rave era as recapitulation of the sixties

[thirdform]

Shiels I don't hate drugs lol. Just go on erowid or bluelight and tell me you ever want to hear anyone talking about drugs again.

 

[thirdform]

or make friends with anyone who goes to psychedelic society trips/conferences. the weird hippies i used to get my acid off in uni. intolerable. and they loved fucking Shpongle, the worst music in the world.

 

[luka]

Lots of very boring people take drugs. Lots of very boring people pontificate about capitalism. But there are a small number of interesting people who take drugs and talk about them in interesting ways and use them for interesting purposes and equally there is a very small number of people who can talk about capitalism in ways which are useful and intelligent and interesting.

This is what I truly believe in my heart.

 

[luka]

Amen.

 

[shiels]

I went to this psychedelic conference last year and my heart sank and I felt so alone and deflated. Disgusting flakes and degenerates, completely delusional. It almost put me off drugs for good and I decided then that nothing good is going to come out of that lot, ever, under any circumstances. I think Shiels was maybe there too.

Breaking convention? I didn’t get a ticket on time. But I’ve been to a few of these things and am saddened to say that I felt the same, not exactly my people. This is why we’re trying to build a new psychedelia here third are you fucking on board or what?

 

[Woebot]

if the counter-culture invented wellness and rave was a semi-recapitulation of that, then I'd rather remain unwell. it's so cheesy hearing young kids constantly talk about healing, as if we are all mental defectives. Chuck it in the bin frankly. what I'm trying to get at is how counter-culture was also a pretext for people to enact their authoritarian fantasies, not whether Luke needs to question his actions or whether he will come into ownership of a villa.

if we're alluding to the book - it doesn't celebrate "wellness".

it explores sickness - mostly mental illness in all its various forms but also psychosomatic illness, addiction etc against the backdrop of the counterculture.

the people and scenarios are very extreme - there's people smearing themselves in shit, mass-murder, malnutrition, bad trips and then some, delerium tremens, lots of alcoholism-related deaths, sexual abuse, mania, brain-washing etc etc

but what comes out of it is ultimately uplifiting.

i cant force you to read it of course :crylarf:

 

[luka]

Breaking convention? I didn’t get a ticket on time. But I’ve been to a few of these things and am saddened to say that I felt the same, not exactly my people. This is why we’re trying to build a new psychedelia here third are you fucking on board or what?

exactly third! Can we please build a much better psychedelia which is worthy of the experience. That's all I want to do! I need to be allowed to pursue this it is my destiny.

 

[luka]

Breaking convention? I didn’t get a ticket on time. But I’ve been to a few of these things and am saddened to say that I felt the same, not exactly my people. This is why we’re trying to build a new psychedelia here third are you fucking on board or what?

Breaking convention yeah I did a little workshop but they were so pathetic and delusional my heart wasn't in it. I found it very depressing.

 

[luka]

I just want to be able to fulfil my destiny which is to reunite the avant garde with psychedelia. That's why everyone is aboard this ship. Apart from Matthew. He doesn't approve but he's willing just to roll his eyes, disapproving but ultimately indulgent

 

[woops]

a friend of mine played his far out cosmic psychedelic sound mayhem live at this conference and was interrupted part way through the set with a request for "something we can dance to"

 

[shiels]

It’s the smugness and laxness together. And the fact that people still do nervous laughs when they talk about tripping

 

[luka]

It’s the smugness and laxness together. And the fact that people still do nervous laughs when they talk about tripping

And the facepaint, and dressing like a forest elf

 

[luka]

I like tension. This is one thing where I was fully in accordance with Mark. I like the line drawn taut.

 

[thirdform]

Breaking convention? I didn’t get a ticket on time. But I’ve been to a few of these things and am saddened to say that I felt the same, not exactly my people. This is why we’re trying to build a new psychedelia here third are you fucking on board or what?

yeah, fantastic, just get into midwest acid before inviting me to be a card carrying member.

 

[thirdform]

if we're alluding to the book - it doesn't celebrate "wellness".

it explores sickness - mostly mental illness in all its various forms but also psychosomatic illness, addiction etc against the backdrop of the counterculture.

the people and scenarios are very extreme - there's people smearing themselves in shit, mass-murder, malnutrition, bad trips and then some, delerium tremens, lots of alcoholism-related deaths, sexual abuse, mania, brain-washing etc etc

but what comes out of it is ultimately uplifiting.

i cant force you to read it of course :crylarf:

No, I will read it chief. don't worry. I just gagged a bit at that title, sounds like something you would go to in torronto before the rave, which consists of late 90s south london tec house (in a yawn inducing mr. c stylee) and progressive breaks. Joy of healing joys.

 

[thirdform]

when is the kindle copy out bossman?

 

[Woebot]

No, I will read it chief. don't worry. I just gagged a bit at that title, sounds like something you would go to in torronto before the rave, which consists of late 90s south london tec house (in a yawn inducing mr. c stylee) and progressive breaks. Joy of healing joys.

i'd be really interested to know your thoughts. gotta be frank - i think you'd renjoy it.

re the title. it's a sales thing.

it was originally retreat: "health and the counterculture" - but i changed it to "wellness and the counterculture" because that hooks into the whole wellness thing - and then the north american publisher wanted to make it "how the counterculture invented wellness" because they thought that was even more commerical. and i was of the view that if that sold more copies then i was bang up for it.

none of which changes anything about the book itself.

 

[Woebot]

when is the kindle copy out bossman?

i think it's june. i'll post a note in the events thread - this wasnt intended as a promotional thread but no surprisingly seeing as how its all ive thought about for three years its inevtiable i end up chatting about it...

 

[WashYourHands]

it's quite weird. ravers hate the bbc as the establishment but then want them to talk more about drugs..

It's not wanting discussion about drugs for the sake of it. It's useless trying to describe such drug experiences without it appearing trite, immature & conceited. There's also the folly of youth & excess, balanced with experienced knowing.

The British Isles i grew up in had a mushroom cult more as a rite of passage than a hippy dream. Post-industrial transitioning gone occult, no cliche stinking of human despair. Yosser Hughes types in every pub, inevitable sound of breaking glass & stabbings. Blue lights. Gigs of long coats & speed. Too many rival football firms to count, jellies on script & so much smack. HIV waves. Total assault. Yes, knife crime is no joke, but neither is a dozen casuals stamp-jumping your head in. Ferociously grim.

The role of industrial figures like Richard H Kirk form a temporal bridge in a few ways; Chris & Cosey, Coil, even Temple Records & TOPY, all pushed into this confluence. So much good music from their world, for a while Richard H Kirk soared. Added a distinctive visual tone to live proceedings, Cabs with video cabs. Long coat heaven. Acid, speed & rain. Always rain. Damp bricks & moss. Dead rivers. Bombings. Violence everywhere. School drills for nuclear war & fallout.

Then the wall came down. The impossible inverted, Millwall @ Venus. I hope the same happens if & when Covid clears & this joke govt finally gets decapitated.

 

[blissblogger]

by leaving drugs and delirium completely out of the story, Deller makes raves seem as saintly as the Durham Miners Gala

public assembly, reclaiming public space, 'there IS such a thing as society, Margaret' etc etc

as if the scene wasn't at least partly driven by crime, the ultimate in c******ism

and the other thing, the bizarre attempt to make out London had nothing to do with it happening