Sunday 29 September 2019

MuhMur Radio Broadcast 26 September 2019


The last broadcast (12:09:2019) was not available in some countries via the MixCloud Archive Page and for that I apologise. I playlisted Side A of the Gonzo LP  "Ruido(s)" as one track, it plays like one piece but the mandarins of MixCloud automatically listed the five separate titles and this constitutes a copyright breach in some countries. (USA for certain). I did delete the original posting and re-upload without a playlist but unfortunately this plan (let's call it Plan B) didn't work. Again, I apologise. Hopefully it shall never happen again.


Perhaps one of the landmark releases this year has been the 15xLP Box Set "Châsse" by Soviet France on Vinyl On Demand Records. (I know they've been using the :Zoviet*France: name for quite a while now but to me they are always Soviet France - I file their releases under "S"). The box is now long since sold out at source and is now retailing at double the original selling price, but VOD have  released the LP's as single items ... and this gives me the opportunity of filling a couple of gaps in my 1980's Soviet France collection. Also, the re-issue of the old 10"EP "Gris" comes with unreleased tracks from 1985. These single issue albums are also selling fast! A couple of friends did buy a copy of "Châsse" and mentioned how they were enjoying rediscovering the sounds so I decided to do the same and play "Popular Soviet Songs And Youth Music", the 2xTape release from 1985. Side one track on is "Tier Of Veils" which brought to mind the Organum piece "Veil Of Tears" from the album of the same name. And the broadcast begins ....
Soviet France's "Veil (Sloe Semen)" is also from the "Popular Soviet Songs And Youth Music" tapes.

Paul Harrison was the man behind the Fiend Recordings label as well as recording / releasing as Expose Your Eyes and being a floating member in Smell & Quim. He is also one half of Jazz Buffoon with Neil Campbell. Lately he has been recording with Chandor Gloomy as Hairs Abyss. The track here is from Paul's last solo release "A True And Full Account Of The Foundation Of Musick,Or,As Principally Therein, Of The Existence Of The Natural Notes Of Melody". A self released CDR from 2017.


After digging out a couple of old Soviet France albums I got wrapped up in a 1985 bubble here at Hartop Towers and dug out the compilation LP "Could You Walk On The Waters". The Nurse With Wound track is from this LP. The horn sample on the piece is taken from the 1978 LP by free jazz space age rockers Nu Creative Methods called "Nu Jungle Dances". "Tears" by Konstruktivists is also from this compilation and was recorded in 1981.
Always excited when a new album from Trepaneringsritualen appears. The piece here is lifted from "Algir : Eller Algir I Merkstave". Two side long pieces of dark occult ritual visitations.
"Fāltspatt" by Dieter Müh is from the compilation LP (double album + 7" single) "Stein". Back in 2012 Bruno Ebers of Verlautbarung asked me for a piece that reflects 'Stone' for this project and I immediately was drawn towards Haytor Rock. I have been living in the shadow of Haytor Rock for the past seventeen years. I see her everyday she is my horizon in the West. All sounds on this piece were recorded in and around Haytor Rock and manipulated by myself and Schuster. (AKA Tim Bayes). The compilation also features exclusive tracks from MNEM, AmPh, Contrastate, Ochu, Enklav and Feine Trinkers Bei Pinkels Daheim amongst others. Well worth hunting out. Copies are still available here : http://www.millstonevinyl.se/verlautbarung/


The Gen Ken Montgomery track is from the compilation album "Drilling Holes In The Wall". It's a previously unreleased piece from 1988. "New Age Machines (Part One)" was released on the LP "Beyond My Ken" on Geometrico Records in 1988. Gen Ken gets his name because he is ran a record shop in New York called "Generator".

                                                      John Paul in The Dog & Partridge.

"Nuts" is the debut single by John Paul coming after last years Harbinger Sound album "No Filter". The voice maybe familiar to those who listen to Sleaford Mods as John collaborated with them on their "Austerity Dogs" LP and took over the B-Side of the 7" "A Little Ditty" with the classic "I'm Shit At It". The line "These Nuts May Contain Nuts" really grabs this tune, especially when Johns' voice is slowed down - makes me smile overtime. Excellent 12", the B-Side contains an instrumental mix of "Chin In" (from the LP) called 'The Dog & Partridge Mix'. A couple of years ago I went for a drink or two and a game of cards with John Paul in The Dog & Partridge, a pub in the City Centre of Nottingham.
Back to 1985 bubble and Hula "Bad Blood" the B-Side to the 12" "Get The Habit".


There was a short time in 1985 and I used to live in Sheffield (the Meersbrook area), and I got to see Hula play live a few times, usually at The Leadmill. Their live performances used to be a sensory overload with films and slide projections surrounding the venue whilst Hula played their hungry so angry disjointed industrial funk. For that brief period I got to meet their saxophonist Simon Crump, pop round his for a cup of tea. He used to be (probably still is) a collector of vintage radios.
'On This Day' in 1978 The Cortinas "True Romances" album was released on CBS. The album is not as good as the first two singles - the ones on Step Forward Records, and The Cortinas dissolved more or less after the album had been recorded.
Nocturne are a French project operated by Saphi. Saphi is also a member of Le Syndicat. The track here is from the compilation CD "Tonwellen 3 Konferenz". The CD was produced to celebrate the Tonwellen Festival in Leipzig earlier this year. The vocals bring to mind AntiChildLeague.


The Tuesday Night Machines are from Kōln, Germany. I read a review of the C20 cassette "Wæver" on the Vital Weekly website and it sounded intriguing. "Wæver" is a twenty piece (split in to two parts) of improvised synth sounds created on an AE Modulator. It reminds my ears of old electronic tapes from the mid-late 1970's ... has an air of early Throbbing Gristle about it. The Tuesday Night Machines (not a name I particularly like) have their own band camp page if you want to hear more. https://nightmachines.bandcamp.com I've bought their "Hawaiian Yurt Music" cassette and will hopefully play it on an upcoming broadcast.
Anyway - please take a listen, and as I mentioned the first three minutes or so things sound a bit awry as I try and find a working CD player.
https://www.mixcloud.com/muhsteve/muhmur-radio-broadcast-26092019/

Playlist:
01: Organum : "Veil Of Tears" (Matchless Recordings) 1994.
02: Soviet France : "Tier Of Veils" (Singing Ringing/Red Rhino Records) 1985.
03: Paul Harrison : "Déja Vu" (Not On Label-Self Released) 2017.
04: Nurse With Wound : "The Dance Of Fools" (Third Mind Records) 1985.
05: 400 Blows : "Men Of The Divine Wind (The Kamikaze)" (Illuminated Records) 1984.
06: Trepaneringsritualen : "Algir:Eller Algir I Merkstave (B)" (Cold Spring Records) 2019.
07: Dieter Müh : "Fāltspatt" (Verlautbarung) 2013.
08: Soviet France : "Veil (Sloe Semen)" (Singing Ringing/Red Rhino Records) 1985.
09: Gen Ken Montgomery : "New Age Machines (Part Two)" (Monochrome Vision) 2007.
10: John Paul : "Nuts" (In A Car) 2019.
11: Hula : "Bad Blood" (Red Rhino Records) 1985.
12: The Cortinas : "Radio Rape" (CBS Records) 1978.
13: Nocturne : "Voice Against Democracy" (Atacama Records) 2019.
14: AntiChildLeague : "I I I Me Me Me" (Schrāge Musik) 2010.
15: Konstruktivists : "Tears" (Third Mind Records) 1985.
16: The Tuesday Night Machines : "Wæver (Part Two)" (Not On Label-Self Released) 2019.

Next broadcast is on Thursday October 10.

Wednesday 18 September 2019

MuhMur Radio Broadcast 12 September 2019.


It was early summer 2012 and I was working away (I work for the NHS at Torbay Hospital) when a delivery driver from Polar Speed popped his head around the door and said "I've just been listening to some weird shit on the radio ... and it made me think of you". He was up on the Paignton ring road and tuned in to 102.5FM, by the time he was in Torquay the signal was lost ... A quick search on the computer found that 102.5FM was the signal for SoundArt Radio (a community radio station based in the South Hams) ... and they were streaming live so I tuned in and heard Merzbow being blasted out. It was in the middle of the afternoon!
I contacted them asking if they wanted any Dieter Müh vinyl to play and they invited me to their studios. SoundArt Radio are based inside the grounds of Dartington Hall Estate. Thee place where 23 Skidoo recorded "The Culling Is Coming". Chatting with Chris & Lucinda (the mandarins of SoundArt) they offered me a slot to broadcast what ever I wanted .... by late summer MuhMur Radio was created. Chris offered an engineer / producer to assist me with the technical side of things and I met Dave. Dave Mutch has been on the journey since programme number one. It turned out we have similar tastes and passions in music, Dave being the chap who built equipment for Nigel Jacklin and Alien Brains when they were based in Aberdeen.
There came the idea to ask friends if they were interested in providing something "special" for the broadcasts. Maybe some unused sounds, unreleased gems, work in progress tracks or live recordings. Up to now MuhMur Radio has featured 72 "sessions" (as I like to call them, but then again I was a big John Peel fanatic back in the late 1970's). Gerechtigkeits Liga were the first, and Paul Watson/BBBlood featured on the last programme of August 2019. A full list of participants can be found here : https://remuhmuration.blogspot.com/2018/01/muhmur-radio-sessions.html Although recently it has come to my attention that folk / projects / artists get requests from labels, net labels, radio broadcasters to provide stuff all the time and it really 'winds them up' ... so I've kind of stopped asking. Just to say though as Dieter Müh / Haemoccult Recordings / MuhMur Radio ... no-one asks or offers me for stuff!
And now as the new season starts we are in celebrating seven years.
Astute folk will note that in the picture above there is a copy of the compilation CD "Pyre". I was going to end the broadcast with a track from the album but a day before broadcast the new Contrastate 7" single arrived and HAD to be fitted in!

This programme starts as programme #1 started, with a track by Feine Trinkers Bei Pinkels Daheim.

                                        Feine Trinkers Bei Pinkels Daheim. Hamburg 2013.

"Paradieswurst" is from the album "Vaginal Erbrechen". F.T.B.P.D. is the solo project of Bremen based sound artist Jürgen Eberhard, active since the early 1990's I have shared the stage with F.T.B.P.D. a couple of times in Germany and have always felt entranced with the sound. Releases have been scarce lately. Jürgen is contactable at : http://www.pinkelsdaheim.com/index.html
MuhMur Radio has never been shy of playing Nurse With Wound and/or Current 93 so it is only fitting that an anniversary broadcast should feature Stapleton & Tibet. Back in 1996 Stapleton & Tibet released the album "Musicalische Kürbs Hütte" on the United Durtro label and last year United Dirter re-issued the album as a double incorporating the first Stapleton & Tibet LP "The Sadness Of Things" plus some out-takes from 1996 studio recordings. The (double) LP was released to coincide with Current 93's London show last October.
Gonzo is the project of Gonçalo F. Cardoso. Gonçalo also runs Discrepant Records who release Gonzo.


"Ruido(s)" is the final album from Gonzo, their twelfth album since 2012's "The Porn Tape". Artwork for the album is by Evan Crankshaw who also did the artwork for The Dead Mauriacs's "Beauté Des Mirages" album back in 2017. Discrepant can be found here : https://discrepant.bandcamp.com

Over the past seven years I have played a lot of sounds from The Dead Mauriacs.They have supplied exclusive materials for broadcast twice. "Moiteur Radiophonique" is from the 2018 release "Suspended Dawns, Blind Mirrors, Electrical Paradise - Red Landscape" and features the slowed down voice of myself talking about The Dead Mauriacs on the radio.
Creep Of Paris have a handful of releases on the cult and bijou label Research Laboratories, usually limited to just a handful "Geronticus Eremita" is their first 'album' widely available on Brighton based Chocolate Monk. Still unsettling, still confused as ever ... the CDR is available from : http://chocolatemonk.co.uk/enter.htm : Well worth a fiver of your pocket money.

I was in Toulouse last month and managed to pick up a copy of the excellent John Duncan LP "Klaar" from Croc Records. I have had this LP on an old TDK D90 for the past 20 years or so, so it's great to grab a vinyl copy. This has made me dig out some old John Duncan vinyl. "I Fall In Love Too Easily" is from a 7" EP released by Ideal Records and "The Ruud E. Memorial Choir" is from a 1996 single released by Robot Records.

In the winter of 1992, Ruud Ecklehof travelled to Estonia to join friends there for a one-day trek across the frozen Gulf Of Finland to Helsinki. Soon after they started out, the more experienced local hikers noticed that the ice was cracking under their weight and the group decided to turn back. Ruud refused, and went ahead on his own. Six months later, his body was discovered floating in Helsinki Harbor. Within days of this news, Ruud's closet friend Arkadi was found dead with his girlfriend, asphyxiated in a household accident. 
During The Preparation of a joint memorial planned for Ruud and Arkadi, a set of notebooks were discovered where Ruud kept his writings, including texts he'd written in a secret language that he and Arkadi had developed. I copied the complete text of these notebooks for a 30-voice choir, giving each member one page that was unique, one page that was shared by at least one other choir member, and one page that was shared by all. 
This recording was made at a live performance held during an all-night memorial service held August 1993. Texts from the secret language are spoken by Piet Moss. 

A feature which seems to have 'developed' over the past seven years is "On This Day", where I play records that were released on the day of broadcast - according to my old diaries and the great 'Punk Rock Diary' books by George Grimarc. 12 September saw Ultravox release their third and final album "Systems Of Romance", and ex-XTC and League Of Gentlemen keyboardist released his final solo single on Virgin Records. "Rossmore Road" does feature Robert Fripp.


Barry Andrews then went on to form Shriekback with Gang Of Four bassist Dave Allen.
I apologise to Ben Hallatt and his Widows Of Europe project, I cannot stop calling them "Windows" of Europe. Earlier this year Ben and fellow sound artist Ian Watson released the ambitious "Surround" concept. Documented on a variety of dictaphones, digital recorders and smart phones "SURROUND" presents a fragmentary and playful amalgamation of electronic sound generation, field recording and site specific improvisation, recorded on the coastline alongside the Vale Of Glamorgan in 2015.



The KIKS/Girlfriend labels' blog hasn't been updated in a while but it may be worth trying to contact Ben through this address : http://kiksbooks.blogspot.com There maybe a Facebook page too ...


In May this year a stripped down Contrastate played live in Plymouth alongside Alice Kemp and Nocturnal Emissions. The single "An Excercise In Defascination" was to be released to co-incide with this performance, but unfortunately .... "Spasmo" is the B-Side and will appear in some form on the upcoming Contrastate LP inspired by the Italian 'Giallo' films of the 1970's.

                                            Contrastate Live at KARST, Plymouth. 2019.

Get the single here : https://www.contrastate.com/?fbclid=IwAR2HUfXqNzkigq9ElsV_qid8GSfqeLejTYFWPCp7ICB_IT0z45WYUNscaLM

I am lead to understand that the playlist on Mixcloud has listed the Gonzo record as 5 separate pieces therefore contravening copyright laws of some countries. (USA for example). I apologise for this and there is nothing I can do about it. If you can, please take a listen here :
https://www.mixcloud.com/muhsteve/muhmur-radio-broadcast-12-september-2019/

Playlist : 
01: Feine Trinkers Bei Pinkels Daheim : "Paradieswurst" (Reduktive Musiken) 2007.
02: Stapleton & Tibet : "The Dead Side Of The Moon" (United Dirter) 2018.
03: Gonzo : "Ruidos (A Portuguesa)" (Discrepant) 2019.
04: Gonzo : "Vinha D'Alho" (Discrepant) 2019.
05: Gonzo : "Sāo Joāo XXX" (Discrepant) 2019.
06: Gonzo : "En (Fado) (Discrepant) 2019.
07: Gonzo : "A Fuga Dos Grilos" (Discrepant) 2019.
08: The Dead Mauriacs : "Moiteur Radiophonique" (NPH) 2018.
09: Creep Of Paris : "Geronticus Eremita #2" (Chocolate Monk) 2019.
10: John Duncan : "Klaar" (Black Truffle) 2017.
11: John Duncan : "I Fall In Love Too Easily" (Ideal Recordings) 2016.
12: Unknown Singing Objects : "Man Who Sold The World" (Not On Label) 2018.
13: The Stranglers : "Goodbye Toulouse" (United Artists Records) 1977.
14: Ultravox! : "Dislocation" (Island Records) 1978.
15: Barry Andrews : "Rossmore Road" (Virgin Records) 1980.
16: Ian Watson + Widows Of Europe : "Surround (CDR #1)" (KIKS/Girlfriend) 2019.
17: Contrastate : "Spasmo" (Black Rose Recordings) 2019.
18: John Duncan : "The Ruud E. Memorial Choir" (Robot Records) 1996.
19: Thorsten Soltau : "Brittle Life Seagrass Exposed To The Sun" (Not On Label) 2019.

The final track of the broadcast has been played in a different format before. In September 2018 Thorsten Soltau sent a 'session' that included "Brittle Life Seagrass Exposed To The Sun", it was broadcast under the name of Thorsten Soltau x Comrades. Earlier the month Thorsten (self) released the album "Dales And Shores" which includes a remastered version. The album also features remixes / re-interpretations of Thorsten's work by Susan Matthews, Jan Warnke, Miguel A. Ruiz and Herr Penshcuck. It is available here : https://thorstensoltau.bandcamp.com
Thorsten also supplied exclusive material in 2016, a piece called "Catafalque" that was released on cassette later in that year by Sinneslöchen.

                                                                  "Dales & Shores"

Next programme is on Thursday September 26. 8 0'Clock kick off ....

here's to the next 7 years!!

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...