Carl Abrahamsson's Blog, page 43
August 5, 2019
The regurgitation monster speaks
Pen, paper, camera. Good walking shoes. It doesn’t take a genius to sum it all up.
Am I a magnet? A sponge? A filter? An intellectual feedback loop? A regurgitation monster? All of the above, I’d say, as I keep roaming the invisible yellow brick road to an OZ of my own construction.
Do I ever see or partake of the truth? I hope not, because there is no such thing. There is only a dynamic interdependence between individuals. Not even between cultures, nations, continents, sexes, races, religions etc. There is only a dynamic interdependence between individuals in the here and now.
I don’t need much to do my part, or to offer what I have. Some people get it; some don’t. I am a magnet, a sponge, a filter, an intellectual feedback loop, and most definitely a regurgitation monster. If you have something to offer me, I can assure you that you are in good hands. Look, see, can you discern an OZ of your own making on the horizon? That’s where I’m headed, anyway. Join me if you will.
August 3, 2019
Thoughts from the village
Portmeirion, Wales: One of the 23 wonders of the world; a place of unimagined beauty and exquisite taste. One man’s vision of a total environment, and one fictional structure’s additions to it. Then and there you have an eternal bedrock of human achievement; like majestic pyramids of the North. Architectural splendor with mythological infusion on top and underneath. ”The Prisoner will set you free…” An entire village dedicated to both the illusion and the breaking of the illusion. A timeless, spaceless monument to colorful human magic and philosophy. The attraction is overwhelming; almost as if I were willing to become a number to be able to remain a name – undoubtedly a man of the here and now, and one transcending external simplifications.
But… The draconian white bubble still clings to a wall, waiting to be set free to imprison and bring any culprits back. At what cost freedom? At what cost imprisonment? What does the village really represent? I wish I knew but the only thing I do know is that I never will.
No matter what… If I were to go to the end of the world in any direction, I’d still be convinced that Portmeirion is one very definite center of the universe. If nothing else, then at least the center of my own universe.
(An excerpt from my forthcoming book The Exotic Stayed At Home. Photograph by Vanessa Sinclair.)
August 2, 2019
White Stains ”Singleminded Dualisms” is available now!
This album anthologises all the White Stains vinyl singles on 7” and 12”, plus the 1988 compilation track “It’s Yours If You Want it.” This era White Stains grew out of the more psychedelic side of the Swedish garage scene at the time, but soon developed into presenting a more modern sound and even heavy electronic experiments, ambient spoken word projects, and film music etc. White Stains were formed by Carl Abrahamsson and Jan Ekman in 1987, and this album contains all the music made and released by them 1987-1989. “The Energy” and “Phase of Madness” were recorded by Abrahamsson and Ekman alone, whereas “Sweet Jayne”, “Here To Do”, “Express Your Desire”, “Death At Hand” and “It’s Yours If You Want It” were recorded with a full-on rock’n’roll band. “The Awareness”, “My Hallucination”, “The Result” and “Ov Like Mind” integrated the forces of ex-Lustans Lakejer bass player Peter Bergstrandh and Thomas Tibert, both important people in the coming phases of White Stains.
You can check out the album (and buy it) right HERE!
Rendering Unconscious is for you!
One of the books I’m proudest of in terms of publishing is my wife’s anthology Rendering Unconscious: Psychoanalytical Perspectives, Politics & Poetry. Not only because my wife put it together but because it’s a highly interesting tome.
It should be obvious to everyone that things aren’t quite right in the world today. More death drive than libido, to use psychoanalytical lingo. But why is this?
Rendering Unconscious in no way presents set or simplified answers but rather encourages us to ask our own questions instead. Some texts are technically about psychoanalysis but most of them actually aren’t. There are texts about culture, poetry proper, formal experiments and many other things. In all, a fascinating read not unlike my own occultural journal The Fenris Wolf – always serving a smorgasbord of thought provoking and nutritious material.
Vanessa also has a great podcast by the same name that has become very popular. Casual conversations with fellow psychoanalysts, psychologists, poets, artists etc, plus many interesting recordings of lectures from the conferences we’ve organised so far. It’s one of the greatest podcasts I know!
More on Vanessa Sinclair and her work as an international psychoanalyst:
https://store.trapart.net/books/167-rendering-unconscious-pre-order.html
July 29, 2019
Quantifying a void
Can you quantify a void? I’m sure someone’s already trying, unaware of the sardonic humor involved. To be an empiricist means being outside the empire of actual certainty. In essence, what seems to be fact is nothing more than an accumulation of statistics. And then what?
It’s great to be in places where the sun is warm and pleasant, where there are a lot of small birds twittering and flying around in energetic pride, where’s there’s great food and interesting things to see and take part of. That’s really all the certainty I need. That’s an empire of humble yet blessed life; decidedly devoid of void. And yes, that’s also a fact.
July 22, 2019
Sensual Immersions
More on geographic initiation… Looking, seeing, listening, hearing, touching, feeling, jumping, sitting, strolling, smelling, tasting etc.
Sensual immersion is one key but not necessarily the most important one. Displacement is equally important; a semi-controlled neophilia.
What are we looking for? Whatever we’re looking for can never really be found. Unless, perhaps, around the next corner. A recommended approach: keep looking. For what is the least important important aspect of this particular initiation? You will know once you’ve found your desired Shangri-La, but then you will already be somewhere else.
Amor fati, fellow traveler. Onwards, backwards, upwards, downwards.
July 15, 2019
A healthy panic in the Moroccan mountains
Joujouka is everything and more and then some. In part, it’s a projection from the assembled, steeped in romance. But in large part it’s very much the “real deal.” Because even if the origins of this “panic” relationship to history could be questioned, why should it be?
The music and the performances are so vital and vibrant that there’s no question in anyone’s mind as to what’s going on around us. Bou Jeloud runs the show here; wrapped in goat skin, chasing the women around to have some fun while making them fecund over and over again.
It’s a massively psychedelic tour de force reverberating through the millennia, centuries, decades, years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes and seconds. In this very moment, we are faced not so much with Bou Jeloud as any kind of “father of fear,” but rather as the ecstatic clarifier of the necessities of life.
When life enhancement backs down to “pro life,” we know we are doomed. In Joujouka however, there is only life enhancement; still free and strong despite the religious yoke/joke. Bou Jeloud tells us in his ecstatic behaviour that our life force cannot be controlled, nor restricted in any way. Those who try to restrict it are those who are ill. They should either be shunned like the plague or actively healed. A music as old and powerful as that of the Master Musicians of Joujouka can provide fuel for both these alternatives.
Which one would you choose?
July 11, 2019
Genesis Breyer P-Orridge & White Stains on Highbrow Lowlife
On June 29th 2013, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge teamed up with old friends and creative White Stains partners Carl Abrahamsson and Thomas Tibert for a one off gig in Gothenburg, Sweden, at the well-renowned jazz club Nefertiti. In many ways celebrating their first creative collaboration – the Genesis P-Orridge and White Stains album “At Stockholm” (1990) – this particular evening was called “At Gothenburg.” White Stains were also backed up by ace guitarist Eriq Olin, which added to the improvisational flavour of the evening. To further tie in with the era of “At Stockholm,” Carl Abrahamsson began the evening by reciting the lyrics from the three White Stains “93” singles before Maestro P-Orridge entered the stage. And as an encore, White Stains performed a version of their trippy “Underworld Initiation” (from the album “This Infernal Love of Life,” 1989). In all, it was an evening that touched everyone present to the core. A performance filled with the magic of P-Orridge’s poetry and the cosmic sounds of White Stains. Nefertiti Rising!
A recording of this remarkable evening has now been made available via Highbrow Lowlife.
You can listen to and buy the album right HERE!
”Why not forever?” is now available via Highbrow Lowlife
The archival explorations continue! This time it’s ”Why not forever?” and that is certainly a justified question!
”White Stains 1994 album is a smooth continuation of the vibes from ”Misantropotantra” (1992). Dark, ethereal, evocative, instrumental, rough yet elegant, and always eager to surprise with new macabre twists. This is an album for daydreaming at night, when no-one sees and no-one hears (or cares). Carl Abrahamsson and Peter Bergstrandh toured Europe extensively to promote this album, and it still holds up well as one of Swedish dark ambient’s absolute classics.”
You can listen to the White Stains album right HERE! And, yes, why not forever?
July 10, 2019
”Misantropotantra” is now available via Highbrow Lowlife
In an attempt to more fully understand the machinations of my archive/external subconscious, I keep finding things that need to be polished off and served to the unexpecting people of this globe in space. The latest offering is the White Stains album Misantropotantra from 1992.
”Originally released in 1992, this album consists of music by Carl Abrahamsson and Peter Bergstrandh. Dark, atmospheric, rhythmic, and often with suave hints of Bergstrandh’s masterful bass-playing. From having been a “rock” band with occasional drifts into ambient-land, this particular instrumental collaboration took White Stains into black spirals and electric voids of frustration and anxiety from which they never really spiraled back.”
You can listen to/buy Misantropotantra right HERE!
