Ombu

Things that I obsess over. Mostly Music, Politics, History and Comedy. Just moved to London. @Ommbuu

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Sicily

Prior to coming to Europe, Sicily was not really on my radar as somewhere where I might want to spend some time whilst on this side of the planet. I considered the usual suspects; Rome, Venice, Florence, but didn’t really know much about Sicily so hadn’t at all considered it.

I have been lucky enough to move into a place in London where I have become fast friends with my housemates. My housemate Salvo is from a small town in the south-east of Sicily called Ispica and suggested we take a trip there. After talking with him about Sicilian food and culture, and seeing pictures of the landscape and cities on the island it was a no-brainer, and I’ve recently returned from a weeklong trip there with him and another of my housemates Kylie. What a brilliant week it was.

Sicily is the breadbasket of Italy and the landscape is suitably stunning. It is wrung with farmland traversing immense hills and mountainsides. There are vast fields of wheat (Teresa May could get up to a lot of mischief here), vineyards lining roadsides (and in one case a roundabout), cattle stations, huge plains dotted with broccoli and eggplant and citrus trees. It is all yellow and brown with the greenery of the vineyards and trees providing vibrancy amongst the ruggedness of the hills.

Even more impressive are the cities built on the sides of the hills and mountains in the southeast of the island. Our first taste of that was Scicli, which appeared out of nowhere after rounding a corner on a narrow bit of road and dipping into the valley that the city is ensconced in. It was truly one of those “holy shit” moments one has when travelling.

The cities of Modica (pictured above) and Ragusa provided even starker moments of wonder, I truly had never seen anything like these cities before in my life. The image of the sand coloured buildings stacked haphazardly around and on top of one another against steep cliff faces was one that I could have stared at for hours. The same can be said for the rest of the cities and towns that we saw on the trip; Noto, Syracuse, Catania and Palermo.

The crown jewel of Sicily’s landscape is undoubtedly Mt Etna, an active volcano that looms over the nearby city of Catania. Smoke rises out of the top and is visible from very far in the distance. We drove to the furthest point possible by car and took a cable car up until we were at 2500 metres above seal level. It was the highest up I’ve ever been on a mountain. Clouds sat below our vantage point and Sicily appeared as an endless stretch of hills and mountains on one side, the coast and Catania visible on the other. It was stunning.

Sicily has seen a host of rulers over its long history, and it is full of landmarks from each of these periods of history. We saw ancient Greek ruins in and around Syracuse, the most impressive being a 2000-year-old outdoor theatre that is still used to stage Greek tragedies. It is one of the best-preserved Greek theatres in the world, and I imagined what it might have been like during its glory days whilst there.

My favourite landmark that we saw along the way was the Duomo di Monreale, a church built in the 12th century during the Norman rule of Sicily. The entirety of the ornamentation inside is comprised of mosaics depicting various scenes from the life of Jesus and stories from the Bible. It is a wondrous sight, particularly the large depiction of Jesus at the furthest end of the church, the psychedelic design and patterns providing a highly distinctive image of Christ. Directly next to the duomo is the Chiostro dei Benedettini, a gorgeous courtyard adorned with beautiful carved columns and gardens.

For anyone into food, Italy is of course a key destination and the food we had in Sicily was insanely good, for the most part anyway. During the week, we ate a lot of pasta and arancini, granita and gelato and more seafood than I’ve had in quite some time. Salvo consistently made better choices than Kylie and I when eating, and some of my favourite bites came from snatching a few strands of pasta off his plate, the best being a bucatini with wild fennel and sardines. Delicious.

For me the best dish of the whole trip was a caponata that Salvo’s mum made for us from scratch using only ingredients sourced from their farmhouse that we were lucky enough to stay at for a few nights whilst there. Every single thing came from their garden, including the olive oil, olives and vinegar. It was salty and sweet and perfectly balanced. We ate some at the house and the remainder lounging on a beach staring out at the Mediterranean. It doesn’t really get much better than that.

If you get a chance, you should definitely make a trip to Sicily one day. The mixture of the beautiful landscape, historical and cultural artefacts and great food combines for a pretty singular experience. Thanks to Salvo and Kylie for being such great travelling companions, and to Salvo’s parents for letting us stay with them. Maybe one day we’ll be back there together again staring out from the top of Mt Etna.

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‘Funemployment’ on the Other Side of the Planet

Each morning I awake to the same sight. The roof of my room is blindingly white, the walls slightly off-white. The Sgt. Pepper and David Bowie posters hung on the wall provide the only real vibrancy in the room. Light streams through the thin curtains that hang next to me, covering a double door to the back garden. They do their best, but it is a fruitless task. I need to speak to the agency about these fucking curtains. Hmm…

I find myself always on the right side of the bed, owing to the unevenness of the floorboards beneath me. My dooner has invariably ended up facing the opposite direction to how I remember it being when I fell asleep. I guess I thrash about whilst I am in the grip of a deep sleep? Hmm…

And then I wonder what the fuck I am going to do today. I’ve been in London now for a little over four months and it no longer feels new. My parents were in town a couple of weeks ago and that was great because I hadn’t seen them for a while and I felt like a tourist again. We went to museums and we walked and we ate great food and drunk a few pints of Guinness. But then I’m alone in my room again, and I lie there and I procrastinate. Hmm…

Coffee, cigarette, Twitter, Facebook, coffee, cigarette etc. This is generally how it goes in the morning. Then I’ll look for a job and maybe apply for one or two if there is anything decent going. Then read about Spain for a bit as I’m headed there in a couple of weeks to meet my parents again. Hmm…

Yannis Varoufakis’ new book sits beside me, but you kinda need to be in the right mood to get deep into the harsh economic realities of the Eurozone and Greece’s place within it. It is a fascinating book when I’m in the mood, but despite having absolutely nothing going on, the mind seems to drift easily. Maybe its cause that girl that I saw last week hasn’t messaged me back? I thought it went well. Hmm…

I know that I should be writing or doing something creative. I always know that. I’ve been toying with attempting proper fictional writing for the first time. There are a few outlines saved on here, but I don’t much know how to progress beyond that. Perhaps a trip to Foyles today to pick up a book about creative writing? Hmm…

There is always enough time left to log into internet banking and fret about the state of my finances. This is a fun game that i’ve taken part in for lets say my entire adult life. And I know deep down that I shouldn’t, that I am privileged as hell to be in the position I’m in. But that thought is never far from my mind. What if I run out of money? Back to Aus I guess. Hmm... 

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Bjork - Five years

I probably hadn’t listened to this in 10 or more years. The last time I remember being super into Homogenic was around 2002/2003. Listening to ‘5 Years’ again today was like meeting up with an old friend. A surge of nostalgia came over me and I was briefly transported to that time when I was 15 or 16 and binging hard on Bjork and Radiohead and Massive Attack and Joy Division and Aphex Twin and all those other bands that would forever change the way I think about music.

Even today this sounds incredibly fresh. The way Bjork managed to so seamlessly meld the world’s of hardcore and classical hadn’t been done prior to this and hasn't been matched since. Except maybe by Bjork herself on her last record Vulnicura of course, which is an amazing piece of work.

Each of the moving parts of ‘5 Years’ shouldn’t really make sense next to each other. The beauty of those strings on top of that drum loop, which has been bashed and processed to within an inch of its life, seems a poor fit. But it is only ever triumphant. Even as Bjork is wailing and grunting about an ex-lover of hers (apparently Tricky), pleading with him (“Show me your palms!") but ultimately throwing him aside, because ”You can’t handle love!”, this strange sense of triumph abounds.

As with many of Bjork’s brilliant songs, her voice is the element that brings those moments of true astonishment, the acrobatic skill of her singing on full display. It rises up and dips down just as quickly. Vibrato is introduced for a split second in a guttural drone and then she moves along once again. She manages to sound hoarse and angelic within the same millisecond. All one can do is marvel at the beauty of it.

The first thing I did when I got home was watch a live performance of this (amazing) and I stumbled upon this documentary from when Homogenic was made. It is really good, so have a watch if you like.

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On Changing Conceptions of Art

I’ve never had any formal training in art history and for a long time I actively proclaimed that I didn’t “get” art, and didn’t really seek it out as a result. I now am starting to understand how stupid that statement and resulting action was. To think that art is some monolithic entity that one either “gets” or doesn’t is pretty dumb. I still admit that I don’t “get” a bunch of art, but I also assume that this is the case for every human being on the planet as with music and all of the other art forms that we as a species have dabbled in.

Over these last few months I have seen certain pieces that have fundamentally changed my perceptions of art and what can be gained from experiencing it. Some of these have been politically charged and others pleasing on a purely aesthetic level. Some play tricks with ones vision as you gaze into the work and others are pleasing owing to the technical skill and abilities of the artist.

Piece 1: All That Is Solid Melts Into Air – Mark Boulos

I saw this at Museum Ludwig in Cologne and was immediately struck by the tone and intense political nature of the piece. You stand in between two large screens, one showing Chicago oil traders at work on the trading floor, the other showing rebels in the Nigeria delta who regularly attack and steal from the oil pipelines that crisscross the landscape.

The juxtaposition couldn’t be clearer. On one side are the 9-5 traders in Chicago going about their business, yelling and cajoling, profiting off of the resources flooding out of countries like Nigeria. On the other are the rebels, machine guns in hand, living and fighting in the jungle and doing everything they can (including murder) to get something as the wealth lying beneath them disappears overseas, the average citizens of Nigeria seeing nothing.

There is something psychopathic at play with both sides of this story, the intense fetishisation of oil by the traders and the ruthlessness of the rebels. I found this piece to be a pretty damning assessment of modern capitalism and people’s interactions within that system. The way it was presented was very clever and thought provoking.

Piece 2: Self Portrait in Grey Felt Hat – Vincent Van Gogh

The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam is a very well put together museum. It has a clever logic to it as it guides you through the works and writings of Van Gogh. Along the way you see the Potato Eaters, Sunflowers and Irises, and these are each brilliant. You also learn that Van Gogh produced more than nine hundred paintings in only ten years, including more than a painting a day over the last two months that he was alive. Incredible.

The best of them all, and probably the best painting that I have ever laid eyes on, is Self Portrait in Grey Felt Hat. I had seen prints of this previously, but seeing the real thing was stunning. The richness of the colours and the detail in each of the lines and dots that make up the painting elevates it to something almost transcendental upon viewing it. It is paintings like this that make you realize how unique Van Gogh’s work was.

Piece 3: Signal Systems – Yuri Zlotnikov

Whilst in Munich, we visited the Haus der Kunst, which provided a nice detour from the intense Nazi related site seeing that we had been doing up to that point. Whilst there, we saw the Postwar: Art Between the Pacific and the Atlantic, 1945-65 exhibition. It was full of incredible pieces from all over the world, highlighting the different movements and strands that shaped human expression during that period.

The section that I found myself drawn to most was called Concrete Visions, devoted to simplistic and abstract images and sculptures. The chapter featured works by Max Bill, Ellsworth Kelly, Helio Oiticia and many more.

The series that caught my eye the most was Yuri Zlotnikov’s Signal Systems. The paintings couldn’t be simpler. They feature only circles, rectangles, lines and squares of different colours. The description card mentioned that Zlotnikov was influenced by physics and the possibilities of nuclear power and these paintings seem possibly to be Zlotnikov imagining atomic particles and refuse floating in space. I really loved the simplistic aesthetics of these pieces.

Piece 4: The Ambassadors - Hans Holbein the Younger

The National Gallery in London is what I imagine many people would think of when imagining the art galleries of old Europe. It is a massive and regally adorned building, filled with art going back almost 1,000 years. It can be a little tiring at times (“another picture of the Crucifixtion?”), but it is certainly worth a visit.

One image that stood out amongst all others was The Ambassadors. Seen from afar, the picture looks like another of the many images that feature aristocrats of the age (the Ambassadors was painted in 1533). The detail is incredible, as with many of the other paintings in the room.

As you get closer to the painting however you can make out a strange image leaning at forty-five degrees on the floor, which as you move to the right becomes clear as a skull. It is a brilliant example of anamorphic painting, the skull only becoming fully visible when looked at correctly.

I include this here as I am always drawn to those who step outside the norms of their time to produce something that is artistically unique. This seems a pretty fantastic example of that, given that it was produced in the 16th century when most art seemed devoted to religious observance. The painting itself is also stunning to look at. It is full of strange imagery, the meaning of which is still debated to this day apparently.

Piece 5: Civil Tapestry 4 – Theaster Gates

I was a little skeptical about visiting the Tate Modern initially, as much of my previous aversion to art stemmed from what I considered modern art to be. I was delighted when I went to find that my preconceptions were completely false. The gallery is wonderful and covers the vast expanse of art over the last 100 years or so.

Theaster Gates’ Civil Tapestry 4 was immediately engaging. It is made from a series of decommissioned fire hoses, lined next to one another and forms something akin to the sorts of minimalist abstract pieces produced in the 1950s and 60s.

When I think of fire hoses and their relationship to the 50s and 60s, I immediately think of those videos of black civil rights protestors in Montgomery, Alabama having the hoses turned on them. That is what Gates’ piece immediately brought to the forefront of my mind. I was honestly floored by the way it evoked those images so immediately.

The description of the piece also mentioned that it could be seen as a critique of the abstract and minimalist artists of the 50s and 60s, who, with the tumult of the civil rights movement happening around them, failed to engage with it through their art. What a brilliant means of critique if so.

Piece 6: Ink Spash II – El Anatsui

Some of the great things about the Tate are the free hourly tours that are given in the gallery. These are especially useful for people like me with a limited knowledge of art history. During the tour that I attended, I see Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain, the explanation of which totally changed my conception of the work, as well aPicasso piece and Man Ray’s Cadeau.

Ink Splash II by Ghanaian artist El Anatsui was the most interesting piece that I saw on this tour. Made entirely out of flattened bottle caps connected by wire to one another, it has the look of a worn and stiff shower curtain. But this is a curtain that shimmers in hues of silver, gold and blue, the arrangement of the caps giving it a 1980s 8-bit Galaga like quality. It is beautiful to look at.

Beyond the aesthetics, we are told that there is a potential connection between the piece and Ghana’s colonial past. The British banned the sale of the locally produced moonshine that was a staple in the country and replaced it with imported alcohol sold in bottles. In using the tops from these bottles to create his art, Anatsui is, whether intended or not, reclaiming the refuse from Ghana’s colonial past as a reminder of, and a reflection on that past. I found this to be a very interesting comment on the meaning of the piece, one that I likely wouldn’t have known about had I not gone on this tour.

Piece 7: Flag I – Teresa Margolles

Located directly across from Thaester Gates’ Civil Tapestry 4, there is a dirty and ragged looking flag lying limply against the pole that it is fixed to. I remember initially thinking, “ok, a dirty flag.” It looked to be one of those works that I didn’t “get”.

Once I began reading the description however, my idea of the piece was completely changed. It is not just dirt that the flag is covered in, but blood and other substances and residue, taken from sites of murder around Mexico. What a brutal way to convey the horrors that have befallen Mexico as the cartels continue to battle one another for control of the drug trade. The country sees between fifteen and twenty thousand murders a year, a rate of fourteen out of every hundred thousand people.

The flag was hung outside of parliament in Mexico City, as if to say to the government, “why aren’t you doing something about this?” I found this to be an incredibly brave and provocative act by Margolles. The politics of this piece spoke loud and clear.

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Clubs across Europa

Our first night clubbing in Europe started as all raucous club nights do; with a nanna nap at the apartment that we were renting in the hipster approved Vrsovice neighborhood of Prague. I had read the day before that UK techno stalwart (and one of my favs) Pearson Sound would be appearing at Meetfactory, a multipurpose art space started by famed Czech artist David Cerny. Well-rested, we took a couple of trams and ended up in the southwest of Prague in an old industrial area. The streets were cold and empty and I wasn’t sure if we were in the right place.

As we walked alongside a set of train tracks, the unmistakable four-four thud of loud techno emanated from an abandoned looking building in the distance and grew louder and louder with each footstep we took towards it. As we entered, Perm, resident DJ at Leipzig’s Institut fuer Zukunft (more on this club later) was playing a mix of hard techno and acid, a nice start to the evening. The venue itself is a fairly non-descript and familiar looking dark room with a bar on one side and DJ booth at ground level which the crowd faced as they jolted and swayed in rhythm with the music.

Pearson Sound came on at about 2am and played a solid set of very bass-heavy techno, which went down well with the crowd. Whilst it was never heaving inside, there was always a good mix of ravers packed in front of the DJ booth. Everybody we met in the club was great, particularly a guy named Viktor who we spent most of the night and the next day hanging out with. The night proved a good introduction to the rave scene in Europe and I had finally experienced clubbing in Europe, something that I had yearned for since reading Energy Flash by Simon Reynolds 5 years prior.

Whilst Meetfactory was a good introduction, it wasn’t entirely what I expected when I imagined raving in Central/Eastern European clubs. Institut fuer Zukunft on the other hand was about what I had imagined, and ultimately proved better than expected.

Prior to coming to Europe, I had spent quite a lot of time researching clubs and venues that I wanted to attend. I was probably most interested in Institut over any other place that I had read about. This is despite the fact that information about the club in English is scant and the information that is in German is very sparse. The little information that was available pointed to the club being very left wing in its outlook, a big plus given the negative influence that ‘bro-culture’ has had on the electronic scene in recent years, and the space itself looked cool too.

We arrived at the club to a fairly long line of eager club goers waiting to walk through the doors. The door staff seemed to be interrogating each patron as they approached to enter. I had no idea what was being said as each conversation was in German and I was beginning to wonder if we would pass the test, whatever the test may be.

When it was our turn, we were met with questions about what kind of place it was, the kind of music played and what the night was called. We knew what kind of music to expect and what the place was and that seemed to be enough for the security guard who told us to be safe and to have a good night.

As we entered there were posters up saying “No Means No” and “Respect Everyone on the Dance Floor” and flyers advising what to do if anyone was overdosing in the club. Any club that loudly expounds on how men should behave whilst inside and harm reduction when it comes to drug use is one that I am on board with, so I felt good as we made our way through. Photos were also banned, which was very strictly adhered to by all attendees. 

Walking into the main room was a pretty awesome experience. Hard acid techno thumped away; a massive crowd shifted as one with the music. The whole place had that run down Eastern Bloc vibe to it; industrial and cold, on the verge of collapse. It was great.

As the night went on, the same hard techno continued to boom in the main room. Trips to the toilets were, erm, an experience shall we say. It was hot and sweaty and as loose as any venue I had ever been to. Every single person we spoke to was great. There were conversations about the rise of the right in Europe and what needed to happen to destroy it. Music and travel were each good topics. The cultural life of Leipzig was constantly praised, and rightly so. It ended up being one of those brilliant nights that really reinforces why a good night at a club is one of the most fun experiences available to human beings.

Despite Berlin being the next stop on the trip, it wasn’t until London that I would have my next taste of the club scene in Europe. I fell ill whilst there, so wasn’t able to make it out of bed. I am still bummed about that and hope to return soon to go to those clubs that I had read so much about prior to leaving Australia.

As Boxing Day rolled around, we headed down to Ministry of Sound in Elephant and Castle to attend the Rinse FM Boxing Day show. The lineup was massive and it promised to be a huge night. And it was a big one. Throughout the night we saw Oneman (who dropped ‘Black Beatles’ and ‘Blinded by the Lights’, so massive big ups are in order), Loefah, Kamixlo, Novelist, Logan Sama with Jaekae, Big Zuu, Jammz, Capo Lee, AJ Tracey + loads more.

It was a good night, but something about it left me wanting slightly and I mainly put it down to the venue. I would probably never go to Ministry of Sound otherwise; it is a massive corporate club and is devoid of soul. Everything is so clean and proper inside. Give me a dank basement shithole or a faded old building like Institut any day. Also they sold Fosters in plastic bottles and they were 6 pounds a pop or something, so fuck that noise. Pretty sure that is the first Fosters I have ever drunk and it was garbage. The highlight of the night was seeing the sun rise over the Thames during my first walk along that most famous of embankments, another tick added to the list of experiences that I have dreamt about for so long.

A couple of weeks after this, we headed down to XOYO to see Mike Skinner of the Streets fame DJ. I have been a fan of the Streets since seeing them at Livid in 2001 (I think?) and smashing the hell out of A Grand Don’t Come for Free so was pretty excited. This night did not disappoint. XOYO is an awesome venue and was packed. It felt like what you used to imagine clubs were like before you were old enough to go. Massive energy, crazy dancing and loud as fuck. Skinner played a nice mix of garage, trap and grime and the energy was immense throughout

I’m very much looking forward to further exploring the club scene here in London and beyond in Continental Europe. Institut fuer Zukunft has definitely been the highlight and I hope to find similar places along my travels.

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Trump is now actually the President of the United States.

Trump is now the 45th President of the United States. His inauguration speech was appalling. He promised those whose way of life has been destroyed by globalisation and automation that he would help them. This is of course a lie. He denounced previous Presidents and elites. He has of course surrounded himself with elites, and is on track to have the richest ever cabinet in the history of the United States. He promised to destroy “radical Islamic terrorism”. Good luck with that bud. He promised that America’s borders would be restored, as if they don't currently exist. Nationalism dripped from each and every word and it was disgusting.

I am really not looking forward to what he and the Republican controlled House and Senate will do. We can only hope that his incompetence will leave with not much that he is able to do. God damn.

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On Friendship and Travel

I am sitting on a bed in the new AirBnb that I have for the next month in London. Much of the previous 7 weeks has been spent in the bedrooms of other people’s houses and apartments, but this is a little different as I am on my own for the first time since leaving Australia. There isn’t anyone in the corner of the room or sat beside me in bed to whom I can chat and ruminate on the days’ events and what we saw. I have gone from lion to leopard, and my heart rests heavy in my chest.

These last 7 weeks have been right up there with some of the best of my entire life. Travelling across Europe for the first time is everything that people say it is. It is fascinating, wondrous, complex, blah blah blah, I’m sure you’ve heard all the clichés trotted out many times before. I can honestly say though, that I wouldn’t have enjoyed it half as much if I didn’t have my mate Nathan by my side for the entirety of the journey.

Prior to the trip, I wasn’t sure whether being in such close proximity with just one other person for so long would end up being tiring. I wondered whether there would be times that we would each want to wring the other’s neck for one reason or another. I can honestly say, at least from my perspective, that these feelings never came close to the surface.

This is despite the fact that we slept in the same bed in many of the places that we stayed during the trip, keeping each other awake with our respective snoring problems. Despite eating pretty much every meal together. Despite regularly waking up at dawn to make it to whatever train or bus station or airport in the freezing cold and then sitting next to each other on those buses, trains and planes for hours at a time.

I can only put it down to two things; balance and how close we have been for a very long time. That is that when you are such good friends with somebody, you each know how to play a situation when in the other’s company. Long and deep conversations about any number of ‘big’ issues like relationships, or the state of the world, or the historical landmark that we’ve just seen are good. Silence, often for hours on end, is good. Playing shitty games on the phone next to each other in bed in the morning when we should be heading out to see something is fine. Making off the cuff comments about the confectionary available at a corner store in Budapest is great.

Just knowing that your best friend is so close to you is a kind of comfort only provided by that fact. When I was ill in Berlin, all I had to do was to ask Nafe to get me some cold and flu tablets, or some food and juice and it was brought to me. And I’ll never forget things like this. Just as I won't forget dancing in Prague together, or viewing Budapest from on high at the Citadella with him, or riding around Amsterdam on bikes together and thinking that this is about as good as life gets. Just thinking on moments like these throughout the trip makes my heart sink that little bit more, because in all likelihood I will not see him again for two years.

This is not to diminish the great times that I have also had with Jack over the last two weeks and with Allie and Eloise and their London friends and with Clare and Reuben for that brief period over Christmas. With Nic in Amsterdam. And with Marts and Dice and Maja and everyone else I’ve met along the way. I’m also very lucky to have great friends here who I cant wait to hang out with for the next period of my life. But my experience over the last 7 weeks with Nafe I will hold very close to my heart for the rest of my life.

So I’ll do what I need to do for the next little while as I try to get settled into life here in this brilliant city; and I know I’m going to love it here.  But I know deep down that until the day comes when I’m back in Sydney, I’ll always be waiting on a friend.

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Prague

This is hands down the most beautiful city I have ever seen. Not only on this trip, but in my entire life. History and intrigue seem to ooze out of every little laneway and every nook that is stumbled upon. Two of the things that Prague is famous for, its Castle and the Charles Bridge, really are spectacular when you see them for the first time.

We arrived at our accommodation a little late in the day to actually see anything on our first day, so we hung out there and realized that we were staying in a big hipster sort of area and that there was a café around the corner called Café ve Lese that had bands playing. We hit that up on our first night, and it was quite good. There were two bands on, the first a somewhat by the numbers indie group fronted by a female vocalist with a really strong voice; the second a post-rock band in the vein of Godspeed You! Black Emperor who were the highlight. The drummer was probably the standout, owing to the fact that he had setup a Go Pro prior to the show just to film himself and was really trying his best to look like a rock star (sunnies on, hoodie up), which is an odd thing for the drummer in a post-rock band to do. Safe to say this guy was a big time narcissist.

On our first full day, we took a tour through the city, which was very interesting and also the first time we had seen the sun in 5 days or so, which was certainly welcome. Prague has a very dense and sometimes unbelievable history; the amount of things that have gone on in this city for close to 1,000 years is mind-boggling. People being thrown out of windows prompting 15 and 30-year periods of war, Nazi invasion and occupation, incredible architectural feats, the place where Mozart worked and died and of course where Kafka lived and wrote being just some of the historical fragments heard on the tour. The tour ended on the banks of the Vlatava River, which is where we had our first sight of the castle and the Charles Bridge, each stunning.

We then took another tour, this time of the Prague Castle complex, which is more like a little city than just a castle. Inside the castle’s walls is the towering St. Vitus Cathedral, along with various palaces, squares and monuments, some dating back to the 9th century. Our guide again shared with us more stories about the Castle, some true, some apocryphal, which greatly added to the experience. We also see the tiny dwelling where Kafka wrote many of his books.

That night we headed out to Meetfactory, which is in the southwest of Prague in a run down industrial sort of area to see one of my favourite English DJs, Pearson Sound. Started by famous Czech artist David Cerny, Meetfactory is a multi-purpose space catering to all kinds of art and artists. The club within is cool, very dark and filled with smoke (both from cigarettes and a smoke machine). The crowd is not too big, and everyone that we cross paths with is really nice. We meet a local named Victor, whom we hang out with, chat and dance for the rest of the night. Pearson Sound is on point as usual. It turns out to be a great night and great next day, as we continue drinking and seeing Prague from new vantage points. Sleep comes very early and easy that night.

Our last day in Prague is spent visiting the Jewish quarter in Prague. It is one of the best-preserved Jewish areas in all of Europe, owing to Hitler’s love of Prague. We visit a Synagogue dating back to the 13th century and visit a synagogue that features the names of all Czech victims of the Holocaust. The list of names appears on each and every wall in this very large building and seems to be endless. There is also an exhibit in the synagogue featuring the art of Jewish children kept in Theresienstadt prior to being sent east for extermination. It is all very sad. We walk across the Charles Bridge and walk around Mala Strana and finishing the night with a large Czech meal.

I very much hope to visit Prague again in the future as I don’t feel that four nights was sufficient time to explore the city. There is much more to be seen and I just hope that I am able to gaze upon the Castle from the banks of the Vlatava River again.

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Auschwitz-Birkenau

There was a light cover of snow across Krakow on the morning that we headed to Auschwitz to see with our own eyes the site where the largest mass killing of human beings in history had taken place close to 80 years ago. The bus trip from Krakow to Oswiecim (the small town where the camps are located) took around an hour and a half, which I spent mostly contemplating what was to come, Different Trains by Steve Reich playing in my ears.

We took part in a study tour, which is more in depth than the regular tours offered. Our guide was a gruff Polish man, who throughout the tour rightly expressed his outrage at the crimes of the Nazis and the Soviets (“better dead than red!”) and also reminded us that democracy wasn’t much good either, as that was how the Nazis were elected in the first place. I was not sure what set of beliefs he subscribed to, but he was good throughout, very knowledgeable and direct. After each unthinkable atrocity or living condition that he described and showed to us, be would sarcastically mutter “good luck”, mostly to reinforce that this was a death camp first and foremost. Work was done here yes, but the aim of the Nazis was always to destroy the inhabitants of the camp one way or another.

The tour starts at Auschwitz I, where the initial camp was set up. We are taken through the original blocks, which house various exhibits outlining the stages of extermination and the plight of the affected groups. There are official documents signed by Hans Frank and camp commandant Rudolph Hoess authorizing the plundering of the prisoner’s belongings. There are photos showing the unloading of a train and the selection process. There is a room with thousands of spectacles piled on top of one another. Another with thousands of pieces of kitchenware that the Jews had brought with them. There are also Jewish Rabbinical prayer shawls on display.

In probably the most chilling sight of the whole experience, we see tonnes of hair sitting in a long display chamber. We are told that this is hair shorn from 50,000 Jews after being sent to the gas chamber, discovered by the Soviets when the camp was liberated in 1945. The hair was bundled up and ready to be shipped back to Germany for use in the manufacture of mattresses and other similar products. We also see hundreds of empty canisters of Zyklon-B, the chemical used in the gas chambers, traces of which were discovered in the hair after examination.

Our guide informs us that the first group of prisoners brought to the camp and murdered were Polish. They were mostly members of the intelligentsia; lawyers, academics, Jesuit priests, engineers etc. An entire hallway is lined with the photos taken of them upon arrival at the camp. None survived. Looking at the date of arrival at Auschwitz and the date of death was truly shocking. The longest time that I saw that one of the prisoners managed was 4 months. The shortest just 3 days. We also see the photos of those children and young adolescents who were not immediately killed upon arrival (very few). Some survived, but most did not. Tears stream from one of the girl’s faces as the photos are taken. It is horrific and heartbreaking.

We walk through the camp prison (a prison within a prison), where farcical ‘trials’ were conducted in a Kangaroo court and where victims were shot, hung, tortured or locked in a cell specifically designated for those who were sentenced to starve to death. This was a sickening place where some of the most sadistic crimes of the Nazis took place. This was also the place where some of the first trials of the use of gas took place. Hundreds of Polish and Soviet prisoners were killed here by gassing prior to it becoming official Nazi policy to gas those it deemed ‘untermenschen’.

We are then taken to the only remaining gas chamber at Auschwitz, which was used briefly in 1942. Inside, it is a hauntingly dull and empty space. Looking up, you can see the hatches where the Zyklon-B was dropped through. The house that Rudolph Hoess lived in with his wife and children is visible from the gas chamber, a reminder of how normal mass killing had become for the Nazis. There are also re-constructed crematoria on display, very small compared to those used in the camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau which we are told to go to next.

Auschwitz II, or Auschwitz-Birkenau, is located 3 kilometres from Auschwitz I and we take a shuttle bus there. One of the strange paradoxes of this experience is that the town of Oswiecim is just like any other town. There are signs advertising KFC and McDonalds. There is a BP and a vet. It is slightly surreal. It feels like the town shouldn’t be operating as it is, given what sits at the heart of the place, but it is just like any other small town in Poland.

As we turn the corner on to the road facing Birkenau, it is immediately clear where we are. The railway track leading through the guard tower is right there, a famous image that has become the symbol of the Holocaust for many people. We see the barbed wire and the ruins of the barracks stretching for what seems like miles. The camp is 25 times the size of Auschwitz I, and is massive just to look at.

We meet up with our guide who takes us to one of the reconstructed wooden barracks, which shows the living conditions of the prisoners. Appalling of course. We are then shown the latrine block and informed that being on latrine duty within the camp was one of the most sought after jobs, owing to the heat generated by the waste left there each day.

There are a few of the original brick barracks still standing and we are shown the barracks where the children were kept. There is original graffiti scrawled on each of the walls by the children that still remains there. Stars of David, animals, families and trees feature. It is heartbreaking. Did the child that drew that image of her with her family survive? Did any of her family survive? We will never know.

Following what seemed like quite a long and cold walk (the camp is huge and it is about 1 degree with wind outside), we arrive at the area where the selection process took place after a transport had arrived at the camp. This particular railway section was built to accommodate the Hungarian Jews who were arriving at the camp in the hundreds of thousands in the summer of 1944. 80% of all prisoners who arrived at Auschwitz were immediately selected for death and gassed; the others registered to be worked to death. We then walk along the same road that those poor souls themselves walked to the gas chambers.

The gas chambers at Birkenau lie in ruins. In a last ditch attempt to cover up their crimes, the Nazis had the buildings dismantled from the inside and then blew them up. You can still see the basic layout of the structures however and the ruins are exactly as they were when the camp was liberated. A massive work of art fashioned out of stone sits between the two gas chambers, as a memorial and a reminder of what went on here. We also see the ruins of ‘Kanada’, a vast network of warehouses where the belongings of the prisoners was sorted to be shipped back to Germany. It is massive, showing just how much the Nazis stole from their victims.

We are then taken through the same buildings where the mostly Hungarian Jews brought to the camp in 1944 were registered and shown each step of the process. It is a process of humiliation, terror and deprivation. This section ends with a memorial showing the prisoner’s photos that were found at the camp after liberation. Hundreds of faces stare back at you from the walls; virtually all were exterminated. There is nothing but silence in the room.

The last stop of the tour is to a small corner at the very end of Birkenau. This is the spot where burning pits were dug. Why did they use burning pits? In 1944, the Nazis were gassing so many people that the crematoria could not keep up, so they had to burn the bodies another way. It is now that snow starts falling and a true feeling of desolation sets in. The photo above shows the burning pits in action, taken by one of the Sonderkommando (those whose job it was to clear out the gas chambers and burn the bodies after each gassing) in an act of resistance. The photo below shows the same spot, taken on my visit.

I’ve long had an interest in the Holocaust, as I have tried to understand how human beings are capable of the kind of horrific actions carried out at places like Auschwitz-Birkenau. I don’t think I’ve come any closer to understanding the ‘how’ from visiting the place. I understand the ‘how’ in a purely utilitarian way; I’ve now seen the gas chambers and the lodgings and the torture chambers and the human hair. But as to the ‘how’ in an intellectual and emotional sense, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to understand that. Nor will I, or anybody else who wasn’t there understand what it must have been like to actually live and die in that most awful of places.

The most we can do is meditate on what happened there and try to make sure that something like what the Nazis did isn’t repeated. I’m not sure I have sufficient faith in humanity to believe that it won’t be, but I feel there is a moral obligation for this to be taught and disseminated to the wider public as a reminder of what human beings are capable of when we sink to our lowest possible ebbs.  

[ombudsm-an]

Budapest

Emerging from the Metro station upon arriving in the city centre, it became immediately apparent what kind of place this was: historically rich but also very modern. Our accommodation was located right in the City Centre on the Pest side and was pretty good and well located.

We managed to fit quite a lot in during our time in Budapest. We visited the central market twice and had our fill of various smoked meats and cheese, saw pretty much all of the main monuments and public squares, went to the Szechenyi Public Bath, ate a couple of goulashes and a bit of foie gras, had a drink in a couple of ruin bars and visited a number of museums.

As always, it was the history of the city that had the most impact on me. The first place we visited on our first full day was the Dohany utca Synagogue. This was the first time I had ever been inside a synagogue and I was struck by how similar to a Catholic church it seemed. Our guide (who was great) explained that it was a highly secular synagogue and that the design was unique and intentionally so. Turns out it is also the second largest synagogue in the world.

It was in the grounds of the synagogue that we discovered a beautifully lush and green garden, surprising considering the season. The garden was created on the site where a number of mass graves had been dug, into which the bodies of more than 2,000 Jewish victims of the Holocaust were laid to rest. Seeing the gravestones, each with either 1944 or 1945 inscribed on it was chilling. There was a further wall around the corner featuring more of these gravestones, which was another truly upsetting reminder of what had happened on the very ground that we were standing.

We visited the House of Terror museum; located at 60 Andrassy utca, the same building where first the Arrow Cross and then the Soviets orchestrated and carried out their reign of terror from in the 1940s and 50s. To say this museum is confronting would be an understatement. Each room presents a different list of horrors carried out against the local Hungarian population by the fascists and communists during what was an incredibly dark period for the country. The number of people affected by the twin terrors of fascism and communism is staggering and it makes you wonder how the country was able to keep functioning after this period.

The Holocaust Memorial Museum was also very interesting and well laid out. I had some understanding of the plight of Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust, but this museum presented quite a lot of new information, particularly relating to anti-Semitic laws that Hungary itself passed, well before the Nazis were even an organized party in Germany. More than 500,000 Hungarian Jews were murdered in 1944 alone after the local government allowed the Nazis to begin deportations. Budapest itself was witness to innumerable atrocities against the local Jewish population prior to and during this period.

Budapest really is a fantastic city and I hope to go back again some day.

[ombudsm-an]

First Impressions

A train ride from the airport in Milan, crammed with sullen looking workers starting their day, rain spattering against the windows, fog so heavy that the decrepit buildings and football pitches were barely visible. The first impression of Europe was not quite what I had expected. Things didn’t much improve when we arrived at Milan Central Station as we were harassed by an army of men selling umbrellas, followed by one of the shittiest espressos I have ever had in my life for 5 Euro.

But once we got our bearings and stowed our luggage to take a trip to the Duomo as we waited to check in to our AirBnB, it all started clicking. We took the Metro to the Duomo, a gargantuan cathedral that took over six centuries to build and it was quite incredible (more on this following). This was followed by some pizza and Risotto alla Milanese, which were fine, but certainly overpriced and then we went to check into our accommodation.

As we emerged from Piola station, the overwhelming thought was, “yes, this certainly is Europe.” There were cafes on each corner and stores selling amazing looking produce, graffiti lined each and every wall. The streets were narrow and filled with Peugeots and Fiats. A man in a truck shouted what I can only assume were obscenities at another driver in the most sonorous Italian I had ever heard. It felt great. Our AirBnB turned out to be pretty nice as well.

The rest of the day was spent exploring the tiny amount of the city that was possible in the one day we had there. We went to the square where Mussolini was strung up in 1945, walked through the grounds of a 15th century castle and gazed upon a Napoleonic Arc. We took a tram and the Metro again to Duomo, but this time to go inside.

It was pretty astounding being inside the Cathedral. The size of it from the outside is certainly something, but it pales in comparison to being inside. Every aspect of it is intricate in its detail; the stained glass, the sculptures of Jesus and ancient Milano figures, the columns, the church organ etc. We were also able to get a lift to the roof of the building, which provided somewhat diminished views of greater Milan because the weather was not very good.

Following that, we ate gelato and roasted chesnuts and tried to figure out where to have a drink. Turns out Milan is incredibly expensive when it comes to alcohol, so we had one beer in a shitty little bar then headed back to Piola where we were able to have another beer and a margherita pizza before dozing off at about 7:30pm.

After the somewhat tepid start, Milan turned out to be quite a good introduction to Europe. I am now sitting in Budapest and getting ready to visit the Museum of Terror and some synagogues and holocaust memorials in the Jewish quarter. More to come.

[ombudsm-an]

I am in Europe for the first time. This image shows an example of Napoleon's hubris, something that I can only hope to emulate. I also saw the square where Mussolini was strung up today. My level of tiredness is very high at the moment, so a longer post about my first impressions will be coming shortly (I hope anyway).

[ombudsm-an]

What is 2016?

I’ll be in Europe in a week and a half for the first time in my life and whilst I am more excited than anything else, it is a little hard to reconcile my feelings of excitement with the horror of 2016. In the last week Donald Trump has been elected 45th President of the United States and Leonard Cohen has died. This is on top of the deaths of Bowie and Prince, Brexit, Orlando, the nightmare in Aleppo and the unfolding tragedy in Mosul, the ever worsening migrant crisis in Europe and across the world, terrorism in France, Belgium and Germany, the election of Malcolm Turnbull and the rebirth of One Nation plus the 100s of other grim things that have occurred this year. 

Will my own personal legacy of 2016 be that I geared up for and ultimately made the move to London, or simply be a hazy memory of all the terrible things that have occurred across the world? It is rather hard to say at the minute.

[ombudsm-an]

Where now?

[ombudsm-an]

8 Weeks

I saw a notification for an event on in Sydney in early December today that looked interesting to me and then it dawned on me that I will be in Munich then. All i could do was chuckle. 

It is about 8 weeks till I leave Australia for the longest period ever in my life to experience what Europe has to offer. By January, I will have walked the streets of Budapest and Milan, have witnessed the bloodlands of Auschwitz-Birkenau first hand, have traversed the same streets as Kafka in Prague, gazed upon the sight of the Beer Hall Putsch in Munich, danced and soaked in the history of Berlin, most likely have gotten quite stoned in Amsterdam and walked across the famous crossing at Abbey Road. 

I still don't quite know what to make of all of this prior to having done it. It is surreal knowing that I will be doing this so soon. I am beyond excited, and also slightly unnerved. 

[ombudsm-an]

Steve Reich: Electronic Music Pioneer

As a fan of electronic music, the first time hearing Steve Reich was certainly something of a revelation. It was as if I had found that missing code or text that made everything sort of fall in to place, at least in regards to my fondness for electronic music in its various forms. Kraftwerk are rightly lauded as the predecessors and pioneers of what we now refer to as electronic or “dance” (I hate this stupid fucking title so I’ll not use it after this) music. However, it is composers like Steve Reich that are often overlooked in this conversation, at least by a large number of electronic obsessed punters.

This is not to say that musicians that make electronic themselves ignore them. Dan Snaith of Caribou fame included Music for 18 Musicians by Reich as one of his favourite pieces of music of all time and Orbital sampled ‘Electric Counterpoint’ in their seminal track ‘Little Fluffy Clouds’. Aphex Twin created an entire live piece based on Reich’s “process music” concept and a record was released in 1999 called Reich Remixed featuring a number of electronic artists reworking Reich compositions. So the influence amongst producers and musicians themselves is clear, but what may be a little less clear are some of the reasons why this mid to late 20th century minimalist composer had such a profound effect on these artists and electronic and rave music in general.

Tape Loops as Primitive Sampling and the Creation of New Sonic Landscapes

If there is any one method that was absolutely vital to the explosion of electronic and rave music in the 1980s, it was the use of sampling and looping passages of music or speech from a source not originally created by the producer to form part (or in some cases all) of a composition. This is what Steve Reich was doing in the mid 1960s, albeit in a much different way than would come twenty years later. Reich didn’t have the luxury of a sampler at his fingertips after all (though he would utilise samplers later in his career on pieces like Different Trains).

Reich’s seminal compositions ‘It’s Gonna Rain’ (1965) and ‘Come Out’ (1966) reveal just how ahead of his time Reich was as a composer. Whilst not the first person to use tape loops (see musique concrete, Karlheinz Stockhausen etc.), Reich was certainly the first to use them in the way that he did. By looping two identical recordings over the top of each other and manipulating them, Reich was able to create rhythm and melody out of the most basic source material; recordings of human speech. As the loops continue to play and build on top of each other, new sonic landscapes are created as they move in and out of phase with one another. Reich referred to this as “phasing” and it represents the beginning of what is now generally referred to as ambient music. Reich explains the genesis of ‘Its Gonna Rain’ in this short video.

It cannot be stated enough just how influential this style of composition was to the development of electronic and rave music. Brian Eno recognised Reich’s tape loops pieces for what they were and realised their importance quite early on. Perhaps the best current exemplar of this style is The Field whose entire output is based on the exact same process that Reich was using in the mid-1960s. ‘From Here We Go Sublime’, the closing track from the album of the same name shows the Field in full on Reich mode. Utilising the Flamingos immortal ‘I Only Have Eyes for You’, the piece is drenched in reverb and cut into multiple phrases that echo and collide into one another to create an entirely new piece of music. It is a beautifully modern update on what Reich had been doing 40 years prior.

The Pulse: Non-Stop Motion

Steve Reich started his career out as a percussionist and used rhythmic elements as the central component of many of his early compositions (see Drumming which again utilises his ‘Phase’ concept). Not content with the learnings he had made whilst studying in New York at Julliard, Reich spent a combined four years living in Ghana and Bali after becoming enamoured with the music he heard from those regions. This music was entirely driven by percussion and Reich brought those elements back to the US with him to create perhaps his most stunning composition.

Music for 18 Musicians (originally performed in 1976, released in 1978) is Reich working at the height of his powers and, apart from Drumming, Six Marimbas and Clapping Music, perhaps best shows the emphasis he places on percussion and percussive elements in his music. The 50 minute long piece is driven by ‘The Pulse’, that percussive element that continues from the first chord right to the last. Different sections propel the Pulse; marimbas, pianos, voice and xylophone. This ensures that there is a tight rhythm kept throughout, enabling each of the melodic elements to work within the context of that constant driving rhythmic force.

If there is any unifying element that defines so much electronic music, it is that feeling of non-stop motion. The stereotype of electronic music is that it is always driven by the ‘oon tss, oon tss’ (sound it out) classic house rhythm. Whilst this is certainly true of a lot of electronic music, it doesn’t matter the rhythmic pattern in place, whether it is house, or hardcore, or dubstep, or jungle or any other genre you might care to mention. The one unifying factor behind it all is the weight that percussive rhythmic elements play in the construction, driving force and power of the music. Much of this can be directly traced to Reich’s pioneering composition in the classical world, as is evidenced by the electronic producers mentioned at the start of the piece.

Steve Reich sits right at the top of the pile of truly innovative and great 20th century musicians; he changed the landscape of modern music after all (alongside his fellow minimalists like Philip Glass and Terry Riley of course). In doing so, he influenced and unknowingly helped to create a new musical movement. His experiments with primitive sampling methods ushered in new ways of thinking about sound and created new sonic landscapes. The Pulse formed the backbone of nearly all electronic music that came after it. Reich is a pioneer in near every sense of the word.

[ombudsm-an]

On Chilcot

I'm still not entirely sure how to feel about the Chilcot Report. On the one hand it has confirmed everything that I and many other have felt about the conflict from 2002 (prior to the invasion) when I was 15 years old, right up to the present. Anyone who has kept a close eye on the war and how it came to pass knows that is was constructed by a global neo-conservative coalition. George W. Bush was the leader and Blair and Howard and the rest of the criminal cadre marched in lockstep behind him. We know that it was based entirely on false intelligence and often, on outright lies. And we know that it was wrong and have known that to be the case as early as 2002.

Of course these sorts of reports are important in our societies; in critically analysing and critiquing enormous policy failings. We use these sorts of reports as a way of confirming or denying opinions and beliefs about the wrongdoing of government and the individuals involved in the processes of government.

But what does this do for the hundreds of thousands of people who have died as a result of this conflict? What does this do for the thousands of people who are murdered yearly in Iraq, more than 13 years on from the initiation of conflict? What does this do when searching for answers about the rise of ISIL and other similar groups in the same region? And, what does this do to convince the population of war addicted western nations, that something might change in the future?

Unless criminals like Tony Blair, George Bush and John Howard (and yes they are criminals) are brought to justice, what ultimately do we gain from these reports except for a confirmation of thoughts that people have had for more than 13 years? If the leaders of the supposedly enlightened western nations of the world are never held to account, then why should we expect these sorts of irresponsible and murderous decisions to not be made again in the future? We can only but hope that reports such as Chilcot’s come to serve as a great warning to future leaders in the hope that these sorts of calamities are scrubbed from history moving forward. History would suggest that they will not however.