Newsletter No. 42: NO ONE ESCAPES FROM OUR KETTLE ALIVE "The common belief has emerged that government violence is rational (or at least deliberate and intentional), while private violence is irrational, aberrant, the product of psychopathology rather than deliberate intention. In fact, violence is violence, whether public or private, official or unofficial, legal or illegal, good or bad. Violence is an instrumentality, not a psychopathology or a character disorder. Violence is a means to an end�domination and control - one of many possible means. Since its essence is injury, its efficacy in the long term is marginal, but its SHORT-TERM ADVANTAGES ARE OBVIOUS." - Richard Rhodes "YOU'RE SHOCKED? WELL YOU'RE NOT EVEN HALF AS SHOCKED AS I AM THAT YOU'RE EVEN SHOCKED AT ALL." - E.S. ROBINSON to ANGRY CUCKOLD GARY BALDWIN After awhile their faces all look the same. Pinched with the pique that comes from having placed their trust in a place and a people who have little use for it and discovering in the most painfully public way that they had been violated. But forget BILL CLINTON for a second and his chest-beating bleatings about doing the wrong thing for the worst possible reason ("because I could"). Forget it because there exists a force that is in total much more scrupulously honest in its perfidy: doing the wrong thing for the best of all possible reasons ("because we fucking wanted to"). But we're not too cool to want to appear all cool and like we don't care because we wouldn't have even gotten this far if we really didn't care. No. We're full of care. And if care is our cure then yeah it very may well be worse than the curse. Translation: we feel your goddamned pain. We feel it...but then we forget about it immediately AFTER feeling it. So we probably'd be better off never feeling anything to begin with. But why quibble? Because we quibble well. Especially if by quibble you mean causing in you a violently conflicting flood of thoughts and tender emotion. I mean yeah, we're bad but even in our badness we're better than any of the best you've seen. But why quibble? Well because we want you to cut us some fucking slack for cutting you to the quick as it is a well known fact that knives have lives all their own. So while we'd like to say that it's not our fault, we know all too well that that's exactly what it is. SHOW ME YOURS EUGENE ROBINSON is playing: 1) HAMBURG, GERMANY, AUGUST 29TH w/ with pop sensations THE REMINDER 2) BERLIN, M-Cluster Festival, Foyer/Studio, Hanseatenweg 10 at 8 pm on SEPTEMBER 4TH with MANUEL LIEBESKIND on Electronics OXBOW is playing: 1) The EAGLE on Thursday, SEPT. 16TH w/ ROPE and THE ENABLERS. 2) The SILVERLAKE LOUNGE in LOS ANGELES on Saturday, SEPT. 18TH w/ROPE 3) The EMPTY BOTTLE in CHICAGO on Weds., SEPT. 22nd: This is part of the WIRE Magazine-sponsored Adventures in Modern Music Festival. OXBOW will play with Boom Bip, A View From the Window featuring Axel Dorner, Franz Hautzinger & Keith Rowe, and Leafcutter John. Show starts at 9. Don't expect us to be nice. And in the OH MAYBE COLUMN there is THIS: "I am the agent for ISIS in the USA and we are planning a headline tour for them starting November 10th in Southern California in support of their new album due on Ipecac Oct 12. They are taking THESE ARMS ARE SNAKES as their main support, but are also huge fans of OXBOW and wanted to see if you might be available and interested in supporting a few west coast shows." We agreed in principle providing the rider comes with ample provisions of miscellaneous men for Eugene to fight. GODDAMNED NEWSFLASH Oxbow "Serenade in Red" re-issue on RuminanCe, October 5th, 2004 http://www.chez.com/ruminance http://www.ruminance.com WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED? JULY 29, THURSDAY THE GREAT AMERICAN MUSIC HALL, SAN FRANCISCO, EUGENE with JARBOE, and NEUROSIS "Well I get this call like a few days before. It's the lovelyesque KRISTIN from NEUROT and she's all like 'Listen Jarboe's going to call...sgsgsghs....and she....ajajaj...naked.' Yes, yes, cell phones suck. But I got enough to know that it involved JARBOE, NEUROSIS, naked and ajajaj. So I was in and when Jarboe called a few days later she explained that as part of her set with Neurosis that she wanted me to come out to their cover of PATTI SMITH'S song EASTER and toward song end I was supposed to strip revealing to all those in attendance the last verse written in white on my naked body. But there was a catch. NO HOT COCK ACTION. What? 'Well, I guess Steve's parents are going to be in the audience and he said I should tell you not to show your, um, penis.' I always love that PAUSE before the use of the word PENIS. It feels like love to me. 'Well you know telling me NOT to show the cock, is almost exactly like saying SHOW the cock. But I understand what he's saying if he's saying that he doesn't want this to become some out of control OXBOW-like extravaganza of EUGENE-cockitude. This I understand. But y'all are just going to have to trust my instincts as an artist. And keep me away from the VINO.' 'Hold on. KRIS [FORCE from AMBER ASYLUM] wants to say something to you.' 'Hey. What if we just gave you some flesh colored underwear to wear?' 'I don't own any brown underwear. Not brown all OVER anyway.' 'Hmm...well what if we just paint your thing like a different color....' 'Which would have the total effect of making it more noticeable.' 'Yes, yes, we could paint it....maybe a blue. In nice, um, BROAD strokes so that...' 'Broad strokes, you say?' 'Yes, yes, broad strokes of blue...just stroke it on and ...' 'I'm getting aroused.' 'OK, well I'll give the phone back to Jarboe.' 'What about a loincloth?' 'No fucking way. And what? A loincloth and a fucking spear? That'd be ANTHONY KEIDIS you need. 'OK, ok, forget, just show up and we'll figure it out.' Uh hunh. And so it was agreed. LAVERNE [AMBER ASYLUM] was going to show up pre-show, paint the verse on my back and we'd work the cock thing out later. Later as it turned out was downstairs at the Hall where Jarboe presented me with a pair of her underwear and said, 'here wear this....' I agreed. Thought better of it, feared the destabilizing power of transvestitism, and declined. Laverne painted the verse on my back and I left for stage left where I watched the middle third of the mighty Neurosis set, which was as cool as the Jarboe addition would have led you to believe it'd be. And as we get closer to EASTER I watch the audience and am filled with a loathing that is hard to explain. People, people, people. With their hair. And their stupid arms. And shoes. And the humanity, the stink of humanity. And Noah from Neurosis starts screaming at the stage guy, 'Eugene's got to get through here!!! You gotta move. Eugene's coming through!' And it was contagious, this burbling hysteria and on stage I went and as usual it all came so fast that I don't remember much but what I do remember goes something like this: 1) watching Steve nod his head at me. Which I understood as being the secret signal that I GO RIGHT FOR MY COCK. 2) The glacial waves of silence that came from the capacity crowd when I shuffle onstage. 3) Jarboe hot fucking ass in my hands. 4) The sexual degenerate who corralled me in the hallway by the kitchen with a camera and asked 'can I take your picture?' Usually the answer is no, but he had some kind of semi-official looking credential. Asking the Neurosis folks about him later they said "we have NO idea who that is." It was a great show. Made even greater by featuring my cock." And Resting In Some Reasonable Facsimile of Peace 1) Thomas Jinx Durkan: Singer for Half Church 2) Esther (Oxbow Tour Diary 2002, Page 8) 3) Pat McCaffrey, gunned down in fucking Fallujah WHAT THE FUCK ARE THEY YELLING? THE METAL OBSERVER: V/A "Neurot Recordings http://www.metal-observer.com/articles.php?lid=1&sid;=1&id;=6493 Also published in German, to see it just change lid=1 in the link to lid=2) "Thus, "Neurot Recordings I" a collection of songs from Neurot artists that fully demonstrates the range and scope of the label, be it in the form of NEUROSIS' majestic, almost overwhelming sound, [or] OXBOW's ugly and all too real music...[backed with] the intriguing and vastly intriguing "Music For Adults: A Film About A Band Called Oxbow" that gives the viewer an inside glimpse into OXBOW's live performances, which seem to be more of an experience than simply a show, as well as interviews with viewers and the band, about what OXBOW is. PUNKROCKS http://www.punkrocks.net/display_review.php?id=582 From the label of the almighty Neurosis. This mish-mash of ambient-soundscapes, noise, samples, metal and other mind-fuckery scared the shit out of me. If Current 93 were a metal band? About as subtle as a colonoscopy, but not as 'fun'.�Michael Farr - Michael Farr ASHTON COURT FESTIVAL :::::::: Put that light out "Praise be! For the third year running there will be a corner of the Ashton Court Festival that, day or night, rain or shine, will be shrouded in darkness. Whether purely as a retreat from the hectic hullabaloo of the main environment or, better still, the perfect place to catch some of that uniquely oddball festival goodness, the Blackout tent serves a vital purpose from its station on the far left wing of the event's programming policy. By dishing up its curious stew of alternative musical presentation, inspired audio-visual stimuli and random improvised fun, the Blackout offers that crucial artistic shade to counterpoint the relative light in which the rest of the fest is bathed. Its reputation fortified by last year's astonishing OXBOW performance - the festival highlight for many - as well as a solid year of Bristol-based promotional activity and workshops, the organisers promise an interesting change of tack this time round." �Jon Stevens MAIL SCROTUM "the capricorns supported pelican last night and dedicated a song to you!! you are AWESOME!" -- emmarat xx EUGENE & ERIC FROM RELAPSE RECORDS: A TETE A TETE "Eugene, how's life?" Well right now, just this side of horrifying. For reasons that if I explained them to you, would cause you to question not only MY sanity but also the very foundations of our civilization. Other than that? Quite fine. "I just found this post someone made on the relapse forum" Nice to be talked about. And even nicer that you tell me. thank you. "That I thought you'd enjoy immensly. Here ya go: "They're a band I often daydream about seeing live. But always in a familiar location, like in the yard behind the on-campus pub or at a local community centre. And I just love watching the horror and discomfort on all the faces. Eugene staggers over to some cross-armed emaciated scene twerp just to slobber all over his glasses, and the kid just keeps staring at the ground, ahahah..." Actually my favorite environs to play a show are with so-called tough guy bands...we've done so in England...but not too often here...you know those tough guy tourists. they'll play before us and macho the place the fuck out and then come back stage and look at me sitting in the corner with my chapstick and say, if not actually speak, "you sad old man". and their contempt combined with my general feelings of loathing and the memory that each of the songs carry for me of the ways in which my life has failed causes me to murmur "excuse me" as I make my way to the stage where I will commence to cursing God...for making me so goddamned handsome. ahhh....now that's a good night. "And how the fuck is the new album coming?" what's there is great. but we're working in true OXBOW insane fashion. rehearsing one 16 second section of one song for like 45 days running now. "If you want a little stroking (not that kind man...) for the ego, you'd be pleased to know that whenever OXBOW comes up in the Relapse forum, it's always 3 or so pages of praise/worship of the band. The most fun and controversial statement everyone likes to make is the whole 'is Eugene genius or insane?'. I thought those were always one and the same, but who knows? I'm neither so I can't comment. I flew from Atlanta to San Fran for that Neurosis show weeks back, and it was a nice surprise to see you onstage, didn't expect that to happen at all. How did that come about? Did the band invite you onstage prior to the show for more visuals for the crowd? Interesting turn of events and it was fun to watch people around me squirming and not knowing what to think. Way to keep em on their toes..." THOSE CRAZY KIDS Nicholas Blakey wrote: "Hello Emily -- I just received the Dresden Dolls notice looking for support slots and I would highly recommend the Boston band The In Out, who have played in some of those cities (Montreal, Toronto, Minneapolis). I highly recommend that you get in touch with the performance music group OXBOW in San Francisco. They always put on a marvelous show, including costume changes, performance art, etc. Really incredible stuff. I was fortunate to witness some shows they did in 2001. Good luck and thanks- Nick Blakey" Emily wrote: "I will definitely contact them, thank you again. No, I'm an undergrad. I work for The Dolls' as part of my co-op. --Emily Emily wrote: "hello wonderful san fransisco performers (whitney, wendy, and eugene), this is emily from dresden dolls land. i just wanted to put you guys in touch with each other so you can help coordinate ideas, etc for the band's show at Cafe Du Nord August 20. eugene: i don't believe i've spoken to you directly, but you were suggested to me by a friend. we are recruiting performers for the upcoming Dresden Dolls show in San Fransisco to statue, mingle through the audience in costume, etc. please check out the band at www.dresdendolls.com and let me or whitney know if you are interested." Eugene Responds: "Emily...I don't know you. I don't know your work. But I think you're a genius. OK. So I might be in Las Vegas for a show on the 20th and the 21st but if that doesn't work out I'd be glad to show up and ruin your event by sexually assaulting audience members. And juggling. But mostly the assault stuff. In any case please explain a little bit more of exactly what you want and if I can't be there to do what I do, I'll be able to come up with a suitable alternative. cheers, Eugene ps...I was joking about the sexual assault stuff. And the juggling. But mostly the juggling. NEXT MONTH: WILL BE A WEEK LATE BECAUSE, BECAUSE WE'RE....PREGNANT!!! AND IN GERMANY WITH EUGENE. WITH SOME SERIOUS FUCKING PATERNITY QUESTIONS. [ Newsletter ]