On Monday, the TMT offices received a routine call from Thom Yorke (perhaps better known by his stage name, "RadioHead"). Normally, our receptionist forwards Mr. Yorke's calls to a voicemail box that no one ever checks (around the breakroom, we jokingly call it "The Black Hole"!) and goes back to sorting CD-Rs. At the particular moment of Yorke's call, however, Candace had happened to leave her desk to bring Mr P his mid-morning mille-feuille and pomegranate cordial, and the call was automatically re-routed to the desk of ace writer Nat Towsen. Eyes glued to a spectral analysis of a web-exclusive Leonard Cohen cover by Beck and The Record Club, Towsen unwittingly answered the errant communique. After suffering an audibly teary plea from Mr. Yorke, Towsen found a soft spot in his usually granite-hard exterior, and agreed to conduct an interview in person the following morning. This is that interview.
NT: Thank you for sitting down with me, Mr. Head. Can I call you Radio?
TY: You can call me Thom, which is my name.
NT: Noted. How are the kids, Thom?
TY: The cost of education, simply from a sociological perspec--
NT: Let's get to the point. You said you had a big announcement. You wanted the story done right. You came to TMT. Let's have at it, clammy.
TY: Fine. I want to announce that... the 2009 Blip Festival, which is December 17-19 at Brooklyn, NY's The Bell House, has confirmed its lineup.
NT: Wait, Blip Fest? Really? Chiptune? 8-bit synths and video art? You're into that stuff?
TY: Oh yeah. I try to keep abreast of all the fringe music scenes. I listen to Sunn O))) and The Bug. I once let Rudolf Eb.er spit in my eyes. I even used a modified NES on one of the Radiohead albums.
NT: Really? Which one?
TY: Whatever.
NT: Which album?
TY: The point is, Blip Festival is going to be exhilarating, even transcendent at times. Just like last year.
NT: You were there last year?
TY: No, but you were.
NT: I was! And it was exhilarating, even transcendent at times! I was amazed by the variety of performances and musical styles united by a single element that is both physical and aesthetic!
TY: That's the ticket! This year's fest includes U.S. favorites Bit Shifter and Nullsleep, as well as Japan's The Hunters, France's Eat Rabbit, and so many more musicians! Plus, visuals from a host of talented folks, including VBlank, The C-Men, and No Carrier. You can check out the full lineup here!
NT: You just spoke a hyperlink. How did you just do that?
TY: I told you, I keep ahead of the curve. Earlier in this interview, I pronounced "Sunn O)))" and you didn't even flinch.
NT: I was still shocked by the fact that you'd set up an exclusive interview just to announce a festival that you actually have nothing to do with.
TY: You know, if you mistype "festival", you can write "festical", which is just like "testical". Testicle.
NT: GET OUT OF MY HEAD!
TY: This interview is over.
NT: Really?
TY: No.
NT: Good, because I--
TY: Okay, now it's over.
Blip Festical 2009 Lineup (Music Act -- Visualist):
Thursday, December 17:
Silent Requiem -- Jean Y. Kim
failotron -- Paris
Leeni -- VBLANK
minusbaby -- Enso
Chromix -- C-Men
Je Deviens DJ en Trois Jours -- NO CARRIER
Albino Ghost Monkey -- outpt
Eat Rabbit -- Rosa Menkman
Friday, December 18:
Disasterpeace -- Enso
Starscream -- Jean Y. Kim
Fighter X -- outpt
little-scale -- Rosa Menkman
I, Cactus -- VBLANK
Nullsleep -- Rosa Menkman/Paris
Rainbowdragoneyes -- C-Men
Patric C -- NO CARRIER
Saturday, December 19:
The J. Arthur Keenes Band -- Rosa Menkman / Enso
tRash cAn maN -- Jean Y. Kim / Paris
Bubblyfish -- NO CARRIER / outpt
The Hunters
glomag -- C-Men / VBLANK
Bit Shifter -- outpt / Enso
David Sugar -- NO CARRIER / VBLANK
Psilodump -- Paris / C-Men
