Sunday 29 November 2020

MuhMur Radio Broadcast 26 November 2020 (Drekka Special).


Drekka is the solo project of sound artist / visual artist and musician Michael Anderson. Michael began in 1996 experimenting with noise and getting involved with the Industrial tape culture that existed at the time, developing in to more expansive sounds, drones, cut-ups and cinematic textures and moving away from the 'bedroom noise' sound a lot of folk seemed happy with. The project became Drekka and Michael created a label for his work called Bluesanct. 

The first Drekka release on Bluesanct was the split 7" EP with US experimentalists Octal in 1997, the following year Drekka released the cassette "There Can Make Nothing Of Difference". In 2014 Drekka gained wider recognition with two album releases on the US Dias Records label and continually played live through Europe and USA. 
Collaborations have been a feature of Drekka's output working with artists such as Dylan Ettinger, Mykel Boyd, Darryl Blood, Annelies Monseré and Timber Rattle to name a few. The first track of this broadcast is from a collaboration with Howard Stelzer. "Invariably Falling Forward, Into The Thickets Of Closure" is a triple CD on No Rent Records and features two collaborations with Michael. "Violet" is one of them. 

Last year (2019) I was fortunate to catch Drekka live in Plymouth. The recording of this performance / ritual has been remixed and remastered by Michael for MuhMur Radio. 


                         
                                          Drekka Live @ Union Corner, Plymouth : 16 Nov. 2019.

"Call To Prayer" & "Length At Night" are from the 2020 album "Examinations 2016 - 2018", with "Length At Night" featuring Giuseppe Capriglione from Skrei. The final track of the broadcast "Mykramekt" a limited edition double holed lathe cut 12" that came with the 'art edition' of this release. 

"Live In Europe 2010" was recorded in Slovenia and Italy and released by Bristol (UK) based label Chemical Tapes. Physical copies have now all sold, but downloads are available here : https://chemicaltapeslabel.bandcamp.com
"The Seventh Continent (Oceanic Waves Wave)" is from the LP "Unbeknownst To The Participants At Hand" released in 2015 on Dais Records. https://www.daisrecords.com

2020 would have seen a European tour with BºTong, hopefully that will now take place in 2021. Michael can be contacted via Bluesanct here : http://www.bluesanct.com

Playlist :
01: Howard Stelzer : "Violet" (No Rent Records) 2020.
02: Drekka : "Live In Plymouth 16:11:19" (Not On Label) 2020.
                     (i) "Sense Of Senses/Call To Prayer (Sunrise)"
                     (ii) "Pianos Of The Cosmos"
                     (iii) "The Work In Question Is Unbeknownst To The Participants"
                     (iv) "Call To Prayer (Sunset)"
              (All tracks exclusively remixed and remastered for MuhMur Radio broadcast).
03: Drekka : "Call To Prayer" (Fabrica/Red Frost Industries) 2020.
04: Drekka : "Length At Night" (Fabrica/Red Frost Industries) 2020.
05: Drekka : "Wilderness Dub" (Chemical Tapes) 2011.
06: Drekka : "Bloody Heart/Bathysphere" (Chemical Tapes) 2011.
07: Drekka : "Revalations 52.9000" (Chemical Tapes) 2011.
08: Drekka : "Samy Takes Piano Lessons/Leonard Buries Strangers" (Chemical Tapes) 2011.
09: Drekka : "The Seventh Continent (Oceanic Waves Wave)" (Dais Records) 2015.
10: Drekka : Mykramakt" (Fabrica/Red Frost Industries) 2020.


Thanks to Michael for the sounds and generosity. 
Next broadcast is on December 10. 

Sunday 15 November 2020

MuhMur Radio Broadcast 12 November 2020


I was playing a box of 7" singles and came across the Essential Logic "Eugene" 7". I played the B-Side as I couldn't quite remember the song, and to me it sounded like a theme tune, a them tune to a 1970's sit-com off the telly, so I played "Tame The Neighbours" as this broadcasts' theme tune. 

Going through the diaries and I find that 'on this day' in 1980 4AD Records released two singles. "You & I" by Mass and "Gathering Dust" by Modern English. I realise that this is 40 years ago, and this was the first year of 4AD Records. Back in 1980 I was 18/19 years old and an avid collector of the 7" single, usually going by what John Peel played on his radio programme, or collecting releases by such labels as Small Wonder Records, Rough Trade Records, Mute, Factory Records (etc). Coming from a history of buying the 7" single from about 1971 the format has always been (or certainly was until the onslaught of Punk/New Wave/DIY) disposable. From the throwaway singles by the likes of Lieutenant Pigeon, Geordie and Gilbert O' Sullivan to the Glam Rock of David Bowie, T-Rex and Roxy Music to the Candy Glam of Mud, Gary Glitter and Hello I bought them all (it's what the pocket money was for and the prices ranged from 27 pence to 45 pence). There was a brief period when I was 'into' rock music and the 7" singles by the likes of Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Judas Priest were something to treasure as they were a rarity in themselves. Sanctuary Records in Lincoln had their 7"s for sale in an old shoebox on the counter - it was like they were a novelty item to the serious rock record collector. Of course punk changed that, punk changed everything and made the 7" single cool and collectable again. 

I was in like Flint with 4AD Records. They began in 1980 originally as Axis Records releasing a quartet of 7" singles by The Fast Set, Bearz, Bauhaus and Shox. I remember grabbing the Bearz and Bauhaus singles on release. I thought The Bearz were an off shoot from the band Fruit Eating Bears whose "Cheavy Heavy" single I loved at the time. (But No as Colin Newman once said). It was then realised by owners Peter Kent and Ivo Watts-Russell that there was always a label called Axis Records and a probable court case was on the horizon they changed the name to 4AD Records and re issued the first four singles as 4AD Records Releases. For the next couple of years 4AD Records released some of the most important and influential records of the time, also presenting 4AD Records live nights around London. Groups and projects such as Mass, Rema Rema, The Wolfgang Press, In Camera, Modern English, My Captains, Gilbert & Lewis, Past 7 Days, Dif Juz, Bauhaus, Psychotik Tanks, Cocteau Twins and The The to name but a few. For me the label fell by the wayside and became less collectable / listenable in (around) 1983 by releasing records by the likes of X Mal Deutschland, Colourbox, Dead Can Dance and Clan Of Xymox. Strange circumstances found me thirteen years later spending a week at the ICA in London attending the 4AD Records "13 Year Itch" festival. (I was on the guest list) and watching the then current slew of 4AD groups like Throwing Muses, Brendan Perry, The Breeders, Underground Lovers and Red House Painters.  I thought they were all awful but the performance by His Name Is Alive was interesting as was The Wolfgang Press covering Rema Rema. 

I have played the Mass single "You & I" a couple of times on MuhMur Radio and those times can be found on the MuhMur Radio MixCloud Archive page, and I don't like playing the same records over and over so I played the A Side to the Mass album "Labour Of Love". Released in May 1981 Mass were the fallout from The Models and Rema Rema and in 1983 developed into The Wolfgang Press with members Gary Asquith and Danny Briottet emerging in the late 1980s as Renegade Soundwave. 


4AD Records was the perfect home for BC Gilbert & G Lewis with Rough Trade Records supporting their Dome project and Cherry Red Records releasing the collaborative work with visual artist Russell Mills, 4AD released three Gilbert + Lewis records, the LP "3R4" the 12" single "Like This For Ages" (as Cupol)  and the 7" "Ends With The Sea" and later in 1988 released the CD "8 Time" a compilation of 4AD Records releases. "Hung Up To Dry Whilst Building An Arch" is the B Side to "Ends With The Sea". 


Modern English's first release on 4AD Records was in May 1980 with the single "Swans On Glass". They had already put out the 7" "Drowning Man" on the independent Limp Records label a year earlier. "Gathering Dust" was their second 7" for 4AD Records. Both songs in this programme are from this single. Little known and totally irrelevant fact is that my brother in law auditioned for Modern English whilst at university in Colchester. He later became the bass player in Appliance. 


My Captains released their only 7" on 4AD Records in 1981. My Captains were a quartet from Oxford, little is known about them, sometime in the early 1990's I got in touch with the drummer Richard Tarver who was then a councillor for the Labour Party in Oxford. I asked him if there were any studio outakes or unreleased material but the question drew a blank - he did mail me the EP though..forever grateful.

I was very happy to receive a package from Slavek Kwi from Artificial Memory Trace that included the four way split album "Frogoroth". The LP features tracks from Slavek alongside Sylvain Van Iniitu, Yannick Dauby and Dave Phillips. Mainly featuring sounds created by amphibians from around the globe the Dave Phillips and Slavek Kwi tracks are from this album. The LP  was released in 2017 and I'm not too sure if it still available but the Frogoroth Concert can be downloaded here : https://dave-phillips.bandcamp.com/album/the-z-rich-concert

It has been a busy 12 months for Alice Kemp, with the release last November of the album "Fox" on Tochnit Aleph, the track for the lockdown on the Amplify 2020 project "Your Bones Will Be My Home" (which is available for free here : https://amplify2020.bandcamp.com/album/your-bones-will-be-my-home). And now the C20 cassette on Fragment Factory called "Songs In The Key Of NO". Packaged in an old 1990's TDK cassette case with individual art card the cassette is limited to 50 copies only and I think sold out from source but the digital version is still available from Fragment Factory. https://fragmentfactory.bandcamp.com/album/songs-in-the-key-of-no for only €3.50. Alice has also released a tryptich of pamphlets through Wrathful Flower Press and contributed (alongside Dieter Müh) to the compilation cassette in aid of funds for Skylark FM, a new Dartmoor (Devon) based radio station. Like I said ...  a busy year.


Geisterfahrer are a Hamburg based NDW band formed in 1979 by Matthias Schuster and Michael Ruff. "Leiser Tod" is the B Side to the 7" single "Madish Ahb'el" 
The John Paul track is from his new mini album "Relics" it's a companion release to the album "Subjects" which came out earlier this year. It's a co-release between Environmental Studies and Harbinger Sound and available here : https://www.musicglue.com/environmental-studies/products/john-paul-relics-6-track-download
In July this year American reissue specialists Dark Entries (back to 4AD Records again) released a 12" version of Robert Rental's "Paralysis"single. This time packaged with a small information tract and three bonus tracks that were originally released on the "Mental Detentions" cassette in 1979. "Ugly Talk" is from the 12"EP. Optimo Music in Glasgow were carrying copies, always worth an ask. https://optimomusic.bandcamp.com

Please take a listen to the programme here : https://www.mixcloud.com/muhsteve/muhmur-radio-broadcast-12-november-2020/. Comments and Emails always welcomed.

Playlist :
01: Essential Logic : "Tame The Neighbours" (Rough Trade Records) 1980.
02: BC Gilbert + G Lewis : "3.4" (4AD Records) 1980.
03: Dave Phillips : "Frogowrath" (Iniitu) 2017.
04: Mass : "Mass" (4AD Records) 1981.
05: Mass : "Why" (4AD Records) 1981.
06: Mass : "Ill" (4AD Records) 1981.
07: Mass : "Why" (4AD Records) 1981.
08: Mass : "Isn't Life Nice" (4AD Records) 1981.
09: Slavek Kwi : "Tasman Firedance In The Drain" (Iniitu) 2017.
10: Modern English : "Gathering Dust" (4AD Records) 1980.
11: Alice Kemp : "Dead Milk Conduit" (Fragment Factory) 2020.
12: Alice Kemp : "Violent Sea" (Fragment Factory) 2020.
13: Alice Kemp : "Bad Birth" (Fragment Factory) 2020.
14: Alice Kemp : "Violent Sea (II)" (Fragment Factory) 2020.
15: Artificial Memory Trace : "Boto Pt 2 (Black Water)" (Iniitu) 2011.
16: Artificial Memory Trace : "Boto Pt 3  + Tocuxi (White Water)" (Iniitu) 2011.
17: Modern English : "Tranquility Of A Summer Moment (Vice Versa)" (4AD Records) 1980.
18: Geisterfahrer : "Leiser Tod" (Konkurrenz Schallplatten/Phonogram Records) 1981.
19: John Paul : "Happy Meal" (Environmental Studies/Harbinger Sound) 2020.
20: Gilbert And Lewis : "Hung Up To Dry Whilst Building An Arch" (4AD Records) 1981.
21: My Captains : "Fall" (4AD Records) 1981.
22: Robert Rental : "Ugly Talk" (Dark Entries/Optimo Music) 2020.

Thanks for reading / listening.


Sunday 1 November 2020

MuhMur Radio Broadcast 29 October 2020.

 

                                                         Wagner Ödegård /156/ Draoidh.

The programme starts with a new release from Wagner Ödegård. "Nordsolen" is from the new (August 2020) cassette on Altare Productions called "Ursumar". Wagner is a very mysterious artist, born in Lapland but now resident in Sweden. He also plays (bass guitar I think) in a couple of Black Metal / Doom Metal bands called Felon Wind and Tomhet. Wagner's solo project leans more towards the ambient occult / industrial noise genre. On the same day as this cassette Altare Productions released a companion cassette called "Spösturgan" which came packaged with a 35 page magazine of Wagner's artwork.  The Altare Productions (a Portuguese label) website seems to be under maintenance until mid-November but copies maybe available direct from Wagner here : https://brugmanziah.bandcamp.com

The Current 93 track is from the triple CD "The Inmost Light". Alongside the voices of David Tibet and Jonh Balance is the voice of Alessandro Moreschi, the late 19th Century castrato, the only castrato of the classic bel canto tradition to make sound recordings. 


The origins of the name behind the project of 156 may be found here https://www.amodali.com/galvah/ or may be not ... 156 is also the bus route between Vauxhall and Wimbledon, it's also a song by the rock band Queensryche and the atomic number of an element temporarily called Unpenthexium. Earlier in the year Adel Souto got in touch by sending some 156 vinyl and cassettes, a completely new project to my ears 156 have been releasing sounds since 2011. 156 are a collective project conducted by Adel from his base in Florida. The 10" LP "Momento Mori" is constructed of sounds made by human bones and breath passing through human bones. "Kokoro" & "To My Sons And Daughters" are from this 10". "The Collapse Of It All (Pts I-III)" is from a split cassette with Canadian noisemaker Knurl. This tape was released by Humanhood Recordings. Adel also has his own record / publishing label called 'Feast Of Hate And Fear'. Get in touch here : https://onefivesix.bandcamp.com/music

2020 is becoming a busy year for Contrastate with a couple of albums out since summer. "The Illusion Of Power" CD has just been released by the Italian Old Europa Cafe label, an accompaniment to the 10" lathe cut that came out at the start of the year, and in September Black Rose Recordings released the CD "Recorded Evidence II". (I don't think there was ever a "Recorded Evidence I" album). This CD is a compilation of singles, b-sides and compilation LP appearances from 1993 - 2017. There's also a couple of unreleased tracks and it is these tracks that are played here. 

Copley Medal is the solo project of Dais Records boss Ryan Martin. "Select Panic" is from the 2015 cassette "Marble Cage" on Vitrine. 

                                                                          Muhviertel.

Muhviertel were a Manchester based project. Originally created for a one-off live performance at Manchester PSV Club in 1986. Culling members from Systemlaw Violator, Landishkrill and Ideas Beyond Filth Muhviertel carried on recording and releasing up to 1989. In 1985 Systemlaw Violator mainman Sean Rorke created the Carnifex Recordings label (with Gary Warmington) to release their sounds. In 1987 Muhviertel released the 3xC46 tape "Morsjusti". The track "Nap'hsha" is from this release. This track was recorded in John Nash Crescent in Hulme. Carnifex Recordings sold their cassettes at Eastern Bloc Records in Manchester and via mail order, how many are out there in the world is unknown but if anyone has copies I'd be interested to know. 
Draoidh are an American project, "Temple Of Tongues" is their only release to date. The cassette version has sold out but is available as download from Orb Tapes (of Pennsylvania) here : https://orbtapes.bandcamp.com/album/temple-of-tongues



The Birthday Party single "Release The Bats" is the MuhMur Radio concession to playing the obvious on a "Halloween Special". 
I was to follow this track with "Ghost By Mouth" by Eric Lunde. I have the lathe-cut single edition (with book and artworks) but unfortunately the needle did not want to know and kept slipping and sliding across the surface ... so I played two TG tracks instead of just finishing on "Spirits Flying". here two tracks are taken from the "Mission Of Dead Souls". The LP is subtitled "The Last Live Performance of TG" and originally released by Fetish Records in 1981. I play the Mute Records re-issue here. 

Playlist:
01: Wagner Ödegård : "Nordsolen" (Altare Productions) 2020.
02: Current 93 : "Where The Long Shadows Fall" (Durtro/Jnana Records) 2007.
03: 156 : "Kokoro" (Feast Of Hate And Fear) 2016.
04: 156 : "The Collapse Of It All (Parts I-III)" (HumanHood Recordings) 2020.
05: Contrastate : "Between Two Mirrors" (Black Rose Recordings) 2020.
06: Copley Medal : "Select Panic" (Vitrine) 2015.
07: Muhviertel : "Nap'hsha" (Carnifex Recordings) 1987.
08: 156 : "To My Sons And Daughters" (Feast Of Hate And Fear) 2016.
09: Draoidh : "Temple Of Tongues (I)" (Orb Tapes) 2019.
10: Contrastate : "Africanas Neanderthalis" (Black Rose Recordings) 2020.
11: The Birthday Party : "Release The Bats" (4AD Records) 1981.
12: Throbbing Gristle : "Funeral Rites" (Mute Records) 1983.
13: Throbbing Gristle : "Spirits Flying" (Mute Records) 1983. 


Next broadcast will be on 12 November and feature new pieces from Alice Kemp and John Paul alongside a small tribute to 40 years of 4AD Records with some tunes by Mass, Modern English, My Captains and Gilbert And Lewis and some great sounds from Slavek Kwi & Artificial Memory Trace. 

MuhMur Radio Update (Part Deux) ...

  MuhMur Radio will be back on air on MARCH 31 at 18:00 GMT for the first monthly 4 HOUR LIVE Broadcast. Please make a date with the radio...