Tantalizing additional updates on the Throbbing Gristle / FM3 gadget Gristleism, a new handheld looping device that combines the utilitarian ingenuity of FM3’s famed Buddha Machine with music by Throbbing Gristle. Over at gristleism.com, a fantastic exploded view has been uploaded. It is clearly a tribute to the exploded view of the original Buddha Machines, which suggested that there was a little Buddha inside. In the Gristleism image, we can see an old-school microphone, the sort that Bing Crosby would have sung into, plus a TV screen, and a tape reel, and other objects:
There’s also a painted version of the exploded view:
And while we’re at it, also now available is the list of the 13 loops:
01 – “Persuasion”
02 – “Hamburger Lady”
03 – “Twenty Jazz Funk Greats”
04 – “Thank You Brian”
05 – “Maggot Death”
06 – “Rabbit Snare”
07 – “Lyre Liar”
08 – “Wimpy bar”
09 – “Sex String Theory”
10 – “Heathen Earth”
11 – “Industrial Intro”
12 – “R & D”
13 – “After After Cease to Exist”
More info at gristleism.com. Gristleism is available for pre-order now through various distributors, and is due for release in late November.
According to the publisher (Continuum, which also published the 33 1/3 series of novella-length album-centric books), the artists and musicians focused on in Blink of an Ear include George Brecht, John Cage, Janet Cardiff, Marcel Duchamp, Bob Dylan, Valie Export, Luc Ferrari, Jarrod Fowler, Jacob Kirkegaard, Alvin Lucier, Robert Morris, Muddy Waters, John Oswald, Marina Rosenfeld, Pierre Schaeffer, Stephen Vitiello, and La Monte Young. More information at the publisher’s website,