Firstly, I shall point out that the link to this programme on MixCloud is the link to the whole MuhMur Radio MixCloud Archive, please feel free to listen to past broadcasts. As this programme is airing I shall be somewhere in international waters between England and France heading for the Midi-Pyrénées, hopefully taking in some record shops on the way. With that in mind the programme opens with a trio of French artists starting with Small Cruel Party. Small Cruel Party is the solo project of Key Ransone, born in the USA but based (for many years) in France.
'Ka Jengbarsi Wollinje' is the B-Side to the latest 7" 'Ancient Des Jours' on the Adi Grand label. It's available via Ferns Recordings. https://fernsrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/ancien-des-jours for further details. Toy Bizarre is the project of Toulouse based artist Cédric Peyronnet. Active since the early 1990's but now (I think) dormant, information on Toy Bizarre can be found at : http://www.ingeos.org/en/. The final piece of the French opening is by Rainier Lericolais, no stranger to MuhMur Radio and 'Intangible' is from his 2010 &' single on Sordide Sentimentale.
In my quest to have every release on Helen Scarsdale Agency I bought a copy of the double cassette 'Kopk Kopa' by Junk DNA. (Kopk Kopa is Polish for Kick Kick). Junk DNA is the project of American musician Brian Pyle. Brian is also part of the group Starving Wierdos, a group that I've played on MuhMur Radio before. I found this release floating around on the internet, I can't seem to find a link for his other releases.
Pantaleimon is Andria Degens. Andria was a member of Current 93 between 1997 and 2007 and also appeared the X-TG album 'Desertshore'. She lives not far from SoundArt Radio Studios. This 7" (single-sided and etched) came as a surprise from Michael art Bluesanct ~ thank you Michael. Andria can be contacted via : https://andriadegens.com. A few programmes ago I played two pieces from the latest Current 93 12"EP 'Great Aleph Lies Dreaming' a reDreaming of 'Aleph At Hallucinatory Mountain', now I play a third. https://www.cashensgap.com for more details. One of my favourite releases on 2023. I am enjoying digging out one or two cover versions for each broadcast. This time it is the turn of Swans and their version of Joy Division's 'Love Will Tear Us Apart'.
To be honest (and why not) I have never been a big 'fan' of The Durutti Column. I really like the two tracks on the Factory Sampler EP, but that's a different Durutti Column ... whilst compiling this playlist I was reading the long-piece on the band and interview with Vini Reilly that appeared in The Guardian newspaper. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/jul/21/guitar-hero-vini-reilly-durutti-column-factory-records-interview. It made me dig out some Durutti Column ... I have very little. 'The Factory Quartet' LP and a couple of pieces on compilations. I did see them live a few times back in the early 1980's. Retford Porterhouse and the appearance at Futurama 4 at Deeside Leisure Centre (Queensferry, Wales) come to mind. 'Sketch For Summer' appeared on the first LP 'The Return Of The Durutti Column'. The version I play is from the compilation 'Keeping Control : Independent Music From Manchester 1977-1981', a 3xCD box set released earlier this year on Cherry Red Records. Muckrackers put us back in France with their 2019 C5 cassette 'Mono Kok'. http://www.muckrackers.org.
'Aufrecht Gehen' is on the double 7"EP "Kalte Sterne" by Einstürzende Neubauten in 1981. It is on the Hamburg based ZickZack label. A few years ago I had the pleasure of meeting Alfred Hilsberg, the founder of ZickZack in his record shop in Hamburg. Lovely chap. He also started the 'What's So Funny About' label in the mid 1980's. Speaking about lovely chaps I have had the pleasure of time with ... I first met Tommi Keränen in 2000 when his project Sefahat supported Dieter Müh and Putrefier at the Ilkovi Restaurant in Jyväskylä (Finland). Sefahat were a trio back then and this was their first live performance. Thirty or so minutes of improvised electronics with Tommi setting up his gear on an ironing board. The Sefahat gig was included on the cassette '1st & 3rd Gig' released in 2012 on the Tuplapesä label. Over the past twenty or so I have bumped into Tommi now and again, the last time (I think) was at the Extreme Rituals Festival in Bristol 2012, we were both drummers with Vagina Dentata Organ. On stage at the Arnolfini with Tommi to my left and Mark Durgan (Putrefier) on my right .. it was like an Ilkovi reunion. Akti Records have just put out a cassette to support the 2023 'Glada Campare Tour'. The tour took in Uppsala, Jönköping, Malmö and Göteburg. The Keränen and Juho Toivonen pieces are from this cassette (which also features Slogan Motto). https://aktirecords.bandcamp.com. Tommi is also part of Testicle Hazard and The Truckfuckers. I hope to bump into him again soon ...
Following on from 'Music For A Film' a cassette on Kashual Plastik released in February 'Neuter' is the new LP from Leda. Noise pieces of looping and layering sonics and rhythms, lending more to the '"Covid Music" I Made With My Guitar' CDR than her other releases. Released on Discreet Music and available from them at : https://www.discreetmusic.se.
Discovering that 'On This Day' Blurt released their first single in 1980 and that I had just (re)bought the Whizz Kids second single that was also released in 1980 I thought I'd play a few tunes from that year starting with Magazine's 'A Song From Under The Floorboards', a single from the excellent 'Correct Use Of Soap' album. It was first in a series of four singles released monthly, all generically packaged, to support the album. I do recommend the John McGeoch biography 'The Light Pours Out Of Me', a great read with great insights to the formation of Magazine.
Another trip back in time ... In June 1978 I went to Sheffield City Hall to see Ian Dury & The Blockheads on their tour to promote the 'New Boots And Panties' album. Support was from Matumbi but before all that happened there was Mr Pugh's Puppet Theatre And The Blue Show. An end of the pier type Punch & Judy show featuring bad jokes and a lot of flatulence. In other words .. brilliant! When Blurt released their first single on this day in 1980 it was mentioned that Mr Pugh was Ted Milton, lead vocalist and saxophonist with Blurt. This single features the 'classic' Blurt line-up of Ted Milton, Jake Milton ("My Brother Is A Drummer In A Band From Stroud Called Blurt") and guitarist Pete Creese. This 7" was the first release on Test Pressings, a short run label operated by Terry Razor, the manager of Theatre Of Hate who later created Burning Rome Records. Test Pressings also released The Nips, Pearl Harbour and Charge amongst others, an interesting label in 1980 / 1981. Jake Milton was the drummer with Quintessence who were the opening band at the first Glastonbury Festival / Fayre (as it was back then) in 1970.
Staying in 1980, John Foxx's first single after leaving Ultravox! was 'Underpass' released in January. Our Daughters Wedding were a trio from America, based in New York. Their first single 'Lawnchairs' was released in 1980 on their own Design Records label, a year later it was re-released on EMI America and became a big 'dance floor' hit. I remember cutting a rug to this tune on the dance floor of The Porterhouse in Retford many a time ... '1980:The First Fifteen Minutes' is a 7" compilation on Neutron Records featuring Clock DVA, Stunt Kites, Vice Versa and I'm So Hollow. Neutron Records was run by Steve Singleton of Vice Versa. The Vice Versa and I'm So Hollow tracks are from this EP.
11th November 1978 The Lurkers played in Lincoln at a club called AJ's, they were on their 'The Lurkers Say Bollurks To John Travolta" tour. The support came from Whizz Kids. Over the coming months I saw Whizz Kids live a few times, they were the resident support act at AJ's. (They must've played for nowt .. ). Their first EP was released by Lincoln label Dead Good Records. 'PAYE As You Earn' features the live classic 'Cheek-To-Cheek'. If memory serves, they always used to finish their live set with this one, it's done with a nod towards Sid Vicious's version of 'My Way'. 1979 / 1980 Dead Good Records had a few essential releases by the likes of X S Energy, B Movie, Pseudo Existors, The Cigarettes and Sinking Ships. I never knew 'Suspect Number 1' existed until a few years back. Distributed by Dead Good Records (at the time) it is on Ovation Records. Whatever happened to Whizz Kids? If anyone knows ....
The programme ends on a track from the latest cassette by Aaron Dilloway. 'Bhoot Ghar : Sounds Of The Kathmandu Horror House'. The title says it all really. All recorded on Aaron's phone.
(The broadcast will be available from August 4 on MixCloud. Please go here) ;
https://www.mixcloud.com/tamsin-jane-cammack/muhmur-radio-broadcast-august-3rd-2023/
Playlist :
01: Small Cruel Party : "Ka Jengbarsi Wollinje" (Adi Grand) 2023.
02: Toy Bizarre : "Lamine Noi (2)" (Pure/RRRecords) 1996.
03: Ranier Lericolais : "Intangible" (Sordide Sentimentale) 2010.
04: Junk DNA : "In The Distance Kalingrad" (Helen Scarsdale Agency) 2022.
05: Pantaleimon : "Under The Water" (Bluesanct) 2006.
06: Current 93 : "Great Aleph Lies Dreaming (#1) (Cashen's Gap) 2023.
07: Swans : "Love Will Tear Us Apart" (Product Inc.) 1988.
08: Junk DNA : "Enclave" (Helen Scarsdale Agency) 2022.
09: Junk DNA : "-K-M-B" (Helen Scarsdale Agency) 2022.
10: The Durutti Column : "Sketch For Summer" (Factory Records) 1980.
11: Muckrackers : "Mono Kok" (LFA) 2019.
12: Einstürzende Neubauten : Aufrecht Gehen" (ZickZack) 1981.
13: Tommi Keränen : "Den Rödä Önken" (AKTI Records) 2023.
14: Juho Toivonen : "Solanas" (AKTI Records) 2023.
15: Leda : "Neuter (#8)" (Discreet Music) 2023.
16: Magazine : "A Song From Under The Floorboards" (Virgin Records) 1980.
17: Blurt : "My Mother Was A Friend Of An Enemy Of The People" (Test Pressings) 1980.
18: John Foxx : "Underpass" (Metal Beat/Virgin Records) 1980.
19: Our Daughters Wedding : "Lawnchairs" (EMI America) 1980.
20: Vice Versa : "Genetic Warfare" (Neutron Records) 1979.
21: I'm So Hollow : "I Don't Know" (Neutron Records) 1979.
22: Whizz Kids : "Suspect Number 1" (Ovation Records) 1980.
23: Aaron Dilloway : "Break Dancer" (Hanson Records) 2023.
