meshmass (the sound of fat children) played live at dave's birthday party in lewes in a tiny room slightly taller than it is wide. most of the audience preferred to sit in sub-zero temperatures in a tent in the garden with a shishka pipe rather than suffer the ear-crushingly loud sound pressures generated by the pulsing sinewaves, squealing squeaks and throbbing throbs of the dreadfulMASS, amplified as they were through a p.a. system designed for somewhere larger (such as a matchbox) but anyway they (the audience) were dressed up in all manner of peculiar costumes so it was probably a good thing we couldn't see them. we did see a bearded person wearing braces. we saw a woman in a bathing costume and a tinfoil head-dress (but i cannot complain since she gave me a strawberry). there were people with hairstyles of impossibly complex design and bright red lipstick. i was trying to detect a theme but costumes seemed to range from the 1930's to the 1980's so i suppose the theme must have been 'whatever is available'. meshmass played for an hour and a half or a bit longer, performing pieces they had never heard before for the most part including invisible horse (which is available in prepared meals all over the supermarkets of britain and the greater european mainland). meshmass did not play in costume since a) they do not have costumes; b) no-one asked them to; (and) c) they find the english enthusiasm for fancy dress both ludicrous and faintly alarming. however, richard was periodically discovered to have skyscrapers on his trousers so i suppose he was making an effort. all in all it went surprisingly well and we have recorded evidence which proves that to be the case which however we are unwilling to disclose except perhaps in a closed courtroom where the judge and all legal representatives are blindfolded and have their ears stopped with tar for fear of otherwise endangering national security. ###################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################### the mass (as they are not normally known) would come and play in YOUR livingroom if you asked them (auralwitness@gmail.com) at much more reasonable domestic volume and probably for longer for a small fee covering their expenses and the price of a cuppa tea guvnor. this is an offer of such startling and unusual generosity that it may not be available forever..... hurry now while stocks last.

we have just made publically available for free download on soundcloud the track 'shim'. it of all the rejected pieces from february's haul most nearly made it onto the februarymass subscription compilation sent to our loyal and overjoyed subscribers only yesterday - but didn't, due to the vast quantities of meshmass being generated by the actions of yeasts, microbes and zygotes in huge vats concealed in our enormous and emptily echoing chinese production facilities. the meshmass breeds in dark and hidden places, its secret workings a mystery even to its progenitors as tiny nanobeings knit together seamless webs of sound particles and fluff them up with goo. latest in this remorseless flood of musicmaking comes the plague of tiny sinewaves that combine into the dark carpeting now covering every surface in meshmass mansions with its unresting activity, a living carpet of tiny particles based on the ancient african practice of 'hocketing' (you'll just have to look that one up) and herewith declared to be known as carpetmusic, which therefore it is. for the avoidance of doubt and in order to dispel confusion, it is defined thus: carpetmusic is a sort of refracted drone made of tiny pieces into which many different superstructures can be woven. if a drone is like a river then carpet is like the light reflected from moving water, twinkling and dancing in response to the spaceless interaction of drone and rhythm. if on the other hand a drone is not like a river (because it is not wet, for example, or because it does not always go downhill and seek to arrive at the sea) then you will have to think of your own bloody analogy .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. beware the meshmass, it just keeps on coming.

meshmass, (in pursuit of their evil plans) went to st leonards and played at a 'splitting the atom' noise evening, where they performed 2 pieces they had never heard before, 'little things' and 'discofuck'. 'little things' is in their new genre of carpetmusic wherein (for example) tiny sinewave snippets are repeated in loops of different lengths making a shifting but repeating pattern over which the wicked duo unleash their twisted improvisations. and twisted they certainly were, apparently influenced by the context in which they found themselves (a succession of semi-naked boys screaming at microphones until they died accompanied by other semi-naked boys subjecting a bass guitar to lurid torments (for example) and men in devil suits poking savage noises out of illuminated tablets) a squalling onslaught of rasps and honks was answered with sustained slabs of distortion and feedback, causing a universal flinching and some bleeding from the ears. just before they played the projector froze on a single frame from an appalling british science fiction film as the dvd player gave up its tiny ghost so they played in a virtual blackout (and a virtual blackout is the kindest explanation available for their general level of organisation). nevertheless everything worked and nothing that we yet know about got broken. it has been suggested that st leonard is the patron saint of the mad and this would certainly go some way to explaining the largely favourable reception the mass received. there is now some talk of playing a lewes electro gig with nil by nose and possibly other rapscallions and ne'er-do-wells. so far the best efforts of i. d. s. (ideologically driven serfdom / industry defends slavery / incompetent demagogue smith) have failed to quench the mighty fire that is meshmass but things look bleak for the plucky duo as we advance further into the desert of austerity, a vast plain devoid of sympathy light or growth. ah, lackaday. some of us remember with fondness historical epochs (such as the middle ages) in which lives of poverty and dedication were respected. but let it be seen clearly: such days are behind us and now the poor must be punished for their misfortune and indigence as they so thoroughly deserve. for does he not speak unto us, saying (in the mighty voice of the quiet man) 'those who expect to get benefits for nothing, those days are over' and verily they are over, now we expect only to be sent to work in poundland for the price of a cup of tea where we will be trained for golden futures in stockbroking and the horse export trade ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. meshmass, the sound of fat children

frantic and largely futile efforts are underway to produce the januarymass package for our eager subscribers. it is our general intention to reduce the monthly supply to a mere hour but such is the level of production the meshmachine currently generates that it is at least twice that long. this is of course all part of our hideous and wicked plan: we produce so much music that there will eventually be no room for anything else in the entire universe, the internet will burst, showering mangled bits and tattered fragments of youtube across the globe and then as the flakes of bryan adams and the gangam style hip-hop orchestra curl up and blow away ALL music will be meshmass and our triumph will be complete.............. so beware, you cowering innocents........................................... there were two definite strands to the meshmassery last month, a wild and abstract ugliness was succeeded by the first inklings of a new 'pointillistic' style composed of (or with) single short sounds ranged in loops of different beat lengths creating a new form or genre described as 'carpetmusic'. this is not our only new genre, last year we invented bad religion and szabo among several others i can no longer be bothered to recall. in the coming year meshmass have every intention of working on vocal pieces (that is to say songs - and we are currently recruiting singers so that we don't have to do it ourselves) and also narrations such as the recent 'hotel'. hotel will be on the monthlymass for january i should think unless it dissolves in the beastly weather. so, not long to wait.

any moment now, if not (god help us) at this very second the long anticipated decembermass will be leaking through the ether into the receptive orifices of our helpless victims. this month's supply of meshmass was only reduced to a cd's worth (with a mere 4 seconds to spare) after a desperate bout of whittling and trimming which lasted a week or more. we have 13 tracks some in the new 'bad religion' genre and others resembling post-rock, one which sabine claims is a tango, some almost jazz and others in general unclassifiable but notionally avant-garde. there is a piece which resembles bagpipes getting drunk and dancing. this is called normal things but i expect that is ironic. there are 3 pure duets of which climate is delightful blues for winter is mysterious and partida is short and also a duet with drum machine. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

like last month we are sending it out in 2 editions, first mp3's and then 16 bit wavs so that you can download the format you want. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- so, lots of good stuff going out and lots of good stuff staying where it is. remember, it's only £10 to get one of these releases every month for a year, but i think we'll put the price up soon. new stuff every week on soundcloud, some of which after mastering and possibly furthwer editing might make it onto the next monthly mass - but might not. catch it while you can. ======================================================================================= meshmass - the sound of fat children.

we're coming to the end of the year (you may have noticed) and meshmass are busy discussing next year's agenda. we plan on being enormously famous and wealthy by june (there are just a few details to sort out) but we look forward to the new year confident in the certain knowledge that the wave of the future is to be stupid ugly and old.............................................................................................................................................................as usual.

dreadful MESHMASS, architects of the death of music have compiled another voyage into the unknown, the full horror of which has even now been visited upon their helpless victims, burrowing its unholy path into their neural cortex and disestablishing the pillars of sanity. yes, novembermass is upon us and this edition of the monthly cycle features yet more previously unimagined combinations of sound. many of them last no longer than a pop music single, between 3 and 5 of your earth minutes. viz and to whit: santosis - a sort of vaguely african sensation overcomes us amid the breathy keyboards and innocent piano sounds. even has some sort of lonely-sounding tune. tempo robado - (possibly 'stolen time'). smerch - a slippery jazzism. string theory - with its nagging pianisms. overstrung - a naked duet. rodentious - even breathier and with additional shimmerings, there is an invasion of marimbas. approach - a duet which almost has a tune. thicket - a confused funk. ouvertude - attractively dressed in heavy reverb, this duet is full of extraordinary tonalities and wobbly bendings. peccavi - ('i have sinned') an r&b organ instru-mental-disorder. habbibi 2 - a rather sedate and attractive duet. and warblemonger - one of their minor epics, really rather a beauty. and not only this, but meshmass also played half an hour of entirely improvised duet at the peculiar 'green door store', a tunnel located conveniently underneath brighton station. some people were there and did not leave but didn't look particularly impressed either. richard tickled his guitar with feathers on a rotating and illuminated device which he had apparently stolen from a child. peter played his new alto and we are all hopeful that one day he will find out how. meshmass can be found on soundcloud which is undergoing a revolution at the moment with its content producers in a fury about changes to the site which mean (among other things) that people can repost tracks on their own page without apparently giving appropriate credit. i can only conclude that this is the point at which this site - like many others before it - attempts to 'monetise' itself around its established community and loses the sympathy of that community in the process - see 'myspace', 'official fm' and others for similar examples.... and of course for a mere £10 or €15 you can obtain through the wonder of the internet a monthly portion of at least one hour of new music (as outlined above, for example) - apply to auralwitness@gmail.com or go to the website. bless you all, your little cotton socks and cute button noses and a very merry christmas from all at meshmass mansions.