The Fall by BOK DARKLORD

"Immediately after the blazing success of their ridiculous 2012 double ruinmix album LULU (labelled by media blogger Mark Whitby "a visionary masterpiece" and "one of the best, and most original, albums of 2012"), Buttress O'Kneel and Lucas Darklord wondered what to destroy/recreate next. Both huge Bowie fans, they decided to ruinmix The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, very quickly opting for a double album, with one volume being The Rise, and the other The Fall.

The procedure was simple: O'Kneel and Darklord would destroy/recreate the album one song at a time, in two different ways, and then their independent pieces woud be brought together in a masterclash of dadalayers and oblique strategies. Both artists did what they do best: O'Kneel looped and glitched and collaged with her usual absurdist gay abandon, while Darklord granulated and fedback and distorted and burst and stretched with his vast array of multi-level destruction/reconstruction networks.

Early on in the process, the duo decided that they would always keep one version of the songs the exact same length as the original (though not always on the same volume of the double album), so they ended up with one version of the songs that was identical (lengthwise) to Bowie's own, and one version that was an extended noise freakout with no limits. While they were creating these multiple versions of the songs, they released a "sneak preview" of the double album as a "Double A-Side Virtual 7" Vinyl Record" on archive.com (Moonage Daydream and Suffragette City) in January 2013, although, it must be noted, these versions are actually also different versions to anything that actually appears on either The Rise or The Fall. But the album, both volumes of it, was almost ready for release! Exciting!

Also of note: while the double album was being worked on in the early days of 2013, the actual living artist David Bowie had not released an album of new material in ten years, and was not expected to any time soon. But of course, as history will tell us, he had actually been secretly working on a new album, The Next Day, which he released in March of 2013, surprising O'Kneel and Darklord, and suddenly (and completely accidentally) making their ruinmix double album culturally relevant.

Poised for release, O'Kneel finished the artwork, referencing the artwork for The Next Day (itself a detournement of the "Heroes" album cover, defaced with a white square), and the album was ready for exposure to the masses...

And then...

Well, they sat on it. Rumours circulated in the noisewave underground that Lucas Darklord was not completely happy with it, and wanted to change a few pieces here and there - other rumours said it was O'Kneel who was dissatisfied, and who wanted to make the alterations. Either way, and whatever the truth may be, the duo sat on the album, making their tiny tweaks as they saw fit, for nigh on THREE FUCKING YEARS.

By which point, of course, David Bowie released ANOTHER surprise album, Black Star... and then promptly died.

Now Darklord and O'Kneel were in a quandary. Although their double ruinmix album was finally 100% completed, it seemed somehow disrespectful to release it straight after Bowie's death - the pair were worried that it would look like some kind of disrespectful cash-grab grave-robbing capitalist venture, when really it was a love-letter to a musical hero. So they sat on it again, and waited for a more appropriate time to release it.

That time, more than two years after the passing of David Bowie, is finally with us. That time is NOW.

Is it still relevant? Is it even any good? Were all those minor tweaks worthwhile? As in all matters of art and culture, we're afraid that the only person who can decide such matters is, unfortunately, you."

Department of Historical Explanations and Memetic Archeology
IWML
2018

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DOWNLOADS OF THE ALBUM COME WITH NARRATIVE LINER NOTES. THE NARRATIVE LINER NOTES FOR "THE FALL" READ AS FOLLOWS:

"THE FALL

As his adoration grows, Ziggy discovers that the meaningless cycle of “smiling and waving” is destroying his soul. His message is falling on deaf ears, while the messenger himself is becoming more and more powerful. As the world collapses around him, the darkness of his ego begins to corrupt his interactions with his followers, and he
begins to lose all contact with reality. Instead of healing the world, all he wants to do is touch the flaming dove.

Addled by drugs, power, and black tantra, Ziggy’s mind collapses inwards, and, for a period, he is convinced he is actually a baby alligator. Scenes of orgiastic cannibalism ensue. His admirers and disciples, still hypnotised by his charismatic allure, see themselves as sacrificial offerings, and queues form for the blessing of being rapaciously devoured.

Ziggy is convinced that he can see black holes in the sky, through which shadowy beings are entering our world. Is filled with fear and uncertainty, and, rather than attempting to solve the world's problems, this time he merely sits back and lets the children boogie.

His paranoia increases. Ziggy becomes convinced that “strange things” – interdimensional beings he calls ‘the infinites’ – are trying to get to him, and destroy him. He begins preaching the opposite of “soul love”, an intense distrust of anything and everything. He ceases all contact with people, and becomes a recluse. Trapped inside himself, Ziggy’s world is nothing but “darkness and dismay”.

Despite his disintegrating mind, part of Ziggy is conscious that things have taken a regrettable turn and this small part of him yearns for the past, when simple acts like sleep and love came so easily. Ziggy realises he has lost his band. He ends his reclusive self-exile, and decides to find his bandmates and get back to saving the world. Desperately he calls for them, but despite intensive searching, he discovers nothing. Indeed, he can no longer find any form of life anywhere. He is truly alone.

Ziggy is alone on a planet of ruin. Desperately, he plays guitar, to no-one.

Suffragette City has been obliterated. However, now Ziggy sees dark ghostly shapes lurking amongst the ruins, and realises that these are the ‘strange things’ he had seen earlier – the infinites are populating the destroyed planet. Desperately he attempts to get their attention – “hey man!” – but they show no sign of acknowledgement. In contrast to his recent global fame, Ziggy realises he is now not only a nobody, but barely exists at all. He is invisible to them.

Ziggy, disheartened, smokes a lonesome cigarette in the ruins of the world. He realises that he’s not alone – although humans and all the other forms of traditional earth-life are dead, the world is now populated by infinites, and life goes on, albeit in a very different form. As he looks to skies, he sees blackholes opening, and yet more infinites pouring into their newly-claimed world. Ziggy closes his eyes and smiles, and waits for death."

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“Words like "mashup" and "remix" don't really do justice to Buttress O'Kneel's method - Top 40 pop crap gets sliced, diced, and tossed into a dizzying, exciting hardcore electro stew. Compared to other djs who timidly drop a Vanilla Ice acapella over a Chemical Bros intro just to move a dance floor, O'Kneel shreds copyrights with a blood-curdling vehemence. Smash the state!”
- Music 4 Maniacs