Pro-Nazi, Pro-Rape, Pro-Pedo Music in London
Not for Profit | 14.06.2011 21:52 | Anti-racism | Gender | Social Struggles | World
On 25 June 2011 a nightspot called the Slimelight in Islington, London, UK, plan to stage a concert that has attracted criticism over the involvement of musicians with links to Nazism. The headline band are an awful folk group called Sol Invictus, led by a singer called Tony Wakeford, who makes no secret of his past membership of the British Fascist party the National Front. Tony Wakeford was a founder member of Fascist bands Above the Ruins and Death In June, but says (on the Sol Invictus website) that his NF membership was the worst mistake he made. Tony Wakeford claims to have left his Fascist past behind him, but alot of people don't believe him, because still collaborates with racist musician Andrew King. Debate over the ethics of going ahead with this concert is divided between the small clique of fans, friends and members of these bands who bombard the WWW with comments claiming (usually without any proof) that (roughly summarizing) "they're alright mate", and anti-Nazis who present evidence showing that even if these bands aren't outright Nazis, at the very least they revel in displaying imagery that is highly offensive to victims of Nazism (1).
Slimelight manager Mayuan Mak told The Islington Gazette (newspaper) that "we would not tolerate an event that has a Neo-Nazi focus" (2), but Mayuan Mak is lying, because the Slimelight already staged concerts by Nazi performers Death In June, Luftwaffe and Non, and because, despite the ruckus caused by the Sol Invictus concert, on 1 Oct 2011 the Slimelight plan to stage a concert headlined by an electronic music group called Sutcliffe Jugend, who created their name by joining the terms "Peter Sutcliffe" (the name of a misogynist mass-murderer from Great Britain) with "Hitler Youth", while one of the support acts planned for 1 Oct is a convicted child sex offender and Nazi called Peter Sotos (3).
Sutcliffe Jugend is led by musician Kevin Tomkins, who is also an occasional member of another electronic music group called Whitehouse. Whitehouse leader William Bennett wrote a manifesto in the Belgian fanzine Force Mental (issue 1), also quoted in Flowmotion fanzine (issue 6), that explained how Whitehouse are "concerned with the struggle against the unhealthy Negroid influence in popular music". Whitehouse member Philip Best published a compilation (also featuring Sutcliffe Jugend) called White Power. Whitehouse member Peter Sotos was convicted for possessing child pornography after he was busted by Chicago PD for producing a fanzine called Pure, in which Sotos says "females are dogs whose only worth is as pawns for my pleasure" and describes death camps as "Triumphs of Nazism" (4). In a section called "Kiddie Torture" Peter Sotos describes "the sublime pleasure of child abuse" (sic), and shows graphic photographs of a man pleasuring himself over photographs of missing children (5). William Bennett also ran a record label called Come Organisation, who published a 10xC60 cassette box-set by Sutcliffe Jugend, entitled We Spit On Their Graves (extracts from which were reissued on CD by another UK label called Cold Spring Records), which features dozens of tracks which celebrate misogynist crime and Nazism (6+7). Many of the track titles from that release are named after women victimized by serial killers, refer in detail to murder techniques used by Peter Sutcliffe, and celebrate Nazism. Titles like "Storm Detachment Hitler", "SS 1982", "Reinard Heydrich", "Dictator Rule", "This Is Pommerenkke" and "New Camps" are some of the less offensive.
Debate about the morality of the music produced by the likes of Slimelight performers Peter Sotos and Sutcliffe Jugend is complicated, a little, by the defense put about by William Bennett, who (whenever anyone can be bothered to listen to him) argues against the huge weight of evidence provided by Pure fanzine and dozens of similar projects, that the ideas promoted by him and his friends do not come from National Socialist ideology, but that they come from a hyper-extreme interpretation of libertarian philosophy. William Bennett's self-justification takes libertarianism to the limits of self-parody, to an extreme in which the "rights" of the individual (as conceptualized in the Whitehouse track "Right to Kill") over-ride all rights and liberties due to all other people, period. William Bennett's self-justification distorts the meaning of libertarianism to equate the libertarian with the most psychotic libertine, who, through the broken lens of "Sadeian" cod-philosophy, identifies with "libertines" such as the Marquis de Sade, Ted Bundy, Peter Sutcliffe, and the Nazi war criminals who Bennett praised (in the Spanish music fanzine ADN) for enacting "glorious pleasures" rather than for their titular ideology. Bennett's defense is intellectually sub-zero, factually dishonest (as Bennett colleagues like Albin Julius are still Fascists), and a moot point when it comes to actual victims, because the bottom line is, legally and morally, that if some Nazi war criminals killed for "fun" rather than because they believed in Nazism... so what, they were still Nazi war criminals.
This is an issue of feminism and child protection as much as (if not more than) it is an issue of anti-Nazism, and attempts to discreetly stop these concerts at Slimelight, without publicity, have previously failed, which is (in case of asking) why the campaign's now gone public.
Both concerts are organised by promoter Gaya Donadio (who performs her own music under the name Anti-Child League). Objections to the Slimelight's entertainments license should forward this information to
Licensing Service Public Protection Division Islington Council 222 Upper Street London N1 1XR
Tel: 020 7527 3031 Fax: 020 7527 3430 Email:
licensing@islington.gov.uk 1 -
http://www.whomakesthenazis.com/2011/04/weather-warning-shower-of-shit-expected.html 2 -
http://www.islingtongazette.co.uk/news/online_campaign_attacks_controversial_islington_gig_1_914659 3 -
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--qZWk4oN0mg/TfItm4wzMMI/AAAAAAAAATM/y1iQuuTlwz0/s1600/newpicoct11.jpg 4 -
http://www.uncarved.org/othertexts/pure.html (reprinted from OVO magazine) 5 - These photos are documented in a book called Apocalypse Culture (Amok Press 1988)
6 -
http://www.artnotart.com/come/cassettes.html 7 -
http://noiz.tripod.com/sutcliffe.html Photo 1 - Tony Wakeford (far left of photo) at NF newspaper stall in London's Brick Lane
Photo 2 - Boyd Rice of Non wearing Swastika pendant and "Rape" T-shirt
Photo 3 - Advertisement for Sutcliffe Jugend and Peter Sotos at the Slimelight
Photo 4 - Front cover and Whitehouse feature from Flowmotion fanzine, issue 6
Photo 5 - Detail from Flowmotion 6
Photo 6 - White Power compilation packaging
Stupid comments may be posted following this item, by those that need to
Not for Profit
Additions
Photo 6 - White Power compilation packaging
14.06.2011 22:22
Nor for Profit
Comments
Hide the following 77 comments
punk's not dead
15.06.2011 19:32
Oh good.
What you're suggesting is that the council prevents a music event because the views expressed are offensive to right-thinking people. Are you sure about that?
Didn't Sid Vicious once wear a swastika?
The words 'slippery slope' spring to mind....
central state
Reply to Central State
15.06.2011 21:01
Yes Sid Vicious did wear a swastika when he was filmed leering into restaurant windows in the Jewish quarter of Paris, reducing old ladies to tears, and Sid Vicious deserved to have his head kicked-in for that. As for slippery slopes, perhaps if Sid Vicious had got what he deserved for that, people like Whitehouse and Sutcliffe Jugend wouldn't have come along after and tried their bullshit. It's because there's a slippery slope that society's entitled to defend itself against people who believe death camps were (quote) "Triumphs of Nazism".
Is there anything I've said here that you need HELP understanding?
Not for Profit
Peter Sotos - dissenting views from a female artist and a gay writer
15.06.2011 22:35
"I don't think his work needs to be upgraded or explicated by anyone, me included, and I think its inability to present the details and factors and signals that would facilitate an argument for its value as literature is one of the reasons it's among the most important writing being done today. It is scary, intense, ugly, honest, original, problematic, profoundly challenging stuff. It's also highly intelligent, refined, and kind of a masterful example of writing at its most rendered and self-investigating, all the moreso because its art refuses to give an inch to readers who need something conventionally beautiful, however offbeat and subtle that beauty, to justfy a book's assault" - Dennis Cooper, 2006, from his blog
Katrina Kessel
Reply to Katrina Kessel
16.06.2011 01:33
I acknowledge the comments you quote are not your own, but, since the implication of your quoting them is that you agree with them, what on earth does Kathy Acker's "blurring of gender, age and sexuality" have to do with Peter Sotos praising "Nazi Triumphs" and praising (what Sotos calls) "the sublime pleasure of child abuse"? On the attempt to try and recruit Andrea Dworkin, seriously, this comment is so idiotic you must be having a joke? Dworkin's "On Pornography" makes a direct comparison between pornography and Nazism. There's an outside chance Dworkin might (at least in theory) cite Sotos as an example of the kind of person who confirms her theories about male violence, but while I don't personally agree with Dworkin's ideas, do you seriously think Whitehouse tracks like "Pro-Sexist" and "Rapeday" would be admired by a woman who spent her life campaigning against rape?
As for some person called Dennis Cooper whose blog you happen to quote, what utter bullshit. Sotos' writing is "scary, intense, ugly, honest", but no more so than any crime scene photograph. It's only "original" in the sense that such extremism is unusual. To say it's "problematic" is insultingly obvious, but it's not a bit "challenging" unless you're so gullible you're actually seduced by badly-written pedophiliac and Nazi diatribe? As for literary merit, Dennis Cooper admits the writing of Peter Sotos suffers an "inability to present the details and factors and signals that would facilitate an argument for its value", then reaches what by his own evidence is the self-contradictory and counter-logical conclusion that because of this inability this writing is therefore "among the most important... being done today".
If you really find misogyny, pedophilia and Nazism so stimulating, the politest thing I can say is you've led a sheltered life. As for saying you're a "female artist and a gay writer", what has that got to do with ANYTHING? Hitler was an artist, Brownshirt leader Ernst Rohm was gay... your status proves what? Exactly? When Sotos says "females are dogs", do you think he'll make an exception for you, perhaps because you say you're an "artist"? I apologise if this response comes across as harsh, but the comments you make and quote are stupid.
Another possibility is that the comment was made by Peter Sotos, using the pseudonym "Katrina Kessel", in which case this response is still valid
Not for Profit
fahrenheit 451...
16.06.2011 03:01
Here's some information on who Dennis Cooper is -
Sotos's work is vastly more complex, serious and troubling than being a 'badly written pedophiliac and Nazi diatribe' (although a case could be made for Pure being just that).. This review by Anita Dalton of a 2004 Sotos book gives some pertinent quotes from his current style, doesn't flinch from criticising him and pointing out just how disgusting his work can be, and has an interesting comments section:
In response to your last line: the thought has actually crossed my mind that Peter Sotos has written and published this piece as 'Not for Profit' himself in a typical fit of perversity, shit-stirring and self-loathing!
Katrina Kessel
cultural no-platform or not
16.06.2011 08:55
Whether we like it or not certain bands hark back to idealised pasts and other things nazis and others find tasteful. There are plenty of metal bands which say non PC things (think: Anal Cunt) or even have imagery which might make some uncomfortable. Saying this, I'm not sure we should ask the authorities to ban them. Imagine if every gig is banned because of the views expressed by artists - the path this leads down is ridiculous. Since I'm an anarchist I'm always dubious about asking the state to stop events, but on the other hand I would have no problem with an event being banned if it incited people to attack gays, jews, non-whites, trade unionists, patriots (yes, even!), and animals, etc etc. This would be when culture moves over into a political/physical arena. And ironically we have state laws against this kind of behaviour anyway.
So anyway, I'm sure this comment will also be 'in the stupid category too' (sounds a bit like George Bush here - "with or or against us" - intellectually sharp stuff!) but I'd like to take this opportunity to remind you of a ridiculous action taken in Milan, where Camerata Mediolanense, a seemingly harmless band playing folkish and traditional music had their instruments smashed up by anti-fascists. The action looked absolutely ridiculous...
"Vraiment pitoyables, vous ne valez pas mieux que les SA des années 20. Vous êtes débiles comme eux, haineux comme eux, lâches comme eux, et vous meriteriez le même sort qu'eux. "
" this action is some of the most ignorant i've ever heard about...
first- im an anarchist
second- i totally hate and fight fascist ideology
third- cmerata mediolanense is a music collective in anyway linked to fascist politics
fourth- you are far more fascist than those you think to fight
fifth- go attack an hammerskin headquarter packed with boneheads rather than a peaceful band who was in the middle of a soundcheck.
i hate you."
Krop
Reply to Katrina Kessel
16.06.2011 11:15
Many hard-line Nazis, from Nick Griffin in the UK to David Duke in America, honestly stated their true views as young men, realised that wouldn't wash with the public and spent the rest of their lives trying to cover-up for their youthful honesty. If there was any ambiguity with Peter Sotos, what's missing from your take on this issue is any attempt to analyze his work in context - the context being the decades Sotos spend working with with Whitehouse members William "Negroid influences" Bennett, Philip "White Power" Best and Kevin "Legalise Child Abuse" Tomkins (in fact Sotos only left Whitehouse a few years ago, and he's still performing alongside Kevin Tomkins).
That there might be superficial stylistic similarities to the work of Kathy Acker is irrelevant, as all that means is that Sotos could read English well enough to copy Kathy Acker. I've met a few Whitehouse fans who love reading Andrea Dworkin, and yes Sotos' work is (as you say) "disgusting", but not as disgusting as your attempt to portray a man who actively promoted the sexual murder of women and children as some sort of "feminist".
As for whether Dennis Cooper is "a major literary figure", it's widely accepted that Gustaf Grundgens was a good actor -
No shit, some artists and writers are still dazzled by Nazi bullshit, just like they were in the 1930s!
To reply to what Krop says about how s/he'd have "no problem with an event being banned if it incited people to attack gays, jews, non-whites, trade unionists, patriots... and animals", what part of the phrase "Kill Women" don't you understand?
Not for Profit
artistic licence
16.06.2011 13:18
To me, and I'm uneducated on the finer points of these artists' output, it just sounds like you're being overly sensitive. I'd hate to see a band like "Nazi Killer" (who I remember with fond memories from a few years back) banned from playing , so likewise I'd be upset to see a band banned for saying some other controversial things. I can think of loads of bands who say "kill" something or other; I've written a song myself saying "Nuke" something, yet I'm utterly against nuclear power and nuclear weapons... It's called artistic licence - or even irony. Fortunately we haven't reached the point yet where this gets you thrown in prison - though perhaps you'd prefer otherwise.
Anyway, you fail to address the pathetic actions taken by some idiots in Milan... if you want to go down the same path, feel free. It's just a shame that you'd be tarring other activists with the same brush.
Krop
Waste of time
16.06.2011 14:34
Bored
Burning Books.
16.06.2011 17:54
Many works of Artistic expression are troubling and controversial yes and some art even has provoked violence and public disorder ie The Hindley palm prints painting, Russolo's Art Of Noises etc
However just because you find certain aspects troubling does this justify a blanket ban?
Kristian Carter
FAHRENHEIT 451 - capisce?
16.06.2011 21:34
Not for Profit - and some part of me is still convinced this is Peter Sotos in disguise winding us all up, as I haven't seen anything quite as ridiculous online since that guy from a Welsh grunge band who got cautioned by the cops for stalking members of Whitehouse over ten years ago - your piece begins by criticising with some justification neo-folk halfwits like the dreary Sol Invictus but then veers into obsessive fascination with a tiny scene that existed for one year, 1982-83, in which adolescents (Philip Best was still a schoolboy when he did that ill-advised 'White Power' tape) briefly explored their confused psychodramas and desires for 'extremist' art - all those guys have forgot about it and moved on, why don't you?
Anti-fascists: EDL fuckwits are all over the place, get their d0x from failbook and invade. Ignore the prat who made this pathetic thread.
Katrina Kessel
Spot the Nazi
17.06.2011 00:16
I suggest anyone with an interest in this subject to check out the comments on the Lancaster Unity blog, which is frequented by a bizarre combination of veteran anti-fascists and a who's who of the far right. There's plenty of insights into these bands, as well as plenty of clarifications of this article, and the obligatory trolling by Patrick Harrington trying to deflect attention from these scum!
AFA
Homepage:
http://lancasteruaf.blogspot.com/2011/06/pro-nazi-pro-rape-pro-pedo-music-in.html
Homophobic insults from "Katrina Kessel"
17.06.2011 00:30
Bored - I get where you're coming from, and yes I'd prefer the Slimelight to see the light and cancel these gigs of their own free will, but no matter how much of an anarchist you think you are, are you SO opposed to State control that on principle you'd refuse to call the police if a member of your family was raped or murdered? I doubt it.
Kristian Carter - neither "the Hindley palm prints" (a painting in the "Sensation" exhibition at London's Royal Academy") or Luigi Russolo's "Art Of Noises" advocated raping children, so your comparison is as irrelevant as it is idiotic, and no because people "find certain aspects troubling" does not "justify a blanket ban", as a blanket ban is not being advocated by anyone.
As for this "Katrina Kessel" character, and their claim that "a tiny scene... existed for one year, 1982-83", the fact is these morons are still performing together in 2011, a full 28 years after KK suggests this scene ceased to exist. Philip Best was a schoolboy when he did the "White Power" tape, and the current BNP chairman Nick Griffin was even younger when he joined the National Front. As to whether these idiots "briefly explored their confused psychodramas and desires for extremist art" then "forgot about it and moved on", Sutcliffe Jugend "forgot" about the pro-rape, pro-pedo and pro-Nazi content of their "We Spit on their Graves" project so much that they reissued it on CD in 1997, and in 2011 they're still performing under a name that celebrates Peter Sutcliffe and the Hitler Jugend / Hitler Youth.
Finally KK really shows her true colours in assuming I'm a "troubled white male hetero" (on the basis of what evidence?), and then using homophobic insults (calling me an "assclown") to accuse me (again without any evidence) of being... "homophobic"! QED
Not for Profit
Fahrenheit 451?
17.06.2011 01:43
As for what Katrina Kessel says about Dennis Cooper, I reserve the right not to trust judgements about sexual sadists which were made by someone she claims won the "Prix Sade"
Mike Bomb
Casting Stones.
17.06.2011 08:00
For instance The works of the Marquis De Sade have had a troubled print history on this Fair Isle for amongst other things advocating sexual degradation,Buggery & Child Abuse,however a number of femnists now regard much of De Sade as highly important in the field of sexuality & gender studies..................would you therefore try to remove these works into the bonfires of censorship.
What about Mein Kampf?
My Local Waterstones has it sat in the History section..............again it advocates anti semitism etc.
Many authors have suffered terrible attempts at censorship for advocating things you are accusing Mr Soto's of etc.......................from JG Ballards " Crash", William S Burroughs "Naked Lunch" (with its child abuse and murder) and even Dennis Cooper has trod close to the edge.
Music wise the Rolling Stones & David Bowie have flirted with Nazism and one incident even saw Mr Bowie arriving in London sieg heiling and calling for the 4th Reich.
The Residents had issues with their album "Fourth Reich & Roll "....................Morrissey made certain comments that suggested he backed forced repatritation etc.
The Hindley Palm print painting was accused of being Pro Murder by the press and subjected to attacks because of this..............(remember you are suggesting the accused are Pro Rape etc no different than the Sun's Pro Murder Diatribe).
How about Black & death metal?
Have you examined their imagery..................lyrics & Interviews as no ndoubt there is much to get worked up over.
The chilling aspect I find to this sort of site is its selective Blindness & Double standards.
For instance would we see yourselves dedicate so much time and effort to exploring music that advocates murder and death if it was not made by White Men?
I see no effort by yourselves to confront the mass objectification of Females in Rap Music and other genres of this type.
Much of this music is virulently sexist and Homophobic it calls for Ho's and Queers to be murdered degraded and abused......................but strangely the voices of Morality are strangely quiet on this.
No doubt the Dictators of Morality will attack me for racism and not understanding the oppression of the Black Masses.
I remember an old saying-
" Double Standards Point The Way To Hypocrisy "
Kristian Carter
Nigel Ayers
17.06.2011 08:47
I'm not saying Nigel Ayers is one of these people btw, but let's just say he has a pretty major vested interest in encouraging people to go easy of these Nazi scumbags. Perhaps it would have been better if you'd not joined in this debate Nigel?
Unique and meaningful
Kristian Carter
17.06.2011 09:09
As for your other points, you detail at least 10 other cases of actually or potentially offensive material and each one of these issues would take an entire separate thread to discuss adequately. There are many great feminist writers, but as many bad ones, and just because someone claims to be a feminist that doesn't make their opinion reliable. Ditto Morrisey can be a pillock sometimes but he doesn't advocate war crimes. However, to examine your first example, the publication of works by the Marquis De Sade, many of De Sade's books (like "Justine") aren't particularly offensive, but as for the "120 Days", I opened this at random once and found a passage about torturing pregnant women, so if I was a writer and some idiot offered to "award" me the "Prix Sade" at the very least I'd tell them to fuck off. As for how some feminists "now regard much of De Sade as highly important in the field of sexuality & gender studies", please try to understand WHY that is. Feminists read De Sade as an example of the most extreme, alienated and damaged male psyche. They do that in opposition to Sade's beliefs. They do NOT, as the likes of Bennett, Tomkins and Sotos do, advocate the kind of violence Sade was describing.
Not for Profit
Love Music Hate Racism
17.06.2011 10:01
Open Season
clarification please
17.06.2011 11:21
Among all the shrill abuse, you din't really make it clear :
do you think the state should have prohibited gigs by the Sex Pistols after Sid Vicious wore a swastika and behaved like a nazi twat?
A yes or no answer would do....
central state
Sotos withdrew from event
17.06.2011 12:57
He asked not be involved any longer.
Peter said "The only reason that I wanted to be involved with this show was that I like SJ and Gaya very much. I’d rather not put anyone in the position of having to defend me or ideas that are, to me at least, more complex and lifelong than the current forum seems to allow. "
- from facebook event page, posted by Gaya Donadio earlier today
Anna Gekowski
Replies to Anna Gekowski and Central State
17.06.2011 16:52
Anyway, to reply to your question, what I meant is what I said, and what I said was that Sid Vicious deserved to have his head kicked-in for his Swastika stunts, not that Pistols gigs should have been banned by the State - it's a pity Vicious didn't get that kicking, but the fate he inflicted on himself was far worse, making the actions of the State (or anyone else) superfluous, because he effectively "banned" himself, through his own death
If Peter Sotos has really chickened out of his gig at The Slimelight on Oct 1st (and personally I trust anything Gaya Donadio or Peter Sotos post about as far as I could chuck the fat scumbag) that's interesting insofar as someone posted on Lancaster Unity trying to pretend Sotos doesn't use the internet - so (assuming Anna Gekowski's post isn't a smokescreen) the message she reports proves Sotos does use the internet.
If Peter Sotos has lost his nerve, good, that's a partial victory for this campaign, but for the time being it's best everyone assumes he's still coming
Not for Profit
two questions
17.06.2011 17:16
In your original article you claim Albin Julius has worked with William Bennett - I heard about members of Der Blutharsch trying to sabotage a Whitehouse gig in Vienna a few years back, but I've never heard that they have been in anyway 'colleagues' - can you elucidate?
Also, can you provide a link for the Bennett quote from the 'Spanish music fanzine ADN' - just a year and issue number citation would suffice. Thanks.
Anna Gekowski
Two answers
17.06.2011 18:20
Some issues of ADN have been scanned and posted on-line but not the issue with that Whitehouse interview, as ADN has no formal web presence. The interview asked Bennett whether he was a "dirty Nazi" and he said he wasn't but that he had no compunction about the "glorious pleasures" the SS indulged in death camps - as you'll recall from my initial argument a distinction between people who support Nazi war criminals for ideological reasons and those who support Nazi war criminals for "fun" is irrelevant from the point of view of (actual and potential) victims
Not for Profit
NfP's hidden agenda
17.06.2011 19:42
"John Murphy performed as a member of Whitehouse on many occasions" - well, four times in 1982 anyway - before he joined far-right band The Associates, the singer of which band was a known homosexual just like Peter Sotos and Ernst Rohm, in time on appear on their sickening '(Nazi) Party Fears Too' hit.
As you've seen this impossibly obscure Spanish zine it strikes me that you were at one time a big fan of Whitehouse. I would love to know the real story behind your vendetta as, like most readers I guess, I'm extremely unconvinced by your claims to be just an anti-fascist.
Finally here's my thoughts on Peter Sotos for what it's worth, reposted from whomakesthenazis:
I've read his work since he started seriously publishing mid-90s and in so many ways he is such a difficult writer to defend - the newer writing is far removed from the style of Pure but it's still relentlessly disgusting and bleak. Paedophiles hate him, as he's not talking about age of consent laws or 'loving intergenerational relationships' - he talks about cruelty and abuse with terrible consequences. The picture he paints of his own homosexuality isn't done with 'pride' or any kind of sex-positive celebration - he describes squalid and ugly anonymous encounters between damaged men. Victims of crimes hate him because, just like the newspapers, he exploits them by using their real names prominently in books. The liberal literary intelligentsia and art scene hate him for pushing the aesthetics of people like Genet and Francis Bacon into an area that drips into uneducated real-life violence. His books still feature casual racism which he refuses to self-censor, mixed with gleeful depictions of cruelty to animals.
I read him, with some regrets, as he is a unique stylist and one of very few writers willing to cast an eye on the brutal power dynamics that lie behind everyday human interactions. Andrea Dworkin was another, and like Sotos she is frequently discussed by people who haven't actually read her. [insert joke about 'they both ate all the pies' here]
d.a.levy
Clarity please
17.06.2011 20:44
a) shrill abuse is shrill abuse, however much wordy waffling goes on afterwards
b) regardless of boy-fantasies about kicking heads in, and regardless of Sid Vicious topping himself, should the Sex Pistols have been banned by the state on the grounds of his swastika / Nazi idiocy? Again - yes or no will do...
Central state
Concise
17.06.2011 23:08
I too have read Soto's for many Years and have often wondered why his work has impacted upon me so much after all I am a Hetrosexual Male and also a Father but I find his work to be so fascinating and deep.......................the textures of his prose reveal much much more than the simple filth that a cursory glance would only show.....................I know a number of women who love his work too.......................his Book " comfort & critique" is corruscating attack both on the Media's portrayal of Peadophile scares and also their salacious wallowing in the details of which they deem to condemn.
His work is that of a highly skilled practioner of Prose, sexuality and Language.
Kristian Carter
Peter Sotos tribute to Josef Mengele
18.06.2011 12:32
Jog on
Spot the Nazis
Jogging On.
18.06.2011 16:02
Titillation?
A sense of flirting with the dangerous?
Curiosity?
So Nazi Spotter what do you think should happen to Soto's Books?
Banned?
Burnt?
What exactly gives you such glorious insight into what the wide audience of his work thinks when they read it.....................different people will have diverse reactions to almost any work of art,literature,music or Film.
This Moral Dictatorship where only you and your select few have the right to digest this material as it is simply too dangerous for others to read etc stinks to me of the Nazism you claim to be able to spot in others.
If Mr Soto's work was acceptable to be read by yourself in what way are you superior to others and what right have you to attempt to censor and bar others from what you have read so much of?
Take a look in the mirror the next time you want to spot the Nazi you elitist pretensious Wannabe Lefty.
You make the same mistake that Leftists always make being the sense they have some higher grasp of morality than us simple folk.................my morals are fine...............I know the difference between right and wrong and am able to judge myself what is dangerous repulsive etc without being preached too by yourself.
Kristian Carter
to Sacha C
18.06.2011 21:47
Previous censorship of Sotos -
re: Dennis Cooper - to my knowledge no-one has directly compared the two writers (despite their shared interest in some subject matter, their styles are very different) but their mutual admiration is well documented -
It should be pointed out that the person above claiming to be Nigel Ayers is a troll -
d.a. levy
Kevin Tomkins on Heinrich Himmler and Peter Sutcliffe
20.06.2011 09:58
Q: What are your influences?
A: Peter Sutcliffe, The Marquis de Sade, Himmler and Ian Brady
Q: Why do you think Peter Sutcliffe is so important?
A: He helped keep prostitutes off the streets and he's a great inspiration to everybody
Q: Do you think there is a limit to violence in music?
A: No, but there are many courses of action beyond music. In crime for instance.
Mind if I chip in here?
The blatant racism of Whitehouse's William Bennett
20.06.2011 10:03
Naxos
Casual racism mixed with gleeful depictions of cruelty to animals
20.06.2011 11:51
DA Levy you admit (in your own words) that Peter Sotos' writing (including recent writing) "exploits" rape victims "by using their real names prominently in books" and that his books feature "casual racism.... mixed with gleeful depictions of cruelty to animals". You allege that pedos "hate" Peter Sotos on grounds of no evidence, despite Sotos himself being convicted for possessing child porn! You, my friend, have zero command of logic, and your conclusion that all this makes Peter Sotos "unique" is stupidly obvious. To answer two sample points from your risible nit-picking, dozens of other bands featured in ADN fanzine and I read ADN because I like experimental music not because I was a fan of Whitehouse. You'd love to know the "real story" behind my "vendetta" although your own posts show you know exactly why I oppose these people, and I couldn't care less whether you think I'm "just" an anti-fascist (I do have interests outside anti-fascism).
Central State if you insist on ignoring the fact that Whitehouse lyrics are literally "shrill abuse", preferring to accuse me of shrill abuse for the crime of opposing pedos and Nazis, carry on. Most people can work out who your response says most about. As for your attempts to steer this debate away from its actual subject and turn it into a debate about the Sex Pistols, I already answered your question, twice, but you insist on reducing complex problems to a singe monosyllabic answer. Straight "yes or no" responses maybe what you want, but they're not necessarily what you're going to get, get used to it. However, I think even you can understand if I say that no I don't think the State should have banned Pistols gigs before they published "Belsen Was A Gas", but after that they deserved anything they got.
Last but not least Kristian Carter admits he's "a father" who's been reading pedophile writer Peter Sotos "for many years", and that he's "often wondered why his work has impacted upon me so much"! You "know a number of women who love his work too" - Whitehouse heroines Myra Hyndley and Ilse Koch were also women. As for Sotos making a "corruscating attack" on "the media's portrayal of Peadophile scares" (sic), convicted pedos probably do take issue with the way they're portrayed by the media (but as for whether the media are hypocrites, even if they are they're still not pedophiles). As for whether Sotos' work "is that of a highly skilled practioner of Prose, sexuality and Language", "Prose" and "Language" aren't proper nouns, your mis-spellings, random alternations between upper and lower case letters and bad prose (like claiming Sotos is a "highly skilled practioner of... sexuality") show that you for one aren't best placed to judge Sotos' skill at writing. The most important point however is that you say you're a parent who reads pedo authors! Get help.
Not for Profit
Whitehouse + Violence against Women
20.06.2011 12:20
Facebook
A suspect in a series of brutal child abductions, murders & grave robbings
20.06.2011 12:38
Switchboard
Philip Best performing at Camp Concentration in 2008
20.06.2011 12:54
White Power producer Philip Best performing at Camp Concentration St. Louis, 6
Peter Sotos (recent photo)
Peter Sotos (recent photo)
William Bennett (recent photo)
William Bennett (recent photo)
Peter Sotos (recent photo)
Peter Sotos (recent photo)
William Bennett (recent photo)
William Bennett (recent photo)
Bennett lives in Edinburgh
Soccer Ace
Antifa
20.06.2011 14:23
It aint rocket science
Action
Quotes from Philip Best regarding fascism and political action
20.06.2011 15:08
or to what Gerald Gillespie has referred to as the "permissive myths of radical
modernity such as apocalyptic Fascism". The apocalypse is a 'useful' fiction, but its
Joachite component should be treated with a degree of scepticism, for "its ideological
expression is fascism; its practical consequence the Final Solution" (SOE 103). The
refined eschatologies of the early modernists such as Pound, Eliot, Joyce, Lewis, and
Yeats (and one thinks of Lawrence as well) were nevertheless "dangerous lapses into
mythical thinking" (SOE 104), involving a call to arms against tradition and "the
creation of fictions which may be dangerous in the dispositions they breed towards
the world" (SOE 111). Such fictions may include the fantasy of a racial elite, a related
contempt for those deemed 'unclean' or 'degenerate', and myths associated with
natural purity, mass society, and the wish for a cleansing spectacle of annunciatory
violence." - p 26
"Apocalypse Culture represents an attempt to deal with the 'felt ultimacies' of our time;
but unfortunately the anti-academic stance of many of the contributors soon
degenerates into anti-liberalism, anti-humanism, or worse." - p. 47
"The Punks (and, as it transpired, many others too) suspected that time
had, in a sense, stopped by 1977 and that the nation was hopelessly trapped in the
past. If there was a conspiracy, it was one of circumstances (which could be
readily changed) rather than of hidden plots and secret unfathomable purposes.
Instead of retreating into a damaging realm of private fantasy, the Punks came
together in a startling display of emotional solidarity, the immediate result of which
was collective action. To use Abrams's terms, Punk's apocalypse was a 'crusade'; but
it was a crusade to save the world, not destroy it." p. 61
"My argument is that an appreciation of Burroughs's environmentalism is best
approached through an understanding of the shifting contexts of Burroughs's
pederasty, his romanticised notions of the recent past, and his wildly idiosyncratic
political views (which some may claim as fascist or anti-feminist). In this particular
case the specific charge of fascism would be notoriously difficult to prove (although
Burroughs probably is guilty of mistaking an uneven distribution of the world's
resources for an insupportable claim on the planet's natural riches)" - p. 118
"For all the 'rapid-fire' technological progress and social 'benefits' of life in the
50s and 60s, time could be said to have stopped for those decades also. If we
had to decide, for argument's sake, on 'the day the world ended', we could do
far worse than settle on July 16,1945. It was on this date, at the Trinity site in
New Mexico, that the first atomic device was detonated; and it could perhaps
be argued that our experience of both space and time has been radically
altered, and indeed irreparably impaired, as a direct result of what happened
on that day. I should finally emphasise my intuition that just as it possible to
create small enclaves and artifacts capable of briefly resisting the inevitable
accumulation of entropy, so time can be restarted through human art and
political struggle." - p.264
All quotes taken from "Apocalypticism in the Fiction of William S. Burroughs, J.G. Ballard and Thomas Pynchon", University of Durham, 1998.
Bemused
Reply to Philip Best
20.06.2011 15:58
On your marks...
PB is not here
20.06.2011 16:11
The thesis is available readily through academic e-libraries and a pdf has been on the net for a while now.
Bemused
tazer the punks!
20.06.2011 19:53
Not ignoring, just arguing that it's irrelevant
"your attempts to steer this debate away from its actual subject and turn it into a debate about the Sex Pistols"
The main subject of this debate, at least in the eyes of most contributors, is whether artists or writers that most right-thinking people find objectionable should be banned by the sdtate (as you were calling for these dickheads to be)
"a singe monosyllabic answer. Straight "yes or no" responses maybe what you want"
Well they proved remarkably difficult to come by, perhaps because you're reluctant to advocate rows of riot cops breaking up punk gigs, but when the chips are down....
"after that they deserved anything they got"
... you've shown your true colours.
Didn't hurt, did it?
Central state
Reply to Central State
21.06.2011 07:51
Not for Profit
Metapolitical Fascism.
21.06.2011 14:29
It describes the phenomenon of 'apolitec music' and 'metapolitical fascism' in great detail, something a few comments have touched on here and there.
Just Another Comment
lessons in fascism
21.06.2011 21:17
"I believe the State should pull the Slimelight's entertainments license, "
"I'd have no problem had Sid Vicious been arrested for inciting racial hatred."
If you weren't so preoccupied with other people's ignorance and stupidity (falling into the stupid trap, do you know what happened in Belsen, etc., etc.), you would perhaps have spotted the irony of someone educating us all about fascism then calling for the state to ban those he finds offensive.
I think the state does quite enough closing down, restricting and banning without some pompous little fart calling for more of the same.
If I find an attitude stupid, I ignore it. Sad non-entities like the ones you're so het up about are entirely driven by attention-seeking and the need to shock. If someone expresses something threatening, I'd get together with some mates and oppose it, as is my right of free expression.
I can't speak for those whose relatives were murdered in Belsen, any more than you can, but I suspect some of them would resent such atrocities being used to further the state's authoritarianism.
central state
Central State, I guess you're right....
22.06.2011 00:08
You also conveniently omit to answer an earlier question about how you'd feel about "Belsen Was a Gas" (or feel about "Triumphs of Nazism" by Peter Sotos) if it was your relatives who'd been murdered at Belsen, and you misrepresent my argument, as my intention is not to further State control as an end in itself, as you imply, but to encourage the State to take action against people who openly promote Nazism and pedophiliac murder - so the politest thing I can say is that you seriously need to examine your priorities. As for being educated about the nature of Fascism, the single most significant feature of Fascism is that it's a movement that rounded-up millions of innocent people at gun-point, shoved them into cattle trucks and then humiliated, starved and killed them. Calling for State action against people who advocate such killing is not Fascistic simply because both happen to involve State action, and to willfully confuse the two, as a pretext for trying to undermine my argument, is just pathetic.
I'd agree that a state ban on anything is (idealistically speaking) undesirable, but in the world of real-life priorities outside your record collection, sorry but I'm actually glad the cops try to restrict pedos, murderers and rapists, and speaking of questions people havn't found the courage to answer, I asked a previous commentator whether they're "so opposed to State control that on principle you'd refuse to call the police if a member of your family was raped or murdered?" - s/he didn't reply, but now I'll ask you the same question.
Re-read this comment carefully before replying.
Not for Profit
Thanks to Peter Sotos
22.06.2011 02:38
Kristian Carter defends these scum from a Facebook page of the same name, whose current profile image is a photo of Colonel Gadaffi which appears next to the word "innocent"
Not for Profit
once again
22.06.2011 10:13
You said "I must be a "pompous little fart" for advocating the "closing down, restricting and banning" of people like Peter Sotos and Kevin Tomkins who promote the rape, torture and murder of children"
No - just for coming out with stuff like "falling into the stupid trap" "find out about Belsen" and "Re-read this comment carefully before replying"
The "closing down, restricting and banning" nonsense is just plain authoritarian, disproportionate and likely to be counterproductive with the attention-craving idiots who so obsess you. If they're a genuine threat, they have to be confronted by ordinary people - antifa and crew have been doing so for years with fascists in the real world, to great success.
Indeed I can't speak for those whose relatives were murdered in Belsen, but like I said I do suspect some of them would resent such atrocities being used to further the state's authoritarianism. There's a big difference between that and your claiming a mandate to have things suppressed.
If it was my relatives who'd been murdered at Belsen? I'd say it's pretty fcking obvious how I'd feel about state control (c'mon - read the texts).
I too am glad the cops try to restrict pedos, murderers and rapists, as all of them commit - or in the case of pedos cause - violence against people, rather than coming with obscure gibberish that only people with too much time on their hands get het up about.
So no - I am not so opposed to State control that on principle I'd refuse to call the police if a member of my family was raped or murdered... I wouldn't however call the police if someone said they were glad it happened. I think that's an important distinction.
central state
Dear Mr Not For Profit
22.06.2011 21:35
Yes Kristian Carter is my real name.
Unlike you sir I am able to represent my viewpoints without using the cowards way out and hiding behind masks.
If you look at my profile you will also see a photo of Frank Sidebottom too.
...........................no doubt he was a Nazi Pedo Thug too eh?
If it is you Mr Profit making the pathetic death to me via facebook then I wish to let you know that they are rather amusing and dare I say a little camp too.
KRISTIAN
Kristian Carter
Rock Against Racism
23.06.2011 11:36
Never Again
Replies to Kristian Carter and Central State
23.06.2011 18:31
Replying to Central State, thanks for admitting you'd call the police if a member of your family was raped or murdered, and that you're glad the cops try to restrict pedos, murderers and rapists. When it comes to restricting people who promote pedos, murderers and rapists, your reply also repeated that you "can't speak for those whose relatives were murdered in Belsen", but then you went ahead and did that exact same thing again (for the second time) by claiming that you "suspect some of them would resent such atrocities being used to further the state's authoritarianism". So, you take issue with being asked to re-read a comment before replying, but then reply without having read the comments properly, repeating the same mistakes for a second time. You also repeated the false claim that I am using this issue to "further the state's authoritarianism" and made a new false claim by pretending I ever claimed to have a "mandate" to have things suppressed. Given all that, we're probably going to have to agree to disagree, as I don't want to spend my whole life asking you to re-read posts, so I'll concede opinion's split here between those who (for whatever reason) choose to defend the ability of Nazi pricks to publish stuff about raping kids, and those who oppose them. Have a nice day.
Not for Profit
Independent Newspaper 23rd June 2011
23.06.2011 18:41
Maybe then things could get into perspective a little.
Kristian Carter
Congratulations Not for Profit
24.06.2011 01:06
I suspect your talents may be better employed via 4chan than indymedia. It's a place where essentially apolitical people who just want to cause trouble hang out, you may have heard of it.
John Young from Cryptome
Troy Southgate and Albin Julius
24.06.2011 11:45
Other people the promoters invited include known Fascists Albin Julius and ex-NF member (but active Nutzi) Troy Southgate. Peter Sotos has dropped off the official publicity, but most likely he's still performing. Interesting that Troy Southgate, a pukka right-wing activist, have been invited an event featuring not one but TWO explicitly pro-paedophile performers!!!!!
Quick comment
Not for Profit is a dickhead
25.06.2011 01:12
Absolutely ridiculous material on here and you should be ashamed of yourself Not for Profit. Heaven knows why Indymedia mods haven't hidden this drivel..
Bemused
We are the mods
26.06.2011 12:27
Your eMail
Hate Week
26.06.2011 14:04
Er, except it wasn't. The material on the early 1980s was reprinted secondary sources of critical material from fanzines, which presented bald statements as fact and in the case of eg the EST article was simply made up according to the author's prejudice. "Lavish helpings of racial abuse"? Really? Find one.
To supplement this Not For Profit used some creative imagination in presenting links with Albin Julius which simply do not exist and never have, and the pseudo-shocking and wannabe edgy outbursts of the main protagonists which s/he did get right were removed from their context of life under Thatcherism almost thirty years ago.
The direct result of articles such as this, whatever its creator's intentions, is to help forge new and more secure modes of hegemonic discourse and to ensure the further exclusion and pathologisation of dissident voices - and to legitimise the use of state force against art.
we are the dispossessed
Reply to Dispossessed
05.07.2011 14:52
The reason for not re-posting scans I found on the web of actual pages from "Pure" magazine is because they're SO pedophilic and Nazi that I didn't even want them on my PC, let alone on Indymedia, but anyone who knows how to use Google can find them easily enough. Looking forward to seeing someone post-up William Bennett's "Most Violent Music of the New Right" / "Struggle for a New Music Culture" article from Force Mental magazine tho', hopefully soon ;)
We'll Be Back
You aren't the dispossessed
05.07.2011 16:22
Oh, sorry, I forgot, it's "art"?
Mark Thatcher
Victims Of Freedom
08.07.2011 03:40
what some people need is to do live thier own life insted of living other peoples lives,you are not entitled to the suffering of the past to use as a crutch for your lack of self and place in the current time frame,ww2 nazi rehash fake or victim culture suffering wanna be minorities
example1:women are 51%+ of the population so in biological ecology terms women should dominate the human ecological niche,they do of course,but men & women refuse to admit it for selfish emotional issues or from fear of having to take responsibility for thier own reality,insted ecouraging countless people to suffer under the mind set that you are weak and lesser than other people around you at birth,this is destructive negative & delusional thinking and not good for the person suffering this victim mentality or anyone around them,you may not have the same rights & expectations as other people but this doesnt make you less human,less free yes
certain types like to push the idea that if you are lower class,female,of a color other than white than you are a victim and powerless,this is more insideous than any hitlerian genocide plan,this victim culture pushing isnt a bullet to the head for humanity but a slow long death of cancerous lies
you arent free to question any of this,you better understand or else you are one of the bad guys for simple lack of understanding,your asking of questions to understand is prove of your villany
the so called white male power elite are now made in to self attacking victims by even trying to reason or rationalize,even if you are poor white powerless liberal,its still your fault
wow this starting to sound like some kind of subnormal perverted psedo-neo-fascist way of life,i wonder why people would sing songs about the most vile things they can think of,maybe to fight this victim cultures effects on them,i mean we really cant blame them for being so disfunctional,they are white western men and cant help it,they are victims too
example 2:white power electronics,now this isnt my personal opinion but personal observed fact, white power bully boys, christian identity followers,religious nationalists,redneck klansmen,as a general rule DO NOT like things like whitehouse or related "art",they will ignore them as a courtesy to the movement but this genre is not really an accepted or influential part of the white power movement,rape,child molestation,selfish antiwhite race perversions are not part of thier accepted culture(genocide and extreme violence is OK,of course),all this degenerate style art and noise is thought of as jewish queer big city filth but now with all this press they become more interested and accpting of such vile expression
the neo-folk passes but is not a serious part of RAC/white power music either,they have thier acoustic bands that play similar crappy music and arent playing dress up,depressed junky looking he-she's or sexually experimental "art fags"
conclusion:niether side is the side for me,maybe for you living like a dog on a lease is ok and thats ok by me too as long as you dont attempt to make me live your lifestyle i can allow you to live yours and its my duty as a natural born american to resist all anti-american ways of life with all of my power and life,maybe its time america invades the uk,better watch your freedom hating act over there!
we all know what hitler would have thought of all this subhuman filth,he would not have been happy at all,to the front lines or camps with all of them
all this hubub over this is mostly a nonissue,self serving and counter productive to all involved,i could have been beating my meat to so antiwoman porn while smoking dope and playing antihuman noise and music,i have lost time from my life over this issue,it made me a victim!
L.F.O.D.
e-mail:
patrickcooksey@hotmail.com
Pro-Nazi, Pro-Rape, Pro-Paedo Music: 'this time for real'
18.07.2011 00:47
99% certain here that 'Not For Profit' and the other alter egos are simply trolls. In the highly unlikely event that this piece was intended seriously, how fucking cool would Peter Sotos now look having anti-fascists, the Christian right, the cops and the ACLU all hating him? Even if he wasn't an extraordinarily gifted writer and legendarily nice guy: as someone who knows first-hand what the state's iron fist feels like when that velvet glove gets taken off, I'd support him on principle.
Simon M
e-mail:
knightsmove7(AT)hotmail.com
Homepage:
http://ceramichobs.livejournal.com/
Nice try, but ....
08.08.2011 12:32
Anti-Fascist
Kristian Carter
10.11.2011 06:40
Cabinet
To Anti-Fascist, 08.08.2011 12:32
26.11.2011 04:09
Smell & Quim's next show in Leeds in December is being openly advertised as PRO-NAZI, PRO-PEDO, PRO-RAPE MUSIC. Please feel free to come along and kick fuck out of us. Also, you can find my home address via this thread - firebomb me, anti-fascist tough boys. You all just seem like psychiatric nurses or social workers to me anyway.
Simon M
and furthermore
30.11.2011 05:42
"Hi Strel,
Sorry for the rather confrontational nature of my emails but obviously it's a topic on which feelings are going to run high, I quite surprised myself with how worked up about it I got last summer.
The 'about' section on the site which forces you to think about the idea of 'the sanctity of art' is something I did find usefully thought-provoking. To address the only writer believed to have far-right sympathies whom I admire: a hardline anti-fascist wouldn't have allowed Celine to go on and write North, Rigadoon and Castle to Castle and I think that would have been a loss to humanity. I've read Bagatelles (published online in bootleg translation by far-right creeps) and it contains some stunning writing, although the content is relentlessly disgusting and I think his estate are right to suppress it - whether it was intended as a parody of anti-semitism or not, the timing was horribly stupid.
My respect for anyone who was ever involved in organised far-right politics is automatically severely diminished, be it Tony Wakeford or the bloke from Blaggers ITA. I think that if I was a fundamentally apolitical fan of these crap bands such as Sol Invictus though, my respect for anti-fascism would have diminished severely as a direct result of the anti-Slimelight campaign initiated by your site. People don't generally enjoy being lectured by soft cops about why the things they enjoy are wrong, it feels comparable to public health campaigns.
As well as damaging anti-fascism's credibility to a bunch of clueless music fans, the other great achievement of the campaign was stopping the pervy American writer Sotos from coming and showing his badly-collaged gay porn videos (you can see an example at the French videodrom site) which brings me to the moral crusade, tabloid-friendly angle of things. I can understand hating fascism to the point where smear campaigns and the use of folk devils feels justifiable, but it's the same impulse that leads to real escalation of mutual antagonism, to the violence which only the state wins.
Anti-fascists in somewhere like St Petersburg, Russia where they have a real job to do (and more real nazis to go after) are fucking heroic in my eyes. Those in the UK who cloak the moralising impulses usually associated with the religious right in the guise of 'anti-fascism' deserve satirising without mercy.
Best -
Simon"
If it's true what I hear that it's just Noccy Nigel writing all this stuff: wise up fella and get out more.
.
If anyone came here via LMHR et al: I'm a fucking Nazi, hello. Come and get me.
Simon M
Simon M
07.12.2011 08:46
As for your attempt at serious debate, your point to Strelnikov (?) about this kind of "moralising" being associated with the religious right is so factually inaccurate it undermines itself, and anyway anti-fascism's not about abstract moralising, it's about self-defence. As for your views on violence Simon, it's not me who wrote songs asserting a "Right to Kill" or who posed for photos with a baseball bat, you moron. What made you so purple with rage, Simon, is not the actions of anti-fascist "tough boys", but an Indymedia thread which commits the crime of openly debating the hopeless bunch of Nazi rape fantasists and kiddy-fiddlers that you're so keen to defend.
The Penguin
William Bennett from Whitehouse now performing as Cut Hands
07.12.2011 09:20
Having discovered African culture for the much same reasons that Nazi film-maker Leni Reifenstahl discovered African culture after WW2 (after her side lost that is), William Bennett describes Cut Hands as Afro-Noise (sic), and likes people to think Cut Hands is musically innovative, but, for the real beginners out there - 1, real innovators like Steve Reich worked with African rhythms as far back as 1972, 2, musicians of African origin and/or descent - African Headcharge, Lee Perry and thousands of dub, ragga and dancehall artists, have been fusing African percussion with noise for decades, 3, William Bennett's not African, 4, William Bennett described his music as being "concerned with the struggle AGAINST the unhealthy Negroid influence in popular music" (sic), and 5, William Bennett's Extreme Music from Africa compilation (which features the first Cut Hands track) was made in Edinburgh, was entirely composed by William Bennett (using various aliases), and features a heavily eroticised graphic of a badly injured African woman on the CD cover (rewind to Whitehouse tracks like "Pro-Rapist"). I wonder if The Wire mentioned any of those facts?
The Wire
"anti-fascism's not about abstract moralising, it's about self-defence""
27.12.2011 18:57
For the popular frontist LMHR, the language of liberalism is, sadly, too often used in its ‘anti-fascist’ campaigns, holding “our celebrated multicultural society” against the cheerless delusions of Tony Wakeford et al. ‘Proletarian internationalism’, after all, might scare off fellow travellers such as the liberal Emily Thornberry. But all the inaccuracies and half-truths, the deliberate suppression of information and the ensuing atmosphere of hysteria do more harm than good. “These people totally discredit themselves by refusing any discussion,” observed a Slimelight regular correctly – and just like the punk group Crass grew increasingly hostile to the left when Red Action randomly took out skinhead youths at their gigs, the philistine anti-fascism employed by LMHR is bound to alienate the alternative scene from the left rather than cleanse it of reactionary influence.
This thread was made by moralists, not anti-fascists
Homepage:
http://redmistreviews.com/?p=551
to The Penguin
28.12.2011 04:42
Simon M
Homepage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pqyfkplM0M
Response to idiots
31.12.2011 02:19
As for Simon M's other tedious bollocks, if he's "not bothered about defending the artists mentioned in this thread" - the authors of stuff like "Triumphs of Nazism" - why did he dedicate several comments to doing exactly that? Simon M says he "never have considered wearing swastikas and goosestepping... like I was doing the other week if it wasn't for this thread" but "it was great fun" - thanks again for volunteering information about just what a total fucking dick you really are, Simon. As for your attempts to misrepresent the theories of genuine intellectuals, did Deleuze and Guattari wear swastikas and goose-step around, for fun, or was it just cunts like YOU who chose to do that, Simon?
E-mail
more voluntary information for NA
03.01.2012 03:29
I don't mind being regarded as a 'total dick' and you're certainly not the first to think so but 'cunts like you' (Whitehouse reference!) seems a touch rude, I have a reputation as a pretty nice guy :) Once again my contact details are above if anyone wants to badger me about this.
Simon M
PS: on 'the theories of genuine intellectuals'
03.01.2012 08:20
You've wilfully misread the Maciej Zurowski quote in which he diametrically opposes the language of liberalism ("Objections to the Slimelight's entertainments license should forward this information to Licensing Service Public Protection Division Islington Council 222 Upper Street London N1 1XR") against proletarian internationalism. I thought that was a pretty great piece myself.
As one of the first people to have discovered Wakeford's proven connections with the NF long before he admitted it online, I don't regret leaking that information to anti-fascist contacts at all - I'm in favour of the free circulation and discussion of information. If you go looking for similar hard dirt on Bennett and Sotos, you'll simply not find any. Lots of stuff that would give both Klaus Theweleit and Richard Littlejohn something to talk about, but the fact that the attacks on their work have come from the latter perspective simply suggest that the author of this article has a poor understanding of both fascism and anti-fascism.
Simon M
Tony "NF" Wakeford and William "Negroid Influences" Bennett
16.04.2012 22:48
Ska
Liberal baiting
17.09.2012 00:07
If you’re unfamiliar with noise music (amongst other transgressive inclined genres) the sort of provocative imagery, lyrics, noise, sounds and guerilla strategies they often use can no doubt be shocking, disturbing, insulting, offensive, tasteless etc. They’re intended to be. Out of context, you’d reasonably think that if someone you don’t know says “I enjoy killing and raping children” – that they probably mean it.
Or perhaps not. In context, when they don’t ‘mean’ it at all but merely use and adopt this disturbing imagery to provoke responses (like yours) using a deliberately brutal aesthetically confrontational approach, then it must be seen in that context. Context, context, context.
More bluntly - it's all a put on. It’s an act - it’s not real.
An actor playing a Nazi in a film isn’t accused of being a Nazi in real life. A university library with a copy of Mein Kampf on it’s shelves isn’t picketed by angry Jewish students – it’s not a pro-Nazi library but has a copy as reference. A comedian parodying a racist buffoon rambling on about ‘sending the darkies back where they came from’ isn’t lambasted and given a kicking for being racist him/herself. The map is not the territory – the menu is not the meal.
Noise artists (operating in a 30 year old genre) for varied reasons often choose to use this imagery in other non-literal contexts. To my tastes even as a fan of this music, this imagery can be tedious – but then at least I realise it’s a put-on. They continue to push and prod the boundaries of free speech, rub the audiences face in uncomfortable imagery to stimulate; and engage in liberal baiting (‘closed’ yet nominally ‘liberal’ minds). These artists are often (ahem!) ‘nice’, ‘respectable’, ‘decent’ people whose personal politics range from socialist to ‘liberal’ to anarchist to libertarian (in its myriad forms) but their art involves convincingly (clearly for some….) pretending to be rapists, Nazis, child killers, homophobes.
That they then extend this pretence into the nominally ‘real’ world of the interview where you’d hope to hear the ‘actual truth’ – only exacerbates the illusion….”good god, I thought it was a put-on but these people are for real!!!”. Which is exactly what they’d like you to think. (Read the right interviews though and you’ll find the real truth – such interviews are revealing and are out there. The Wire interview with Bennett cited earlier is a good ‘mainstream’ place to start. )
Tasteless? Sure. Disgusting? Maybe, if you’re easily offended and don’t understand the context. Confusing? Of course. Asking for trouble from angry literalists? Naturally. Puerile? Sure there are some in this scene doing these things for low-brow attention seeking purposes. (And I’m bored of death camp Nazi imagery for shock purposes….gimme something new!)
By all means consider it all childish, pointlessly shocking, or unnecessarily offensive as a 'strategy' but you've really been taken in - as these artists intended - if you believe it to be real. These views are not the views of the artists mentioned, they are provocations. They are an act. They are actors. And that is all.
Smell And Quim have parodied the ludicrous excesses of the imagery in this scene. The LP cover to “Jesus Christ” is hard to look at (Google it) but when you know where the images come from (medical text book) and the intention (to shock) it’s hard to BE shocked. Its all a wind up. In this context the clearly OTT gig billing that Simon mentions earlier (and it was only done to wind you up in light of this article - not because he’s pro-nazi, rape etc.) is all the funnier if you’re in on the joke. If you get it now, whether or not you find it amusing or stimulating is another matter. But at least stop accusing people of being paedos and Nazis when they’re not.
Bennett, Tomkins, Rice et al aim to provoke angry response and discomfort by ‘using’ the most offensive imagery imaginable, not because they ‘advocate’ it. Tony Wakeford’s past? That he had an NF past he regrets is nothing new. So did Ray Hill. Not all old Nazis are dyed-in-the-wool – people change. That Tony now uses ambiguous imagery given his dodgy past doesn’t help his case but it doesn’t make him a Nazi either. Sotos’s criminal conviction for possession of kiddie porn? He went too far in his pursuit of ‘provocation’ and has understandably (maybe deservedly) paid the price – buying illegal material (directly funding real abusers) from which to make a provocative art tract (Pure) isn’t a smart move. It remains an act though however all-advised. You smear others by association with these two.
I’m no apologist, nor have I been hoodwinked. After 25 years of absorbing this scene I’m comfortable that these people clearly aren’t the same as the act that they (sometimes convincingly) perform.
Mellow vibes
Idiot baiting
03.02.2013 23:03
And if you havn't got the courage to do that, shut the fuck up
I spent my entire life listening to noise music you imbecile
PHOTO OF ALBIN JULIUS GIVING A NAZI SALUTE
03.02.2013 23:44
ALBIN JULIUS - Der Blutharsch - NAZI SALUTE
Zenith
"The Struggle for a New Musical Culture" by William Bennett aka DJ Bennetti
04.02.2013 09:10
DJ Bennetti's "struggle against the unhealthy negroid influences"
Even given the totally unequivocal Nazism of William Bennett's manifesto, and factoring-in the pompous, self-aggrandising egotism of Bennett's rhetoric, this document needs to be understood in context – in context of Whitehouse member Philip Best's "White Power" project, of the "Triumphs of Nazism" article written by Whitehouse member Peter Sotos, and of the statements by Whitehouse member Kevin Tomkins about Heinrich Himmler (and many similar examples)
After the ultimate failure of this project, William Bennett attempted to re-invent himself with current projects like DJ Bennetti and Cut Hands
*******************
"The Struggle for a New Musical Culture" by William Bennett, Force Mental magazine (Antwerp), issue 1 –
"It should be noted before continuing this article that in this work I turn not to strangers, but to followers of the movement whose hearts belong to it and who wish to further its cause and study it more deeply. Less people are won over by written matter than by what they see and hear. However, this will serve as a foundation and reference for new disciples.
Come Organisation is concerned with the struggle against the unhealthy negroid influences in all popular music today. These primitive forces have corrupted many generations of youth. In music and in word. The slogans of "peace and love" and international friendship in the songs of the 60s and 70s are nothing but the disguised voices of pseudo-Marxists. The cancer of this type of music has made such inroads that it will take a supreme effort to destroy it forever.
Nevertheless, its destruction is not enough - it must be replaced. In classical music we have the great works of Wagner and Richard Strauss, but nothing for young people who like 'Pop" and 'Rock'. No! The future must be embraced with both arms and a new form of power will be created which will win over the Anglo-Saxon youth for a New Britain.
We must blame the corruption of the negroid music and the Jewish exploitation for the reprehensible movements today like Anti-nuclear, Amnesty International, and feminist groups, to name but a few.
The countries with the strongest right-wing and nationalist forces in Europe are those countries where 'Rock' music has made the least impression. I am thinking of Spain and Italy now, but there are other notable examples of the phenomenon. The political climate of young people today is moving away from us ; I hold the 'Rock' culture to blame.
The music of Come Organisation artists fulfills a twin purpose - firstly, to crush the disease we have just discussed and secondly, to express the new movement in terms of power and strength of will. It is almost totally electronic in nature, extremely uncompromising and sometimes violent in expression. But brutality is respected. People need something that will give them a thrill of attack and make them shudderingly submissive. Why babble about brutality and get indignant about violence?
A recent released record 'Liebstandarte SS MB' 'Triumph of the Will' juxtaposes a speech by Adolf Hitler with a powerful electronic piece by Maurizio Bianchi from Italy. This record has proved to be very popular, especially in Britain and Germany. Other records will be released along similar lines.
If we have the will, we will have the victories."
_________________________
Candlemaker Row
Statement from William Bennett
24.03.2013 20:05
l1ndv
Eyewitness account of William Bennett (Cut Hands, Whitehouse) Sieg Heiling
21.10.2014 22:31
Eyewitness account of William Bennett (Cut Hands, Whitehouse) Sieg Heiling
Statement