Cage Against The Machine – silence for Xmas!

Written by Manu Ekanayake Monday, 13 December 2010 09:00

UK News -

Cage Against The Machine is the name that’s been given to the campaign to get John Cage’s classic composition, 4’ 33”, to the top of the UK Charts for Christmas.  Yes, this year silence might be what it takes to beat X Factor!

London artist Dave Hillard started the Cage Against The Machine Facebook page last summer, hoping to raise money for five charities that don’t get much press despite their good works.  They are CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably, which focuses on depression), the British Tinnitus Association (their spokesman Eddy Temple-Morris of XFM is involved), Youth Music (which brings music to disadvantaged children) , Nordoff Robbins, who provide music therapy and Sound & Music (which funds new innovative music).  

 But the campaign took a radical step on Monday 6^th December, when artists like Adam F, Aeroplace, Barry Ashworth, Does It Offend You Yeah?, UNKLE, Infadels, Mr Hudson, Suggs and Orbital (and a host of others ) got together to ‘re-record’John Cage’s 4’33” at the legendary Dean Street Studios in London’s Soho. It was just like Live8… but Pete Doherty didn’t turn up, unsurprisingly.

The Prodigy said, ‘We are supporting the Cage Against The Machine single and want to rally up the people who don’t want their airwaves polluted over Xmas by the Cowell machine…’ and we couldn’t agree more.

And while the record itself is the sound of silence, it’s not just one big joke. Instead it’s supposed to make you appreciate the sounds around you as you listen to it, epitomising John Cage’s theory that anything could be music. Anything but Simon Cowell’s finest, BnB says...

*Check out the video of the re-recording on the Guardian website and buy the single when you can! Details online!*