SUPERMAN / SOUND EFFECTS & GUITAR
Audio Recording (Tape 21)
June 1994

 

The first five minutes of this recording is a discussion between Barry and myself where we outline future plans to sabotage the FLAT space, if it is ever co-opted by the Technikon. A rumor had been circulating that the Technikon was aiming to buy the property that included the building that housed the FLAT. There is a something of a celebratory atmosphere to the evening and at some point Samkelo Matoti joined in sanging and talking.
Later on the same tape is a recording made some time after. Here, Horsburgh can be heard jamming on the guitar, while I sing and make other noises. We began by playing a crude version of REM’s Superman and then Horsburgh continues to play on the guitar while I create sounds on a record player by manipulating records (including Dylan’s Mr. Tambourine Man).
The sound was uneven and intercepted the chords played by Horsburgh. Later, I also over-dubbed myself playing a repetitive chord on the guitar onto this recording forming along with other sounds a kind of cacophony. This was a recording that would later form part of my audio installation at the FLAT: Songs for Nella.
On the second side, I continued my experiments with guitar and record player. I played a sound effects record, that included among other strange sounds, farm animals, while simultaneously ‘attacking’ the guitar. I subsequently recorded the result. This sound work was made with a method similar to the one I used to construct Zulu for Medics. (which was described earlier.) Near the end of the cassette I began to read from D.H. Lawrence’s Sons & Lovers, over a recording of train sounds. The train shunting resonated with the book’s erotic subject.