On the 100th anniversary of John Cage's birth, 'The Wire' magazine presents a series of concerts and performances, talks and happenings under the banner 'Cage Rattling' – staged provocations designed to liberate Cageian aesthetics from the prison of the culture industry.
The title of the second installment of Cage Rattling comes from Cage's line, 'Every something is an echo of nothing', and is used here to underline Cage's influence on non-musicians – from post-punk DIY operatives and electronica refugees, to Improv outsiders and the denizens of basement Noise jamz.
All the performances, live and on tape, riff on Cage's use of chance elements as composing tools, as well as amplifying his subversive sense of humour and his use of elements copped from dada and the Theatre of the Absurd.
Performed by Duncan Harrison and Johannah Henderson, Bolide, Four Manatees, Hobo Sonn and HereHareHere, Ali Roberston, Lizzy Carey, The Bohman Brothers, Phil Minton/ Dylan Nyoukis/ Sharon Gal/Fiona Kennedy/Luke Poot, plus playback of the tape piece Junk Operatic featuring recordings by Gen Ken Montgomery, Seymour Glass, T Mikawa (Incapacitants), Doglady and I'DM Theftable.
Plus, Ken Hollings: 'Ideas Are One Thing. What Happens Is Another'. In a performance lecture, the author, broadcaster and scholar of trash culture and weird science traces the connections between each of the words in this statement by John Cage to reveal aspects of the composer's approach to language and the body, poetry and personal narrative.