{"title":"Penny Rimbaud","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePenny Rimbaud is an English artist known for his diverse talents and activism. Born on June 8, 1943, he has made significant contributions as a writer, poet, philosopher, painter, musician, and activist. He was a member of the performance art groups EXIT and Ceres Confusion before co-founding the Stonehenge Free Festival in 1972 alongside Phil Russell (Wally Hope). In 1977, Rimbaud co-founded the influential anarchist punk band *Crass* with Steve Ignorant. Their music challenged societal norms and they disbanded in 1984.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eRimbaud's work resonates with fans of various genres due to its thought-provoking nature. His artistic endeavors have influenced numerous artists including *Peter Vukmirovic Stevens*, *Poison Girls*, *Youth*, *Dirt*, *Flux of Pink Indians*, and many more. With his wide range of talents and dedication to activism, Penny Rimbaud continues to inspire generations of artists and activists alike.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDiscover the powerful impact of Penny Rimbaud's creativity by exploring his collection today.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"acts-of-love-songs-to-our-other-selves","title":"Acts of Love \/ Songs to Our Other Selves","description":"\u003cp\u003eCaliban Sounds in association with One Little Independent Records are delighted to present a 180g heavy weight double vinyl, in a gatefold sleeve; Penny Rimbaud’s \u003ci\u003eActs of Love\u003c\/i\u003e (1984) accompanied by Mikado Koko’s \u003ci\u003eSongs To Our Other Selves\u003c\/i\u003e (2022). It’s presented with the ‘Acts of Love’ 32-page booklet and ‘Songs To Our Other Selves’ insert. The latter available on vinyl for the first time, these collector’s items are limited to only 1000 copies.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e  Having in 1977 co-founded the anarchist band Crass, by 1984 Rimbaud felt he needed to explain both the political and personal roots of what increasingly was being seen by press and public alike as the band’s “violent anger”.  However, in this respect Rimbaud had always concurred with Che Guevara who had stated that “the true revolutionary is guided by great feelings of love”. What better, then, than to return to \u003ci\u003eActs of Love\u003c\/i\u003e, to be presented this time as a 12” vinyl.  Rimbaud would compose the music to feature Eve Libertine on vocals and Paul Ellis on keyboards. Meanwhile, Vaucher set about creating a new set of illustrations to accompany the poems. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e In 2021, avant-garde musician and artist, Mikado Koko, being a keen admirer of Libertine’s vocals, and having a great fondness for \u003ci\u003eActs of Love\u003c\/i\u003e, contacted Rimbaud with the idea of creating cut-ups of twenty tracks from the album to create a sister release entitled \u003ci\u003eSongs To Our Other Selves\u003c\/i\u003e. When finally he heard the result, he was overjoyed and the album was released in 2022 on Caliban Sounds. Sean Worrall wrote in The Organ, “Mikado Koko has taken Penny Rimbaud’s album ‘Acts of Love’, originally a fifty track album of short poems on love, and cut it up, deconstructed it, reconstructed it, pulled it apart and put it all back together (a lot more than just remixed it) to make a twenty track album of her own. ‘Songs To Our Other Selves’ is an entirely new album, that we’re told that, and rightly so, we should view as a continuation of the original. What we have here are bites, stabs, thrusts of Crass-like noise, art, the art of noise. It is hard-boiled, it is challenging, it might be madness or maybe maddening, the whole thing is glorious actually. Those bites of words, the cut and paste deconstruction, the thrust, words caught, the art of collage, the real art of glorious noise, painting with sound”\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Caliban","offers":[{"title":"2LP - Black","offer_id":50393704268107,"sku":"2050412","price":39.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/thtPqFIN_a0654f65_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726424133"},{"product_id":"corpus-mei","title":"Corpus Mei","description":"\u003cp\u003eProlific punk pioneers Penny Rimbaud and Youth proudly present their collaboration album Corpus Mei, via One Little Independent Records.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn a series of epic, cinematic soundscapes, Penny spits tales of the grotesque and absurd. Gargantuan sermons delivered in counter to swelling, emotive orchestration where he and former bandmate Eve Libertine deliver a slew of anti-capitalist weaponised poetry. With their carefully constructed verse they arm the listener against corrupt institutional powers as well as the abstract. High concept and highly descriptive, these vivid and dramatic pictures are painted with artful, honest passion against a monstrous, post-apocalyptic backdrop. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRecorded and mixed over the year 2011 and then remixed in 2019 (it took all that time to see the depths), Corpus Mei brings together two disparate elements and makes them as one – Penny Rimbaud and Youth. Rimbaud is perhaps best known as a founder member, drummer, and lyricist of the seminal anarchist punk band Crass. Since those times, he has dedicated his life to the headier pursuits of poetics and philosophy. Youth, whose post punk band, Killing Joke, remains a vibrant musical force, has at the same time become one of the most sought-after record producers of today. Realising from the outset that they shared an interest in the creation and promotion of “matters spiritual”, these two now legendary characters set out to recreate and externalize the dream that it might further become a living reality.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe process was this: Youth would present the track and Rimbaud would finger his way through the pages looking for the right words, at which point the vocal recording was made, on all occasions on first take. In each case the results were absurdly precise, falling together in a natural, organic manner as if the tracks had been composed specifically for the chosen lyric. For example, Youth had composed a track whilst sitting on Mount Sinai. Without knowing its history, it was to this track Rimbaud chose to add his landscape poem, 'You Brave Old Land', written whilst travelling through Wordsworth's treasured Lake District - a psychic knot was tied. On another occasion, Youth played a track which to Rimbaud's ears was clearly, unintentionally, an arrangement of 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow'. Again, the result proved the point – leave art to get on with its alchemic self and that is precisely what it will do: the magick being that it is no magick at all – it's a simple fact. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHaving completed the vocal additions to nine tracks, Rimbaud suggested calling in Libertine, one of Crass' lead vocalists with whom he has continued to work since they disbanded in 1984. She laid down one new track and then further lyrics and backing vocals to the existing ones. Finally, improvisational overdubs were added by three musicians with whom Rimbaud had worked extensively – Louise Elliott on flute and tenor sax, Kate Shortt on cello, Tony Barber on electric bass, plus the sixteen-year-old violinist, Isabella Kolaczynska, whose playing had caught Rimbaud's ear earlier that year.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"One Little Independent Records","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP | x2","offer_id":50402225684811,"sku":"1132858","price":25.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50402225422667,"sku":"1132857","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/266c2a9e-8df9-4e4d-9a5f-af14c3f0a653_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726536105"},{"product_id":"war-and-peace","title":"War and Peace","description":"\u003cp\u003eOver the past four years, 2014 to 2018, Penny Rimbaud has been performing the War Poems of Wilfred Owen, these being an unrelenting and powerful condemnation of the carnage of WW1. Prior to Wilfred’s death in battle in the last weeks of the conflict, Owen had written of his poetry saying, ‘My subject is war, and the pity of war. The poetry is in the pity’, thereby suggesting that it was the pity which was foremost in his thoughts over and above the poetry which, in these circumstances (and not surprisingly), played a subsidiary role. Focussing on similar themes, in 2012, Penny decided to record an album of covers focussed on his favourite songs, songs which had been seminal to the making of the person he had become. Working with Tony Barber (ex Buzzcocks and Lack of Knowledge) as engineer and co-producer, they launched the project with Bob Dylan’s \u003ci\u003eMasters of War\u003c\/i\u003e and George Harrison’s \u003ci\u003eIsn’t it a Pity\u003c\/i\u003e, both key songs within the framework of his lifelong interest in peace and love; different angles, same story. From the start they decided to limit the instrumentation to cello (Kate Shortt) and fretless bass (Jennifer Maidman) which, they hoped, would give the lyrics the space that they so deserved. The two tracks were recorded and mixed and then, as John Lennon once remarked, ‘life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans’, Tony closed shop and left to set up studio in New York, leaving the tracks gather digital dust. Then, suffering a bout of ‘seven-year itch’, they decided to resurrect the tracks and put them together as a 7” single which in itself seemed a tragically relevant statement to make in a period of time which appears so fractured by conflict and doubt.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"One Little Independent Records","offers":[{"title":"7\"","offer_id":50465899446603,"sku":"1072587","price":8.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/96a114d3-fe48-420a-a49f-be6bbedd4cc8_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727298683"},{"product_id":"christs-reality-asylum","title":"Christs Reality Asylum","description":"\u003cp\u003eWritten and published as a journal of dissent in 1977 by Penny Rimbaud before the formation of anarchist tricksters Crass, \u003ci\u003eChrist’s Reality Asylum\u003c\/i\u003e became the template for much of the socio-political attitudes of the band. Crass’ first album, \u003ci\u003eThe Feeding of the Five Thousand\u003c\/i\u003e, included a short section of the journal, going under the title of\u003ci\u003e Reality Asylum\u003c\/i\u003e, which led to immediate interest from the authorities. Charges of ‘criminal blasphemy’ were eventually dropped, but from that time on Crass were under constant surveillance by the police and MI5 (the New York mafia didn’t like it either!). In short, \u003ci\u003eChrist’s Reality Asylum\u003c\/i\u003e is Crass in a very large nutshell.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe decision to release \u003ci\u003eChrist’s Reality Asylum\u003c\/i\u003e was made to celebrate Crass’ change of label from Southern Records to One Little Indian. Having in 2019 lovingly remastered their entire catalogue at Abbey Road Studios, it seemed only natural that they should release \u003ci\u003eChrist’s Reality Asylum\u003c\/i\u003e as the cherry to top the cake. Radical in the extreme, the release of\u003ci\u003e Christ’s Reality Asylum\u003c\/i\u003e is also a celebration of creative freedom.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe genesis of \u003ci\u003eChrist’s Reality Asylum\u003c\/i\u003e is a story in itself – script written by Penny Rimbaud in Spring 1977, later to be used in part as \u003ci\u003eReality Asylum\u003c\/i\u003e performed by Eve Libertine as the first track of Crass’ first album\u003ci\u003e The Feeding of the Five Thousand\u003c\/i\u003e, released in 1978. Initial recording of Penny Rimbaud’s reading by A-Soma at Red Herring Studios, Autumn 1991. Mastered at Southern Studios by A-Soma and Paul Harding in Winter 1991. Solo voice recording released in cassette form on Crass Records, Summer 1992. Hugh Metcalfe’s backing voice and noise recorded by Tony Barber at The Shedio Studio in Summer 2012. Eve Libertine’s backing vocals recorded by Harvey Birrell at Old Street Studios in Autumn 2019.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt’s also worth noting that the now legendary Crass logo was designed by Dave King (sadly, recently deceased) not as a logo for the band, but as a frontispiece for \u003ci\u003eChrist’s Reality Asylum\u003c\/i\u003e published in 1977 in its journal form. It became the band’s logo more by mistake than by design when Gee Vaucher incorporated it into her stunning broadsheet publication, \u003ci\u003eInternational Anthem\u003c\/i\u003e, from which it became assumed to be a Crass logo. Appropriately, the release of \u003ci\u003eChrist’s Reality Asylum\u003c\/i\u003e coincides with the end of politics as we have known it. A clown in the White House, a joker in Number Ten, but no one is laughing. Exit Stage Right.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"One Little Independent Records","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP | x2","offer_id":50465918845259,"sku":"1092907","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/ae4dc29f-a9c2-4193-9aee-d86cd38898c6_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727299142"},{"product_id":"arthur-rimbaud-in-verdun","title":"Arthur Rimbaud In Verdun","description":"\u003cp\u003ePenny Rimbaud, the legendary punk poet, writer, painter, multi-instrumentalist and co-founder of seminal anarchist outfit Crass, releases his new album \u003ci\u003eArthur Rimbaud In Verdun \u003c\/i\u003evia One Little Independent Records. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA fiction constructed by Penny, out of interest as to the possible outcome, places the French poet Arthur Rimbaud (who died in 1891) at the historic and tragic battle of Verdun in 1916. The idea being that Penny found something to be explored in the possibilities of the young vagabond and his perception of such drastic events. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTaking influence from the sounds of John Coltrane and the visuals of Jackson Pollock, Penny ventured into the unknown with his idol and namesake to bring us a truly unique high-concept album and gripping tale of death and romance. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDark and vivid jazz-infused ambience is punctured by Penny’s spoken word lyricism painting pictures of the chaotic experience of World War 1. Maniacally delivered readings are ruthless in their detailed realism, not only well researched but so convincingly told it’s easy to forget it’s a narrative. Exceptionally realised, brutal at times and incredibly poignant in others, \u003ci\u003eArthur Rimbaud In Verdun\u003c\/i\u003e is unlike anything else in subject or sound.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"One Little Independent Records","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50479094137163,"sku":"1104634","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/71273084-ab73-41ba-ac48-05e13109c752_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727500390"},{"product_id":"how","title":"How?","description":"\u003cp\u003eCo-founder of '70s\/'80s anarchist punk band Crass, activist, poet, novelist, painter and philosopher Penny Rimbaud has recorded a live recital of \u003ci\u003eHow?\u003c\/i\u003e, backed by jazz cellist Kate Shortt. \u003ci\u003eHow?\u003c\/i\u003e Is a reinterpretation of Allen Ginsberg’s classic 1954 poem \u003ci\u003eHowl \u003c\/i\u003ewherein Penny, like Ginsberg before him, seeks to challenge the establishment and encapsulate the righteous anger and frustrations of a generation. In January 2003, alongside a jazz quartet, Penny performed \u003ci\u003eHowl\u003c\/i\u003e as his first gig at London’s Vortex Jazz Club. Ginsberg’s poem was chosen because it had been seminal in Penny’s development as a writer and because it seemed so well suited to a jazz setting. After the show, he was asked to do a repeat performance as part of that year’s London Jazz Festival. After happily agreeing, he reached out to the copyright holders expecting the process to be a mere formality, but it wasn’t. HarperCollins Inc is owned by News International, the militarist, industrialist, nationalist wing of media-magnate Rupert Murdoch. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"One Little Independent Records","offers":[{"title":"CD | x2","offer_id":50479338455371,"sku":"1097063","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/5434b191-e813-406b-b6f6-cc31310b2bdf_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727507409"},{"product_id":"shaka-bundu","title":"Shaka Bundu","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe story of South African singer and dancer Penny Penny is fit for Hollywood. A nearly homeless janitor with no education gets a record deal, becomes a multi-platinum-selling pop star, plays stadiums across Africa, then builds a career as a politician for Mandela's African National Congress party. Penny Penny's debut recording 'Shaka Bundu', recorded in 1994, is the album that took a 34-year-old Giyani Kulani Kobane from the streets of Johannesburg to the chambers of power. After a chance meeting with Tsonga disco producer Joe Shirimani, just six months after apartheid was lifted, Penny Penny's Shaka Bundu was released and entered the consciousness of the entire country. Penny Penny became an immediate sensation, against the expectations of everyone involved. The album went on to sell more than 250,000 copies in South Africa and Penny Penny has played to thousands on stadium stages from Liberia and Sierra Leone to Namibia and Mozambique. The music was something new for Tsonga disco. Slow house music rhythms became the foundation for Penny's anthemic exultations. Using Atari computers, Korg M1 synthesizer and reel-to-reel tape for vocals, Penny and Shirimani cut the entire record in just seven days. Their signature bass sound combined richness and sharpness with the root tones of an organ. Penny's rap-like delivery became his calling card: a husky, playful vocal performance heavy on vibes. Nearly 20 years since Shaka Bundu blasted from speakers across a newly free South Africa, the music still sounds big and worldly. And, despite shifting his energies from stadium shows to municipal matters, Penny Penny still sports his signature top-bun hairstyle.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Awesome Tapes From Africa","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50491973239115,"sku":"368578","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50491976188235,"sku":"368579","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/30c7f39a-255e-4ff8-9eee-6b34944ad260_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727690184"},{"product_id":"yogo-yogo","title":"Yogo Yogo","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe rags-to-riches chronicle of Penny Penny's life would be remarkable if he had only released his smash debut Shaka Bundu and packed houses for a few years. But the inimitable South African singer and dancer known for his trademark top ponytail and emphatic anthems was no one-hit wonder. In the aftermath of Shaka Bundu's nationwide explosion, far beyond his country the album resonated with ever bigger audiences. He performed up and down the continent, building fanbases in more than a dozen countries. So his sophomore album \u003ci\u003eYogo Yogo\u003c\/i\u003e - released in 1996 - solidified Penny Penny's standing in pop music nationally and provided new energy to his pan-African stadium-filling adventures. The album also reflects the era in which it emerged. If Shaka Bundu arrived triumphantly amid newfound political freedom in South Africa with the end of Apartheid and Nelson Mandela's election, \u003ci\u003eYogo Yogo \u003c\/i\u003ewas a next level expression for the maturing artist. He wanted to get a message out. Composed with Joe Shirimani, who also produced the album, the sound and compositional style echoes the earlier recording but the topical nature of the lyrics became more deliberate, more didactic. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Awesome Tapes From Africa","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50498880340299,"sku":"1096902","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/3e5abe8f-0e07-44bb-b531-1e8e41c5f815_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727760481"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/fr\/collections\/penny-rimbaud.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}