Sissy Spacek/Smegma
Ballast
CD
Helicopter, H 88

Ace Farren Ford, Dennis Duck, and Ju Suk Reet Meate (three original members) are joined by Rock ’N’ Roll Jackie (35 years in the band), John Wiese (approximately 10 years), and a cast of others form the current third phase Smegma. Personnel of this album, “Ballast”, consists of this line-up plus Charlie Mumma, a member of Sissy Spacek since 2008.

The source material of “Ballast” was recorded at home and on the Los Angeles radio station Dublab, but what we hear is not exactly Smegma and Sissy Spacek performing together as a live group. Wiese’s production of the recording is a kind of un-doing of the live group playing, forging it into a new collage of sound. It reminds us of genome editing which results in diversity, and sometimes in mutation, of organisms.

The title of the album, “Ballast”, refers to a weight on a ship which improves it’s stability, but it is also a term for an electrical component that regulates electricity so as to not destroy the other components. It’s double meaning fits between the cover art and the collage process which is constantly partitioning and interrupting the elements of sound.

—Takuya Sakaguchi, from the liner notes

https://helicopter.storenvy.com/
https://sissyspacek.bandcamp.com/merch
http://gorejet.com

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Hijokaidan/Sissy Spacek
Entropic
LP/CD
Helicopter, H 87

On the verge of their 40th and in the midst of their 20th anniversaries, respectively, Hijokaidan and Sissy Spacek merge in Tokyo for their first collaboration, featuring Jojo Hiroshige, Junko, T. Mikawa, Charlie Mumma, Futoshi Okano, Tentenko (guest), and John Wiese.

Hijokaidan formed in 1979, marking the first wave of groups in Japan exploring extreme noise. Sissy Spacek formed in 1999, often playing in large ensembles of players, and frequently exploring grindcore as a base for creating extreme music, often while eschewing the notion of music altogether.

During Sissy Spacek’s 20th anniversary tour in Japan, the recordings of “Amok Time” and “Seven Directions” were made with Hijokaidan in collaboration. While Hijokaidan’s sound has been described as a continuous climax of your entire progressive rock collection, Sissy Spacek’s “Twenty-Five Fragments” is a sequence of peak chaos from their 2018 tour, recorded on walkman for maximum effect.

Additionally, the CD edition contains Hijokaidan’s full live set at Akihabara Club Goodman.

https://helicopter.storenvy.com/
https://sissyspacek.bandcamp.com/merch
http://gorejet.com

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The Haters/Sissy Spacek
Multifactorial Dynamic Pathways
CD
Helicopter, H 83

Despite many collaborations among these artists over the years, this album represents the first proper meeting of The Haters and Sissy Spacek. Often stuttering around a particular sound source or technique, the tracks on this collaboration are partitioned into precise 10-minute increments for an orderly shifting palette.

Formed in 1979, The Haters have explored many forms of entropy over their span, continuously broadening their approach through various mediums including recorded works, conceptual performances, radio, and video. In 2019, The Haters celebrate their 40th anniversary.

Sissy Spacek (comprised of Charlie Mumma and John Wiese) celebrated their 20th anniversary in 2018, touring extensively throughout the United States and Japan, with a number of releases expositing their broad range, including a new grindcore album on Nuclear War Now! Productions, and experimental works on labels such as Gilgongo Records, New Forces, Dotsmark (Japan), and Daymare Recordings (Japan). They begin their 21st year with a series of collaborations with longtime friends.

https://helicopter.storenvy.com/
https://sissyspacek.bandcamp.com/merch
http://gorejet.com

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John Wiese
Seven of Wands
2xLP
Gilgongo Records
GGGR-100

Gilgongo Records presents the highly anticipated debut vinyl edition of John Wiese’s acclaimed album, Seven of Wands. Uniquely beautiful, immersive, and transportive, it utilizes strategies and techniques of musique concrète and electroacoustic music, while emphasizing the mixing desk as a true instrument. This new 2×LP set contains a full side of previously unreleased material from the archives—making it essential for a cionados and a perfect introduction to Wiese’s solo work. Previously available as an import CD from PAN.

http://gilgongorecords.com
http://helicopter.storenvy.com

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https://www.tinymixtapes.com/news/john-wiese-and-gilgongo-records-announce-expanded-reissue-seven-wands?fbclid=IwAR3UQUrNid0uE5LZIR3ZISSlk1TpNt_5vnu9Kd-BdioLYWXVHTsA_nFwB3I

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Sissy Spacek
Freaked With Jet
LP or LP+DVD
Gilgongo Records
GGGR-097

No guitars and fuck two-second gaps. A collection of six 7-inches (Gutter Splint, Fortune b/w The Eyes Of Men, Epistasis, Vacuum, Vanishing Point, and the split with Agathocles). Performed by Mumma/Ronnau/Wiese. The only band to make a Milton and a Mentors reference on the same album. Silk screened cover.

Edition of 100, or
Numbered edition of 50 with DVD.

http://gilgongorecords.com/
https://helicopter.storenvy.com/

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Milan, Italy

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GX Jupitter-Larsen and John Wiese discuss Nihil Ad Rem, published by Hesse Press.

http://hessepresse.com/
http://jupitter-larsen.com/

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UPEND and NOW INSTANT IMAGE HALL present

John Wiese’s
PURPLE RAIN: TERROR BEYOND BELIEF

The first L.A. screening – and only second anywhere – of a film Wiese’s describes as a “new edit of PURPLE RAIN where Prince murders Apollonia and gets away with it.”

Artist Q&A to follow the screening.

at
NOW INSTANT IMAGE HALL

04.25.19, 8pm
Tickets are $10 onsite.
Early arrival recommended!

“PURPLE RAIN: TERROR BEYOND BELIEF shines a darker shade of purple on the ‘greatest music movie of them all.’ If ‘Darling Nikki’ was all it took for Tipper Gore to start the PMRC, one wonders what PR:TBB might have done for the MPAA. Unlike other works of appropriation which selectively reorganize ‘bites’ into a new decontexualized construct, PR:TBB pushes an existing, diegetic act of violence a few cinematic degrees further, and then lets the third act play through (albeit without Apollonia’s presence). This is PURPLE RAIN as you have seen it before (yet not).”

https://www.facebook.com/events/2370960679614981/

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Book Launch & Signing with Paul McCarthy & Damon McCarthy

Thu 11 Apr 2019, 7 pm

The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA

Celebrate the launch of Paul McCarthy and Damon McCarthy’s latest publications — ‘Caribbean Pirates’ and ‘Aftermath’ — at a book signing with the artists. The signing will take place at Hauser & Wirth Publishers’ booth (H12) at Printed Matter’s Los Angeles Art Book Fair at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA.

‘Caribbean Pirates,’ the latest publication from Hauser & Wirth Publishers, is an immense two-volume artist book by Paul McCarthy and his son Damon McCarthy, presenting photographic documentation of ‘Frigate’ and ‘Houseboat,’ two works first begun in 2001 that take the lawlessness of piracy as a departure point. Exploring the ways bodies, sex, and violence all find themselves enmeshed in networks of cultural references – spanning from American consumerism to Disney and classical cinema – these works are an essential component of McCarthy’s acclaimed multidisciplinary practice, which merges performance, sculpture, photography, painting, video, installation, and virtual reality. The kaleidoscopic documentation of ‘Frigate’ and ‘Houseboat’ is accompanied by ‘Catching Mayhem by Its Tail,’ a new text by John C. Welchman.

‘Aftermath,’ published by Hesse Press, is a collection of photographs featuring inanimate objects from the shooting location for ‘DADDA Saloon,’ a film by Paul McCarthy, co-directed by Paul McCarthy and Damon McCarthy. Photographed as a document, the props and set create their own haunting resonance long after the filming has wrapped.

This event is free with the purchase of an opening night ticket to the Los Angeles Art Book Fair.

Event location: The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, 152 N Central Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90012

About Hauser & Wirth Publishers
Since its founding in 1992, Hauser & Wirth Publishers has presented unique, object-like books that encourage an understanding and appreciation of contemporary art. Its backlist comprises monographs, artists’ books, exhibition catalogues, and collections of artists’ writings – often bringing new and overlooked aspects of an artist’s creative practice into focus. By commissioning original, in-depth scholarship to give thoughtful insight into featured art objects, Hauser & Wirth Publishers aims to craft accessible and lasting records of the gallery’s exhibitions and artists’ work.

About Hesse Press
The Los Angeles based publishing house was founded by artists, Clare Kelly and John Wiese. Hesse Press focuses on making the LA art scene accessible through artist monographs that are published every fall and spring. Actively supporting the need for tangible and logistical support for artists in Los Angeles, the press provides partners with financial support through a micro-granting system, as well as providing creative design for the design and publication of art books. Hesse Press weighs the needs of artists, audience and wider community with equal importance within the context of carefully crafted but affordable books.

https://www.facebook.com/events/2276102322637685/

https://www.hauserwirth.com/events/24227-book-launch-signing-paul-mccarthy-damon-mccarthy

http://hessepresse.com

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LAABF 2019: Hesse Press presents The Reader’s Chorus

We celebrate LA Art Book Fair 2019 with Hesse Press presenting The Reader’s Chorus performing Emily Joyce’s A Cigar Caught In The Lilies with two live performances at 7:30pm and 8:30pm

For their performance A Cigar Caught In The Lilies at the Ace Hotel, the Reader’s Chorus will re-interpret and perform Emily Joyce’s visual poetry book of the same name (Hesse Press) as a score for a reading chorus. The Reader’s Chorus is a group of people who love to read aloud and experiment with the possibilities of the speaking voice. Together the group arranges, writes and reads texts, often seeking to manipulate and discover new timbral combinations, rhythms and methods of sonic and visual spatialization in performance. Joyce’s book was written with a sense of urgency, but also in secret, beginning in November 2016, when the shock of the election coincided with personal traumas. Her poem’s observational and diaristic style are reflective, heartbreaking and humorous.

7:30 PM Saturday April 13, 2019
Through 1:00 AM – Sunday April 14, 2019

Free and open to the public / 21+
Ace Hotel, Upstairs

https://www.acehotel.com/losangeles/events-and-spaces/calendar/2019-04-13/laabf-2019-hessepress-presents-readers-chorus/

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JOHN WIESE—SHORT FILMS AND VIDEOS
(No Response & Mini Microcinema co-presentation)

Tuesday, March 26
Doors 7:00 PM / Start 7:30 PM @ The Mini – 1329 Main St., Cincinnati, OH

John Wiese is an artist and composer living between Los Angeles and Cleveland. From his experiments with recording as a teenager, he has since gone on to work in the world of contemporary sound art as well as the international experimental scene. As a performer and recording artist, his expertise in composition, texture, and experimentation with sound confirm his reputation of being one of the most original and innovative artists in experimental music. This collection of short video and films by the artist explore the use of sound in documentation, art piece, visual-sound, and dramedy. Exclusive to screenings, this is a very rare opportunity to view this collection of work.
John Wiese in attendance!

Free with $5 suggested donation.
https://www.facebook.com/events/545216665989561/

http://www.mini-cinema.org/screenings/wiese

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