his winnings. Ciel orders Sebastian to serve as butler to these ghosts of Edward and Richard. Ciel and Sebastian find a secret passage in the castle. The mystery of their deaths is solved, and they thank them for it and depart from the human realm... as Ciel promises to leave the castle as is; he won’t renovate it. This story is vaguely based on the true story of those two princes having gone missing (and presumed dead) from the Tower of London. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_V_of_England It can also be suspected that this was included as a very vague reference to real Ciel and his younger brother, our earl, who had both gone missing after the attack at the manor... and to brothers Luka and Jim Macken/Alois Trancy in s2, who were finally reunited in death. Oh, but then again, this can also be seen as a parallel to the green witch arc, since Sebastian has to serve Sieglinde as her butler for a time... and a secret passage is discovered that leads to the truth of the mysterious curse upon the village and surrounding woods.

17. “Offering”. Ash Landers informs Ciel of an abandoned monestery (in Preston, Lancashire) taken over by a cult that could be a threat to the government (and the crown). Ciel and Sebastian gang up with Grelle and Undertaker and find out that reaper library copies of numerous cinematic records have been stolen. They go to the monastery. Sebastian “does what Sebastian does” to a nun named Matilda Simmons 😉... and learns that the cult has a “doomsday book” to recruit new members. It exposes their pasts and makes them seek salvation through purification rites. Ciel, Sebastian, and Grelle witness a “cleansing ceremony”. Ciel is later summoned and taken away by Angela, revealed as an angel. Though we don’t know yet how the blue sect arc ends, the parallels developing here are pretty strong.

18. “Transmitted”. Angela uses cinematic records to force Ciel to recall his past and tries to rewrite them with new memories — an attempt to make Ciel give up on his quest for revenge. Ciel stops this attempt by himself. Sebastian and Grelle go to the reaper library and seek help from William, who explains that an angel cannot change the past but can only change one’s impression of the past. (Visions of John Brown and that Prince Albert puppet come sharply to my mind again.) Angela then uses a cinematic record to trap Ciel in a meadow to face some fake representation of his parents — another attempt to make Ciel let go of his quest for revenge. Again, Ciel thwarts her attempt. Angela then traps Ciel, Sebastian, Grelle, Undertaker, and William in the reaper library... then she leaves and sets to “purify” all the members of the cult. Undertaker places a special bookmark in the library copy of Matilda’s cinematic record to magically transport Sebastian, Grelle, and William to the chapel where Angela has gathered the cultists. Angela destroys the building, monks and nuns evacuate as best they can, and Angela escapes from the scene. It’s this episode where we get the first anime reveal of Undertaker as a reaper. Here, he’s treated as the legendary reaper to whom even babies willingly gave up their lives. He collected the souls of Robin Hood and Marie Antoinette. Grelle pulls back Undertaker’s bangs and immediately falls for him.

However, it’s William who makes these proclamations about Undertaker, while standing in front of a statue of Undertaker... depicting his appearance during his active soul-collecting years. There is none of this scene in the manga, at least not yet. In the manga, we don’t learn Undertaker used to be a reaper until he reveals this himself during the Campania arc, which is later adapted for anime in the movie, Book of the Atlantic. Herein lies the major cause for confusion on the part of the anon who originally asked about all this. Again, we don’t know yet how the blue sect arc ends, but it’s possible that our earl and Sebastian end up learning more about Undertaker through William or another reaper. And the anime reference to Robin Hood suggests that Undertaker is indeed old, possibly even by reaper standards. The oldest timeline for Robin Hood in a story is AD1194... in Ivanhoe, by Sir Walter Scott. It’s also the first time the name Cedric is shown in print, since Scott came up with that spelling from similar names. More on that later....

19. “Imprisioned”. John Stanley, who worked for the queen, is found dead in The Thames, and Ash wants Ciel to recover something from the corpse. Ciel goes to Lau and finds out about a new drug called Lady Blanc. The drug is also found in large quantities in one of the Funtom warehouses, so Ciel and Lau are charged with drug trafficking, but Lau escapes. Ciel is separated from Sebastian, who ends up in the Tower of London. The arrest orders came from Ash; the drugs had been planted there. This looks similar to our earl in the manga getting arrested by the Yard for impersonating his older twin, plus false, planted evidence of our earl being Lord Sirius coming in as blood vials found on the property... only for our earl and Sebastian to escape and then to end up at Lau’s opium den and discussing plans to leave England.

20. “Escaping”. Sebastian is tortured by Angela in the Tower of London, where he admits to having previously done all sorts of things, like causing the Black Plague. In the manga, he has yet to admit to much of anything in his past beyond attending events at Schönbrunn Palace, where he apparently learned the Viennese waltz. Meanwhile, Fred Abberline declares his loyalty to Ciel, but Ciel pursues John Stanley’s case on his own. This reminds me of Abberline in the manga trying to keep our earl’s hands clean during future investigation, and I bet there will be more about this later in the manga. Ciel frees Sebastian merely by summoning him with the contract. In the manga, the other servants, minus Tanaka, free both our earl and Sebastian from the carriage taking them to the Yard. They get onto Lau’s boat as Lau and Ran-Mao are trying to flee the country. Sebastian duels Ran-Mao while Ciel faces off against Lau. Abberline steps in just in time to get killed by a blow from Lau meant for Ciel. As of ch147, our earl, Sebastian, and the other Phantomhive servants (except Tanaka, who is at the manor) are at Lau’s opium den... just after he and Ran-Mao had saved them from the pursuing Lord Randall and other men from the Yard. So far, they seem to be working together, and Lau has set aside plans to use an escape boat for himself and Ran-Mao. At least for now; it’s actually our earl and Sebastian talking about leaving England. However, it could be that they disagree again before the two parties go separate ways.... Anyway, Sebastian strikes Lau (but apparently doesn’t kill either Lau or Ran-Mao, as they explain later in s2). Then Sebastian and Ciel leave the boat as it sinks. So, in the manga, we are waiting to see how things go with Lau and Ran-Mao back in action... plus whatever happens when Abberline pops back up; seems he’s been taken off the case, but I doubt he’s quit working on it....

On to the third masterpost to continue this comparison between anime and manga.... (Uh, probably not until tomorrow. These first couple posts took me several hours to reacquaint myself with s1 anime episodes and type.)

[rosiewitchescottage]

Sophie Reaper reports live from Lancaster Castle following the death of ...

Yes. As well as our Queen or King, we in Lancashire have the Monarch as our Duke of Lancaster. From as far back of John of Gaunt.

God Rest Elisabeth, Duke of Lancaster. Long Live Charles, Duke of Lancaster.

[bandcloud]

Bandcloud - DDR - 20-08-2017

Eric Holm – Andøya (Subtext)

The closing track from this magnificent album was the perfect start to this show. Scratching noise and hints of dank squawk, it makes for a great intro.

Handpicked Tyrant – Into the Clouds (Unreleased) This is a track I made. An old track that's very dear to me features blissful moments of ambience yet is essentially a shuffling hip-hop groove. So, I took those elements and fashioned this strange beast from them.

Beast Nest – Tired AF // Pluto (Ratskin Records)   This is wonderfully expansive and life-affirming, a section of true wonder in the middle of an excellently strange release. Also, I'm always tired af.

Leama – Melodica (Ambient Version) (Platipus) My major entry point to ambient or chillout music was a series of compilations under the Euphoria banner. The series was also my entry point to club and DJ culture but that's another matter. Their Chilled editions, mixed by Red Jerry, utterly confused and fascinated me. My expectations of what I would find on that first compilation were so far away from what they featured I was dumbfounded. This track featured on Deep & Chilled Euphoria, as well as appearing on the Beginner's Guide To Platipus. It's airy and blissful, yet these elements are undermined by a repeated arpeggiated melody and the reverbed vocals stating "a journey".

Ideoforms – Bjorklund Drones (SoundCloud)   This is a track from Daniel Jones, who made those amazing slowed-down edits of the various Windows startup sounds. This is an old algorithmic drone composition. It's strange in that the description makes it sound so clinical, yet the music itself is beautiful, I would almost say heartfelt. But I guess I can't.

Nadia Khan – Milky Sweat (Where To Now?) This tape on Where To Now? has some of my favourite pieces of music of recent years. Nadia has been quiet since, unfortunately. Hoping for more music from her soon!

Perc & Passarella – Fast Forward (Passarella)   A lengthy piece that featured on a brilliant album of Lynchian horror. After allowing the next song float alongside it I slowed it down to bring in the thick noise of BFTT.

Jasmina Olsson – Jasmina's Song (Short Mix by Second Break) (Stray Recordings)   This is a very short version of a beautiful track, a solitary melody that seems to fit perfectly with the track above.

BFTT – iOSMIDI4_Orbit (Unreleased) Out to BFTT, who's about to appear on a Cong Burn tape.

Lancashire Folklore Tapes Vol.IV – Memories of Hurstwood (Lancashire Folklore Tapes)   This short excerpt has haunted me for more than two years. I believe this section is from a side by t/e/u/ that's called 'to​ ​rescue​ ​things​ ​beyond​ ​recall​-​soon​-​when​ ​the​ ​reaper​-​time​-​has​ ​garnered​ ​all​-​the​ ​ears​ ​that​ ​hear​ ​now​-​and​ ​the​ ​feet​ ​that​ ​stand​-​yet​ ​in​ ​​the fields​ ​where​ ​once​ ​in​ ​fold​ ​and​ ​hall​-​echoed​ ​the​ ​voices​ ​of​ ​our​ ​fathers'​ ​band’.

Circuit Rider – What Others Are Saying (J&C Tapes)   This is from one of the first tapes I ever bought, back in 2013 I believe. Just before I started Bandcloud and really got into ambient tape life. Soaring beauty undermined by a sinister bed.

Wiley – From The Outside (Actress's Generation 4 Constellation Mix) Perhaps this was a step too far. This strange remix takes Wiley's introspection and tears it apart.

Declan Synott – Soft Container (Bandcamp)  A palate cleanser of strange noise that paves over the abrasive harshness provided by Actress. A delicate release of sounds from Irish producer Declan Synott.

Endless Melancholy – Still (Bandcamp)   A fitting title and artist name, this is a slow piece of scorched ambience, elegant in its execution.

Black Thread – Pyre (Amplified Gravel) This artist's music often appears on Cascading Fragments, but somehow this release has disappeared from the web. It's frayed and distorted, heartbreaking in its evocation of imagined nostalgia.

In Media Res – Aurum Vitae (Exo Tapes Inc.) Beautiful choral work reverbed to bits.

Moving Still – Placid Saturn (SoundCloud)   More scorched sounds over a blissful bed of ambient wash, this is a great piece from a brilliant Irish artist.

M Geddes Gengras – Passage (Leaving Records)  This album is incredible, I remember the first time I listened was when I was hungover and it seemed to go on forever. I was lost and confused, wondering how to escape the music.

Sam Mullany – Smell The New World Coming (Blue Tapes & X-Ray Records)  Really dark stuff, this feels like stretched noise and what could be a trumpet announcing coming dread – the new world of the title.

Percival Pembroke – Darklands IV (Herhalen)  This is very Boards of Canada, almost like ‘Kid For Today’ stretched to pieces and cast out to sea.

Shaahin Saba Dipole – Remembrance (Flaming Pines)  The compilation this comes from is an excellent collection of experimental noise and ambient from Iran. This track felt quiet and strange at home but you could really feel the pulse of the beat in the studio.

Minced Oath – Ferric Appetite (Countersunk)   Another Irish artist, this is an ambient project from Sunken Foal. A minced oath is when you say something like "fudge it" or "sugar" instead of.... well you know. The album is excellent, it really was hard to pick which track to play.

Sealadder – Interlaken (Power Moves Library)  I love the conflation of soft, drifting tones and harsh buzz electricity here. It's from a limited-run tape by Toronto's Cheryl Fraser.

Moopish – Death Throes (SoundCloud)   A wonderful SoundCloud find, it reminds me of something between Silent Hill and Wagon Christ's ‘Glass World’. Shout out to Al Shadow Dancer and his incredible ambient mixes, which were truly inspirational for me. 

Nothing Natural – Skin2Skin (Bandcamp) Ilana from Wisconsin released this supremely dark and unnerving track recently. It could be sweet but there's something quite sinister about it. She's a wonderful voice on everything from politics to the history of clubland, and her music is excellent.

Park and Tamirisa – Untitled (A) (Private Chronology)   I came across this almost by accident. The pair have some incredible work together, including a brilliant live recording, but this tape is a gorgeous piece of work.

李松 - Nib (Zoomin' Night) Taken from a compilation bringing together experimental non-music disproving the album's title, this is an amazing track that's almost nauseating in its construction. I'm not sure if it's the panning or the frequencies but it's just loopy. See here for more on the artist.

Pan American – The Terrace (Geographic North)  There's something so beautifully open-ended about the title of this track. The terrace. I imagine it to extend from a balcony in a kind of Hollywood home (see Mulholland Drive), looking out over the hills at icy climes. I know that doesn't make sense.

Christine Webster - A Bird Meme (Hylé Tapes)  This one comes from the excellent self​-​identified non​-​male artists making experimental electronic music on Hylé Tapes. It's quiet and beautiful and it's got meme in the title.

Calico Jak – I Felt A Funeral (Bandcamp)  A sparse and haunting track, this comes from a collection of soundtrack pieces by Irish artist Eoin Mac Ionmhain, aka Calico jack.

Emily Berregaard – Yucca (enmossed)   Up there as one of the tracks of the year, this slow burner is a thing of beauty.

Jake Muir – Indian Pipe (Bandcamp) A kind of outtake from when he was making his album for Further, this is a nice wistful number. Check out his superb Acclimation if you get the chance.

Elodie Lauten – Relate (Wilde Calm) I played another track from this retrospective work a few months ago, I'll probably play all the rest too eventually. It's a gorgeous modular jaunt.

John Atkinson – Falls (Bandcamp)   This was inspired by a trip to Snoqualmie Falls outside Seattle, Washington, site of the iconic "Great Northern Hotel" on Twin Peaks.

Beauty Parlour – Cylch (Unreleased) This is part of the soundtrack to a documentary about extreme Welsh nationalism.

Baltra – Where Do We Go From Here (RVNG Intl) This lengthy piece comes from a release for RVNG called Peaceful Protest. It came about when Moogfest asked artists to soundtrack a meditation space, and was further inspired by the opposition to the House Bill 2, which hoped to prevent transgender people from using the bathrooms of their choice. The release featured six sides of music, including some long, freeform pieces of ambient movement, opening with this amazing lilting piece. All proceeds from the release go to the LGBTQ Center of Durham. This piece in particular is such a delight, a change from the lofi house associated with its creator.

rkss – Watched (Seagrave) This is a short piece that shimmers beautifully as we reach the end of the show.

Boards of Canada – Corsair (Warp) The grandmasters of not-quite-ambient-but-not-dance-music-either here, from their scariest album, Geogaddi. Tomorrow's Harvest is chilling in a scorched earth/nuclear winter kinda way, but this one is darker, creepier, hotter, weirder. ‘Corsair’ is the moment of light that follows the utterly terrifying 'You Could Feel The Sky', but it's just ambivalent enough that it's hard to tell whether it's a reprieve or an elegy.

Matt Nida – The Same Way That Bricks Don’t (Unreleased) A slow burner that wouldn’t be out of place in a Nolan film, it’s got a dark edge.

Jonathan Scherk – Quench (ft Broshuda) (Videogamemusic) This artist also features on Peaceful Protest! Here he collaborates with the ever-frivolous yet eminently talented Broshuda for a playful gem of a track that's coming soon on videogamemusic, on what will be one of their last tapes.

[megamichaelbthings]

              LEO BAXENDALE - COMIC ARTIST - OBITUARY - 27/04/2017

Leo Baxendale, the creator of Beano favourites Minnie the Minx and the Bash Street Kids, has died at the age of 86.

Baxendale’s fresh and energetic style, combined with his drawings of anarchic fun in strips including Little Plum, The Three Bears and Lord Snooty, made him a favourite for generations of British children, as well as an inspiration for comics artists. The comics historian Denis Gifford has called him “the most influential and most imitated comics artist of modern times” and he was inducted into the British Comic Awards Hall of Fame in 2013. Baxendale died from cancer on Tuesday. Andy Fanton, who currently writes Beano strips for Baxendale’s creations Little Plum, the Bash Street Kids and now Minnie the Minx, called him “the godfather of so much of what we do”.

“It’s no understatement to say that I literally wouldn’t be where I am now if it wasn’t for Leo,” Fanton said. “His influence runs beyond that though. I became aware of his work as a kid when I got my hands on older Beano books and read some of those early strips – his anarchic, riotous style was so distinctive and had so often been emulated or adapted by others who came after him that it still felt completely fresh … Legendary is a word bandied about quite liberally these days, but Leo definitely was legendary, and long may his legacy last!” According to the comic writer Alan Moore, who read his work in the Beano as a child, Baxendale was the reason British comics creators made waves in America during the 1980s. “We started out ingesting the genuine anarchy of the Beano, when Baxendale was doing all that wonderful stuff, and then we moved on to American comics,” he told journalist Paul Gravett in 2013. “We just became fascinated with all that gaudy exotica.”

Born in 1930 in the small village of Whittle-le-Woods near Chorley in Lancashire, Baxendale encountered the Beano’s 1938 first edition in the playground, but was distinctly underwhelmed. “The comics I read at the time were above my age,” he recalled in the Guardian, “and I was disconcerted by a comic with an ostrich on the cover.”

He began reading the Beano during the second world war and when he returned from the Royal Air Force, he found work drawing adverts and cartoons for the Lancashire Evening Post. After reading a Dennis the Menace strip, Baxendale submitted a portfolio to the Beano and in 1953 began working for the comic, run by Dundee-based publisher DC Thomson. His editor wanted a female version of Dennis, but this had already been done, Baxendale remembered, so instead he made Minnie the Minx, an impish and violent troublemaker: “Unlike a lot of the comics at the time, she didn’t have special powers, or superhuman strength – she was just a sturdy 12-year-old girl. She had will and ambition.”

In 1956, Baxendale created the Bash Street Kids, another huge success that has run in the Beano ever since. “At one point, the editor showed me a letter from an adult reader saying that the artist doing the Bash Street Kids was a near-genius. I think he expected me to be pleased,” he recalled. “But I was annoyed, actually, by the word ‘near’.”

His tale of a plucky brave, Little Plum – Your Redskin Chum became popular for its stories of the Smellyfoot tribe and their battles with other tribes and bears – so popular that Baxendale’s bears got their own strip in 1959, called the Three Bears. By this point, the Beano was selling 2m copies a week

In 1962, overwhelmed by deadlines, Baxendale “just blew up like an old boiler, and walked out”. He left the Beano and found work two years later with Wham! and Smash! comics in London. During the 1960s, he also produced activist newsletter the Strategic Commentary, campaigning against the US’s involvement in the Vietnam war; he later revealed his first paid subscriber was Noam Chomsky.

Baxendale fought a seven-year legal battle with DC Thomson in the 1980s for the rights to his Beano creations, which was eventually settled out of court. He never regained copyright, but was legally identified as their creator and received 30 pages of his original artwork. He later estimated he had produced 5,000-6,000 pages for the publisher.

In 1987, Baxendale founded the publishing house Reaper Books and continued to work in comics, writing the I Love You Baby Basil! comic strip for the Guardian for a year before he retired in 1992 to focus on publishing books

Article copied from the Guardian Newspaper

[cultfaction]

Comic Legend Leo Baxendale passes away at 86 years old

Comic Legend Leo Baxendale passes away at 86 years old

It is Cult Faction’s sad duty to report that Comic artist Leo Baxendale, who created among others The Bash Street Kids and Minnie the Minx has passed away following a long battle with cancer at the age of 86 years old. The news was broke by Baxendale’s son Martin, who is also a cartoonist.

Baxendale and his creations became a big part of the appeal of comics like The Beanofrom the 1950’s. He was…

[pjeillustration]

A little scythe lino cut from today. Trying to get through my huge pile of scrap lino. . . . #PJEillustration #illustration #illustrator #print #printmaker #printmaking #lino #linoleum #linocut #linoprint #etsy #etsyseller #etsyuk #scythe #scyther #reaper #grimreaper #death (at Preston, Lancashire)

[6hillgrove]

The Grim Reaper And Dame Vivienne Westwood To Visit London Home of Archbishop Of Canterbury To Deliver Damning Report Into Fracking – 11:00am Wednesday 24th May 2017

Church and State’s dodgy dossier into Fracking now exposed as ‘Fake Science’

Fracking is Worse Than Coal

Westwood demands Immediate Moratorium in England

Conservatives Shale Gas Policy Left In Tatters As Keystone Report Proven To Be ‘Fake Science’

Environmental Impact Figures Are Up To 400 Times Worse Than Reported

The Grim Reaper and Dame Vivienne Westwood will be visiting the London home of the Archbishop of Canterbury to deliver a damning report into Fracking, ‘Whitehall’s Fracking Science Failure’, at 11:00am Wed 24th May 2017, Lambeth Palace, SE1.

The Conservatives and The Church of England for some time have been ‘singing off the same hymn sheet’ citing the Tory commissioned Mackay Stone report as their reason to Frack England, according to Dame Vivienne Westwood.

Now that the Mackay Stone report has been exposed as a dodgy dossier and ‘not worth the paper its written on’, England must follow Scotland and Wales with an immediate Moratorium on Fracking, according to Westwood. “Given this evidence, any other position would be highly irresponsible”.

According to ‘Whitehall’s Fracking Science Failure’ report (published by The Ecologist (www.theecologist.org) on Wed 22nd May 2017):

* Fracking is not a bridge to a cleaner energy future as the Tories and The Church of England have had people believe.

* Fracking is not better than coal - infact its far worse.

* Fracking is worse than imported LNG.

* Fracking will completely blow out our climate change targets under the COP21 agreement and set the U.K. on a backward course.

* Fracking’s environmental impact is 300-400 times higher than reported in Mackay Stone.

* The figure for leakage calculation was only half what it should have been in the Mackay Stone report.

* The figure for gas production was twice what it should have been in the Mackay Stone report.

* Inappropriate 100 Year modelling was used rather than 20 year modelling (in 20 year modelling, methane is 100 times worse than CO2 in the atmosphere and only dissipates to being 20 times worse over 100 years).

“The Tories fracking manifesto sham has been totally left in tatters by having its inner workings exposed as Fake science,” says Joe Corré, Head of Talk Fracking.

Dame Vivienne Westwood wrote to The Archbishop of Canterbury on 18th May 2017 expressing her concerns about the Tory-Church of England ‘love-in’ over Fracking.

She said: “This report [Mackay Stone] has been relied upon not only by the church and your working group in deciding the churches position on Fracking or other forms of extreme energy extraction, but also by many other bodies and politicians to support the case for the shale gas industry. The Mackay Stone report must now be considered wrong and fatally flawed. Furthermore, the evidence now suggests that shale gas and oil extraction could be considerably worse than coal in terms of its effect on climate change and global warming”.

Critics have argued that the Church of England has taken a shift rightwards with its recent pre-election, three-page letter signed by The Archbishop of Canterbury and John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, calling for “stability” – a Tory rallying cry in the election campaign –when considering how to vote. Theresa May’s campaign mantra is “strong and stable”.

Labour and the Lib-Dems have both said they would ban fracking in their Election manifestos. The Conservatives have now been the isolated as the only party in favour of this dirty industry and are pushing it through using ‘Fake science’.

But the new peer-reviewed report, ‘Whitehall’s Fracking Science Failure’, blows the coffin-lid off the Tory’s dossier of lies and spin based on the Mackay Stone report. “The other two reports by The Royal Society and Natural Health England are also riddled with false claims and inaccuracies” according to Corré.

“The Church of England has a moral duty to ‘Protect its Flock’,” he says. “But they are failing to do so”.

Corré cites the Tory election manifesto whereby decision making powers on Fracking are set to be taken away from the Church of England’s 15,000 parishes.

“Decision making on big fracks will be centralised to the Shale Environmental Regulator. The Tories are then going to be classifying everything else as ‘Mini-Fracks’ if they use less than “10,000 cubic metres” of toxic fracking fluid - the equivalent to four Olympic size swimming pools or 400 fuel tanker lorries. These will be considered permissible development and fall under the radar” he says.

The Church of England’s Mission and Public Affairs Council and the Environment Working Group chaired by the Bishop of Salisbury stunned Christians nationwide in January 2017 when it said that fracking was “morally acceptable” because it replaced ‘dirtier energy’, meaning coal. This is now proven to be a false claim and the Church must now support a Moratorium to investigate.

Like the many MPs who have been mislead by the Mackay Stone report since September 2013, the Church also quoted Mackay Stone in its ‘Briefing Paper on Shale Gas and Fracking’. “But now all the findings of Mackay Stone have been proven to be a sham, the Church must urgently change its position and let it be known before the Election” says Corré.

The Church owns 100,000 acres of farmland and has already allowed energy company Aurora to carry out seismic surveys to assess shale gas potential on land near Ormskirk, Lancashire.

“The Archbishop must not allow the Church of England to be suckered into the Tories grizzly agenda to Frack our Green and Pleasant Land and turn it into a toxic pin cushion”.

“The Archbishop of Canterbury spent 10 years working in the oil industry before turning to God.  He, above anyone, must be able to see through the fake science used in the Mackay Stone report” he says.

“A Moratorium on Fracking in England must be called for until the science – or lack of it – in the Mackay Stone report has been investigated”.

According to a recent YouGov survey for the University of Nottingham, only 37% of the British public support fracking – a significant drop from 58% support in July 2013. “This figure for support is surely going to drop even further in light of this new evidence” says Corré.