In light of our upcoming issue, The Decadence Issue, an anonymous writer hit us with this post of which we’re uber fond. Deadline for contributions for issue 8 of Novel: April 9th.

Welcome, pulchritudinous Sybarite! Do as you will and we shall do your will. This is my Utopian, Hedonist’s Paradise Party where epicurean law dictates that all will indulge and take pleasure. Sit, please, on these silk, bejewelled cushions and you shall very quickly be served with a generously filled pipe, stuffed with your combustible poison of choice. Lay languidly, darling, please and choose, if you will, for I have no inclination to insist, from my menu of liquid lushness; Champagne, Chambord, Chablis or cherryade, wherever your preference lies, lay with it darling, lay with it. Sit softly, though, please. Before you light your pipe, though, might I recommend, if you will allow, something a little more stimulating? After all, it is pleasantly easy to come down after going up, but frustratingly difficult to go up once down. Powders and crystals, white, purple, red and green are all available on the platters. If something more nutritional appeals then do feel free to help yourself to the honey coated Strawberries.  Better still! Have one of my nymphs, male or female, serve them for you. My nymphs are more than willing to undress you and help you slide into something Saturn, Silk, Velvet or, indeed, latex. Wherever your preference lies, lay with it, softly, darling, softly. And I, dear Sybarite, will be riding bear back on a white striped feline, soaring on the wings of serotonin, somewhere in the haze.

I recently read The Hacienda: How Not To Run a Club by former Joy Division/New Order bass player, Peter, ‘Hooky’, Hook. This comedic, anecdotal life story documents the rise of House music in England, the emergence of the DJ as a clubbing deity and the fantastic fuck up (at least from the owners perspective – the punters thought it was a blinding success) that was the Hacienda. The club, the time period and Hooky himself – a man who lived the rock star lifestyle that most of us can only ever imagine we were born to lead but were somehow cheated out of by fate, parents or dependency on the drugs we were taking anyway – encapsulate the hedonistic decadence of the House music clubbing scene.

Decadence is a word much on the tongue of the novel staff at present as the theme for issue 8 of Novel Magazine is decadence itself. At present we’re currently searching for content, contributions and events relevant to this theme. So, when performing the ritual Friday afternoon perusal of the world head quarters website (purely for research purposes) I was fully, aye, fully buzzin’ to see that Graeme Park, former Hacienda legend, is performing at WHQ on Thursday 5^th April. Graeme Park was a staple performer at the Hac and he was right there, at the epicentre, during the ‘summer of love’ (1989) riding at the helm alongside the likes of Mike Pickering and Tony Wilson. He has now been performing DJ set all over the world for 25 years. Graeme is currently touring/gigging throughout the UK and Europe playing a selection of classic house cuts as well as new and current tunes too. Although keen not to be bracketed as purely a ‘classics’ DJ, Graeme regularly delves into the thousands upon thousands of tunes he has collected on vinyl over the years.

“House music has made people channel their tastes, so I went back to my roots and pulled out some forgotten classics…I love seeing a crowd go wild to a tune they haven’t heard for years or playing something really obscure from 20 years ago that people think is new.”

Thursday 5th April (Day before Good Friday) : 11.00pm. Tickets are £8 from  http://www.wegottickets.com/event/154413

Words By Lee Halpin

ZOO – theCUT – APE vs FLY session – Thursday 15th, 11pm

Ape vs. Fly have a new website launching this week and in celebration they are teaming up with Zoo to host a massive session at the Cut this Thursday.

For more details go to the facebook page for this event

Spreading Tentacles

Another video made for the Melbourne underground hip hop group L-Burn Illuminati, I love working with these guys, they make the music they love, they have confidence in it and they push it. This particular song is a 420 thirst century love sonnet, a song about planting seeds and spreading tentacles, those small events that happen and grow to be much more, like meeting one person who opens up thousands of doors in your life planting a seed and spreading from there. The imagery in the video matches this, wires that connect people, a web being spun, power lines/grids of energy, tentacles, subconscious (the ocean), gate and gatekeepers of fate, ink dropped into water (explosion of one thing into more) etc etc, I’m 99% sure not many of these images would be grasped without explanation, I normally like to leave it to the viewer but i think this time a helping hand is needed to work your way through the strange accent, sublime lyrics and seemingly  nonsensical footage. http://www.facebook.com/LBurnIll

I have no idea what Varnsteck is, but the Helgeland 8-bit squad are two hairy Norwegians who decided they wanted to make 8-bit reggae, and racked up 10,000 plays within 2 months of starting! They are true to their cause and they are talented, so they are just the kind of people I like to back so I make them videos when I have time. This video was made using VJ software, normally intended for live performance at gigs and festivals I have hijacked it and started using it for music video production. Its a strange experience editing a 4 minute video, in 4 minutes. But its gives a nice raw feel to it and also supplies some visual effects otherwise unobtainable via standard editing. Electric reggae is a funny little niche, you can check out my sound cloud group here for further experiences in this world of fun. http://soundcloud.com/groups/chubstep-digital-laptop-reggae