TRANSMISSION // 0002/02/00002012 // AURORA
之動得？違言語？何意味？待・之押that should fix it.
Aurora’s Broadcast #2 – The Mechanisms Update [02.2012 Terran Gregorian]
Greetings once again, stowaways. I’ll tell you now that the only reason we haven’t found you and thrown you out of the nearest airlock (or worse) is that we’ve been a wee bit busy. As follows:
Ulysses Dies at Dawn
We’ve been hard at work reminiscing over whisky and we reckon we’ve more or less got this tale down tap. There are a few hazy points left, and some of us are still a little rusty after an encounter with space whales last week. However, that shouldn’t stop us putting on a show for your delectation and delight. In fact, I think we shall do that very thing.
The First Showing
If you’re in Oxford, or can be in Oxford, or have an outside chance of being in Oxford if you start walking/planning to steal a spaceship now, on SATURDAY FEBRUARY 9TH, you could come and see the first complete debut of this new story! We’ll be playing at the CELLAR, where doors will open at 7PM for 5 of your English Pounds. As support, we are lucky enough to be joined by POLAR PATTERNS (who played with us at Port Mahon last time) and, from London, the clockwork intricacies of POCKETWATCH. Note that, to finish before the venue’s curfew, timing will be very tight – so DON’T BE LATE. We’re looking forward to seeing your faces, and hearing what you think of our tales of the City.
Teasers
To tickle your fancy while you wait, we’ve found a couple of oddments on our data drives. The first is the Toy Soldier, in its disguise as Jessica Law, singing of the trials of Orpheus. The second is a completely irrelevant newspaper cutting that someone decided to archive. With Ivy lost somewhere in the bowels of the ship, the rest of the Mechanisms aren’t so good at accumulating information in an orderly and sensible fashion.*
Indiegogo
As you may have heard, we’re looking to find some funds to record this new story and press it onto a CD. Last year we successfully funded our first album, Once Upon a Time in Space. This year we’d like to do the same for Ulysses Dies at Dawn – with your help. If you fancy you can assist by pre-ordering a copy of the CD for only 5 pounds – but there are also any number of interesting and unusual perks available, should you be willing to help us out still more! Want a pair of Jonny’s lucky dice to help you cheat your way to riches? How about reading Marius’s journals in which he attempts to psychoanalyse the crew? Or even, if you really want, the chance to create a small part of the Mechanisms universe and hear it immortalised in song…?
If any of this interests you, please shimmy over here and have a little look. We’re looking to raise £1,000 as a bare minimum, but anything over that will definitely help to shape the album into a more perfect beast – so anything you can do to help will be greatly appreciated.
We’ll be publicising this more widely after the gig, but for now we’re only mentioning it in whispers and mailing lists. Feel privileged.
Other Appearances
The Mechanisms will also be popping their heads over the parapets at the following events in the near future, so if you’re anywhere nearby at the time then do come and join us.
We will be playing at the 4th birthday of the VAUDEVILLE RAVE on SATURDAY FEBRUARY 16TH, at CARBON in OXFORD. We won’t be on the main stage, but keep an eye on the side stage alcoves and we should be there, telling stories. Like we do. The Vaudeville Rave is always a fascinating night, full of wondrous acts. If you like the Mechanisms, I can’t think of a night more suited for you – electro swing, live Orleans jazz, steampunk graffiti and fire art… For more information look here, and you can book tickets here.
On FRIDAY MARCH 22ND we’ll be playing at the TROUBADOURS acoustic night at the ISIS FARMHOUSE in OXFORD. We’ll let you know more nearer the time.
On SATURDAY APRIL 13TH we’ll be playing at a “Spring Folk Special”. More information nearer the time.
And we’ll hopefully be playing at the CHARLBURY RIVERSIDE FESTIVAL on the 27TH-28TH JULY. It’s a free festival with a great atmosphere, so when we’ve confirmed it and know when we’ll be on, we’ll let you know.
Finally, of course, we’ll be taking Ulysses Dies at Dawn to the EDINBURGH FRINGE this AUGUST.
So now you know all of our plans, you have no excuse. If you should happen to decide not to run away it is entirely not our fault if you happen to be in the way of our cannons. Or alternatively, if you end up in the way of our amplifiers and speakers. You have been warned.
Other Business
That’s pretty much all. The only other item of business is an odd message received from the planet of Cyberia, where, as some of you may know, our engineer Nastya Rasputina vanished a few months ago. The message seems to be a story with very little connection to anything and little to no explanation, so do with it as you will. And look out for asteroids.
That’s all for now. Watch the skies for plummeting Cyberian battleships and we hope to see you all soon.
(That was as much a threat as a pleasantry. Just so there’s no confusion.)
~The Mechanisms
*n.b. Nor is Ivy, but since she remembers pretty much every scrap of information she comes across the orderly and sensible information is in there, somewhere. The others just take completely random samples. In the final analysis no one actually researches these stories before we write them anyway. The Mechanisms are the epitome of the Unreliable Narrator.
The Mechanisms 