MuhMur Radio Broadcast #291 15 March 2026

 

To Mom On Mother's Day .... 

'You Think That I'm Strung Out On Smack,

And I Don't Have Underwear, 

You Think I Had A Lawnmower Attack On My Bottecellesque Hair,

I Haven't Got Down In A Month,

I Tried To Get A Job,

I Hadn't Turned A Trick For Days, I Haven't Joined The Mob.

You See I'm Trying Very Hard To Live The Rules You Taught Me,

I'm Sorry Because Of My Heavy Jones,

I Hocked All The Stuff You Bought Me. But, Life Is Hard On The Boulevard, With Rinky Dinks Galore,

It's Money, Guns, And Dope Or Lies, Lesbian Or Whore.

A Bag Of Boy, A Spoon Of Girl, A Nickel For A Blow. 

But I Am Still Your Baby Boy. It's In Your Blood, You Know'.

Welcome to the 291st broadcast of MuhMur Radio. Over the last few days (great band) I have been dipping in and out of the new book "Electronic Cottage" published by Korm Plastics. It is a collection, a compendium of the magazine 'Electronic Cottage' produced / edited by Hal McGee between 1989 to 1991. Six editions all beautifully reproduced and bound in hardback. 

Hal McGee operated the Cause & Effect label (alongside Deborah Jaffe) releasing titles by his own project Dog As Master as well as Controlled Bleeding, If Bwana, The Haters and Viscera amongst others. His magazine celebrated the DIY / Cassette Culture of the late 1980s / early 1990s with writings by Dave Prescott, Chris Phinney, Jeph Jerman, Al Margolis and Daniel Plunkett... amongst others. It was Chris Phinney's overview and interview with Jac Van Bussel of Midas Tapes / Midas Music that made me dig

out my copy of "Harsh Ears Now! !" a triple cassette released in 1987 (I think) featuring Club Rialto, S. Core, Kapotte Muziek, DVA Met DVA Nichts, Odal, Tools You Can Trust and Arvid Tuba amongst many many others. "Remember" by Marcel v.d. Zwet opens the programme and "I Still Haven't Found The Cure" by The Dwarf Farm ends it all. I did ask Frans (de Waard) for information on Marcel but he had none apart from Marcel releasing the cassette "Ten Remedie Tegen Zwakke Zenuwen" on Midas Tapes in 1986. Of course if anyone has a copy they want to offload then please get in contact). The Dwarf Farm was the solo project of THU20 and Club Rialto member Guido Doesborg. He also released a couple of C10 cassettes on Midas Tapes. https://www.kormplastics.nl/electronic-cottage/ to get a copy of the book. 

The past few MuhMur Radio broadcasts seem to feature sounds from books that I am reading at the moment. Like the collection of 'Just Glittering/Idwal Fisher' magazines and the 'Third Annual' the 'Electronic Cottage' book is a great read to dip in and out of ... I am still reading Jerry Kranitz's 'Cassette Culture' .. but a trip to the charity shops of Newton Abbot brought me "Room 100" by Jesse Pollack. It was only a pound! And I am engrossed ... it is subtitled 'The Night Punk Rock Died' which I always thought was the night Marc Riley left the Fall, but this is all about the last few days (great band) of Sid & Nancy. 

The two tracks by Muckrackers are from their 2008 album "[UKANGE_4]" album. I recently managed to find a copy ... and I am always trying to fill the gaps in my Muckrackers library. Great industrial sounds that can be found at https://www.muckrackers.org.

The latest edition of the magazine "Electronic Sound" features a great article on the history of Clock DVA. From their early formative years through to the recording and release of their 1981 album "Thirst". It also comes with a 7" single featuring "4 Hours" from the 'Thirst' album and a 2026 reworking of the track "Sensorium". 

The magazine also features a piece on the 1979-1983 Futurama Festivals. A trip down memory lane for me. The issue is still available from https://www.electronicsound.co.uk. System 01 were a techno project from the late 1980s / early 1990s formed by ex-Clock DVA member Paul Browse and Johnny Klimek. "Paralysed Force" was their first 12" from 1990. 

Whilst planning what to play on tonight's broadcast I read that it was Jaz Coleman's birthday. So, I played a couple of Killing Joke tracks from their eponymous debut album. I also found out about the passing of Scott Foust. 

Scott was the mainman behind Idea Fire Company and the label Swill Radio. As a small and inconsequential tribute to his genius I play a few of his tracks from lesser known projects he was involved with. XX Committee were formed in 1980 by Scott and Chris Scarpino. 'Damarc' is from the album "Network" released in 1983 on the Thermidor label. UK label Harbinger Sound re-issued the album in 2014. In 2012 Scott and Chris got together to record for Frans de Waard's My Own Little Label as Y-Front. The Tobacconists were Scott and Frans. 

'The Dark Secrets Of Doctor Perati" is a 7" from 2009 and 'Polarization Techniques' is from the 1997 "Futurismo EP" released by the great Betley Welcomes Careful Drivers label. The New Peculiars were Scott and former Idea Fire Company founder Karla Borecky. Frans wrote quite a moving piece about his memories of working with and friendship with Scott. https://substack.com/home/post/p-188873255.

On the 21st of March, Water Is The Sun will perform a live ritual at SoundArt Radio Studios. All are welcome. Live music, DJs and a bar .... all for 10 pounds ... https://www.totnespulse.co.uk/event2/ for more information. 

Psychic TV (featuring Monte Cazazza + John Gosling) and Inade pieces keep in with the ritual music theme .... 

I always get Blackhumour and Blackhouse mixed up. Back in the mid 1980s I was living in Hulme, Manchester and my main record shopping was always done at The Record Peddler (Opposite The Band On The Wall), Piccadilly Records or Virgin (at the bottom of the Arndale). It was around 1986 / 1987 that a lad from Bolton called Martin started a record stall on the top floor of Affleck's Palace stocking industrial records and tapes. He used to get in great imports from America, stuff like Negativland, Dry Lungs compilations on Placebo, Cause & Effect releases ... and Blackhumour and Blackhouse releases. Their sounds are completely different  but for some reason I always get the two mixed up. I remember getting the Blackhouse LP "Pro-Life" from Martin. Blackhouse were a faux Born Again Christian Industrial outfit formed by Brian Ladd of Psyclones fame. Blackhumour was the project of sound artist Frazer Hall. Martin (btw) went on to create 'The Legendary' Hit Squad and 808 State and his top floor at Affleck's stall moved downstairs to become quite hip and trendy. (Hit Squad parties w/ MC Tunes in the basement of Affleck's Palace are a great memory).

'The Beautiful Accident' is from the 1990 Blackhumour album "Romance" on Frans de Waard's Korm Plastics label. 

Thanks for listening. See you Saturday if you're coming to the Water Is The Sun live performance, if not .. the next MuhMur Radio Broadcast will be on April 12th. 18:00 hours GMT. 

Take a listen here : 

https://www.mixcloud.com/muhsteve/muhmur-radio-broadcast-15-march-2026/

 

Playlist :

01: Marcel v.d. Zwet : "Remember" (Midas Tapes) 1987.

02: Monte Cazazza : "To Mom On Mother's Day" (Industrial Records) 1979.

03: Muckwrackers : "Konkasser" (LFA) 2008.

04: Muckwrackers : "Mono_Industrial_Mechanism" (LFA) 2008.

05: Clock DVA : "Sensorium (DVAtion Rework 2026)" (Electronic Sound) 2026.

06: System 01 : "Paralysed Force (Mix II)" (Interfisch Records) 1990.

07: Killing Joke : "Requiem" (Editions EG/Malicious Damage) 1980.

08: Killing Joke : "Wardance" (Editions EG/Malicious Damage) 1980.

09: XX Committee : "Damarc" (Harbinger Sound) 2014.

10: The Tobacconists : "Hidden" (Minor) 2016.

11: The Tobacconists : "The Dark Secrets Of Doctor Perati" (Swill Radio/Plinkity Plonk Records) 2009.

12: The New Peculiars : "Polarization Techniques" (Betley Welcomes Careful Drivers) 1997.

13: Psychic TV : "Culture" (Cold Spring Records) 2011.

14: Water Is The Sun : "Jhonn Ghoul" (Trome Records) 2026.

15: Water Is The Sun : "Landscape Is Body, Is Light" (Trome Records) 2026.

16: Water Is The Sun : "Tremors Of A Miracle" (Trome Records) 2026.

17: Water Is The Sun : "Night Claims" (Trome Records) 2026.

18: Water Is The Sun : "A Place The Water Can Be Cold" (Trome Records) 2026.

19: Inade : ":Kwa-Non-Seh:" (LOKI Foundation) 2003.

20: Psychic TV : "Themes 3 Live (Excerpt)" (Cold Spring Records) 2011.

21: Marcel v.d. Zwet : "Blanks" (Midas tapes) 1987.

20: Blackhumour : "The Beautiful Accident" (Korm Plastics) 1990.

21: The Dwarf Farm : "I Still Haven't Found The Cure" (Midas Tapes) 1987.

                                                         Last Few Days (great band).

                                                       The Night Punk Rock Died (allegedly).

MuhMur Radio Broadcast #290 15 February 2026.

 

The best laid plans of mice and moles. 

Broadcast #290 is dedicated to the book "Cassette Culture : Homemade Music And The Creative Spirit In The Pre-Internet Age" by Jerry Kranitz. Originally published by Vinyl On Demand back in 2020, I have just managed to grab a copy of the second edition on Monger Publications. (I'm in the UK so grabbed a copy from Waterstones. It's the best place to buy books on the Internet. Avoid Amazon!). The book is divided into 3 chapters : I. The Cassette Recorder : YOU Too Can Be An Audio Artist. II. The Global Network Emerges .. And Flourishes. III: Cassette 'Culture'? I am at the moment finding it a fascinating read. So, this broadcast is from tracks pulled from cassette releases old and new ... 

The Nails Ov Christ tracks are from the 1986 release 'Dark Night Of The Soul". Released in the US on the Sound Of Pig label and in Europe on Disabuse Transmissions. Trev Ward (aka Nails Ov Christ) also put it out on his Zeal SS imprint. Earlier this year Disabuse Transmissions reissued the cassette as a   downloadable file https://disabusetransmissions.bandcamp.com/album/dark-night-of-the-soul. It is a 'pay what you feel' download. 

Two Daughters were a mysterious duo based in London in the early 1980s. "Kiss The Cloth/Gloria" was originally released on their own Anthony & Paul label. United Dairies reissued the cassette in 1987. This the cassette I have but here I play the reissued vinyl version that Vinyl On Demand put out in 2019. It's a lot clearer and my cassette has been played quite a few times over the years. 

I was hoping to play this Contagious Orgasm cassette on the last broadcast, but unfortunately the Royal Mail let me down. "Abandoned Prayer Place" is from "The Chaotic March Of Pagans" album released in the first week of this year. https://sssm.bandcamp.com. It was whilst playing this cassette I noticed that the sound was slipping / dropping ... only for a split second but still enough to disrupt the listening and for this I apologise and was where the playlist was altered. Apologies also to Kazuya Ishigami and Mattias Gustafsson whose pieces I had lined up to play ... 

The "Cassette Culture" book features a piece on the cut-up works of Brion Gysin and William S. Burroughs. 

'What we did on our own was to play around with the very limited technology and wattage we had in the old Beat Hotel. 40-Watts a room was all we were allowed. There is something to be said for poverty, it makes you more inventive, it's more fun and you get more mileage of what you've got plus your own ingenuity. When you handle the stuff yourself, you get the feel for it" (Brion Gysin).

William S. Burroughs "Inching" comes from the 1981 LP "Nothing Here Now But The Recordings" on Industrial Records. The album has been re-released a few times over the years but strangely enough never on cassette. 

                           

History's Bunkum.

I was 'involved', if not involved then 'part of' the cassette culture. In 1980 I created the label "Don't Dance ... Collide Tapes". I was making noises with my friend Dave (Uden) under the banner of So Commercial. (Yeah, I know it's a shite name but there were reasons) and I was buying cassettes from the likes of Industrial Records, Deleted Records, Fuck Off Records amongst others so I thought. .. why not? Don't Dance ... Collide Tapes released one cassette. A compilation. A C60 featuring 15 minutes of punk c/o The Exitz, 15 minutes of abstract noise c/o ESP Disk-rd (the new and not so shite name for So Commercial) and 30 minutes of Agitprop Punk trio Collide. I did put on an evening of Don't Dance ... Collide sounds at a school hall in North Hykeham (hometown), but none of the bands on the cassette played. By this time both The Exitz and Collide had split and ESP Disk-rd just weren't ready. The gig did feature Collide's PA, but Sinking Ships, The Void and The Cigarettes played through it! The cassette sold well. Advertised through the music weekly and Zig-Zag magazine, and a mention in the 'International Discography Of New Wave : Volume Two - 1982-83' by B. George & Martha Defoe. By the start of 1982 ESP Disk-rd also gave up, so no more releases. 

Jumping ahead five years and a couple of friends visited from Manchester and told me that they were starting a label called "Carnifex Organisation". The idea was to release cassettes, tracts, posters and (live) events. They wanted to put out cassettes of my then active project (along with Tim Bayes) <<I.B.F.>> . A year later and I was living back in Manchester (Hulme) and giving my full energies towards Carnifex Organisation. In 1987 and after a few cassette releases and live events we planned to release a Carnifex Organisation sampler (on cassette, a C90). For one reason or another, this never happened but years later Tim did manage to put some of the contributions onto a CDR. The Muhviertel tracks and Schuster piece are from this (unreleased) CDR. 

Small Cruel Party are prolific when it comes to cassette releases. In the late 1980s Small Cruel Party released a handful of cassettes on their own Retching Wrecks label. Small Cruel Party (aka Key Ransone) appeared on a host of compilation cassettes at the start of the 1990s. The two tracks here are from "Methods Of Achieving Satisfaction In A Goal-Orientated Society" (Apraxia 1992) and Nature Morte 2" E'ostrate 1992). Both pieces appear on the Harbinger Sound 3xCD collection of Small Cruel Party's work "An Accident In Substance" released in 2012. 

And this is where the gods were smiling upon us ... 

Chris brought a CDR copy of the upcoming album by Water Is The Sun. Water Is The Sun is the new project from Mkl Anderson (Drekka) and Adam Parks (Timber Rattle). The album will be 'launched' at a live performance of Water Is The Sun at SoundArt Radio Studios, Dartington Hall Estate on March 21. It will be available on vinyl via Trome Records and on cassette via the Italian label Trocco Magico. All are very welcome. Support will be from Al Fresco Skronk Squadron and I might even be spinning a few discs! Water Is The Sun will also be playing UK dates in Sheffield, Norwich, Wellington (Somerset) and London (New River Studios). I will be providing more information about the live event later, or find out now at : https://soundartradio.org.uk/events/water-is-the-sun-al-fresco-skronk-squadron/. 

One of the first cassettes I bought (in the new wave era) was the 1980 album "The Graveyard And The Ballroom" on Factory Records, 'Do The Du' ends the broadcast.

The programme is archived on MixCloud. Please take a listen here :

https://www.mixcloud.com/muhsteve/muhmur-radio-broadcast-15-february-2026/

Playlist :

01: Nails Ov Christ : "Dark Night Of The Soul (VIII)" (Disabuse Transmissions) 2025.

02: Two Daughters : "Gloria (I - V)" (Vinyl On Demand) 2019.

03: Contagious Orgasm : "Abandoned Prayer Place" (SSSM) 2026.

04: William S. Burroughs : "Inching" (Industrial Records) 1981.

05: Muhviertel : "Kugel Aktion (Studio Version)" (Carnifex Organisation) 1987.

06: Small Cruel Party : "Even The Lives Of Our Grandfathers" (Harbinger Sound) 2012.

07: Small Cruel Party : "Some Movements" (Harbinger Sound) 2012.

08: Water Is The Sun : "Inward She Turns Her Feathered Hand" (Tocco Magico) 2026.

09: Water Is The Sun : "Western Grave" (Tocco Magico) 2026.

10: Water Is The Sun : "Peace, My Constant Prayer" (Tocco Magico) 2026.

11: Water Is The Sun : "Charmed Of Lesser Beasts" (Tocco Magico) 2026.

12: Nails Ov Christ : "Dark Night Of The Soul (V)" (Disabuse Transmissions) 2025.

13: Muhviertel : "Muhswaan" (Carnifex Organisation) 1987.

14: Schuster : "The Cat's Algebra (Edit)" (Carnifex Organisation) 1987.

15: A Certain Ratio : "Do The Du" (Factory Records) 1980.

Thanks as ever to Chris and Tamsin for taking me there, being there, and bringing me back again.

                                             I made it on the SoundArt Radio DJ 'wall of fame'!

Murmur Radio returns on March 15. 18:00 GMT. 

              

MuhMur Radio Broadcast #289 : January 18 2026.

 

This will be the final live 4 hour broadcast, on February 15 MuhMur Radio will become a live monthly 2 hour broadcast. 

Today's broadcast was a mixed bag of what I have been listening to over the festive month and after compiling it seemed to have a birth, death and terminal illness theme running through. 

I received a few books over the past few weeks and there's nothing more I love to do than stick on a cassette and/or CD, sit back and listen to sounds whilst reading. If you're like me then I recommend the Conjecture album "Hydra" released in 2021 on the Zoharum label. Conjecture is the project of Athens based sound artist / industrialist Vasilis Angelopoulus. https://conjecture-project.bandcamp.com.

                                                                 Clock DVA. (2025).

The Clock DVA track "The Connection Machine" is the B-Side to the 12" single "The Hacker". On the last broadcast I played Trikorder 23 version of the Trio song "Da Da Da", highly enjoyable so I thought I would play a couple more cover versions. "Tom's Diner" by Heatsick and "Eight Days A Week (Babel Remix)" by Alexandre Babel. Both tracks are from cassettes released by Edizioni Passarotto in 2013 and 2015 (respectively). 

Mark Vernon's latest release is the CD album "A Yellow Minute" on Flag Day Recordings.

"A Yellow Minute is built around a collection of sound effects and spots sounds originally recorded for a horror film that in the end never got made. Severed from their original purpose I revisited the ambiguous sounds over a decade later, combining them with more current experiments employing found tapes, bottled feedback, crude electronics and processed field recordings. The result is a darkly surreal, nightmarish soundscape haunted by malevolent entities, unknown spirits and spectral presences".

Contact Mark at https://markvernon.bandcamp.com or Flag Day Recordings via their Bandcamp page : 

https://flagdayrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/a-yellow-minute-2.

It was sad to read of the passing of Christian Schöne aka Carla Submit from Fetisch Park. Releasing albums in the early 1990s on the Cranioclast run CoC label, I did at the time think both projects were one and the same. "I Could" is from the double CD compilation "Aufabwegen #50 - Ausgewählte Geräusche". I also play a couple of tracks by Siouxsie & The Banshees in the memory of Kenny Morris who passed away earlier this month. At the start of the year I also was sad to hear of the health of Raye Calouri. I first heard of Raye's work when he was releasing under the name of Third Door From Left. In the mid 1980s his 'Face The Firing Squad' cassette was a favourite, I think it was the 1985 Cthulhu re-release .. The name Third Door From The Left often was mentioned on flyers and ephemera that used to come with stuff back in the days when mail order and tapes in Jiffy bags were the norm. The project did not last for long, co conspirator Kevin Thorne created We Be Echo and (as far as I thought) Raye (Raymond Georgeson) disappeared. October 2014 I was asked to DJ at the 'Harbinger Sound @ The 100 Club' event in London. The sound guy, the man that ran the show was Raye Calouri. I expressed my deep fondness for Third Door From The Left (to his surprise) and we became friends ... he liked my DJ set too! A funny aside. On the first day I was wearing my Process Church Of The Final Judgement T-Shirt which upset Raye and he told me that I was NOT wearing that shirt in HIS club. I think I grabbed a Sudden Infant shirt from their merch' table. Raye then went on to be the sound guy for Sleaford Mods as well as holding down the job at The 100 Club. 

Raye has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, a benefit at The 100 Club was held for him at the beginning of the month with Sleaford Mods and Steve Ignorant performing. "Under Attack" is from "Face The Firing Squad" album, beautifully re-issued in 2008 by Vinyl On Demand. I have seen copies floating around on the Internet.

The German label Geräuschmanufaktur released some festive output for the season. Unfortunately I got them too late to include in the December (4 sleeps before Christmas) broadcast so I have included them here. The Dead Mauriacs "Les Miroirs Trompés (Babel Radio Session)" and Jan Warnke's "Divine Northern Lights".

Also last month there was a release from Edward Sol. Edward is based in Lychanka in Ukraine. "Sloppy Harmonics" is released on his own Village Tapes label. Edward also runs the Quai Pop label and Sentimental Productions. The release made me listen to quite a bit of Edward's back catalogue

including the excellent collaboration with Christian Renou (aka Brume) from 2015. Edward can be contacted at https://edwardsol.bandcamp.com. 

I noticed that Contagious Orgasm had released a new cassette "The Chaotic March Of Pagans" on SSSM. Hopefully it will arrive before next month's broadcast. I haven't heard any 'new' Contagious Orgasm for a while .. Many moons ago Steve Underwood (Harbinger Sound) gave me a test pressing of the "Impregnate Mannequin" album he was about to release and I have been hooked from then. At this time Contagious Orgasm was just Hiroshi Hashimoto, but later releases seem to have an extended line-up. A story that always makes me smile ... back in the 90's Steve was promoting / organising a short UK tour for Contagious Orgasm, one of his requests for his backline was a car door to be used for percussive purposes, so Steve had to travel up and down the UK with a car door ... but not any old car door, it had to be from a Datsun! In anticipation of the new cassette I dug out some old Contagious Orgasm. Hiroshi's stuff can be found at the SSSM Bandcamp page. (SSSM = Seeking Sensation Scale Music). 

The broadcast kicks off with Conjecture's 'Atlas' which made me think of Dome's track of the same name, which then lead me to playing all 4 Dome albums (a lot of reading done there), that is Dome I - IV. I don't have a copy of the "Yclept" album. Which lead to me listening to a lot of Wire, Wir, Colin Newman and Duet Emmo. 'Or So It Seems', 'Keep It', 'Take It' ... I had to play The Tights 'It' single. Classic. And whilst mentioning classics, there was only one "On This Day" release I could play and that's Crass "Feeding The 5000" 12"EP but unfortunately there is a no swearing policy at SoundArt Radio so ... I went for January 15 1980 when John Foxx released his "Metamatic" album and a year earlier Throbbing Gristle put out "D.O.A. Third & Final Report" on their Industrial Records label. 

In 1978 I saw Ultravox! on their "Systems Of Romance" tour. Lincoln AJ's, Doncaster Outlook and a venue in Hull with I think was called 'Tigers'. Robin Simon on guitar .. it was not the same. Anyway, on the tour they played some new material. "Touch & Go" and "He's A Liquid", both songs ended up on John's "Metamatic" album. 

So, on to the 'Births' section. January 18 is Dave Phillips birthday. https://davephillips.ch/about. Happy Birthday Dave. 

One of the books I received over the festive reason that I read whilst listening to sounds was Frans de Waard's book "We Know How To Hate". It is the story of his short lived cassette label Opus Dei Society.

https://remuhmuration.blogspot.com/2025/12/we-know-how-to-hate-opus-dei-society.html. It's a brilliant / fascinating book. There is now a bandcamp page where you can download all Opus Dei Society releases with the original artwork. All releases have been remastered by Peter Nijland. If you want a physical reissue there is an address you can email at : https://opusdeisociety.bandcamp.com/music. Also around the same time as Opus Dei Society, Kapotte Muziek member Christian Nijs created his Disabuse Transmisions cassette label, releasing cassettes by projects also on ODS. Nails Ov Christ, Factor 6 and Kapotte Muziek. The three Kapotte Muziek pieces here are from the cassette "Rock n' Roll (And Other Nice Hollywood Muzick)" released in 1986. The download files are pay what you can at :

https://disabusetransmissions.bandcamp.com/music.

The next broadcast will be on February 15. 18:00 hours GMT and will be a two hour live programme. MuhMur Radio is reverting to the 2 hour broadcast, still remaining monthly. 

March 21 Water Is The Sun a new project from Mkl Anderson (Drekka) and Timber Rattle will be performing live at SoundArt Radio Studios. It is the launch for their debut album "Ritual Fever" on Trome Records. Details of times and admission will follow, please come along and support. I am the DJ!

https://wateristhesun.bandcamp.com.

The broadcast has been archived on MixCloud. Split into 2 parts for easier aural digestion. Part 2 begins with Edward Sol's "New Age Unfulfilled". I hope you enjoy. 

Part One:

https://www.mixcloud.com/muhsteve/muhmur-radio-broadcast-289-january-18-2026-part-i/

Part Two:

https://www.mixcloud.com/muhsteve/muhmur-radio-broadcast-289-january-18-2026-part-ii/

Playlist:

01: Conjecture : "Atlas" (Zoharum) 2021.

02: Clock DVA : "The Connection Machine" (Interfisch Records) 1988.

03: Conjecture : "Chimera" (Zoharum) 2021.

04: Heatsick : "Tom's Diner" (Edizioni Passarotto) 2013.

05: Mark Vernon : "An Unintentional Initiation (Terralla's Lament)" (Flag Day Recordings) 2025.

06: Mark Vernon : " A Discrete Diaspora Of Mould" (Flag Day Recordings) 2025.

07: The Dead Mauriacs : "Les Miroirs Trompés (Babet Radio Session)" (Geräuschmanufaktur) 2025.

08: Alexandre Babel : "Eight Days A Week (Babel Remix)" (Edizioni Passarotto) 2015.

09: Fetisch Park : "I Could" (Auf Abwegen) 2016.

10: Mark Vernon : "A Mattress Of Worms (Seeking A New Host)" (Flag Day Recordings) 2025.

11: Dome : "Atlas" (Uniton Records) 1982.

12: We Be Echo : "Out Of Time" (Ultra Mail Prod.) 2025.

13: Third Door From The Left : "Under Attack" (Vinyl On Demand) 2008.

14: Edward Sol : "Pink Jungle" (Village Tapes) 2025.

15: Edward Sol : "In Relative Safety" (Village Tapes) 2025.

16: Edward Sol : "Forgotten Song" (Village Tapes) 2025.

17: Brume & Edward Sol : "Solid Food" (Sentimental Productions) 2015.

18: Brume & Edward Sol : "Scoured Membrane" (Sentimental Productions) 2015.

19: Brume & Edward Sol : "Doldrums State" (Sentimental Productions) 2015.

20: Brume & Edward Sol : "Cosmonaut Toilet" (Sentimental Productions) 2015.

21: Brume & Edward Sol : "Rotting Flesh Ornament" (Sentimental Productions) 2015.

22: Jan Warnke : "Divine Northern Lights" (Geräuschmanufaktur) 2025.

23: Edward Sol : "New Age Unfulfilled" (Village Tapes) 2025.

24: Edward Sol : "Short Necks" (Village Tapes) 2025.

25: Contagious Orgasm : "Earache Floor" (Speeding Across My Hemisphere) 1999.

26: Contagious Orgasm : "SS Slave Market" (Praxis Dr. Bearmann) 1996.

27: Duet Emmo : "Or So It Seems (II)" (Mute Records/Vogue) 1982.

28: Dome : "Keep It" (Dome Records) 1980.

29: Wir : "Take It (For Greedy)" (Mute Records) 1991.

30: The Tights : "It" (Cherry Red Records) 1978.

31: Ultravox! : "He's A Liquid (Live In Boston, USA. March 1979)" (Not On Label) 1979.

32: John Foxx: "He's A Liquid (Alternative Version)" (Edsel Records) 2007.

33: Throbbing Gristle : "AB/7A" (Industrial Records) 1978.

34: Siouxsie & The Banshees : "Hong Kong Garden" (BBC Worldwide/EMI Records) 2011.

35: Siouxsie & The Banshees : "Nicotine Stain" (Trikont). 2004.

36: Schimpfluch Affiliated Music : "Untitled (II)" (Tochnit Aleph) 2019.

37: Dave Phillips & John Wiese : "At A Loss For Words (B)" (Blossoming Noise) 2006.

38: Dave Phillips : "Walk Out" (Aaltra Records) 2014.

39: Kapotte Muziek : "Rock n' Roll Part I" (Disabuse Transmissions) 2025.

40: Kapotte Muziek : "Rock n' Roll Part VI" (Disabuse Transmissions) 2025.

41: Kapotte Muziek : "Rock n' Roll Part VII" (Disabuse Transmissions) 2025.

As always thanks go to Chris at SoundArt Radio and Tamsin (Mrs. MuhMur) for being there. As mentioned the next programme is on Feb 15 at 18:00 GMT and will be 120 minutes! 

 

We Know How To Hate (The Opus Dei Society Story).

 

On October 1 1984 Frans de Waard created the project Kapotte Muziek with his friend Christian Nijs, the date is also the birth of his label Korm Plastics. Both Kapotte and Korm were based (as they still are) in Nijmegen, Netherlands. To become part of the cassette network, the K7 underground, Kapotte Muziek sent of a slew of recordings to various labels to be included on compilations, to sow the Kapotte seed, announce the arrival of  ... 

Shortly after Frans thought of creating a label, a cassette label that would release only 23 editions. Each edition would be on a C30 and each edition would be 113 copies. Influenced by the UK Broken Flag label the covers would be uniformed. A picture in a thick black border with a green (military) background colour. All Broken Flag covers were on blue background ~ and very impressive they looked too. The Opus Dei Society label ran from 1985 to 1986.  And now, through encouragement of others including Julius Ménard from Grisaille Frans has written a book about it all. A detailed description of each release and the artists involved in the Dutch (and then global) cassette underground. Details on how Frans chose the name, the influences behind the noises he was making and how the Opus Dei Society logo came about ... the green blob is a cork from a wine bottle ... brilliant! Meaningless. 

Also included are interviews with some of the artists / protagonists involved. An interview with Jacques Van Bussel of THU20 that appeared in ND Magazine (1991) conducted by Dan Plunkett. Also an interview with Mike Dando that appeared in EST magazine (1992) conducted by Phil Taylor. (This article was lovely to read again, I knew Phil, lovely man, great sense of humour and his knowledge of all things noise and Hammer Horror meant whenever we met a good time was to be had. RIP Phil. Truly missed). The book also includes a memorial to Christian Nijs who passed in 2002 and a great interview with Peter Zincken from Odal. 

Frans covers his associations and friendships with other noise makers such as Trev Ward from Nails Ov Christ / Zeal SS etc .. and DAP from The Grey Wolves. Trev seems to have been a bit of an influence behind Frans' work at the time. It did get me thinking if I had the Con-Dom / Nails Ov Christ 'Vilification"  cassette. I used to be in touch with Trev around this time buying cassettes from his 'Open Wound' list. A few Opus Dei Society releases were repackaged and reissued on other labels at the time. It is how it worked. I remember sending a master cassette and artwork to Peter Zincken so he could release the IBF cassette "Schranken" on his Bloedvlag Produkt label back in 1986. Who knows how many he copied and sold? Probably not even Peter. 

Anyway, I am digressing. This book absolutely captures the 'scene' at the time, it is in depth and has some great pictures of Kapotte Muziek live! It is so well written, informative and entertaining. Frans and Julius have set up the Opus Dei Society Bandcamp page, it goes live on December 31 where you can buy remastered cassettes (probably downloads too?). The book is available from Korm Plastics at : https://www.kormplastics.nl/we-know-how-to-hate-the-opus-dei-society-story/. Check out the other publications too ... 

     (A page from the Der Nederlandse Cassette Catalogue 1983 - 1987 also on Korm Plastics).

MuhMur Radio Broadcast #288 : December 21 2025

 

The 13th anniversary MuhMur Radio Christmas Broadcast. It happens only once a year!

As is traditional we start the programme with a couple of Christmas 'themed' pieces. "Sighlent Night" comes from the 400 Lonely Things Christmas album "have Yourself A Lonely Little Christmas" released in 2020. https://400lonelythings.bandcamp.com/album/have-yourself-a-lonely-little-christmas is still available as a pay what you can download. 

           

The Grey Park track "Christmas" is from the 2018 cassette album "Olic Banquet" released by Hyster Tapes. 

May your heart be light ....

Last month saw the release of 'Ephemeral Rituals', the latest CD offering from UK based sound artist Jo Montgomerie. Released on Jim Haynes' Helen Scarsdale Agency imprint. If I did lists for Best Album Of 2025, 'Ephemeral Rituals' would probably top it .. 

"Jo Montgomerie doesn't to pull back the veil too much on her source materials, but she's becoming more declarative and emphatic in how she works with her crucible of tempered noise. The opening clatter to ephemeral rituals sounds to these ears like a repetitive strike of a typewriter; though she asserts, without showing her hand, that is not the case. Out of this, a hallowed, radiant black glow emerges, nearly engulfing the acoustic clack with a sublime grandeur. Based in Manchester, Mongomerie has steadily built a body of work of abstracted, decentralised sounds into an emotional rich, metaphorically potent compositions. It's never enough for her to merely articulate those phenomenological interregnums of time, space, memory and decay. Instead, she focuses on the yearnings, the hauntings and the compulsions which form the daily rhythms and rituals of everyday life and re-imagines them as transcendental electronic hymns..... On Ephemeral Rituals, Montgomerie is deft in her industrial strength drones, her ghost dubs of sound research and the luminous chromatic auras that appear as if latent images from decayed film".

Contact Jo via https://jomontgomerie.bandcamp.com to get a copy. All four tracks in the broadcast are from 'Ephemeral Rituals'. 

Sticking with the seasonal theme. Drekka "Christmas 1973 Or 1974" is from the album "No Tracks In The Snow" released by Dais Records in 2019. The album is a collection of recordings from 1996 - 2002. Next year (March) SoundArt Radio / MuhMur Radio will be hosting a live event by Winter Is The Sun, a new project from Drekka main man Mkl Anderson and Timber Rattle. Details to follow in the new year. 

MuhMur Radio received a lovely package the other week from Paul Harrison (one of the busiest names in noise). It is well worth checking out his activities via his label's bandcamp page : https://xemporium.bandcamp.com.

One of the stand outs is the collaboration with Swedish sound artist Astrid Björklund. They met through providing sound material for Mark Vernon's Radiophrenia project in 2020. I am uncertain if the three 'Sketches' broadcast here are an official release, Paul mailed them to me on a CDR. Paul has since lost contact with Astrid .... Alongside Expose Yr Eyes, Chapman and PDH one of Paul's projects is Paradox Encounter Group. 2025 saw the release of the PEG / Nnja Riot collaborative album 'Dissent Particles' on Fusion Audio Recordings. In 2024 PEG collaborated with American project R4 to produce the double CD 'Scene Shifting' on the Oxidation label. R4 is Barry D. Scheffel based in Ohio and is the man behind Fusion Audio Recordings and a member of Laced. Paradox Encounter Group releases can be found at the Xemporium bandcamp page. Recommended. 

Some of my favourite 7" singles are on the I Dischi Del Barone label and Blod's "Käre Jesus" is one of them.

I am not a fan of the reformation. Sometimes it works, but most of the time it doesn't. I was intrigued though when I saw the CD album "I Can Feel The Fun" by Zaghurim listed on the Klanggalerie web site. 

"I Can Feel The Fun" is a reissue of a 2023 digital release on Tristan Koreya's Nostalgie De La Blue label. 

Zaghurim were formed by the Ackerley brothers, George and Paul in 1984 and aligned themselves with the Temple Ov Psychick Youth. I first became aware of Zaghurim when they played at 'The Feast Ov Flowering Light" all-day event at Hammersmith Palais in 1985. The same year Zaghurim released their first vinyl album "Moral Rearmament" on the German Atonal records label. This album was produced by Julian and Simon from Bourbonese Qualk. (I have a sneaking feeling that Simon Crab also played live with Zaghurim at 'The Feast' ... could be wrong, I usually am). 1984 also saw Zaghurim appear on the "Sex & Bestiality" compilation cassette with a track called "Anal Rape" (get it out of your system boys). 

The 2018 re-appearance of Zaghurim passed me by. UK live performances and a 'live' album, also on Klanggalerie. But, I was intrigued by "I Can Feel The Fun". 

"Lovechild" is from this album and "Dropkick!" is from "Moral Rearmament". 

November's broadcast was themed around Nicolas Ballet's "Shock Factory" book featuring sounds from artists contained therein. The playlist changed on numerous occasions and at one time featured Column One. I thought they would be in there (somewhere) but a quick check of the index proved me wrong ... so I play Column One this month. Their W. Transmissions series are some of my all-time favourite recordings. C.O. ceased to exist in 2016 but in 2022 the Polish label Zoharum released the box set "W. Transmission I - V". https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/w-transmission-1-5-set. (Digital copies only).

The tracks by Het Zweet Zos-Kia and Soviet France also made it to the "Shock Factory" playlist at some point!

If I did lists for Best Album Of 2025 'A Lifetime'  would probably top it ... A double CD on the early increasingly collectable label Satatuhatta. https://satatuhatta.net/collections/satatuhatta. For a copy. Regular listeners will not be strangers to the sound of Altar Of Flies, for the last 20 years the Mattias Gustafsson lead project has produced / released some essential sounds. Sewer Election collaborated with Ån to release the album "De Sälla Jaktmarkerna" on the Discreet Music label. Ån is the pseudonym of Swedish sound artist Matz Engdahl. The album is very much in the Neutral vein, another of Dan Johansson's projects. A few weeks ago a friend was having a 'bit of a clear out' and posted me some records ... in the pile was a 7" single by Trikorder 23. 

Apart from being from Germany (probably Stuttgart) I know nothing about this project, but it did give me an idea to do a broadcast of cover versions .. maybe in the new year. Earlier this month I received a copy of the latest "The Annual" from Frans de Waard. For the past 3 years Korm Plastics have been an end of the year annual covering all those things you never realised you were interested in - until now! 

https://www.kormplastics.nl/the-third-annual/. It's a great read for the festive break. I was saddened to read about the passing of Harold Schellinx, at the end of last year Frans' Kringloop Kassetttes released "Splinters Van Eeuwigheid" a collection of Harold's recordings. I knew Harold's works from his Diktat project and releases on the Greek Coherent States label. "Radio Aligre" is from the 2016 cassette "Tour De Force" 

                                                                   Harold Schellinx.

Next year the Finnish Satatuhatta label will be releasing the latest album by MNEM. (I told you that they were a label to keep an ear/ear out for). The album is called "Tropos Of Entropy". I am uncertain of the format, but Weno & Juri from MNEM have kindly given MuhMur Radio a 'sneak preview' with the track "Hydrox Communion". 

                                                                               MNEM.

The latest CD album by US based Russian duo. Post Scriptvm is written totally in Russian. My 'pooter translator thinks the album is called "Clouds Over Borsk : Exhuming The Shadows". As far as I can figure out Borsk is a village in Poland ... but then, maybe Ukraine (?). The track I play may or may not be called "Mouse People". I did a gig with Post Scriptvm in Berlin, I fell in love with their sound then. I remember them telling me that they listen to MuhMur Radio in a cafe in New York, they got the cafe owner to play it through the speakers. This was 12/13 years ago, so ... not anymore. All Post Scriptvm releases are essential : https://postscriptvm.bandcamp.com. A few folk I know have not been impressed by the two editions of 'De-Generation' magazine. A complaint of it being too Genesis P-Orridge centric. Pointless articles, bad writing, uninteresting interviews etc .. I can understand and partly agree but what drew me to issue #2 was the CD featuring a track by Sinan. Sinan Leong formerly of SPK. I have written about my past involvement with SPK, so I am not going to mention it here (... just put SPK in the blog search engine if interested). I didn't know Sinan had started recording again, and the interview contained in the magazine is fascinating .. apparently there is a memoir on the way ... Cold Spring Records are distributing the magazine/CD in the UK. https://coldspring.co.uk. The Esposito / Warnke piece is from the 2021 Geräuschmanufaktur audio advent calendar. September saw the release of the Trepaneringsritualen EP "A Diadem Of Fire", available as 3"CD or 7" vinyl. https://www.raubbau.org.

                                                  A Diadem Of Fire postcard/artwork.

Because of the last handful of broadcasts being 'themed' playlists I have neglected the 'On This Day' section. All is re-righted here with singles from Physicals, The Cure and The Wake. 

Back in 1978 I remember walking in to Sanctuary Records in Lincoln and hearing "You Do Me In" blasting from the speakers, and I had to buy it. Physicals were led by Alan Lee Shaw and you just knew he had New York Dolls records in his collection. Alan also played in Maniacs, one of the first London punk bands. I remember them from their appearance on the 1977 album 'Live At The Vortex' on the NEMS label. Alvin Gibbs was the bass player, he went on to play with Iggy Pop and UK Subs. The drummer Steve Bye left the UK when Physicals split and joined the Canadian ska group Villians. There was a follow up to "All Sexed Up" released in 1980 called "Be Like Me" (not the Zos-Kia song) and was produced by Paul Cook. I have never seen a copy. 

I really enjoyed the broadcast that was playlisted from compilation albums. Last month I went to the far North (Bristol) to visit my son Oscar and had to pop in to Wanted Records. Probably the best second hand record shop in the South West, great choice of vinyl and NOT silly London prices. If you are ever in or near Bristol pop in : https://www.wantedrecords.co.uk. This time I managed to get a copy of the LP "Labels Unlimited", Cherry Red Records follow up to "Business Unusual". A brilliant album. (* Mint Copy £12). I Jog & The Tracksuits, AK Process, Second Layer and Crisis feature on the album. I did play the original Crisis 7" here as it is on side A and the rest are on side B.

In 1982 The Wake released their debut album "Harmony" on Factory Records. Early 1980's and I saw a lot of Factory Records bands. Primarily at The Porterhouse in Retford and Rock City in Nottingham and then all the time in various places in 1983 when I moved to Manchester, and became a member of The Hacienda .... 1983 - 1985 when it was a decent place to go (!). The Wake were formed in 1981 by former Altered Images guitarist Caesar. (Gerard McNulty). the original bass player was Bobby Gillespie, he left in 1983 to join The Jesus And Mary Chain and subsequently Primal Scream. I think the first time I saw The Wake play live was at Futurama 4 Festival in North Wales, 1982. They must've just become a 'Factory' band. 

It was great back then as Factory bands toured with Factory bands, or supported non-Factory acts at The Hacienda. Howard Devoto + The Wake springs to mind. I saw The Wake headline with Del Amitri as support and Quando Quango. I always have time for the 1981 - 1985 era of The Wake. They split in the 1990's and reformed in 2005 but as I mentioned earlier, I am not a fan of the reformation.

The broadcast has been archived into 2 parts for easier aural digestion. Part 2 begins with MNEM.

Part One :

https://www.mixcloud.com/muhsteve/muhmur-radio-broadcast-21-december-2025/

Part Two :

https://www.mixcloud.com/muhsteve/muhmur-radio-broadcast-21-december-2025-part-two/

Playlist :

01: 400 Lonely Things : "Sighlent Night" (Not On Label-Self Released) 2021.

02: Jo Montgomerie : "The Warmth Of Sun In Winter" (Helen Scarsdale Agency) 2025.

03: Jo Montgomerie : "I Can Feel You Breathing" (Helen Scarsdale Agency) 2025.

04: Jo Montgomerie : "You Better Run" (Helen Scarsdale Agency) 2025.

05: Drekka : "Christmas 1973 Or 1974" (Dais Records) 2019.

06: Grey Park : "Christmas" (Hyster Tapes) 2018.

07: Astrid Björklund & Paul Harrison : "Sketch One" (Not On Label) 2020.

08: Blod : "Käre Jesus" (I Dischi Del Barone) 2016.

09: Zaghurim : "Lovechild" (Klanggalerie) 2025.

10: Zaghurim : "Dropkick!" (Atonal Records) 1985.

11: Column One : "W Transmission 4 (Track 2)" (Zoharum) 2022.

12: Het Zweet : "Untitled One" (Staalplaat) 2022.

13: Het Zweet : "Ram" (Staalplaat) 2022.

14: Soviet France : "Ram" (Singing Ringing/Red Rhino Records) 1985.

15: Altar Of Flies : "We're All Building Walls, They Should Be Bridges" (Satatuhatta) 2025.

16: Sewer Election + Ån : "Alla Dagar Räknas Visst" (Discreet Music) 2025.

17: Trikorder 23 : "Da Da Da" (Singles Club) 2018.

18: Astrid Björklund & Paul Harrison : "Sketch 2" (Not On Label) 2020.

19: Paradox Encounter Group And R4 : "Scene Shifting (Act 1, Scene 1)" (Oxidation) 2024.

20: Diktat : "Radio Aligre" (Coherent States) 2016.

21: MNEM : "Hydrox Communion" (Not On Label) 2025.

     (Exclusive Piece For MuhMur Radio).

22: Post Scriptvm : "Mouse People" (Death In Venice Production) 2025.

23: Jo Montgomerie : "Leave With The Leaves" (Helen Scarsdale Agency) 2025.

24: Sewer Election + Ån : "Rycker Till" (Discreet Music) 2025.

25: Astrid Björklund & Paul Harrison : "Sketch 3" (Not On Label) 2020.

26: Sinan : "Dai Ga" (Ultra Mail Prod) 2025.

27: Zos-Kia : "Be Like Me (12" Mix)" (Temple Records) 1985.

28: Michael Esposito & Jan Warnke : "GhOst Tannenbaum" (Geräuschmanufaktur) 2021.

29: Trepaneringsritualen : "Tainted Totem Nothing (I)" (Rabbau/Ant-Zen) 2025.

30: Trepaneringsritualen : "A Diadem Of Fire" (Rabbau/Ant-Zen) 2025.

31: Trepaneringsritualen : "With Hand And Heart" (Rabbau/Ant-Zen) 2025.

32: Trepaneringsritualen : "Tainted Totem Nothing (II)" (Rabbau/Ant-Zen) 2025.

33: Public Image Limited : "Theme" (Virgin Records) 1978.

34: Physicals : "You Do Me In" (Physical Records) 1978.

35: Physicals : "All Sexed Up" (Physical Records) 1978.

36: The Cure : "10:15 Saturday Night" (Small Wonder Records) 1978.

37: The Cure : "Killing An Arab" (Small Wonder Records) 1978.

38: I Jog And The Tracksuits : "Red Box" (Cherry Red Records) 1979.

39: AK Process : "After All Love" (Cherry Red Records) 1979.

40: Second Layer : "Metal Sheet" (Cherry Red Records) 1979.

41: Crisis : "Holocaust" (Action Group Records) 1978.

42: The Wake : "Judas" (Factory Records) 1982.

43: The Wake : "Favour" (Factory Records) 1982.

Many thanks to all who have supported MuhMur Radio throughout the year(s), I appreciate the sounds you send, the messages and emails sent, your comments and encouragement. Thank You.

MuhMur Radio will return on SoundArt Radio in the January 2026 .. probably the 18th ... I was a bit drunk when Chris told me! And thanks to Chris and all at SoundArt Radio, and to Tamsin. All Love.

MuhMur Radio Broadcast #287 : 23 November 2025.

My summer read has been (and still is, I am a notoriously slow reader) the book "Shock Factory" by Nicolas Ballet. The book has the subtitle 'The Visual Culture Of Industrial Music'. 

"An exploration of the multidisciplinary creative culture encapsulated by the industrial scene, spanning musical, visual, multimedia and performance arts. Shock Factory introduces the visual and aesthetic elements of the 1970s and 1980s industrial culture to a general history of contemporary art. Nicolas Ballet analyses the different approaches taken and topics addressed by the primary protagonists of the movement, who perceptively anticipated current discourse concerning the media and their collective coercive power" 

The book (a very hefty tome) is split into three parts. Part One is titled "The Last England: Post-Industrial Trauma And A Tradition Of Subversion". Part Two is titled "Nothing Short Of A Total War: Industrial Dissidence And Shock Tactics and Part Three is "Body And Soul" Industrial Occulture. In addition to the words, the pages (587 of them) are filled with fantastic pictures, photographs, artworks, posters etc of all those discussed. Naturally the internet has reviewed the book. One of the best I have seen (so far) is by Alan Rider at https://outsideleft.com/main.php?story=shock-factory. Alan used to operate the label and 'zine 'Adventures In Reality' in the early 1980s and was a member of the bands Stress and Attrition. 

There is nothing more enjoyable than sitting in the 'gimproom' at MuhMur Radio HQ reading a book and playing sounds from my library. Whilst reading "Shock Factory" I have been (re) discovering artists I haven't played in quite a while and for MuhMur Radio Broadcast #287 I have attempted to create a soundtrack for the book. 

  A relic of the past .. my old TG 'Gary Gilmore Memorial Society' shirt from the 70s. I wore it until it fell apart!

If 1977 was year zero, then 1978 was year zero 2.0. 1977/78 was the year of punk for me, the spotty 15/16 year old, my bands were XTC, Ultravox!, The Lurkers, The Stranglers, The Vibrators etc (you get the picture). Evenings listening to John Peel on the radio and watching TV programmes like The Old Grey Whistle Test and Rock Goes To College. I have mentioned before how I chanced upon Throbbing Gristle, but just to recap ... It was a rainy day in Doncaster. I had travelled there with my parents from Lincoln, they had business there and I wanted to buy some white baseball boots from the outdoor market. We parted company and arranged a pick-up time and location. I was early for the rendezvous, it was raining, I spotted a shop called 'Fox's Music' and went in to dry off ... Fox's music mainly sold musical instruments, pianos, hammond organs, acoustic guitars, that kind of thing but there was a record rack, a small selection but 12" vinyl all the same. Back in those days I'd go into any place that sold records, Rediffusion, C.R. Spouges and Rumbelows in Lincoln all sold records and they were secondhand TV & electrical repair shops. It was all Pickwick, Hallmark and (going back to an earlier post) Top Of The Pops compilation albums. Vinyl is vinyl and you never know what might be hiding in the racks. Amongst the Tangerine Dream and Jean-Michel Jarre I saw a copy of Throbbing Gristle's "Second Annual Report". The Fetish Records edition with insert and questionnaire. It was some daft price like £3 so I bought it. Curiosity got the better of me. Back then I was discovering new music all the time and would often buy a record (or cassette) on the strength of the artwork, song title(s) or band name. (To be honest, I still do). So I filled in the questionnaire and posted off to Industrial Records, probably with a bit of teenage 'fan mail' inside the envelope too ... and shortly afterwards I received a copy of "Industrial News" the TG/Industrial Records magazine packed full of information, contacts and direction. 

                                                                 Industrial News 1979.

         

Inside the magazine was a list of artists / bands / projects that had mailed in cassettes and mail-art to Industrial Records with contact details, a whole new world of fascinating names producing fascinating sounds with fascinating ideas was now upon me. Cabaret Voltaire had a release on Industrial Records, their cassette "1974-1976" (1980) followed their first album "Mix-Up" on Rough Trade Records. '4th Shot' is from this album. 

Club Moral are Danny DeVos (DDV) and Annie-Mie Van Kerckhoven (AMVK). Club Moral began in 1981 in Antwerp, Belgium. "Hendrik De Man" first appeared on the compilation album 'L'Enfer Est Intime - Volume Général' on the French VP 231 label, the version I play here is from the Club Moral eponymous cassette released by Staalplaat in 1985. 

Nocturnal Emissions track is from the 1981 LP "Fruiting Body". The album has recently been re-issued as a double CD, a deluxe edition by Klanggalerie. http://www.klanggalerie.com. 

Zero Kama and the works / art of Michael / Zoe DeWitt features in the book. The role of Nekrophile Records and DeWitt's projects (Zero Kama / Korpses Katatonic). "Prayer Of Zos" is from the 10" EP 'The Goatherd And The Beast' originally released on Athanor in 2001. There is a beautiful 3 LP (or 3 CD) available of collected Zero Kama works available via Infinite Fog Productions in Austria. Well worth tracking down. https://infinitefog.bandcamp.com/album/zero-kama. The Reed Ghazala and Psy 23 tracks are from the cassette "Anti White Bastards" released in 1991 on Korm Plastics.

"This compilation is directed against racist tendencies in the network in general and the activities of AWB/Terre Blanche in particular. Musicians from the USA, Europe and South Africa have joined in the struggle against what we think is a mis-use of the network system of audio information exchange. Available from us is an article from the Chemical Castration magazine which gives an insight in the ideas of AWB. USA side compiled by PBK, European side compiled by Korm Plastics". 

Psy 23 is a collaboration between Psyclones (Brian Ladd and Julie Frith) and Pierre Jolivet of Pacific 231. 

The two Soviet France tracks are from the 1983 12"EP "Norsch" on Red Rhino Records. At this point Soviet France were Ben Ponton, Robin Storey and Peter Jensen. The Diamanda Galas track is from the 1986 LP "The Divine Punishment". The Einstürzende Neubauten track is from the 1981 double 7" EP "Schwarz" on ZickZack and the NON track is from the 1982 12"EP "Rise" on Mute Records. I know (I have been told) that Steve Stapleton does not like Nurse With Wound being associated with 'Industrial Music'. Which for his sound and approach is quite understandable. "Shock Factory" uses Industrial music as an umbrella term rather than focus directly on the works of known industrial musicians. I think Nurse With Wound belong in the book. 'Summertime Belongs To Me' appeared on the 1983 cassette compilation "Bethel" released by German label Datenverarbeitung. (also on the cassette are pre-Skullflower project Pure, You've Got Foetus On Your Breath, Coil and Virgin Prunes amongst others). The version I play here is from the "Flawed Existence" box set on Vinyl On Demand. https://www.vod-records.com.

                                              Chance Meeting with a Nurse With Wound. 2009.

A name that features throughout the book is Frans de Waard and his activities through Kapotte Muziek and Korm Plastics. On October 18 this year Kapotte Muziek appeared at the Dead Mind Festival in 'S Hertogenbosch, Netherlands celebrating 25 years of Dead Mind Records alongside Alice Kemp. Organ Of Corti, Ricardo Mazza and Truus de Groot amongst others. For the occasion Kapotte Muziek released a cassette given to the first 50 people through the door. "Den Haag I & II" is from this cassette. 

"I was a teenage S.P.K. roadie" will not be the title of my memoirs ... mainly due to the fact that I was in my twenties. I remember writing to Throbbing Gristle, probably telling them my thoughts and tastes. And I got a letter back suggesting I would like the upcoming 7" on Industrial Records by S.P.K. They suggested I write to Graeme T'uatara who had just moved to London from Paris to restart the project in the U.K. He was staying with Peter Christopherson at the time. So I did, it's what I did back then and Graeme wrote back with a copy of the "No More" 7". I finally met with Graeme when S.P.K. played at The Haçienda in Manchester. 1983. It was the S.P.K. 'Metal Dance' tour and I was invited to join in and help out. S.P.K. at the time were Graeme, Sinan Leong, John Murphy and Derek Thompson. Dave Kenny was doing the live sound. I reprised the role in 1984 on the 'Junk Funk' tour. Lustmord and Howard Hughes had replaced John and Derek. This tour ended at the ICA and the (in)famous 'riot gig'. The S.P.K. track I play here is from the August 1983 John Peel Session. Just as an aside Sinan has a track on the new D-Generation compilation CD that comes with the latest edition (magazine). I got my copy from Cold Spring Records in the UK. https://www.coldspring.co.uk. I shall be playing the Sinan track on the next MuhMur radio broadcast. 

The Test Dept "Compulsion" is from their first 12"EP. Le Syndicat formed in Paris in 1982 by Jean-Marie Onni. The track here is from the 1986 compilation cassette "6x10=60 Volume 3" on Korm Plastics. The cassette also features Irritant, Mauthausen Orchestra, Kapotte Muziek, Controlled Bleeding and Chavez. In 2022 the cassette was reissued by Korm Plastics D and is available through Staaltape. 

https://kormplasticsd.bandcamp.com/album/6-x10-60-vol-3. Le Syndicat are one of the few projects that has never ceased releasing great sounds. I was fortunate to play live with Le Syndicat in Lille, 2014. At the time Le Syndicat were Jean-Marie and Saphi from Nocturne. 

Esplendor Geometrico are from Spain, formed in 1981 their name is inspired by "Geometric And Mechanical Splendour And The Numerical Sensibility" by the Italian futurist Fillipo Tommaso Marinetti. Originally a three-piece but now just the core members Arturo Lanz and Saverio Evangelista remain. The track here is from the 1982 album "El Acero Del Partido/Héroe Del Trabajo" originally released by Tic Tac, remastered and reissued on CD by Geometrik Records in 2000. Arturo now lives in China, all Esplendor information is here : https://www.rotordiscos.com/sellos/geometrik/1/.

                                          Arturo (EG), Graeme (SPK) + Adi (Clock DVA). 2025.

                                                                          Cranioclast.

Cranioclast, sometimes spelt Kranioklast, were formed in 1982 in Hagen, Germany. Comprising of two members ; Sankt Klario and Soltan Karik all their releases are anagrams of their name. The piece here is from the 7: "Can I Talk Or S....". 

Otto Muehl was part of the Austrian Artists Kollective (AAK), sometimes referred to as the Viennese Aktionists formed in the 1960s. Also in the group were Hermann Nitsch, Günter Brus, Rudolf Schwarzkogler, Anni Brus and Valie Export. Their works and influence are heavily studied in 'Shock Factory'. The Current 93 tracks are a couple of my favourite releases. "I Have A Special Plan For This World" has lyrics by Thomas Ligotti and also features Steve Stapleton and Colin Potter from Nurse With Wound. "LAShTAL" was the debut 12"EP on the Belgian L.A.Y.L.A.H. Antirecords label and features Fritz from 23 Skidoo and John Balance of Coil. 

The Laibach track is from the compilation album "Vhutemas Archetypi" released in 1984 on Side Effects Records. The Hermann Nitsch piece is from the triple album box set on Vinyl On Demand. "Dornenkrönung" is part of the "Die Geburt Des Dionysos Christos" trilogy recorded on the 9th December at Linz, Austria. 

"Boy In A Wheelchair" by Sudden Infant is from the CD album "Psychotic Einzelkind" on the now defunct Blossoming Noise label. "Elias In The Mirror" is on the latest cassette release by Himukalt. Ester Kärkkäinen's project are mentioned alongside Puce Mary, Vomir and Prurient (amongst others) as artists carrying the industrial banner in the 21st Century. "Katoptronophilia, Part One" is available as download via : https://himukalt.bandcamp.com. Also available via this site is Ester's book "Sex Works", a collection of statements and interviews (including Andrew Fletcher's piece from Intrusive Signals Magazine) and photographs / artwork. Recommended. 

There's a lovely 4xCD release by Cherry Red Records called "Third Noise Principle (Formative North American Electronica 1975-1984)" This features a lot of sounds by projects / artists discussed in the "Shock Factory" book. The Boy Dirt Car track is from this compilation. 

I played the Whitehouse track "Great White Death" at 45rpm on purpose! 

Sleep Chamber formed in 1981 by John Zewizz, Eugene Difrancisco and Phil Brosseau. At some points Jonathan Briley and Michael Moynihan (Coup De Grace) were also members. "Sleep In Morocco" is from the 10"EP "Sonorous Invokations Ov Brian Jones". The Metgumbnerbone track is from the self-released double CD "Anthropological Field Recordings Of The Dispossessed". For more details please visit : https://metgumbnerbone.bandcamp.com/album/anthropological-field-recordings-for-the-dispossessed. G.X. Jupitter-Larsen track is from the 7xCD box set "Old Europa Cafè" the 100th release by this great Italian label. 

"Candy Man" is the B-Side to "To Mom On Mother's Day" by Monte Cazazza, released on Industrial Records in 1979. It was Monte that coined the phrase "Industrial Music For Industrial People" back in 1977. 

The John Duncan track is from the split 7"EP on Die Stadt. Relaesed on 26th September 2003 in conjunction with a live performance by John, Leif Elggren and Carl Michael Von Hausswolff in the Bremen Lagerhaus. The broadcast ends with Con-Dom's "Right To Be Here" part of the '8 Sermons' 7" series .... 

As mentioned all sounds are pulled from artists / projects that are featured, mentioned and reviewed in Nicolas Ballet's book "Shock Factory". I guess the book is still available from all good bookstores, I bought mine from Waterstones (in the UK). Please don't buy from Amazon. 

The broadcast is available on Mixcloud, split in to two two-hourly parts for easier aural digestion.

Part One.

https://www.mixcloud.com/muhsteve/muhmur-radio-broadcast-23-november-2025-shock-factory-part-one/

Part Two.

https://www.mixcloud.com/muhsteve/muhmur-radio-broadcast-23-november-2025-shock-factory-part-two/

Playlist:

01: Throbbing Gristle : "Industrial Introduction" (Fetish Records) 1978.

02: Throbbing Gristle : "Slug Bait (ICA/Southampton/Brighton)" (Fetish Records) 1978.

03: Throbbing Gristle : "Maggot Death (Rat Club/Studio/Southampton)" (Fetish Records) 1978.

04: Cabaret Voltaire : "Fourth Shot" (Rough Trade Records) 1979.

05: Club Moral : "Hendrik De Man" (Staaltape) 1985.

06: Nocturnal Emissions : "Smear Campaign 7" / Legs" (Sterile Records) 1981.

07: Zero Kama : "Prayer Of Zos" (Athanor) 2001.

08: Reed Ghazala : "Maelstrom In The Dust Of Ages" (Korm Plastics) 1991.

09: Psy 23 : "The Fourth Reich" (Korm Plastics) 1991.

10: Soviet France : "Norsch Tauss" (Red Rhino Records) 1983.

11: Soviet France : "Norsch Ballmaen" (Red Rhino Records) 1983.

12: Diamanda Galas : "Sono L'Antichristo" (Mute Records) 1986.

13: Einstürzende Neubauten : "Kalte Sterne" (ZickZack) 1981.

14: NON : "Rise" (Mute Records) 1982.

15: Nurse With Wound : "Summertime Belongs To Me" (Vinyl On Demand) 2009.

16: Kapotte Muziek : "Den Haag I & II" (Dead Mind Records) 2025.

17: S.P.K. : "Metal Dance" (SAT Records) 2014.

18: Test Dept : "Compulsion" (Some Bizzare) 1983.

19: Le Syndicat : "Sorry" (Korm Plastics) 1986.

20: Esplendor Geometrico : "Héroe Del Trabajo (I)" (Geometrik) 2000.

21: Cranioclast : "No Caveman Bites The Dog" (Sonaria) 1997.

22: Otto Muehl : "Untitled" (Play Naked) 2005.

23: Current 93 : "I Have A Special Plan For This World" (Durtro) 2000.

24: Current 93: LAShTAL" (L.A.Y.L.A.H. Antirecords) 1984.

25: Laibach : "(Overture) To..." (Side Effects Records) 1986.

26: Hermann Nitsch : Dornenkrönung" (Vinyl On Demand) 2008.

27: Sudden Infant : "Boy In A Wheelchair" (Blossoming Noise) 2008.

28: Himukalt : "Elias In The Mirror" (EK Verlag) 2025.

29: Boy Dirt Car : "Catalyze (Subject To Catalyst)" (Cherry Red Records) 2019.

30: Whitehouse : "Great White Death" (Come Organisation) 1985.

31: NON : "Romance Fatal Dentro De Un Auto" (Mute Records) 1982.

32: Sleep Chamber : "Somewhere In Morocco" (Manhood Records) 1995.

33: Metgumbnerbone : "Black Middens" (Not On Label-Self Released) 2020.

34: G.X. Jupitter-Larsen : "Norge Om Polybelge" (Old Europa Café) 2008.

35: Monte Cazazza : "Candy Man" (Industrial Records) 1979.

36: John Duncan : "The Gossamer Dispatch" (Die Stadt) 2003.

37: Con-Dom : "The Right To Be Here" (Tochnit Aleph) 1996.

There are interludes between some of the tracks by Vagina Dentata Organ (from the new CD "Concrete Music"), Peter Sotos CD "Buyers Market" and the voice of Henry Lee Lucas ( from the 2x7" "Murder" on Alamut Records). 

Again, thanks for listening. Thanks also to Chris Booth and Tamsin. Next broadcast will be the last of 2025 on December 21. 18:00 gmt. https://soundartradio.org.uk