HeyThereBraveTrains:
Here is a skip of when we see and what we go. On “It’s A Long Way Down To The Top” on Paul Kossoff & Back Street Crawler’s lovely first album, The Band Plays On, their vocalist Terry Wilson-Slesser sang “I’ve been playing rock ’n’’ roll now for half a million years”. I haven’t been playing rock ’n’ roll at all, nor have I played for half a million years, though I have tried, but at the moment of writing this, I have never worked on so many projects at the same time, and my DeadLines have crowded into my sleep. May Koss rest under A Most SunShiney Moon.
I was considering tonight the communications I have received over so many years—so much love and sweetness (and a tiny amount from those not so keen on me and C93)… what a strange and beautiful mixture, and what an odd journey this has been.
I am also OverMoon to have been working with These New Puritans recently, which will hopefully be released at some point… they are one of my favourite groups ever, and I and C93 are honoured that TNP’s Jack Barnett plays as C93 when the Signs In The Stars Are Cool.
Switching like witches and flies from second to time—sounds in my head are like sounds in my eyes, sparkling and sweet. Sing on, Sweet Chariot, and Skip into the Sky.
And:
DAVID’S WANTS-LIST OF BOOKS BY PHYLLIS PAUL
To any collectors of odd fiction reading this email or looking at my website—I have a small wants-list of an author whom I am collecting, Phyllis Paul. I am prepared to pay well for these books, or exchange them for rare C93 items, or artwork by me, or exchange for other items. I do have many of her books; however, if you have one or more of her titles for sale or trade, in case you might have a title I am missing, please contact me by email with “93BOOKHUNT” in the subject line. Please do note that I may not reply to all emails I might receive about this topic.
EMAIL: UrChariot@gmail.com
David+++, Mari, Now, Then, Love, and See You Then and There…
And now to now:
Firstly, please note that if your order contains any items that are marked as being sent out after October 13, your entire order will be sent out after this date.
THE LIGHT IS LEAVING US ALL NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER
There are three editions of The Light Is Leaving Us All, the new C93 album now available for pre-order from us: the 12” TP with hand-written labels and screen-printed insert and cover, signed by David and limited to 111 numbered copies; the 12” coloured-vinyl LP, and the CD:
The TP, in a screen-printed single sleeve, has the same cover image as the album, but has a different photograph of C93 on the back of the sleeve to that used on the standard LP. The white labels are hand-written with the album title and the name of the group, and each copy is signed and numbered by David. There are 111 copies of this edition, and it costs £55 + postage.
The LP, in a gatefold sleeve, with 6-page “roll-over” insert containing all the lyrics, is £20 + postage.
The CD, in “mini-LP” digipak with booklet contain all lyrics, is £12 + postage.
All formats of this album will be sent out after the London Channelling on October 13.
THE LIGHT IS LEAVING US ALL DIGITAL DOWNLOAD
This will be available for streaming and download purchase on October 14 from the usual entities, such as (deep breath and sigh): 24-7 Entertainment, 7 Digital, Amazon Music, Deezer, Google Play, iTunes / Apple Music, SoundCloud, Spotify, TIDAL / WiMP, YouTube.
As well as on the usual unapproved/illegal/extralegal/paralegal sites.
SOFT BLACK STARS & THE STARS ON THEIR HORSIES VINYL REISSUES SOON ADDED TO SHOP
We have added copies of these two vinyl re-issues, Soft Black Stars And The Stars On Their Horsies, to our online shop. Soft Black Stars costs £22 plus postage, and The Stars On Their Horsies costs £15 plus postage. Each reissue is exclusively limited to one million copies. These albums will be sent out after the London Channelling on October 13.
THE MOONS AT YOUR DOOR & THE STARS ON THER HORSIES DIGITAL DOWNLOADS
These two recent C93 albums are now available for streaming and download purchase from the same usual entities—please see the same usual sunsets in the previous paragraph.
DAVID’S ARTWORK FOR THE LABELS OF THE IMMINENT 2LP REISSUE OF SOFT BLACK STARS ADDED TO SHOP
David is keeping most of his old and new paintings back for his exhibition in LA in March 2019. However he has added 5 new pieces of his artwork to the shop, which are the labels he painted for the new reissue of the C93 2LP Soft Black Stars, which we expect at the end of this month. Four of the paintings are the pieces used for the labels, and the fifth was not used. All are painted in chalk pastel on A4 black paper, and are titled and signed by David in white ink in the bottom left-and right-hand corners. He has also added to the shop some older pieces that will not go to LA, as well as some newer pieces that are parts of series that will be shown in LA.
Please note: insured postage must be chosen at check-out. The paintings are £418 each. These paintings are not framed.
C93 THE LIGHT IS LEAVING US ALL BILLBOARD POSTERS ADDED TO SHOP
We have had very many people asking us if the B0 (1000 x 1414 mm / 39.4 x 55.7 inches) and B2 posters advertising C93’s London Channelling with their sister Nurse With Wound, that have been appearing around London, are for sale. We have added some to the shop. Please note that the B0 posters are so big that they cannot be sent by the UK’s Royal Mail, and have to be sent by courier.
- There are 93 copies available from us (though NWW will also have some for sale) of the B2 poster. The B2 costs £25 each plus postage. This poster will be sent out after the London October Channelling.
- There are 50 copies, only available from us, of the B0 poster. The B0 poster costs £58 each plus courier. This poster will be sent out after the London October Channelling.
Please note: if you order the B0 poster, you will then be sent an invoice for the cost of the shipping by the courier; we cannot ship it until the courier cost has been paid. The courier company requires the purchaser’s shipping address and phone number, so this information will also have to be sent to us.
NATURE UNVEILED 2LP LATHE-CUT EDITION NEARING COMPLETION AT LAST
We are OverMoon to announce that we will be receiving all the parts for the 2LP lathe-cut art edition, with all artwork by David Tibet, designed by Ania Goszczyńska, re-mastered and cut by The Bricoleur, and engraved by Lauren Winton, of Bladud Flies! of Nature Unveiled in the next couple of weeks. We have received the first sample copy, which David has finished painting, and attach photos. David will then start painting all the front covers, and then we will start sending them out. We have added the small number of the remaining copies back to the shop. We hope to start shipping in the second half of October, after the end of the London Channelling on October 13. Thank you for your patience to all who pre-ordered this, and have been so kind in waiting.
THE LIGHT IS LEAVING US ALL: SOME NOTES ON THE VINYL EDITIONS
There will be four different vinyl editions of THE LIGHT IS LEAVING US ALL. The version that will be available at the London Channelling on October 13 will be in a special coloured vinyl; this same edition will also be available from our mail-order shop and at forthcoming C93 Channellings. It will not be available anywhere else. A different-coloured vinyl edition will be available in selected shops, which have special arrangements with our distributor, Cargo Records; it is not available from us. There will also be a black-vinyl edition, available from shops and other mail-order retailers generally; once more, this edition is not available from us. We will be giving contact information for those shops and dealers selling the black and second coloured vinyl edition once we have them. The final edition is a signed and numbered edition, in a silk-screened single sleeve, with the same cover image, and a different photograph of C93 on the back. The white labels are hand-written by David, with the album title and the name of the group, and each copy is signed and numbered by David. There are 111 copies of this edition.
C93 LONDON CHANNELLING OCTOBER 13 MERCHANDISE
We have received many enquiries as to what might be available for the London PickNick. We are hoping that the following items will be available, as well as other screen-printed items celebrating THE LIGHT’s appearance and departure:
The Light Is Leaving Us All LP by C93
The Light Is Leaving Us All CD by C93
The Light Is Leaving Us All Cassette by C93
The Threats Of Memories 2LP reissue by Steven Stapleton and David Tibet
The Threat Of Memory 5CD box-set by Steven Stapleton and David Tibet
Dead Memory 12” LP by Steven Stapleton and David Tibet
Soft Black Stars 2LP reissue by C93
The Stars On Their Horsies LP reissue by C93
Of Kings And Things hardback and unsigned paperback by Count Stenbock, edited and introduced by David Tibet.
Some points about some of the above items.
The Light Is Leaving Us All LP by C93 available at the show will be in a coloured vinyl that will only be available at the show and from our online shop. It will not be available in the shops or from other mail-order sellers. The vinyl was mastered by The Bricoleur. The CD and cassette were mastered by Andrew Liles.
The Light Is Leaving Us All Cassette by C93 comes in four different-coloured cassettes. The ending on Side 2 of the cassette differs from the vinyl and CD versions; it was the original ending of the album, before we decided to shorten the ending for the vinyl and CD release. The cassette was mastered by Andrew Liles. This will only be available from House of Mythology.
The Threats Of Memories 2LP reissue by Steven Stapleton and David Tibet features 3 side-long tracks from the vinyl versions of their albums The Sadness Of Things and Musical Pumpkin Cottage. The fourth side is a previously unreleased version, titled “DreamBreath”, from the Musical Pumpkin Cottage. sessions. It comes in a gatefold sleeve with insert containing all lyrics and credits. The 2LP was mastered by Andrew Liles. This item is not yet available for pre-order; it will be added to the shop after October 13.
The Threat Of Memory 5CD box-set by Steven Stapleton and David Tibet features all of Steven’s and David’s previously-issued recordings, made under their “Stapleton & Tibet” faces, on four of the CDs, as well as a fifth CD with previously unissued out-takes from Musical Pumpkin Cottage. It does not include the unissued out-take on Side 4 on Side 4 of THE THREATS OF MEMORIES 2LP. It comes with a booklet containing all credits and lyrics. The CDs were mastered by Andrew Liles. This item is not yet available for pre-order; it will be added to the shop after October 13.
Dead Memory 12” LP by Steven Stapleton and David Tibet features two further out-takes from Musical Pumpkin Cottage. Neither of these two tracks feature on The Threats Of Memories 2LP or The Threat Of Memory 5CD box-set. The 2LP was mastered by Andrew Liles. This item will initially only be available at the show, and any remaining copies will only be available by mail-order.
Of Kings And Things by Count Stenbock. The signed hardback edition also comes with a free Studies of Death tote,
Of Kings And Things by Count Stenbock. The signed hardback edition also comes with a free Studies of Death tote, screen-printed by Patty at HeavyRock. The book is available from the UK here, and from the US here. The book is available from the UK here, and from the US here.
THE PUBLIC DOMAIN REVIEW PUBLISH DAVID’S ESSAY ON COUNT STENBOCK, A CATCH OF A GHOST
I am delighted and honoured that Adam Green and The Public Domain Review have published here a shorter version of my introduction to my new anthology of Stenbock’s writing, Of Kings And Things, published by Strange Attractor. The book is available from the UK here, and from the US here. The photograph in this update shows me holding the first of the Stenbock Studies of Death tote bags, screen-printed by Patty at HeavyRock, that come with the hardback edition of Of Kings And Things.
DAVID’S ESSAY ON HIS COPTIC TRANSLATION TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE ARCHANGEL MICHAEL IN AFRICA: CULT AND PERSONA (BLOOMSBURY)
“Some Thoughts On How I Came To Michael, Or How He Came To Me”, David’s paper about his diplomatic edition of an apocryphal angelic text in Sahidic Coptic which he presented at the Bergen conference on the Archangel Michael earlier this year, will be published in 2019 by Bloomsbury in The Archangel Michael In Africa: Cult And Persona, a volume collecting the majority of the excellent contributions to this meeting.
INCURABLE, NINA ANTONIA’S BOOK ON THE WONDERFUL POET LIONEL JOHNSON, UTTERLY RECOMMENDED BY DAVID
I was delighted to receive a copy of Nina Antonia’s Incurable, a perfect book collecting the perfect poems of a perfect poet, of whom W.B. Yeats wrote, “He has renounced the world and built up a twilight world instead, where all the colours are like colours in the rainbow that is cast by the Moon…”
Published by the wonderful Strange Attractor, Incurable: The Haunted Writings of Lionel Johnson, the Decadent Era’s Dark Angel, edited by Nina Antonia, is available in a hardback edition of 100 copies, and in an unlimited paperback edition here. I attach the publisher’s description below:
A lost poet of the decadent era, Lionel Johnson is the shadow man of the 1890s, an enigma “pale as wasted golden hair”. History has all but forgotten Johnson, except as a footnote to the lives of more celebrated characters like W. B. Yeats and Oscar Wilde.
Johnson should have been one of the great poets of the age but was already drinking eau-de-cologne for kicks while a teenager at Winchester College. His attraction to absinthe damaged his fragile health and cast him forever into a waking dream of haunted rooms and spectral poetry. A habitual insomniac, he haunted medieval burial grounds after dark, jotting down the epitaphs of the gone-too-young, as if anticipating his own early demise at the age of 35—falling from a bar stool in a Fleet Street pub.
It was rumoured that Johnson performed “strange religious rites” in his rooms at Oxford and experimented with hashish in the company of fellow poet Ernest Dowson. Moving to London, he fell in with Simeon Solomon, Oscar Wilde, and Aubrey Beardsley, and would contribute to the leading decadent publications of the day, including The Chameleon, The Yellow Book, and The Savoy.
Like a glimmering of a votive candle in one of Johnson’s dream churches, Incurable sheds new light on one of the most gifted, if reclusive, poets of the fin-de-siècle. Containing a detailed biographical essay, illustrations, rare and unusual material including previously unseen letters, poetry, and essays, Incurable pays tribute to this enchanting and eccentric poet while providing fresh insight into an era that continues to fascinate.
JAMES MACHIN's WEIRD FICTION IN BRITAIN UTTERLY RECOMMENDED BY DAVID
It’s an honour and a delight for David to recommend his friend James Machin’s wonderful book on this wonderful topic. James has an entire—and very perceptive!—chapter dealing with M.P. Shiel, Count Stenbock, R. Murray Gilchrist and Arthur Machen, and his knowledge of, and enthusiasm for, this amazing period for weird fiction is wonderful and delightful. The book is full of fascinating—and surprising—information. David is also OverMoon to be mentioned, and thanked, in the book. More information about the book is given here and a very informative interview with James about the book can be found at the lovely Wormwoodiana here.