Tag Archives: The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth of All Time

This is wrong on so many levels. Someone correct this or ramifications will be distributed: http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definitions/chieftan

Posted on by Muggs

Apr 1, 2012

@ChieftanMews: This is wrong on so many levels. Someone correct this or ramifications will be distributed: http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definitions/chieftan

Chieftan Mews interrupted his Q&A with a link to Websters Online Dictionary (Not to be mistaken with the official Merriam-Webster Website ) where they provided the following definition of ‘Chieftan’

“Chieftan” is a common misspelling or typo for: chieftain, chieftains, chief tan.

Common Expressions: chieftan

Expressions : Definition
Chieftan Mews : Chieftan Mews is an english actor employed by Radiohead to present The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth of All Time. He is currently on the run and believed to be hiding out in Tunisia. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Common Expressions: chieftan
Expressions : Definition
Chieftan Mews : Chieftan Mews is an english actor employed by Radiohead to present The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth of All Time. He is currently on the run and believed to be hiding out in Tunisia. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.
Top

The entry for Chieftan was added by Philip M. Parker the editor and creator of the Websters Online Dictionary, and while no references are linked it’s possible he had been reading AtEase which had a news item on the 15th of December 2004 stating:

A recent report indicated that Chieftan may have been spotted in Tunisia….

The report refers to http://www.ChieftanMews.com which in 2004 was owned by the band and appeared to have contained various messages from Chieftan Mews before redirecting to http://www.Radiohead.tv

Since 2009 ChieftanMews.com is again an active URL but doesn’t appear to be owned by Radiohead or anyone associated with them.

While no correction has been made in the past 10 years to update the fact that Chieftan Mews is not a actor nor employed by Radiohead the nature of the web means that those ‘facts’ have now been cited widely online with QWika and tvwiki where someone has added:

Chieftan Mews is an english actor employed by Radiohead to present The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth of All Time. While talking, his mouth often moves and rolls in unnatural ways, leading some to believe he is not human. He is currently on the run and believed to be hiding out in Tunisia.

Throughout the filming of “Radiohead.tv”, Singer Thom Yorke and presenter Chieftan Mews apparently got in a fist fight of sorts. According to Yorke, “Mews (Chieftan) just grabbed me during teatime and proceeded to scream into my face about paying him his damn money”. At this point, York responded by kicking Mews in the face, resulting in a broken nose. The flurry of punches that ensued by both men had to be broken up by Producer Nigel Godrich.

While Mew’s instructs someone to correct the errors unlike Wikipedia the Websters Online Dictionary is not editable by just anyone, instead edits are made by emailing the editor. Being a Hotmail address it’s possible the email no longer works today.

In December 2010 Tunisia hit headlines around the world due to massive protests helped in part by social networking bringing about a democratic revolution inspiring neighboring countries including Egypt and Libya in what came to be known as the Arab Spring movement. On the 8th of February 2011 Ed O’Brien posted his own feelings towards The Dignity Revolution (as the Tunisian revolution had come to be called) on Dead Air Space adding:

What have twitter and facebook ever done for us?

Obviously, keeping in touch with everyone but I have to say I have become increasingly excited over the last 3 months about the possibilities of this form of communication.Yes I am very slow out of the blocks. It’s in the arena of public protest that it seems twitter and facebook are increasingly the means by which popular movements throughout the world are able to come together and mobilise.

I have been so moved by the peaceful Jasmine revolution in Tunisia; The anti-Government demonstrations centred on Tahrir Square in Cairo.. Social networking has helped facilitate the freedom to assemble peacefully and express oneself. Equally in Britain it seems to be having a similar effect in helping essential protests being organised by students and groups such as UK Uncut against the Government’s ill thought out cuts … Well done those people!
Ed

#6/10: Which artist of today reminds you of the John Heartfield of yestercentury? (#7 expires Sept 1, #6 expires Sept 8) #rigid #tkol

Posted on by Muggs

Aug 24, 2011:

@ChieftanMews: #6/10: Which artist of today reminds you of the John Heartfield of yestercentury? (#7 expires Sept 1, #6 expires Sept 8) #rigid #tkol

The sixth of a series of weekly questions Mew’s provides two hashtags with his question along with the information that he will be taking replies until the 8th of September… though what he had planned to do with them is still unknown. #7 refers to a 2nd question ( @ChieftanMews: #7/10: No more hiding: “The atom had a positive, a negative & a neutral” & “Later for the date than the hadron collider” & “I am open.” ?? )

#rigid short for “I’m rigid with excitement” which was a quote from Episode 2 of The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth of All Time.

#tkol which is a abbreviation of The King of Limbs.

In this case he asks fans to provide suggestions of contemporary artists who remind them of John Heartfield a German artist who was best known for his political ‘photomontages’ during the 1930-1940s which satirized the Nazi Party. Chieftan Mew’s later tweeted one example of his work entitled ‘O joyful, o blessed, miracle-bringing time.’ featuring a choir of angels wearing gas masks.

Photomontage is a technique for making composite pictures that pre-dates the use of computer software such as Photoshop. Instead the photos where cut and glued by hand to create a new image which was then sometimes photographed in order to create a seamless print.

According to Thom Yorke The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth of All Time was named after a John Heartfield collage. You can read more about it in the post about the Christmas image here.

Many of the replies seemed to point towards Banksy the pseudonym for a English graffiti artist famous for his political work and dark humor as a possible contemporary for John Heartfield:


( Source: Banksy.co.uk )

We’d love to hear what answers other people sent to Mew’s ‘quiz’!
Let us know in the comments or email muggs@ersmenoo.com.

“Off The Grid. Into The Woods.”

Posted on by Muggs

Mew’s has deleted almost all his tweets again.

Chieftan Mew’s twitter page as of the 18th of March 2012:

This might be to mark the end of the first leg of Radiohead’s 2012 Tour which wrapped up in Phoenix, Arizona on the 15th or it could be for some other reason entirely.

You can read all his deleted tweets, along with a complete record of every tweet known here. along with a annotated version of his current tweets here.

He’s also updated his Twitter Location to “Off The Grid. Into The Woods.” and his twitter display picture back to his original green one with the file name clipclopclipclop.jpg
New Profile Picture "clipclopclipclop.jpg"

Off the Grid is a term used for not being outside of the electrical grid either though providing your own power or simply living without it all together. While popular with people aiming for a more sustainable lifestyle it’s also a expression used for falling out of the modern world, usually with the aim of getting back to nature.

Mew’s clearly is aiming for the second as he returns to the woods, he’s used this expression before in terms of returning to the forest/woods to announce a period of silence followed by little twitter activity nor news from the band.

clipclopclipclop is a reference to the end of Episode 3 of The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth of All Time:

“What is Fear? Fear is the Clip Clop of Police Horses.
Clip clop, clip clop, clip clop.
Sleep well.”

TripleTXThreat:DepilatedDualinDrummrz:AlikeAtAustin:NeedIDKit: @kingcoffey @clivedeamer @philipselway i.imgur.com/XNGzP.jpg

Posted on by Muggs

Mar 7, 2012

@ChieftanMews: TripleTXThreat:DepilatedDualinDrummrz:AlikeAtAustin:NeedIDKit: @kingcoffey @clivedeamer @philipselway i.imgur.com/XNGzP.jpg

A new tweet posted early today in a American timezone and directed at Phillip Selway, Clive Dreamer and King Coffey who is best known for being the drummer from American band The Butthole Surfers.

Radiohead are currently in Austin on tour and set to play Austin Texas tonight, Austin also happens to be the home town of King Coffey.

Chieftan Mew’s links the following photo:

It appears to be part of a series, Shutterstock gives the following information:

SEATTLE – SEPTEMBER 4: Drummer King Coffey of alternative rock band the Butthole Surfers performs during the Bumbershoot Music Festival on September 4, 2011 in Seattle, Washington.

Merriam-Webster defines the word Depilated as

past participle, past tense of dep·i·late
Verb:
Remove the hair from.

It seems Mew’s is suggesting that King Coffey is a possible look alike to Clive and Phil who both have a identically ‘depilated’ style.

IDKit is identikit, the name of a new Radiohead song debuted in Miami on the first show of the 2012 US Tour.

Amusingly Triple Threat is the name of a game show aired in 1988 and 1991 that appears to be a American adaption of The Generation Game responsible for ‘Life is the name of the game, and I want to play the game with you” quoted by Chieftan Mews on The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth of All Time.

If Mews were to fall in love, Mews would make you a mix-tape like this for when the trains stop running on time http://tinyurl.com/3m6lfr3 ␄

Posted on by Muggs

Jun 29, 2011:

@ChieftanMews: If Mews were to fall in love, Mews would make you a mix-tape like this for when the trains stop running on time http://tinyurl.com/3m6lfr3 ␄

In a tender moment Cheftan Mews offers a link to a recent mix-tape from All Tomorrow’s Parties curated in part by Portishead made to advertise the I’ll Be Your Mirror’ music event.

Mew’s claimed on The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth of All Time that “All my love is used up… On me.” and in a DM where he stated “My initials are carved in a tree = CM loves CM.” suggesting that he has indeed fallen in love… with himself.

The final part about the trains appears at first to be a joke, after all when has a major train system ever run on time? The phrase does pop up in a comment posted to a news item on A Tangled Web “a dissenting review of contemporary British & American politics” about Greek protesters joining the worldwide ‘Day of Rage’ protest against capitalism, inequality and the economic crisis. The post was made on the 3rd of June, three weeks before Mew’s comment.

The link itself takes you to All Tomorrow’s Parties where you can stream and download a free mixtape Curated by Portishead & ATP from Soundcloud.

The website also gives the following information about a event taking place from September 30 – October 2nd 2011:

From September 30 to October 2 2011 in Asbury Park, New Jsery, All Tomorrow’s Parties will present the first I’ll Be Your Mirror USA event, which will be curated by the mercurial Portishead (who headline the Saturday and Sunday) and ATP. Acting as sister events to the world famous ATP Festivals which usually take place in holiday resorts, I’ll Be Your Mirror is a new series of artist curated music, film and art events taking place in cities worldwide.

As well live performances from all of the artists in the mixtape below (+ others), the event will also feature DJs, Criterion Cinema, a Laphams Quarterly Literary Stage, an exhibition from Shepard Fairey, Quality Food Stalls and more…

Radiohead teamed up with Clive Dreamer of Portshead in 2011 for their live performances of The King of Limbs.

In 2008 a video was uploaded to Youtube of Jonny Greenwood and Thom Yorke playing a cover of The Rip backstage at a concert in St. Louis, you can watch it here.
( Source: All Tomorrow’s Parties )

Sadly the Soundcloud widget on the ATP Page no longer works so you’ll just have to use your imagination, the tracklist was:

00.00 Up With People – Oneida
07.45 Machine Gun – Portishead
12.24 Ice Cream (feat. Matias Aguayo) – Battles
17.02 Two-Headed Boy – Neutral Milk Hotel
21.27 Cervantine – A Hawk And A Hacksaw
27.16 Wakeman’s Air – Chavez
31.35 In Your Area (feat. Planet Asia) – DJ Peanut Butter Wolf
34.03 Pizza Mind – DD/MM/YYYY
38.21 She Is Beyond Good And Evil – The Pop Group
41.41 Metal Arms – Hannibal Buress
44.13 My Pal The Tortoise – Thinking Fellers Union Local 282
46.59 Steady As She Goes – Shellac
51.01 Totally Tween – Foot Village
54.46 Go Outside – Cults
58.05 Kollapz Tradixional (Thee Dirty Olde Flag) – Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra
1.04.10 I Go To Sleep – Anika
1.07.27 Father Midnight – Earth
1.19.31 Party Intellectuals – Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog
1.25.15 San Pedro – Mogwai
1.28.37 Behold A Marvel In The Darkness – Deerhoof
1.32.05 I Know – Beak>
1.37.01 Walk – Rory Scovel
1.41.45 Cryogenics – JG Thirlwell’s Manorexia
1.44.50 No Words/No Thoughts – Swans
1.54.08 There Is A Wind – The Album Leaf
1.58.46 Colin Stetson – The Stars In His Head (Dark Lights Remix)
2.04.15 Tunnels – People Of The North
2.10.43 Population Control – Company Flow
2.15.08 Industry – Thought Forms
2.19.13 Give The Drummer Some – Ultramagnetic MCs
2.22.55 Lying – Factory Floor

If @nigelgod deletes my scenes from the final cut, I will gladly show him a new way down the staircase! ␄

Posted on by Muggs

Jul 1, 2011:

@ChieftanMews: If @nigelgod deletes my scenes from the final cut, I will gladly show him a new way down the staircase! ␄

On June 21st 2011 Phillip Selway announced on Dead Air Space that Radiohead had filmed a episode of From The Basement, in addition to the news was a HD quality Youtube video of a new song titled Staircase (Previously known to fans as ‘A Walk Down the Staircase’ from Thom Yorke’s solo shows and tour with Atoms For Peace in 2010).

Mew’s addresses this threat to Nigel Godrich the mastermind behind From The Basement. Started in 2006 as a Podcast From the Basement is a music program that focuses entirely on a performance doing away with the traditional format of a host and live audience. Thom Yorke performed on the first episode and Radiohead featured in a full length episode for In Rainbows – Live From The Basement.

Chieftan Mews who made his name hosting The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth of All Time clearly is not pleased with this idea and later takes revenge by withholding the footage of Supercollider performed during the set.

As usual Mews signs off with EOT (End of Transmission) to mark the final tweet for the day.

@radioheadperu Are you joking with Mews? Space? I won’t even get dead air space from them!

Posted on by Muggs

Jul 1, 2011:

@ChieftanMews: @radioheadperu Are you joking with Mews? Space? I won’t even get dead air space from them!

Mew’s tweeted this in response to @radioheadperu who asked:

@ChieftanMews so they finally gave you air space? what about your buck?

Dead Air Space is of course the name of the blog section of Radiohead’s Official Site located at http://www.radiohead.com/deadairspace.

Dead Air is the name for a unexpected gap in Radio or Television broadcast usually due to a operator error or technical fault. In a era of 24 hour news-cycles and broadcasting Dead Air is the one thing media organizations strive to avoid.

It is also the title of a 2002 novel by Iain Banks.

The Guardian review of it states that:

Dead Air is narrated by Kenneth Nott, a shock-jock on commercial radio who takes a swollen pride in his contrarian opinions. We first meet him at a drug-fuelled loft party in the East End of London, where everyone, for some reason, starts chucking fruit and furniture off the balcony. Ken’s girlfriend, Jo, does PR for a snotty young British indie band called Addicta; he is also sleeping with a woman called Celia (or “Ceel”), who happens to be married to a dangerous gangster.

You probably wouldn’t like to meet Ken. He is one of those annoying, professionally opinionated people who are never off duty. Large portions of the novel are dedicated to expounding his reactions to the latest topics of media discussion, whether he is on air or just chatting in a pub: gun control (“Guns for nutters only; makes sense”), American imperialism, CCTV cameras, Euroscepticism, the death of Diana (“put on a fucking seatbelt”), all get extended libertarian rants. It is a tribute to Banks’s chatty prose skill that these discussions are largely entertaining, if superficially argued.

( Source : Guardian Review: It’s all in the initial )

For all his hard years of service Chieftan Mews has only gotten this brief mention by Ed O’Brien on Dead Air Space on March 5th, 2005 in a post titled ’1 2 3 4 …. Chieftain Mews anyone?’:

For those who don’t know or remember, Senor Chieftain Mews,as he likes to be addressed now, was our slightly disturbing host on ‘the most gigantic lying mouth of all time’ …. Well, his comrade in arms and occasional masseuse, Chris Bran (who has also been hugely involved in our webcasts since we started them back in 2000), has a pilot out of his new comedy called ‘This is Jinsy’ .. it went out last Monday night on BBC 3 and you can still watch it on the BBC iplayer, but only for a few more days… hurray whilst stocks last… Go check it out .. It’s mental:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00r8z4r/This_Is_Jinsy/

( Source Dead Air Space )

Interestingly this is the only time Mew’s has had his name spelled ‘Chieftain’, it’s probably a typo.

Mew’s has previously tweeted a Youtube video from This is Jinsy named ‘Types of Wood’, and follows them on Twitter.

@gillespeterson : Please help me find Twain & Wildwood. They don’t have facebook or twitter accounts so I am unaware of what they are eating

Posted on by Muggs

Aug 19, 2011:

@ChieftanMews: @gillespeterson : Please help me find Twain & Wildwood. They don’t have facebook or twitter accounts so I am unaware of what they are eating

Gilles Peterson is the host of Gilles Peterson Wordwide on BBC Radio 1, at the time of the tweet he was scheduled to do show with Thom Yorke on the 29th of November. He did not respond to Mew’s message.

You can listen to the show on BBC iPlayer Here or just check out the playlist which featured a previously unreleased Jamie xx remix of Bloom that didn’t make the cut for TKOL-1234567.

Mew’s tends to refer to any kind of material in terms of food and in the past has urged fans at the beginning of a episode of The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth of All Time to ‘Eat’ what was to come (So sit back, relax, and eat. Eat. Eat.).

In this case he’s searching for Stanley Donwood (Twain) and Thom Yorke (Wildwood) who both have twitter accounts at @Stanleydonwood and @ThomYorke respectively. He ends up resorting to Facebook in his search where he registered on the 4th of March 2011.

Seasons Greetings: http://i.imgur.com/zG5X8.jpg

Posted on by Muggs

Dec 16, 2011:

@ChieftanMews: Seasons Greetings: http://i.imgur.com/zG5X8.jpg
@ChieftanMews: Stay crazy. Stay detuned. ␄

A straightforward holiday tweet? .. not quite.

Chieftan Mew’s tweeted the following image with ‘Seasons Greetings’ followed by a message to Stay Crazy and the usual Stay detuned / End of Transmission


(Source: @ChieftanMews on Twitter)

Thanks to Google we know the image is of a Photomontage by John Heartfield titled “O joyful, o blessed, miracle-bringing time.” made in 1935.

John Heartfield originally coined the phrase ‘The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth of All Time’ as Thom explained during a online Q&A in response of a fan asking for the meaning of TMGLMOAT:

It’s after a John Heartfield collage. He was a German artist in the 30s and 40s he changed his name to disown himself from the rise of the Reich in Germany. It is a title of one of his collage paintings which were all cut up, subverted propaganda from the Third Reich.

You can read the rest of the interview from 2003 Here.

Art for a Change gives us a interesting rundown of what the ‘Christmas Card’ Mew’s tweeted is about.

The anti-militarist Christmas message from John Heartfield published on December 26, 1935, in the German magazine, Arbeiter-Illustriete Zeitung (AIZ, or “Worker’s Illustrated Paper”).

The title of the photomontage, O du fröhliche, O du selige, gnadenbringende Zeit (O joyful, o blessed, miracle-bringing time), was taken from one of Germany’s most popular Christmas carols.

Heartfield made a number of photomontage works that touched upon Christmas and how its message of peace was being subverted by the forces of war and fascism.

For instance, in the 1934 Christmas edition of AIZ, the artist published his photomontage, O Tannenbaum im deutschen Raum, wie krumm sind deine Äste! (O Christmas tree in German soil, how bent are thy branches). The artwork depicted a Christmas tree with its branches twisted into the shape of a swastika.

The cover of the 1933 Christmas issue of AIZ featured a photograph of an American battleship with the headline, “And Peace on Earth!” When opening the magazine the reader would see a Heartfield photomontage on the first page – its message read, “Peace on Earth? No peace on earth, as long as the poor become poorer!” Heartfield’s artwork depicted hungry Germans peering into an upscale shop window that was bursting with Christmas merchandise they could not afford.

Compulsive Liar.

Posted on by Muggs

@ChieftanMews: Remember: 99 percent of everything on the internet is a lie.

Mew’s often calls himself a liar, this comes back to his first days as the host of The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth of All Time in 2003.

This gives the impression that everything Mews says can not be trusted.

However the dilemma comes from the fact that while Mews IS most certainly a compulsive liar he is also a unofficial spokesperson for Radiohead within the fan community.