I wish that the URL on FACT Magazine’s obituary for Mark Fisher were literally true – “mark-fisher-k-punk-capitalist-realism-has-died” – rather than what has actually happened. Capitalist Realism is alive, and Mark Fisher a.k.a. k-punk is dead. I didn’t know him, but his writing shaped me as much as any music, and I believe it will go on because there’s so much I haven’t delved into yet. My unread copy of Ghosts Of My Life, purchased with glee the moment I saw it at the ICA bookshop — until that moment, I didn’t know it existed — hides in my boxes of books, waiting for my new home, wherever that will be. Not much of an excuse. And I’ve ordered his new collection, The Weird and the Eerie, and you should too. Even when k-punk was in full swing, I didn’t always read it with the eyes I have now, being more focused on finding the latest and greatest dubplates than in understanding the world; I’ve gone back to it so many times since then, and every time I’m filled with a combination of self-loathing (how did I not appreciate this?) and awe.
One thing I did devour in its moment was Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?, a book as Herculean in its upending of the post-Fukuyama consensus as it is short. Not only did it change my view of the world, it also cracked open the door leading to another, better way of organizing human endeavour than the one we currently cling to. Fisher didn’t have the answers necessarily, but diagnosing the problem was more than enough of a contribution. He knew that there was something ruthlessly anti-human about the ruling ideology, and located it in the prevailing attitudes toward mental health. Another gift he bestowed was indirectly pushing me towards thinkers like Lacan, and while my understanding is still fragmented and incomplete, it was Fisher who, more than anyone else I’ve read, put his finger on the way mental health and the state are related, and shouted with arresting urgency about the problem we didn’t know we had.
I’ve always had the spirit of those early ’00s times in mind when compiling the mixes I post on this blog; in some ways I’ve been making them for Fisher, Simon Reynolds, Martin Clark, Dave Stelfox et al, an imagined audience of real heads who led me to this music in the first place. So I’m dedicating this mix to Mark Fisher, and hoping that he know how much of an impact he really had on his students – in learning settings both formal and not.
R.I.P. k-punk.
- Walton – Gunman / Caught in a Trip (Tectonic)
- Helm – Olympic Mess (N1L Remix) – Olympic Mess (N1L & Beatrice Dillon Remixes) (PAN)
- Asusu – Sendak – Hallucinator _ Sendak (Livity Sound)
- Insha – Quiet Storm – Dysplazia (Type)
- Pangaea – Bulb in Zinc – In Drum Play (Hessle Audio)
- Alex Coulton – Ascent – Gamma Ray Burst (Tempa)
- Simo Cell – Away from Keyboard – Gliding EP (Livity Sound)
- DVA [HI:EMOTIONS] – Notu_Uronlineu – Notu_Uronlineu (Hyperdub)
- Gundam – Too Late – Intimate / Too Late (Goon Club Allstars)
- J:Kenzo – Zbantu Shake – Battlefield / Zbantu Shake (Artikal Music)
- Youngsta & Cimm – Redshift – Split Minds / Redshift (Tempa)
- Distance – Badman – Dynamis (Tectonic)
- Ipman – Constrict – Constrict / Running Man (Tectonic)
- Youngstar – Bongo (Hi5Ghost Remix) – Bongo Remixes (White Peach)
- Boylan – Shimmy – Norman Bates (Oil Gang)
- Spooky – Fiesta – Fiesta / Cherry (Oil Gang)
- Logos – Glass (Boylan Devil Mix) – Present Different Circles (Different Circles)
Mixed Dec 29, 2016 by Dave Morris a.k.a. deemo for a-void.ca.
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