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Sounds On Paper

BEECROFT, ANTONIO S. - Afraid of Modern Living: World Imitation & Monitor, 1977-1982

"Available now is the authorized history of the obscure and influential Los Angeles art and music collective World Imitation Productions (WImP). Emerging as creators of collaged and photocopied mail art and publications in the late 1970s, World Imitation is perhaps best known in its musical incarnation, the band Monitor, which was active between 1978 and 1982, with live performances as well as two self-produced 7" singles and one LP. (The LP was reissued by Superior Viaduct in 2013.) Afraid of Modern Living: World Imitation & Monitor, 1977-1982, authored by WImP scholar Antonio S. Beecroft, accompanied a successful eponymous exhibition mounted at These Days in downtown Los Angeles in 2017. The initial edition of 100 pocketbook catalogs sold out on opening night. This expanded and enlarged edition draws from an archive of materials that hold up a funhouse mirror to Southern California culture, consumer dystopia, and the late 1970s punk movement. Rarely seen handmade publications, paintings, sculpture, video, and vintage flyers are featured, along with World Imitation source materials and formative works. The author places World Imitation firmly in its time and place. Growing up in the paranoia and false optimism of mid-century suburban Southern California, the collective explored topics as disparate as exotica, psychedelia, pranks, UFOs, the paranormal, revolutionary politics, and Disneyland as subjects of anthropological research. The resulting mélange, as expressed in their singular sound, images, and various "happenings," was informed by an oddly engaging aesthetic of random and recycled artifice that resonates even today, in the future they deconstructed fifty years ago. Full-color, 158-page softcover book; 6.25" x 10" portrait. Edition of 500. Packed with photos and images of artworks, paintings, sculptures, installations, and assorted ephemera, including flyers for shows Monitor performed with the BagsHuman HandsGermsPhrancJohanna Went45 GraveThe FallCabaret VoltaireLydia LunchBpeopleSuicide, and others." - Sounds On Paper.
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After nearly a decade of false starts, multiple game plans veering off the rails, and a handful of shattered hopes and/or dreams, the odyssey is finally complete—the new Fusetron site is here.

This is the first phase of a multipart rollout that will span the next few months: the currently browsable stock includes miscellaneous new releases from the past 8+ months (we have a lot of catching up to do), plus approximately a third of our backstock. Note that we’ve reduced/slashed prices on many titles and will continue to do so in order to make room for new stock. We’ll also be expanding / tweaking / improving / debugging the site itself (for example, we still have work to do on the automated international postage system, not to mention the inevitable inventory discrepancies that come with transferring an ancient and massive database to a new system).

Over the next few months, as we take inventory, clean house, and delve into our storage, we will be uploading thousands of additional items, gradually, on a near-daily basis. This will include the majority of the LPs, as well as many titles, in all formats, once thought long-gone. Many currently “sold out” items are likely to resurface.

Finally, once our general backstock is up (probably in the next two or three months) we’ll begin making our extensive stockpile of rarities available online for the first time: tons of random out-of-print titles, "deadstock," warehouse finds, secondhand collectibles, etc., accumulated over the past few decades.

Frequent/returning customers will be getting early access to these items. Details to follow on how this will work (a priority mailing list? a 'frequent flyer'-like program?), but it will not be based on dollars spent. We want to reward those who consistently support us, especially in the discogs marketplace era (to those who show up trying to poach five copies of a one-off rarity, and nothing else, ever… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ).

So—we suggest you take some time to dig through the site—even we’ve been surprised by what’s been turning up, and there’s much more to come.
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