We’re living in the age of the curator, whether it’s aggregation of content (a good thing, when done right), or the stifling tyranny curators are having in The Art World (whatever that is), or whether it’s at music at festivals, where keen curation can create life-moments — here are two from Coachie ‘09 plus an interview with John Lydon…and this is why Bonnaroo and Coachella are my two favorite festivals — not for the obvious reasons, really, but for their curatorial elements, like say, a Bonnaroo super-jam consisting of ?uestlove, Ben Harper and Led Zep’s John Paul Jones, or like having to choose at Coachella between other-era legends Public Enemy, The Orb and Throbbing Gristle — thankfully, I got to see a little bit of  the first two, and it was great to hear “Blue Room” live, which induced Organic ‘96 flashbacks (respect to Phil Blaine whom is no longer involved with Coachie) as I headed to one of the most crowded pits of the entire festival for my gutbucket, heart-sleeve choice: the mighty Throbbing Gristle, whose Cosey Fanni Tutti is a pioneering female performance artist ( a gen before say, Karen Finley in NYC, which is my cultural reference point) and whose early 70’s work reminds me how the American Apparel ads you see to your right, are merely tamed examples of the dominant male gaze –  which remains the de rigeur approach, even for “hip” American advertising..

Throbbing Gristle’s front-person Genesis P-Orridge seems to have had a discernible role of import in multiple decades, from sending an artistic postcard to the queen (and facing major charges that could’ve landed him in jail), to putting the ACID in acid-house, to self-morphing — where say, Marilyn Manson’s airbrushed album art imitates a life not lived, Genesis and his self-mutation is the work of art. I admire Genesis most perhaps for being honest and outspoken about the value of hallucinogenic drugs, which have always been popular, yet always seem to get a wink-and-a-nod treatment of hypocrisy — and at worse, are still subject to mandatory minimum prison sentences.

At a recent Genesis gallery show, I gave up on the galleryswarm (that’s a self-explanatory compound word I invented) and started asking random folks about heir first acid trip (that vid will be up soon enough). Suffice to say, I left heartened after hearing so many great stories about inner-vision and honest exploration…we haven’t all become fearful drones…yet.

And if you think this is just some 60’s-throwback rabble-rousing, consider the battle for patents as ancient Indian medicines are being sought by Big Pharma, or how Kary Mullis, who won a Noble for one of the single greatest human discoveries/inventions of all time — polymerase chain reaction or PCR, which led to the unlocking of human universes through DNA identification — credits his open-minded approach to hallucinogenic drugs. In an interview done by the BBC for their program Psychedelic Science, he flatly stated: “What if I had not taken LSD ever; would I have still invented PCR?”  “I don’t know. I doubt it. I seriously doubt it.” Or how perception-expansion advocate Aldous Huxley’s still beguilingly prophetic Brave New World saw a dystopia which may be happnening now, or even how a good hit of E can — as studies are showing — help heal the wounded minds of rape victims and war veterans suffering from PTSD. So, before you react too quickly about such matters, take a longer look and decide for yourself.

But I digress…So, here’s a quick look at why Coachella matters so much (and I say this not in rock-crit speak but as a fan) by way of an ‘09 flashback with two by Throbbing Gristle, and a 2010 preview in the form of an interview with John Lydon, whose Public Image LTD will be playing this year and who possess one of the best names for a group I’ve ever heard. I’ll also be posting Bonnaroo highlights regularly as we get nearer to festival time.

Throbbing Gristle and Discoball Golf-cart Pt 1. The smoke coming out of the guitar is not a special effect.

Throbbing Gristle and Discoball Golf-cart Pt 2 — this just gets better and better. I met a real-life dominatrix at this show and she introduced me to her client — in the spirit of festival bartering, they exchanged a ticket for a session.

John Lydon shares his philosophy of life, summer, ‘007. His band, Public Image Limited (one of the best band names I ever heard) will play Coachie ‘10

Heres’ my notes from a two year-old post on John Lydon:

What becomes a legend most? It depends on how accurate the legend is in relation to the person.

In the case of John Lydon, you might start with his autobio “Rotten: No Blacks, No Dogs, No Irish” discounting of course, the myth that’s always created whenever we attempt to write about ourselves. Still, it’s an interesting and very honest story, and it sheds light on his individuality and goes a long way in loosening up the dogma that Punk as a music became, and reminds us of the funkier, disaffected angels that inform whatever Punk as a philosophy was, and hopefully, continues to become.

So when you consider Lydon the person and realize that he was more a catalyst than a dogmatist, the idea of him judging a talent show (Bodog.com’s $1 Million Battle of The Bands) isn’t really so anomalous, although talent contests by definition would instantly seem counter-intuitive to punk’s attempted destruction of the rock star deity and the bloated corporate label.

Of course, punk never completely accomplished this, maybe cuz once one person does something new, either a) everybody copies it to the point of redux, or b: everybody worships  the originator to an unreasonable point or conformity. Punk as music has suffered both fates at times, tho punk as philosophy has certainly had a considerable, if not total, impact – probably because the philosophy existed long before the music.

Coincidentally, while working on this I received an email from a publicist a bout a contemporary band that the late Mr. Tony Wilson said made him feel the same excitement he’d felt at the Sex Pistols’ first show, which of course is a legendary event that I simply have to ask Lydon about. And of course, Lydon initially declines the offer, and rightly so, before sharing very lucid thoughts about punk as philosophy — and then tearing into Green Day, whose platinum record adorns the room we find ourselves in. At one point in this interview another platinum record on the wall haloes him and he seems a saint of rock and roll. At another camera angle, the shiny circle looks like a saw blade slicing into his head. Lydon certainly suffered both fates and lived to not tell about it if he doesn’t want to, but thankfully, he shares a lot in this conversation and I’m very grateful.

In the past few weeks, I’ve taped interviews and/or performances from several different legends; Rock Steady Crew’s Crazy Legs; Morrissey; Siouxsie Sioux; and Mr. Rotten himself, (video from all coming soon) and it’s interesting to see the extent some are, and others aren’t, wiling to discuss the days/play the songs from the time when they made their first mark. And they each have a right to share as little or as much from their past as they choose.

But of course, this video interview is about more than the past, or talent contests; it’s about what it should be about when The Fates throw you in the Green Room with Johnny Rotten. Yes, he explains the seemingly-contradictory act of Judging Music in his classic, anarcho-individualistic terms. But he also looks at Richard Branson and the late Tony Wilson, while also throwing in an appreciation for Stephen Colbet, and a love of vinyl records, and whatever else he feels like contemplating.

As for his own “career”, he’s actually been very busy with this talent contest which (like most contests these days) has proven to have legs and is on FuseTV which i’ve never seen (’dont have cable). He’s also done a lot of narration for nature programming (again, check your expectations at the door). So the guy’s always moving forward, tho’ he also doesn’t rule out the possibility of touring again with PIL or The Sex Pistols. I think he should do both, and soon.

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