Over the course of THE THE's eventful 23 year history Matt Johnson has been associated with literally hundreds of collaborators, both inside and outside of 'the group', a full listing of which reads like a who's who of contemporary music over the past couple of decades.

Here at Lazarus we have affectionately termed these collaborators and associates THE oTHErs. Here's the latest news from a small selection of past, present and future oTHErs.

JOHN PARISH
www.johnparish.com

The composer/Producer/Multi-instrumentalist released a new album entitled HOW ANIMALS MOVE on September 10th through THRILL JOCKEY.

The bulk of the album's 13 tracks are instrumental, but there are vocal contributions from DOES DE WOLF on a cover of THE THE’s ‘SHRUNKEN MAN’, DAVID DONAHUE - who alsosupplied lyrics to two songs, ‘bernadette’ & ‘stable life’ - & long time accomplice POLLY HARVEY who sings the raucous ‘airplane blues’.

The tracks were recorded in various studios & non-studios around the world & range from the solo violin piece 'absolute beauty is an absolute curse' played by CLARE MACTAGGART to the title track which is a live recording of Parish's occasional 11 piece band featuring Portishead's ADRIAN UTLEY & slide guitarist JEREMY HOGG.

Parish first came to prominence as co-producer & multi-instrumentalist on PJ HARVEY's To Bring You My Love . Parish & Harvey were involved in a number of projects together including the 'Dance Hall At Louse Point' collaboration for which he wrote the music & she the lyrics.

As a producer & a contributor, Parish has been involved in some of the most critically acclaimed albums of the past couple of years including SPARKLEHORSE's 'It's A Wonderful Life', GOLDFRAPP's 'Felt Mountain' and GIANT SAND's 'Chore Of Enchantment'. He has been part of the extended dysfunctional Giant Sand family since contributing a track to RAINER PTACEK tribute album 'The Inner Flame' in 1996 & has appeared onstage & in the studio with leader HOWE GELB on numerous occasions. Gelb plays piano on a couple of the tracks on Parish's new album.

'How Animals Move' is Parish's second album to be released under his name. It follows 1999's 'ROSIE', the original soundtrack to Belgian director PATRICE TOYE's film of the same name. Parish's score went on to win the Special Jury Prize at the 1999 Bonn International Film Music Biennial.

Parish has been seen most recently playing guitar on the EELS tour for 'Souljacker', the album that he co-wrote & produced with E.
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ZOAR
www.zoar.com

Floods. Fires. Plumes of smoke and ash. Missing children. Nature poisoned. Technology run rampant. Corruption. Decay. No, not the daily headlines, but the haunting music of ZOAR.

New York City based band ZOAR will release its new album "CLOUDS WITHOUT WATER" on October 23, 2002. The album features appearances by special guests including MATT JOHNSON who provides a stunning spoken word performance for the song entitled "Our Way of Life" Other featured guests on "Clouds Without Water" include JENNIFER CHARLES of ELYSIAN FIELDS, BRENDAN PERRY of DEAD CAN DANCE, bassist TONY LEVIN and early music specialist JULIE COMPARINI.

Michael Montes of ZOAR says: "Matt was perfect for this piece. His vocal performance was exactly what we had envisioned. In Johnson's unique way he captured the depth and feeling of Bowden's words while injecting his own subtle and wry sensibility."

The text for "OUR WAY OF LIFE" was written by Charles Bowden, the author of ten books of non-fiction which focus on the hard edged reality behind our time of exalted consumption, global pillage and wholesale destruction of the environment:

"We are an exceptional model of the human race. We no longer know how to produce food. We no longer can heal ourselves. We no longer raise our young. We have forgotten the names of the stars, fail to notice the phases of the moon. We do not know the plants and they no longer protect us. We tell ourselves we are the most powerful specimens of our kind who have ever lived. But when the lights are off we are helpless. We cannot move without traffic signals. We must attend classes in order to learn by rote numbered steps toward love or how to breast-feed our baby. We justify anything, anything at all by the need to maintain our way of life. And then we go to the doctor and tell the professionals we have no life. We have a simple test for making decisions: our way of life, which we cleverly call our standard of living, must not change except to grow yet more grand. We have a simple reality we live with each and every day: our way of life is killing us."

(Text by Charles Bowden from "BLOOD ORCHID", used with permission)

ZOAR began in 1995 as a series of sonic experiments by Michael Montes, Peter Rundquist and Erik Friedlander. Together they sought to combine the sounds of nature and industry with keyboards, guitar and cello in an effort to explore the dark side of our fading planet. This is the third album to be released by ZOAR and the second one to appear on the label Middle Pillar Presents. www.middlepillar.com.

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JG THIRLWELL
www.foetus.org

Also Know As ...
FOETUS * STEROID MAXIMUS *MANOREXIA*
BABY ZIZANIE * DJ OTEFSU

Fresh from his ‘BIG SMOKE’ collaboration with Matt Johnson at David Bowie’s Meltdown festival at London’s South Bank this summer Jimmy G Thirlwell has been a very busy lad. Apart from begining work on a new Foetus album, for release in fall 2003. He’s had his hands full with the following.

STEROID MAXIMUS
Steroid Maximus is JGT's highly acclaimed cinematic instrumental project.
The album "Ectopia" is out now on Ipecac.

STEROID MAXIMUS LIVE
Oct 17 - Los Angeles
The date is part of UCLA's 2002/2003 season;
The Knitting Factory .
Steroid Maximus will be an eighteen piece ensemble,
complete with brass and string section, for this occasion.
Some confirmed members of the ensemble so far are :
Steven Bernstein/Trumpet/Arranger ; Nels Cline/Guitar ;
Bruce Fowler/Trombone ; Devin Hoff/Bass ;
Scott Amendola/Drums ; Sal Cracchiola/Lead Trumpet ;
DJ Bonebrake/Concert Percussion ; Danny Frankel/Percussion ;
Pablo Calogerro/Baritone Sax/Flute/Bass Clarinet
Steroid Maximus will be performing in Europe in April 2003
with a different ensemble, formed in Paris.
Watch the Foetus website for dates as they are confirmed.

MANOREXIA
The second Manorexia album is complete!!
Entitled "The Radiolarian Ooze", it contains twelve new tracks;
currently in the mastering stages and will be out later in 2002.
(Manorexia is an instrumental project from JGT which is available
exclusively from the website and at shows)

BABY ZIZANIE
Baby Zizanie LP / "Thalassaphobia", recorded in Paris and
London, is complete (yet to be mastered).
It is a thirty minute vinyl-only limited edition (500)
release; those interested in securing a copy are encouraged
to track it down early via www.nailrecords.com, as it is sure to disappear quickly.
In addition, Baby Zizanie live will tour Europe
Nov 2002 w/People Like Us (Vicki Bennet will be providing
visuals for BZ as well as doing a People Like Us set).
They will be joined by other acts, TBC.

DJ OTEFSU
DJ Otefsu returns, for your seduction, spinnin' them deranged
high-fly au go-go soundtrack überphonic e-z listening, filthy
flutes 'n' brazen bongodelia, crime/spy-o-rama tracks in a
funky, fruggin' finger snappin' frenzy.
See the Foetus website for the latest dates.

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LIZ HORSMAN
www.theredclub.com

Fresh from her haunting duet with Matt Johnson on 45RPM’s DECEMBERSUNLIGHT Liz has recently released her second solo album “ROAMING”, displaying her talents as one of Britain’s brightest young female singer/songwriters. The album was co-produced with ex TheThe bass player, the enigmatic James Eller.

“ROAMING”, out now on her own label TheRedClub, is a sublime slice of acoustic pop driven by lush, contemporary grooves. Featuring an array of beautifully crafted, self-penned songs – the Beatles-esque imaginary of “Downtown Bluesky”, the self-absorbing “Catch Yourself Crying,” and the chilled-to-the-core infectious masterpiece “Here Lies”.

Horsman recorded the nine songs for Roaming, including a hypnotic take on Bob Dylan’s “Tomorrow Is A Long Time,” in less than ten days and for a total sum of £2500. When compared to the £125,000 spent on her first album Heavy High (Parlophone) this would appear to be a serious career departure.

“In my experience major labels throw hundreds of thousands of pounds at an artist to achieve instant commercial success. The pressure on the artist becomes greater and greater; I could not suffer that environment anymore. I don’t want to play that game with my music. TheRedClub aims to release music with realistic ambitions and give artists a chance to develop and be heard.”

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ANNA DOMINO
www.walrus.com/~lode/domino

Probably best remembered by TheThe’s audience for her haunting vocals on Sweet Bird Of Truth, Anna Domino has enjoyed a lengthy, diverse and eventful career. including the four critically-lauded albums and two EP's she released through the Belgian label Les Disques du Crepuscule, between 1984 and 1990 (highlights of which were anthologized on 1996's "FAVORITE SONGS FROM THE TWILIGHT YEARS.”)

She has lived and recorded in New York and Europe, but now she is living in Los Angeles, writing songs and planting flowers that bloom at night. She has also just recorded a beautiful new version of THE THE’S DECEMBERSUNLIGHT.

SNAKEFARM
Anna is also one half of Snakefarm, which was officially hatched at the intersection of New York City's Houston and Crosby Streets in the summer of 1995. Domino hooked up with Snakefarm co-conspirator Michel Delory, a Belgian guitarist and arranger who signed on as a member of her band (and eventually became her husband) nine years before.They spend most of their time working with traditional American balladry. Rediscovering the tales of betrayal and revenge, cruel circumstance and the longing and leaving that darken the American experience.

"I've been trying to figure out what exactly Snakefarm is since I first came up with the idea," confesses Anna. Mating entrancing, minimalist grooves and Domino's cool vocal delivery with classic tales of tragedy, trains and this country's vast size and violent history, Snakefarm's debut "SONGS FROM MY FUNERAL," provided a refreshing perspective on the timeless nature of traditional American folksongs. The titles may ring familiar - "Tom Dooley," "Frankie and Johnny," "St. James Infirmary" - but you'd never heard them interpreted like this before.

Snakefarm have just recorded a wonderful new version of THE THE’S PILLAR BOX RED.

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WIRE
www.pinkflag.com
Wire’s Graham Lewis and Bruce Gilbert played a vital role in the early career of Matt Johnson by not only producing TheThe’s first ever single ‘CONTROVERSIAL SUBJECT/BLACK & WHITE’ and two tracks from ‘BURNING BLUE SOUL’ album but also by inviting the fledging TheThe to support them live.

Reforming again for an intial concert at the Royal Festival Hall in 2000, performing an entirely retrospective set to a sold out venue & the subsequent 8 date tour of the USA they were encouraged & inspired to start work on a series of new recordings.

Rejecting any record company offers in favour of their own label pinkflag, Newman, Gilbert, Lewis and Grey are back in the racks again this year with their first new studio recordings together in over a decade. Like Snakedrill before it at the dawn of ‘Phase Two’, Read & Burn is a short (six songs, 17 minutes) and savage reintroduction to Wire of almost unbearable intensity,its brevity driven by the palpable fury and energy which went into its creation. Which isn't to say that Read & Burn is some sort of toss-off sampler or trial disc: it's a fully realized, standalone recording, but it does leave the listener fully and eagerly primed for what this new phase of Wire's evolution may bring, but even if they don't ever release another record, Wire (Phase Three) will have been a success, based strictly on the 17-minute stab of genius that is Read & Burn.

Wire headlined the Saturday nights of the Steve Albini/Shellac curated "All Tomorows Parties" festival & have been touring the USA in September 2002.

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ERGO PHIZMIZ
www.ergophizmiz.com

Ergo Phizmiz's spooked out interpretation of THE THE'S ‘DECEMBERSUNLIGHT’ can be found at his website.

Ergo is an artist who makes Radio 1 DJs comment that they would lose their job if they ever played his work. He also has the ability to make a listener of New York radio station WFMU - where he was hailed as "resident genius" - "tear off his headphones in revulsion" at his "anti-music".

His work goes literally from the ridiculous to the sublime. Equally at home creating abstract radio pieces, film-scores, piano music and pop songs, he is a multi-instrumentalist and unstoppably creative producer of hundreds of hours of material that runs across a plethora of media.

His music is almost impossible to describe fully. You can hear bits of Chinese folk music, drum-and-bass, strange carnival and circus music, ambient, operetta, German cabaret, techno, sound-poetry and dreamy piano music - but not even this tells the full story.

His work can be found online at Ubuweb (www.ubu.com), which features an hours worth of Ergo's audio material, as well as a wide selection of his visual and graphic poetry. There are also a wide range of recordings available in the archives of WFMU (www.wfmu.org) which can be heard online in RealAudio, including his one-hour special programme "Molotovia", a stunning mix of music, spoken-word and sound-poetry which aired on 27/09/02 following a successful broadcast in London on Resonance FM (www.resonancefm.com).

His previous work with THETHE (an interpretation of THEWHISPERERS recorded under the moniker of UutskeBuutske) is archived at www.gulliblebum.com. There are also many hours worth of audio material, as well as a selection of poetry and video, available for streaming and downloading at Ergo's homepage, at www.phizmiz.com.

Ergo's recent work has involved a six-part ambient radio series for Resonance FM "Zip", and the soundtracks to the animated films "KlupNut" by Martha Moopette (who features on lead vocals on Ergo's new “DecemberSunlight” interpretation) and "Whiter Hair and Softer Teeth (Music to Strange Dream By)" by Namaiki.
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ELBOW
www.elbow.co.uk

British band Elbow have recently recorded their own take on THE THE’S classic “AUGUST & SEPTEMBER”. The band are currently writing and recording new material for their second album, due out next year.

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SUZANNE
www.suzanneonline.de

Fresh from recording her own German language version of “PILLAR BOX RED” and directing her short film of the same track (titled “DRUNKENMAN” ) for CineOla (to be previewed soon in our CINEMA section) Suzanne has been busy recording and mixing songs for her third album "SPUREN" in her Labyrinth studio.

She has just finished the artwork for her second cd "PUZZLE" which will be released in november 2002. during the last few months she has also played several concerts in germany and in july she played at the zillo-festival. More concerts will be organized this winter.
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JACQUELINE MONSOON
The reclusive French singer/songwriter/poetess is finally back in the recording studio for the first time in 10 years! This time recording an EP of TheThe songs, including “Soul Mining” and “I've been Waitin' for Tomorrow (all of my life)” at StudioCineOla in her native Marseille.

Alternative Radio is a weekly one-hour public affairs program offered free to all public radio stations in the U.S., Canada, Europe, South Africa, Australia, and on short-wave on Radio for Peace International.

AR provides information, analyses and views that are frequently ignored or distorted in other media.

Established in 1986, AR is dedicated to the founding principles of public broadcasting, which urge that programming serve as "a forum for controversy and debate," be diverse and "provide a voice for groups that may otherwise be unheard." The project is entirely independent, sustained solely by individuals who buy transcripts and tapes of programs.

Its "headquarters" is situated to correspond with its position in the mainstream mass media: down an alley, behind a house, on top of a garage in Boulder, Colorado. From this rarefied location, AR's programs manage to reach over 125 radio stations and millions of listeners. AR is part of the non-profit Institute for Social and Cultural Change. If you'd like to make a tax-free donation, please contact us via our Alternative Radio website..

Featuring recordings and articles from :

Ralph Nader - Robert McChesney - Howard Zinn - Edward Said - Noam Chomsky - Christopher Hitchens - Michael Parenti - Vandana Shiva - Norman Solomon - Michael Moore - Frances Fox Piven - Angela Davis - John Ikerd - Ronnie Dugger - Esmail Nooriala - Charlotte Ryan - Helen Caldicott - Ira Glasser - David Korten - Bruce Gagnon - Michael Eric Dyson - Ron Daniels - Pervez Hoodbhoy - Arundhati Roy - Eqbal Ahmad - Rania Masri - Anthony Arnove - Ali Abunimah - Maude Barlow - Tony Clarke - Ward Churchill - John Robbins - Stephen Zunes - P. Sainath - Ira Chernus - Frances Moore Lappé - Nasim Zehra - Eqbal Ahmad - Alicia Littletree - Dana Frank

Johanna St Michaels 2002

PART 4. HB: Well, I’d like to continue with the questions from the forum. Some of them have been waiting for their answers for quite a while so I’d like to start trying clear the backlog if you don’t mind. MJ: Yes, I’d like to apologise to everyone for the wait but ... well, it wouldn’t be TheThe if you didn’t have to wait around would it? Fig: What  gear, in particularly guitars and amps were you using on the NakedSelf tour and album. Certainly Johnny Marr and others are universally hailed as guitar heroes ... Read more >

PART 4. J: So you had a few things going on, you’d come out of Infected, you wanted to change your lifestyle, you were going through a break up of your relationship and you and your manager were separating. A lot of things were going on, so it was a period of regrouping as they say. Is that when you moved into your building in East London? M:  Yes. J:  Which was above the studio that you used to like to work in M:  Which was a coincidence. I’d always worked in that studio. J:  So did you feel like you were setting down some roots then? Read more >

1. Listening to shortwave can make significant changes to your perception of the media. Every story is told from a perspective, objective news reporting is a myth. Try listening to coverage of the Taiwan-China disputes on China Radio International, Radio Taipei (Taiwan), the BBC, and CNN. Most nations of the world produce at least an hour of English-language broadcast each day, some do considerably more. I believe the idea of international broadcasting is to improve global understanding. I know that the governments that support these stations are, to various extents, propagandists. Not unlike whatever country you live in. The goal of listening isn't further confusion, but a bigger picture.

2. Shortwave reception is much better after the sun goes down, when the easiest frequencies are from 5900-10000khz. When the sun is up, the easiest frequencies are from 12000 to 22000.

3. We are currently just past the peak of solar activity, out of an 11 year cycle. At this time any shortwave radio should work well, especially if you extend your antenna. An average shortwave is over 100 feet long. A typical portable radio has a built-in antenna of 2 or 3 feet. The very strong stations will work fine on the built-in antenna, but the weaker stations will benefit greatly by adding 6, 10, or 20 feet of wire to the built-in. Attach the wire (any non-shielded wire will do) to the built-in with an alligator clip or, if your radio has an input for an external antenna, use the appropriate jack. If you're up for it, an external (outdoor) antenna works the best. Radioshack sells a kit for £10 that has simple instructions and is easy to install. There are special antennas (slopers, dipoles) that work best for the critical listener of weak stations, available from companies like Alpha-Delta and MFJ. (Just a note that too much antenna on a strong station on a small portable will cause overloading, resulting in audio distortion) Also, disconnect any external antenna if there is a lightning storm that you can see or hear (a nearby strike could damage your radio, a direct strike could be deadly to anyone sitting near the radio) Metal roofs, or foil-faced insulation in the roof, will reduce the signal strength, making an antenna extension necessary.

4. Shortwave radios are very sensitive to radio frequencies (RF) that may be caused by fluorescent lights, dimmer switches, TVs, computers (even in sleep mode), DC to AC inverters, tape recorders, and anything that has an electric motor in it. To determine if noises interfering with your radio are caused by appliances in your house, try the radio outside. If some or all of the noises are gone, try listening in the house while shutting off one appliance or light at a time. Some appliances will put out RF strong enough to completely mask a decent radio signal. Note that extending your antenna indoors, as in #2 above, may make these RFs worse. Try your radio in different parts of a room or your house. 3 or 4 feet can make quite a difference. 5. In the future, international news will be widely and reliably< available on the net. Some industrialized nations are already there. The advantages and disadvantages are pretty clear. Shortwave radio will continue until the majority of the world’s population have access to both computers and internet. That is far away in the future.