12.18.2010

BEEFHEART VIGIL


































R.I.P. Don Van Vliet. A candlelight vigil will be held in my head, if you wanna come. Set the world ablaze, He sayz. Serendipitously & ominously, on the day of Beefheart's death, 12.17.10, I received a copy of a long lost song I did for sabbath assembly, called "We Give Our Lives." The duality of this song creates a conflict of evils within me, yet somehow, in this moment it feels right to let it be heard. I could barely hold it together while tracking this in the studio. To channel the hidden power of this hymn was enough to make me vow to never sing it again. But I'm dedicating it to the true 25th Century Obeah Man.

 

12.15.2010

HERE TO REMAIN A STRANGER

I read somewhere, that at the end of his life, E* grew consumed with an unceasing reverence for spiritual texts and often marked the margins of his books with a coded language that distilled the essence of certain ideas into fragments he could remember through the haze of his induced altered states. Varieties of religious experience. A few years ago, a woman from India read my palm. She revealed very specific details of my life, some of which I had never shared with anyone. Now the gypsy woman told my mother, before I was born, "you got a boy child comin', he's gonna be a son of a gun."

Some proof exists in the automatic writings to the oracular woman:

who drew you in? who changed your skin from flesh to pink flowers? even when the deeper waters were covered in bliss and the blooming origins where she stayed became unfamiliar and somehow more invisible. for her to take notice, for her to notice you there will be a last apocryphal glance that you can’t share but you can only let fester and the fury will stray into our laughter like loss and pained fever, it will desert you in a dry and lustless dream of such years gone by. but you never knew, you never wanted to know the truth. this was it, this was the closest that you could ever be to such a beautiful thing. out of reach it will occur to you that life is no more a trial and you have turned your back on it for the last time. for when I disappear and have vanished and been replaced by another, I will only think of you and the things you said in silence, in these moments where the core was love.

try as he might there was no convincing past self or future self
present reminiscent
the appeal of memories and transgressions to be divided
she sees them whirling
worthless tiaras – halo face
all the easy speakers speak
to each other
in code passed down through mediums
and centuries of silence
he had to be cautious because he had created this longing
and yet it would always be out of his control


Rising Sign is in 05 Degrees Taurus
Imaad Wasif, calm and deliberate, you hate to move quickly or act hastily. Very practical, every effort must count or you can't be bothered. Patient, persistent and steady, but very stubborn -- you can't be pushed or pressured into anything. You seem outwardly self-assured because you tend to repress your inner tension and turmoil. You exude an earthy warmth, friendliness and charm. You demand comfortable surroundings and appreciate the good life.
TRUE!

Sun is in 03 Degrees Scorpio.
Imaad Wasif, intense and complex by nature, you have extremely strong emotional reactions to most situations. Feelings are often very difficult for you to verbalize. Therefore you have a tendency to be very quiet -- to brood and think a lot. You seldom get overtly angry, but, when you do, you are furious and unforgiving. When you make an emotional commitment, it is total -- you are not attracted to superficial or casual relationships. If you are challenged, you take it as a personal affront and tend to lash out and fight back in a vengeful manner. You love mysteries and the supernatural.
TRUE!

Moon is in 05 Degrees Leo.
Imaad Wasif, you always want to be proud of yourself and will never do anything that will make yourself look bad. You need the respect and admiration of others and enjoy attracting attention to yourself. Everything you do tends to be self-emphasized and self-exaggerated. Very stubborn, willful and independent yourself, be sure to allow others who are close to you the similar right to "be themselves."
TRUE!

Mercury is in 16 Degrees Libra.
Imaad Wasif, you are known for not jumping to conclusions about things. You tend to weigh all possible choices very carefully before making a decision. When in the slightest amount of doubt, you will compromise rather than ruffle any feathers. You are a true raconteur of culture and taste -- your ideas and opinions are neat, elegant and refined. A born diplomat, you dislike discord so much that you will go out of your way to make others feel comfortable and at ease. You speak softly and pleasantly.
TRUE!

Venus is in 17 Degrees Virgo.
Imaad Wasif, you have a tendency to underestimate yourself and doubt your self-worth. This is very demeaning and should be avoided -- learn to love yourself as well as you do others. Your standards of perfection are very high -- you are attracted to relationships based on duty and responsibility. You are supercritical of yourself and others and, at times, prefer to be alone rather than deal with any imperfections in yourself or in those with whom you might relate.
TRUE!

Mars is in 02 Degrees Cancer.
Imaad Wasif, your moods are very important to your overall well-being. You are confident and self-assertive when you are feeling upbeat, and you are retiring, irritable and grumpy when you get depressed about anything. Very sensitive, you wear your heart on your sleeve. You are easily angered whenever you think someone has slighted you. You're extremely loyal and defensive of your family, neighborhood, community and culture.
TRUE!

Jupiter is in 17 Degrees Aries.
Imaad Wasif, the way that you grow and develop is by being an uncompromising individualist. You have a great need to be yourself and to explore your latent talents and abilities. Do not be afraid to let yourself go and develop self-confidence and pride in your accomplishments. But try not to become so self-centered that you ignore the needs of others. Also, you may have to build up your self-discipline in order to focus your energies properly.
TRUE!

Saturn is in 02 Degrees Leo.
Imaad Wasif, extremely self-reliant, you set very high standards of conduct and decorum for yourself, and you expect others with whom you associate to be that way, too. It is important that you had a strong father figure or role model early in life to mold your life course and direction. When you feel that those around you are unworthy or behaving badly, you withdraw, preferring solitude rather than associating with those who might besmirch your reputation.
TRUE!

Uranus is in 02 Degrees Scorpio.
Imaad Wasif, you, and your peer group, demand to confront life at its deepest and most meaningful levels. Very compulsive and obsessive in your approach to everything, you will avoid anything that is casual or superficial, especially when it comes to relationships. You will seek out and explore new methods of healing as well as different ways to deal with deep-seated emotional problems.
TRUE!

Neptune is in 10 Degrees Sagittarius.
Imaad Wasif, you, and your entire generation, are heavily involved in investigating and idealizing foreign and exotic intellectual systems and religious philosophies. The most extreme ideals will be pursued with gusto.
TRUE!

N. Node is in 21 Degrees Scorpio.
Imaad Wasif, you have a special aptitude for working by yourself, or with a like-minded group of dedicated individuals. Once you've committed yourself to a person or group or project, your loyalty and devotion are total until the group's goals have been realized. Not at all gregarious by nature, you're uncomfortable around strangers, greatly preferring to be in known and familiar situations. Others may regard you as shy or eccentric, but those who know you well are aware of the intense loyalty that you have to your friends.
TRUE!

12.10.2010

VANQUISHING THE BLUES

Late last night, I went for a walk,
Down by the river near my home.
Couldn't believe, with my own eyes,
And I swear I'll never leave my home again.

I saw a man walking on the water.
Coming right at me from the other side.
Calling out my name; "Do not be afraid."
Feet begin to run, pounding in my brain;
I don't want to go; I don't want to go.

FOUND 1


 
FOUND 2



































I have no idea what any of this means. I'm not sure anyone does. These papers were found/delivered to me sometime within the last few weeks. CITING: "The akashic records (akasha is a Sanskrit word meaning "sky", "space" or "aether") is a term used in theosophy to describe a compendium of mystical knowledge encoded in a non-physical plane of existence. These records are described as containing all knowledge of human experience and the history of the cosmos."

I once dined with a man from "the following" who had a misplaced Horus lock hanging down the middle of his forehead, and I spent the entire time I was with him listening to an articulate drone about Bitches Brew, purification rundowns and trying to get a glimpse of his obscured third eye. There is an inherent curiosity towards everything we don't understand.

I tried to stay open for as long as I could but I can't so I won't. I'll take what I am from what I could when I can and I'll give it away like I should. That's the way that it came and the way that I'll leave it, it's not up to me to believe it.

12.04.2010

KEPT IT DARK

recording Free, at last the home demo version. i want to give this one to dalton, but she's already down the green rocky road. chalk it up to the loop tapes. For R.O. but then hastily renamed.

stone fever creeping in. got 5 string on the mind and a need. i never knew a dr or a rug i didn't want to fuse but i'm fucking cleaner than my desire. and my will. sometimes there's too much to rely on and other times not enough. i don't need the abuse but i crave it. I've heard others say the same but that doesn't make it any less true.

there's been a couple days lately when my minds been shattered and then pieced back together through the POWERS of musiCFCFAC minus the first low C if you really want to be reeeeching through stargroves or white flowers to get to the place where skydiver 1 and 2 used to go. takes me sometimes. now more than before. we had a session that lasted til 3AM the other morning and i woke finally woke up on the right side of the horizon.

the details are what i find after the superstition wears off. I tried to deny what the planets tell me, but cain't help thinking that somewhere down the line i'll remember what will be. pictured here are is the singer in positions and garcia engineering with burns on steel petals and base.


free
free
FREE
FRee
FReE
free
FREe
free
free
free
free
Free

Free
Tuning (low to high): DGDGBD

Intro:

D|-----------------------|
B|---13-12---5-5-6-6-5---|
G|---12-12---5-5-5-5-5---| play 4 times
D|---14-12---5-5-7-7-5---|
G|---12-12---5-5-5-5-5---|
D|-----------------------|

D|-------------------------------------------------------|
B|---8-8-8--8--8-8---5-6-6-6-5---1-1-1-1-3-3---6-6-6-5---|
G|---8-8-8-10-10p8---5-5-5-5-5---1-3-1-3-5p3---5-5-5-5---| then play
D|---8-8-8--8--8-8---5-7-7-7-5---1-1-1-1-3-3---7-7-7-5---| below
G|---8-8-8--8--8-8---5-5-5-5-5---1-1-1-1-3-3---5-5-5-5---| 
D|-------------------------------------------------------|

D|-------------------------------------------------------|
B|---8-8-8--8--8-8---5-6-6-6-5---1-1-1-1-4-3---6-6-6-5---|
G|---8-8-8-10-10p8---5-5-5-5-5---1-3-1-3-3-3---5-5-5-5---|
D|---8-8-8--8--8-8---5-7-7-7-5---1-1-1-1-5-3---7-7-7-5---|
G|---8-8-8--8--8-8---5-5-5-5-5---1-1-1-1-3-3---5-5-5-5---|
D|-------------------------------------------------------|
                                         ^ difference

12.02.2010

THIS AIN'T NO SECRET WORLD, REVISITED

When the age of false Hermeticism first dawned in Los Angeles in the 1930’s, ambitious huckster prophets such as Manly P. Hall converged on the high vibration hub of Los Feliz, its current locus being the University of Philosophical Research nestled in the foothills below Griffith Park. I have overheard certain enlightened beings claim to see lighting bolts and solar flares shooting out from its central spire. Walking circuitously through the surrounding neighborhoods, you can find Father Yod’s first mansion or the house where the La Bianca murders took place. Down the street stands the site of the first Walt Disney Studios, now an overpriced grocery store with an excellent bakery, where I once saw Crispin Glover buy a turkey baster and then stealthily duck into a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow. But back to ol’ Walt, it seems that America’s dark prince had commissioned some tiny homes to be built nearby for the animators working on ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.’ I live in one of these dwarf-hewn villas and rarely leave except for live performances, to climb the close mountain, or replenish my supply of latex gloves. I’m working on a wax sculpture of Gloria Swanson’s close-up, which I keep hidden in my attic. It is said that her ghost roams the courtyard. In the truest sense of the words, this is not a house it’s a home. I live with my wife Kristina and my cat Hank. I spend my days working at the old typewriter, writing songs, playing guitar, singing, reading books, listening to records and making dal (of the Urad and Masoor varieties.) The paintings on the walls are either borrowed or stolen museum pieces; other objects are gifts from cult leaders, or family heirlooms (the organ, sitar and hammered dulcimer.) In every room there is an altar, some are invisible, some guarded by Netsuke or Vedic statuettes, but all are conductors of potency and desire. Here I create in peace as those who came before me, one in a long line of seekers living in bubbles.










Text: IW, Photos: Shelby Duncan for Apartamento Magazine.

11.27.2010

INVOCATION OF A DEMON HARVEST





















This is a still from Kenneth Anger's lost film "Invocation of the Demon Harvest"  Anger himself described the film as "a death mirror held up to American culture..."  Filmed entirely using Skype, the film was designed to be a symbolic analogy of the coming apocalypse.  Anger managed to get the actress Imaad Wasif to appear in it, and convinced his friend Lou Barlow to play the part of Lucifer in the film.

11.20.2010

WAKING DREAM

There is a dreamlife that is taking place all around us, at every moment. I am mostly closed off to it, though on occasion I have fallen prey to the visions that move back and forth across dimensions. The other night I awoke in a near fit of screaming, a paroxysm brought about by an oncoming nightmare. In the dream, a woman was encircling me in a small dimly lit room. I couldn’t make out her face and I couldn't tell if she was trying to kill me or seduce me, though I was equally fearful of both manifestations, as death and sex are one in the same in my mind. I was looking for a way to escape from her. I opened a cabinet to crawl inside and hide and came face-to-face with myself, as a baby, staring lifelessly back at me. The shock of recognizing those two glistening black irises was enough to break the plane. I awoke and lay fragmented in the twilight until my body came back into one. The sinister feeling did not leave me until later that morning when I started to write and re-entered the dream. Songs have always been the medium for revelation. The images within my dreams, along with most of my memories, are obscured. I am convinced, now more than ever, that I am living in a waking dream, and that my experience of reality comes from the delayed imaging of that dream, a flickering afterworld burned into a present conscious realm. Dreams have no true life until they are viewed in the context of our lives. The dream is conceived in a trance, but not perceived, shaped or colored until we believe that we are awake. We create the dream at the moment of our remembrance. And the dream in turn guides us, albeit mysteriously. There is no separation and no real understanding, only a clear way to stay suspended in the beauty of illusions.

11.11.2010

USTAD BISMILLAH KHAN

Shehnai, everything that rises must converge.

Raag Malkauns
Superstitious musicians believe this raga has supernatural powers.
Some believe that it can attract evil spirits.
Time: Late night

 
Raag Gunkali
Pathos, Introspective 
Time: Early Morning

11.08.2010

WOZ IV


THE LATE GREAT
TBA
TBD
POSTHUMOUS
FORTHCOMING
?
SACRILEGE

LADIES
AND GENTLEMEN,

WOZ IV?





Face A
Phases of a Cardinal Cross 
Skyward Rose
Constellation Kingdoms
Murmur

Face B
Origins
Holograms
Demonized
Threes

Face C
Mantis
Rain Down
The Spiral
She Don't Burn Out

Face D
The I.n.i.t.i.a.t.
Ourobourus
Time (Become Transparent)
Long Live, Death To

11.04.2010

THE BIRTH OF WOZ
















10.22.2010

THE VOIDIST EUROPEAN RELEASE

October 22, 2010 marks the release date of "The Voidist" in Europe on Viva Hate Records. A limited edition double-album silk-screened gatefold vinyl pressing of "The Voidist" with 2008's "Strange Hexes" will also be available through VH this December.

6.08.2010

NEW SONGS RELEASED

Some new songs have been released. "Not Immune" on the "Raise Hope for Congo" compilation. "The Fire" (featuring Lykke Li) presented by Aquarium Drunkard on a digital-only compilation of Los Angeles bands covering every song from Television's 1978 album Adventure. "Razorlike" from "The Voidist" on Exploding In Sound's In Case of Evacuation compilation.  "Ecstasy" released as part of the LA Collection, A series of split 7"s From IAMSOUND. "Ecstasy" is also available as a free download at KCRW.

4.10.2010

WATER AND WASIF

A transcript of seven conversations that took place on Google Chat with the writer Truman Water.