The Pain Factory - A Public Access Live Noise Show 1995-1997
Channel 53 San Francisco, CA
12 Episodes - 4 DVD Set - 16 Page Color Booklet
13 Hours Of Archival Footage
12 Episodes - 4 DVD9 Set (Professionally Printed)
16 Page Full Color Booklet
13 Hours Of Archival Footage
Edition of 350
Influencing Machine Records & Spastik Visuals Proudly Present:
The Pain Factory A Public Access Live Noise Show 1995-1997
Channel 53 San Francisco, California
(http://thepainfactory.info/bothdvd.jpg)
DVD Menu Disc 1
(http://thepainfactory.info/menus/1.png)
ORDER HERE FOR USA / Rest of World - $30.00 (USD) + shipping
https://influencingmachinerecords.bigcartel.com/ (https://influencingmachinerecords.bigcartel.com/)
Contact: influencingmachinerecords@gmail.com
ORDER HERE FOR CANADA / Rest of World - $40.00 (CAD) + shipping
https://mk9.org/neural-operations-catalog/ (https://mk9.org/neural-operations-catalog/)
Contact: order@thepainfactory.info
Discogs Listing With Detailed Information
https://www.discogs.com/release/12142881 (https://www.discogs.com/release/12142881)
Wholesale discounts welcome, please contact.
Promo 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waqrYyFZAq0&t=2s (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waqrYyFZAq0&t=2s)
Promo 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7a1OEavYjk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7a1OEavYjk)
Official Site
http://thepainfactory.info/ (http://thepainfactory.info/)
This 4-DVD set features 16 page full-color booklet with original flyers, artwork and liner notes
by G.X. Jupitter-Larsen, Scott Arford, J. Campbell, Jeff Gunn and Michael Contreras.
It contains approximately 13 hours of footage, including nearly every performance
and video submission broadcast as part of The Pain Factory series:
Live Performances:
Killer Bug Crawl Unit Seethe Flat Tire Fin Nihil Spastic Colon The Haters
Big City Orchestra Radiosonde Not Breathing Dr. Crystal Mess YAU Anal Sadist
Stimbox Hungry Ghost Sirvix Loaded Chris Cobb & Yael Bartana
Moe! Staiano UBZUB Instagon Air-o-gant Death Squad Frank Moore Glass Crash
Taped Submissions and Performances by:
Xome The Amputease Taint Scott Arford Seedmouth Genetic Death Cell
The Haters Death Squad Rotten Jesus MSBR Electronic Karma Sutra
Macronympha Stimbox Frank Moore Instagon Death Keeps Me Awake
Short Films and Video:
The Digger Snuff Balloon Holes On The Neck Institutional Broadcast
Serrrations TV Homicide Dahmer Spectacle
The Pain Factory (1995-1997)
For about three decades, Michael Contreras has been one of the most consistently intriguing artists in the Industrial Noise scene, beginning under the name Trucido, then as Death Squad, and most recently as MK9. Anyone who has followed his prolific output through the years has recognized Contreras' versatile use of multi-media elements, including text, photography, performance, and video. Another major piece of his body of work was almost lost, however, nearly forgotten since the mid-1990s: The Pain Factory.
In 1995, Contreras, then an employee at Channel 53, San Francisco's Public Access TV station, decided to curate and produce a monthly TV show showcasing Industrial/Noise/Experimental music and film. It is difficult to understate how subversive The Pain Factory series was. In the pre-internet era, public access TV provided the only platform by which controversial imagery and art could be broadcast to the world at large, and Contreras maximized the use of this peculiar medium, pushing the boundaries in ways that were unfathomable at the time. Contreras, and the artists whose work he projected over the airwaves to often unsuspecting viewers, were unconstrained and confrontational—so much so that the show was threatened with lawsuits and featured in local papers due to the extremity of the imagery.
The Pain Factory is also notable because it offers a snapshot of the mid-1990s Noise scene. The years 1995-1997 arguably represented the scene's peak output, in terms of quantity and quality, and yet, it was strikingly underdocumented. The Pain Factory offers a unique record of the musical and visual activity of some of the era's most significant figures and captures the aesthetic breadth of the Noise scene at large in that era, before rote adherence to self-imposed rules and sub-categories became the new norm in the 2000s. The quality is also impressive. These aren't basement camcorder videos; The Pain Factory was a legitimate television broadcast program, and many of the performances featured here were recorded live in the Channel 53 TV studio.
Unless you lived in the Bay Area during the mid-1990s, it was impossible to see The Pain Factory. Only a single set of U-matic and S-VHS tapes exists, which Contreras himself kept safe through the years. The show was never widely tape-traded and has never made its way onto the internet. Contreras has spent nearly two years restoring and digitizing the entire series in an effort to rescue them from analog oblivion. It is, therefore, a major revelation to finally see an official presentation of this material, jointly released by Contreras' own Spastik Visuals label and Influencing Machine Records.
Incredible document! Will be stocking, should arrive next week.
Any european distros getting copies?
Tesco and Freak Animal for now.
Perfect!
Ordered, looks fantastic.
I will begin shipping out all preorders from Influencing Machine today.
Arrived yesterday, just watched episodes 1 and 3 of disc 1. Perfect ! Transfer is as good as it gets. Ofcource image quality depends on the original used material, but you can see through the performances in channel's studio that good job was done transfering it to DVD. Looks and -especially- sounds excellent !
I asked myself a question. Would any TV channel nowdays play this even regional channel, even after midnight ? Easy answer. No ! Let alone help produce it, giving studio, equipment etc. And support and play it for a long period of time. - I understand that program wasn't the rule back then, it was an exception, but it went on air, had its chance. Nowdays TV has Vice and similar which marketing themselves as "alternative" , "different" , "supporting / watching less known scenes" TV programs while the only thing they do is to feed crap the unlucky viewer / consumer and poisoning his mind. The so-called progress. That's it !?
4 DVD / 13 hours / so reasonable cheap price / you don't only get a piece of history, you actually get above all good music. From the little i watched only Xome got me somewhat bored. Don't be a fool. Buy it.
This is absolutely mandatory. Don't waste any more time, just buy...
Ordered!
I've got copies at http://www.screamandwrithe.com. They look great.
Is this sold out yet?
Still available. Top of thread for ordering, thanks.
Bump. This is essential!
Had the wrong prices listed, has been corrected.
Thanks,
Michael
Apologies for the thread bump.
I've been watching and rewatching this series, and one thing has continued to baffle me: WHO IS DR. CRYSTAL MESS?! One of my favourite performances throughout the entire series, and I can find absolutely no info on who he is.
If anyone knows, I'd love to hear back!
My memory is crap at the moment.
I am traveling currently but as soon as i get home i can retrieve the information you are asking about.
best
michael 9