Blacksmoke (also known as The Blacksmoke Organisation) is an occasional art collective and musical group. Founding members include

Jimmy Cauty James Francis Cauty (born 19 December 1956), also known as Rockman Rock, is an English artist and musician, best known as one-half of the duo the KLF, co-founder of the Orb and as the man who K Foundation Burn a Million Quid, burnt £1 million ...

The KLF The KLF (also known as the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, the JAMs, the Timelords and other names) are a British electronic band who originated in Liverpool and London in the late 1980s. Scottish people, Scottish musician Bill Drummond (alias Ki ...

, heavy metal musician James Fogarty, and Keir (ex-manager of The Black Dog and

808 State 808 State are an English electronic music group formed in 1987 in Manchester by Graham Massey, Martin Price and Gerald Simpson. Taking their name from the Roland TR-808 drum machine and the "state of mind" the members shared, they released ...

). Blacksmoke output includes original music, remix and production, compositions for films and TV, as well as photography and video.

Background

Among the work so far produced by the Blacksmoke Organisation are limited edition prints of stamps known as ''The Stamps of Mass Destruction'' the ''Post Terrorist Modernist'' EP, and the ''Post-Terrorism Xmas Shop''. The anger over 9/11 is immediately apparent in the samples and vocals of many of the original tracks as well as the graphics.

Stamps of Mass Destruction

Limited edition prints of first-, second- and third-class stamps featuring the Queen's head with a gas mask on. These were exhibited at the artrepublic gallery in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

, until they earned the attention of the

Royal Mail Royal Mail Group Limited, trading as Royal Mail, is a British postal service and courier company. It is owned by International Distribution Services. It operates the brands Royal Mail (letters and parcels) and Parcelforce Worldwide (parcels) ...

. All unsold copies of the stamps of mass destruction prints were sent to the Royal Mail for destruction. A second series of the stamps was later released: fourth-, fifth- and sixth-class, which had the Queen's head completely engulfed in a chemical warfare protection suit and thus were presumably not subject to the legal action taken by the Royal Mail.

Musical outputs

2003

The first Blacksmoke releases were MP3s hosted on the Blacksmoke website, the tracks including " Gimpo Gimpo" and a remix of same entitled "Fuck the Fucking Fuckers".

K Foundation The K Foundation was an art foundation set up by Jimmy Cauty and Bill Drummond, formerly of The KLF, in 1993, following their 'retirement' from the music industry. The Foundation served as an artistic outlet for the duo's post-retirement KLF inc ...

collaborator

Gimpo Gimpo (; ) is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. It borders Incheon, with which it shares the South Korean side of the Han River (Korea), Han River estuary, as well as Seoul and the lesser cities o ...

who is organiser of the annual "M25 SPIN" was the inspiration for the track but, contrary to reports, has not provided vocals. On 23 September 2003,

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

's Breezeblock with

Mary Anne Hobbs Mary Anne Hobbs (born 16 May 1964) is an English DJ and music journalist from Lancashire, England. She currently hosts on BBC Radio 6 Music. She is also a performer and curator of live events. In 2024 she created a ground-breaking collaboration ...

show broadcast a 15-minute mix session. The session comprised the MP3s cut together with samples of mobile phones and

Big Ben Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, and, by extension, for the clock tower itself, which stands at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England. Originally named the Clock Tower, it ...

plus other sound effects. The

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

cut the final 3 minutes 30 seconds from the session due to the post Iraq war political climate. The cut material was "Silent Night", one of the previously available download-only tracks. A few months later, the collective added an MP3 of the Breezeblock version of "Silent Night" to their website for download. On 5 November 2003 Blacksmoke made available an MP3 EP on their website which they described as "post-terrorist modernism for the Boom Bang Generation". A Blacksmoke press release drew connections with Bonfire Night and called

Guy Fawkes Guy Fawkes (; 13 April 1570 – 31 January 1606), also known as Guido Fawkes while fighting for the Spanish, was a member of a group of provincial English Catholics involved in the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. He was born and educate ...

Britain's "most notorious terrorist". The downloadable cover art featured

exploding like the

World Trade Center World Trade Centers are the hundreds of sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may also refer to: Buildings * World Trade Center (1973–2001), a building complex that was destroyed during the September 11 at ...

and asked if the artwork "depicted the destruction of government buildings in Baghdad or Kabul, would we pay any attention?" There were media reports of "outrage".