B.C. Gilbert
Ordier
2005
Table of the Elements
[Bromine] TOE-CD-35
Compact disc, board, wood case, silkscreen
Though the era of punk was widely regarded as a time of extremes, legendary group Wire and guitarist BC Gilbert provided the most problematic, visionary and ironic response to the music scene of the mid-70s. The angular minimalism of their sound, the abstract, deadpan lyrics and a penchant for confrontation betrayed the art school origins and made Wire an idiosyncratic triumph.
With bravery, integrity, absolute courage and energy—and more ideas and concepts than any other musician of his era—Gilbert continues to forge ahead. In his post-Wire work, he has utilized a variety of modernist tools and explored a vast range of experimental music, from electronic noise to ambient drones. Ordier is another combative classic, as Gilbert stirs up a wild swarm of electronics with his usual deft touch.
Gilbert writes: "I'm taking a very, very minimalist approach and really getting inside some of the sounds and chasing them to destruction. That's the biggest change that has happened since punk; the apparatus to manipulate noises are available to everyone for a few pounds. But human beings are naturally curious. Give them machines and they'll pull them apart and abuse them for their own ends."
Beautifully packaged in a custom-designed wood case, styled in the fashion of a cigar box.
"A forceful piece of work which sounds like nothing else around. Conducted in a register of baleful menace, it combines rawness and sophistication in unfamiliar ways.”
The Wire
“We were never selling gleaming objects—maybe a few dead flies and wasps.”
Graham Lewis, Wire
"Genius enacted with off-hand majesty.”
Melody Maker
TONY CONRAD (USA)
JOHN FAHEY (USA)
GASTR DEL SOL (USA)
BRUCE GILBERT (UK)
BERHNARD GÜNTER (GERMANY)
KEIJI HAINO + FUSHITSUSHA (JAPAN)
THURSTON MOORE AND FRIENDS (USA)
LOREN MAZZACANE CONNORS (USA)
JIM O’ROURKE (USA)
SPECIAL GUESTS
YTTRIUM
TABLE OF THE ELEMENTS FESTIVAL NO. 2
Table of the Elements
November 7, 8 and 9
1996
[Yttrium] TOE-29
The Empty Bottle
1035 N. Western Avenue
Chicago, IL
Three-day festival pass: $25.00
Producers: Jeff Hunt and Kris Johnson