From The Archives #7 Architects Office

 

One of the cassettes featured / pictured in the 'Tapeworks' book is "AO 353" by Architects Office. Released in 1986 on audioFile Tapes. I hadn't played this tape in over ten years so I thought I'd dig it out and give it a reappraisal. I bought the tape in 2010 from Jürgen Eberhard of Fiene Trinkers Bei Pinkels Daheim. Unfortunately it is sans booklet. 

I was made aware of Architects Office through Dan Plunkett of ND Magazine. It was either reading about them and their work with filmmaker Stan Brakhage or the compilation cassette "A/aND : A Cross Cultural Collaboration Between A/a & ND Magazine" (1987). Whichever, I am a big admirer of their output. "AO 353" is a C60 with two very differing sides. Side A features six pieces beginning with abstract piano, improvised abstract piano, it's all very 'Klang-Klang' as a piano is attacked rather than played. The beating of strings and the framework. 'AO 262' (the third piece ... most Architects Office tracks seem to be documented by their number, the same approach is carried out by Japanese sound artist Takahiro Mukai) features tape sources provided by Stan Brakhage with floating (sci-fi) synth sounds and masked voices. The same sound can be found on 'AO 277' but without the Brakhage tapes and with the addition of a plinky-plinky (toy) piano. At this point the whole abstract + improvisational sound approach is reminding me of a Fluxus album I have by Joseph Beuys and Nam June Paik, it's all very similar. Are Architects Office fluxus music? 

'AO 342' again has the floating synth sound, 1970's Star Trek outbursts mixed with Delia Derbyshire type whoosh and warbles. This time with the sounds of French Horns, live and manipulated through tape and child voices. This piece I can imagine being used as soundtrack to an experimental film. Side A ends with 'Variete'. This also features on the A/aND compilation cassette. A very structured piece with electronic synth pulses and electronic harpsichord giving at all a Popul Vuh / Tangerine Dream vibe. A nice way to end the side after some 'difficult' abstract experimental listening. 

Still in the realms of experimental and abstract, Side B is more of a cognitive listen. 'AO 217' is a recording of a visual presentation. An audience watching a film. A child's voice says "Is This A Thing?". There's muttering, murmuring, laughing, coughing from the assembly, some folk make animal noises, maybe depicting what is on the screen (?). A whistling starts and builds. It's all very listenable. 'AO 301.5' is also a live recording. Subtitled "Shuke Anthem" from January 1986. A bass clarinet with synth keys and tape manipulations gives it a sort of sinister cabaret feel. 'AO 219' is a journey, we know this by the repeated train station announcements. It's a long piece featuring bass clarinet, random synthesiser and piano with field recordings and voices. The final piece 'AO 239' is a conversation between Lisa, Linda and Nancy with laughing and howling all to a backdrop of industrial style electronics. 

After ten years or so this was a great listen, it brought back memories of Dan. I don't have much AO. "Soundtracks" a collection of AO recordings that Monochrome Vision released in 2014 on CD will go on the 'to play' list for sure. If anybody has a spare copy of the 'A/aND' cassette then please get in touch. 

Pause & Tapeworks (Books about cassettes).

 

                                                                  Pause.

Only the other day I was chatting to a friend who said "books are coming back in fashion"! It's the first time I'd heard this one ... it now sits alongside the comment that I used to hear a few years ago that 'Vinyl' is coming back in fashion and 'cassettes ... do you still play them?'. 

I may be an old man who is stuck in his ways but books, records and cassettes never went out of fashion. 

I have 2000+ cassettes here at MuhMur HQ. I have been released on cassette, I have released cassettes. I love the K7. Equal to records (or vinyl as it is now called in the 21st Century) is the cassette tape. Thank you Mr. Ottens. Chapeau. So, when I find out that recently there has been two books written on / about cassette releases I had to get hold of them. 

"Pause" is a mammoth tome. 350 pages of cassette releases. Artwork of hundreds of cassette releases, all from this century. The book is written in French with an English translation. As well as the hundreds of pictures of cassette releases there are interviews with the folk behind the labels as well as overviews of the labels releases. A great interview with Ron Lessard (of RRRecords) about his starting of the 'Recycled' series. I'm really looking forward to the upcoming book on Ron / Emil Beaulieau that Korm are putting out ... soon. Interviews also with Dylan Nyoukis of Chocolate Monk, Aaron Dilloway of Hanson Records and Mattias Gustafsson, the man behind Hästen & Korset. Also in the book are pieces on Lal Lal Lal, Falt Records, Ultra Eczema, Third Type Tapes and Quagga Curious Sounds. It was good to read about the activities of Héloïse and Olmo, the people who operate ZamZamRec. They used to be based in Bristol many moons ago putting on great gigs in Stokes Croft. I remember they brought MyTrip to the UK. They also performed live as Zohastre, I saw them a couple of times at the Exchange in Bristol, supporting (I think) Consumer Electronics and Sleaford Mods. Always great live. They are now based in the Loire Valley in France. Good to know that they are still active. 

There's other labels and interviews too, labels of which I knew nothing but now I'm keen to discover. That's what the book does, and looking at the artwork it's like .... oooh, I didn't know that existed .... and ...... oooh, I've never seen that before, I need it!. That's what the book does. Dieter Müh's cassette release "Live At Gangerviertel" on the great SoundHoles label is on page 90. I was surprised and honoured to be included. https://stoo.noblogs.org/post/2024/03/09/nouvelle-sortie-pause/ gives more information. Grab a copy ... it's essential. 

                                                                  Tapeworks.

 The subtitle of "Tapeworks" is 'Art & Design Of 80's Experimental Electronic Music'. It's a collection of 151 releases from that decade. 90% of which are cassette releases. There is no narrative, no history given behind the releases, just pictures of the art and design. Again, a fascinating book and a great document of the DIY cassette culture, of art in a pre-computerised domain. A small run through of bands / artists included : Ptôse Production, Architects Office, Graf Haufen, SPK, Kanker Kommando, Storm Bugs, Tom Ellard and Sleep Chamber. I would say the list is endless ... but it's 151 releases. Again, essential. The book is pocket-sized (A6) and collected by ReSampled. They are UK based and have an interesting blog : https://resampled.tumblr.com So. Two great books, both essential.

I have already said that I love cassettes. I always have, ever since the days of taping John Peel's radio programmes in the 1970's. The late 1970's and the birth of cassette culture via the classifieds of NME / Sounds and ZigZag magazine. Groups such as The Instant Automatons, The Dogma Cats, The Door & The Window and (of course) the Industrial Records releases of live Throbbing Gristle. In 1979 I started a label called "Don't Dance ... Collide". I put out a couple of cassettes (in 1980), one of my then project E.S.P. Disk-rd. An aponymously titled cassette. And a compilation of Lincoln bands simply called "Don't Dance ... Collide". This featured Collide, E.S.P. Disk-rd and The Exitz. I sold copies for a pound through the classifieds, I think it sold about 12 copies. When I restarted Haemoccult Recordings a couple of years ago I had to release cassettes again. The first is by Grey Park "Think Space Act Local (Volume One)". Sold out at source but still available by sellers via Discogs. Grab a copy and keep the cassette culture going! 

                                                         E.S.P. Disk-rd Sleeve.

 

Steve Albini

 

It is always sad to hear of someone passing as it was sad to hear of the death of Steve Albini. I am not au fait with his past music, although I think I have a couple of Shellac tracks on an old cassette somewhere. I knew of Albini's work through his collaboration with Whitehouse in the 1990's. Reading through his obituaries online and on YouTube, some with long lists of his production work ... this classic CD from 1992 never gets a mention. RIP Steve Albini. 

From The Archives #6 John Duncan.

 

I have spent the last few days compiling a playlist for the next MuhMur Radio Broadcast, I have decided to make it a 'touchcentric' programme featuring artists / projects that have been released by and appear on  Touch / Ash International and The Tapeworm labels. Also some non Touch artists but I consider them to be 'touchcentric'. 

John Duncan has had his sounds released by Touch over the years. I think their collaboration began in 1993 with the album 'Send'. So I dug out some of my John Duncan collection (v. small) and came across the Book/CD "John Duncan Works : 1975 - 2005" and was surprised to find it came out in 2006. Then, thinking about it I surprised myself to discover that 2006 was 18 years ago ... it only seems like yesterday. I guess this is a sign of growing old. 2006 and I played the Wave-Gothik Treffen Festival in Leipzig and Barden's Boudoir in London and those gigs don't feel like eighteen years ago. 

I think it was early 1980's and reading about the actions, performance art actions of John Duncan in ND Magazine that drew me to his work. Actions such as 'Scare' and 'Blind Date' I found utterly intriguing. Then Dan (of ND magazine) and another friend, Tim, started mailing me cassettes of his audio work. "Riot" and "Dark Market Broadcast" spring to mind. Dan also mailed a cassette of Paul McCarthy talking about his exploits with John which is hilarious as it is fascinating as it is unbroadcastable (which is a shame). Since these days I have always kept an eye and ear out for John's releases. I was fortunate enough to see John Duncan live at the 'Lowest Form Of Music' event that happened in London in 2010. 

The book features artwork by John Duncan as well as contributions from Leif Elggren, Paul McCarthy, C.M. Von Hausswolff and Brandon LaBelle amongst others. There's a comprehensive strip down of John's early performance work and releases with additional photographs and sketches. It is more than a beginners guide if you know what I mean? The CD that accompanies is audio work from 1980 to 2003. It is (mainly) an audio guide to John's work using shortwave radio and field recordings. It begins with the EP "Creed" released in 1980 on All Questions Music (AQM). The five tracks have been mixed as one 10 minute piece.  The LP "Riot" from 1984 that was also released on AQM, and a track from the compilation album 'A Fault In The Nothing' called "Trinity". This wa originally released by Touch ... which is why I dug out this CD/Book in the first place. The CD ends with two pieces released in 1998 and 2003 on the German Die Stadt label. Like the book contents, the CD is a great overview to the work of John Duncan. The publisher is Errant Bodies Press. They also published an excellent book featuring the works of Stefan Roigk  last year that came with two CDs. https://errantbodies.org for more information. I also recommend the John Duncan Early Works vinyl box sets that Vinyl On Demand released a few years back, but they are probably harder to come by. 

                                                                         'Scare' 

And, strangely enough there'll be no John Duncan on the radio programme ..... I'm planning on giving the work of John Duncan a more 'thorough overview in a later broadcast.