Philo Film and Phonograph Co.

This is the name I use for the collection of film and audio materials I have accumulated and carried with me the past 25 years. Includes super8 and 16mm cameras and projectors, the Steenbeck flatbed editing table, and a bunch of reels and cans of films, including the Filmers Almanac collection of super8 films, 16mm prints of Frames For Frampton and The Flamerthrowers and others. Also some stray prints of great international films, including "The War Game" by Peter Watkins, "Paddle to The Sea" (a NFBC short from the 70's), and Al Razutis's "Bridge At Electrical Storm". Other prints, including 2 great Japanese films with Toru Takemitsu scores, have been sold in the recent past to pay the bills etc.

There is a good collection of films as dvd and VHS tapes, although I have been working to clear out the VHS shelves, converting some to dvd-r.

The Philo Film and Phono collection also includes a large audio section, a fair number of antique records, 78's and Edison Diamond Discs, and 2 antique Edison Phonographs, an H-19 Diamond Disc player and the Amberola 50 cylinder player.

There is the LP and CD collection, probably in the region of 3500 LPs and the same number of CDs. A great selection of antique music on LP and CD, early jazz and "novelty" music. The main core of my record collecting was in the progressive rock vein, but there is also a lot of contemporary or "new music", including John Cage and Harry Partch, Xenakis, Ligeti and Kagel, and a fair amount of classic bebop, free jazz and otherwise improvised music.

I had always hoped these materials would find their way into some growing public trust, like the library of a non-profit media organisation, but for many reasons my life hasn't played out in that direction. I am not in the position to leave an endowment and most recently must think about the 2-year old boy's future. I am still trying to keep this collection together and useful as a resource for my own practice as a music- and film-maker, though it does seem that current financial conditions may demand further selling off of these resources. I have been working on cataloging the materials and began that project (in the Underminds blog).

This content, the creative work of several generations of human activity, is the reason for all our machines and gizmos: to allow the playback of the songs and films with which we tell ourselves the stories of a people, who found themselves spinning through space on planet Earth.