The White Archer is a gumby

[imomus]

I played my little show at the Belleville launch party in the role of The White Archer, my new alter ego. But when I got home and looked at the pictures, I suddenly realised that The White Archer looks like... like... like a gumby. Oh no, my brain hurts!

Right after the Belleville show a bunch of us scooted round the corner to see Anne Laplantine performing at the record store Staalplaat. It was a kind of live Summerisle: Anne played simple guitar parts, kicking a digital delay foot pedal to capture and loop and build phrases, and playing voices, some of them mine, over the top. The results were lovely; what can I say, Anne Laplantine is a genius transported in from the Middle Ages to weave spells of ancient magic with modern technology. One day the whole world will celebrate her; in the meantime it's just you and me. Here's a rough bootleg of some of the concert:

Anne Laplantine live at Staalplaat (4.57MB mono mp3 file, 9.58 minutes)

Comments

[lord-whimsy.livejournal.com]

Ha ha. Magnificent--Huzzah, White Archer!

I'd say that you now have license to get those wicker trousers.

Anne is a phenom; I doubt she's capable of making unremarkable music. So glad you'd recorded some of her show--I look forward to seeing her live someday. Forgive my ignorance, but does she have any upcoming releases anytime soon?

W

[imomus.livejournal.com]

Anne released three records in 2004, 'Summerisle' with me, 'Dicipline' and 'Hambourg' on her own. Here's Tomlab's page about her (http://www.tomlab.de/artists/annelaplantine.html).

[lord-whimsy.livejournal.com]

Much appreciated.

W

Graham Fitkin and Steve Reich

[fufurasu.livejournal.com]

There was something very very familiar about Anne's stuff, ever since you put "Thyme" online. The "bootleg" made it clearer to me. The music on the MP3 blends the gamelan-like guitar of Pat Metheney in Reich's "Electric Counterpoint" with the chromatic yet lyrical works by Graham Fitkin (www.fitkin.com). If you haven't listened to Fitikin, you should. Just a tiny bit more academic than Anne, but incredibly evocative.

Re: Graham Fitkin and Steve Reich

[fufurasu.livejournal.com]

To illustrate the point, try The Cone Gatherers (http://www.fitkin.com/flash/samples/track15.html) by Fitkin. But I am also thinking of his works for Piano Circus, an ensemble of six pianos. The CD is called "Log, Line, Loud" but it's been out of circulation for a very long time. It includes some of the best music I've ever heard.

Re: Graham Fitkin and Steve Reich

[imomus.livejournal.com]

I'm lucky enough to have known and hung out with Fitkin when I lived in London in the late 80s. He would come to dinners at my friend Thomi's house, and the readings of a literary group called The Quick End (Michael Bracewell, Mark Edwards, Don Watson), and we'd go to his concerts (often played in the company of Laurence Crane) at places like the BMIC, or clubs in Soho. Fitkin's music is terrific, and I remember once, in an interview, expressing a vain wish to hear him arrange my songs and make a whole 'Fitkin Plays Momus' CD. Perhaps working with Anne is the nearest I'll get to that.

Re: Graham Fitkin and Steve Reich

[fufurasu.livejournal.com]

Well, well. I 've been to his concerts several times, as he used to do a lot of stuff around Bath, where I studied, and I met him a couple of times, but only as a babbling fan. I liked his stuff so much I named my iBook (http://fufurasu.org/archives/000220.html) "Fitkin."

"Momus" is a pretty good name for a Mac too.