Earlier today
John Foxx participated in the re-recording of
John Cage's
4'33"...
Below is the press release...
*****
On Monday the 6th of December a band made up of influential artists and musicians of the alternative scene from
Pete Doherty to
Penguin Prison,
Kooks to
Coldcut and
Crystal Fighters to
Dan Le Sac, will be gathered at the legendary Dean Street Studios in Soho to make history by re-recording
John Cage’s celebrated piece,
4'33", which comprises of four minutes and thirty three seconds of silence. The single (and subsequent 'pocket call' remixes by
Alex Metric,
Herve,
Adam F,
Mr Scruff and
Hot Chip) will be released on
Wall of Sound Records on December 13th, 2010.
Cage Against The Machine was started by London-based artist
Dave Hilliard in summer 2010 as a grassroots
Facebook campaign to get
John Cage's famous 'silent' composition
4'33" to number one this Christmas. The idea soon reached tens of thousands of people and attracted media attention from all the national daily newspapers and radio stations around the world including
The Sun,
Mail,
Guardian,
MSN,
Channel 5’s
The Wright Stuff to name a few. The campaign stepped up a gear in October 2010 with the help of
Eddy Temple Morris (
XFM broadcaster and ambassador for
BTA),
Joe Hutchinson (
Ou Est Le Swimming Pool) and
Mark Jones (
Wall of Sound) who joined forces to rally some of the most influential artists, producers and directors around today to make
Hilliard’s vision a reality.
Just about this time last year what started off as two ‘likes’ on a
Facebook page, and which quickly turned into a million, made
Rage Against The Machine’s anthem
Killing In The Name Christmas number one, in now legendary fashion.
Jon Morter, one of the chief architects of the
RATM campaign last year, recently came out in support of
Cage Against The Machine, saying: "If ANY Xmas No.1 campaign is going to work... it'll be the
John Cage 4'33" one." Now the
Facebook community has reached over fifty thousand people committed to buying this single and, with a nation of indie / rock / punk communities ready once again to make a stand against bland, vacuous pop music; the clarion call is
Cage Against The Machine for Christmas Number One!
All the proceeds from sales will go to five charities. These music-related charities were chosen by the
Cage Against The Machine Facebook community's organisers as something they feel
John Cage would have whole heartedly approved of. These are not fluffy or 'sexy' charities but five charities who are pitifully underfunded and desperate for funds to help research cures and improve awareness: Specifically...
1.
The British Tinnitus Association (
BTA): When
Cage's
4'33" begins, anyone with Tinnitus will just hear their own dreadful ringing. This condition can drive people suicidal and affects musicians more than any other illness.
BTA can't even afford to fund a single phone line 24 hours a day to help cope with suicidal calls from sufferers. We can change that.
2.
Campaign Against Living Miserably (
CALM): When
Chazz Haddon, singer of
Ou Est Le Swimming Pool, tragically ended his own life at Pukkelpop festival in August, a spotlight was put on the fact that the biggest killer (aside from road accidents) of men under the age of thirty-five in the UK is suicide. Men are four times more likely to kill themselves than women.
CALM is the only charity to soley focus upon addressing young male suicide.
3.
Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy:
Nordoff Robbins brings music's transforming power to children and adults in need, through the delivery of music therapy services.
4.
Youth Music:
Youth Music is the leading UK charity using music to transform the lives of disadvantaged children and young people.
5.
Sound And Music: Promotes challenging new music and sound art. "Your support enables us to conceive, experiment and pioneer programmes to engage and inspire audiences of all ages."
*****
Below are some links from around the www which have (so far) covered this item...
The BBC ...
The Guardian ...
The Metro ...
Music News ...
Spoonfed ...
Watch the recording of 4'33"
here ...
*****
I dare say that there'll be plenty more articles to follow...
Rob
fons
