Monday 6 June 2011

NEW WAVE


The first issue of a new experimental webjournal run by a couple of pals of mine is out. Called Wave Composition, it features a pretty remarkable array of stuff - poetry, essays, interviews, translations - all undergirded by a commitment to reviving some sort of basic avant-garde tradition in Anglo-(Franco?)-American letters. Especially intriguing is the Christian Bök interview, with its discussion of his crrrrazzy Xenotext project, and China Mieville's remarks about forging a "counter-tradition".

Creative contributions are welcome so get in touch with the editors via the email address on the site.

My own contribution to the first issue was a soi-disant "Retroactive Manifesto for Pop". It's a pretty experimental piece of writing in itself so tread carefully. But hopefully the main point comes across: pop music was/is part of something much bigger and more important than is often acknowledged, something in dire need of structural, collective renewal.

Btw, I know I said I wasn't going to mention this again, but it was entirely written prior to reading Simon's book. The "retroactive" tag (and the layout and tone more generally) is a blatant steal from Rem Koolhaas's book about New York architecture. 

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