December 15 2008

Hello everyone,

we've recently moved our newsletter service to ReverbNation, a web-based platform for artists and labels to approach marketing and promotion across the Internet. Unlike our old newsletter service, this new one is free and will allow us to communicate more often with you.

Starting from December 13 2008 and up until February 23 2009, for each order placed at the anarcocks.com store (either physical and digital) will be given a free digital download of Without Words There Is No Time, a 8 tracks EP originally released in September 2008 on CDR in a very limited number of copies and previously only available to subscribers.

We'd like to take this chance to officially announce a number of projects to be released in 2009:

Tourette Records will be releasing two new Black Sun Productions titles, the long awaited Somewhere Between Desire and Despair as well as Phantasmata Domestica, an avant classic album written by the two of us in collaboration with Mikael Karlsson;

Rustblade will issue a full length collaboration between Black Sun Productions and Bahntier in the shape of a limited edition box set featuring the official CD along with other exciting items;

Queen Lear, our side project in collaboration with Andrew Zealley and Val Denham, will be also releasing its debut, self-titled album;

Porno Teo Kolossal, the first Black Sun Productions proper live album (recorded in Zurich on August 2008) is also awaiting for release.

Next year, we're planning to be performing live more often than we did in the last couple of years. We'd like to play in places we've never visited before and, now that CHANGE seems to have finally come, we'd like to make our debut on a stage in the USA... at long last.

We send you Love and we wish you all the best for the approaching Winter Solstice.

Thank you for listening,

Massimo & Pierce

August 8 2008:

ANARCOCKS and PSBEUYS are pleased to announce the collaborative birth of Queen Lear. It's a boy-girl work-in-progress.

Queen Lear: a studio project produced by PSBEUYS ò and featuring Massimo & Pierce (of Black Sun Productions), Val Denham, and Andrew Zealley. Queen Lear is presently in the studio recording for special-edition release(s) in Spring 2009.

Queen Lear is compelled by Amanda Lear. Amanda Lear motivates Queen Lear, feeds its curiosity, drives its desires. Queen Lear shivers at the thought of Amanda Lear... from her early appearances ò as the cover model on Roxy Music's "For Your Pleasure"/on the arm of Berlin-period David Bowie/as companion and muse to Salvador Dali ò to surreal dance floors 1970s and '80s, Italian tee-vee, 'tween-age dreams: Amanda Lear generates I-Dentity. Impossible to ignore. "Follow Me."

Queen Lear is growing out of its head. Taking root in Sweet Revenge (Ariola-Eurodisc, 1978), sticky finger buds and black holes, pretty boys and mother. "I just can't make you out. Are you real - or am I dreaming? This is all very confusing. Until, you start, sing-ing." ("Enigma," 1978).

The voice of Queen Lear = a hybrid of Massimo & Pierce (locate: Zurich), graced by PSBEUYS digital tomfoolery (locate: the sky). Guest vox Comics: Val Denham: UK-based transgendered artist and performer w/30 years of Coum Transmissions, TG, Marc Almond, Some Bizarre and the bea(s)t goes on.

Location: Toronto. Andrew Zealley: 1) receives vox(s) via express postmarked Anarcadia, and 2) waters the seeds with Logic. Suddenly This Summer: Queen Lear's realm comes into view. At the mixing board, PSBEUYS annoints with Holy Bladder and Silver Frost.

Now Mixing: "Follow Me," "I Am A Photograph," "Pretty Boys," "Black Holes," Enigma," "Comics," and ""Mother, Look What They've Done To Me."

About the artists:

Massimo & Pierce are the infamous core of Black Sun Productions. Starting out as sacred intimates to the constellations, they gained widespread recognition in 2001-2002 as stage performers for Coil, and have since developed seriously as music/performance artists with a strong, intense, international following of desirable males. Andrew Zealley creates sound for contemporary art environments and has worked collaboratively with the likes of AA Bronson, Ultra-red, Chrysannne Stathacos, Stephen Andrews, Luis Jacob, John Greyson and others. PSBEUYS recently produced his exhibition soundtrack: SCHOOL FOR YOUNG SHAMANS. Val Denham is a living legend.

Listen online NOW: Queen Lear Myspace

May 25 2008:

Black Sun Productions' new album is released on September 23 by Old Evropa Cafe as a limited edition of 500 copies.

The Milky Smell of Phantom Sperm (OECD 112) features new and unreleased tracks by Massimo & Pierce, PSBEUYS, Sudden Infant, Niko Skorpio, Baraclough, Devotchka's Conundrum.

Tracklist:

01. The Milky Intro
02. Baptistina
03. The Milky Smell of Phantom Sperm
04. Black Lollipop
05. Porno Theologic Complex
06. The Milk of the Stars
07. Requiem for Disposed Waders
08. Passing Water
09. Love Song for a Skinhead Boy
10. A Hole of One's Own
11. Baby Got a Mohawk (Decapitation Mix)

May 8 2008:

TJ Norris is an artist whose studio practice has concentrated in the hybrid of media, often experiential and immersive. Since the late 1980's Norris has shown internationally. He is a practicing independent contemporary art curator and freelance writer. Norris has also been culturally active, assisting in lectures, critiques and events with various organizations in the Pacific Northwest. He has been a regular journalist/contributor to the experimental music scene including pieces written for Signal to Noise, Grooves, Paris Transatlantic, Igloo Magazine, Leonardo/MIT Press and others. Between 2002-03 Norris founded his signature gallery, Soundvision, "One of the Top Ten Best Places in Portland" (The Oregonian). Broadcasting from Portland, his unBLOGGED focuses on contemporary media. TJ conducted an extensive interview with Massimo & Pierce that is now online as Podcast.

May 10 2008:

For the best part of the last six months, we've been sitting on a sofa suspended in time, eagerly awaiting for a Winter that seemed endless to be over. Now that the little fig tree we cultivate on our balcony is blossoming again, we can at long last salute the beginning of a new Springtime. So, here we are with flowers in our hair delivering Black Sun Productions news and updates about our various activities to the ones of you who might be interested:

The Milky Smell of Phantom Sperm, the album we've been working on all through the Winter, is now finished and we're dedicating ourselves with real pleasure to the production of an Art Edition of 23 artifacts that will be completed and shipped to subscribers upon the release of the CD, on September 23. We consider this album a follow-up to Chemism and its nocturnal counterpart. The whole of the two albums is our heartfelt tribute to William S. Burroughs' 70's novels The Wild Boys and Port of Saints.

We'll be playing a few selected live dates in the Summer. The ones officially confirmed as we write are both taking place in Switzerland: on June 13 we'll be at the B-SIDES Festival in Lucerne and on August 30 we'll play at Theater Stadelhofen in Zurich. The nature of the new performance is directly informed by the Burroughs inspired albums and we are tentatively planning to release either a studio or live recording of it at some point in the future.

We are now working on a new, song-oriented album in the tradition of operettAmorale. Its production is at a very early stage and things are still crystalizing though we are happy and proud to be able to announce that this project will feature collaborations with classical, avant-garde composers Othon Mataragas and Mikael Karlsson.

At the same time we are providing vocals to a full-length album produced by PSBEUYS but we are not yet allowed to reveal details about this mysterious project. We can only say that we are having great fun working on it and that we are very happy of our ongoing collaboration with the extraordinary sound artist that is Andrew Zealley.

Veneration X, a video by Daniel McKernan based on the self-titled track from Chemism, will be in the experimental short films program at NewFest 2008: The 20th Anniversary NY LGBT Film Festival that will take place June 5-15.

Clear Skies & Dark Skies, a video by Pier Giorgio De Pinto based on the self-titled track from Chemism, will be also hitting film festivals in the future and it is now online as low quality preview.

Lastly, two different specific collaborations with italian projects Bahntier and Testing Vault are in the making. More details about these creative endeavours will be revealed at the time of the next Autumn Equinox.

Love and Light to everyone,

Massimo & Pierce

December 23 2007:

can't help a dead man, an unreleased bahntier & black sun productions' track, is available as exclusive FREE download

passing water is the title of a track by andrew zealley featuring massimo & pierce that is part of the music for aa bronson's school for young shamans (january 10 - february 18 2008, john connelly presents, 625 west 27th street, ny 10001). to be released as vinyl limited edition on media guru recordings.

three tracks from black sun productions' album the impossibility of silence are featured on the soundtrack of bruce labruce's new movie, otto; or up with the dead people. the film is already shortlisted for the sundance and berlin international filmfestival.

video artist daniel mckernan is working on a new short film for a well hung monk, based on photographic material from the 11th plastic spider thing ritual. daniel is also the author of the videos for black sun productions' veneration xxx and das gegenteil.

beside bringing to completion the new black sun productions' studio album, massimo & pierce are working in collaboration with producer psbeuys on a specific recording project. both projects are due for release in 2008.

i wish you all a wonderful jump into the new year,

ariot f.

November 2 2007:

The now and the not yet of Black Sun Productions

Uncle Billy, our latest short film, is making its world premiere at MIX NYC on 17 November, featured on a program curated by Daniel Mckernan and Richie Rennt.

The entire Black Sun Productions CD and vinyl back catalog will be available from 23 November onwards at a reduced price from anarcocks.com and to each order will be given a free digital download of the Plastic Spider Thing soundtrack that was released by Coil on their label as CD Eskaton 30 on 23 August 2002.

The digital download will include jpg files of a collection of polaroids taken by Peter Christopherson of the PST 11 ritual we've performed together with Jhonn Balance on the same date at the North Tower.

We've assigned ourselves two main missions to accomplish in 2008, the production and release of the new Black Sun Productions studio album and the completion of the final and definitive Plastic Spider Thing film to be theatrically released as well as commercially available on DVD by the end of year.

We'll be previewing a few tracks from the new material for the forthcoming album on a live radio session we'll play for Kanal K on 18 December.

We wish you all the warmth of Love,

Massimo & Pierce

August 23 2007:

Dear all,

this is Ariot Fleischmann delivering some news regarding Massimo & Pierce and Black Sun Productions.

You might be interested to know that some rare and out of print Black Sun Productions titles (featuring new, printable sleeves) are now available as Digital Downloads here. We are also planning to be offering live recordings and videos in the future.

We have a very limited number of copies of the Somnimage CD Radio Interference from Unknown Orgasm signed by Massimo & Pierce up for sale. Please, contact me if you wish to purchase a copy. This CD features new tracks from Merzbow, Wyrm, The Sword Volcano Complex, Mykel Boyd, Black Sun Productions and Val Denham (who also did the wonderful art for this release).

Gegen VerfØhrung / Grande inno di ringraziamento, an unreleased track from the operettAmorale recording sessions, will be featured in a compilation produced and curated by Old Evropa Cafe to celebrate the label's 25 years of activities. This project is due for release in late 2007.

A new book about Throbbing Gristle has just been released in France. Industrial Music for Industrial People, written by Eric Duboys and published by Camion Blanc, features some rare Plastic Spider Thing and Coil Live's photographic material from the Black Sun Productions' archives. The book is in French and it can be purchased online here.

Uncle Billy, a new Black Sun Productions video, will be premiered at the next edition of the Mix Festival, running in NYC in November 2007. Uncle Billy stars Massimo & Pierce, Othon Mataragas and Ennio Nobili and features the omonymous track from the Black Sun Productions latest album, CHEMISM.

Massimo & Pierce are currently working on a number of different projects. Here's a message they wanted me to post with this newsletter: "We recently began working on a new Black Sun Productions album to be released next year by Old Evropa Cafe. We are glad to continue publishing with this very supportive label and its Deus Ex Machina, Frather Rodolfo. The new work is going to be autumnal and nocturnal, with a rhythmic, electronic heart. Perhaps it could be considered the follow-up to Chemism, or the darker side of it. As tradition, we're inviting some friends to contribute lyrics and vocals to the album. More details will be revealed once confirmed. It's the first Black Sun Productions album to be produced and recorded at our new studio and we're excited by this chance and challenge. At last and after all the bitterness of the recent and rather public Black Sun Productions diaspora, we're able again to enjoy the process of creation rather than getting stuck into retaliation. We've mourned enough and we feeel now transformed. We wish to thank you all for the the support you've showed us through difficult times, you made us feel loved and helped us very much to overcome disillusion and sorrows. Eno Era Ew."

Yours truly,

Ariot F.

May 18 2007:

From a new place

Dear friends,

this is our official statement about the dispersion of Black Sun Productions.

In April 2007 we've been kicked out from our own place in Zurich, known as the Golden Room, by the former BSP member who shall remain nameless.

Black Sun Productions as we knew it is no more. We now consider it our sole project as a duo of producers and performers. In all honesty, those so-called friends and occasional collaborators were never necessary to our artistic vision and production, sometimes they weren't even complementary. Most of the times, they've just happened to be there. We now regret we've been so open and willing to share in the past. We wanted to live a dream in common with others and what we've got in return is complaint, jealousy and envy. In the attempt of hurting us, private details of our personal lives have been posted over the Internet by individuals we've trusted and welcomed into our house and project. We are paying the price for someone else's frustration and unhappiness. This is the bitter conclusion of an experience that was meant to be a collective of artists. Amen.

At long last, we are alone. We've relocated into a new place of our own and we're rebuilding our house and studio, piece by piece. Since we've been deprived of all BSP collective equipments, hardwares and softwares, it will take us some time before to be able to work on sound projects again. We're taking this chance to withdraw for a while from live activities, even though we'll be playing the few dates that were already scheduled before the BSP diaspora.

The official website of Massimo & Pierce and Black Sun Productions is now located at anarcocks.com and we'd be grateful if you could update your bookmarks and links, if you have one pointing to the old address black-sun-productions.com

The old PO BOX address doesn't belong to us anymore. Please, get in touch with us in private if you are about to send us anything by mail.

We'd like to remind you that our new album, CHEMISM, was released in April and that a few copies of the Subscriber's Edition are still available at the anarcocks shop.

We are looking forward for the Summer. We need to feel the warmth of the Sun, make love under the Moon and let all sorrows behind us. We want to live.

Much Love,

Massimo & Pierce

April 13 2007:

Past, current and upcoming ...

On April 7th 2007 we've released CHEMISM (OECD091), the new Black Sun Productions album for Old Evropa Cafe and we recently played two gigs, one in Biel, Swizterland, featuring Val Denham and one in Prato, Italy at the IV Congresso Post-Industriale. We're overwhelmed by the reactions to both the album and the live acts. Our biggest THANKS goes out to Val for being such an extraordinary artist and such a good friend.

Also out now is Dies Juvenalis, a 100 copies limited edition CDR EP (ANACDR04) only available through anarcockcs.com

Radio Interference from Unknown Orgasm is a Somnimage compilation of upcoming release and featuring new tracks from Merzbow, Wyrm, The Sword Volcano Complex, Mykel Boyd, Black Sun Productions and Val Denham (who also did the wonderful art for this release).

We're now working on a number of different projects:

Somewhere Between Desire and Despair is a Black Sun Productions and Val Denham full length album, currently in production and scheduled for release in late 2007.

A yet untitled Black Sun Productions and Bahntier full length album to be released in Fall 2007 on Rustblade.

A yet untitled Black Sun Productions proper album which we believe it will be our official full length release in 2008.

We're also working with a number of friends, sound artists including Sudden Infant, Baraclough, Devotchka's Conundrum and PSBeuys to a series of remixes from Musick for Porn.

Lastly, we're working with a number of friends, video artists including Lukas Beyeler, Carlotta Steinmann, Daniel McKernan, Roberto Ratti and Pier Giorgio De Pinto to a series of videos based on tracks from CHEMISM, to be featured as visuals in future Black Sun Productions live shows as well as being released as online streaming videos.

Massimo & Pierce

April 10 2007:

IV CONGRESSO POST-INDUSTRIALE

We wish to thank Old Evropa Cafe, Energy Zone and the Siddharta music club for inviting Black Sun Productions to perform at the IV Congresso Post-Industriale last April 7th in Prato, Italy.

We've felt home at the Congresso and we are overwhelmed by the reactions to our participation and to Chemism, which was released that night.

We especially wish to thank the fantastic audience who attended the event in such great number and who showed us so much love and support. Despite the technical problems occoured during our set, we loved performing in front of you and we had and amazing time sharing with you all the energy of that eventful night. You've been so good to us that we already miss you... We love you all and we hope to see you again soon.

THANKS & LOVE

Massimo & Pierce

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