Charles Hayward - Switch On War

13 years later, post-Gulf War 2 and the situation seems even worse, more far reaching, the stalemate re-configured and therefore more convenient for certain interests, the hypocrisy of our politicians and "free" media even more shameless and blatant, what is really happening even less clear and yet staring us in the face. Perhaps now is as good a time as any to listen again. 'Switch on War' a dream state synthesis of nights watching live TV coverage of the 1^st Gulf War, the reduction of colours to an electron midnight blue, the long periods of nothing really happening, the contrasting landscapes, (the desert, the city at night, the newsroom), the sudden hurtling through space, through a doorway, a camera on the nose of a missile, the bearing of silent witness slowly turning into complicity and mute acquiescence. At the back of the mind the thought that all this would soon be reduced to snapshot memories, archive, newsreel, history. Originally devised as a performance for the Club Integral, in South London, at the height of the military activity, 'Switch on War' was a harsh and brutal response to the media coverage of the conflict informed by a grotesque and disconcerting anti-music aesthetic heavily influenced by the disorientating, overloaded sound world of Space Invaders arcades. The CD version was recorded binaurally some weeks later, live in a disused morgue, as the war came to its stalemate close. By this time the anger had a bleak streak of sadness, a distorted expressionist requiem. This CD had the life expectancy of a magazine article or some such, no more than a year and it would be archive, a mere souvenir.

Charles Hayward CD track listing 01 - Crying Shame 02 - Strong-Arm Dead-Line 03 – Pinpoint 04 – Sweetheart 05 - Never Before

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