Tony Conrad: Completely In The Present

There's so much to be said about Tony Conrad. 

Holy unpredictable and unconventional avant-gardist surviving (by choice) on cheap rent in '60s New York, he was casually and regularly surrounded by the likes of experimental filmmaker Jack Smith and a budding Velvet Underground. 

Tyler Hubby's documentary Tony Conrad: Completely in the Present includes insightful interviews with the likes of John Cale and downright mad clips of Conrad's visionary, ground-breaking practices - among which were his fondness for time-defying drones and mega statements like how he wanted to bring the death of composition.

There's still a couple of days that you can catch it on Mubi (via the 7-day free trial, if you don't want to opt for the membership) - or, simply find it wherever you can. 

We need more people that can subvert what we thought we knew about music, art, and reality itself for that matter. He will be much missed.

Tony Conrad: Completely in the Present clip

The mind-blowing drones of Outside The Dream Syndicate 

X Japan - A Live Blast From The Past

X Japan bring ultimate metal madness and live music ecstasy with this thundering performance from 1990.

Boom Boom Satellites - Broken Mirror

A little reminder of what a killer guitar is all about in this power-clip from the Japanese duo.

Suarasama Ensemble in an Alchemic Journey

A band of ethnomusicologists from Indonesia show how blending fresh ideas with tradition can be an inspirational way forward.

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Pharmakon - New Album and Upcoming Tour

Margaret Chardiet, a.k.a. Pharmakon has been breaking barriers between performer and audiences since the mid-'00s, when she was surfing, as a teenage noise-maker, the New York scene. 

Several cassette-tapes, CD-R releases and two albums on Sacred Bones Records later, she has also made quite a bit of noise around her name. Her upcoming third album, Contact, is out on 31st March, and will be followed by a tour of Europe and North America. The release celebrates her tenth anniversary in extreme, experimental sound and is packed with Pharmakon's signature shrieks, shrills and Banshee screams in a backdrop of power electronics and perfectly executed industrial chaos.  

London welcomes Chardiet on April 25th at Electrowerkz, in what we expect to be an exercise in sublimely uncomfortable, ground-breaking listening.

Here comes a taster of what's coming up, via Pharmakon's performance at The Print Shop as part of Mike Kelly's Night at the Museum at MOMA PS1.