Intro: PHANTOMSMASHER - Bishop Hopping (Ipecac)
1:  (ICS, ORIGIN LODGE) MATT LEBOFSKY - Another Soundcheck (download) 
2:  CHEER-ACCIDENT - Dismantling The Berlin Waltz (Skin Graft)
3:  TERA MELOS  - When Worms Learn To Fly (Temporary Residence)
4:  ENABLERS  - Tundra (Lancashire and Somerset)
5:  (ICS, INCREDULODGE) AMBROSE NORTNESS - Session4, Trk 1 (download)
6:  (ICS, WIG LODGE) STEVE LEW - Why I Didn't Go To Public School (download)
7:  (ICS, ORIGIN LODGE) MATT LEBOFSKY - Monkey Puzzle (download)
8:  (ICS, ORIGIN LODGE) DARLING FREAKHEAD - Not That Hard (download)
9:  MIASMA AND THE CAROUSEL OF HEADLESS HORSES - Manticore (Southern)
10: DARLING FREAKHEAD - Not Forgotten (download)
11: LOWER ANIMALS - Newt Trowelling (download)
12: LOVELY LITTLE GIRLS - Grotesque Fleet Of Garbage (download)
13: UPSILON ACRUX - Boa Vs Crab (Cuneiform)
14: YOU SLUT! - 1s, 2ns (The Original Door) (Stressed Sumo)
15:  LOVELY LITTLE GIRLS - A Faint Pungency (download)
16:  (ICS, ORIGIN LODGE) DAN RATHBURN - The Apothecary (download)
17: OUTRO:  CHEER ACCIDENT - Learning How To Fly (download)

This week's Other Rock Show was an IMMERSION COMPOSITION SOCIETY special!

It started like this: two rather good, but easily distracted musicians got fed up with hearing each other bellyaching about writers block or promising to finish the magnum opus next week, and challenged each other to a duel. They challenged each other to write twenty songs in one day. The results were so invigorating, and curiously productive that they decided to do it again, and then to bring a friend or two into the process.  Their (also rather good) musical friends were so taken by the idea that they started doing it too. The two original composers, Nicholas Dobson and Michael Mellender, gave the group a name: The Immersion Composition Society, and suddenly lots of other talented music makers (and this was in Oakland, California, home to a preposterous amount of talent) wanted to do it.  When groups started to bud off the main one, the ICS broke into Lodges.  Soon there was Origin Lodge, New Lodge, the very productive Wig Lodge. A web site was made, explaining the idea, and putting up mp3s of the best compositions - now www.ics-hub.org . Others tried it and were fired up: Bullet Lodge in Minnisota, the Black Lodge in Texas.  Yes, it's Fight Club for composers!

The (basic) idea is that you get up in the morning, start composing new stuff (recording or writing down, but not random improvisation: it has to be a constructed piece as much as possible) and try to make twenty songs before you meet up with all the other people in your Lodge that have been doing the same thing on the same day.  You get together in one of the members house, bring snacks (double snacks if you don't come up with anything) and listen to each other's music.  You can wear Lodge colours and Hats if you want.   The whole point is that the combination of friendly peer pressure and need for speed stops you faffing around and making excuses or being scared to create - somehow fires up the synapses... Lodges play other games too, including 48hr marathon sessions (those attempting this report hallucinations and sleep-composing)...

There are now around twenty ICS lodges across the USA and a handful recently formed in Europe - Incredulodge in Seattle, Sauna Lodge in Finland, Cremorne 13 Lodge in France,  a new on in Holland, and three in the UK, the busiest being Limey Lodge in South London.  Founder Nicholas Dobson has co-written a book called 'The Frustrated Songwriter's Handbook" based on his ICS experiences.  Each Lodge has its own collective personality according to the make-up of its members, who can range from professional soundtrack composers to bedroom guitarists. There is no central organisation running this, and the rules are there to be bent (but work best for you as they are!)... a very very organic, living thing.  They are fun and they do things to your brain. 

And yes, the ICS tracks played were all composed and recorded from scratch within hours during day sessions - even MATT LEBOFSKY's six minute prog epic (he's become rather good at this - loads more good stuff on his web site). And DARLING FREAKHEAD was what led me to the original ICS site back in 2002 - I found him on mp3.com (when mp3.com was still good), thought he was great and the only other reference to him was on this, where he was one of the first Origin Lodge members.  This was from his current site  darlingfreakhead.com

This thursday - 28th August 08 - there is a the first ICS concert in the UK, at the Green Dragon pub in Croydon www.myspace.com/greendragonpub organised by Limey Lodge and attended by founders Nicholas Dobson and Michael Mellender who are flying over for the event! FREE entry - pub is near East Croydon station.

This CHEER ACCIDENT track was happily downloaded from www.progday.com - which has a bunch of other band samples on their site.  Cheer Accident are a hard-to-pin-down very underground legend from Chicago; more samples at www.skingraftrecords.com ...TERA MELOS are from Sacramento (hometown of Hella) and this was from a split album with By The End Of Tonight which came out last year - not heard much more from them, but what high standards...

A new ENABLERS album is on the way - soon to be released on small UK indie label Lancashire And Somerset: www.lancashireandsomerset.co.uk  - and there's a UK tour at the start of September WOOOO! Dates over at www.myspace.com/enablers or on our news pages 

MIASMA AND THE CAROUSEL OF HEADLESS HORSES have people from Guapo and Chrome Hoof and this was from the 2006 limited edition Latitudes imprint EP 'Manfauna'. www.southern.net .. 

LOWER ANIMALS is Mr Mellender's band - www.myspace.com/theloweranimals - and he's also in Sleepytime Gorilla Museum 

This UPSILON ACRUX number was from their 2007 album 'Galapagos Momentum' out on Cuneiform Records www.cuneiformrecords.com

LOVELY LITTLE GIRLS are an avant theatrical band from Chicago - we just found them a day ago on www.myspace.com/lovelylittlegirls ...if you like SGM...

Great UK easy-on-the-ears mathtastic YOU SLUT! play more from  a show at 229, Great Portland Street, London on September 2nd  - more info from www.stressedsumorecords.co.uk or www.myspace.com/youslut1

PHEW ...have fun, M x

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