xylitol also djs under the unlikely pseudonym of jim backhaus and co-presents and produces the you are hear show, which was on resonance fm once upon a time (2001 - 2006) and is now broadcasting on www.totallyradio.com) and podcasting (www.youarehear.co.uk)
jim backhaus can still be found playing records at the KOSMISCHE CLUB, which celebrated it's 10th birthday back in july '06.
XYLITOL is almost embarrasingly keen to DJ or perform LIVE at any given opportunity
XYLITOL received this charitable review in THE WIRE, November 2007:
Influences
"WOW! I LOVE HEARING ALL THESE HITS AGAIN": THE CERAMIC HOBS, DER PLAN, WE BE ECHO, CLUSTER, DAF, THE SHAGGS, LARD FREE, HELDON, WOJCIECH BRUSZEWSKI, HAWKWIND, SUN RA, VAGINA DENTATA ORGAN, DJ SCUD, AUTOTOXICITY / CTRL-ALT-DELETE / COMMUNIST HEADACHE, DEREK BAILEY, COGS, DORA THE EXPLORER, LEE HAZLEWOOD, WILEY, LEMON KITTENS, GUSTAV METZGER, VICE VERSA, SWEET EXORCIST, THE HUMAN LEAGUE, HEAVEN 17, CABARET VOLTAIRE, "EERIE" BILLY HADDOCK, VITTORE BARONI, ANDI ARROGANTI, FORGEMASTERS, HIGH TIDE, YAMASHIRUBE, SHOCK HEADED PETERS, GORILLA AKTIV, THE POP GROUP, MARK STEWART AND THE MAFFIA, GIUSEPPE 'PINOT' GALLIZIO, SOMATIC RESPONSES, THE OPPRESSED, HENRY COW, BOREDOMS, OOIOO, ORGANUM, KITCHEN AND THE PLASTIC SPOONS, ARGON, ORGAN, FUTURISK, ORGANUM, ILITCH, HOLGER HILLER, WOLFGANG DAUNER, KLASSE KRIMINALE, MONOTON, THE GROUNDHOGS, GRAHAM BOND, EDGAR BROUGHTON BAND, MAX TUNDRA, ADAM AND THE ANTS, TRAD GRAS OCH STENAR, BLURT, DIE TODLICHE DORIS, "BLASTER" AL ACKERMAN, FELIX KUBIN, JAMMER, NEWHAM GENERALS, ADD N TO X, HENRY FLYNT, THE LEATHER NUN, HALF JAPANESE, THE POGUES, NOCTURNAL EMISSIONS, THE HOT MIX FIVE, CBS.NU (RIP), KARLHEINZ BUNNYHAUSEN, CONRAD SCHNITZEL, BLACK WIDOW, THESE RECORDS (rip), HARDCORE RECORDS STEVENAGE (rip), V/VM, SONIC CATERING BAND, SCULPTURE, GENTLE GIANT, GAIL BRAND / LUNGE, THIS HEAT, ROXY MUSIC, MIKE MAREEN, ANNE LAPLANTINE, VANISHING BREED, FAUST, WOEBOT, THE OPPRESSED, ZNR, FREIDER BUTZMANN, TOM RECCHION, PHILLIP JECK, EINSTURZENDE NEUBAUTEN, TEST DEPT, JACNO, TELEX, JOEY BELTRAM, CIRCLE, MAX HIM, PYROLATOR, KEN LASZLO, IPNOTICO TANGO, I-F, FLUX OF PINK INDIANS, UNIT MOEBIUS, PARALLAX CORPORATION, TAMPAX, PAN (A) SONIC, HAFLER TRIO, AMADEO BORDIGA, PALAIS SCHAUMBURG, RADIOCLIT, SKULLFLOWER, SUNROOF!, KID CREOLE AND THE COCONUTS, THE CRAMPS, EUROTUNES, DAVEY GRAHAM, SHIRLEY COLLINS, PINK FAIRIES, THEE HEADCOATS, FLIPPER, DISCHARGE, THE WIPERS, OMMM, CRISIS, AMADEO BORDIGA, WALTER BENJAMIN, HAGAR THE WOMB, HARRY HOSONO, MIHARU KOSHI, ENO, GOBLIN, ACADEMY 23 / THE APOSTLES / UNIT, KING CRIMSON, YMO, LOGIC SYSTEM, CORNELIUS, FAUST, ANDY WARHOL BANANA TECHNICOLOR, ENNIO MORRICONE, MATTHIAS SCHUSTER, BERNARD PARMEGIANI, NEU!, CRASH COURSE IN SCIENCE, XX CENTURY ZORRO, PULP, HUGGY BEAR, MAURICIO KAGEL, MAURIZIO BIANCHI, MORITZ VON OSWALD, POPOL VUH, PATRICK COWLEY, BOBBY ORLANDO, LUIGI NONO, GRAF HAUFEN, LUIGI NONO, DMX KREW, BEN WATSON, FABIAN TOMPSETT, CAPTAIN BEEFHEART, BOB COBBING, HENRI CHOPIN, LILY GREENHAM, DAPHNE ORAM, DELIA DERBYSHIRE, JOHN BAKER, ETC, HUGH DAVIES, MORPHOGENESIS, L. RON BRIEFEL, THE HOMOSEXUALS, BLACKCURRANT 93, PSYCHIC TV, COIL, NINJAMAN, MATTIN, TIM GOLDIE, ASJA AUF CAPRI, NOISE CAMP, ARCHIGRAM, DATACIDE, ALIEN UNDERGROUND, T.O.P.Y., AUSTIN SPARE, CROWLEY, KENNETH GRANT, ALAN WATTS, REYNOLS, DJ HARVEY BASSETT, THE INCREDIBLE STRING BAND, MAGMA, SUICIDE, GHOST BOX, MOUSE ON MARS, LAIBACH
I also quite like this lot:
DER PLAN:
VAGINA DENTATA ORGAN:
NINI RAVIOLETTE:
Sounds Like
A faded sitcom star wandering through the darkness of a deserted pier, haunted by the ghosts of his dead colleagues.
"Xylitol is a one-man sound laboratory from London. On his recent mini-album ‘Functionary’ he welds post-punk/NDW electronic sensibilities with echoes of public-service soundtracks and Brutalist dancefloors." (Plan B Magazine)
xylitol spent the late 80s / early 90s failing to make techno with the aid of an amiga, a casiotone and a tascam 4 track. the resulting inadvertantly abrasive tape-noise / electro found its way onto a few cassette compilations under a variety of colourful pseudonyms
xylitol djed at the monthly london club 'kosmische' throughout the late 90s and 00s.
xylitol was an early member of the pop group they came from the stars i saw them.
xylitol music has been described as "like a tighter, more disciplined DER PLAN, if they'd come from Sheffield and been asked to score the theme tunes to scientific programmes", (bti.rip) and as "the product of an immaculate record collection" (the wire), which may be the nicest things anyone's ever said about me.
a couple of copies of the album 'FUNCTIONARY' are still available from MIMAROGLU MUSIC SALES:
November 2008: xylitol - ghost office (magical youtube only disembodied digital preview edition)
May 2008: xylitol - Hardcore Butskellism + Selsdon Man (2 x 45rpm recycled-CD-records cut by Aleks Kolkowski - ltd edition of 1)
2007: xylitol - Error Bursts In Transmission (pierogiidisc 002) 3"cd
2007: v/a - kosmische oya sampler (ltd to 100 copies, features 1 exclusive xylitol track 'ichhabeangst')
2007: v/a - you are hear sessions 2002-6 (compilation cd compiled by magz and myself featuring exclusive live session tracks from pram, germlin, momus, david grubbs, noxagt, vanishing breed, juana molina, cartertutti, no bra and a galaxy of others recorded in the old resonance fm studio in denmark street)
2005: xylitol - a year of pierogii (cdr in gimmix foldout packaging made from music and video exchange price-stickers, ltd to 15 numbered copies [sold out]
2005: jim backhaus - vinyl negatives (transparent pva 7", 10" and 12" records, playable on a normal turntable - editions still available: electronic sound - locked-grooves; lieutenant pigeon; bounty killer; electrik cokernut; vanishing sounds of britain; 2 bad mice; undercover agent; black helicopter; mystery jungle record: all unique, exhibited at the foundry, london ec1 in spring 2005). [offers]
2004: they came from the stars i saw them vs various gimps - the idiot machine (compilation of unreleased tracks and remixes, including xylitol's astral_bunny super sunshine remix of authentatistic as described above) - i also have one last copy available, contact me if you want it.
2002: v/a - flatpack antenna (resonance fm fundraising compilation lp anti-curated by jimbackhaus + magzhall, ltd to 500 numbered copies, featuring stewart home, tennis, little timmy and samanthrax (a secret pseudonym of someone _very_ famous), and many others) £10 **LAST FEW STILL AVAILABLE**
1996: tangerine boner - pardon my boner (playable etched carboard 7" single, unique object. current whereabouts unknown)
1991/2 (?): amoeba frank - infinite space (c15 computer cassette)
**you can buy a copies of 'fuctionary' and 'error bursts in transmission' via the [buy now] paypal links above - if you're interested in any other stuff send me a myspace message or email me at jim (at) lumin (dot) org and put xylitol in the subject line**
Xylitol has shared stages with Pram, The Man From Uranus, Silver Apples, Chevron, Cutting Pink With Knives, Romvelope, Ommm, Le Couteau Jaune, Pete UM, Germlin, The Oscillation, Gay Against You, Si {Cut} DB, Robert Hampson, Please, Bass Clef, The Bohman Brothers and several others.
Xylitol music has been played on Radio 1's 'One World' Programme, Channel 4 Radio 'SlashMusic', Max Tundra's Rotogravure on Resonance FM, WFMU, The ICA Podcast, You Are Hear / Totally Radio and has had kind words spent on him by The Wire, Plan B, FACT Magazine, Drowned In Sound, Woebot, Simon Reynolds, Beyond The Implode RIP, Sit Down Man You're A Bloody Tragedy and maybe some other people too.
Xylitol has remixed They Came From The Stars I Saw Them, Disinformation v Strange Attractor and Ommm - the first of which was released about 2 years ago, the second of which will be out sometime soon, the third of which may see the light of day sometime maybe. Xylitol has also contributed music to the soundtrack of the feature film 'Katalin Varga' directed by Peter Strickland, also featuring the sinisterly hypnotic music of Steven Stapleton and David Tibet.
23rd November @ 13th Note, Glasgow with D Abraham Turner 24th November @ Kraak Gallery, Manchester with A Middle Sex - £4 26th November @ Tap, The Water Works, Southend with Lost Harbours - FREE 27th November @ Cafe Oto, London with Chora - £5
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