Caliban Sounds in association with One Little Independent Records are delighted to present a 180g heavy weight double vinyl, in a gatefold sleeve; Penny Rimbaud’s ‘Acts of Love’ (1984) accompanied by Mikado Koko’s ‘Songs To Our Other Selves’ (2022). It’s presented with the ‘Acts of Love’ 32-page booklet and ‘Songs To Our Other Selves’ insert. The latter available on vinyl for the first time, these collector’s items are limited to only 1000 copies.
In the mid-1960s, Penny Rimbaud started work on a series of Zen-like haikus which five years later were to become ‘Acts of Love – Fifty Poems To My Other Self’. Inspired by Rimbaud’s efforts, Gee Vaucher set about creating a series of artworks to illustrate the poems which were then presented in a 12” box of the kind sometimes used for record releases. The instructions inside suggested that you make your own music, a pre-DIY action, MYOM. It was shown at the Museum of Modern Art in Oxford, UK.
Having in 1977 co-founded the anarchist band Crass, by 1984 Rimbaud felt he needed to explain both the political and personal roots of what increasingly was being seen by press and public alike as the band’s “violent anger”. However, in this respect Rimbaud had always concurred with Che Guevara who had stated that “the true revolutionary is guided by great feelings of love”. What better, then, than to return to ‘Acts of Love’, to be presented this time as a 12” vinyl. Rimbaud would compose the music to feature Eve Libertine on vocals and Paul Ellis on keyboards. Meanwhile, Vaucher set about creating a new set of illustrations to accompany the poems.
