Blacksmoke

Blacksmoke (also known as The Blacksmoke Organisation) is an occasional art collective and musical group. Founding members include Jimmy Cauty of The KLF, heavy metal musician James Fogarty, and Keir (ex-manager of The Black Dog and 808 State). Cauty left the project in 2005. Blacksmoke output includes original music, remix and production, compositions for films and TV, as well as photography and video.
Background.
The precise creative membership of Blacksmoke is a closely guarded secret. Cauty stated in a music press interview that Blacksmoke is first and foremost an outlet for his anger concerning the September 11 attacks. Among the work so far produced by the Blacksmoke Organisation are limited edition prints of stamps known as "The Stamps of Mass Destruction" the "Post Terrorist Modernist" EP, and the "Post-Terrorism Xmas Shop". The anger over 9/11 is immediately apparent in the samples and vocals of many of the original tracks as well as the graphics.
Stamps of Mass Destruction.
Limited edition prints of 1st 2nd & 3rd class stamps featuring the Queen's head with a gas mask on. These were exhibited at the artrepublic gallery in Brighton, until they earned the attention of the Royal Mail. All unsold copies of the stamps of mass destruction prints were sent to Royal Mail for destruction. A second series of the stamps were later released – 4th 5th & 6th class which had the queens head completely engulfed in a chemical warfare protection suit and thus were presumably not subject to the legal action taken by Royal Mail.
Musical outputs.
2003.
The first Blacksmoke releases were MP3s hosted on the Blacksmoke website, the tracks including "Gimpo Gimpo" and a remix of same entitled "Fuck the Fucking Fuckers". K Foundation collaborator Gimpo who is organiser of the annual "M25 SPIN" was the inspiration for the track but, contrary to reports, has not provided vocals.
On 23 September 2003, BBC Radio 1's Breezeblock with Mary Anne Hobbs show broadcast a 15-minute mix session. The session comprised the MP3s cut together with samples of mobile phones and Big Ben plus other sound effects. The BBC cut the final 3 minutes 30 seconds from the session due to the post Iraq war political climate. The cut material was "Silent Night", one of the previously available download-only tracks. A few months later, the collective added an MP3 of the Breezeblock version of "Silent Night" to their website for download.
On 5 November 2003 Blacksmoke made available an MP3 EP on their website which they described as "post-terrorist modernism for the Boom Bang Generation". A Blacksmoke press release drew connections with Bonfire Night and called Guy Fawkes Britain's "most notorious terrorist". The downloadable cover art featured Big Ben exploding like the World Trade Center and asked if the artwork "depicted the destruction of government buildings in Baghdad or Kabul, would we pay any attention?" There were media reports of "outrage".
2004 onwards.
In July 2004 Blacksmoke appeared at The Big Chill festival. Cauty played an eclectic and experimental DJ set, which he described as "an updated version of [The KLF's ambient album] "Chill Out"", while a film by Gimpo called "Docklands Light Railway" was screened. An alternative version of the soundtrack to the film was later featured as an hour-long mix radio session on Resonance FM on 28 August. This was described as an industrial ambient mix.
The Blacksmoke Organisation ran a 'Post-Terrorism Christmas Shop' at the Aquarium art gallery in Woburn Walk, London, throughout December 2004. Described as a "one-stop shop for all your post-terrorism needs", items for sale included silk ties for infiltrating Fortune 500 companies, strengthened crockery for after the attack, and a range of prints of original post-terrorism inspired artwork. A full-length album was promised for 2004 but never surfaced, although a limited edition single, "I'm Dreaming of a BLACK Christmas", was made available for collection from the Aquarium only on Christmas Day 2004.
The Blacksmoke Organisation were commissioned by Disney to rework the original theme tune to their 1960s movie "The Love Bug" for a 2005 remake entitled "Herbie: Fully Loaded". Blacksmoke produced two versions, appearing within the movie and on the .
In May 2008 The Blacksmoke Organisation exhibited a new artwork entitled "Tom & Jerry" at the Photo Fictions: New Narrative Photography exhibition, held at the Show Cave Gallery in Los Angeles.
Remixes.
Blacksmoke have done a number of distinctive remixes of other artists. Some of them have been available for download from their website, others are available on commercial recordings.