BARDENS REMINISCENCES

Probably a series to be continued, but here is a start. I have been photographing Upset The Rhythm shows since the end of 2006, and try to capture the atmosphere of shows for our archives (I don't always succeed). Now that Barden's is closing this leaves a significant quantity of photos from that venue. Here are a selection of photos of shows at Barden's and here is what they all are in case you were wondering:
1. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti
2. Sam Herring, Future Islands
3. Amelia and Simon making use of the smoker's bench (long gone)
4. Mika Miko
5. Andrew Doig, part of the original team who discovered Barden's and one of it's first bookers.
6. Hawnay Troof
7. Luke, Tanith, Chris, all of UTR, on door duties
8. Ponytail
9. Japanther are in there somewhere
10. Ditto Girl Talk
11. John Maus
12. Masks used by White Mice before a show so loud i had to go outside to vomit (true story).
13. Get Hustle
14. Audience for Dan Deacon
15. Umit, owner and manager of Barden's. In the background is Andrew (Chukka) and Dan, UTR members. Andrew was one of the first people to do sound at Bardens, and Dan was one of the first people to discover it (they lived in the building behind the venue, in one of the flats in the now near-legendary Miller's Terrace).
16. Security cameras, during a break in the Marnie Stern show.
17. Post-show crash and burn for Barbarians, the only band to ever bring an oven into Bardens and to use it as a musical instrument. I am the one in the red shoes. Blood from this performance remained on the ceiling for about 3 years.

GOODBYE BARDEN'S

Hello everyone!
Tomorrow sees the last official show at Barden's Boudoir take place before it bows out disgracefully into our memories of things which were great in the past. I still have distant recollections of drawing chalk arrows on the pavement between Dalston Kingsland station and the disused furniture showroom we chose for our Lightning Bolt show in December 2004. This was Barden's Boudoir first show, we had no mic stands, a wacky PA and a bar built during the soundcheck out of bricks and mortar but somehow it worked (if you stood on the pool table!). Our good friend Umit established Barden's as a proper venue soon after and has run it with honor for the last six years, nurturing London's DIY ethos and leading people on a merry dance to Dalston when it really was a frontier. Now financial pressures have led him to sell up so to speak but should we shed tears or should we celebrate the venue and all the good times we've had there. No tissues for us!

Tomorrow for one last time we're throwing a party at Barden's Boudoir, we think it should go with a bang! So we have a plethora of entertainment awaiting. Headlining we have Brontez from Gravy Train!!!!'s new band called The Younger Lovers. The Younger Lovers share a similar brat-tastic approach to punk as Gravy Train!!!! but with a more garage-y and delinquent sound - like The Ramones making out with each other on the street corner, listening to The Rondelles on transistor radios. In support we have controlled chaos from COVERGIRL, newly practiced anti-jams from THE HUMAN RACE, spun-out pun fun from HUMOUSEXUAL and white hot brilliance from COREY ORBISON. Now that's what we call a party, look out below for writing galore including news of some exciting new shows for the coming months...


>>>>> LAST OFFICIAL SHOW AT BARDEN'S BOUDOIR TOMORROW <<<<<> > >

SILK FLOWERS
TEARIST
GENTLE FRIENDLY
Tuesday 20 July
Camp Basement, 70-74 City Road, Old Street, EC1Y 2BJ
8pm | 6.00 | http://www.wegottickets.com/event/83963

WAVVES
ECSTATIC SUNSHINE
HYPE WILLIAMS
Friday 23 July
Cargo, 83 Rivington Street, Shoreditch, EC2A 3AY
8pm | 8.50 | http://www.wegottickets.com/event/83012

WILD NOTHING
WAY THROUGH
BECOMING REAL
Monday 26 July
Camp Basement, 70-74 City Road, Old Street, EC1Y 2BJ
8pm | 6.00 | http://www.wegottickets.com/event/75903

DUM DUM GIRLS
THE HUNDRED IN THE HANDS
Friday 30 July
Cargo, 83 Rivington Street, Shoreditch, EC2A 3AY
8pm | 8.00 | http://www.wegottickets.com/event/84010

CALVIN JOHNSON
Tuesday 10 August
Trinity Centre Hall, Beechwood Road, Dalston, E8 3DY
7pm | 8.00 | http://www.wegottickets.com/event/79908

WILD NOTHING
FRANK (just FRANK)
Friday 20 August
The Luminaire, 311 Kilburn High Rd, London, NW6 7JR
8pm | 6.00 | http://www.wegottickets.com/event/84287

OMAR SOULEYMAN
"Performing both a rare Mawal set and a Dabke/Choubi set"
Saturday 28 August
Corsica Studios, 5 Elephant St, Elephant & Castle, SE17 1LB
8pm | 15.00 | http://www.wegottickets.com/event/86456

ZOLA JESUS
Wednesday 1 September
Camp Basement, 70-74 City Road, Old Street, EC1Y 2BJ
8pm | 6.50 | http://www.wegottickets.com/event/82739

DAN DEACON
Thursday 16 September
XOYO, 32-37 Cowper St, London, EC2A 4AW
8pm | 10.00 | http://www.wegottickets.com/event/86407

FUTURE ISLANDS
Wednesday 29 September
Camp Basement, 70-74 City Road, Old Street, EC1Y 2BJ
8pm | 7.00 | http://www.wegottickets.com/event/82740

GRASS WIDOW
TRASH KIT
Thursday 30 September
Old Blue Last, 39 Great Eastern Rd,EC2A 3ES
8pm | 6.00 | http://www.wegottickets.com/event/84223

NO AGE
MALE BONDING
ABE VIGODA
Thursday 14 October
XOYO, 32-37 Cowper St, London, EC2A 4AW
8pm | 14.00 | http://www.wegottickets.com/event/86410

DEMONS
SICK LLAMA
Monday 18 October
The Grosvenor, 17 Sidney Road, Stockwell, SW9 0TP
8pm | 6.00 | http://www.wegottickets.com/event/86451

THE EX
Tuesday 19 October
The Dome, 178 Junction Rd, Tufnell Park (opposite the tube), N19 5QQ
8pm | 9.00 | http://www.wegottickets.com/event/86296

GUN OUTFIT
HUMAN HAIR
Thursday 21 October
The Grosvenor, 17 Sidney Road, Stockwell, SW9 0TP
8pm | 5.00 | http://www.wegottickets.com/event/84224

QUINTRON & MISS PUSSYCAT
Friday 22 October
The Dome, 178 Junction Rd, Tufnell Park (opposite the tube), N19 5QQ
8pm | 6.50 | http://www.wegottickets.com/event/86406

SCREAMING FEMALES
Wednesday 27 October
The Luminaire, 311 Kilburn High Road, Kilburn, NW6 7JR
8pm | 6.00 | http://www.wegottickets.com/event/84397

WAVVES and ECSTATIC SUNSHINE and HYPE WILLIAMS

Thanks to Barney for another amazing poster!!!
Rules hard!
x

BRILLIANT COLORS in EUROPIA

Yes, we have another tour waking up Summer on our doorstep! BRILLIANT COLORS are terrific we saw them play in NYC last year and were blown away SO now they're here in Europe like an exotic bejewelled totem spilling out American drama, dreamy relationship introspection and joyous pop in abundance. Here's the dates so plunge in and stalk them all over our landmass.


BRILLIANT COLORS
UK - June 2010 EURO TRIPS

05.06 - London - The Luminaire^
06.06 - Brighton - Cowley Club*
07.06 - Bristol - Mother's Ruin*
08.06 - Cardiff - Clwb Ifor Bach*
09.06 - Leeds - The Well*
10.06 - Glasgow - 13th Note*
11.06 - Newcastle - Star & Shadow*
12.06 - Nottingham - Spanky Van Dyke's*
13.06 - Manchester - Trof NQ*
15.06 - Paris - Le Pop In
16.06 - Lyon - Le Sonic
17.06 - Zurich - Binz
18.06 - St Etienne - L'assommoir
19.06 - Innsbruck - PMK
20.06 - Leipzig - Needle & The Damage Done
21.06 - Dresden - Ostpol
22.06 - Berlin - Bang Bang Club
23.06 - London - Scala"

^ = w / Thee Oh Sees
* = w / La La Vasquez
" = w/ Tune-Yards


BRILLIANT COLORS began in early 2007 when singer / guitarist Jess Scott hooked up with East Coast transplants Diane Anastasio and Michelle Hill - a veteran of a number of Bay Area underground punk outfits, as well as touring guitarist for The Slits. Brilliant Colors hone songwriting to a fine edge, writing sharp, subtly catchy indie pop that finds them more assuredly rounding out the corners of their DIY punk-meets-Shop Assistants, '78-'86 pop collision. After sharing bills with fellow Bay Area acts Nodzzz, Grass Widow and Ty Segall, and opening for the likes of The Urinals and The Homosexuals, the band began to record their swoonsome power pop. Following up two sold-out singles on Make A Mess and Captured Tracks, plus mounting fervor from all corners of the pop underground blog-o-world, Brilliant Colors' debut album 'Introducing' dropped late last year and was undeniable contender for best pop record of 2009. New 7" 'Never Mine' was released on Slumberland too a week or so ago. Pick it up from the merch table for sure!
www.myspace.com/brilliantcolorssanfrancisco

ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER & TOMUTONTTU on TOUR NOW!

ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER & TOMUTONTTU

UK tour- May 2010
27.05 - Brighton - Freebutt

28.05 - Leeds - Cardigan Arms

29.05 - Glasgow - Arts School

30.05 - Manchester - Saki Bar

31.05 - London - Cargo

ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER is the psycho-synthual experimentation project of Daniel Lopatin. Much like his contemporaries Emeralds, Lopatin is one of those enviably prolific underground figures, constantly committing his experiments to limited runs of sought-after CD-Rs and cassettes over the last two years. To shed a little light on his background, his father was a member of Russian psych outfit The Flying Dutchmen, and owner of a Juno 60 and Hohner Stringer. So it's easy to draw a line to his eerie analog synth sound, reminiscent of Kluster, Schulze or, more recently, Boards Of Canada. Cascading arpeggios, eerie ambience and vintage electronics swell to heavenly levels. Not only is it all so effortlessly warm and saturated in woozy tape warble, but Daniel's sound is also wonderfully tuneful and unselfconscious, for which the Massachusetts synth wrangler should be greatly applauded. Daniel's albums are available through No Fun Recordings now, plus a brand new CD on Editions Mego is due for release soon. 
www.myspace.com/pointnever

TOMUTONTTU is a solo project from Jan Anderzén who also performs in Finnish out-psych collective Kemialliset Ystävät. Jan's music is stripped down to the frame with a minimal synth breeze blowing through it. Beautifully lyrical in its layered abstractions, there is a sort of finely hewn composite of experimental dada electronics (à la early, early, early Die Todliche Doris or early, early, early P16.D4) and composerly elements (à la Rimarimba, Andrew Poppy or Meredith Monk). A few little Kraut-isms top off the tonic at no extra charge. Oh, and there's a bit that gets all spacey and chirpy like when the Virgin Prunes go completely bonkers (that's sure a helpful reference point... well, we like it). Tomutonttu has music available through Beta-Lactam Ring and Fonal. 
www.myspace.com/tomutonttu

We'd appreciate it a lot if you could spread the word along with us, both bands redefine and are seriously making the future.

FREDDY RUPPERT vs THE UPSET THE RHYTHM BOURBON CHALLENGE

Freddy of Former Ghosts is staying with us in London for a few days at the end of his tour, he's seen where the Queen lives and that large bell tower clock, Rough Trade tick, Portobello Rd tick, double deckert tick... he's done a lot! So partly inspired by the excess of the 'Hold On' video but mainly through a mutual appreciation of American Bourbon whisky we devised this following drinking challenge/review for fun. This was filmed yesterday evening in a blur as a result this morning we nurse headaches and slowly type this message. I hope you enjoy this informative video and remember >> FREDDY drinks them so you don't have to! This in no way is us angling for a sponsorship deal YET! hahahha
x

TRASH KIT video for 'Cadets'

Raving it up in the Stag's Head, thanks Charles, it is beautiful!
x

MALE BONDING HIT UP THE ROAD

x

Freddy, Zac, Rachael and Jherek on tour NOW

This week commences our joint headline tour for FORMER GHOSTS and PARENTHETICAL GIRLS in our general locale. They're two of our favourite acts, pushing melodrama and melancholy into more and more beautiful realms. All these shows are going to be great, I don't even need to tell you, spread the message far and wide!

FORMER GHOSTS and PARENTHETICAL GIRLS tour
_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+

May 2010
May 2010
16.05 - Brighton – Freebutt
17.05 – Cardiff – Ten Feet Tall
18.05 - Manchester - Trof NQ
19.05 - Leeds - Common Place
20.05 - Dublin - Twisted Pepper
22.05 - London - The Luminaire

'Not All Theists Believe God Exists' by John Maus

As a theist, I am often asked, “why do you believe all that foolishness?” What exactly am I supposed to believe? That a god exists? Of course not, at least, not in the sense a stone, or a house, exist; not even in the sense a subatomic particle, or a number, exist. But then what is it to exist anyways? A great deal of twentieth century philosophy was dedicated to this question. That effort may seem nothing more than pointless. However, the rationale was, because science rests on some presupposition of being—analyzing this or that being, but never being as such—we should try and understand what being means. Philosophy wanted to understand the meaning of the word “being” because some presupposition about its meaning is the very condition of possibility for science; not to mention history and politics. This concerns theism, then, because it raises the question: how can we know whether or not the divine is when we do not know what it means to be? We know, for example, the stone is, the house is. But none of this is at question, what is at question is what it means that these things are, what it means to be, and whether or not we can attribute the predicate of being to the divine without first understanding what this predicate means.

Assuming we did know what the predicate of being means, many theists would not attribute it to the divine. These theists understand the divine as that which escapes, in a certain sense, all predication, including existential predication, because, for them, the divine is the very possibility of any predication whatever. The divine, as these theists understand it, is without being or non-being, because, for them, it is what calls non-being to being. This particular concept is, then, necessarily different from other concepts; especially the usual beings theists are accused of believing in. It is not a new concept either. The Gospels, for example, do not present the divine as a being. More importantly, they do not present the divine as an answer to the problem of evil; as if there could be justification of the unjustifiable, as if merely attempting such justification would not itself be barbarous. Instead of all this, in the Gospels, Christ himself asks “Why?” The divine is presented as love; the humble and always fleeting trace of the Word, or something glimpsed in the faces of the poor and suffering.

I have referred to the Gospels. The Bible has many fantastic stories. Already in the second century CE, the Church Father Origen explained these stories should not be read literally. Even so, many people do just that, and some of them even boast when the stories fail to withstand this literal reading. Why frame a text solely within a context radically hostile to it? This is like those Evangelicals who try to prove biblical stories using science. It intentionally misses the mark. Anyways, do human beings really possess a means of common measure for that which has nothing in common? With this question, we might be reminded of Marx, for whom the real bad faith was always in a universal equivalence.

We must remember the truth: there is no truth, but rather only the creative possibilities of reckoning with this absence. Regardless of how we enhance our sensory abilities, our knowledge of things, our consciousness, and so on, the world will never cease being mediated to us. We will never have immediate access to the world. Even mathematics is founded on the axiomatic method. Science is only one, albeit extraordinarily productive, way of mediating the world, and it is not above historical mutability or political interest. Consider love. The descriptions given of it by poetry are surely as true in their own right as those given by biology. In a similar way, couldn’t the story of creation given in Genesis be as true as the one given in The Origin of the Species? To insist otherwise betrays a violence, a failure of the imagination, an unthinking opposition to alterity. It is the same posture that suggests religion is something “backwards,” something we are now “growing out of.” By this logic, one is justified in approaching, for example, an indigenous people, and explaining to them everything part and parcel with their culture and their way of life is “old fashioned,” and that they should embrace science in its place. This is precisely the logic used to legitimate the colonial projects that decimated entire peoples. Besides, to believe in progress, in this general sense, is to have learned nothing from the camps.

The supreme question of theism was never a question of being. Theism, as currently embodied in the three great monotheistic traditions, is essentially faith the divine marks the possibility of a relationship—collective or individual—with that for which there can be no idol. There will always be reprehensible human activity in the name of this relationship, just as there will always be reprehensible human activity. To answer the question “Why is such a relationship desirable?” would be to make the divine answer to something other than itself. In other words, it would be to make what is, for those who have faith in it, the absence of any absolute, what exceeds any and every absolute, answer to some absolute. It is not a matter of use, nor is it a matter of certainty in the sense of causality or a positive fact; it is a matter of being faithful. It is certainly not a matter of cowardice or ignorance. This faith is what the philosopher Friederich Nietzsche was about in his famous declaration on the death of god: creative fidelity to the absence of any absolute. In his famous parable of the madman, it was the so-called atheists who did not understand what was meant by the death of god, merely laughing instead, like so many today, “Where then has he gone? Did he lose his way like a child?”

The choice is between worship of an idol or worship of the divine. If they are not demanding whichever fanatics they have taken as exemplary of theism give up one idol for another, many of the so-called atheists of today demand nothing less than the divine itself become an idol, the deus absconditus become the deus manifestus, like the centurions mocking Christ, “If you really are a god, then…” For many theists, however, the whole point is to kneel, precisely, before no idol at all. This does not mean these theists do not recognize the truths of science, of art, of politics, of love, but rather, for them, these truths are not mutually exclusive. This is because they have faith in, and so a relationship with, what lies outside any of these.