Witchbeam

A couple of cool Vodou related documentaries above, and then below is the “In Search Of…” episode that I loved so much as a kid.

We made a new friend last week at Hazel Bellerue’s birthday bash in Bushwick, a gentleman named Torsten who seems to spend a lot of time filming and documenting a good section of the Brooklyn/NYC underground scene.

Tuesday he came out for the show at Goodbye Blue Monday, where he filmed Grasshopper/Telecult Powers super group The Hex Breaker Quintet. Check it out here:

We played with Mr. Bob Bellerue as Redglaer that evening, which Torsten caught on tape:

Saturday night we had the pleasure of opening for Excepter at Zebulon, a much more licensed venue than what we are used to. That was really fun and weird, a super fun scene… check out some footage of the show here-

And check out part of Excepter’s set here:

Check out more of his recordings here: http://unartignyc.com/recordings/

Across town there was another amazing show going on, Laurel Craig, Pharmakon, Teeny Bopper and more at Brooklyn noise hotspot 13 Thames… Here is Math Bill’s video of Laurel Craig

Special thanks to Telecult friend Wm. Berger for documenting a portion of the show. We met Wm. last May and

Here is a set by Bob Bellerue, a/k/a Redglaar that Wm. took recently.

Vincent Gallo in Brian Butler's Night of Pan

I’m really excited, Temple of Pei is putting out a split C30 cassette tape between Brian Butler and Virginal Volcanoes in a couple of weeks. “Technicians of the Divine Vol. 2.” Stay tuned. In the meantime, if I lived in southern California I would check this out, and I here’s to hoping that Brian brings it to NYC sometime soon:

Brian Butler’s Night of Pan Premiers in LA at Projections Festival, January 16 at Roberts & Tilton

Los Angeles, CA – Noted filmmaker, artist and musician Brian Butler (www.brianbutler.com) will premier his short film, “Night of Pan” in Los Angeles on January 16 at 7:30pm at the opening of Projections, a festival of rare and hard to see films including other directors such as Spike Jones, Harmony Korine, Jean-Luc Goddard, and Miranda July. Projections was curated by Aaron Rose an artist, film director, writer, musician, and independent curator most noted as the co-curator of the successful museum exhibition and book Beautiful Losers: Contemporary Art & Street Culture which toured the world through 2008.

Projections takes place at the Roberts & Tilton Gallery, 5801 Washington Boulevard, between La Cienega Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue, in Culver City, California from January 16 – February 20, 2010. In addition to screening on January 16, “Night of Pan” will also be screened in a loop at the gallery on February 18, 2010.

“Night of Pan” is a seven and a half minute film featuring film auteur Kenneth Anger and actor Vincent Gallo. The film has been screened in various versions internationally – Beijing, Lisbon, Cannes, Athens, Rome, Berlin and elsewhere, but never in Butler’s base, Los Angeles.

In the film, Anger, Gallo, and Butler depict an occult ritual that symbolizes the stage of ego death in the process of spiritual attainment.

Brian Butler is a multidisciplinary artist who creates works around dark magical themes. He had worked extensively as a producer on director Kenneth Anger’s recent work. Additionally he has written for Dazed & Confused and performs along with Anger in the band Technicolor Skull.

About Projections, Aaron Rose notes, “There are few things that move people as much as seeing a great film. As the organizer of this festival I use the term “film” loosely here as I do the word “festival”, because in this context, I do not necessarily refer only to feature films. In fact some of the most inspiring films I’ve ever seen have been under five minutes long. Projections is a celebration of these types of works. While the focus of this collection is mostly on young filmmakers, I have also chosen to include some masters from the past who, for many reasons, have created things that have moved me in some way. Additionally, it is my hope that by removing all these films from their usual theatrical setting, and instead presenting them in an art gallery context, that people will perhaps look at them a little differently. Not just as entertainment, but as the works of true artists, who contribute greatly to the visual culture of our times.”

Speaking of Mr. Butler, check out Loch Ness Magick -

This track first appeared on the Tusco Terror produced 2008 Christmas Tape. Rejecting Christmas but rooting for the winter solstice, “The Empire Never Ended” imagines a world where the Roman Empire is still on top. On behalf of the Telecult Powers, I wish you a Super Solstice.

- Witchbeam

The Empire Never Ended

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… for the amazing Dr. Who theme.

prisoners-flyer.jpg JPEG Image, 511×604 pixels.

Super cool, you should watch them all.  Only the first hour, from what I understand hour two is lost in the ether.

Wednesday 11/11 at 7pm (e.s.t.) Pledge Line: 216-687-6900

Our friend Lisa hit us up for some giveaways for this years radiothon at WCSB, specifically her radio show The Mysterious Black Box, and we were were all like heck yeah. Instead of just giving her some stuff we had laying around we decided to once again record some exclusive new tracks for her. She is a very kind & generous person and a true believer in freaky music. Chances are if you have spent any time at any fringe/out there/experimental music happenings in the greater Cleveland area you know her and know what I say to be the truth. So thank you Lisa for giving us the opportunity to create something that I am extremely proud of. This is a killer release and would never have happened without you!

Two black meditations from Telecult Powers, The first, “I was a Teenage Temple Prostitute” explores the more traditional long form jams they are the best known for, the second, “Mother’s Third Eye” marks a new but temporary direction to their ever evolving sound. The spiritual heir to last year’s Mysterious Black Box premium “Live From the Psychic Dancehall” this cosmic grimoire as CDR is limited to 5 copies with hand drawn veve covers by Witchbeam.

Samples:
I Was a Teenage Temple Prostitute

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Mother’s Third Eye

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A few notes about this release.
Both have a soft synth on them, the Synthesizer 2 application for Android for the G Phone. Generally we are appalled at the very idea of soft synths, but we just thought it would be interesting to switch it up just a bit. It actually turned out to be really fun, you can map the x & y coordinates of where the phone is to adjust volume, delay time, and a bunch of other stuff. It is all over the first track, and the second track it is the only instrument used, multitracked with me going through some new effects manned by Mr. Matthews.

I have no clue if we will be using the phone again, but I doubt it. The whole idea of Telecult has always been to jam synths Matthew builds exclusively with occasional variations.

Each copy has a custom veve illustration, channeled by Witchbeam from lucky hoodoo spirits to bring the listener good luck! I’m serious! Totally true. But for legal reasons I must say that this is alleged, and for entertainment purposes only!

The titles are homages to Fate Magazine, one of the greatest publications of all time. Do yourself a favor and check out this collection of Fate Magazine covers.

Looks like being an ex patriot is doing the Road Chief good.