THE RITA BANDCAMP NOVEMBER SALE

THE RITA BANDCAMP NOVEMBER SALE

10% off all items until the end of November.
Discount code: therita10

www.therita.bandcamp.com

THE ALCESTE and ROCKER

THE RITA - The Alceste (White Centipede Noise, CD)

 

A new chapter in THE RITA's singular trajectory - an artist who, despite his widespread appreciation, continues to be alone on the forefront of radical and challenging exploration of harsh sound. "The Alceste" is a return to a more layered technique, but still continuing to pursue the minimal, almost percussive sparse crackle of the recent “KING RICHARD III” process recordings - but now in rapid-fire clusters, conjuring McKinlay's muse the 2-Stroke Engine more vividly than ever. Source recordings of stage makeup application and nylon ripping / repairing performed by Lorelei serve as the pure abstracted femme aesthetics behind the sound. Additional violin source sounds are provided by Mallory Linehan, adding classical ballet movement and reference, as well as overdriven intermittent sounds from a recorded riding crop. 

Available from: 

WHITE CENTIPEDE NOISE

THE RITA

and various distributors.  

ROCKER #5 (No Rent)

ROCKER is a new bimonthly digest printed and published in the great city of Philadelphia, PA, USA. It focuses on harsh noise, ambient, musique concrète, electroacoustic, drone, tape music, wall noise, experimental, unclassifiable, concept works, computer music, field recording, indeterminate electronic, narrative, ecological, text-based, religious, song, acoustic ensemble, power electronics, and sound design.

In this issue:

• Interview with The Rita

• Faster Details: a portrait of Alex Chesney by Renée Mendoza Haran

• Interview with Agonal Breathing

• Red Light District: The early days of NY's noise collective by Bryan Gilroy of Viodre

• Interview with Xiu Xiu

• 9 pages of reviews

Printed in full color on #80 gloss paper. 76 pages, all content.

Available from NO RENT

and various distributors. 

THE RITA - Correlations

THE RITA - Correlations

Credited as one of the pioneers of ‘harsh noise wall’; influential artist Sam McKinlay (b. 1974, CA)  has been operating under the alias The Rita for over 25 years. Having performed extensively  and credited with over 200 releases, the project has grown into a laser focused multidisciplinary venture and is celebrated for pushing the boundaries of ‘harsh noise’.

Accompanying The Rita’s singular and often unpredictable sonic output is an inseparable and distinct visual language. By combining McKinlay’s fine arts education, research, experimentation, and collaboration; the project visually and texturally unites the artist’s interests in minimalist design, noise, ballet, sharks, choreography, and film.

‘Correlations’ presents some of the images and documents McKinlay finds most definitive in his practice. The monograph is designed to provide a cohesive understanding of the artist’s creative trajectory, as well as illuminate The Rita’s uncanny process that visually, conceptually, and historically ‘connects’ seemingly unrelated subjects.

Published by Amaya Productions and curated by Andrea Stillacci; the monograph includes essays by the art historian and Centre Pompidou curator Nicolas Ballet (‘Shock Factory: The Visual Culture of Industrial Music’), associate Professor and harsh noise artist Lexi Turner (Cornell University), and author, writer, producer Kier-La Janisse (‘House of Psychotic Women’).

‘Correlations’ is 9.5” x 12.25”, 200 pages, full color offset, edge painted ‘ballerina pink’, hardcover wrap with debossed cover text. Printed by Graphius (Gent, BELG).

ISBN: 9798218294854

See AMAYA PRODUCTIONS for ordering information. 

See SCREAM & WRITHE for Canadian Orders. 

Overseas distributors TBA.

‘Not long ago, when Sam McKinlay was telling me about the production of this book getting underway, he told me that he considered ‘The Rita: Anatomical Charisma’ (the small art book published by Amphetamine Sulphate in 2019), to be his greatest artistic work to date. This didn’t surprise me, and I’d wager that he also felt the same way about his film ‘Choreography To Cracked Linear Textural Sound’ upon its release the year prior, as both of these visual statements channel the essence of McKinlay’s work as The Rita. The film can be seen as the epitome of the project on a certain artistic level (the title says it all), and the notated images within the book enable the observer to directly trace the lines (make correlations) between what may have seemed like disparate images at first glance: women in ballet pointe shoes and stage makeup, female shark attack victims, horror film stills, etc. These images that have adorned The Rita’s album covers and inserts have likely often been misinterpreted, or taken only at their most base or superficial levels (that of certain obsession, fetish, violence, gaze, etc.), but ‘The Rita: Correlations’ allows McKinlay to show us that the lines and angles, cut and magnified sections of bodies, scenes and forms within these images are all interconnected, exist with intent and have a profound meaning for him and his art. Instead of laying it out plainly, ‘Correlations’ sees the majority of annotation found in the previous publication stripped away, leaving the images to be studied both on their own and alongside their correlated counterparts. By isolating and arranging the images in this manner the visual content becomes elevated by means of abstraction (as Kier-La Janisse furthers in her essay within). Yet saying that the work is elevated only by this abstraction is not fully accurate: It has been elevated since inception and McKinlay has been showing us these correlations for years. Now we can see them with a little more clarity.’ – Taylor Geddes

THE RITA Bandcamp Account

therita.bandcamp.com

THE RITA and related merchandise.  No digital downloads.

LAKE SHARK HN SPRING SALE

LAKE SHARK HN SPRING SALE 

Order any two THE RITA and related items and get the third of equal or lower value for free.  No limit. 

See the merchandise section for the catalog and ordering information.

Ends May 31, 2023.

THEMATIC TEXTURE STUDY - RAPID LINES OF AESTHETICS Video by Meghan Desmond

THEMATIC TEXTURE STUDY

- RAPID LINES OF AESTHETICS 

By: Meghan Desmond

Audio: THE RITA

Meghan Desmond's video and editing technique utilizes the various dynamics, cracks and textures of THE RITA's audio with a parallel use of synchronized strobe pulses, vivid changing grayscale tones, image inversions and an overall sense of dark rapidity.  The various segments of 'fetish' driven aesthetics and form signify past elements of Desmond and THE RITA's own work with elements such as fishnets, nylon, toe cleavage and dark eyes, but this time translated into a repeatedly stabbing short film.  The concentrated 5:11 minute video signifies the almost violently changing elements of the mind's obsession for form and how it wavers, builds, dies and consumes over and over. 

See the video on Vimeo here:

https://vimeo.com/811660623

AFTERBLAST: Sam McKinlay of THE RITA

"Out now! Sam McKinlay of the highly influential harsh noise project THE RITA, joins me for a follow up to his March 2022 interview on WCN Podcast. In this 2.5+ hour conversation, we dig deep into a wide range of topics including recent commentary on texture and the future of harsh noise, his passion for extreme skiing, advice for newer artists, his favorite halloween horror films, and his forthcoming "Cracked Pointe Shoe" noise pedal collab with THX/FX Noise Devices, just to name a few. Not to be missed! This is a WCN TV series, available through Patreon."

See whitecentipedenoise.com for more information.