On Thu, Apr 25, 2002 at 09:31:37AM +0100, Hawx wrote:
People who just download it, watch it on their PC and then post to say "what's that all about?" have missed the point! Kids today just don't know how spoilt they are.
Hey hey hey, wait a second there fella.
That sounds waaay too much like the words from a deluded fan who believes their idol can do no wrong; viewing everything through rose-tinted glasses and by no means being objective about the material they produce. Don't get me wrong, I love a lot of the stuff the KLF have done but after reading Mr D's autobiographyish book '45' I am a little more skeptical about why he did the things he did.
Then maybe *you* were the one with the rose-tinted glasses. You think B&J did any of it for the fans, or to invoke ancient magickal beings? If you do want to follow the long and winding road that the KLF trod, then you should damn well walk it and not expect a shortcut. You want something instantly accessible that makes sense? Go buy a britney album. You want something a bit more interesting from someone who's work you respect and admire, you might have to search long and hard, and then be left with more questions than answers. Welcome to the trance. Besides, i think Stuart was "seriously only joking"
For me to have my own opinion as The White Room being a load of self-indulgent twaddle is perfectly valid.
Yup, fair enough. But maybe you saw it out of context, just downloading it and watching it. I bet you didn't even take any drugs. For B&J to make self-indulgent twaddle is perfectly valid too, why shouldn't they indulge themselves? The bits I like are the subliminal messages between the frames.
I actually don't think *that* harshly of it, but hear me out. I've read the whole story about how Bill and Jim came across some down-and-out Mickey guy and that contract sent to them from crazed Illuminatus fans calling themselves Eternity or whatever... These words have just been taken as truth. Does anybody know how the above information was found out? If it was from an interview with Bill by a journalist or something then you should bare in mind that it could well have been made up; like the ley line that runs from Iceland to Liverpool to New Guinea that he talked about...
Oooh no, it might be made up? Don't shatter my dreams! Don Lucknowe KSC might be real, he might not. In the absence of further evidence it doesn't really matter, the effect is the same whether he exists or not. There's a letter from him, faked or not, that invokes a mysterious conspiracy around the JAMs. Job done. A couple of my sigs seem relevant here: "What I tell you three times is true" - central tenet of magick "Accept the contradictions" - The KLF
Gotta agree there. Could go on about mp3s vs record scouring in darkly lit dodgy back alley shops but we've been there before.
-paul
who fondly remembers receiving that video tape in the mail, hands sweating as he nervously but oh so carefully slid it into the VCR, picked up the remote and pressed PLAY.
...and was a bit disappointed? ;)
You're missing the point still. I nearly came in my pants the day I walked into a record store and saw 1987 on the wall, having searched for it for years. Now, I'd never claim it's great listening (I like it, but wouldn't expect most people I know to enjoy it) but the act of finding it was something special. Even if I'd hated it, it was something I'd searched for for YEARS. I always think this poem from the cover of Bill's solo album is reminiscent of the idea of the white room: "Thank God! There is always a Land of Beyond For us who are true to the trail A vision to seek, a beckoning peak A farness that will never fail, A pride in our soul that mocks at a goal A manhood that irks at a bond, Try how we will, unattainable still Behold it, our Land of Beyond". If the film made sense the land of beyond wouldn't be unattainable. Now read this again and decide where i'm being serious ;) -- Those who taste, know - Sufi saying