It was 21 years ago that Chez Müh moved from the penthouse suite overlooking the City Ground in Nottingham to more compact and bijou surrounds of West Parade in Lincoln. One of the first things I did on my brief return was contact Mick, the guy who was putting out interesting vinyl on his Outsider Records label. I remember walking to the address on the back of the Meixner/Band Of Pain 7" knocking on the door and introducing myself. This was all pre-Internet / social media when a firm handshake and the offer of a pint meant 'befriending' someone.
Anyway, it was Mick who introduced me to the output of EE Tapes. (He also brought to my attention the works of Inade, Column One, Origami Galaktika, Indra Karmuka the releases of Drone Records and much much more). Mick had lots of EE Tapes stuff, varied, independent and all interesting and intriguing. Droneament, This Window, Psych Krist Kastrator, Disumana Res and the compilation series "Elegy" + "Notre Dame". It was through these releases I got to hear Tarkatak, Konstruktivists (again), Hautnah, S*Core, Brume .. the list of discoveries is massive - and the impact it had on my listening and imagination.
In 1998 I mailed off a copy of Dieter Müh "Black Square" CD for feedback and to see if we could appear on a compilation release and here began what has been a 20 year friendship with EE Tapes and Eriek Van Havere. In 1998 EE Tapes was being operated by Eriek and Sven Vercauteren out of an address in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium. Eriek asked us to be part of the new "Ambient Intimacy" series of compilations and play live at the '11th Festival For Independent Music & Arts' in Sint-Niklaas.
In 2000 EE Tapes released the Dieter Müh album "Cari Saluti" on CDR format ... and the rest (as they say) is history.
Earlier this year Belgian magazine 'The Word' did an interview with Eriek and EE Tapes where he talks about his beginnings in music and operating the KK label in the 1980's before starting EE Tapes. It's a great piece and worth a read. http://thewordmagazine.com/music/running-a-cassette-label-was-basically-just-another-means-of-coping-with-my-addiction-ee-tapes-unabashed-infatuation-with-obscurity/ I think it was about five years ago that Eriek started the compilation series "4 in 1". The concept itself coming from a 1982 compilation cassette on the Belgian Grafika Airlines label. October 2018 sees the fifth volume in the series being released with contributions by I Scream, Bene Gesserit, M.A.L. and Human Flesh. MuhMur Radio was fortunate to get an advance promo copy and tracks marked * in the playlist are from this album. It does seem that (in the past few years) that EE Tapes have been reissuing material from Belgian electronic projects of the 1980's as well as releasing new material by these artists. A lot of the projects were first released by Insane Music, a label from Belgium run by Alan Nieffe. Alan is the man behind Bene Gesserit, Human Flesh, Kosmose and Pseudo Code...to name just a few.
The first tape I ever bought (or maybe traded come to think about it) from EE Tapes was Hellfiller's eponymous album in 1998. Hellfiller were from Ghent. Sveen are the duo of Eriek and Sven. The track "Teetonic" is from the compilation CD "The Walls Are Whispering". No (another cassette release from 1998) is the project of Jan Iwers from Keil, Germany. The track here is from the album "Ziellos". The complicated life of minimal wave band Nine Circles can be found here:
http://ninecircles.bplaced.net/index.htm
EE Tapes have a comprehensive website with news on future releases and a full discography of their past. Get in touch! http://www.eetapes.be
The programme begins with a new releases from Edward Sol. The track is from the cassette "Monstrous Artlessness" on Edward's own label Village Tapes. Cacophony '3.3' are from Lincoln. Cacophony '3.3' is multi-instrumentalist Kev Kettle.
Kev has been releasing his own sounds since 1982, fully involved in the 'cassette culture' of the 1980's. I first became aware of Kev's work in the mid 1990's when his tapes were getting reviewed in "Music From The Empty Quarter" magazine. Interest in his sounds have picked up since the "Park Holmes Recordings 1983-1989" LP+7" on Vinyl On Demand came out in 2015. Kev is a big fan of The Legendary Pink Dots (sometimes this is very obvious in his songs!), that is why their track follows ... Kev/Cacophony '3.3' don't have a web presence but you can write for information, his address is here : https://www.discogs.com/label/536587-Park-Holme-Recordings
To keep a Belgium feel throughout I played the Section 25 track "Sutra". This is from their second album "The Key Of Dreams" released by Factory Benelux. Repetition, as far as I am aware were based in Belgium .... I could be wrong.
Please take a listen : https://www.mixcloud.com/muhsteve/muhmur-radio-soundart-radio-27-september-2018/
Playlist:
01: Edward Sol : "19.00" (Village Tapes) 2018.
02: Human Flesh : "Monotopi (For Sharon Tate)* (EE Tapes) 2018.
03: Cut The Light : "Aphotic #1" (Black Mara) 2018.
04: Hellfiller : "Atheistic Ballroom Dancing" (EE Tapes) 1998.
05: Sveen : "Teetonic" (EE Tapes) 2003.
06: Nine Circles : "Falling" (EE Tapes) 2017.
07: Bene Gesserit : "Ceci N'est Pas Une Chanson"* (EE Tapes) 2018.
08: Bene Gesserit : "Les Fourmis"* (EE Tapes) 2018.
09: Cacophony '3.3' : "Seaming" (Park Holme Recordings) 2018.
10: The Legendary Pink Dots : "Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm" (Yangki) 1985.
11: Pseudo Code : "Drunk" (EE Tapes) 2017.
12: Section 25 : "Sutra" (Factory Benelux) 1992.
13: No : "Soundtrack To The Film 'Hitchiker's Delight (Excerpt 3)" 1998.
14: M.A.L. : "Turkish Morning"* (EE Tapes) 2018.
15: Kosmose : "The Fifteenth Untitled Track" (EE Tapes) 2017.
16: Bene Gesserit : "Who Stole Our Pride?"* (EE Tapes) 2018.
17: M.A.L. : "Indian Song"* (EE Tapes) 2018.
18: Nine Circles : "Preconception" (EE Tapes) 2017.
19: Repetition : "A Still Reflex" (Les Disques Du Crépuscule) 1981.
20: Bene Gesserit : "Les Bijux" (EE Tapes) 2015.
One notable change since SoundArt Radio reopened after its' summer sojourn is the decoration .. was it not the great Oscar Wilde who said ....this wallpaper will be the death of me - one of us will have to go ... that is what it is like at the SoundArt Studios at the moment!
Back on the 11th of October ...
Oh yeah, there's a great film showing by Sabine Kussmaul in the foyer of Darlington Space Studios (where the radio station is situated). It's called "Lines Across The Moor", it's playing on a loop until October 17 and is totally free ... well worth a view if you're in the area.
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