Rachel Mayfield – “Winter of Desire” 12th October 2017
August 13, 2017
IMB6037 Rachel Mayfield – “Winter of Desire” released on Iron Man Records, 12th October 2017
All songs written by Rachel Mayfield
Rachel Mayfield – Vocals/Acoustic Guitar
Toni Woodward- Cello/Vocal Harmonies
Kirsty Ford – Vocal Harmonies
Produced by – Paul Robert Gray
Recorded at – Saint Dunstans Church Hall, June 2017
Art Work – Dave Twist
Photography – Ian Whitney
Dedication – ‘For Huck’
For all Bookings and Press enquiries email: mark@ironmanrecords.co.uk
Rachel Mayfield is a singer, writer and mixed media artist from Birmingham, UK.
In the 1990’s she formed and fronted Indie Rock band ‘Delicious Monster’ being hailed by the NME as a “Goddess of Indie Rock’ and as ‘exciting, unpredictable and dangerous as a ten legged Tyrannosaurus. The band received critical acclaim for three top ten singles and one album placing them at the forefront of the cultured Indie Rock scene. Since then she has diversified into Solo albums, Film and Art installations while continuing to develop creative collectives.
In 2015 her short film ‘All Lovers Could Be Love’ from ‘Venture of Belief’ featured in the BFI love season with Poetryfilm.org.
October 2017 will see the release of ‘Winter of Desire’ on Iron Man Records – the first element of a four part Art work that includes Music, Film and Poetry –
Winter of Desire
Venture of Belief
Truth To Material
Collect The Hearts
Rachel Mayfield will perform 12th October 2017 as part of Anchor Gallery ‘Show Me Your Birmingham’ exhibition. Stage time Approx 8pm at Gunmakers Arms, 93 Bath Street, Birmingham, B4 6HG. £10 ticket entitles ticket holder to an all events pass for the exhibition.
What people are saying:
Rachel Mayfield is a master of dynamics and a true artist in the widest sense of the word. She expresses her worldview and reading of her experiences in a variety of formats. Her live performances are fluid; as an ever changing line-up of solid musicians enhances and alters her sound. As a solitary character, dressed in black, barefoot, with an acoustic guitar, she enthralled me at the Midlands Arts Centre in 2015 with her live Mixed media exhibition ‘Winter of Desire.’ Yet, her most recent performance of this at Pcafe included: bass, cello and backing vocals, along with film and photography on theme, that added further dimension. Irrespective of the line-up, Rachel instinctively knows when extra layers of instruments are required, whilst allowing the musicians creative freedom to enhance her songs.
Rachel Mayfield is unshackled by mere form. Her lyrics convey ambiguous imagery (reminiscent of artists such as Suzanne Vega) wide open to audience interpretation. Multiple listens to the impassioned, stripped down, ‘Take Me to God’ will reward you with resonating hidden depths from a gut-wrenching and primeval cry on the eponymous refrain. Check out the version on YouTube. Her band cranks up the feeling till the epic crescendo; although her solo version has (at least) the same devastating impact.
Other notable tracks are: ‘Do, Don’t’ – a song that exposes the tumultuous and emotional conflict of Intimacy, illustrated by the simple, yet effective, use of the call and response titular chorus. Rachel fearlessly exposes her vulnerability through her lyrics and her delicate and powerful vocals; her vast vocal range can hover between precarious whisper and spine-chilling, rousing wail –any time she chooses. ’Don’t Say Never’ epitomizes the pain of heartbreak. With her sensitive vocal delivery and unobtrusive guitar playing, Rachel creates solace, whilst simultaneously promising optimism.
All in all, through compassionate, sensitive, lyrics, sound and visuals, Rachel Mayfield has produced an album destined to be the vital soundtrack for anyone who has ever experienced epic love and loss. – Antonia Woodward – Gig Junkies
‘Anyone who has not experienced the fragile beauty of Rachel Mayfield’s aural aura, needs to make it their priority. I had the pleasure of experiencing her soul-baring musical performance at Birmingham’s Central Library’s auditorium on Saturday afternoon. The lyrics – poignant and moving – describe the delicate turmoil an artist must work through to deliver their craft. It was also the romantic tale of rebirth (creatively and physically) and a homecoming to her hometown of Birmingham after living away for over a decade. The lyrics, personal and allegorical, tell the story of an artist who hasn’t chosen art; art has chosen her. Lucky us.
Rachel performed one song, stopping near the beginning to encourage the crowd to join in the beautiful and haunting chorus. They did. It was a testament to her magnetic stage presence, that the passers by (above) flocked to hear her performance. By the time the timeless melody was over, a large crowd had gathered and she was met with rapturous applause and appreciation.
Like the chorus of her self-penned song, most people who were there would need to see her “over and over”. – Andy Strachen
‘An extraordinarily gifted singer songwriter – possessed of an exquisitely way-ward, multi octave voice.’ Paul Lester – The Guardian
‘Capable of soul baring, sensual ferocity. Heart wrenching.’
Katatonic Magazine
‘Singer, songwriter extraordinair.’
Tony Moran – The Sutton Observer
Rachel Mayfield is one of the most important women in contemporary music. She is a bruised yet strangely sensous woman.’
Andrew Field – Anthem
‘Star of the show, a rock deity whose free falling voice is a wonder to behold.’
Cumbernauld News
‘Mayfield’s voice is to sigh for, full of pure, unforced beauty.’
Whats On
‘An ambiguous, heady brew of power, politics, pleasure and personality all rolled into one.’
Redbrick – Student Magazine
‘I F…ing Love this singer’
Sarah Henderson – GWR FM Swindon
‘Pleasure with Brains.’
Buzz Factory
‘A magnetic, transfixing stage presence. The lady has everything; a totally individual sound and a personality that dominates centre stage like the innocent but knowing eye of a technicolour hurricane.’
Steve Morris – Brum Beat
‘Emphatic, Balanced, Artistry.’
Nicholas Manthorpe – Evening News
‘Rachel’s Mayfield’s voice is Swooping, demanding, pleading but always seductive.’
Cornwall College – Student Magazine
‘Rachel flings her head back, opens her mouth and this voice unleashes itself in all it’s
just controlled, terrifying beauty.’
Sarra Manning – NME
‘Mayfield’s voice is infused with an unmistakeable and exhilarating passion which sends a shiver down the spine.’
Making Waves – Oxford
‘Raw energy and well balanced sensitivity.’
Leon Burakowski – Dudley Chronicle
‘Rachel Mayfield has wit and nerve.’
Time Out – London
John Sinclair – Beatnik Youth Ambient – Press update
July 20, 2017
John Sinclair – Beatnik Youth Ambient
Iron Man Records
IMB6033
Distributed by Cargo BUY IT HERE
All Press enquiries to Sean Newsham : sean@mutante.co.uk
“Incendiary bebop beauty from the renegade poet John Sinclair with hand drawn cover artwork by YOUTH. If we ever needed a passionate beat soul speaking words of wisdom, it’s now, and John Sinclair – Revolutionary, Jazzman – lays it down. Bohemian ex-manager of the MC5, Sinclair was central to 1960’s counterculture. A year or two back he met producer YOUTH (Primal Scream, U2), and got dragged into the 21st Century.
The result is a hypnotic celebration of personal freedom; laid-back thoughts spoken in John Sinclair’s gruff, grainy drawl, draped against blues, bebop and trip-hop.
Do It, with it’s lonesome sax, echoes Paddy McAloon’s intimate I Trawl The Megahertz: “In those days, to make poetry and art…that wasn’t called for. But you did it, even though you knew you would never get paid…”
Brilliant Corners is a wild tribute to Jack Kerouac, and Sitarrtha offers, “If we’re lucky, music will bring us through, and we’ll wake up singing.” What a dude.” – Glyn Brown **** Mojo Magazine August 2017.
Order John Sinclair – Beatnik Youth Ambient here
John Sinclair – Beatnik Youth Ambient UK Press/Radio feedback – Released July 28th 2017
BBC6Music – Gideon Coe played ‘Do It’ on last nights show – 8th June.
BBC6Music Jon Hillcock (sitting in for Gideon Coe) played ‘Do It’ on 31st May
BBC6Music – Jon Hillcock (sitting in for Gideon Coe) played ’Sitarratha’ on 30th May.
BBC Radio Lancashire – On The Wire – Steve Barker played ‘Do It’ on 17th June
Shoreditch Radio (London) The RealMusik Radio Show – Peter Coulston played ‘Do It’ on 2 August
Confirmed Features
Bandcamp Magazine feature – Saby Reyes-Kulkarni interviewed John and Youth
Mojo Magazine – Eyewitness feature – Pat Gilbert – for issue out end of June – interview done – out now
Louder than War Magazine feature – skype with Gus Ironside done earlier this week email Q&A with Youth – out now http://louderthanwar.com/john-sinclair-beatnik-youth-ambient-album-review/
Confirmed Album Reviews
Electronic Sound Magazine
Louder Than War Magazine – Gus Ironside – out now http://louderthanwar.com/john-sinclair-beatnik-youth-ambient-album-review/
Mojo Magazine – Glyn Brown – out now
Record Collector – Kris Needs
Shindig Magazine – Chris Twomey
Uncut Magazine – John Lewis – out now
Vive Le Rock
Digital Press
Cone Magazine – http://www.conemagazine.com/john-sinclair/
DMC World Ben Hogwood
Monolith Cocktail – http://bit.ly/2uIiQRk
Sunday Experience – https://marklosingtoday.wordpress.com/2017/05/18/john-sinclair-2/
Whisperin & Hollerin – Carl Martin
The Seventh Wave (Birmingham) Chris MacAdams – playing tracks
The Money Burner’s Manual: A Guide to Ritual Sacrifice by Jonathan Harris
June 12, 2017
I have a copy of The Money Burner’s Manual: A Guide to Ritual Sacrifice. Jon sent me a copy of the 1st Edition, I bought this one to support the cause. I look forward to reading this updated hardback edition in full. Put aside your morality, ideology, dogma and the rest for a moment. Open your mind and give it a read. Prepare for blasting. The Money Burner’s Manual appears to be an essential body of work written by a dangerous lunatic. You might enjoy it. WARNING – This book may increase your propensity to burn money. The Author Jonathan Harris supports Iron Man Records as a Patron.
Prior to the existence of The Money Burner’s Manual there were no mass ritualized money burnings. Since the first 23 copies of the first edition were given away, there have been (as of May 2017) three public burns where £1000’s have gone up in smoke. Why didn’t they give it to Charity? Why didn’t they give it to me? The Manual explains why ritual sacrifice is the ultimate moral and spiritual action and why money makes the perfect sacrificial victim.
The Money Burner’s Manual is both invocation and treatise. The conscious sacrificial act of money burning is the axis upon which the author’s life turns. The *doing* of nothing – the deliberate creation of nothing from something – resets our connection with reality at some otherwise unknowable metaphysical substrata. It is not so much that this has direct effects, more that it simply changes everything and throws off a clustering of synchronicitious events around each re-enactment. The in-depth academic consideration of what money is and how ‘economic thought’ pervades knowledge, serves to provide the reader both with intellectual rigor and, perhaps more importantly, something to hold onto once the magic starts to happen.
The Money Burner’s Manual promises you absolutely NOTHING. Or, at least, as close to absolute nothingness as you can get. By taking apart the symbolism and meaning of the money burning taboo, the Manual seeks to give the reader a new understanding of NOTHINGNESS – the ultimate reality. Key here is to acknowledge, in the words of Georges Bataille, that sovereignty is NOTHING; that everything you feel and know at your most intimate level of being, was born of nothing and will return to nothing. Making *an experience* of nothingness (i.e. money burning) the central ritual of your life is about connecting yourself to the totality of existence.
There is reflexive relation between what *is* Divine or sacred and what we *believe to be* Divine or sacred. We must awaken ourselves to this relationship. All Hail, The Staff!
Buy: http://burnyourmoney.org/
Contribute: http://www.jonone100.com/
Blog: http://jonone100.blogspot.co.uk/
Money Wisdom: http://jonone100.tumblr.com/
This book is also available as a Kindle edition on Amazon here
Yvette Cowles
June 7, 2017
“Love yourself, love life, be kind to others, laugh, be silly… dance! Having cancer, or any illness, does not stop you from following your heart and being as alive as you can be in each moment.” Yvette Cowles
Former non-fiction marketing director at Harper Collins, Yvette Cowles, has passed away. Yvette was a good friend to me, and a supporter of Iron Man Records. The quote “Beauty is not in the face, beauty is a light in the heart” by Kahlil Gibran makes me think of Yvette.
Yvette studied French and Italian at the University of Exeter and subsequently taught English in the South of France. She was diagnosed and treated for cancer for the first time in 1996, but had been living with secondary breast cancer since 2011, detailing some of her experiences in a blog which I helped her to set up.
Non-fiction marketing director at Harper Collins from 1996 to 2002, Yvette subsequently held a number of head of marketing roles in publishers including Sutton Publishing, The History Press and Hay House Publications.
She founded Dance Yourself Happy, a school which taught a blend of dance and yoga workshops, in 2006, and last autumn published Belly Dancing and Beating the Odds with her old firm Harper Collins.
Yvette also ran retreats to help people de-stress and have fun, which combined laughter yoga with a wide variety of dance forms – and even a spot of air guitar.
I like to think that Yvette dealt with cancer and death as she lived her life – in her own way and on her own terms. Yvette gave me many things to think about during our conversations over a cup of coffee, especially in recent times. Let me try to share a few of them:
“While the NHS has done wonders nursing my body back to health, dancing continues to be the best medicine for my soul…..how fleeting and precious life is. Cancer taught me to stop getting bogged down in trivia, to stop beating myself up for not being good enough; it even gave me the impetus to ditch a high-powered (and extremely stressful) job in publishing and follow my heart. You have to do what brings you alive. Don’t put it off any longer”
“You don’t know how you are going to react to something until it actually happens. People think they know what they will do, or how they will react, but they don’t. Until they look at you and tell you the news, you cannot know how you will respond. You have to understand that you may have a completely unexpected reaction. And you also have to try and stay positive.”
Yvette repeated “Cancer isn’t a war or a fight that you win or lose. Call it what you will, just don’t call it a fight.” She quoted “Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it.”
Her kindness and infectious positive spirit will live on. “To have a friend and to be a friend is what makes life worthwhile.” and in the words of writer E B White, Yvette quoted “Hang on to your hat. Hang on to your hope. Wind the clock, for tomorrow is another day.”
Yvette featured in “The Big C & Me”, a three-part BBC 1 documentary series on cancer, which screened on 1st June 2016.
David Swarbrick, who worked with Yvette at HarperCollins, said: “What made Yvette so different was not just her professionalism, not her rich life outside the industry, or even her qualities of humour, grace, creativity and determination, but how she put this all together again to fight cancer – by burlesque, comedy and belly dancing. You couldn’t make it up. But she did.”
He added: “She didn’t hide; she battled. And so stylishly. Her battle became therapy – for herself and thousands of others; and evolved into a show. Her show became a tour that traveled up and down the country for several years; her tour became a book; and her book became a TV documentary. She won tens of thousands of fans, entertained hundreds of thousands more and inspired us all. And she did it through comedy: laughing; and getting us all to laugh. It was an astonishing and wildly unpredictable achievement.”
“What she did in adversity showed all of us how to have the courage to live a good life, regardless as to what is thrown at you.”
Cosmic Trigger 4th – 27th May 2017
May 8, 2017
The Play by Daisy Eris Campbell. Adapted from Robert Anton Wilson’s seminal autobiography Cosmic Trigger: The Final Secret of The Illuminati. See it at The Cockpit – Gateforth St, Marylebone, London NW8 8EH. BUY TICKETS HERE
“Robert Anton Wilson’s ‘Illuminatus!’ had a profound effect on me and the Cosmic Trigger Play will no doubt do the same for a whole new generation.” Alan Moore, writer/author of V for Vendetta, Watchmen and Jerusalem
Turn On. Tune In. Find The Others
In 1976 maverick playwright and director Ken Campbell staged Robert Anton Wilson’s, Illuminatus! – a nine-hour stage play that helped launch the careers of Jim Broadbent and Bill Nighy. It also led to the backstage conception of a baby girl; Daisy Eris Campbell.
“One of the most original and unclassifiable talents in British theatre of the past half-century” The Guardian obituary for Ken Campbell – 2008
Now Love & Will Productions and The Cockpit are delighted to announce the debut full run of Daisy Campbell’s adaptation of Wilson’s seminal countercultural text; Cosmic Trigger. Part sequel, part revisit, part homage, part new writing; this is the story behind the notorious conspiracy satire, ‘Illuminatus!’, the extraordinary life of the novel’s author, Robert Anton Wilson, and the unstoppable force that was theatre legend Ken Campbell.
Daisy Campbell says; “Reading Cosmic Trigger changed my life and the lives of many others – and the book is dedicated to my Dad. Wilson’s uniquely optimistic and radically agnostic philosophy is incredibly relevant in these crazy times. We are absolutely thrilled to be working with The Cockpit on this production. They are the perfect co-conspirators to help us bring the wit and wisdom of Robert Anton Wilson back to life.”
The original work reinterpreted world history as a giant conspiracy theory and Daisy’s new work gives a backstory to the original production, featuring the lives of Wilson and Campbell, as well as the counterculture figures Timothy Leary, Alan Watts and William Burroughs, whom Robert Anton Wilson befriended.
Set in the late sixties and early seventies, the play recounts the period of Wilson’s life around the conception and writing of Illuminatus. During this time, he befriended heroes of counterculture, took LSD and experimented with the magical rituals of Aleister Crowley with predictably – and unpredictably – mind-blowing results.
With many of the original cast returning and Alan Moore appearing via specially recorded audio and morphed video projections Cosmic Trigger is a celebration of all that has gone before it as well as a vital venture in its own right. This is a highly ambitious production, with projections in the round, phantasmagorical multiple narratives, and a different actor performing as William Burroughs every night, it is designed to evoke the real-life hallucinogenic trip through conspiracy, paranoia and enlightenment that transformed Robert Anton Wilson from ‘Playboy’ editor to much-loved counter-cultural icon.
Dave Wybrow, Artistic Director of the Cockpit and co producer of Cosmic Trigger says; “We are putting together a venue, a tribe and new ways of networking and creating work. It’s about joining low tech to hi tech, low culture to high culture and low budgets to high levels of audience reach and social impact. This first venture looks at counter-cultural legacy. But the vision is an open artistic community for the future.”
Cosmic Trigger previously played for two days in November in Camp & Furnace in Liverpool and five days at Lost Theatre Vauxhall in London in 2014 – this is the play’s first full run.
Reviews:
Cosmic Trigger The Times Online Version
Radio/podcasts
Arthur Smith interviews Daisy Campbell on Radio 4 xtra:
http://buff.ly/2pSBxRh
Short thing with Arthur Smith (more like a plug)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08q3339
Cosmic Trigger – 4th – 27th May 2017 at The Cockpit
http://thecockpit.org.uk/cosmictrigger
Related Materials:
Listen to Iron Man Records Release: Robert Anton Wilson meets Steve “Fly Agaric” Pratt
