The new (fifth) GANTOB book has been landing around the world this week (Who Killed GANTOB?) It unlocks the “missing” fourth book (25 Paintings) Books and associated paraphernalia have been submitted to the British Library
And don’t forget the Vipers Tongue Quarterly stories, unavailable elsewhere: – The A-Z of Curt Finks, Cult Edinburgh Fringe Performer – Rigid – Just Cope
Little Grapefruit At Sea is the “Now and Then” of the catalogue – may be finished with some extra contributions and Jeff Lynne production
Hello Maureen, and whoever remains in the GANTOBverse that reads this,
Having read “Who Killed GANTOB?” I know that I must state my case to receive a hard copy of the “25 Paintings” book.
I shall do so, but not out of “desperation”. I rarely despair. My inclination is more towards hope. Hence I make my request from a sense of dissatisfaktion over “unfinished business” and hope it will be accepted.
I’ll try to explain. I understand the logik; the KLF “ethos” of Kaos and Destruktion and desire to resist “Kompletionism”, but apart from a time in my childhood when I kollected the cards that came with PG Tea and was passionate about filling their albums I have never really been a kompletionist. I will not be searching out copies of Vipers Tongue or other such esoterika. And the KLF themselves reversed much of their destruktion when they reissued their music. The destruktion argument no longer holds, despite The Benefaktor’s orchestrated burnings on the IOM.
My justification is that the GANTOB projekt drew me in from nowhere. One night of idle web browsing in August 2023 prompted a kwestion and the rest is history. I was in from the early days, I was prompted to do stuff I’d never done before and when the proof of the final opus appeared with a plea for assistance I gave it my best shot. I apologise again to The Observer for the italics business. But, as GANTOB knows well, my background involved projekt management, and no projekt manager worth their salt wants to walk away without a succesful konklusion and a formal sign off. This is usually followed with a review of “lessons learned” My proof kopy remains mysteriously out of sight. I’ve learned a lesson about keeping stuff organised. But there’s a hole on a shelf above BD’s “The 25 Paintings 2014” set aside for a similar sized book with a different set of 25 paintings. That kompanion book is required in order to kross the final stage boundary and close the last projekt gate. It will bug me for a long time if I don’t cross that (K)Line.
It is now time to post the final book from the 25 Paintings/ 52 Pamphlets project to international GANTOB contributors, ahead of the 23 February launch. UK copies in I do hope you enjoy it. So long and thanks for all the grapefruit.
Listening notes: hole up with an Onchidella celtica at a local pub and enjoy a slow session. Bring a fiddle, a penny whistle, an accordion or mandolin and join in.
Listening notes: select a version of Aztec Camera’s Oblivious (1983). Concentrate on the lyrics (do this from the safety of your own home, with the lights on, using speakers rather than headphones).
Listening notes: Search out We Could Send Letters by Aztec Camera. It’s the B side of indie hit Just Like Gold 1981, Postcard Records, Scotland (POSTCARD81-3). Roddy Frame recorded this at the age of 16. I hadn’t heard it before tonight. I was looking for something from Postcard Records because I wanted to avoid anything too obvious (e.g. Treacherous by Britney Spears).
It’s a long and complex song with striking shifts in tone and tune. Stick with it. I liked the lyric “We’re making tracks/ that show our touch and go”. A bit like Michelle the snail.
The chorus is a real leap in melody, with lyrics “Just close your eyes again/ Until these things get better”. And then I heard the guitar solo, and that was perhaps even better.
GANTOB blog 