Coven

A coven or covan /kʌvən/ usually refers to a gathering of witches.

The word "coven" remained largely unused in English until 1921 when Margaret Murray promoted the idea, now much disputed, that all witches across Europe met in groups of thirteen which they called "covens".

Neopaganism

In Wicca and other similar forms of modern neopagan witchcraft, such as Stregheria and Feri, a coven is a gathering or community of witches, much like a congregation in Christian parlance. It is composed of a group of believers who gather together for ceremonies of worship such as Drawing Down the Moon, or celebrating the Sabbats. The number of persons involved may vary. Although thirteen is considered ideal (probably in deference to Murray's theories), any group of at least three can be a coven. A group of two is usually called a "working couple" (regardless of their sexes). Within the community, many believe that a coven larger than thirteen is unwieldy, citing unwieldy group dynamics and an unfair burden on the leadership. When a coven has grown too large to be manageable, it may split, or "hive". In Wicca this may also occur when a newly made High Priest or High Priestess, also called 3rd Degree ordination, leaves to start their own coven. Wiccan covens are usually jointly led by a High Priestess and a High Priest, though some are led by only one or the other. In more recent forms of neopagan witchcraft, covens are sometimes run as democracies with a rotating leadership.

Coven (film)

Coven is a 1997 black and white direct-to-video horror short film directed by Mark Borchardt. The making of the film was documented in the 1999 award-winning independent film American Movie. It was shot with local talent around Milwaukee.

Sales and distribution

Coven was largely funded by Mark's uncle Bill Borchardt's savings with the understanding that Mark must sell 3,000 copies in order for Bill to make his money back. However, Bill died shortly after the release of Coven. Bill, along with Mark and an assortment of friends and neighbors, star in the film. The movie was sold through his website www.northwestproductions.com (now defunct). By 2004, Borchardt sold 5,100 copies of "Coven" at $14.95.

Plot summary

The film introduces Mike (Borchardt) as a writer struggling with a lack of artistic productivity. To deal with the pressures he feels from within and without, he escalates his abuse of alcohol. One day when faced with overwhelming deadlines, he takes a large quantity of pills with alcohol resulting in an overdose and hospitalization. When Steve (Tom Schimmels) takes notice of Mike's increasing volatility and isolation, he confronts the defensive writer. Steve shows genuine concern for his friend's self-destructive behavior and intervenes. The film suggests by lack of others at the intervention that Steve may be the only friend Mike has left. Steve suggests a support group with whom he has been affiliated and after gaining some perspective, Mike joins them. After becoming a part of the group, he comes to realize that the group has a deeper occult agenda and use extreme, sometimes supernatural, tactics to "help" new members remain clean and sober.

Coven (band)

Coven is an American psychedelic rock band formed in the late 1960s. They had a top 40 hit in 1971 with the song "One Tin Soldier", the theme song of the movie Billy Jack.

Coven was composed of vocalist Esther "Jinx" Dawson, bassist Greg "Oz" Osborne (not to be confused with Ozzy Osbourne), guitarist Chris Neilsen, keyboardist Rick Durrett (later replaced by John Hobbs), and drummer Steve Ross. They are recognized as being the band that first introduced the "Sign of the Horns" to rock, metal and pop culture (as seen on their 1969 debut album release Witchcraft Destroys Minds & Reaps Souls.

History

Dawson and Osborne, after playing together in the group Him, Her and Them, formed Coven with Ross in Chicago in the late 1960s. In 1967 and 1968 they toured, playing concerts with artists including Jimmy Page's Yardbirds, the Alice Cooper band, and Vanilla Fudge. Dawson began and ended each Coven concert with the sign of the horns. Coven signed with Mercury Records and released their debut album, Witchcraft Destroys Minds & Reaps Souls in 1969.

Propaganda (Fred Frith album)

Propaganda is a studio album by English guitarist, composer and improvisor Fred Frith. It comprises 21 pieces for dance written by Frith and commissioned by Matthew Maguire for the Creation Production Company. It was first performed at La Mama ETC in New York City in May 1987. The suite was recorded by Kramer at Noise New York in April 1987 and released on Side 4 of Frith's 1988 solo album, The Technology of Tears. It was omitted from the CD releases of the album.

The Propaganda suite was reworked and remastered in February 2015 by Myles Boisen, and was released by Fred Records in November 2015.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Fred Frith.

Sources: AllMusic,Discogs, SquidCo

Personnel

Sources: Discogs, SquidCo

Sound and artwork

Recorded at Noise New York, April 1987; Mastered at Headless Buddhna Mastering Labs, Oakland, California, February 2015.

Melotron

Melotron is a futurepop and synthpop band from Germany. In 1996 Andy Krueger, Edgar Slatnow and Kay Hildebrandt left their former band, The Vermin, to form Melotron. The band found success with their first single, "Dein Meister," in 1998.

Until 2007, Melotron was a band with German-only lyrics. However, in their album Propaganda, "Broken" is sung entirely in English.

Melotron has performed at a number of major electronic and industrial festivals, amongst these the Wave Gotik Treffen festival in 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2012, and the M'era Luna Festival in 2001, 2003, and 2005.

In the American television show Saturday Night Live, the recurring sketch "Deep House Dish" uses Melotron's song "Der Kosmonaut" as an opening.

Albums

Singles

Propaganda (musician)

Jason Emmanuel Petty (born May 27, 1979), better known by his stage name Propaganda, is an American Christian hip hop and spoken word artist and poet from Los Angeles, California. He has released four albums as an independent artist and one collaborative album with the rapper Odd Thomas, and has performed and recorded as a member of the underground hip hop group Tunnel Rats and associated act Footsoldiers.

Biography and musical career