Back when I was a youth (the 1960's) I had an old Nan who lived in the small Lincolnshire hamlet of Jerusalem, it was a tag on to the village of Skellingthorpe which probably isn't a village anymore. Jerusalem was about half a dozen houses, a farm, a hide and skin company and my Nan's bungalow. (The people who owned the farm and hide & skin company were my godparents...the Hughes'). Anyway. Nan had a huge black & white TV on a four foot high table with casters. It was covered with a crocheted blanket and was wheeled out for the weather forecast. The BBC weather forecast. This would be (in those days) at lunchtime, tea-time and at the close of transmission (usually around 11pm). Apart from 'It's A Knockout' (with the legendary line-up of Hall/Ellis/Waring) no other programme was watched. This did (of course) cause hilarity with me and my sister and (indeed) mum and dad. Nan lived her life by the BBC weather forecast, decisions were made on the result of the broadcast .. and my mum would always say "Forecast is just another word for guess".
Leap forward fifty years and I am stood on Newton Abbot train station trying to catch a train to Totnes to get to the SoundArt Radio radio station. It's not a bad evening, certainly coat and trousers as opposed to fleece and shorts but it's not 'bad' weather but trains between Exeter and the Deep South seem to be cancelled because of the (and I'm quoting the tannoy) "forecast bad weather" Forecast bad weather ... forecast ... but - Forecast is just another word for guess how the hell can trains be cancelled 'on a guess'? Luckily one train did make it through ... the London to Penzance super fast train. Stress levels run high, train station, panic station .. not a conducive state of mind for two hours of radio ... anyway. A brisk two mile walk from Totnes to the radio station (in fine weather) cleared the head and realigned the stress levels...only to discover that the speakers in the studio were not working and all CD/Tape play had to be done through the headphones ... There be Omens!
For the second time running Modelbau open the programme. Modelbau always deliver the goods. The first two pieces are from the new double CDR release "A Hundred Yards" on the Econore label.
Limited to 21 copies the two CDRs (5" & 3") are packaged in a sealable bag, the smaller disc being housed in an empty packet of Fran's medication with small plastic vial. I don't know what powder was in the silver foil pouch (it's all Dutch to me) but the title "A Hundred Yards" bears relevance. It all put me in mind of Klangkreig's "Medical Aid Kit" cassette that came in a sealed metal tin with syringe and pills, and also Grey Park's "Le Odyssey J.G. (Juri Gasolin)" CDR that came in a used silver coffee bag with thermoprinted receipt. The 3" CDR is played in full later in the broadcast.
In a few weeks time I am heading off to Basel to play a few gigs in Switzerland and Germany. I will be playing and staying with Chris Sigdell aka BºTong. Back in 2013 BºTong and Dieter Müh played a couple of shows in Bremen and Hamburg, it was so enjoyable that five years later we're going to do it again. The track here is from the 2014 split CD with Re:Drum called "Hush!/Ascending In The Light Of An Alien Sun". Our first gig kicks off in Lausanne on December 11 at Librarie HuMus.
I see that the 2006 LP "The" has got a re-issue on the German 90% Wasser label.
The Chen Yi commune was founded in 1978. The aim of the commune was to create a closed subsystem, a kind of subsociety and to narrow down its contact with the outside world only on very few specific actions. Life In the commune was lead hermetically closed. All circuits, all food, culture and communication circuits had to be self contained. The commune was housed in an old school near Chelmsford. The Chen Yi commune was never interested in producing records, some of the members refused any form of release whatsoever. In 1981 one member (Chen 8) released a tape edition called "Hanging". The title referred to the first 3 English witches that were hanged in Chelmsford, where the commune house was located. The cassette was sent to various record companies. John Peel saw potential in Chen Yi which led to a recording contract in 1981/82 with CBS. About 7 tracks were produced for the first Chen Yi LP "The Rape" in 1982.
The above (in italics) is from the sleeve notes to "The" written in 2006 by Chen 26. The album itself is dedicated to his/her father Chen 4.
I have heard that this LP is "a hoax" and I have been given the names of those behind it ... whatever - it's a great LP. Copies available from https://www.normanrecords.com/records/172977-chen-yi-the-1978-1983 in the UK.
For the second broadcast also, Monokultur. Another 2 tracks from their 4 track EP on I Dischi Del Barone. Really digging this record at the moment. It has a great late 70's DIY vibe about it. Hopefully a full album will appear next year.
I never thought I'd say it but Harbinger Sound Records are releasing some of the finest Deutsche-Punk these days. A month or so ago the 12" mini-LP by Berlin based Muscle Barbie. I know very little about this band .. and Steve at Harbinger isn't saying much, but I think the band is a side project of Berlin punk band Heavy Metal. Contact Harbinger Sound for a copy here : https://harbingersound.bigcartel.com/category/new-releases Staying on a Deutsche-Punk trip the noises continue with Werewolf In Aspik. "Verhungen" is from the compilation album "Verboten In Deutschland II - Hausverbot Im Esso". The LP also features Harbinger Sound groups The Toylettes and Pisse. The Pisse track on this programme is from the new 4 track EP "Hornhaut Its Der Beste Handschuh" on Phantom Records. The bass line reminded me of Warsaw hence "They Walked In Line".
In September Dieter Müh played their first gig in two years at The Kaarst Gallery in Plymouth. Also on the night was a performance by Kostis Kilymis.
Last month Touch label subsidiary The Tapeworm released the cassette "Second Saturation" by Kostis. The four pieces here take in all of side A and was recorded live in Stockholm in 2016. Slow building improvised electronic soundscape at its best. Limited to (I think) 100 copies the tape is available here : http://www.tapeworm.org.uk/ttw109.html
At the turn of the century I used to be in correspondence with Finnish artist Pekka Perä-Takala. He was running the labels Clay Records and Musically Incorrect Records releasing mainly his own sounds such as Clay Figure, Paraffin Affiliates and Russian Vitamins.
The track here is from the CDR "Against AvantGarde" released in 2001. (Just as a side note there's a great Clay Figure split tape with Grey Park on the Herkät Kelat label that if you ever see is worth grabbing). Pekka went on to form harsh electronic noise project Gelsomina and the 'super noise' group Bizarre SS Mania (with members of Bizarre Uproar and Edwige).
Please take a listen : https://www.mixcloud.com/muhsteve/muhmur-radio-broadcast-22-november-2018/
Playlist:
01: Modelbau : "A Hundred Yards #4" (Econore) 2018.
02: Modelbau : "A Hundred Yards #5" (Econore) 2018.
03: BºTong : "Vision Of Eluctable Destiny" (Zoharum) 2014.
04: Chen Yi : "Rug" (90% Wasser) 2006.
05: Chen Yi : "Wargame" (90% Wasser) 2006.
06: Die Form : "Chains Of Love" (Parade Amoureuse) 1991.
07: Monokultur : "Lindholm Steinpiren" (I Dischi Del Barone) 2018.
08: Monokultur : "Sex Jävla Ben" (I Dischi Del Barone) 2018.
09: Chen Yi : "Honey Money" (90% Wasser) 2006.
10: Column One : "Der Schrei Der Lebenden (Parts 1-3)" (Laub Records/90% Wasser) 2005.
11: K.K. Null : "Toki No Dansom" (Quasi Pop Records) 2013.
12: Lille Roger : "My Girl" (Cold Meat Industry) 1993.
13: Muscle Barbie : "Anti" (Harbinger Sound) 2018.
14: Werewolf In Aspik : "Verhungen"(Verboten In Deutschland) 2018.
15: Corna Kruswa : "Bambi" (Phantom Records/Mamma Leone) 2015.
16: Pisse : "Dresden" (Phantom Records) 2018.
17: Warsaw : "They Walked In Line" (Factory Of Sounds) 2017.
18: Psychic TV : "I.C. Water (Radio Version)" (Temple Records) 1990.
19: Modelbau : "Ramco B-Model Mix" (Econore) 2018.
20: Kostis Kilymis : "Control Baggage" (The Tapeworm) 2018.
21: Kostis Kilymis : "From This Here Edge" (The Tapeworm) 2018.
22: Kostis Kilymis : "In Slow Metallic Grace" (The Tapeworm) 2018.
23: Kostis Kilymis : "Voices Go Back" (The Tapeworm) 2018.
24: Desmond Simmons : "Alone On Penguin Island" (WMO) 1995.
25: Russian Vitamins : "The Great Kubla" (Clay Records) 2001.
The next programme is scheduled to be on December 6 at 20:00 GMT - listen to the live stream via the SoundArt Radio web site or 102.5FM if you're in the Totnes area.
(I am expecting a new Modelbau tape through the post so you never know ... it might be three in a row).
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