It's over five years since mentioned the time I met DJ Spooky, so a quick recap: I was organising the symposium strand of Cybersonica 2003 at the ICA. Lewis, the overall Cybersonica boss, knew DJ Spooky was going to be in London for something on the South Bank (Lee Perry's Meltdown?) and had talked his agent into getting him to talk to us. With his reputation as an NYC downtown scenester, who once introduced Thurston Moore to Iannis Xenakis, I anticipated that he might be a bit pleased with himself. If he was, it didn't show. He was humble and courteous to everyone, from the sound guy to the student placement. And generous too, giving us all CDs — in my case, this one.
I can't say I was equally generous with my attention. I've only got round to listening some eight years and three days later.
I never know who to praise or who to blame with these mix albums. What did Spooky (Paul to his mom) add to the basic tracks. I'm guessing the Tony Blair and William Hague bits on Re:volution were there in Coldplay's original: somehow they sound absurd with a beat behind them, while Dubya actually comes across with more gravitas. Why is that? It's like the US place names that sound great in rock or country songs, while the UK ones feel like they should be in a Betjeman poem. The Allen Ginsberg track is another highlight, and it's labelled as a DJ Spooky remix, so I guess he added the beats. The politics are anti-war and anti-corporate throughout the album, but for once they go beyond fatuously simplistic finger wagging (though there's some of that in there too).
Other lovely people I met through Cybersonica: Michel Waiswisz, rest in peace; Anthony Moore, still very much with us; and Eric Namour. Plus one music writer, curator and occasional producer who was a bit of a grumbler.
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Wow, someone else who owns a copy of this. I've played it countless times and always enjoy the selection of songs. I think I got my copy from a charity shop on Clapham High Street!
Posted by: Medwyn | 25 June 2011 at 05:35 PM
Hi Medwyn, thanks for dropping by again (looks like you had a quick spin through several pages!)
Posted by: David | 25 June 2011 at 09:29 PM