Where is Kodwo?

A

Ach!

Turd on the Run
Ha! I just walked past him twice in Goldsmiths College Library. At the moment he's talking to blonde ladies, discussing his brother's TV appearances. I will try my best to follow him around for a bit.
 
L

labrat

hot on the heels of love
he was on the BBC4 doc. The Martians And Us (british sci-fi) last night (a great series it was too)
 
Woebot

Woebot

Well-known member
i rummaged through his bins last night....only kidding. though lets keep up the stalking here.
 
nomos

nomos

Administrator
I'm immersed in Afrofuturist/Sonic Fiction material right now from both sides of the Atlantic. Might pull a blog post or two out of it. Eshun's "Further Considerations on Afrofuturism" (New Centennial Review, 2003) is worth a read as a bit of an update on his thought since More Brilliant One quote:

SF CAPITAL
Power now deploys a mode the critic Mark Fisher calls SF (science fiction) capital. SF capital is the synergy, the positive feedback between future-oriented media and capital. The alliance between cybernetic futurism and “New Economy” theories argues that information is a direct generator of economic value. Information about the future therefore circulates as an increasingly important commodity.

Also sections on Futurism Fatigue, and "chronopolitical intervention" via "histories of futures past."
 
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lazybones

lazybones

f, d , d+f , p.
just searched for more brilliant than the sun on amazon as i was thinking of purchasing a second copy... seems its out of print and going for 470 quid used??!!!
 
T

tate

Brown Sugar
lazybones said:
just searched for more brilliant than the sun on amazon as i was thinking of purchasing a second copy... seems its out of print and going for 470 quid used??!!!
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I have a question about the chronology of Eshun's work. How influential was he by the time of the publication of More Brilliant Than The Sun? Had he been known since the days of jungle, or before, or was it with this book that he made his mark? When did people first become aware of his writings? Apologies if this is a naive question, it's one that I've never been quite clear on. The book came out in the summer of 1999, correct? Was there any criticism of it, or was it basically greeted with universal praise (which is the impression one gets from online dance music people)? How did Africanists react to it? Thanks in advance.
 
nomos

nomos

Administrator
I'm not sure about its initial reception or his prominence beforehand. He had been writing for iD, The Wire, and The Face,, and others before the book. The last chapter was published first by CCRU. I've seen criticism of him in Pop Music Studies and CultStud writing over his methodology and playfulness, which completely misses the point since he says up front that his project is to focus on experiential realms that academics and journalists chronically ignore.
 
T

tate

Brown Sugar
nomos said:
I'm not sure about its initial reception or his prominence beforehand. He had been writing for iD, The Wire, and The Face,, and others before the book. The last chapter was published first by CCRU. I've seen criticism of him in Pop Music Studies and CultStud writing over his methodology and playfulness, which completely misses the point since he says up front that his project is to focus on experiential realms that academics and journalists chronically ignore.
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Thanks, Paul, perfect, that was exactly what I wanted to know. Of course if any others have additions or insights, it might be nice to hear them . . . he seems to be such a massive presence/influence on electronic music thinkers/writers/fans . . . more historical context is always helpful. :)
 
lazybones

lazybones

f, d , d+f , p.
i'm really suprised its going for so much now, surely a reprint is due?? I only got it a year or so ago, so i'm quite pleased to have gotten hold of a copy! Mind , at the time i had no idea who he was , just thought any book pertaining to drexciya would be a good read!

play are out of stock now:slanted:


guess i'll have to take out insurance on mine.


i'd be very curious to read some of the criticism on him, could anyone please post some links???[cheers]


never really found any magazines completely suited to my taste, id can have some good articles but alot of fluff and nonsense too.... not read the face before, http://www.shift4ward.com/images/the_face_cover.jpg is enough to put me off for life though! [ or am i jumping to conclusions? ]

i really feel the wire is lacking something, seems to be concentrating so much much on new/wierd americana/folk and free jazz... which is all well and good but the feature articles have been quite a let down as of late, besides SR's one on hauntology.. and they were so so late on dubstep... . that said every so often a really fantastic piece comes along that restores my faith in the magazine. looking forward to stelfox on southern hip hop!

what was the nature of kodwo's writing for id/the face/wire?? are any articles floating about the net??


sorry for posing so many questions!:confused:
 
O

Octopus?

Well-known member
T

throughsilver

Well-known member
lazybones said:
never really found any magazines completely suited to my taste, id can have some good articles but alot of fluff and nonsense too.... not read the face before, http://www.shift4ward.com/images/the_face_cover.jpg is enough to put me off for life though! [ or am i jumping to conclusions? ]
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I don't even remember that cover, but late-period Face was weird like that. The Face is a magazine that, while I liked to diss it back in the day ('the day' for me being about 2000), I really do miss it now it's gone.

In its last few years it was pretty much the best Smash Hits possible, and I mean that in a positive way. Very poppy, very about fashion spreads (with some great photography, but I suppose we still have POP), and the very occasional good article. Yeah, I liked it, and that whole 'lifestyle' mag market just isn't the same now. Some would say that's a good thing.
 
C

Capper

Member
Not really a proper sighting but I went to this last night which had a showing of "The Last Angel of History" - which contains several interviews with Mr Eshun and is pretty much an easy-access version of "More Brilliant Than Sun". No mention of Kraftwerk getting buggered by their own bicycles though.
 
nomos

nomos

Administrator
i got a chance to see it recently too. derrick may sure comes off as a pompous twat in that doesn't he? especially with his comments to gerald at the end, about him selling his soul to a major label or something. i like how they follow his clip with a track from gerald's black secret technology.
 
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