It was £5.00 A DAY!!
Friday, 4 April 2025
Wednesday, 19 March 2025
MuhMur Radio Broadcast 16 March 2025.
A very cassettecentric (cassentric?) programme this month. Although the broadcast kicks off with a track from The Pop Group's seminal "For How Much Longer ... Do We Tolerate Mass Murder?" album which was released On This Day (March 16) in 1980.
Wolkokrots is the project comprising of Miguel A. Garcia and Ilia Belorukov. Earlier this year Steep Gloss released the cassette album "Nelinetrolls".
"Wolkokrots' "Nelinetrots" is the last album I did with Miguel. It started exactly the same way as it was when we worked on the very first album. In March 2020 Miguel sent me the files he found on his computer and said 'Let's do something with it?' We often worked over distance, sharing files and ideas, so I said 'Yes, Sure'. This time he sent me the music that he had made when he was a teenager with long hair (I can't even imagine Miguel with it!) Something that he described as his very first album. He mentioned it's "super gothic" and "really funny". ..... The music he sent was lo-fi and atmospheric, and I started to work on it, using it as a starting point to create something new. I decided to remix and rearrange original tracks and added my own sounds. I liked the idea of using some memories from my own childhood and teenage years. For example, there's a sample of a popular TV game I watched; or fragments of my piano playing, or field recordings I had made on a tape recorder. After my touch, Miguel began to deconstruct the material and, as always happened, it was something totally new and fresh. After several rounds we finished the album in 2023. Ilia Belorukov January 2025. The cassette is available from Steep Gloss at : https://steepgloss.bandcamp.com/music. As ever the d/load version is available at "Name Your Price".
Tod Dockstader is a fascinating artist. In the early 1960's he recorded the sound effects for Tom & Jerry cartoons before going to work in contemporary classical circles and musique-concret along with John Cage, Stockhausen and Edgar Varèse. The track "Song" is from the first album in the 'Ariel' trilogy. The latest offering from Mark Vernon is the cassette album "Unforced Errors" on the French label Vice De Forme. https://vicedeforme.bandcamp.com/album/unforced-errors.
The Dead Mauriacs return with the CD album "L'énigme Du Parc" on the I Shall Sing Until My Land Is Free label. The label supports Ukrainian resistance by donating profits to self-defence and humanitarian foundations. In the past they have released great albums by Edward Sol, Muslimgauze, Ilpo Väisänen, Merzbow and Kotra. Essential, please support. Visit : https://ishallsinguntilmylandisfree.com.
Last week I decided to play the albums in the "Myths" series released by Sub Rosa in the mid 1980s. Four albums and three 12" EPs. General Strike consisted of David Toop, Steve Beresford and David Cunningham. "Reach For N" was from the second album in the series with the sub title 'System Of Flux And Energies". The album also has tracks by Hula and SPK. Back in 2013 Mikko Aspa (aka Grunt) mailed me a CDR for broadcast as a "MuhMur Radio Session". A 23 minute piece called "Shovel Attack". A remastered version is now available on the CD "IOPS Soundtracks" on the Institute For Paraphilia Studies label. To grab a copy visit : http://freak-animal.net. I saw Grunt live a few times, I played with Grunt in Mäntsälä, Finland in 2000. Mikko organised the gig, also playing were Putrefier, Temple Of Tiermes, Cloama and STROM e.c. The evening was later released as a double CDR on the Kaos Kontrol label. Copies go for around a tenner on Discogs. Anyway ... I saw Cloama and Grunt live in Leeds (UK) in 2004. They were supporting Slogun at the legendary Fenton Arms. I am certain one of the members of Slogun that night was Chris Goudreau. Chances are Chris also performed as Sickness ... but my memory of this evening is very sketchy. The previous evening Dieter Müh had played in Manchester with Con-Dom & The Grey Wolves and we travelled to Leeds the next day ... Omei is the more 'ambient / experimental' sound of Chris Goudreau. 'I'm Sorry I Have Failed You' is from the double cassette "It Never Ends Well". It's a split release with Self. Self were a side project of Slogun mainman John Balisteri.
"Pppp" is the latest cassette from Modelbau. Three cassettes in a video case, A C14, a C18 and a C24. 'There music is mono and all about decay with tape loops falling apart'. Limited to 15 copies it's worth visiting Frans de Waard's site : https://modelbau.bandcamp.com for all Modelbau activity.
A.B.O. is 1990s project of Joachim Nordwall a.k.a. The iDEALIST. The track here is from an untitled 7". Definitely recorded in the 1990s but probably remastered in the last year or so. It's on the Belgian Meeuw Muzak label. http://www.meeuwmuzak.net. This year I have discovered the sound of David Wallraf. Hamburg based sound artist. I am slowly collecting his back catalogue, but some releases are ultra-limited. 5 or 6 copy editions etc. The first three tracks that end part one of the broadcast are from the 2022 cassette "NO WAR" on the UK based Brachliegen Tapes. The cassette is now sold out but a download version is available at : https://brachliegentapes.bandcamp.com/album/-. The later is piece is from David's latest release on the German Karls Records label. "Crudeltá Necessaria" is the follow up to last year's "The Commune Of Nightmares". It deals with the roles of cruelty in the works of Pier Paolo Pasolini by blending noise, raw electronics and field recordings into a detailed dystopian sonic picture. This cassette is limited to 100 copies, act fast at : https://karlrecords.bandcamp.com/album/crudelt-necessaria. By the time I have published this blog David has probably released another handful of tapes ....
One of my favourite sounds at the moment is the sound of Hauras. Hauras is the project of American sound artist Ryan Martin. I discovered Hauras through their early releases on the Helen Scarsdale Agency label. 'By Sheer Will' is from the latest cassette "Broken" on UK based Industrial Coast. 30 minutes of great experimental sounds. https://industrialcoast.bandcamp.com/album/broken.
A friend mailed me half a dozen or so CDRs by Ian Middleton. Old review copies from Idwal Fisher. I had never come across Ian's work / sound and enjoyed a couple of afternoons bathed in his ambient dronescapes and electronic waves. Information on Ian is pretty slim and perhaps I'll have to dig through my old copies of Idwal to find out more .... or wait until the compendium of Idwal's back catalogue is published by Korm Plastics ... soon, it's coming soon! I do know that Ian previously went under the moniker of Remora and one of the CDRs features a collaboration with MuhMur Radio favourite Mark Vernon. I asked Mark about his involvement with Ian 'Essentially Volute Springs is a remix of sorts of one of Ian's tracks that was made predominantly using a KORG MS-10. He gave me the stems and I remixed it'. I have no contact for Ian but some of his vinyl output is available via Discogs.
Celebrating 500 releases of William A. Davison and 40 years of his Recordism, William will release "500" a collection of loops from all his 500 releases. http://theorgangrindersgazette.blogspot.com/2025/02/new-releases.html. As it says - this may or may not be true.
Cassette Culture is a new podcast by Martin Franklin, coming out of Brisbane, Australia. Martin used to host a programme here on SoundArt Radio called 'Genepool' about 10 years ago. One of the episodes is themed around the output of ND. ND started out as a magazine and cassette label in the early 1980s before releasing CDs and vinyl in the 1990s. Operated by Dan Plunkett he explains the beginnings and thoughts behind ND. https://www.cassetteculturepodcast.com/contact-exchange-document-the-story-of-nd/. The podcast features sounds from artists that appeared in the magazine and subsequent cassette releases, and I thought I would play my contribution to "ND7", Dan's first cassette release. 1985 - 1987 I was half of the project I.B.F. Tim Bayes was the other half. We put out a few cassettes, mainly on the Carnifex Organisation label and appeared on a few compilation releases. "Norkabal" was an improvised piece recorded in Lincoln in 1985. "ND7" also features Haupunkt Fix, Big City Orchestra, Die Form, Andre Stitt, Paul Hurst, If Bwana and The Haters amongst others. In 2008 Harbinger Sound released a 12"EP of IBF which includes a remastered version of "Norkabal".
Another prolific sound artist whose releases are essential is Takahiro Mukai. "Even Toned" is his latest on the French Astra Solaria label. https://astrasolariarecordings.bandcamp.com. Also in the pile of sounds donated by Idwal was a mysterious 5" vinyl single by an unknown artist, or unknown artists. Back in the mid-60s (yes I am that old) there used to be a telephone box in an amusement arcade in Mablethorpe. Inside the telephone box was a microphone where you could record your singing and moments later there was a 5" vinyl record of your recording. It was a common amusement arcade item back then. I think this is one of those artefacts - not from the mid 60s but I am guessing they can still be found in more ancient arcades in more ancient seaside towns.
I asked Sir Idwal about the record but he had no memory of it although did say that it may have come from the collection of Simon Morris, late vocalist with The Ceramic Hobs and member of Smell & Quim. It's only 44 seconds long, and is very good.
A few months ago I made a broadcast that was mainly built of 7" B-Sides from 1978-1982. Two songs I missed out on back then was "Jellyfish" and "Brainbomb" by Punishment Of Luxury. I mentioned the song "Jellyfish" in correspondence with David Warmbier from The Institute Of Spectra-Sonic Sounds radio programme and he didn't know the song, so I play it for David. Also recapping on a previous broadcast ... last month I played "Happy Birthday" by The Birthday Party in the 'On This Day' section but made a mistake so this time I play the A-Side of the single "Mr Clarinet". I don't have the 7", this track is from the 4AD Records compilation LP "Natures Mortes - Still Lives".
It is a story I often tell but back in the 1970s I was listening to and buying records by the likes of Fleetwood Mac, Judas Priest, Uriah Help, Emerson Lake & (indeed) Palmer. The typical collection of a teenager who bought albums from the "Rock Section" of Sanctuary Records in Lincoln. I had quite a collection, LPs were only about £3 back then and I had a two paper rounds and would do errands for money. Anyway, my older sister (Julie) was also 'into' music and used to borrow records from her friends and one day in early 1977 gave me a copy of The Damned's "New Rose" 7" single with the words 'I think you'll like this'. It was the day the world changed and more so when the LP "Damned Damned Damned" came out. That was the day I took my old records in to school and left them in a pile on a table in the school's common room with a note saying "Help Yourself". (30 or so years later I bumped in to an old school friend who remembered that day and still has my old copy of Zappa's 'Hot Rats' album). Hearing The Damned changed my life, changed my path. Likewise and ditto for John Peel and Throbbing Gristle. So, it was sad to hear of Brian James' passing. RIP Brian.
The archive on MixCloud is split in to two two hour sections for easier aural digestion.
Part Two : (Begins with Hauras) : https://www.mixcloud.com/muhsteve/muhmur-radio-broadcast-16-march-2025-part-two/
Playlist :
01: The Pop Group : "Feed The Hungry" (Rough Trade Records) 1980.
02: Wolkokrots : "Guki" (Steep Gloss) 2025.
03: Tod Dockstader : "Song" (Sub Rosa) 2005.
04: Mark Vernon : "Pollen Nap" (Vice De Forme) 2025.
05: Mark Vernon : "Nexotic Dislocation" (Vice De Forme) 2025.
06: Grunt : "Shovel Attack" (Institute Of Paraphilia Studies) 2025.
07: Omei : "I'm Sorry I Failed You" (Circle Of Shit) 2015.
08: The Dead Mauriacs : "La Porte Mécanique" (I Shall SingUntil My Land Is Free) 2025.
09: General Strike : "Reach For N" (Sub Rosa) 1985.
10: Modelbau : Ppppp (Side C)" (Not On Label) 2025.
11: Wolf Vostell : "Radio Dé-Collage" (Tochnit Aleph) 2011.
12: A.B.O. : "Untitled" (Meeuw Muzak) 2024.
13: David Wallraf : "I Hate My Government And I Hate Your Government" (Brachliegen Tapes) 2022.
14: David Wallraf : "Congegement" (Brachliegen Tapes) 2022.
15: David Wallraf : "Everything Is Going To Plan" (Brachliegen Tapes) 2022.
16: Hauras : "By Sheer Will" (Industrial Coast) 2025.
17: Current 93 : "The Long Shadow Falls (7" Version)" (Dirter Promotions) 2024.
18: David Wallraf : "Petrolio" (Karls Records) 2025.
19: Ian Middleton & Mark Vernon : "Volute Springs" (Not On Label) 2020.
20: Miguel A. Garcia & Frans de Waard : "Interior Sounding #3" (Steep Gloss) 2020.
21: William A. Davison : "Random Loop" (Not On Label) 2025.
22: I.B.F. : "Norkabal" (ND) 1986.
23: The Pop Group : "Justice" (Rough Trade Records) 1980.
24: Takahiro Mukai : "#587" (Astra Solaria) 2025.
25: Takahiro Mukai : "#589" (Astra Solaria) 2025.
26: Unknown Artist : "Unknown Title (Not On Label).
27: Punishment Of Luxury : "Jellyfish" (United Artists Records) 1979.
28: Punishment Of Luxury : "Brainbomb" (United Artists Records) 1979.
29: The Birthday Party : "Mr Clarinet" (4AD Records) 1980.
30: Sexton Ming : "Old Bag Looking Good Part One" (Research Laboratories) 2014.
31: Africa Corps : "Kill The Fascists!" (Independent Project Records) 2022.
32: Africa Corps : "The Ivory Coast" (Independent Project Records) 2022.
33: The Damned : "New Rose" (Stiff Records) 1976.
34: The Damned : "You Know" (Stiff Records) 1977.
35: The Damned : "Neat Neat Neat" (Stiff Records) 1977.
The next MuhMur Radio will be on April 13, same time, same channel and hopefully a little more sober!
Thanks go to Chris and Tamsin, and of course, you.
Tuesday, 18 February 2025
MuhMur Radio Broadcast 16 February 2025.
The first hour or so of the broadcast begins with sounds from the Belgian based label EE Tapes. EE tapes began in the mid 1980's, some say 1984 bit others say 1987. It was set up by Erik Van Havere who I believe was involved with the KK Records label in the early 1980s. Most of the prominent European underground sound artists have had their sounds released by EE Tapes This includes Dieter Müh, who released their album "Cari Saluti" on EE Tapes in 2000. It was Eriek and EE Tapes that offered Dieter Muh their first (mainland) European performance in October 1998 alongside Troum, Konstruktivists and LD50 amongst others. EE tapes has a bandcamp page where they are releasing digitised copies of their releases (download files). https://eetapes.bandcamp.com/music. This includes the Brume album "After The Battle (A Chronicle Of The Joy Of Life)" and Christian Renou's "7 Kisses" album. I also played some old EE Tapes releases by Dieter Müh (from 'The Walls Are Whispering' compilation CD), No "Bakk" from the cassette 'Ziellos' and NKVD "Are You Lonely" from 'Elegy #2' cassette. NKVD is the project of Glenn M. Wallis (aka Konstruktivists).
Last month's broadcast featured sounds from the American (Austin, Texas) based label Elevator Bath. Colin from Elevator Bath kindly mailed MuhMur Radio some of their latest releases and I am slowly devouring / discovering the sounds. Tonight MuhMur Radio presents more sounds from the Elevator bath arsenal beginning with Susana López and two pieces from her latest album 'The Edge Of The Circle'. Alex Keller follows with a piece from last years CD release 'Sleep Room'. The Colin Andrew Sheffield track is from 'Images'. All the tracks on this LP are culled from "various commercially available recordings".
The two Daniela Huerta pieces are from the 10" mini-album 'Soplo'. Elevator Bath can be contacted via : http://www.elevatorbath.com and/or https://elevatorbath.bandcamp.com/artists. There will be more in the next programme, and again (if you're listening) thank you Colin.
The second hour finishes on a piece by Kostis Kilymis. I am at the moment re-cataloguing my records, tapes and CDs, it's great fun and I am rediscovering old releases I haven't played in years ... sometimes 10 / 20 years. (I am 'blogging' the activity https://muhmurradiohq.blogspot.com for reasons I don't yet understand). It is taking time as I am playing some old discoveries as I find them, Kostis being exhibit A (m'lud). "Comet Athena" is from the 2014 cassette 'Komths' on the Hideous Replica label. I think Hideous Replica were the same folk who were behind the Beartown Records and Wasted Capital Since 2013 labels and I shall believe that until someone proves me wrong. I haven't heard anything from Kostis in a while. He was in Bristol for a while, or certainly was when we both played at the KAARST Gallery in Plymouth, 2018. But I have a feeling he is now living in Greece.
4th Sign Of The Apocalypse are also a discovery made whilst re-cataloguing the 'collection'. 4th Sign Of The Apocalypse is a project of Bryin Dall. Bryin has collaborated in the past with Genesis Breyer P-Orridge and Boyd Rice (Hirsute Pursuit). The track here is from the 2003 compilation album 'Widerstand'. The album (2xCD) also features Con-Dom, Propergol, Predominance, Survival Unit and Maison Close amongst others. Copies are floating about on Discogs for a reasonable price.
Split Apex is the new project of Peter Blundell and Jussi Palmusaari. Peter was a member of Mosquitos and Komare. Jussi was a member of Finnish art-rock experimental outfit Preesens. Split Apex's first release is the eponymous self released cassette. 4 tracks over (about) 20 minutes. Recorded last year and limited to 30 copies. I don't have any contact for Peter (unfortunately), but I do know he used to live just down the road from me in Babbacombe (Torquay) ... small world!
The Nurse With Wound track is from the double CD 'She And Me Fell Together In Free Death' and available through ICR (where I get most of my NWW stuff from) : https://icrdistribution.bandcamp.com/merch. I thought Wire's "Go Ahead" fitted perfectly afterwards.
On this day in 1980, two great singles were released. Swell Maps "Let's Build A Car" and The Birthday party's "Mr. Clarinet / Happy Birthday".
Cold War are an old post-punk band from Hornchurch in Essex. In 1981 - 1982 they put out some cassettes on the Rasquap Products and Rasquap Is Dead labels as well as a self released cassette simply called "Cold War". In 1983 they released their only 7" "The Machinist" on Namedrop Records. Namedrop Records was operated by Paul Platypus of The Refections/Exhibit A and Twelve Cubic Feet fame. I always thought Paul was also in the Digital Dinosaurs but I can't find any proof of this on the internet. That's how things were back in the early 80s, sometimes I got things wrong, like thinking Cold War were an anarcho-crusty punk band playing anarchy centres in the south-east and playing with bands such as The Apostles, Annie Anxiety and the like. WRONG! Cold War are an old post-punk band from Hornchurch in Essex, they had a similar approach to sound as bands such as UK Decay, Artery, Joy Division and Wire. They wore their influences on their sleeves. A couple of them became 'acid-house- DJs in the 1990s and the bassist Paul Harding joined Hagar The Womb after their disintegration. (I have a feeling Hagar The Womb have recently reformed, but whether or not Paul is involved, I couldn't say). The LP is a joint release by Grow Your Own Records ( a label run by ex members of Anthrax) and ex Harbinger Sound mainman Steve Underwood. Copies can be bought from : https://growyourownrecords.bandcamp.com. A MuhMur Radio recommendation.
Berlin based Staalplaat are slowly reissuing the back catalogue of Korm Plastics under the name of Korm Plastics D. So far the compilation cassette releases '6x10=60' Volumes 1-3 series, Commando Bruno, 'Korm Merz x Merz' compilation and the 'Katacomb Volume 3' compilation have made it to the MuhMur Radio HQ. The recent release is 'Puinhoop' by The Haters. Two live performance recordings from 1989 on side A and radio performance from November 1989. The radio performance (I think) includes the voice of Frans de Waard. https://kormplasticsd.bandcamp.com/album/the-haters-puinhoop. It's limited to 70 copies.
I have been listening to a lot of Organ Of Corti over the past couple of years or so and have yet to be disappointed. Organ Of Corti are the Swedish supergroup consisting of Dan Johansson (Neutral/Sewer Election), Joachim Nordwall (Skull Defecks/Alvars Orkester) and Mattias Gustafsson (Altar Of Flies/Cryme). Their latest release is a 7" on the Czech Stoned To Death label. Limited copies are available at : https://stoned-to-death.bandcamp.com. Waning End is the project of Angel Simitchiev (MyTrip) and Niels Geybels (Sequences). The three pieces here are from their debut cassette 'Moving End' on Niels' own Audio Visual Atmosphere label. I unfortunately cannot put a link because I have been blocked from the Audio Visual Atmosphere website. Last time I play any Niels Geybels then ...
Back to Swedish superstars ... Blod is the project of Gustaf Dicksson. Blod have been operating for about ten years releasing classic albums on the Förlag För Fri Musik, Discreet Music and I Dischi Del Barone labels ... amongst others. The piece here is from the "You Are Not Alone Vol.2" EP. Released originally as a single-sided lathe cut 12", a few copies were released as a CDR on Förfall (which may or may not be Gustaf's own imprint). "Nattens Lekar" features the voice of Linda Lovelace.
Blod.
For my birthday (62 last December) I received a copy of the book "Through The Crack In The Wall" subtitled 'The Secret History Of Josef K' by Johnnie Johnstone. A fascinating story of the Edinburgh post-punk music scene from 1978-1982. It's a great companion to "Hungry Beat" that was published in 2022. The history of Scottish punk / post punk through the eyes of Bob Last of Fast Product and Alan Horne's Postcard label.
You can hear the broadcast here : (Split into two for easier aural digestion).
Part One.
Part Two.
Playlist :
01: Brume : Survival In Eating Proteins From Human Brain Corpses (EE Tapes) 2009.
02: Brume : Stalingrad (EE Tapes) 2009.
03: Dieter Müh : Stella Polaris (EE Tapes) 2003.
04: Brume : I'm Feeling Good! (EE Tapes) 2009.
05: No : Bakk (EE Tapes) 1998.
06: Christian Renou : 7 Kisses (Part Two) (EE Tapes) 2003.
07: NKVD : Are You Lonely (EE Tapes) 1997.
08: Susana López : Soul Stuff (Elevator Bath) 2022.
09: Susana López : Black Circle (Elevator Bath) 2022.
10: Alex Keller : Blue/Art (Elevator Bath) 2024.
11: Colin Andrew Sheffield : Images (Elevator Bath) 2023.
12: Daniela Huerta : Fondo (Elevator Bath) 2024.
13: Daniela Huerta : Levitar (Elevator Bath) 2024.
14: Kostis Kilymis : Comet Athena (Hideous Replica) 2014.
15: 4th Sign Of The Apocalypse : Black Sheep (StateArt) 2003.
16: Split Apex : Fused Edge (Not On Label-Self Released) 2025.
17: Split Apex : Only One Path (Not On Label-Self Released) 2025.
18: Nurse With Wound : She And Me Fell Together In Free Death (United Dairies) 2023.
19: Wire : Go Ahead (EMI Harvest) 1979.
20: Swell Maps : Let's Build A Car (Rough Trade Records) 1980.
21: The Birthday Party : Happy Birthday (Missing Link) 1980.
22: Cold War : The Machinist (Grow Your Own Records/Ohne Grund Schallplatten) 2024.
23: Cold War : Suffering By Fire (Grow Your Own Records/Ohne Grund Schallplatten) 2024.
24: Cold War : Cold War (Grow Your Own Records/Ohne Grund Schallplatten) 2024.
25: The Haters : Radio Performance 11/28/1989 (Korm Plastics D) 2025.
26: Organ Of Corti : Lues (Stoned To Death) 2024.
27: Waning End : Silver Sheet, Golden Doors (Audio Visual Atmosphere) 2025.
28: Waning End : The Mirror Speaks (Audio Visual Atmosphere) 2025.
29: Waning End : Cold Living In The Walls (Audio Visual Atmosphere) 2025.
30: Blod : Nattens Lekar (Förfall) 2025.
31: Josef K : Endless Soul (Les Disques Du Crépuscule) 2014.
32: Josef K : Sorry For Laughing (Les Disques Du Crépuscule) 2014.
33: Fire Engines : (We Don't Need) This Fascist Groove Thang.
(part two begins with 4th Sign Of The Apocalypse) ...
Thanks for listening. Thanks also to Tamsin and Chris for being there. The next broadcast is on March 16, same time, same channel but a different box of records and tapes ... and an on this day featuring the mighty Pop Group.
Wednesday, 22 January 2025
MuhMur Radio Broadcast 19 January 2025.
The first broadcast of 2025.
Towards the end of last year I was sent a parcel of sounds from Colin Andrew Sheffield, the man behind the label Elevator Bath. Colin also records and releases on the label. His sounds have appeared on past broadcasts .. and they will on future ones. Active since 1998 (releasing elegant abstract music) the first release was the Colin Andrew Sheffield 7" of highly amplified machine sounds called "Side One / Side Two". The sounds Colin sent were by artists I had never come across. Susana López has been a great discovery. The two tracks played here are from the CD 'Crónica De Un Secuestro' from 2020. I think it was the 2016 album 'Flammable Materials From Foreign Lands' by Jim Haynes that made me first aware of Elevator Bath, "Electrical Speech : Nadiya" is from this album leading in to Daniela Huerta. Elevator Bath's recent release, a great 10" mini-album called "Soplo". Daniela is Mexican, Soplo translates as blow and puff. Sequences is the project of Antwerp based soundartist Neils Geybels. Again, no stranger to MuhMur Radio with his collaborative work with Cremation Lily and Isolated Existence and more recently with Angel Simitchiev (of the Amek Collective) as Waning End. "Gasping For Breath" is from the CD 'Água Viva'. These sounds take in the first hour of the broadcast. Elevator Bath artists Rick Reed and Alex Keller with Sean O' Neill are later on in the broadcast. Rick Reed is a new name to me .. he is based in Austin (Texas), like Elevator Bath and has been part of the Austin underground music scene for over 40 years ... I'll have to check my old ND Magazines to see if he appears in them ... Alex Keller is also from Austin. A soundartist, sound designer and teacher working in performance installation. To hear more or to get hold of some Elevator Bath please visit http://www.elevatorbath.com or visit the bandcamp page at : https://elevatorbath.bandcamp.com. There is also Facebook pages and Instagram pages if you are in to that type of thing ... Expect more sounds from the Elevator Bath throughout future broadcasts.
On New Years Eve 2005 Throbbing Gristle played at the Volksbühne in Berlin. The following evening they performed a live soundtrack to the Derek Jarman film "In The Shadow Of The Sun". Recordings of these events have been released by Mute Records in a glamorous box set simply called "Berlin". The box also features a DVD of the evenings, a 10" single from the final studio recordings of Throbbing Gristle along with rehearsal recordings and studio improvisations from December 2005. "Trumpet Herald" and "Convincing People" are from the Volksbühne show. The Alice Kemp piece from the compilation EP released to celebrate the Kemp/Elggren/ Lanz & Nordwall performances that took place in Gothenburg last year ... and I play it at the right speed!! There's a new Alice Kemp cassette soon to be released on the Recordings For The Summer label. http://www.recordingsforthesummer.de/RFTS.html for more information on that.
Korm Plastics Publishing have released the book "Even When It Makes No Sense" by Steve Underwood. A comprehensive history / archive of the UK noise / experimental label Broken Flag. Parts of the book have been published before in the 2010 magazine As Loud As Possible, the book features extra interviews, a full catalogue and reprints of the Broken Flag (in house) tract "Even When It Makes No Sense". Grab a copy from : https://www.kormplastics.nl/even-when-it-makes-no-sense-the-broken-flag-story/, it is essential! The Jonathon Bailey track is from the 1987 Broken Flag compilation LP "Never Say When". The broadcast ends with two pieces from Ramleh culled from their 1983 7" "Hand Of Glory". This release was the first time I came across both Ramleh and Broken Flag. The tracks played are from the 8xCD box set "Awake!" released on Harbinger Sound in 2012. (quality reasons).
Kicking off 2025 in the manner of which we wish to proceed with a piece by Frans de Waard's Modelbau project. "Ripples (Parts 1 & 2)" is on the Eindhoven based Barreuh Records label. Please visit their bandcamp page at : https://barreuhrecords.bandcamp.com/album/ripples to grab a copy. It's beautiful.
'This past summer I was working part-time as the "pool tester" for a swimming pool in my local area. The job entailed going into the buildings boiler room twice a day, working with various chemicals, testing the chlorine levels in the water and checking that all the pumps, tanks, gauges, valves and mechanical apparatus was all in good safe running order. Then at the end of the night I would be responsible for removing the mechanical cover for the swimming pool, inspecting the water, and eventually putting the cover back on .... One day tin he boiler room, I was totally struck and mesmerized by both the ambient room tone in there, as well as the sounds and noises of all the various equipment pumping away - the hissing machinery, the deep gurgling of the water/acid tanks, the chugging of the circulation pumps, the ticking of the valves, the creaking of the pipes, the humming of the fluorescent lights, etc .... Creative inspiration continued to churn away inside me while I was inspecting the swimming pool at the end of my shift. I felt that the sound of the swimming pool was both soothing and rather haunting at the same time - that soft gurgle and slushing of the water, the spillage being sucked through the drain grills, the drone of the heating system, the huge reverberations of the high-ceilinged room, the mysterious echoes and the squeal of the mechanical pool cover coming down ..... Thus the ideas for this project began. That night I took two sound recorders and a couple of contact microphones and placed them in the boiler room and the swimming pool itself. I wanted to try and capture the sound and atmosphere of these two locations when no one was around. Once captured, I collaged these recordings into a couple of abstract sound works that hopefully paint some vivid images of what it feels like to be working in this strange, lonely and sometimes creepy indoor environment'. Notes from the Fletina CD album "Serrof" on Unfathomless. Fletina can be contacted via : https://fletina.bandcamp.com.
Vertonen (aka Blake Edwards) has been producing sound work for over 25 years. His latest is the cassette album "Recovery & Return" on the German Grisaille label. Physical copies have sold out from the label but d/load options are still available : https://grisaille.bandcamp.com. December saw the release of the latest single by French industrialists Muckrackers. Limited to 37 copies only. Entitled "La Grande Fin" I hope it isn't their last .... act fast! https://muckrackers.bandcamp.com/album/la-grande-fin.
I decided to resurrect the section "On This Day" for the 2025 broadcasts. I looked at my diaries for the first three months and found some interesting releases were put out on forthcoming broadcast dates. In January1981 I went to see New Order play one of their first gigs at The Porterhouse in the East Midlands town of Retford. The support for the evening was fellow Mancunians Crispy Ambulance, a band that were new to me at the time. A couple of weeks later on January 19 1981 John Peel broadcast their first 'John Peel Session'. I taped it (of course) and played it religiously over the years .. I still have the cassette! In 2000 LTM released the session on the compilation CD "Frozen Blood (1980-82)". A few months or later I supported Crispy Ambulance. I was the drummer in Lincoln's finest proto-political-pop group Total Strangers. A friend and myself contacted Crispy Ambulance and asked them to play the Memorial Hall in our town (North Hykeham) 5 miles south of Lincoln. Memory has faded about the evening, but 15 years ago I wrote this .. https://muhmur.blogspot.com/2010/02/crispy-ambulance-in-north-hykeham.html. Also "On This Day" in 1977 Ultravox! released the 7" single "Dangerous Rhythm" c/w "My Sex". Next month I'll be spinning some Swell Maps & Birthday Party.
Chris Dreier was a founding member of German experimentalists Die Tödliche Doris in the 1980s. Tom Löhde is a sound artist from Düsseldorf. In 2023 the UK based label released their collaboration work "MK/CT". It is based on field recordings made on the River Spree. https://fangbomb.bandcamp.com for more information. Matar are Adi Newton and Michael Esposito. The piece here is from their latest LP "Archaeoacoustics".
Very sad to hear of the passing of Miguel A. Garcia. I have been a great admirer of his work for the last ten years, mainly through releases on the Geräuschmanufaktur label. R.I.P. Miguel.
Playlist :
01: Susana López : Luz Negra (Elevator Bath) 2020.
02: Susana López : Crónica De Un Secuestro (Elevator Bath) 2020.
03: Jim Haynes : Electrical Speech : Nadiya (Elevator Bath) 2016.
04: Daniela Huerta : Seqyana (Elevator Bath) 2024.
05: Sequences : Gasping For Breath (Elevator Bath) 2024.
06: Throbbing Gristle : Trumpet Herald (Mute Records) 2024.
07: Throbbing Gristle : Convincing People (Mute Records) 2024.
08: Alice Kemp : Private Masticator (iDEAL Recordings) 2024.
09: Jonathon Briley : The Hunter (Broken Flag) 1987.
10: Modelbau : Ripples (Part Two) (Barreuh Records) 2024.
11: Fletina : Late Shift (Unfathomless) 2024.
12: Vertonen : Triumphant Decay (Grisaille) 2024.
13: Vertonen : Constellations Of Collapsed Wheels (Grisaille) 2024.
14: Vertonen : Achelae.
15: Rick Reed : Space Age Radio Love Song (Elevator Bath) 2023.
16: Rick Reed : Leave A Light On For Tony (Elevator Bath) 2023.
17: Muckrackers : La Grande Fin (A) (LFA) 2024.
18: Christine K : Memory Is What We Make It (Ek Verlag) 2024.
19: Crispy Ambulance : Egypt (LTM) 2000.
20: Ultravox! : My Sex (Island Records) 1977.
21: Chris Dreier & Tim Löhne : Shieldfields (Fang Bomb) 2023.
22: Muckrackers : La Grande Fin (B) (LFA) 2024.
23: Alex Keller And Sean O' Neill : Kruos II (Elevator Bath) 2017.
24: Matar : 110Hz State The Maze Pattern (Sleepers) 2024.
25: Miguel A. Garcia/Garaz Gorostiaga/Tube Tentacles : Euli Ustel Porta (Geräuschmanufaktur) 2024.
26: Ramleh : Squassation (Harbinger Sound) 2012.
27: Ramleh : Prossneck (Harbinger Sound) 2012.
Please listen to the broadcast here (Split in to 2 parts for easier aural consumption. part 2 begins with Vertonen) :
Part One :
https://www.mixcloud.com/muhsteve/muhmur-radio-broadcast-19-01-2025-part-one/
Part Two :
https://www.mixcloud.com/muhsteve/muhmur-radio-broadcast-19-01-2025-part-two/
Thanks to Chris Booth for production and Trin for the company. Back on February 16. Same time, same channel.
Monday, 13 January 2025
MuhMur Radio returns to the airwaves.
The schedules have been re-jigged and MuhMur Radio Broadcasts begin on January 19 2025 ... NOT February 5 as mentioned on the last MuhMur Radio programme.
It is still at 18:00 (GMT) Kick-Off and available on 102.5FM in the surrounds of Totnes (Devon, UK) or via the SoundArt Radio webpage for the live stream : https://www.soundartradio.org.uk. Hopefully you can lend an ear. The broadcast will be live and feature sounds from the Elevator Bath label along side sounds from Alice Kemp, Modelbau, Ramleh, Throbbing Gristle and Vertonen amongst others. I am also bringing back the "On This Day" feature with Ultravox! & Crispy Ambulance.
The broadcast will still be archived on MixCloud.
Tuesday, 31 December 2024
MuhMur Radio Broadcast 29 December 2024
The final MuhMur Radio Broadcast of 2024, the traditional 4 Hour Festive Feast ... although now that I have changed for the bi-monthly 2 hour broadcast to the 4 hour monthly broadcast this year perhaps my Festive Feasts should now be six hours long .... or two ... I'll have a word with the bosses.
There is usually a couple of Christmas themed songs in the seasonal broadcast and this one is no different beginning with Stuntcock's "And If Xmas Couldn't Get Any Worse ... You Had To Turn Up". It's from the compilation CDR "Aural Atrocities - Volume 3". The album also features Duncan Harrison, Splinter Vs Stalin and Chav Stabber amongst others. I know little about Stuntcock apart from their split tape release with BBBlood. The second seasonal themed tune is Severed Heads "Hello Donald, Merry Xmas". This is from the excellent "Adenoids" box set on Vinyl On Demand.
No Festive Feast goes without a piece from Neil Campbell and/or his Astral Social Club. "Vision Pink Mix" is his latest and available via his Bandcamp page. https://astralsocialclub.bandcamp.com. Shadow Pattern is the solo project of Nathan Ivanco and based in Ontario. This year he has released collaborations with Blod (Gustaf Dicksson) and Duncan Harrison. Matar is the project of Adi Newton and Michael Esposito. "Homme Verde" is from their latest LP "Archaeoacoustics" on the Italian Sleepers label. This is one of the finest albums of 2024. https://www.sleepersrecords.com. There is news of a new Matar album out in the early part of 2025. Another MuhMur Radio is Frans de Waard. I managed to get one of his earlier releases this month, the 2013 cassette "Departure" by Pick-Up. Pick-Up is Frans's collaboration with Dutch guitarist / producer Martin Luiten.
2024 saw Nocturnal Emissions play live in New York City and the label No Holiday re-issue a couple of old recordings for the event. "Cathedral" and "Invocation Of The Beast Gods", both beautiful releases with full colour sleeves and accompanying booklets with art from Nigel Ayers. "Wailer" is from "Cathedral". (Originally released in 1991 on Musica Maxima Magentica). Also for the live show No Holiday put out a lathe-cut 7", limited to 30 copies and only available on the night, "Agathicus" is from this single.
The week before Christmas I had to pop in to Torquay to pick up some presents for the kids, I was in town quite early (I never go in to Torquay Town as a rule) so decided to wander through the indoor market. There was a secondhand record stall selling the usual fare of vinyl by the likes of Whitney Houston, The Crickets, Sheena Easton, Curiosity Killed The Cat etc, and on the top of a pile of likewise vinyl was a mint copy of "The Project-Phase 2-We Love The Moon" by The Royal Family & The Poor on Factory Records ... and it was only £1! The smallholder said he'd had the LP for about 15 years and it had worked its way down in to the one pound pile. A little Christmas treat for myself ... I have a vague memory of seeing The Royal Family & The Poor live at The Hacienda in Manchester. 1984, it could have been supporting Psychic TV .. but then again that could have been Ram Ram Kino .. or maybe Pink Industry? If anybody knows please let me know .. The track "White Stains" made me play my 'official DJ' card and play a track by Swedish occultists White Stains.
Christine K is Christine Kärkkäinen, sister of Ester Kärkkäinen of Himukalt fame. "Lost Time" is from the cassette album "An Empty Fiction" on Ester's EK Verlag imprint. The cassette has sold out but digital downloads can be got at : https://himukalt.bandcamp.com/album/an-empty-fiction.
The next MuhMur Radio Broadcast will be on February 2 and not February 5 as some drunken fool murmured into the microphone. The programme will centre around artists released by the Austin, Texas based label Elevator Bath. Susana López and Matt Shoemaker will be played, but for now I thought I would play a couple of their pieces from non Elevator Bath releases. The Susana López track is from the recent Licht-Ung CD "Partikel". Recordings from performances by Susana, Kapotte Muziek, Aidan Baker and [multer] that took place at Kulturausbesserungswerk in Leverkusen (Germany) on the 30th December 2023. The CD is part of the ongoing StRuPpig tAnZen series. https://licht-ung.bandcamp.com/merch for further details. The Showmaker track is from the 2013 cassette "The Late Day Spectrum".
File alongside Mater as one of the finest albums of 2024, Post Scriptvm "Eisstoss" on Tesco Organisation. "Frazil" is from this album. Extra is the collaborative project of Howard Stelzer and Brian Grainger. "Decide/Accept" is from the split cassette with Liminal Haze on the Grisaille label. have a search at https://grisaille.bandcamp.com, they put out some great tapes this year. Like the Nocturnal Emissions lathe-cut on No Holiday, iDEAL Recordings released a limited 7" to commemorate a live performance that took place in Gothenburg earlier this year. "K-E-L" features, Alice Kemp, Leif Elggren* and Joke Lanz and a mash-up track by iDEAL boss Joachim Nordwall. The 7" is limited to 100 copies only and s I type 5 copies are available from : https://idealrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/k-e-l. Act Fast! The Grey Frequency track is from the compilation CD album "Undulating Waters 8" on the Woodford Halse label. 2024 has been a quiet time for Grey Frequency, March 2024 saw the release of the cassette (cassingle) "Panopticon" and that's been about it ... hopefully 2025 will see a nice surge for Grey Frequencies. (* the Leif Elgrren track is purposely played at the wrong speed).
I played Psychic TV "Unclean" as requested by a listener ... released 40 years ago!
Perhaps my favourite release this year (2024) is/was "TG Berlin" the 4 x CD , 10", DVD and book. I managed to get a copy of the preview 7" on Electronic Sound in November, and the box set was a great end to the year. A throbbing gristle Christmas. "Wotwududo" is the 7" single and "Scabs & Saws" is from the 10" (mixed in with the "Trumpet Herald" track from the live in Berlin set ...
The programme has been archived in 2 parts for easier aural digestion with Part 2 starting with Susana López:
Part I: https://www.mixcloud.com/muhsteve/muhmur-radio-broadcast-29-december-2025-part-one/
Part II: https://www.mixcloud.com/muhsteve/muhmur-radio-broadcast-29-december-2024-part-two/
Playlist:
01: Stuntcock : "And If Xmas Couldn't Get Any Worse ... You Had To Turn Up" (Aural Atrocities) 2009.
02: Severed Heads : "Hello Donald, Merry Xmas" (Vinyl On Demand) 2008.
03: Astral Social Club : "Vision Pink Mix" (Not On Label-Self Released) 2024.
04: Shadow Pattern & Duncan Harrison : "Cultural Customer" (Disques Bosh) 2024.
05: Matar : "Homme Verde" (Sleepers) 2024.
06: Pick-Up : "Departure" (Ultramarine) 2013.
07: Nocturnal Emissions : "Agathicus" (No Holiday) 2024.
08: Throbbing Gristle : "Wotwududo (Single Version)" (Electronic Sound) 2024.
09: The Royal Family & The Poor : "Sex Goddess" (Factory Records) 1986.
10: The Royal Family & The Poor : "White Stains" (Factory Records) 1986.
11: White Stains : "Sweet Jayne" (Zoharum) 2023.
12: The Leather Nun : "Slow Death" (Industrial Records) 1979.
13: Christine K : "Lost Time" (Ek Verlag) 2024.
14: Susana López : "Untitled (Live)" (Licht-Ung) 2024.
15: Matt Shoemaker : "Eclipse" (Masters Chemical Society) 2013.
16: Steve Roden : "Forms Of Paper" (LINE) 2011.
17: Post Scriptvm : "Frazil" (Tesco Organisation) 2024.
18: Extra : "Decide/Accept" (Grisaille) 2024.
19: Nocturnal Emissions : "Wailer" (No Holiday) 2024.
20: Leif Elggren : "No Queen" (iDEAL Recordings) 2024.
21: Psychic TV : "Unclean" (Temple Records) 1984.
22: Joke Lanz : "My Mum, Elvis, And ME" (iDEAL Recordings) 2024.
23: Joachim Nordwall : "Joachim Nordwall Plays K-E-L" (iDEAL Recordings) 2024.
24: Grey Frequency : "Ghost Rockets" (Woodford Halse) 2024.
25: Throbbing Gristle : "Scabs & Saws" (Mute Records) 2024.
The next MuhMur Radio Broadcast is February 2 2025. Keep a note in your diary ...
See you on the other side ..
Thank you for all your ears throughout 2024, all your thoughts, comments and requests.
Steve.
Saturday, 28 December 2024
MuhMur Radio Festive Four Hour Feast Of Fun (Traditional).
The annual MuhMur Radio Four Hour Festive Feast Of Fun will begin at 18:00 GMT tomorrow, Sunday 29 December. It will be a live broadcast with songs and tunes old and new ... please join us on SoundArt Radio 102.5 FM (on your radio if you are living in arielshot of Dartington Hall) or listen to the broadcast live stream at : https://www.soundartradio.org.uk.
Regular live broadcasts will restart on February 2 at 18:00 GMT ... and back with an Elevator Bath Records special!!
Tuesday, 10 December 2024
MuhMur Radio Broadcast 8 December 2024.
It happens once every few years, broadcasting live on my birthday ... 2024 is one of those years ....
Last summer I was asked for my top 5 7" B-Sides from the years spanning 1978 to 1983. It was for some Internet / social media thang I was not part of )... it's strange the fun I can miss out on by not being part of the Facebook, twitter, Instagram etc .. ah well). This all got me thinking though, I could build a radio programme around singles from 1978 - 1983 that include my top 5 and more ... and there could be no better day to broadcast it on than my birthday.
Playlist :
01: The Instant Automatons : "People Laugh At Me ('Cos I Like Weird Music)" (Deleted Records) 1980.
02: Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark : "Almost" (Factory Records) 1979.
03: Eyeless In Gaza : "Kodak Ghost Runs Amok" (Ambivalent Scale Recordings) 1980.
04: Eyeless In Gaza : "Invisibility" (Cherry Red Records) 1981.
05: The Pop Group : "She Is Beyond Good And Evil" (Radar) 1979.
06: The Units : "High Pressure Days" (Not On Label-Self Released) 1979.
07: New Order : "Everything's Gone Green" (Factory Benelux) 1981.
08: Fad Gadget : "The Box" (Mute Records) 1979.
09: Gang of Four : "Love Like Anthrax" (Fast Product) 1978.
10: Throbbing Gristle : Five Knuckle Shuffle" (Sordide Sentimental) 1979.
11: Cabaret Voltaire : "Raising The Count" (Rough Tapes/NME) 1981.
12: Portion Control : "He Is A Barbarian" (In Phaze Records) 1982.
13: Bron Area : "The Unfortunate Reply/System" (Ambivalent Scale Recordings) 1981.
14: Plain Characters : "I Am A" (Rouge) 1977.
15: Dif Juz : "Mi" (4AD Records) 1981.
16: Dif Juz : "Cs" (4AD Records) 1981.
17: Au Pairs : "It's Obvious" (Human Records/021 Records) 1980.
18: Pere Ubu : "My Dark Ages" (Rough Trade Records) 1980.
19: Robert Rental : "On Location" (Mute Records) 1980.
20: Section 25 : "Oyo Achel Ada" (Factory Benelux) 1981.
21: My Captains : "History" (4AD Records) 1981.
22: Murder The Disturbed : "Ultimate System" (Small Wonder Records) 1979.
23: Cabaret Voltaire : "Gut Level" (Les Disques Du Crépuscule) 1983.
24: The Normal : "Warm Leatherette" (Mute Records) 1978.
25: Monte Cazazza : "Stairway To Hell" (Sordide Sentimental) 1982.
26: Die Neue Prächtigkeit : "Du" (Rondo) 1980.
27: Essential Logic : "World Friction" (Cells Records) 1978.
28: Five Or Six : "The Trial" (Cherry Red Records) 1981.
29: The Visitors : "Electric Heat" (Deep Cuts Records) 1979.
30: Scars : "The Psychomodo" (PRE Records) 1980.
31: Scars : "Horrorshow" (Fast Product) 1979.
32: The Human League : "Circus Of Death" (Fast Product) 1978.
33: They Must Be Russians : "Circus" (Not On Label-Self Released) 1979.
34: Clock DVA : "Black Angel's Death Song" (Polydor Records) 1983.
35: A Certain Ratio : "Flight" (Factory Records) 1980.
36: Crispy Ambulance : "Not What I Expected" (Factory Records) 1980.
37: 400 Blows : "Beat The Devil" (Concrete Productions) 1982.
38: Cabaret Voltaire : "Yashar" (Factory Records) 1983.
39: Buzzcocks : "Moving Away From The Pulsebeat" (United Artists Records) 1978.
40: Joy Division : "These Days" (Factory Records) 1980.
41: Shy Tots : "English Industrial Estate" (Not On Label-Self Released) 1982.
42: In Camera : "Apocalypse" (4AD Records) 1982.
43: Public Image Limited : "Another" (Virgin Records) 1979.
44: The Vincent Units : "Carnival Song" (Y Records) 1981.
45: The Slits : "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" (Island Records) 1979.
46: A Certain Ratio : "Thin Boys" (Factory Records) 1979.
47: Artery : "Life And Death" (Aardvark) 1981.
48: Artery : "Cars In Motion" (Aardvark) 1981.
49: Mass : "Cabbage" (4AD Records) 1980.
50: Sort Sol : "Marble Station" (4AD Records) 1981.
51: The Cure : "Charlotte Sometimes" (Fiction Records) 1981.
52: Alternative TV : "Lost In Room" (Deptford Fun City Records) 1979.
53: The Transmitters : "0.5 Alive" (Ebony) 1978.
54: S.P.K. : "Germanik" (Side Effekts Records) 1979.
The archive has been split into two 2 hour programmes for easy aural digestion. Part Two begins with the second part of the Essential Logic track "World Friction"
Part One :
https://www.mixcloud.com/muhsteve/muhmur-radio-broadcast-8-december-2024/
Part Two :
https://www.mixcloud.com/muhsteve/muhmur-radio-broadcast-8-december-2024-part-two/
As ever thanks to Chris and Tamsin who aided and abetted and supplied the beers and cake. Next broadcast will be on January 5th 2025 ... see you on the other side.
*I know I say the records are all from 1978 to 1983 but I honestly thought the Plain Characters "I Am A" was released in 1978. My mistake .. sorry ... and the Cabs "Raising The Count" was never a 7" single but appeared on the "C81" compilation cassette. Great track though!
Sunday, 8 December 2024
MuhMur Radio Broadcast #275.
Listen LIVE on SoundArt Radio 102.5FM if you are in the Dartington / Totnes / Berry Pomeroy area of the South Hams or listen anywhere in the world (probably not North Korea) via the live stream on https://www.soundartradio.org.uk
The broadcast will be archived in the coming days on Mixcloud. The link will be posted here.
Tuesday, 12 November 2024
MuhMur Radio Broadcast 10 November 2024
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This broadcast centres on the sound of Stuart Chalmers. (I think) I first became aware of the activities of Stuart back in 2012 when I received a package of albums (CDR) from the Bristol based LF Records. Stuart's "Daydream Empire" was in the package. Stuart does not have a high internet presence, there is a bandcamp page and a YouTube page .... but other than that ...
'Exploring the connections between the environment, the imagination and a sense of self ... Embodied sound, altered perceptions and alternative views of reality'.
This is how Stuart describes his sound. the track 'Loop Fantasy No.4 (#2)' is from the 2017 album 'Loop Fantasy No.4' on Chocolate Monk. Loop Fantasy numbers 1, 2 and 3 do exist! 'Theatre Of The Absurd' is from the "Daydream Empire" album.
Stuarts latest album is "Nomad Tree". The tracks 'On Sorcerous Wings Take Flight' and 'Seeking Through Deepest Fears' are from this album. Stuart is also a prolific collaborator, in the past working with Robert Ridley-Shackleton, Neil Campbell, Edward Sol, Anla Courtis, Claus Poulson and Territorial Gobbing to name but a few. His collaboration with Howard Stelzer "The Extenuating Circumstance And All That It Implies" was released on Invisible City Records in 2022. In 2018 Stuart collaborated with Oxford based sound artist Lee Riley on the cassette album "Points Of Vital Differences". Last month Lee and Stuart went into Safehouse Studios in Oxford to start another collaborative project. Stuart kindly mailed MuhMur Radio an excerpt (improvisation) from one of the studio sessions. For more information about Stuart's activities please go to : https://stuartchalmers.bandcamp.com and go to the you tube page : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4JxrJI3VQcJnYB38Tp525A.
Cabaret Voltaire tracks are from the B Side of 'Sluggin' Fer Jesus' 12". B Sides will feature somewhat in the next broadcast. A project I have been keeping an ear on in 2024 is Organ Of Corti. The Swedish supergroup comprising of Joachim Nordwall, Dan Johansson and Matthias Gustafsson. "Rex" and "Extremum" are from their latest 7".
One thing I didn't know (one thing amongst many) until it was pointed out to me during the last broadcast by Andrew Fletcher is that the Steep Gloss label only releases collaborations. So, I visited their bandcamp page and found the recent release by Courtis/Reche/Cornucopia. "El Humo Líquido" was recorded in San Juan De Puerto Rico and Buenos Aires in 2008. Steep Gloss is operated by Ross Scott-Buccleuch and can be found at : https://steepgloss.bandcamp.com/.
Grey Park's latest is called "Street Of Life". It is a download only (name your price) on the wonderfully named 'Why Keith Dropped The S' label. Grey Park know that I don't play downloads so kindly mailed a one-off CDR of the track (before you ask). Thank Heikke.
2024 seems to be a busy year for Scottish sound artist Fletina. With two albums out in quick succession. "Serif" is on the Belgian 'Unfathomless' label and will feature on a future broadcast, in this programme I play the "Seen To Remain" album in full. It is on the Japanese Kirigirisu label. All Fletina sounds can be found at : https://fletina.bandcamp.com.
David Walraff is a new name to me, brought to my attention through his release on Brachliegen Tapes. The cassette is called "NO", available here : https://brachliegentapes.bandcamp.com.
'NO draws inspiration from Heinrich Heine's 1844 poem "The Sitesean Weavers". For Wallraf, the three-fold curse is an age old - and crucially - perpetual international struggle against God, masters and the concept of 'fatherland'. The artist states that the revolt that erupted in Iran after the murder of Masha Amini and the global solidarity with the Jin Jiyan Azadi protests incited the political/creative motivation for NO'.
Brachliegen Tapes are donating all profits generated from NO to SDS: Solitary Detainee Support, a grassroots abortionist visiting group working to break the isolation of UK immigration detention.
I hope to hear more of David's work in the coming months, whilst writing this blog I have bought his latest cassette .. a split with Gerald Fiebig on the (always dependable) Grubenwehr Freiburg label.
David can be contacted here : https://davidwallraf.com.
The Pop Group track is from their debut 1979 LP "Y". The track had become a bit of an ear worm so I had to include it. The 23 Skidoo track is from their debut 12" for Fetish Records. Played as a request.
The broadcast has been archived in two parts for easier digestion. Part Two begins with Lee Riley "Armageddon Waltz".
Playlist.
01: Stuart Chalmers : "Loop Fantasy No.4 (#2)" (Chocolate Monk) 2017.
02: Stuart Chalmers : Theatre Of The Absurd" (LF Records) 2012.
03: Cabaret Voltaire : "Your Agent Man" (Le Disques Du Crépuscule) 1981.
04: Cabaret Voltaire : "Sluggin' Fer Jesus (Part 2)" (Le Disques Du Crépuscule) 1981.
05: Organ Of Corti : "Rex" (iDeal Recordings) 2024.
06: Courtis/Reche/Cornucopia : "El Humo Líquido" (Steep Gloss) 2024.
07: Grey Park : "Street Of Life" (Why Keith Dropped The S) 2024.
08: Howard Stelzer & Stuart Chalmers : "The Extenuating Circumstance And All That It Implies" (Invisible City Records) 2022.
09: Organ Of Corti : "Extremum" (iDeal Recordings) 2024.
10: Fletina : "Seen To Remain" (Kirigirisu Recordings) 2024.
11: Lee Riley : "Armageddon Waltz" (Not On Label-Self Released) 2021.
12: LR/SC : "Points Of Vital Differences 2" (Cruel Nature Records) 2018.
13: LR/SC : "Points Of Vital Differences 3" (Cruel Nature Records) 2018.
14: Stuart Chalmers + Lee Riley : "@ Safehouse Studios. Oxford" (Not On Label) 2024.
(Exclusive recording for MuhMur Radio).
15: Stuart Chalmers : "On Sorcerous Wings Take Flight" (Reverb Worship) 2024.
16: Stuart Chalmers : "Seeking Through Deepest Fears" (Reverb Worship) 2024.
17: Matt Atkins & Stuart Chalmers : "Doric Order" (More Mars Team) 2024.
18: David Wallraf : "NO" (Brachliegen Tapes) 2024.
19: The Pop Group : "Words Disobey Me" (Radar Records) 1979.
20: 23 Skidoo : "The Gospel Comes To New Guinea" (Fetish Records) 1981.
21: Dronæment : "Ezoterick Muziek II" (Afe Records) 2006.
Next broadcast is on Sunday December 8. This will be live and on my 62nd birthday so I am going to be playing a lot of sounds from 1978 - 1983 including my top 5 B-Sides from those years ...
18:00 hours (GMT) kick-off. 102.5FM on your wireless https://www.soundartradio.org.uk for the live stream.
*** The picture at the top of the blog is NOT Stuart Chalmers!***
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