So far the Unit have tested
Christchurch's reality in a number of ways.
First, using microphones and recording equipment they have tested the
acoustic
properties of an old Barbadoes St residential building. Secondly, using
only
aural and visual stimuli, the Unit has explored the sociological
responses
of the Christchurch population while partying in town on Thursday,
Friday
and Saturday nights. The Unit also performed a series of
interactive
reality tests on the inner city arts venue known as Creation, inviting
participation
in a musical collage through the release of litmus paper 'leaflets'.
In a daring experimental
stroke, the Unit tested the reality of the Daily Grind cafe on a
weekday afternoon, sadly it was found to be brittle and unresponsive
although we were able to extract oil from the coffee machine. This
allowed three members of the Unit to embark on a field trip to
Wellington to test the likelihood of the 'Inner-City Bypass'
through Te Aro, in the form of an amplified sonic response test
based at Thistle Hall.
Future plans include testing
the postal service by sending 'cassette tapes' in hardware data
packets known as 'envelopes', infiltrating the 'open mic'
manifestations in various entertainment venues around the city and more
field trips to document the space-time fluctuations known as
'festivals'.
Please report any inexplicable
socio-subcultural phenomenon you want investigated by sending email to
<cbdrtu@wildmail.com>. Strypey
Dialogues from the Inner
Sanctum:
Strypey: I'm
thinking about CBD RTU not so much as a band,
more like > a series of situations
that might be random (like busking > or jam nights at Creation)
or part of another event > (Fringes, Raves, Festivals
etc). Ideally we should be able > to adapt to any setting
and utilize any tools (sound, > movement, graphics, props,
costumes, sets, kinetic > sculpture etc) to
interface between us as musicians and the > audience we are attracting.
Moleman: Yes, that is the true
essence of the CBDRTU, it is an art movement not an art producer. Something
along those lines. I have some ideas as to what could occur at an
interpretive dance party but they are on a piece of paper at home.
I was thinking if push comes to
shove where pretty fringe when we busk... At the moment however I feel
strangly compelled to make an ape suit. All things stem from primate
impersonation.
I was thinking perhaps that we
could also put on a "festival" that in someway does something clever
in relation to the fringe festival and we could have a busk, and put on a
massive parety which would then be the interperative dance party.
Strypey: To summarize recent
discussions we have a plan. 1) We gain access to a 4-track
for each participating noise-maker (NM) 2) We build up 'songs' track by
track 3) One NM records a track and
passes the tape on by hand or post 4) The next NM adds their track
to it and passes it on 5) The resulting sonic collage
is mixed, archived and used as a base for a semi-improv live show 6) The resulting show is taped
live and this becomes the festival demo 7) 'Album versions' of
well-developed tracks are recorded for an independent release
Perhaps is would be simpler to create a 90 minute tape of
backing tracks which could be distributed among
all keen Reality Testers Then whenever the Unit is called
to action whoever is able to assemble at
the assigned place and time is the Unit for mission?
Prime numbers
The need has emerged for a
fixed structure around which to arrange the
fluid aspects of the testing unit
One possibility is to have a
song the length of each of the prime numbers up to 13 for a half-hour performance or up to 17 for an hour
performance and so on up.
Each number would be assigned a
beat and a timer would give the players a way of knowing how much time they had left to climax the
piece and finish together
Sell Death - the industrial side-project
I see Sell Death as the darker,
heavier evil twin of the jazzy, dubby, trip-hoppy stuff we have mainly
done so far with CBD Reality Testing Unit Sell Death will involve
pre-prepared electronic beats with live instrumentation
(sax, gitbase, bass, keys) agit-prop protest slogans
for choruses (eg War is Terrorism) and possibly snatches of
pre-recorded random conversation from public
places like malls, buses, parks etc
Sell Death will not play songs
in the pop or rock sense but carefully planned
compositions where the electronic beats
provide a sonic canvas for the semi-improvised live instruments, voices
and samples.
Other cool names for stuff I
have thought of:
Long Range Penetration Strain the Rude Mechanicals Screaming Organism
