HELLO AGAIN

Okay so our e-mail inbox is belligerently getting all of these awfully politely scribed messages asking why our blog hasn't been updated in two months.

Short Version: We've been fairly busy.

Long Version: We played at The Great Escape festival. Twice!

Once with F.O.E. and The Caulfield Beats courtesy of the wonderful new institution known as Hi, Honey. It was great to see them both play (they're both tremendous), and it was equally great to scare off about 70% of the crowd when we came on stage at 2am with a shitstorm of condensed post-rock theatre. I can't say that I blame them terribly. It was great fun.

The next night we opened up for Rolo Tomassi, Mount Kimbie and Team Ghost. That time we managed to end with a much bigger crowd than we started with, and got our set filmed for some internet television publication. We also had a very surreal interview with them before we played. An old local man usurped the first half of the interview, which made me freak out and act like Bertie Wooster for the rest of the interview. Afterwards the bloke observed that I must have thought I was Jesus Christ (he was very witty).

We got ourselves a drummer! For playing live with! His name is Callam and he makes some extremely incredible music himself. You should listen to it here. He's been a best friend of James and I since we were about 13, and is a fellow member of Worthing Bowls Club.

Hopefully he will be able to play his first gig with us when we support Pantha Du Prince in Brighton in July at Audio. It's going to be scary and gleefully fun.

oh also we have written some new songs. Hopefully they'll see the light of day soon. (after my Soil Systems exams are over)

This is pretty much what the new MASKS looks like.

REMIXES [first wave]

After keeping this remix of Forever Dancing, that was made by Entrepreneurs [a hero to my friends and I], all to ourselves to gleefully admire, we have finally decided to let it out for all of you myspace rippers on Dancing Jesus Forums to pillage.

It is possible that I experienced temporary heart failure upon hearing it. Don't let this stop you though, since it was probably just the feeling of my ego suddenly attempting to explode beyond the frontier of my measly carapace.

For those of a strong and stable disposition only, please.

Then, tonight, I got an e-mail from a cool musician called Nullality. This person made a similarly exciting remix of I Covered Myself In Furs, using just the mp3 file from pinglewood.com.

Hear It Is [sic.] : http://soundcloud.com/nullality/covered-myself-in-noise

I don't really feel worthy of this high standard of musicians associating themselves with us. That wasn't a complaint.

WE MADE A MIX-TAPE

We made a mix-tape for Neu Magazine. James chose 4 songs and I chose 4 songs. The description on the mixcloud page says the rest.

>>> http://i.mixcloud.com/CKJa <<<

In other news, North Korea decided to fire torpedoes at a South Korean ship because apparently their communication-deprived population needs even more propaganda that North Korea is the best nation in the world or something. The last I heard, it was sinking with 100 people on board. I decided to go and practise up my similarly deprived hacky sack skills, as if the world wasn't a depressing enough place already.

http://www.vbs.tv/watch/the-vice-guide-to-travel/vice-guide-to-north-korea-1-of-3

Lastly, I'm pretty sure that MASKS are playing at The Great Escape festival twice.

I WISH I HAD A HORSES HEAD

I can't believe that Mark Linkous isn't alive any more. His album 'It's a Wonderful Life' basically introduced me to alternative music. He's clearly the king of the melancholy alt-rock sound that people like Eels and Grandaddy go for. He had all of these wonderful connections with other musicians and, beneath it all, I always felt like his music was tremendously upbeat and pop-oriented. Dark Night of the Soul contained the kind of perfect pop music that hasn't been matched since people like Elliot Smith or The Olivia Tremor Control. It feels wrong that there will never be a follow up to it.

Rest In Peace Mark Linkous, you will be sorely missed.

NEXT STEP - PITCHFORK?

They shouldn't be encouraging my ego like this, but I'm not really complaining.

Maybe we'll still be on the homepage when you read this: http://www.dummymag.com/

If not: http://www.dummymag.com/next/2010/02/03/masks-interview-it-s-quite-inorganic-really-/


THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YR. SUPPORT WE WILL MAKE IT UP TO YOU SOON.

A MESSAGE FROM DENNIS LYXZÉN WHICH YOU MAY HAVE MISSED.

'When every expression, no matter how radical it is, can be transformed into a commodity and be bought or sold like cheap soda, how is it then possible that you are going to be able to take "art" seriously? When every political idea has to become safe and categorized just so that it can be defined by disgusting "journalists" who¥s only aim is the selling of issues and the cashing in of paychecks, how can we then show the seriousness of the situation? When the single purpose of every song written is to accumulate capital for the record companies that will only kill every attempt at spontaneity and creativity, how are we then expected to create? When every show played just becomes another brick in the wall between people, between "fans" and "stars", when we instead of getting communication and interaction are being forced to become nothing but consumers and producers. When people are being praised as geniuses and idols just because they play music or write books or something equally boring and "cultural", when the widespread belief that their creation is more important than that people take part in everyday life...What does that say about the rest of us and what does it say about the system that we have? When we continue to uphold the bourgeoisie myth of self realization by saying that anyone can make it, just as long as they work hard, or pick up a guitar, we uphold the dream of good vs. bad jobs (rockstar = good, factory worker = bad) thus we also uphold the class system and the justification of it. When the self appointed elite talks about culture, the culture that tricks us into believing that there is such a thing as culture, without any thought or consideration of the political or economical system. When we become just another subculture with all the right attributes instead of a real counter-culture, then it is time to die, to revalue the position that we are in.'

I SAW VIVIAN GIRLS LAST NIGHT.

I was so lucky as to be part of the sold-out crowd who saw Vivian Girls on their first gig of their current UK tour at Brighton's Freebutt last night. They played at least 3 songs that they had never performed live before; all of dependable excellence [and they even managed to eek one of them out to a startling five minutes long!]. Brimming, energetic and a lot of fun. Definitely go and see them live if you get the chance before they die like Jay Reatard :(

A British band called Veronica Falls supported them, who were ridiculously charming. They played a 60s-Californian brand of shoegazey pop that sent me into a slightly blissed-out narcosis. Joint female and male singing also helped things along very nicely.

If you haven't heard of either of these bands then do yourself a favour, please.

Tip: If you find that a gig of theirs is sold out before you buy yourself a ticket then I recommend that you hang around outside the venue and look to see if Cassie Ramone is smoking a cigarette, then ask her if she can help you watch her gig. Maybe she'll put you on the guest list. [true story]