In this episode, host Eduarda Camargo receives the guest Federico Nieto where they expand upon the themes of the 7th part of the CCRu Writings, "Cybergothic". The talk is centered on the many characters and narratives proposed by the book, the cultural significance of Y2K and the idea of "slow catastrophe" or the difficulty to parse exact points for movements of change and deterritorialization.

The Ghost Lermurs of Madagascar | #07  Cybergothic, The Archane and Slow Catastrophe 02162023

Premiered at our monthly listening event 'Conclave' at Peste, Manchester on 25th May 2023.

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The first instalment of a brand new audio-essay of Kodwo Eshun’s 1998 book ‘More Brilliant Than The Sun: Adventures In Sonic Fiction’. Much sought after since it’s initial publication, ‘More Brilliant’ was a concerted attempt to change the relationship between writing and music. 

Throughout the work, which is situated between electronic music history, media theory, science fiction and Afrodiasporic studies, Eshun constructs an alternative (non-linear) timeline of 20th century music, traversing jazz, dub, techno, funk, hip-hop and jungle. 

The text mobilises what Eshun sees as the theoretical tendencies inherent to the output of artists such as Sun Ra, Lee Perry, Ramellzee, Funkadelic, 4hero and The Jungle Brothers, and open the possibilities of sonic fiction: the hitherto unexplored intersections between science fiction and organised sound.

Peste_Y7_010_A — Kodwo Eshun — More Brilliant Than The Sun

In Part 1, Bob begins by explaining the terms “the weird” and “the eerie” and how these literary concepts have helped to fuel the social imagination; as well as the tricky issue of how one discerns between ‘fiction’ and ‘reality’. With the help of philosophical concepts such as ‘the hyperreal’ and simulacra taken from Baudrillard, as well as other concepts from French philosophers such as Deleuze,  Guattari, and Lyotard, Bob discusses the effects of signs, symbols, and other images on our understanding of what’s ‘real’, as well as the dissolving boundaries between ‘the real’ and ‘the artificial’. 

This all takes us into the area of hyperstition, the CCRU, and a case study that is a good example of a hyperstition found in the Slederman character, and later incident in 2014 involving Slenderman where two girls come to believe that he is a real entity, attempting to kill their friend because of it. Bob also talks about how such a character becomes implanted in our collective consciousness through digital interactions such as memes, and later becomes a part of our cultural history. Bob also touches on the concept of acceleration, which he later expands upon in part 2. 

Check out the website for all the links in the program notes.

RR Pod E28 P1 Bob Cluness- An Esoteric Menagerie...

In Part 2, we sit with the concept of accelerationism, how it is occultural in its original form (in Bob’s opinion), its problems, its appropriation by far-right groups, and the related sticky problems of capitalism and neoliberalism that are currently associated with accelerationist thinking in these circles. 
The conversation from here continues to expand.
Bob also discusses the explosion of digital technologies and how contemporary spiritual currents and esoteric movements are enmeshed with technology. This leads us into a more detailed exploration of the CCRU and conspiracy theories, as well as the irony of how the esoteric concept of perennialism (or the idea that there is one everlasting Truth with a capitol T), has gained traction with some magical practitioners. 
As a little tangent, we also talk about trauma, as this is the ‘elephant in the room’ when discussing Slenderman, as well as the current focus by many on ‘healing’ and how esoteric currents AND neoliberalist viewpoints have also influenced the discourse around healing and wellness.
Lastly, Bob shares his current work into the works of JG Ballard and Simon Sellars. Bob sees these works as esoteric texts that add to his interests of researching not only historiographical aspects, but also what is happening now in modern esoteric currents. 

Check out the website for full program notes and links.

RR Pod E28 P2 Bob Cluness - An Esoteric Menagerie...

Jungle technics severs the cerebral core-texts from their spinal columns of support and cuts copyright adrift from its feudal docking station. Libraries burning in Babylon. Knowledge is decoded from its proprietary grid of occult encryption. The academy in flames. Possessed personal information transmutes into dispossessed impersonal data: sampled, stretched and layered into freeware.

To Shape The Future

Kofi link: https://ko-fi.com/dustyfromthewired

Hyper-C: Breaking the Net
By Steve Goodman
From CCRU's Abstract Culture: Digital Hyperstition
From: http://www.ccru.net/digithype/Hyper-C.htm
Audiobook

CCRU Abstract Culture: Digital Hyperstition

Hyper-C: Breaking the Net | Steve Goodman | Audiobook

This is an excerpt of my recent upload on Patreon Tier 2 'Groves of Orpheus.' If you are interested to hear more, please consider checking out my Patreon page:  https://www.patreon.com/RejectedReligion. You can find this full interview plus more to come!

My guest this month is Bob Cluness. Bob was a guest on the podcast (E28) in December of 2023, and I asked him to come back for a deep dive into many of the things we only just scratched the surface of in the podcast interview.

Excerpt RR Patreon Tier 2 Bob Cluness August 2024

comeUndone

How we love others is how we love ourselves - you are God is dead is not forever ❤️‍🔥 Mastered by Jason Corbett / artwork photography Beth Kotz / video accompaniment John Lovetron.

Hole in the Ground

post-disciplinary artists working out of manchester, uk

Specializing in ambient hyper-synthwave, Vangelis-style synth work and 90s jungle breakbeat revival.

Ground zero of the Hole. Launch pad for KOTH.

Audiobooks of various leftist and anarchist works. I am attempting to being some more obscure writings into an audio format. Also includes the CCRU writings that I did for another channel

former radio station from Repeater Books exploring philosophy, film, gender, music and politics from a radical Left perspective.

New tracks tagged #Ccru