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Excepter 12" (a future now series).
A project we've been working on with the band Excepter which is being released by Rvng, a small Brooklyn-based record label. This limited edition 12" is the first release in the series and features collaborations from NYC's industrial pranksters Excepter with Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti (of Throbbing Gristle, Chris & Cosey, Carter Tutti), JG Thirwell of Foetus and his many alter egos, and Jack Dangers of Meat Beat Manifesto. exceptor.com
As part of my ongoing CCCL project I recently recorded a short video of some experimental sounds as a 'tribute' to the experimental work of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop who staged a performance in London on the 17th May, that I couldn't attend. All the sounds and loops originate from a BC8 synth, a Gakken SX-150 synth and BugBrand Weevil synths. All the effects and processing is done with Boss pedals.
Longer HD clip on Vimeo: www.vimeo.com/4706722
Shorter lo-res clip on Flikr: www.flickr.com/photos/chris_carter_/3541773057/
Photo still with notes on what was used: www.flickr.com/photos/chris_carter_/3541773771/
An audio only MP3 edit of the track can be heard > HERE <
A project I'm working on at the moment is a tribute to the late J.G. Ballard. This will (hopefully) take form as a double-sided 12" vinyl release featuring a track by myself on one side and a track by Richard H. Kirk on the other. My track is about 75% complete, more release details when I have the info.
Cosey and myself are still (yes still!) working on our Feral Vapours film, currently re-shooting and re-editing various parts but ultimately getting there. I'm hoping for an early 2010 release, but then again I said that this time last year. Ho hum...
I've been getting inundated with collaboration requests lately, well since the TG tour. So if you are reading this and you've written to me with a project proposal please bear with me and I will get back to asap, I promise: even if it's to say "sorry but no".
I really can't remember a time when we've been this busy, and so consistently throughout the year. Not that I'm complaining (much) as I guess we're lucky to be earning a living in a recession. But some time off for even a short break would be nice once in a while.
Sorry for a lack of posting/blogging/whatever here lately but for the past 5 weeks or so we've been busy writing, jamming, recording, editing and rehearsing Throbbing Gristle and CarterTutti material for our forthcoming live shows in Europe and the UK. We're now at a stage where 95% of our sets are ready to go, just a few tweaks here and there. It's been very intense working on two new and completely different sets at the same time but it ALL sounds (and looks) wonderfully fabulous. As usual I'll begin taking photos while 'on the road' and will post selections on my Flikr site.
Despite the unforeseen setback of Cosey's ill health earlier this year we can now announce that Carter Tutti will definitely be doing some live performances during 2008.
See above or GO HERE for more details. Check with the venues for ticket info and availability, sorry we don't have more details right now.
The inception of TGV started after our TG 're-grouping' performance at the Astoria in May 2004 (on disc 6, I think). That show alone was a major milestone for TG as, apart from being 'free', it was our first show for 25 years or more, started the TGV ball rolling and we somehow accumulated a paid crew of around 40 people. Which was a big change from the 1970s' & 80s' when we just had a handful of volunteer helpers.
Naturally there was a film crew: consisting of a dozen or so camera operators dedicated to filming the whole thing on stage and back stage, the 'FX Rentals crew': who were recording everything onto 24-track and binaurally, a 'second unit / just in case' crew from Mute studios: who were piggy-back recording onto another 24-track, a hardcore FOH 'seen it all before' PA crew (TG's first encounter with Charlie Poulet, who's now become our regular FOH engineer). Plus of course, what was to become the current 'TG entourage' made up from: TG ourselves, our manager, tour manager, onstage & road crew, the Mute PR & merch teams and various but essential friends and family. And it's this entourage that has been our ongoing 'TG support structure' since the Astoria. So if you've ever wondered why TG don't perform live quite as much as you'd expect us to it's because (apart from following our own non-TG careers) this 'not so little lot' costs an absolute fortune in transport, airline tickets and hotel bills. Plus there's the matter of a TG fee of course! That's why we have yet to play in the USA this time around, partly because most of TG and our entourage are based in the UK and there don't seem to be (so far) any US promoters prepared to cover our substantial costs, plus the continuing demise of the Dollar exchange rate has to be factored in too. So, so far we've only played festivals in Europe or large or unusual venues like Tate Modern and the ICA where things like 'finance budgets' aren't such an issue. I guess a re-grouped TG playing in the USA would be another milestone wouldn't it?
Wow! it's been almost six weeks since I posted any updates here, very remiss of me I must say.
My excuse is that we've been busy finishing our new album (and its variations) and adjusting and tweaking it for final release... i.e.: so it is ready for the various production facilities, factories, printers and pressing plants etc. Which is now about 98% done. In fact as I write this I'm waiting for the door bell to ring with a delivery of the first batch from the CD factory.
We've also been gearing up for the inevitable (but essential) promotional push... which translates to: new photos, press releases, promo lists, advertising (web, viral and print) AND setting up our new mail-order site. Yes, after three years or so we're going back into the mail order business. Which means from October (ish) you'll be able to buy Carter Tutti, C&C and CTI physical product directly from us (new and back catalogue CDs to you and me).
Plus we're updating the Carter Tutti / C&C web site with a makeover.
TTFN
Feral Vapours of The Silver Ether (our new Carter Tutti album) is 90% completed and everyone we've played it to so far loves it. We're just agonising over one last track as we're not happy with how it has worked out. So do we re-record it and include it, or do we just dump it and move on? Hmmm...
Anyway... for those who may not have heard, Cosey's adventures in LA went well but ended on a downer. She was 'removed' from her Virgin Atlantic flight home while the plane was waiting to take-off by ultra paranoid flight attendants and an armed security guard afraid that she 'might' have an in flight heart attack. In fact there was no risk of her having any kind of attack at all, but the Virgin staff wouldn't listen her (or the Doctor sat next to Cosey, who tried to calm their unfounded worries). Four days later and after a many calls, emails, faxes and documents had changed hands she was passed 'fit to fly' (which we all knew anyway!).
Back home we immediately started (and completed) our ColorField Remix contribution, ,which looks and sounds gorgeous.
We've been ensconced in the studio and recording continuously this month to complete our long delayed new Carter Tutti album. Cosey is off to LA for a couple of weeks to install her show at MOCA and visit friends while I stay behind to tweak the final production and finish the mastering (stereo & 5.1).
Numerous TG live events (and the release of the Part Two album) are looming very large on the horizon (see above) so I guess in some ironically mental way even our current intense workload could be considered the calm before the storm that is/will be TG in 2007. Oh what was it I once said many years ago about being in TG? ah yes.....
"it was the best of times, it was the worst of times". And I tell you it's never been truer!
Well I'm sorry to say that the new (and still untitled) Carter Tutti album will definitely not be released this year, (2006, for any time travelers reading this). As I've said previously we had been making good progress with the album and it's sounding wonderful but what with one TG thing and an other it's just not going to be possible to get it finished anytime soon. This is an important project for us and not something we're going to rush so it will be released when we're happy with it, but just not for a while yet.
So onto other things...
We bought a nice new Toyota VersoTR a couple of weeks ago. Its our first new car in 7 years (well strictly speaking Cosey bought it, but we both drive it) although we've been so busy lately we've hardly used it yet. I finally got my faulty Korg Kaoss Pad 2 returned (after 3 months!), well it's a brand new one as Korg's shippers lost my original 'repaired' KP2. The weird thing is that the replacement sounds completely different to my original KP2, I guess it was a lot more faulty than I thought. Just as I was writing this I heard about the new Korg KP3, I've got to get hold of one of those for gigs and improv! I've also just bought myself a Monome 40h unit, originally just to experiment with and for some interactive looping fun alongside the Kaoss Pad2 but we've already used it on two tracks for the new Carter Tutti album. The funny thing was that unbeknown to me Sleazy also bought one at the same time too, synchronicty or what? If you use max/msp and don't flinch at dabbling with some pretty arcane application interfacing you should definitely consider trying one, they're great. You'll need to be quick though, only a few left and they're not going to make any more.
Slow but productive... this would describe the current progress of our new (still untitled) Carter Tutti album. We were hoping to have it finished by September and in time for our upcoming performances, but this looks to be increasingly unlikely, in fact it would be a miracle!
And the reason? Well I put the blame squarely on TG shenanigans. This time last year we delayed starting the (long overdue) Carter Tutti album so myself, Cosey and Sleazy could complete the new TG 'Part Two' album. Which turned out to be an intense project and which the three of us put a lot of time and effort into. We were under pressure to deliver final production parts in time for a Decemeber 2005 release (in Berlin). And even when the three of us (and Mute) thought the album was finished, I had to spend another month rerecording parts and remastering the whole bloody thing a second time ('Part Two' couldn't be a more apt title!). And then to cap it all it didn't get released in 2005! In fact I doubt it will even get released in 2006, how ridiculous is that? So this whole sorry TG affair has whacked us with a double whammy... no new TG album and no new Carter Tutti album. That I might be feeling a little frustrated right now is an understatement!
And another thing...
I'm sick of wankers and nere-do-well's emailing me about the TG 24-track recorder. I've had time-wasters (many), fans using it as an excuse to find out where we live, cheapskates making laughable offers and lately Nigerian ("I'll pay you twice the asking price") scammers. To all of you: if you going to waste my time just FUCK OFF... because I won't be replying. If this carries on I'm going to donate it to a charity, seriously I am.
Update: the TG24-track is now OFF the market and no longer for sale.
Spent the weekend in London: I went with Cosey to the Tate Britain symposium. Her 'Confessions' film was very well received: as usual, Ken Russell was sweet, and very eccentric. Later we met up with friends and Portion Control & Neon Judgement at the monthly Cosey Club all nighter. It was funny really... on the dance floor were all these industrial/gothy 'twenty-somethings' getting it on to classic 80s' & 90s' EBM tracks originally played by these middle aged musos (us included) backstage. With conversations about "aches, pains and ailments", "did you know so and so was dead" and "I'm not usually up this late" it was like a (slightly scary) 1980s' twighlight zone. We all had a bloody good time though!
If you live in (or near) London I highly recommend a trip to Richard Clouston's Cosey Club, fantastic atmosphere, amazing DJ sets and some inspired choices of bands. I've posted a few photos from the evening in my Flikr pages.
The new (as yet untitled) Carter Tutti album is coming along slowly but sounding wonderfull. We're toying with the idea of posting some mp3 'teaser clips' on the C&C site when we have some finished mixes. We'll see...
TG are selling the Throbbing Gristle 24-track HD recorder. It's only been used a couple of times but for various reasons it's now "surplus to our requirements".
The new Carter Tutti album is coming along nicely and not really like nothing we've done before.
I've also just heard that the first part of our CTI download catalogue should be going online shortly.
After a lot of (TG) distractions last year our much delayed second Carter Tutti album is finally under way and sounding great. Cosey and I will also be performing two Carter Tutti concerts in Italy - on 31st March in Pisa and on 5th April in Venice. Cosey is also exhibiting at Tate Britain in London from March 2006.
As there are still some TG projects to be completed there won't be as many performances and new releases from Carter Tutti in 2006 as we would like. We just don't have the time this year. But we're thrilled that the majority of our extensive Chris & Cosey catalogue will finally be made available as online downloads throughout 2006.
TG in Berlin was amazing, but also exhausting, frustrating and bloody cold. The film premier, exhibition, rehearsals, performances and recording all went well, despite some sound gremlins at the first gig. The improvised second-nighter was a completely different affair and vibe. We played to a new 35mm print of Derek Jarman's 'In The Shadow of The Sun' and it looked wonderful projected behind us. We spent the second week recording new TG material at an old East Berlin radio studio. The studio was an incredible place and the staff and technicians were really helpful. So big thanks' to all those at Planet Roc who made our time there so relaxed and productive. The whole TG Berlin trip was extensively documented (on a daily basis, which was a slightly odd experience) so I expect we'll see a lot of photos from it later this year.
We never seem to get any time off these days, always tired, we really need a break, or better still a holiday!
A few tracks on the new TG album have to be re-recorded/remastered, bah!
Continuing to encode metadata for the C&C catalogue downloads.
Thinking about buying new G5 Macs, we're still using our aging, lowly G4s.
I've been engineering and sonic polishing (mastering) a collaboration between Cosey and Millimetre. Industrialising ideas and rhythms for new TG album and show - which is sounding good! The 'Caged' album I recorded with Ian Boddy is now available to download at iTunes, Napster, MSN and more. Just watched Old Boy on DVD... brilliant!
Jan - March
Recording new Carter Tutti (Cabal) album.
Recording new Throbbing Gristle material at Mute's studio in London.
Cosey and I recently spent a while at Sleazy's house in Western-super-Mare working on some preliminary TG ideas prior to us all getting down to the real nitty gritty at Mute's studio in London.
Busy recording new CARTER TUTTi (Cabal) album.
Aug
As is usually the way just when Cosey and I thought we had some time to get down to recording more material for our new Carter Tutti album offers of more projects turn up (gigs, gear reviews, music reviews, books and mastering the new TG+ boxed set), which are, of course, all impossible to turn down. However, in a week or so we're beginning preparations, video editing and rehearsals for our upcoming gigs in October.
July
I stayed at Sleazy's house in Western-super-Mare recently where we made our first attempts to get some of the initial sounds and ideas we had for RE~TG into some serious shape. I can summarise what we came up with in two words: exciting and productive. Sleazy is now in Thailand until 2004 but we are continuing to work on material via emailed files and iChat.
I've recently finished remastering some C&C back catalogue albums, a new C&C live CD and Cosey's forthcoming EAR4 album. Also for the last few weeks I have been trying to get my head around 'Ableton Live' and 'Logic 6' software. We've pretty much sussed out 'Live' now, in fact Cosey used it extensively on her new Selflessness project.
And we've finally started some serious work on our much delayed studio album, which will be released under our new monker: Carter Tutti.
Changing times ahead...
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