MuhMur Radio Broadcast 24 October 2019.

Back in the early 1980's I used to swap / trade a lot of 'bootleg' tapes with various folk from around the planet. Lots of live recordings (mix desk quality only) of bands like Bauhaus, Section 25, Wire etc. A few tapes were John Peel Sessions and the likes. I think I still have the Virgin Prunes Dave Fanning Sessions somewhere in a box of tapes, also demo tapes were quite popular, The Pop Group being a favourite at the time. "Don't Sell Your Dreams" was a pop song back then. Throbbing Gristle beat the racket (of course) by releasing all their live gigs and demos as official releases on Industrial Records. A couple of favourites that I had back then were Clock DVA's "Alternative Soundtrack For The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" cassette and Cabaret Voltaire's "Chance Vs Causality" tape. The former is in a box somewhere in the house ... probably with the Prunes tape whilst the latter has been re-issued on CD by The Grey Area/Mute Records.
An extract to the soundtrack appeared as a B-Side on the 1979 single "Silent Command", but with little information. Now 40 years or so later I can say that "Chance Versus Causality" is/was the soundtrack to a 16mm film for two projectors by Babeth Mondini recorded at Cabaret Voltaire's Western Works Studio in Sheffield.
Cromlech Shadow are the Dutch/UK duo Chandor Gloomy and Andy Jarvis. Chandor operates the Coma Kultur label and have just released a split CDR with Sexton Mings Porridge Van (the UK duo comprising of Sexton Ming and Jason Williams). "The Other Girl Cried" is from this release and available here : https://comakultur.bandcamp.com/album/s-e-x-t-o-n-m-i-n-g-s-p-o-r-r-i-d-g-e-v-a-n-c-r-o-m-l-e-c-h-s-h-a-d-o-w

Cromlech Shadow also provide an exclusive piece for this broadcast called "A Slow Night". Andy Jarvis and Marky Loo Loo are Dirty Swords. The two tracks here are from the second Dirty Swords album "The Devil's Paste". Andy and Marky used to be part of the mid 1990's performance group DogLiverOil. Copies of the album are available, get in touch with Andy through the Dirty Swords Facebook page : https://www.facebook.com/dirtyswords/

                                              Dirty Swords live in Stoke-On-Trent 2019.

M.Nomized is the project of Parisian sound artist Michel Madrange. Michel has been releasing cassettes of his noises since 1983 when he created Fraction Studio. The track here is from the compilation cassette "Music For A Few People Volume 2" released by Dutch label Non-Interrupt.

The first five 7" singles by Cosmonauts Hail Satan are five of my favourite singles from the 1990's. "Pittsburgh Voodoo Ritual" is from their fifth 7" called "Mortuary Sorcery". There was to be an album released by CHS around the time they were putting out all these amazing singles but sadly the label that was to release it ran into financial problems and when it finally came out in 1998 CHS had ceased to be. There should be a label prepared to release an album of CHS singles. At the time they were shrouded in mystery mascarading as Mr Cosmonaut & Mr Satan but I have since learnt that CHS were Darren Wyngarde (of Vile Plumage and Filthy Turd fame) and Neil Campbell (AKA Astral Social Club).

"A Sunday Night In Biot" comes from Cabaret Voltaire's "1974-76" album, originally released on cassette in 1980 on Industrial Records it has now been re-issued as a double album on The Grey Area/Mute Records. My copy is on Orange vinyl. The sound is more accessible/commercial than the "Chance Vs Causality" album and a great way to discover the early sound of Cabaret Voltaire. "A Sunday Night In Biot" also appeared on the "Industrial Records Story" that Illuminated Records put out in 1984. It's a great slice of DaDa Music & Poetry.

"Su Se Stesso" is the first album in two years from Italian sound manipulators VipCranco. One studio piece and a live recording from 2017 make up this CD. The album is a search for personal solutions orientated towards characters and gestures, according to the typical methods of a concrete matrix improvisation.

                                                       Andrea Borghi of VipCranco.

The CD is available from Lisca Records : https://vipcancro.bandcamp.com Limited to 100 copies.
Since buying the re-issue of "Klaar" in the summer I have started filling holes in my John Duncan collection. "Black Moon" is a new 12" single on Dutch label De Player. It is two sides of sounds constructed from shortwave radio signals  recorded at the Technical University of Enschede. Another release limited to only 100 copies and available via De Player at : https://deplayer.bandcamp.com/album/john-duncan

irr.app.(ext.) is Matt Waldron a Californian based sound artist who seems to have been active forever! His recent activity includes collaborating with Toronto based genius William A. Davison on the "Stactirrm Radioo" programme. "Sleep Turbines" is from a 10" single on the Drone Records side label Substantia Innominata.

Playlist:
01: Cabaret Voltaire : "Chance Vs Causality (Part 3)" (The Grey Area/Mute Records) 2019.
02: Cromlech Shadow : "The Other Girl Cried" (Coma Kultur) 2019.
03: M.Nomized : "The Binding Loop" (Non-Interrupt) 2019.
04: Chris & Cosey : "This Is Me" (Rough Trade Records) 1981.
05: Dirty Swords : "Kazaki Neptus III" (Not On Label/Self Released) 2019.
06: Dirty Swords : "Masters Of Seas (The Lung Worm)" (Not On Label/Self Released) 2019.
07: Cosmonauts Hail Satan : "Pittsburgh Voodoo Satellite" (Suggestion Records) 1996.
08: Cabaret Voltaire : "A Sunday Night In Biot" (The Grey Area/Mute Records) 2019.
09: Cromlech Shadow : "A Slow Night" (Not On Label) 2019.
                                         (An exclusive recording for MuhMur Radio).
10: VipCranco : "Ex Musica" (Lisca Records) 2019.
11: John Duncan : "Black Moon (A)" (De Player) 2019.
12: irr.app.(ext.) : "Sleep Turbines" (Substantia Innominata) 2019.
13: German Army : "Flogged Ritual" (Dub Dutch Picnic) 2017.

Next broadcast is on November 7th - 20:00 GMT on SoundArt Radio 102.5FM (In SE Devon) or via the SoundArt Radio website : http://www.soundartradio.org.uk

MuhMur Radio Broadcast 10 October 2019.

Due to a hectic and jet-setting lifestyle over the last few weeks I was unable to gather the playlist around the old h-fi and take a picture ... (as is usual), apologies for that .. but here's a picture sent in by a couple of listeners who wanted to hear more Frans de Waard!

The programme opens with HomoErotic Plague and their piece from the "Scandinavian War Crimes Volume One" compilation cassette. This compilation features Arkhe, Blitzkrieg Baby, Capers and Koeff alongside a few unfamiliar names whose output seems to be only on this 2015 cassette. HomoErotic Plague being one of them as well as Cops and Vader Has Meg Near Mitt Timeglass Utrinder. It does make me wonder if these 'one-off' projects are projects from the labels' owner Andreas Johansson (AKA Arkhe, Backasvinet and Pestdemon). It has happened with other compilations before.

If HomoErotic Plague do exist and someone reading this knows how to get in contact can you please let me know as I would really like to hear more. I also look forward to Volume Two. There are a few copies of Volume One available via : https://arkhetriumvirat.wordpress.com/kafe-kaos/

One of the highlight releases of the year has to be the fifteen album box set "Chåsse" by Soviet France. (I think I covered the S/Z thing in the last post ... not to be confused with S/Z who released a great split 7" with Last Few Days on Touch Records back in 1985). Fortunately Frank at Vinyl On Demand has decided to release a limited number of the albums individually. The Lp version of "Gris" (originally a 10"EP) comes with bonus tracks recorded around the same time (1983/84), and I still think "Mohonomische" is one of the greatest albums ever recorded.
I have been fortunate to play alongside Soviet France back in 1995, back then they were the solo project Ben Ponton, it was fascinating to watch him with a handful of cassette decks and effects boxes create a sonic soundtrack to (what I think was) "Koyaanisqatsi".

                                                                    "Mohonomische"

Around the same time as releasing "Chåsse" Vinyl On Demand released "Recordings 1979-1981" by Two Daughters. A double album containing their 1980 debut eponymous cassette and 1981 LP "Kiss The Cloth/Gloria" which was originally self released then re-issued on cassette by United Dairies. I first came across Two Daughters when they had a track on the "Perspectives & Distortion" compilation LP released by Cherry Red Records in 1981. An air of mystery surrounded the project then .. pretty much as it does now. The Internet seems to think that Two Daughters were Anthony Burke and Nick Rogers. Nick Rogers was also part of Current 93 and The Bombay Ducks, both aligned to Nurse With Wound at the time. The only credit I have seen is that Jon More played clarinet on "Return Call/We Are" that appears on the compilation and the first eponymous cassette. According to Discogs Anthony Burke passed away in 2004.

There is also the 'theory' that Two Daughters were Anthony Burke and Simon Fisher Turner. A couple of years after the demise of Two Daughters the project Deux Filles appeared - Deux Filles being French for Two Daughters, but this theory is widely dismissed despite the sounds being very similar.

The "On This Day" feature of the programme comes in two parts. Deux Parties in French. On October 10 1979 The Human League released the first (and in my opinion best) album "Reproduction" and Pere Ubu released the 7"EP  "The Fabulous Sequel (Have Shoes Will Walk)". This was the EP from the "New Picnic Time" album. 

                     The Human League (Insert from Portuguese pressing of "Reproduction").

The Cent Ans De Solitude piece is from the compilation CD "Tonwellen 3 Konferenz". It was produced for the Tonwellen Festival that took place in Leipzig earlier this year. I played the Nocturne piece from the same album on the last programme. Cent Ans De Solitude is the solo project of Jean-Yves Millet. Originally from Tours, when I played with Cent Ans De Solitude in 2013 (in Lille) he was living in Paris. Jean also formed the label Les Nouvelles Propagandes in the mid 1980's releasing French industrial and drone projects. 

                                                              Cent Ans De Solitude.

I bought a few singles to fill the gaps in my Frans de Waard collection the other week, one of those being the split 7" with Howard Stelzer. I wasn't too certain if it was a split or collaboration. Frans and Howard collaborated last year for the excellent "The Rebels Fold Scratchy, Relaxed Meanings Into Their Smallest Actions" cassette on the Park 70 label. On this split single Frans uses sound sources from Stelzer material and on the flip side Howard works with sound sources from their 2002 collaborative album "Torn Tongue". (Also on the Absurd label). Interestingly packaged in a butterfly shaped brown paper cover. 

Howard Stelzer is a prolific sound artist, and operates the excellent Intransitive Records label. He has recorded / released many many albums since beginning over twenty years ago. He is also a prolific collaborator working with (as mentioned) Frans de Waard, The Cherry Point, Brendan Murray, Jason Talbot and Jazzkammer to name a few, and this summer saw the release of "Warm Bones" a collaboration project with Ukrainian artist Edward Sol. "Warm Bones" is a CDR + 5" Reel To Reel Tape packaged in a wooden box with various ephemera and artworks. It is on Edward's own Sentimental Productions imprint. Available here : https://sentimentalproductions.bandcamp.com

Part two of "On This Day" and from 1978 comes a track from the Joy Division 12"EP "An Ideal For Living" released by Enigma Records. I don't have a copy of the 12" anymore but have taken the track "Warsaw" from the 'bootleg' CD "Warsaw". I think it is the same version. JD aficionados probably know better? "My Place" comes from the 1979 album "A Cast Of Thousands" by The Adverts. For me The Adverts were always a singles band and "My Place" was one of the singles from this album. I did see The Adverts when they were touring with this LP. They played Lincoln Tech College with Chelsea and it was one of the most violent gigs I have ever been to. I think Lincoln City had been playing a home match against Grimsby Town that day and they decided to have a battle against the 'punks' at the gig ... every man woman and child for themselves kind of thing. I think because of this evening all gigs at the Tech College stopped, which was kind of ironic because punk gigs were banned from Lincoln's Drill Hall venue in 1977 after mass fighting at a Damned gig ... and The Adverts were the support on that night. The Adverts are from Torquay where I now live, and they played their debut gig at The Links Hotel (now called The Snooty Fox) a pub that is spitting distance from Hartop Towers. 

The Expose Your Eyes track is from the Greek cassette "Harrison's Hand". E.C.T. have their own You Tube page. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdf_OKRwJ2gn045c4YpJEKw

Earlier in the evening I played the Soviet France track "Mohonomische #4" by mistake and ended with a few more minutes than planned so I slotted in Wreckless Eric's "Whole Wide World" single (I always carry an emergency track or two to play). The broadcast was always going to end with Cabaret Voltaire.

Playlist:

01: Homoerotic Plague : "Bruten Fōrtrollning" (Kafé Kaos) 2015.

02: Soviet France : "Gris" (Vinyl On Demand) 2019.

03: Soviet France : "Mohonomische #4" (Vinyl On Demand) 2019.

04: Two Daughters : "Air Lair" (Vinyl On Demand) 2019.

05: Two Daughters : "AAAAAAR" (Vinyl On Demand) 2019.

06: The Human League : "Zero As A Limit" (Virgin Records) 1979.

07: The Human League : "Empire State Human" (Virgin Records) 1979.

08: The Human League : "Blind Youth" (Virgin Records) 1979.

09: Pere Ubu : "The Fabulous Sequel (Have Shoes Will Walk)" (Chrysalis Records) 1979.

10: Cabaret Voltaire : "Why Kill Time (When You Can Kill Yourself)" (Virgin Records/Some Bizarre) 1983.

11: Cent Ans De Solitude : "Pour Des Hommes" (Atacama Records) 2019.

12: Soviet France : "Mohonomische #3" (Vinyl On Demand) 2019.

13: Frans de Waard : "Gravity At Half Speed" (Absurd) 2010.

14: Two Daughters : "Ladder Of Souls" (Vinyl On Demand) 2019.

15: Edward Sol & Howard Stelzer : "Hotel Rats" (Sentimental Productions) 2019.

16: Pere Ubu : "Humor Me (Live In London 1979)" (Chrysalis Records) 1979.

17: Pere Ubu : "The Book Is On The Table" (Chrysalis Records) 1979.

18: Warsaw : "Warsaw" (Factory Of Sounds) 2017.

19: The Adverts : "My Place" (RCA Victor) 1979.

20: Edward Sol & Howard Stelzer : "Warm Bones" (Sentimental Productions) 2019.

21: Edward Sol & Howard Stelzer : "Clerks Just Want To Have Fun" (Sentimental Productions) 2019.

22: Expose Your Eyes : "I Don't Want Your Mumbo Jumbo Bullshit" (E.C.T.) 2017.

23: Wreckless Eric : "Whole Wide World" (Stiff Records) 1977.

24: Cabaret Voltaire : "Yashar" (Factory Records) 1983. 

Next broadcast will be on September 24.