BEAST NEST “Pluto” Video Premiere :
(video directed by : malocculsion)
The efforts of Bay Area artist, musician, healer, promoter and educator Sharmi Basu are seemingly endless and so far reaching that before one has the opportunity to grasp and contextualize one action in the greater realm of experimental music, they are onto the next.
Between constantly touring, and releasing last years “Taste Of India” cassette (Ratskin), a new Tour EP for her recently completed European tour, running The Mara Performance Collective, which self describes as “a performance and improvisation group that is centered on shared politics and identity. The MPC is focused on radical people of color, that is non-white folks, and is emphasizing those who identify as queer, trans, and/or womyn of color.”, and it’s offshoot, Brown Noise , have become staples for many new and experienced artists to gain and refine their “chops” so to speak outside of the white male patriarchy which has historically taken up so much space in noise and underground communities. Most recently, Basu was a part of The Universe Is Lit: the bay area’s first ever Black and Brown Punk Festival with fellow curators Shawna Shawnte, Jade Ariana and Titania Kumeh, and recently opening for electronic music’s den mother Suzanne Ciani at the San Francisco Electronic Music Festival, Through all of this, Basu has both ears, a dog and a mic to the ground in the forefront of experimental music, politics, and community building. She even contributed a track to the recently released “Rogue Pulse / Gravity Collapse” compilation (Ratskin) which spawns twelve hours of music in direct support of Black Lives Matter, St James Infirmary, and The Oakland Immediate Relief Fund, which consisted of Basu and several other femme organizers who took and distributed donations after last year’s Ghostship tragedy which claimed the lives of thirty six souls of the Oakland and bay area
creative community, many of whom were close to Basu. Despite all of this loss, chaos, and uncertainty with these violent, chaotic, shaking and bleeding times, Basu marches forward and continues to help pave the way for the decolonization of experimental, underground, music and art. A necessary, radical action, like many aspects of confronting white supremacy, which is long overdue.
Today, Basu releases a video for “Pluto” which is from the B side of the “Taste of India” cassette, released in an edition of 100 cassettes on Ratskin in fall of last year, which can be viewed above. The video blends analog and video synthesis, feedback, found footage and digital video processing. Make sure to click the HD option in the youtube window for maximum definition, as the video is visually dense. Please make sure to Follow her Bandcamp, or Soundcloud orrrrrrr main website for more information and current shows. She also has a Patreon which has some amazing incentives!
D E C A Y C A S T Magazine 