This broadcast centres on the sound of Stuart Chalmers. (I think) I first became aware of the activities of Stuart back in 2012 when I received a package of albums (CDR) from the Bristol based LF Records. Stuart's "Daydream Empire" was in the package. Stuart does not have a high internet presence, there is a bandcamp page and a YouTube page .... but other than that ...
'Exploring the connections between the environment, the imagination and a sense of self ... Embodied sound, altered perceptions and alternative views of reality'.
This is how Stuart describes his sound. the track 'Loop Fantasy No.4 (#2)' is from the 2017 album 'Loop Fantasy No.4' on Chocolate Monk. Loop Fantasy numbers 1, 2 and 3 do exist! 'Theatre Of The Absurd' is from the "Daydream Empire" album.
Stuarts latest album is "Nomad Tree". The tracks 'On Sorcerous Wings Take Flight' and 'Seeking Through Deepest Fears' are from this album. Stuart is also a prolific collaborator, in the past working with Robert Ridley-Shackleton, Neil Campbell, Edward Sol, Anla Courtis, Claus Poulson and Territorial Gobbing to name but a few. His collaboration with Howard Stelzer "The Extenuating Circumstance And All That It Implies" was released on Invisible City Records in 2022. In 2018 Stuart collaborated with Oxford based sound artist Lee Riley on the cassette album "Points Of Vital Differences". Last month Lee and Stuart went into Safehouse Studios in Oxford to start another collaborative project. Stuart kindly mailed MuhMur Radio an excerpt (improvisation) from one of the studio sessions. For more information about Stuart's activities please go to : https://stuartchalmers.bandcamp.com and go to the you tube page : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4JxrJI3VQcJnYB38Tp525A.
Cabaret Voltaire tracks are from the B Side of 'Sluggin' Fer Jesus' 12". B Sides will feature somewhat in the next broadcast. A project I have been keeping an ear on in 2024 is Organ Of Corti. The Swedish supergroup comprising of Joachim Nordwall, Dan Johansson and Matthias Gustafsson. "Rex" and "Extremum" are from their latest 7".
One thing I didn't know (one thing amongst many) until it was pointed out to me during the last broadcast by Andrew Fletcher is that the Steep Gloss label only releases collaborations. So, I visited their bandcamp page and found the recent release by Courtis/Reche/Cornucopia. "El Humo Líquido" was recorded in San Juan De Puerto Rico and Buenos Aires in 2008. Steep Gloss is operated by Ross Scott-Buccleuch and can be found at : https://steepgloss.bandcamp.com/.
Grey Park's latest is called "Street Of Life". It is a download only (name your price) on the wonderfully named 'Why Keith Dropped The S' label. Grey Park know that I don't play downloads so kindly mailed a one-off CDR of the track (before you ask). Thank Heikke.
Grey Park.
2024 seems to be a busy year for Scottish sound artist Fletina. With two albums out in quick succession. "Serif" is on the Belgian 'Unfathomless' label and will feature on a future broadcast, in this programme I play the "Seen To Remain" album in full. It is on the Japanese Kirigirisu label. All Fletina sounds can be found at :
https://fletina.bandcamp.com.
Fletina.
David Walraff is a new name to me, brought to my attention through his release on Brachliegen Tapes. The cassette is called "NO", available here :
https://brachliegentapes.bandcamp.com.
'NO draws inspiration from Heinrich Heine's 1844 poem "The Sitesean Weavers". For Wallraf, the three-fold curse is an age old - and crucially - perpetual international struggle against God, masters and the concept of 'fatherland'. The artist states that the revolt that erupted in Iran after the murder of Masha Amini and the global solidarity with the Jin Jiyan Azadi protests incited the political/creative motivation for NO'.
Brachliegen Tapes are donating all profits generated from NO to SDS: Solitary Detainee Support, a grassroots abortionist visiting group working to break the isolation of UK immigration detention.
I hope to hear more of David's work in the coming months, whilst writing this blog I have bought his latest cassette .. a split with Gerald Fiebig on the (always dependable) Grubenwehr Freiburg label.
The Pop Group track is from their debut 1979 LP "Y". The track had become a bit of an ear worm so I had to include it. The 23 Skidoo track is from their debut 12" for Fetish Records. Played as a request.
Apologies to Dronæment, I had to cut the track short as the CDR started to skip around.
The broadcast has been archived in two parts for easier digestion. Part Two begins with Lee Riley "Armageddon Waltz".
Playlist.
01: Stuart Chalmers : "Loop Fantasy No.4 (#2)" (Chocolate Monk) 2017.
02: Stuart Chalmers : Theatre Of The Absurd" (LF Records) 2012.
03: Cabaret Voltaire : "Your Agent Man" (Le Disques Du Crépuscule) 1981.
04: Cabaret Voltaire : "Sluggin' Fer Jesus (Part 2)" (Le Disques Du Crépuscule) 1981.
05: Organ Of Corti : "Rex" (iDeal Recordings) 2024.
06: Courtis/Reche/Cornucopia : "El Humo Líquido" (Steep Gloss) 2024.
07: Grey Park : "Street Of Life" (Why Keith Dropped The S) 2024.
08: Howard Stelzer & Stuart Chalmers : "The Extenuating Circumstance And All That It Implies" (Invisible City Records) 2022.
09: Organ Of Corti : "Extremum" (iDeal Recordings) 2024.
10: Fletina : "Seen To Remain" (Kirigirisu Recordings) 2024.
11: Lee Riley : "Armageddon Waltz" (Not On Label-Self Released) 2021.
12: LR/SC : "Points Of Vital Differences 2" (Cruel Nature Records) 2018.
13: LR/SC : "Points Of Vital Differences 3" (Cruel Nature Records) 2018.
14: Stuart Chalmers + Lee Riley : "@ Safehouse Studios. Oxford" (Not On Label) 2024.
(Exclusive recording for MuhMur Radio).
15: Stuart Chalmers : "On Sorcerous Wings Take Flight" (Reverb Worship) 2024.
16: Stuart Chalmers : "Seeking Through Deepest Fears" (Reverb Worship) 2024.
17: Matt Atkins & Stuart Chalmers : "Doric Order" (More Mars Team) 2024.
18: David Wallraf : "NO" (Brachliegen Tapes) 2024.
19: The Pop Group : "Words Disobey Me" (Radar Records) 1979.
20: 23 Skidoo : "The Gospel Comes To New Guinea" (Fetish Records) 1981.
21: Dronæment : "Ezoterick Muziek II" (Afe Records) 2006.
Next broadcast is on Sunday December 8. This will be live and on my 62nd birthday so I am going to be playing a lot of sounds from 1978 - 1983 including my top 5 B-Sides from those years ...
The MuhMur Radio Posse.
*** The picture at the top of the blog is NOT Stuart Chalmers!***
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