The Power Of The Witch

 

'The Power Of The Witch' is a new cassette released on the increasingly collectable Industrial Coast label. The recordings are from a live performance (by memotone) originally written for Think Tank, Leeds 2017. "The Power Of The Witch" is a BBC documentary from 1971, Very rarely seen these days the documentary is about Witchcraft in the UK and features contributions from Eleanor Bone, Cecil Williamson, Alex and Maxine Sanders and Doreen Valiente. The documentary has rare footage of ceremonies and rites and includes the fascinating story of the unsolved murder of Charles Walton on Meon Hill. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Walton_(murder_victim). 

The cassette begins with a prelude on piano before incidental music and samples of spoken word from the BBC documentary are brought in. The tone of the narrator and interviewees have a great 1970's British sound about them. Alongside and sometimes underneath the incidental music (again probably taken from the documentary and treated) a short repetitive leitmotiv of looped tones build with an increasing heartbeat. A minimal electronic rhythm and polyphonic organ brings to a psychedelic mood, there are orchestral swathes that could be lifted from other 'Witchcraft' classics like "The Blood On Satan's Claw" or "Witchfinder General"(?). It is riveting stuff. The sounds change again as the voices fade. Pulsations, vibrations and tones float, chase and race across the speakers creating an aura of occult and unnerving sounds. It is all very reminiscent of Adi Newton's TAGc (The Anti Group) project. After 20 minutes side one fades ... 

Side two fades in where side one finishes with the sound creating a plateau before switching to clarinet and an undercurrent of chattering disembodied voices. Around this time I was trying to visualise the live performance and could imagine a large cinema screen showing (perhaps) Benjamin Christensen's 1922 classic "Häxan" .... or perhaps as the sounds slow down, black & white images of blurred flames and naked dancing. It really is an album to get lost in, especially as the first ten minutes or so of side one sets the scene as were. 

The information on the cassette is minimal. Just below the Industrial Coast logo in the bottom corner of the cassette sleeve's reverse is the name memotone. I bought the cassette on the intrigue of the cassette's title and the artwork of the sleeve. I have had to investigate memotone. memotone is the project of Bristolian William Yates which he began in the earlier 2010s. William has also released under the moniker of Half Nelson and O.G. Jigg. It's a new project to my ears and I have just bought some memotone on vinyl to 'check out'. It might be a rabbit hole to disappear down. 

The cassette is still available at Industrial Coast. I do not know the limited edition number, but IC tapes are usually around 50. https://industrialcoast.bigcartel.com/product/the-power-of-the-witch. Act fast.

memotone can be contacted and explored here : 

http://www.memotone.co.uk.

And finally "The Power Of The Witch" original 1971 documentary cane be watched via YouTube here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_ZO7mJo4q8. 

MuhMur Radio Broadcast June 09 2022.

 

The programme starts with "Winter Hare Dance" by Masstishaddu. The piece is from the CD re-issue of their 1988 album "Shekinah" released on United Dairies. "Winter Hare Dance" is the 'bonus track', an unreleased gem. Masstishaddu were the trio of Mike Watson, Richard Rupenus and Sean Breadin (aka Sedayne). They were previously known as Metgumbnerbone with Rupenus more known for his noise as a New Blockader. 

"Shekinah" has been re-issued by the Italian Old Europa Cafe label. https://www.oldeuropacafe.com for more information. 

Sevan_Oh brings four exclusive pieces for MuhMur Radio. Sevan_Oh is Manchester based artist Sean Rorke. I have known Sean for about forty years, in 1983 we created the project IBF (Ideas Beyond Filth) with Tim Bayes. Sean was only part of IBF for a few months before settling in Manchester and creating the Carnifex Organisation, alongside Gary Warrington and Andy Wright. The Carnifex Organisation was an umbrella for artists to work under, creating sounds, art and organising live events. IBF played a Carnifex Organisation event at the PSV Club in Hulme, Manchester in 1985, also playing on that night were Systemlaw Violator and Furious Fish. Other Carnifex Organisation associates include Kava Kava, Joint Plan, Secret Cinema, Swivel Hips, Landishkrill and UbuHuHa amongst others ... I remember a band called The Ingrid Slugs used to rehearse in the Carnifex Organisation 'studio'. They were a band that featured the post Un-Kommuniti and pre Stereolab member Tim Gane. 

At the end of 1985 / beginning of 1986 when Tim and I decided to end IBF I joined Sean and formed the Mühviertel project. In 1989 we released a 3xC46 cassette called "Morsjusti" on Carnifex Organisation. Andy Wright became a full-time member later in 1986. Carnifex Organisation kind of dissolved (or went into hibernation) in 1990.

At the turn of the century Sean and Andy began recording and performing as Stray2. Sevan_Oh is Sean's solo project away from Stray2. All pieces were recorded at The Fault in Manchester 2021 and mixed in 2022. You can contact Sevan_Oh here : seanrorke@icloud.com. 

Sophie Sleigh-Johnson is a former member of UK art-rock band These New Puritans. "Nuncio Ref!" is her debut solo album on Yorkshire label Crow Versus Crow. Cassette copies and download are available here : https://crowversuscrow.bandcamp.com/album/nuncio-ref 

Regular listeners to MuhMur Radio broadcasts will know that I am a big 'fan' of the output of the Helen Scarsdale Agency. UK and European distribution for the new cassette release by Jo Montgomerie was very hard to track down and resulted in me contacting Jo personally to see if she had any copies to sell, unfortunately she didn't but she did put me in touch with Juno Distribution and I grabbed a copy from there. "From Industry Home" was released in May this year. The following is from the Helen Scarsdale Agency Bandcamp page : 

"An elegant decay amassed from the sounds of detritus, that may be an apt introduction to the work of Jo Montgomerie. Of course, the Helen Scarsdale Agency has a long standing infatuation with disintegrated sound in various forms. So, it makes perfect sense we should publish her work! That said Montgomerie has a fascinating strategy to her long-form smears of blackened mascara ambient and soldered noise. As a teenager she was a classically trained musician with an eye towards a career in sound design, foley work, and post-production. It may be of note to some that she was an uncredited soul responsible for thousands upon thousands of audio clips rendered for Boomkat during a lengthy tenure at that institution. These forms of production and editing necessitate a flawlessness which also hides the process entirely, and Montgomerie began to ruminate on that which was left on the cutting room floor (or the digital version of such a space), and thus, she took these unwanted sounds telescoped them into sinewy drones, forced them to collapse in a crucible of noise, and even rarified their essence into fluid harmonic tones ..... The source material to much of her work is the urban landscape of her Manchester home, but she also will decontextualise traditional instruments and even the creaks, groans and snaps of her own body amidst the thickets of details, obfuscating noise and thrumming din. The original sounds are dissolved with new layers and accretions become audible. They still address a heavy melancholy augmented through a dilated sense of time. From Industry Home becomes tantalising, uncanny album of the once familiar."

Jo Montgomerie has also self released cassettes, there's a new split cassette with Hauras which is very recommended. Contact Jo here : https://jomontgomerie.com. All things Helen Scarsdale Agency can be sought here : https://www.helenscarsdale.com

The Sudden Infant track comes from the 7" "Head" on Raubbau, it also features on the new album "Lunatic Asylum".

On This Day features a couple of releases. Firstly from 1978 with The Lurkers and their "Fulham Fallout" album on Beggars Banquet. 

In 1978 I was fifteen (and some of the time sixteen), I had all The Lurkers records and even got to see them live a couple times in Lincoln (and never paid a penny!). The Lurkers played Lincoln in 1978 on their "The Lurkers Say Bollurks To John Travolta" tour (local support from The Whizz Kids). A couple of us underage teenagers back then used to hang around in the afternoon outside the local AJ's Club in Lincoln and wait for the bands to arrive. Usually they were in battered white transit vans. The venue was on three levels and equipment had to be carried up flights of stairs, so I used to offer to hump the gear for free entry, then just hang about the venue avoiding the eyes of the bouncers and Alex Jackson (the owner).  I did this twice with The Lurkers, hence my "I roadied for The Lurkers" claim. It also (in 1978) worked for The Rich Kids, Slits, UK Subs ('Business Unusual' tour), Ultravox! and Jenny Darren. "Fulham Fallout" is one of those albums that has never left the collection. 

The second On This Day is the 7" "Another One" by The Mekons. Released in 1980 it was their first single for Red Rhino Records after leaving Virgin Records. It came out just after the 7" "Teeth", their last single for Virgin Records. "Another One" also features on their eponymous album on Red Rhino Records. 

The Neil Campbell track is from the compilation CDR "The Juice From Your Pen Is Running Down My Leg Volume 1". (It did take me a couple of hours to 'get' the title). It's a spoken word album that also features Of Habit, Sophie Cooper, Seymour Glass and Malcy Duff amongst others. It's released by Chocolate Monk and available here : http://chocolatemonk.co.uk/available.html. 

Avvitagalli are a trio made from Pino Montecalvo, Efisio Biancofiore and Valentina Magaletti. The piece here comes from the new LP "None Corsa" on the Horn Of Plenty <0 label. All three members of Avvitagalli are exponents of free and experimental jazz with Valentina being a member of the London Improvisers Orchestra. 

"Variegated percussion + WTF jams inspired by a visit to an abandoned, torched palazzo somewhere in Southern Europe. It's charred, decaying splendour casts a fitting backdrop to the surreal push-pull of Valentina & Pino's aural capers. None Corsa explores presence and absence, purpose and chance, and the tension between serenity and disquiet. Composing and decomposing, grabbing at modern composition, jazz, dub and post punk along the way"

Last year Horn Of Plenty <0 released the excellent Paul Chain retrospective, it's proving to be a label worth exploring, they have also put out a 10"EP by Warm Currency. Both records are available here : https://www.horn-of-plenty.org/?v=79cba1185463. A few weeks ago I was scrolling trough some bistro lists, mail order outletters and the like and was surprised to find an album by Thomas LaRoche's Creep Of Paris project. Released in the autumn of last year on the Australian Index Clean label. The album is called "Karaoke World I & II", I play "Karaoke World II". I found a copy via Millstone Vinyl of Sweden but copies are available direct from Index Clean : https://index-clean.bandcamp.com.

                                                                         CREEP OF PARIS

                                                                THE DEAD MAURIACS

The broadcast ends with part one of "Les Perruches Les Ambassades" by The Dead Mauriacs. Subtitled 'Music For Steve Cammack' this is a pressing of 1 and presented as a retirement gift from The Dead Mauriacs. After 20 years in the NHS I retired in May this year. The album came the day before recording and it will be played in full later in the year. 

Please listen to the programme here : https://www.mixcloud.com/tamsin-jane-cammack/muhmur-radio-broadcast-9-june-2022/.

Playlist :

01: Masstishaddu : "Winter Hare Dance" (Old Europa Cafe) 2021.

02: Sevan_Oh : "A.R. Comp. 091121a (101121a)" (Not On Label) 2022.

03: Sophie Sleigh-Johnson : "RIP Gentlemen" (Crow Versus Crow) 2022.

04: Sevan_Oh : "Faulted Future 1" (Not On Label) 2022.

05: Jo Montgomerie : "1038" (Helen Scarsdale Agency) 2022.

06: Jo Montgomerie : "Inside" (Helen Scarsdale Agency) 2022.

07: Sevan_Oh : "Faulted Future 2" (Not On Label) 2022.

08: Sudden Infant : "Head" (Raubbau) 2022.

09: The Lurkers : "Gerald" (Beggars Banquet Records) 1978.

10: The Mekons : "Another One" (Red Rhino Records) 1980.

11: The Mekons : "Teeth" (Virgin Records) 1980.

12: Sevan_Oh : "This One's For You 111121a" (Not On Label) 2022.

13: Neil Campbell : "Ghost Story" (Chocolate Monk) 2022.

14: Avvitagalli : "The Last Shiny Bones Of The Duno Ghost" (Horn Of Plenty <0) 2022.

15: Creep Of Paris : "Karaoke World II" (Index Clean) 2021.

16: The Dead Mauriacs : "Les Perruches Les Ambassades (Music For Steve Cammack) Part One" (NPH) 2022.

So ... this will be the last MuhMur Radio broadcast until September. SoundArt Radio. From June 18 at 13:00 (GMT) SoundArt Radio will be broadcasting "Radio Art Zone". It's a radio art project by Radio ARA and Mobile Radio for the European Capital of Culture Esch-Sur-Alzette in 2022. (Esch is in Luxembourg). "Imagine A Radio That Sounds Different Everyday". The Radio Art Zone schedule consists of newly commissioned 22 hour radio productions, created by more than 100 international and local artists. "Welcome To The Zone Where Radio And Art Mix Freely". SoundArt Radio broadcasts on the FM 102.5 in the South Hams (Devon) and streams live here : https://www.soundartradio.org.uk. The Radio Art Zone continues through to the 26th of September. 

I shall be continuing to write on the RemuhMuration Blog, news and chat about what is coming and going (on) at MuhMur HQ. 

Many thanks to Chris Booth for assistance and organisation and to all those that have provided sounds throughout ... 

                                                                         Chris Booth.

                                                            Outside SoundArt Radio Studios

Here's a picture of Sean Rorke (aka Sevan_Oh) - if this picture is still here it means Sean doesn't mind, or he never reads this!

Heimito Künst : Post Exoticism

 

Heimito Künst is a mysterious sound artist / multi-instrumentalist from Italy. In 2021 he released his debut and eponymous CD album on the Dissipatio label, the Italian label run by Nicola Quiriconi of VipCranco. (Are VipCranco still in existence)? 

"Post Exoticism" is a C50 cassette on the Californian based Shrimper label. "Post Exoticism" is an album in three parts, if not parts then certainly atmospheres. The first three (opening) pieces ;  "Terminus Radioso", Soloviei" and "Slow Speckled Train" are built on slow melodic drones. It's as if it was all recorded at 45rpm and played back and mixed at 16rpm. (if that makes any sense)? It's the trumpets, the horns that give these tracks a Throbbing Gristle feel .. it does carry an 'industrial' feel. "Soloviei" evokes the atmospheres of those early Last Few Days recordings. It's a joy to sit back and immerse in the sounds. One downside is that the pieces just end ... no 'ad lib to fade' (an in joke for 70's Queen fans there), or an obvious endgame ... just end. Side One finishes on "Sovchoz Red Star", a change in approach. The sound is much cleaner with a more spaced ambient sound, synthesisers to the fore. 

Side two is another shift. If Side one of "Post Exoticism" explores two aspects / atmospheres of the sound of Heimito Künst then side two is part three. Opening with "Ugdel" and its' heavy organ lead drone a la Nico and/or Ivor Cutler, a voice wails, swims along, a calling to all angels. It all continues into "49 Days After Death", a funereal dirge. I think Heimito is exploring an unhappy place here. "SKS 56" follows, again layering the use of the organ sounds, it all becomes less unsettling and reaches a calming plateau. "I Wait For The End" is a rapturous end to the album. An epiphany. It has some minimal percussive clicks (ticks) that lie beneath the droning vocals. Brilliant. 

Released in the USA by Shrimper : http://www.shrimperrecords.com. It's limited to 100 copies with artwork by Dennis Callaci. Dissipatio have picked up a handful for European distribution (it's where I grabbed mine from) : https://dissipatio.bandcamp.com/album/heimito-k-nst, where it is also available for download. 

Enjoy .... I do.