nomos

Administrator
Unfortunately, no. I was a bit shy about bugging them and a bit preoccupied so I never wrote.
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
I've been meaning to ask: what music best suits Cyclo? There's something chthonic in Thomas Koner but it's too monolithic. Nate Young's Regression has some nice low-end bubble and squeak, but too much ambient space. Where's the Nemat-Sound of the Un(der)ground?

I think this is quite good: Orphax vs The Village Orchestra - Live at McSorley's. 67 minutes of ambient drone; very discombobulating, epically alien and above all wet-sounding - you can hear 'something' bubbling away sinisterly throughout most of the recording. I remember you saying you wanted to hear something that evoked the dry, sandy desert but here you can listen to the anonymous materials flowing invisibly beneath its surface...
 
Last edited:

nomos

Administrator
mistersloane said:
Think I got them for you, will double check tonight and PM you if so :)
that would be lovely, thanks.

Mr. Tea said:
Orphax vs The Village Orchestra - Live at McSorley's
this does the job, doesn't it. really good gurgles. thanks Tea.
 
Last edited:

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
I started on this a couple of days ago, and I'm gratified reading back through the comments here, that so many others found it hard going. I enjoyed the first section, a postmodern mystery set-up that worked nicely in its ease of reading. Obviously recalls House of Leaves in the generous attention paid to an invented, magical text/piece of media, and I suppose Borges is the common reference point for that?

I kinda hoped the theory heavy part would have subsided by now, and that we'd have a slight return to the original story. I'm less and less hopeful that that's going to happen, but I'll plough on for a bit. I think the oil/war machine/Tellurian Omega conceit is quite good as a background, but as the main piece...?

What I really want to see is the author 'in conversation with' Conor MacGregor, as part of a five-part youtube series where he interviews/screams in the faces of postmodern fictionalists.

On the comprehensibility point, before beginning the book I read a few people saying that a basic knowledge of Deleuze and Guattari would be beneficial to read it. So I read a couple of quick primers, and thought the following quote encapsulated the central issue quite well:

"Here’s the trick: do not bother trying to comprehend or understand the text. A desire for that level of control will only hinder your ability to experience it, use it, think it, and become it. To apply an analogy, I do not need to understand or comprehend my car in order for me to experience driving, to use the car to get to the grocery store, to think about the fact that I am sitting motionless while simultaneously moving rapidly through time and space, to become an extension of the car or vice versa. (In this way, Deleuze has really helped me formulate my general approach to all works of literature: I do not care to comprehend them or understand them in any way. I wish instead to experience them and use them and become them.)"

I'm not sure if I agree entirely, but certainly a suspension of the insistent drive to understand immediately 'what it's about' can help with appreciating lots of artforms.
 
Last edited:

catalog

Well-known member
Rich, I'm finding a sort of resonance between oil-as-'Tellurian-Lube' in this book and the mysterious and insidious 'Black Gas' that Manning and Drummond wibble on about in The Wild Highway - of course that's in darkest (in every sense) Africa, not the Middle East, but it has a similar feel to it, I think.

Can you say a bit more about this 'black gas' from the wild highway?
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
Can you say a bit more about this 'black gas' from the wild highway?

I'd love to but it's been an age since I've read the book. As far as I can recall, it's mentioned as this mysterious and highly sinister substance, a sort of symbol of the madness and cruelty the authors encounter. I can't remember if it's developed much further than that.
 

catalog

Well-known member
I'd love to but it's been an age since I've read the book. As far as I can recall, it's mentioned as this mysterious and highly sinister substance, a sort of symbol of the madness and cruelty the authors encounter. I can't remember if it's developed much further than that.

no worries - it's very intriguing for me cos I'm interested in 'smog' at the moment. I'll maybe check out the book, although drummond does my head in a bit.
 

catalog

Well-known member
Actually read the first few pages (of the Drummond) the other day. Very Gonzo (never read hunter s Thompson). Kind of wilfully offensive but very engaging and fizzy. Too much good stuff to read at the moment. Cyclonopedia obviously bottom of the pile cos it's so turgid.
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
Cyclonopedia is a terrible book not even half formed.

I find your hostility to this book endlessly amusing. I mean you love all that deliberately difficult and pretentious Dee and Gee shit, and this is basically more of the same but crossed with Lovecraftian spookiness and ancient Middle Eastern mythology. I struggle to see what's not to like for someone with your interests.
 
Top