Nocturnal Emissions have been digitising their back catalogue and putting the sounds up on their Bandcamp page. Nigel also found a box of old releases and has added them too ... so I managed to get a couple of 'physical' releases. "Drowning In A Sea Of Bliss" was released in 1983 on the Emissions own Sterile Records label. It has had a couple of reissues on Touch and Klanggalerie and at some point this year will be reissued on vinyl by the German Mannequin Records label. The version here is the Klanggalerie CD issue.
Research Laboratories started releasing in 2011 with the eponymous cassette album by Pavlov's Children. Pavlov's Children were / are an Acid House duo formed by Research Laboratories head guru Thomas LaRoche. Over the next couple of years Research Laboratories put out a slew of limited edition cassettes all featuring the art and noise of Thomas. His first 'Cassingle' called "Mauvaise For" had copies carved in to an antique bible, and the eponymous Generic White Male tape was ultra limited at 25 copies. Pavlov's Children went on to release a 7" single on Tim Burgess's O Genesis label.
In Spring of 2012 I travelled to Berlin to see The New Blockaders and Vagina Dentata Organ perform live at the NK Gallery and on the evening was invited to participate as part of VDO in the upcoming Extreme Rituals Event that was happening later in the year at The Arnolfini in Bristol. Whether or not Thomas was part of VDO in Berlin I do not know but he was part of the drumming ensemble at the Arnolfini, this was my first meeting with Thomas. Three years later (2015) when Vagina Dentata Organ performed at the Tate Modern as part of the Albert Serra evening I finally got to chat to Thomas and he talked about his activities outside of VDO. The last time I saw Thomas was when we (again) drummed behind Jordi at the Kunst Gallery in Belper (2018).
Since 2015 Research Laboraties have become more active and more prolific. Thomas has released cassettes and Anti-Records and object d'art under his own name as well as CREEP OF PARIS, Poultry Breeders Union and Eudocimus Ruber as well as sounds by Teignmouth Electron, Mark Vernon, The New Blockaders & The Prestidigitators, Duncan Harrison, Costes, Evil Moisture, Don Mandarin and The Rebel. All releases are in extremely limited editions, sometimes single fingers and never above fifty.
Last year I invited Thomas to provide some 'exclusive' material for MuhMur Radio and he provided the "RADIO MM - RESEARCH LABORATORIES MIX". It's 30 minutes or so of glorious lo-fi madness.
The mix features : The Rebel - Drill Homage Remix.
Cody Bryant - 5.99lb.
Mark Vernon - Love In The Form Of A Personal Attack.
Michael Gilliam - Don't Fall Down The Mountain.
C.O.P. - Geronticus Eremits - Excerpt.
Jean Louis Costes - Papa Dick.
Dai Coelacanth - Crushed Grubs At A Lousy B&B.
There are other sounds by Thomas LaRoche that I recognised thrown in to the mix too.
Thomas also has a side project label to Research Laboratories called Cheap Food Records and has released cassettes by Active Denial (Thomas's P.E. project), Concrete Emptiness and Rotting Shrine. Some RL releases can be bought vis Discogs (I have just bought the Pavlov's Children 7" this morning) .. or contact Thomas via :
https://researchlaboratories.tumblr.com
Thee Thomas LaRoche & His Confounded Instinct Of Mediocrity Orchestra 7" (2015)
Eudocimus Rubel - Satanic Whoopee Cushion (2019)
The New Blockaders & The Prestidigitators - Nichts Jenseits Nihilismus (2017)
Duncan Harrison - Life Is Not A Succession Of Major Events (2019)
The Rebel (2020)
Lasse Marhaug is a Norwegian soundartist that first came to my ears in the late 1990's with his work within the Origami collective. I have found myself dipping in and out of lasses catalogue as his styles and techniques are very (very) varied, I prefer his more ambient / drone soundscapes to his more harsher noise projects. I did see Testicle Hazard play live twice in one day in London. Testicle Hazard being Lasse Marhaug + Tommi Keränen playing a sort of homage to JapNoise. A day I'll never forget!
The track here is from the new release on Sentimental Productions called "Four Seasons Only Winter".
There is around 15 seconds silence between Lasse and two pieces by the Bulgarian based project MyTrip. A technical problem for which I apologise but hopefully does not ruin the listening pleasure. The two MyTrip tracks are from their latest LP "Keeper".
It's because the final MyTrip piece is called "Upheaval" I decided to follow with The Anti Group's "New Upheaval" from the 1986 mini album "Sht" on Sweatbox, and Sheffield connections forced me to follow with Stephen Mallinder's "Cool Down". Originally released in 1981 as the flip side to his debut solo 12" "Tempreture Drop" on Fetish Records this release and his debut solo album "Pow Wow" has just been reissued on CD by Ice Machine Records.
Kompleksi were a Finnish duo (based in Helsinki) comprising of digital artist Erkki Ratio and musician Mika Paju. They released the one LP and 7" before disappearing in to the Suomi mists.
Comments always welcomed ...
Playlist :
01: Juice Machine : "Study Of Electrocution" (Falt) 2020.
02: Nocturnal Emissions : "Drowning In A Sea Of Bliss" (Klanggalerie) 2008. (*)
03: Thomas LaRoche : "Research Laboratories MM Radio Broadcast" (Not On label) 2020.
(Exclusive material especially mixed for MuhMur radio)
04: Lasse Marhaug : "Four Seasons Only Winter (II)" (Sentimental Productions) 2020.
05: MyTrip : "Blood Black Like Water" (Amek) 2020.
06: MyTrip : "Upheaval" (Amek) 2020.
07: The Anti Group : "New Upheaval" (Sweatbox) 1986.
08: Stephen Mallinder : "Cool Down" (Ice Machine Records) 2020.
09: Kompleksi : "(I Ain't No) Lovechild" (Verdura) 2008.
(*) - The Nocturnal Emissions piece "Drowning In A Sea Of Bliss" is Side A of the album originally released on Sterile Records in 1983. The Klanggalerie CD reissue plays it as one track although it is ten pieces mixed as one. The titles of the pieces are :
I - Norepinephrine.
II - How Groovy You Were.
III - Hardcore.
IV - Gloppetta.
V - Tongues Speak.
VI - Want To Die.
VII - Smoking Rat Machine.
VIII - Wrongly Wired.
IX - Violence Is Love.
X - Shan't Do That.
Apologies for the lateness in posting this, technical difficulties.
Next broadcast is on this Thursday, 20th August. Should be a 20:00 hours kick off but check local papers for details.
