PHARMAKON on WFMU's Beware of the Blog

[jesusfaggotchrist]

I'm bemused by female fronted p.e.

[Cementimental]

Well, it's like male-fronted PE but there's a woman yelling over on a synth with some keys taped down, rather than a man. Hope that clears it up for you.

[tinnitustimulus]

Besides Pharmakon, there's Puce Mary and Sewer Goddess.

Even at the beginning of PE in Britain in the early 80's there was Fistfuck, though that is pretty obscure if it wasn't for the fact Diana from NWW was in it.

[HongKongGoolagong]

Rosemary Malign did a lot of vicious and cruel sounding PE with very effective vocals, both solo and with the Eugenics Council. Her work is undervalued.

[Bloated Slutbag]

On the subject of local ladies who do the lads proud, just found a Soundcloud for Mourning Sickness (now defunct):

Studio and live versions of "You Don't Have To Say Please" (1988)

https://soundcloud.com/mourningsickness/you-dont-have-to-say-please
https://soundcloud.com/mourningsickness/you-dont-have-to-say-please-live

I think I prefer the latter (live) as the vocalist sounds like she really means it*. This song was apparently in response to an obscene phone-call, which may in fact be the bit sampled at the start.

*EDIT plus the apparent subject, that of anally fisting a "pretty boy", comes out a bit clearer

[redswordwhiteplough]

Forest Swords, The Haxan Cloak and PHARMAKON performing in Finland november 28th @ Ääniwalli.

http://www.last.fm/event/3688461+Forest+Swords+at+%C3%84%C3%A4niwalli+on+28+November+2013

https://www.facebook.com/Aaniwalli

[kettu]

Forest Swords, The Haxan Cloak and PHARMAKON performing in Finland november 28th @ Ääniwalli.

http://www.last.fm/event/3688461+Forest+Swords+at+%C3%84%C3%A4niwalli+on+28+November+2013

https://www.facebook.com/Aaniwalli

neat!

[Jordan]

Well, it's like male-fronted PE but there's a woman yelling over on a synth with some keys taped down, rather than a man. Hope that clears it up for you.

I never liked any of the older stuff too much, it was too Black Metal/P.E. or something. I really liked Abandon though, and when I saw her in August it was really good.

Rosemary Malign did a lot of vicious and cruel sounding PE with very effective vocals, both solo and with the Eugenics Council. Her work is undervalued.

Truth.

[Bloated Slutbag]

That Mourning Sickness is  awful.

Hehe, well I never said it sounded good; definitely more Karen Finley than Wm Bennet. But the band was pretty obscure even in its "heyday", which leads me to suspect such things are/were more common than is generally acknowledged. I'll concede this may be wishful thinking.

[Bloated Slutbag]

But the band was pretty obscure even in its "heyday", which leads me to suspect such things are/were more common than is generally acknowledged.

Such things, namely, efforts at power electronics by women with no direct relation to the shit. I mean it's one thing to set out at establishing oneself in a given field of exploration – in this case pe – but it's quite another to effect the quintessential one-off simply because that kind of thing is/was not nearly as unheard of as some might have it.

One could nevertheless draw links from the likes of Deborah Jaffe  / Master/Slave Relationship, who was putting out work that might qualify back in the mid 80s:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXg4vKvxQkk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dI3lBjM8ieQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cX-yujbLRPA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNaRynx1EWc

(the last one mostly for the nicely added visuals though sound does improve somewhat toward the end.)

Hmm. And now that I mention it, Bennet often comes off as rather bitchy...


As for Mourning Sickness, it's hard no to smile at something like this:

http://archive.org/details/freewhores

"Whore power!"

[chibitachop]

I know this is an old thread, but this doesn't warrant a new topic of it's own and this seemed the most relevant place for it:

http://www.stereogum.com/1674464/pharmakon-bang-bang-my-baby-shot-me-down-nancy-sinatra-cover/mp3s/

http://pitchfork.com/news/54703-pharmakon-covers-chernancy-sinatra-song-bang-bang-my-baby-shot-me-down/

apparently premiered on NPR. not really power-electronics or industrial at all anymore, curious if this will be indicative of a more permanent shift or just a one-track tangent...

[tinnitustimulus]

apparently premiered on NPR. not really power-electronics or industrial at all anymore, curious if this will be indicative of a more permanent shift or just a one-track tangent...

I saw her play with Godflesh last week with all new material. I'd say the material is less restrained than on Abandon but then again the dynamic is always very different live as stated before. There is one song where she actually sings, I think it works very well, though not as Jarboesque as the cover.

[holy ghost]

I bought the Abandon LP and think it's pretty cool. It gets routine spins 'round these parts.

The new cover track? Actually kind of interesting. I'd, at the very least be curious to see where she takes things from here.

[Mikerdeath]

I like the record, it's so good I go back to it. and her live set is sick too.

[xdementia]

Her new record Bestial burden is streaming on Pitchfork. Her performance at Summer Scum this year was quite S&M heavy.