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Mario Campo at Ultimatum Festival 1985-05-01
The following is a transcription of Mario Campo’s performance at Ultimatum I, Wednesday, May 1st, 1985 at the Foufounes Électriques bar and performance space in Montréal, Quebec, Canada. Campo performs, sings, and chants to musical accompaniment. In his memoir High Friends in Low Places (2022), Alan Lord writes how Campo first appeared onstage dressed in the head of an extraterrestrial, later changing into Bedouin headdress to perform “Arabesque,” the piece featured from 00:06:09 to 00:08:38 in this recording. “Arabesque” is included in the Ultimatum LP, which lists music and bass by Alan Lord, electronic percussion by Jean-Martin Mignault, vocals by Zilon and words and voice by Mario Campo. Campo was a writer and poet involved with several alternative scenes, among some of his publications are the collections L’Anovulatoire (1978) and Coma Laudanum (1979).
Annotations
00:00 - 00:00
Alan Lord Commentary
Montreal poet Mario Campo (March 27, 1951 – January 31, 2006).
Biographical Context
00:00 - 00:07
Audio Description
Electronic beat with modulations.
Music
00:07 - 02:27
Audio Description
Performs on top of electronic beat [French].
Mario Campo
00:12 - 00:12
Alan Lord Commentary
I did the electronic music for this
Personal Anecdote
00:36 - 00:36
Alan Lord Commentary
Mario is wearing an alien mask for this poem
Event Description
02:27 - 02:28
Audio Description
Room noise.
Foufounes Electriques
02:28 - 02:55
Audio Description
Rhythmic percussion [synthesizer modulations].
Music
02:55 - 04:32
Audio Description
Performs on top of rhythmic percussion and synthesizer modulations.
Mario Campo
04:32 - 04:33
Audio Description
Microphone feedback.
Tech
04:33 - 04:38
Audio Description
Room noise.
Foufounes Electriques
04:38 - 04:46
Audio Description
Applause.
Audience
04:46 - 04:49
Audio Description
Room noise.
Foufounes Electriques
04:49 - 04:50
Audio Description
Coughing.
Audience Member
04:50 - 05:03
Audio Description
Room noise.
Foufounes Electriques
05:02 - 05:02
Alan Lord Commentary
Music: "Arabesque" by my 1984 band Débris, which consisted of me on bass, and Jean-Martin Mignault on electronic drums. Graffiti artist Zilon does the Arabic chanting
Event Description
05:03 - 06:09
Audio Description
Rhythmic beat and bassline to "Arabesque" begin.
Music
05:12 - 05:12
Alan Lord Commentary
Mario is wearing a bedouin headdress for this poem
Event Description
05:34 - 05:34
06:09 - 08:28
Audio Description
Performs "Arabesque" [French].
Mario Campo
08:28 - 08:38
Audio Description
Coughing, applause.
Audience
08:38 - 08:49
Audio Description
Room noise [shuffling].
Foufounes Electriques
08:49 - 09:24
Audio Description
Rhythmic percussive beat [electric guitar overlay].
Music
08:53 - 08:53
Alan Lord Commentary
Music: “The Clone Café” by Débris: me on guitar, Jean-Martin Mignault on electronic drums
Event Description
09:24 - 13:10
Audio Description
Performs piece on top of percussive beat [English and French].
Mario Campo
13:10 - 13:23
Audio Description
Applause [whistling].
Audience
13:23 - 13:26
Audio Description
Silence [possibly end of tape].
Recording
13:26 - 13:26
Audio Description
[End of recording].
END