So who was reading what via these fractured Organ pages in 2016? What were people looking at? Which pages were the most viewed? What are people wanting? What do they find most interesting? Who? What? Where? One last look back at last year before we get on with fresh things and explore more art, music and underculture in 2017…

By far the three most visited Organ pages in 2016 were the review of Kembra Pfahler’s brilliant opening night at the intimate Emalin Gallery here in East London –  Paint, mess, big hair, glam rock, New York performance artist Kembra Pfahler opens her London show in glorious style…. and her fitting  “Artists help each other, artists help each other, artists help each other…” mantra – that mantra is going to be an important thing in 2017, unity and coming together is going to be vital.The review of Kembra’s opening was most popuar, the Organ pages went mad in the days afterwards and the link was spread, lot of love for Kembra Pfahler outthere.  The news of Genesis and Cosey returning to Hull’s Ciry of Culture in 2017 was the second most vitist page in 2016 – Cosey Fanni Tutti and Genesis P-Orridge are set to give live performances in an extended programme of events to mark the radical art collective COUM Transmission, while the review of that long-awaited second album from Cardiacs off-shoot Sea Nymphs – Sea Nymphs On Dry Land, a first listen to the glorious new album was the third busiest peice of the year. Those three pages were by far the most popular three slices of underculture on the Organ pages in a busy 2016.

The look at German artist Rocco and his Brothers and their intriguing activities in Berlin via the review of the Right Side Of The Tracks show at Dalston’s  BSMTSpace gallery came in as fourth most visited  –  Who are Rocco and his Brothers? Four days on from kembra’s voluptuousness, The Right Side Of The Tracks, with Marr and Kaos, makes for yet another excellent East London art show opening…. The news of the aforementioned Sea Nymphs release and the story of the John Peel radio session back in 90’s – The reedy waters have been stirred, Appealing to Venus and the tale of that John Peel session… (it was quite a tale, one day we’ll write the book, there’s a lot to tell).

The sixth most visited page on the Organ website in 2016 was the sad news of the passing of artist Ben Cove – Ben Cove (1974-2016), a life well lived and a fine artist indeed…– we  will miss his art and his smile. Interesting to see a feature actually written back in June 2015 was the seventh most popular page of 2016, looks like Cecily had an interesting year – Jump leads? Coloured pegs? Paint? Books? Just who is Cecily Baker?  There were more hits of the Cecily piece in 2016 than there was in the year it was actually written (and the page has already been getting a hit or two in 2017, who is Cecily Baker?).

ART CAR BOOT FAIR, LONDON, 2016

The eighth most read page of 2016 was the piece on last year’s Brick Lane Art Car Boot Fair – Last days of Shoreditch? Nah, I loved being part of the Art Car Boot Fair yesterday  – will the annual event, a highlight of the London art calendar, happen again in 2017? Were those the last days? We did see the last days of David Bowie and a piece entitled Jimmy C and how an artist became the almost accidental centre of the world’s attention got a lot of attention back at the start of the year.  The tenth most popuar article on the Organ pages in 2016 was the advance news of the latest Van Der Graaf Generator album – Details of Van Der Graaf Generator’s forthcoming studio album have now been officially released, this of course is excellent news…..   The Van Der Graaf news just ahead of the feature on that brilliant Neo Naturists evening at the ICA with The Raincoats back in August – Celebrating the subversive with the Neo Naturists, and the news of the shutting down of that Revolution art show in East london back in November – The Revolution has been terminated, an East London art show shuts down early...

A Night With The Neo Naturists, ICA London, August 2016

The thirteenth most viewed piece of 2016 was amother piece written in 2015, a piece from the end of November – Starsha Lee, Deadcuts and a whole load of art, performance, smoke and red light at the Ritter-Zamet gallery, East London. Next came the review of The United Sounds Of Joy? Don’t call it a comeback… and the review of that rather tasty Sex Swing album – Sex Swing’s debut album; claustrophobic, hypnotic, brooding, full-bodied, this is a big sound, a vital thing…. And on it want with people wanting to know about Vi Subversa’s passing, that United Sounds gig, Megan Pickering, Organ throughts of Frieze and more.

United Sounds Of joy, Servant’s jazz Quarters, Feb 2016

There was 266 pieces posted on the Organ pages in 2016, not quite a thing a day but we do try and there is a lot of art music and more covered on these pages that don’t seem get the coverage and attention they deserve elsewhere – which is why we persist and why Organ still exists whe nreally it should have stopped a long time ago.

There was just over 100,000 induvidual visits to the Organ website in 2017, just over 51,000 of those visits were from the UK, Germany came in second, the USA third, then France and Australia (South Korea was 43rd), we had visits from over one hundred countries. Create is still the word….

ORGAN 35 – Create was and is the word…