Re-Birth

Back from the ashes of the SeMutans comes the SeMutans Sound System.
Same deal, different location - bringing quality underground noises to the masses.
Based in a secret location in deepest darkest perthshire and armed with a PA and generator and lots of quality tunage we're charging back into the frey to keep the anarchic underground free festival spirit burning.
P.L.U.R.
Stay tuned.

More soon.
EdShift.

Eligy.

I'm not ready to let this dream go.
The SeMutans were built on a vision of playing live at festivals, Clubs, Parties and ultimately an earthdance event.

Gary and I put in coutless hours writing, mixing, making some sort of sense of incredibly rough but diamond ideas. Summer 2006 and my boat (amongst other things) put paid to our regular thursday and sunday rehearsals.

I'm sorry, but unsurpised given what Gary was going through at athe time, that it ended.

It seems like such a waste though.

We had a cracking live set all set up and we had spent hour and hours taking songs that were just a rough idea and tuning them for live work.

We recorded a fantastic album that I just finshed listening to for the nth time. - It's still great BTW :-)

I should mention Gary is now doing amazing work in a band called Victorious which he was in before the demise.
It's Shit hot and can be found in MySpace.
Really tight Iron Maiden-esque stuff.
Hats off to all of you. :-)

It's still winter and the next festival season will soon be upon us.
I'm now playing drums in a band with gordon AKA veestar and I Will play our live prepped tracks under the semutans banner next year.

This has been my dream since 1995. It was an honour to work with gary and his legacy will permeate any future endevours.

He will be sadly missed.

Nevertheless, SeMutans Music is too good and too well developed to just die.
It will be heard in the forests through illegal sound systems. It will be heard in squats up and down the country. It will be heard in weird free festivals in remote scottish locations.
It will be amazing and transporting and memorable and it will be a testiment to all the love and hard work put in to the project by all of us.

And so it shall be.

Perhaps Gary will be available for a live set or two next summer.
Here's hoping...

Don't Stop Dreaming.
Updates soon.

EdShift.

You know how if you're really into music people recommend bands and artists to get into and with some people you meet you kind of nod politely so as not to offend them and never think anymore of it. With other people it's different. Some people you know you're going go out and look for whatever obscure artist or group they recommend. I find in that case it's always either totally fantastic or totally shit. The annoying thing is you can never tell immediately.

I have had literally hundreds of people tell me how great Aphex twin is including a lot of people whose music taste I totally respect. I have listened to lots of his stuff. I just can't stop hating it. I keep waiting for this Eureaka moment when I finally see it some other light. I have a personal theory that it's all a big emperor's new clothes situation. Everyone sits there listening to it thinking "How the f**k is this so popular? Everyone must be musically so much better educated than me...."
No-one likes it but everyone recommends it to everyone else.
Well maybe not.
Let me stand up and be counted. I don't like the Aphex twin. That whole cutting up samples into little bits and sequencing them seemingly randomly was done with tape in the 70s _and_ they manage to make music not just noise.
Just my opinion. This is what Blogs are for after all.

In contrast to that loads of people said "Nortec Collective are great." I listened to them yesterday and yes they are GREAT.
Very Great.

I should add a third category to the whole discovering music thing.

You know how there are some bands you know you will like if you invest a bit of time. You know this instinctively by the sort of names of bands you see written close them in books and magazine and everywhere else you see bandnames written down in life. I always try and keep a few bands I know I'll like in reserve. Delayed gratification so to speak. It sounds a bit perverse but when you're in a bit of dry spell musically you can choose one and get into them and it can be a real revelation.

I somehow maged to get through 31 years of my life without hearing any Grateful Dead. Today someone sent me some totally unsolicited. I've just listened to them and they are everything I hoped they'd be.
I'll probably go and get a wedge of their back catalog now and become a dead-head for a few weeks/months.

Perhaps not though.

Wickerman Festival soon and SYSTEM7 LIVE.
I can't wait.

Thanks for listening.
EdShift.
P.S. I Think Gary's on strike...

Video Blog

Panic Attack got used in a video blog called The Daily Camera back in March and it's only bubbled up though google now.
It's another first for the semutans and so I thought I'd post a link to it. I was saying to gary that we really should chuck up some new stuff to ccmixter. I guess I'll do that this weekend. I must have some finished stuff kicking about.

Shouts go out to everyone I met in California last week. (A least everyone I forced to listen to some semutans music ;-)'
Take Care,
Ed.

More online radio Airplay and a blast from the Old Skool

http://ccmixter.org/media/stream/radio/playlist.m3u?tags=editorial_pick+remix
Both Panic Attack and one Qestion feature on the playlist of Editor's picks at CCmixter. Loads of other good stuff on there. (better stuff, if I'm being brutally honest with myself...)
In particular you should check out Still Music-Whatever by Teru. I think that's such a great tune. Totally Jurassic 5... Classy Jazzy Hip Hop.
Also outstanding is anything by CDK.

Take a deep breath after researching them and listening and put on some hisboyelroy.

His music is like a beautiful sunset after a perfect day. Sounds a bit pretentious butlisten to it then disagree with me by all means...

OK.
OLD SKOOL I promised so here it is:
http://www.webm8.co.uk/riddler/
An entire site dedicated to the early free rave/festival scene. Blinding.
I just might have found a picture of myself at the dance tent, Glasto 95. Hard to tell but it really could be.
I'll post it up after I get a consensus view of how I looked back then...

Until next time my non-existent adoring public,
Thank you and good night.

Kozi Closes :-( and Interstellar SeMutan Fans spotted :-)

My favourite clothes shop in the whole world is shutting down. It' called Kozi and for more than ten years it's been selling fantastic t-shirts imported by hand by the owners from the more exotic parts of our planet. It will be sadly missed.
If you have any spare currency and are near glasgow get down to Kozi for their closing down sale. Virtually everythig half-price and really distinctive.
No website but here's the adresss :
Kozi
Kings Court,
King Street,
Glasgow
G1 5RB
0141 553 0844

I hope this doesn't constitute a breach of any blogger rules. I should say have no affiliation to this wonderful shop other than other than being a big fan of it for years.

All the best to all at Kozi in all that you go on to do.

In other news....

A roving reporter spotted....

Real-Life SeMutan Visitors getting down to our music. (Honest.)

Korks!!!
A SeMutan with a cool T-shirt and giant glowstick....

Rave on!!!

Our last trans-galactic tour went down so well some fans have travelled far across the cold reaches of

the void in

anticipation

of our first big

Earthly Party!!!

(or something ;-)

I thought I'd post a link to fend off the inevitable "Where does the name of the band come from???"
I've always been a huge fan of Frank Herbert and the name semuta seemed very appropriate to me.
Unfortunately, as is the way with band names, I was not the first to think it would make a great name. Some brief Internet archaeology revealed a short-lived progressive rock band from the 70s.

I liked the idea of using the name anyway so we became the SeMutans. I think it has a nice mutated vibe to it.


Here's a succinct definition:

Semuta (from Dune by Frank Herbert) - A combination of a specific drug and music, which penetrated to the deepest levels of consciousness.