DRET Skivor celebrates its second birthday!

Birthday DRET!!!!

Yes, DRET Skivor is 2 years old. Here is an extra present for you to take you towards longer days and shorter nights........

LoS

Turné dagbok - England oktober o november 2022 - del 5 - Dubrek Cinema, Derby

And so the end of road is here. I started this tour 3 weeks ago in York and after many trips on trains and many different houses slept in, the concluding show is at Dubrek Studios in Derby. This is by far the venue in the best nick and looks all shiny and new and the vegan pizzas are decent. I get the sound man to make all the lights red as per usual and get down to work. Bit more testing of radio picking up internal electronic action from kaosilator and the resulting feedback. To be worked on further on return home. I am asked questions after, especially from second act Maggie Rogers, who is from the west coast of Ireland studying Music Therapy and was interested in the noise I was producing. She thought it could be used in therapy and I told her about the psychiatric hospital I played in 10 years ago.......Anyway, her songs are very Gaelic inspired folk songs and occasionally in Gaelic and it's somewhat of a different vibe after me, but all good all the same. This is a very eclectic and international lineup and a nice way to end the tour! 

Ora Cogan and her band are on tour and her songs are really atmospheric, bass-driven and reverb laden, with occasional nods towards goth and shoegazy pop. Really nice music and a shame there weren't more there to see it. If I have one gripe tonight it's the (apparent) lack of promotion for this gig, but sound, lights and people there are all sound. 

The tour is over, I am tired, but I have had a decent run around England. Many many thanks to all the folks who helped make this happen - the promoters, the other artists and all the great people who put me up. No tour is possible without lots of help from very ace folk, we should all remember that. 

LoS

 

New DRET!!

There is new music from DRET Skivor today - listen below! 

 

 LoS

Turné dagbok - England oktober o november 2022 - del 4 - Bristol, Cube Cinema

 

Back down to the West Country for the first time in ages and a visit to a new space (for me), Cube Cinema, a former/current cinema space near the bus station, which hosts many an interesting evening of experimental music and artforms. I met up with Charlie from the Liquid Library collective and some very welcome soup is on offer - needed after the pissy autumnal weather bit through earlier.......

Tonight there are 5 acts on and this kicks off with RRS, whose performance is dadaist, daft, funny, really funny, sad and happy all at the same time. Objects are used, repurposed and employed as weapons against himself. I stupidly forget to take any pictures, as it's easy to get lost in what's going on. There are some skilful beats set up on his micro-keyboard and I stupidly forget to ask him which keyboard it is (I need some little keys for future tours.......).

The Swine is up next and I am very happy to have a really good quality monitor, a stage flooded with red light and a really good sound man. This set is more gristly than glitchy and Liquid Library's Owen has recorded the audio, looking forward to listening back.....

Next up is Robin Foster - the ad on the CC website suggests "rummage and clutter". The stage setup features the aforementioned, a table and a box full of "clutter". Robin rummages about in the box and a couple of condenser mics pickup the sounds. Really interesting, very physical (a proper workout is undertaken) and lots of fun. Towards the end of the set, the box becomes more battered and things escape creating their own noise show on the way to the floor. 

Ivy Nostrum has a table of all sorts of stuff pre-performance, but I resist the temptation to look too closely, wanting the surprise of sounds. Metronomes on the wonk, tape recorders left in places around the audience on visits offstage, penny whistles, loops and dark synth atmospheres. Bloody good all told. 

This leaves us with the pairing of Sascha Brosamer and Graham Dunning to finish the night off. Glitched and broken turntables, guitar textures, broken loops of bird call vinyl LPs. And the opportunity to join in via the server they had set up, via glitchy and scratching audio to join in with the PA audio. This is a really nice touch and everyone has fun and the ambiences created makes this set a perfect evening ender. 

Overall, mighty fine evening and decent turnout in spite of the pretty shitty weather. Many thanks to all the acts and the folks involved in running the night and to Steve Scara for the lift back to Portishead. 

LoS

Turné dagbok - England oktober o november 2022 - del 3 - Leeds Wharf Chambers

After a few days recuperation across the Pennines visiting family and friends, I return to my old stomping ground of Leeds and a place that has always had good memories for me - Wharf Chambers. I have performed and promoted here numerous times, but this is the first proper outing for me as a "Swedish" noiser. Tonight's line-up, created by the ever enthusiastic Theo Gowans, has no less than 3 touring acts out of 4. I am happy to see my fellow Hogwash collaborator again. 

We're also lucky in that the ace video and audio capturing behemoth that is Bill Bartlett is in town to document the night's fun and games. 

First up, are Theo and Hilary (Cowtown, Basic Switches) performing as Garbage Pail Kids. Gadgets, toys, keyboards, cast aside tapes, mangled vocal effects and lots of fun experimenting. Daft and ace in equal measures. 

Ublo from Geneva has a stand up set of drums onstage, some of them synth drums and all sorts of triggering going on back to his laptop running Ableton with triggering going on. Afro beats and off-beats and processed vocals and noise. And the laptop needing to reset itself near the end of the set, but dealt with professionally for a final blast through. Really interesting stuff. 

Legion of Swine's set becomes a bit more of a harsh noise wall set this evening, as I find very helpful radio stations for interference and glitch and so run with it. This makes me think that maybe I don't need the kaosilator and is summat to think about on my return home. The radio part of the audio is way louder and I can push it really far, so some testing to while away the winter evenings will be required. 

French guitar mangler Mariachi is precisely that. She uses an enclosed contact mic in her strumming hand to create extra feedback to the feedback that's being created in front of the Marshall stack a few metres away. There's a lot of performance. Words can't really do justice to what we see and hear. 

Thanks a massive amount to Theo and Bill and all the other acts - a great night out. 

LoS

Turné dagbok - England oktober o november 2022 - del 2 - Sheffield Hatch

As Crowded House said on more than one occasion "Everywhere you go, you always take the weather with you" and I certainly do as the slight drizzle that's coming down in York as I leave is a massive storm with new rivers and lakes forming by the time I get to Sheffield where I am stopping with my sister-in-law and her partner and their two daft as brushes dogs, Diggle and Buffy. 

I take the yellow tram into town and walk the rest of the way along Arundel Gate towards Bramall Lane, home of the team of my very much missed mate Foz, who would love tonight's gig and space at Hatch. The venue is in a row of terraced houses and is not very obvious where it is, but I arrive just in time for the latest downpour and the hosts, Sarah and Chris from ace Sheff wonkypop band Duck arrive in perfect time. 

Inside is some nice mingling space and the venue part is small, compact and probably fits about 40 in comfortably and the PA is decent, so I should be able to get a powerful level of noise from my minimal kit. 

By the time Harlot take to the stage, the place is packed out, which given the shittiness of the weather outside (I have not missed northern English pissy autumn days one little bit!!) is great to see. They are 3 teenagers, punky, Sonic Youth-y, Riot Grrrrl-y and a great crash bang whallop start to the night, with every song being about dickheads. Loads of fun! 

Legion of Swine is the filling in this Sheff butty tonight and armed with some very nice help from Chris on the desk, I make a very very loud and harsh noise set, with some really good glitching and some football interviews somehow making their way into the set. After the set I talk to folk, including a lad born in Malmö and also meet a guitarist from the headliners whose family lives in southern Sweden. The drummer from Harlot is also learning Norwegian, so I feel very much at home in my mini-Scand night out :-). 

Headliners Dearthworms are a really interesting act, mixing post- and punk rock guitaring, p-funk bass action and synth driven geekpunk vocals, back by fine stickwork - bloody great and dead dead dead ace. 

After the music stops, there is time for socialising and the unusual sight of me selling t-shirts and CDs. Hatch is a great space and the Swine offers many many thanks to Duck and all at Hatch for making such an ace night. 

Tack så jättemycket alla :D

LoS

Turné dagbok - England oktober o november 2022

To say that this decade has been an "interesting" one is a bit of an understatement. Continual climate breakdown, politicians who are merely there to serve a handful of motherfuckers who need ALL the resources and wealth of the world apparently and a pandemic that has seriously beaten, both physically and mentally, a lot of people and put a lot of artists, who were never far from the breadline, closer or over it. Some hope is needed and with this in mind, I set about trying to organise a tour of England, my old place of residence as a now Swedish-based noise artist. 

As anyone who has tried to organise these things before will know, there us usually a lot of hanging around waiting for replies to emails and the realisation that things might not pan out as you'd hoped. I am delighted to report that this is the easiest ever tour I have organised, ridiculously easy and that is purely down to the fantastic people and connections I have with people in the UK and they will receive glowing comments in this continually updated blog post. There will be loads of external links to click on to music and info and I very much recommend that you visit said links and listen to the great music contained therein. 

(1) Wonkystuff @ The Fulford Arms, York 

Wonkystuff is the label/promotion/gadget-making collective formed by John Tuffen and Ash Sagar, who I have had the pleasure of performing with over a number of years in a number of acts (Aperitif of Crippling Malaise, The Wharf Street Galaxy Band, Polynomial, etc.....) and this event, like the majority of the previous Wonkystuffs, takes place at The Fulford Arms, which is one of my favourite spaces in York, The beer is good, the PA is good, the sound is great and the lighting is very flexible. As is usually the case, the Wonkystuff team have collected together an eclectic line up of musicians coming from West, North and East Yorkshire and in my case now, western Sweden. The show also gives me the chance to catch up with people I have not seen for years, 5 years in some cases and the familiar smell, taste and price (compared to where I live) of local beer puts me in a relaxed state and after a lot of lockdown anxiety, my social skills make a welcome return. 

As is traditional, the Wonkystuff night kicks off with the Wonkystuff houseband, this time as Deluxe Hugs. John mans the drum machines at the back with professorial concentration, as Ash sets up the punk-funk-squelch grooves for Simon Hickinbotham to postpunk guitar and surreally snarl over. Catchy, chaotic and loads of fun. 

Numbers of members slim down one, as we have the first duo of the night, Spore from Hull. Watching them perform shapes and pulsing and interfering with Kaos pads and pedals and pushing the limits of everything over 30 minutes is a fascinating watch. I am constantly wondering how further it can be pushed and secretly want them to play for twice as long to see big it all becomes.

Glider Theory are some old Hogwash acquaintances of mine Chrissie and Stuart who calm us down from the big industrialness of Spore with some flowing, drifting, guitar-synth ambience that washes gently over you  and puts me in the calm state of mind needed for an opening tour show. 

The stage is bathed in blood-red light and I sit in front of my new minimal setup, both practical in terms of weight and making me stretch my ideas of creating sound. A cheap radio into an octave shifter and a kaosilator into a Boss MT2 pedal is all I have going into a passive mixer. It's an experiment and a gamble, but the results I am really happy with and I'm looking forward to listening back to the audio. Stuff is packed, I have one less tape to take back (!) and off to bed. Many thanks to the Wonkystuff crew and John Tuffen and his family for the hospitality.  More comprehensive thinking and writing about the night provided by the fine people at Aural Aggravation - cheers Chris :-). 

Next, visit family in Sheffield and Hatch!!

LoS

Ny DRET!!

It's bandcamp Friday again and Dret Skivor provides all your glitch/noise needs - listen below vvvvv

LoS

Fibonacci MINSTallation happened!

I am not a visual artist but I am interested in visual art. I thought about how I might get started in visual art and how I could link it to my musical output. Fibonacci art based on the same mathematical ideas as I use in my drone act Fibonacci Drone Organ (listen here) seemed to be a way in. I've also become more wary of creating art and contributing to capitalism and climate change, so all materials used in my visual art are recycled from previous projects and all frames come from second-hand shops in the local areas of Hammarö and Karlstad. 

I am lucky enough to know the very fine person that is Larry Farber who runs the fine comic/book/record shop/cultural centre/venue that is Larry's Corner in Stockholm. I've performed at Larry's Corner a number of times over the past 3 or 4 years and he has always been supportive of anything I'd like to do there - I am not the only artist who is lucky enough to get this treatment, Larry is a massively important part of Stockholm's cultural life and Stockholmers should relish and support to the hilt his place and him. 

Anyway, I did a MINSTallation (minst is the Swedish word for "least") based on the Fibonacci Series, everything recycled (including the music played back which was a concert I played at Larry's Corner a few years back). It only happened on one day a week ago. I also didn't want to detract too much from Joakim Ceder's installation of drawings, which are really great. 

I'll shut up now and post some photos. Tack så mycket till Larry and Joakim.  

LoS

DRET017 dronathon action out NOW!

A collaboration between AU and FDO took place and the results became DRET017 - 

 

 

 LoS

Fibonacci MINSTallation coming soon!

My first visual art installation will take place at Larry's Corner in Stockholm on Tuesday 2nd August 2022. Click here for the event and details - MINSTallation 

LoS

DRET016 out!

Here you go - out now!!

 

 LoS

DRET016 - out tomorrow and news.......

Hello, DRET016 comes out tomorrow, a Norwegian Noise and Drammen Drone special thanks to our friend zzoneman across the border. Download and tape, very pleasant!

Some DRET news - the label owner and only member of staff Dave Procter will be taking some well-earned time off travelling about Europe once more, catching up with folks, performing a bit, that kind of thing in a few weeks until early July. There might be a release in July, there probably will be a summer sale, but no matter what, there will be a release in August and it will almost certainly be a massive drone extravaganza. I like that word. 

More info about tomorrow on the DRET Skivor bandcamp site of course. The blueberries are happening already here at 60 degrees north! 

Over and out, 

LoS

It's bandcamp Friday once more and this month we offer some Danish darkness from dormir - out now on limited edition C45 tape and download -  

 

LoS

Fibonacci art action

I did some artwork for a fanzine-type publication in the UK, curated by my friend Jorge Boehringer, who is a very talented artist and educator. The first issue is out, it looks like this and might be available in the future for your obtaining needs. Or summat. 

LoS

Noise for Ukraine

A noise compilation featuring Legion of Swine with all proceeds going to the Ukrainian people can be found here - 

 

 LoS

DRET014 is out!

Here we are - Drone for the autumn is released today! 

LoS

Bore-der bore-der (sung in the style of the Buzzcocks, of course)

 Oslo happenings

A few months ago, I wrote about how great is was to be amongst fans of your football club again, after so much time away because of Covid in the main. Well, last week I did something I’d not done for 20 months and crossed a border to go and spend a few days catching up with my noise mates in Oslo. Oslo is probably my favourite city, so it is never a chore going back. Reaching the border and having done all the necessary paperwork and having had all the jabs and having had Covid and recovered from it, I felt nervous and expected the train to stop, for the announcement to come over that we have to return to Sweden. Not so, and the amount of snow increased and I relaxed. We end up being nearly an hour late because this is SJ and I walk to the hotel. Fuck me, there’s so many people! Fuck me, so much life. I begin to relax further and already I can feel my mental state improving. 

About a week before I came to Oslo, I’d sent out a message on Facebook to a number of Oslo (and nearby) noiseheads who I met and got to know over the past 5 or 6 years since I started spending more and more time in Scandinavia. I asked if there were any shows happening, or if anyone fancied a beer or just wanted to meet up for a chat. I’d not seen any of them for 2.5 years, longer in some cases. The response was really good and Hotbox members Morten and Kenneth invited me and the rest of the messagees to their new rehearsal space at the bottom of Hausmania, a collectivised building next to the river and pretty centrally located. Some concerts took place in one space, with a new noiser for me in Ada, a graduate from Trondheim’s NTNU and some young lads who do really good techno noise (according to Kenneth) were in the small audience. Later, sets through a bigger PA in the space next door took place with fine projection and lighting. Kenneth and Morten have a fantastic set of spaces to work with and my mind starts thinking about what could be done at home across the border in Värmland. Big thanks to all who performed, it was so good to see the process of live music again, especially in such a varied scene - here are some pictures from the night - 

Next day I met up with my mate from the Basque Country, Iosu and we discuss the various lockdowns, separation caused by those and spaces for performing. Later, we head back to his place and he shows me a run down space that he’s planning to turn into a studio and live venue. I am very excited about this as there’s a lot of potential in this space and I’m keen to help him develop it when he starts - this will also help me sort my own space out in our new flat (I actually have my own decent-sized space for a studio - work in progress). We talk about music, playing live again and being creative. 

My final day before the train back home is with my chum Christian, an instrument maker extraordinaire in the world of feedbackers. We’d planned to do some recording using the aforementioned devices in his space near the fortress in Oslo, but ended up doing about 10 minutes of “this is how it works” and some discussion of the “støygris” 

(above) that he kindly made for me. After that, we discussed noise, my own history in music, how I ended up both in Sweden and as part of many noise scenes across Scandinavia, which will be the focus of my book “Scandinoisia!” (hopefully out in late 2022). All interested publishers with deals apply here! Christian is doing a podcast on noise and I can’t wait to hear the show when it comes out as we talked for about 3 hours without much of a break. 

Then I had to go. A whirlwind catchup session had ended. But friendships had been renewed and reconnected and I felt good. Thank you all, my Oslo noise chums and see you in May x

LoS

New DRET action!

Here we are, the first release of 2022 from DRET Skivor. This time we present local sonic experimenter Fern's work with the Buchla 208C synth. The results can be heard here -  

LoS