MuhMur Radio Broadcast 29 September 2022

 

This is the first in a brace of broadcasts where the playlist is compiled of sounds that have come through the portals of MuhMur HQ over the past three months whilst I have been "off-air". 

"I'm Back, In Full Attack. Never Give In Until They Crack". (999).

The (Jim Jones) People's Temple Choir open the programme giving you a warm welcome. The track is from the 1973 LP "He's Able" that has been recently re-issued on cassette by the Kieh! Kieh! label. Go to : https://kiehkieh.bandcamp.com for more details. 

In April The Anti Group (TAGc) released their tenth album "AMMA". AMMA further explores the TAGc work "Digitaria" inspired and based around the Dogon Cosmological beliefs documented in the book by Marcel Griaule and Germaine Dieterlen, 'Le Renard Pâle' (Paris 1965, Institut d'Ethnologie), utilising unreleased Archival tapes from the TAGc Digitaria recording sessions, ethnological recordings of the Dogon and astrophysical recordings from the star systems in the constellation of Canis Major. "Ogo Le Ranard Pâle" is from this album. Released by ArmComm Europe and Rizosfera, copies are available from : https://rizosfera.org/en/. At the same time Rizosfera also released the first solo album by Adi Newton called "Newtones". It's well worth hunting out. 

"Time Ends - A Tribute To J.G. Ballard's Tetralogy Of Transformation" is a double compilation album featuring Desiderii Martinis, Troum, Martin Bladh & Karolina Urbaniak and Anemone Tube. Each artist has a side to explore, interpret and explain four of Ballard's works. Anemone Tube's "Road Of Suffering I - III" is a take on "The Crystal World" and is part of "Sea Of Trees". "Inspired by the visions of J. G. Ballard 'Sea Of Trees' aims to dissolve the alienated relationship between man and nature. In this vision the forest is a place of pilgrimage, offering a comprehensive healing processor man with the purpose of a repatriation to his actual innate nature". The album is a co-release between Auf Abwegen and The Epicurean (Anemone Tube's own label). I must admit to not knowing much of Ballard's work, I remember reading "Crash" and "The Atrocity Exhibition" (quite thin volumes as I remember) as a teenager in the 1970's, but I can't remember getting much out of them ... but, if there's a compilation album where both Anemone Tube and Troum get a side each .. I am going to have to take a listen. Go to either label's websites for more information. (It's also available as a CD) : http://the-epicurean.transformed.de and / or https://aufabwegen.bandcamp.com. 

Memotone is the alias of experimental electronic artist William Yates. Earlier in the year I got the cassette "The Power Of The Witch" on Industrial Coast, a tape shrouded in mystery about who produced the sounds etc, I discovered it was William Yates so, wanting to hear more I dipped my ears in to the water (so to speak) and bought this Memotone 7" "Koma". I shall continue to get more Memotone sounds. Facit was another project who I found out about by delving into the works of Swedish musician Joakim Karlsson. Joakim is half of Treasury Of Puppies and has worked with Blod and Astrid Øster Mortensen in the past. (All favourites here at MuhMur HQ). Facit is the duo of Mai Nestor and Joakim Karlsson, with albums last year out on Förfall and Discreet Music. "Broschyr" is from the 2013 12"EP "Mat Åt Duvorna" on the New York based Cititrax label. 

Just as I had finished the playlist for the last MuhMur Radio broadcast before the summer recess the 10 album and 2 7" single box set of Nekrophile Rekords history came through the door. A happy summer spent listening to all of Nekrophile's output. I still have a couple of original cassettes, the ones by Korpses Katatonik and LAShTAL, and I was never too keen on the Zos-Kia / Coil "Transparent" tape, but hearing it again after many many years I was pleasantly surprised .. it has its moments. The box set (which also includes a rather magnificent book full of history and memories) also includes the unreleased material by Coming To Now. "Closer To Silence" was recorded in 1984 but never made release. The same story applies to Metgumbnerbone's "For The Raven" album which also appears in the box. Coming To Now were Andy hale and Luther Howard. Their first release (under the pseudonym of Tibet 23) was the 1983 cassette "The Psychick Funcktion". A live recording, this was followed by "The Stifling Air" on the The Will To Power label. Shortly after the release of this cassette Luther left the group. The Coming To Now piece that appears on the Nekrophile compilation "The Archangels Of Sex Rule The Destruction Of The Regime" was a solo piece by Andy Hale. Recently Andy Hale has revived Coming To Now with downloads available on his Bandcamp page. : https://comingtonow.bandcamp.com.

On this day in 1981 Rough Trade US released the Throbbing Gristle album "Greatest Hits (Entertainment Through Pain)". "Distant Dreams (Part Two)" is not on this album. I think Rough Trade US missed a treat out there, it's one of my favourite TG tracks. Now, as a gentleman of leisure after retiring from what seemed like a lifetime working in the NHS, I find myself with time to read and this year I have been buying a few copies of the magazine "Electronic Sound". (I also pick up the odd "Record Collector" if it has an old punk band listed on the cover). I like the inclusion of the 7" single, in months past they have included pieces on and 7" singles by Thomas Leer & Robert Rental, Chris & Cosey, Cabaret Voltaire and John Foxx to name but a few. April this year the magazine featured Laibach with the 7" "Love Is Still Alive (Surfing Through The Universe)" and the July issue has an extended interview with Stephen Mallinder and the 7" "Contact". The track is from his latest LP on Dais Records called "Tick Tick Tick". It was through reading the interview that I discovered the project Mzylkypop. Mzylkypop is a Sheffield project operated by saxophonist Michael Ward (aka Michael Somerset) who was an ex-member of Clock DVA and Floy Joy. The 12"EP "Mzylkypop Presents Xzyles" features Stephen Mallinder alongside Adi Newton, Peter Hope, Karl D'Silva and Martin Archer amongst others. Sheffield legends to a man! 

                                                               Haemoccult Recordings

September 2022. I always knew I was going to retire in 2022, I didn't know which month but it was always a forgone conclusion. One of my retirement plans was to revive, resurrect, rejuvenate the label Haemoccult Recordings. Haemoccult Recordings was created in 2008 to release the Dieter Müh album "The Call" (HAEM 001). A few months after the release Dave Uden left Dieter Müh and label activities were put on Hiatus. 2015 and I released "Bethlehem Loop" (HAEM 002). This is a 5" lathe cut originally recorded for a Harbinger Sound project back in the early 00's. Steve (of Harbinger Sound) kindly sent me the 23 copies when the project was ceased. This release has never been for sale, I gave copies away to friends and to those who showed an interest. So, when I did finally hang up the NHS lanyard and scrubs in May I started asking folk if they were interested in a Haemoccult Recordings release. On September 24th (it was to be the 13th .. but for reasons I can't go in to right now) I released two 7" singles. Grey Frequency "Empyrean / Ritual" (HAEM 003) and The Dead Mauriacs "Cérémonie (Avec Congo En Flammes)" (HAEM 004). 

There will be as yet untitled 7" single by Tony Whitehead released soon as well as a cassette by Finnish experimentalists Grey Park entitled "Think Space, Act Local (Volume 1)". It's a collection of Grey Park material from 1999 - 2003. (HAEM 005). At the time of writing this I haven't set up an internet presence, so it you want a copy just drop me a line on muhmur.radio@gmail.com and I'll help. 

Degredation are the duo George Rayner-Law and Vinegar Tom. "Brainworm" is from the debut LP "Leadlined" on Brachliegen Tapes. Recently George has been making his radio work available via Bandcamp including the session he did for MuhMur Radio back in March this year. Grab a download here : https://georgeraynerlaw.bandcamp.com/album/pieces-for-muhmur-radio-march-2022. 

2022 has been a busy year for Alice Kemp with live performances at 'Radiophrenia' in Glasgow and at the Supernormal Festival in a field in Oxfordshire. Alice has also provided the soundtrack to the film "I Have Seen Niagara" and provided artwork for the Rudolf Eb.Er + Will Guthrie project "Hilt" (released on Fragment Factory). She also had the misfortune of bumping in to me in a field on Dartmoor recently.

Alice's first release of 2022 is the cassette "To All My Hideous Children" on the Greek Coherent States label. There is a 'deluxe' edition of the release that comes with a crafted object, cards and paper covers and a 7" lathe-cut single. "Hideous Children II" is from the single. The label recommends playing the 7" at 45RPM but I am happiest hearing at 33RPM. This year has also been a busy one for Gavin Morrow (aka) Grey Frequency. Live performances in Lincoln, Leicester and his hometown of Nottingham. Appearing on compilations "Forgotten, Abandoned, Desolated (Volume 5)" on Distorted Void, "The Dystoian World Of J.G. Ballard" on Zero K and "Hauntology In UK" on Eighth Tower Records. Gavin has also broadcast radio programmes on CAMP Radio and re-issued "When Do We Dream" as a limited cassette. Earlier this month Cornish based label Dub Chthonic released the cassette "Leviathan". Again, extremely limited. I think only 23 copies ... but still available as a download from the label at : https://dubcthonic.bandcamp.com/album/leviathan. 

"Ritual" comes from the new 7" release on Haemoccult Recordings (as mentioned earlier). Francesco Covarino has released a cassette (EP) on his own tsss tapes label. Originally from Spain, Francesco is now based in Perugia, Italy. "Nido" (Spanish for 'Nest'), was recorded on a 4-Track cassette recorder in 2018. The two tracks were originally meant to be lullabies for his then 2 year old daughter to fall asleep to. The two pieces do remind me of the work of Blod and Discreet Music releases of recent times. Excellent and recommended. https://tssstapes.bandcamp.com/album/nido. 

Belgian based label Aguirre Records have re-issued a couple of Blod albums from 2017/18. Leendet Från Helvetet ("The Smile From Hell"), was released in 2017 on the Förlag För Fri Musik label, with Zeon Light releasing a cassette version a few weeks later. A few weeks ago I wrote about Blod on this blog and discussed these re-issues. https://remuhmuration.blogspot.com/2022/07/blod.html. The Current 93 song is from the CDEP "Black Ships Ate The Sky Tour Single" or "God Is A Man Eater" depending on which label released it. I have the UK version with the sleeve text written in Coptic. Over the summer I have been listening to a lot of Hauras. I first came aware of the project through their release on the Industrial Coast label. "Adrift" was released earlier this year and this lead me to the split release with Jo Montgomerie (another great artist who I have been discovering over the past few months) and the two cassette releases on the Helen Scarsdale Agency label. "Deleted Scene" ends side B on the "In These Comings Days" a 2020 release. Hauras is the project of Howard Ryan. More information on Hauras and Helen Scarsdale Agency can be found here : https://www.helenscarsdale.com.

The broadcast has been archived on MixCloud and available now : 

https://www.mixcloud.com/tamsin-jane-cammack/muhmur-radio-broadcast-29-september-2022/

Thanks for listening, back again on October 13th at 21:00 on SoundArt Radio 102.5FM and streaming live  here : https://www.soundartradio.org.uk

Playlist :

01: The People's Temple : "Welcome" (Kieh! Kieh!) 2021.

02: The Anti Group : "Ogo Le Renard Pâle" (Armcomm Europe/Rizosfera) 2022.

03: Anemone Tube : "Road Of Suffering (I-III)" (The Epicurean/Auf Abwegen) 2021.

04: Memotone : "Koma" (Black Acre) 2013.

05: Facit : "Broschyr" (Cititrax) 2013.

06: Coming To Now : "The Bullet Made Flesh" (Vinyl On Demand) 2022.

07: Throbbing Gristle : "Distant Dreams (Part Two)" (Industrial Records) 1980.

08: Stephen Mallinder : "Contact" (Electronic Sound) 2022.

09: The Dead Mauriacs : "Cérémonie (Avec Congo En Flammes) (Acte 1)" (Haemoccult Recordings) 2022. 

10: The Dead Mauriacs : "Cérémonie (Avec Congo En Flammes) (Acte 2)" (Haemoccult Recordings) 2022.

11: Degredation : "Brainworm" (Brachliegen Tapes) 2022.

12: Alice Kemp : "Hideous Children II" (Coherent States) 2022.

13: Grey Frequency : "Leviathan Wakes" (Dub Cthonic) 2022.

14: Grey Frequency : "Ritual" (Haemoccult Recordings) 2022.

15: Francesco Covarino : "Nido ii" (tsss tapes) 2022.

16: Blod : "Leendet Från Helvetet" (Aguirre Records) 2022.

17: Blod : "Leendet Från Helvetet - Repris" (Aguirre Records) 2022.

18: Current 93 : "Then Kill Caesar" (Durtro/Jnana Records) 2006.

19: Hauras : "Deleted Scene" (Helen Scarsdale Agency) 2020.

The Dead Mauriacs 7" on Haemoccult Recordings Now Available!

 http://www.thedeadmauriacs.com/2022/09/the-dead-mauriacs-ceremonie-avec-cargo.html

MuhMur Radio - Back On Air!

 

Back in the SoundArt Radio studios to pre-record a couple of broadcasts. The first one goes out at the new time of 21:00 on September 29th, found on 102.5FM if you're hanging around Totnes or catch(up)able on Mixcloud a few hours later. 

The first couple of broadcasts are of sounds that have arrived through the portal of MuhMur Radio HQ since June, lots of sounds from The Anti Group, Memotone, The Dead Mauriacs, Alice Kemp, Grey Frequency, Degredation, Francesco Covarino and Blod (and others) in the first broadcast. It was great to be back, hanging with Chris and Tamsin and the kids. 

A new season begins .... 

Duet Emmo

 August, and MuhMur Radio HQ has become Wire central. A couple of weeks ago I was out and about in a nearby Devonshire town (I am keeping the location a secret ... for obvious reasons), and came across a record shop selling new charty stuff and "pre-loved' vinyl. There was also a bin of unsold 'Record Store Day' releases. I managed to pick up the Wire release "PF456 Deluxe", a book containing two 10"EPs and a 7" single. It was going for a song as Arthur Negus once said. This compilation was available on last year's Record Store Day. I also grabbed a copy of Wire's 2018 Record Store Day offering "Nine Sevens", a box of Wire's first 9 singles, including the EP that came with "154" LP and the unreleased "2nd Length (Our Swimmer)" single that Charisma Records rejected. The Harvest years of Wire are my favourite, I remember buying the "Mannequin" EP from Sanctuary Records in Lincoln when it was first released. 1977. I followed them right through to "154" and beyond - their solo projects etc. I wasn't too keen on the reformation in 1985. I went to the Bloomsbury Theatre gig in July that year. So I never really kept tabs on their releases and/or activities from then on. That was until I moved down here to Devon and my brother-in-law's band supported Wire on a European tour and came back with some goodies for me, signed CDs, set lists and a can of Belgian lager (Maes) that Graham Lewis had given him. The can (still unopened) is on display at MuhMur Radio HQ! He even introduced me to the band when they played Exeter a few years ago. 

                                                          Chatting with Colin Newman.

Also back in the month of August I bought a copy of the CD "Not About To Die", an album of studio demos from 1977 and 1978 with some amazing versions of tracks from the "Chairs Missing" and "154" albums.

So, whilst the summer has been swimming to the tunes of Wire's back catalogue I received a notification from Juno Records about the re-issue of Duet Emmo's 1983 album "Or So It Seems". Duet Emmo was the title given to the project for the collaboration between Daniel Miller (Mute) and Bruce Gilbert & Graham Lewis (Dome), the name being an amalgamated anagram of both parties. I must admit to being a little surprised by this re-issue / repackage as I thought Mute Records never deleted their back catalogue (something I probably read in the 1980's before they sold themselves to multi-nationals and then sold themselves again) and I thought an original copy of "Or So It Seems" can only be going for £15 - £20 or so. But No! Looking on the internet I could only find secondhand ("pre-loved") copies going for £40+ and quality was quite often VG+. A timely re-issue. 

I think the single from the album, also entitled "Or So It Seems", came out in 1982. Crisp and spacious sequencial synth patterns intertwining with Graham Lewis' flowing multi-tracked voices. A sound that would not have seemed out of place on a Yazoo album. 

A few years ago, I wouldn't like to put a date on it but probably about 2015 I found myself at 'Back To Mono' Record shop in Lincoln. back then it was in a compact and bijou indoor shopping complex called "The Mini-Market", but that has long been demolished. 

Waffle Warning! : "Back To Mono" has been in Lincoln since the early 1990s. It's still going strong and now situated in Guildhall Street, just down from The Stonebow. "Back To Mono" follows a long tradition of great secondhand record shops in Lincoln going back to the mid 1980s with 'Mary's" on Broadgate. Downstairs vinyl, upstairs Adult Magazines and two doors down, The Jolly Brewer pub. Andy Dobbs had a great shop on Tentercroft Street before moving to the Cornhill Market and Vince Ramsey ran 'Planet Of Sound', firstly on Hungate and later on the High Street. But now Lincoln just has "Back To Mono", well worth visiting if you're in the area. Every time I went back to Lincoln I always used to pop in and browse the racks and always found a bargain. The shop is run by a guy called Jim, lovely chap and a couple of years ago whilst at a 'family do' I found out that I was related to him ... briefly. He married into the family on my Mothers side, but the marriage didn't last. The family on my Mother's side is large (something I didn't discover until her death). Jim was the DJ when Sleaford Mods played a gig at The Basement in Lincoln (2015), we were probably related then. Ha!

http://muhmur.blogspot.com/2015/03/sleaford-mods-crap-towns-shitholes-1.html

On this occasion I managed to find a copy of "Or So It Seems", the sleeve is heavily water damaged but the vinyl condition is excellent. NM as they say on Discogs. I bought a couple of other records - Virgin Prunes "Faculty Of A Broken Heart" 12" single was one of them ... Colin Newman connection there .. and Jim let me have the lot for a tenner. 

"Or So It Seems" is still a great album, I hadn't played it for a few years and the other day it still sounded fresh and relevant as it did in 1983. There are two classic electro-pop tracks, the title track and a piece called "The First Person", this track is an updated and 'popified' version of the song "Linasixup" from the first Dome album. The album kicks off with the very Domesque "Hill Of Men". Side two of the album fits in the 'experimental electronics' draw with small electronic pieces surrounding the extensive rumblings of "Long Sledge", again a piece that wouldn't be amiss on any early 1980's Gilbert & Lewis album. 

So, is the re-issue worth buying for the one 'extra' track? "Heart Of Hearts (Or So It Seems)" was the B-Side of the 1982 single, a remix of the A-Side, a thing that was very popular in the 1980's. I have the single. My copy is a 7" French pressing where "Or So It Seems" is split in to two parts. 

I guess this is a worthy re-issue although I will stick with my originals (for now). I guess copies are available from Juno and Norman in the UK or direct from Mute Records (although I do find Mute Records mail order arm very slow) ...  

George Rayner-Law MuhMur Radio Session.

 

Last May MuhMur Radio broadcast four exclusive pieces by George Rayner-Law. George compiled the pieces from recordings made throughout 2021 / 2022, and has now uploaded the pieces and made them available via his Bandcamp page.

 https://georgeraynerlaw.bandcamp.com/album/pieces-for-muhmur-radio-march-2022 . 

MuhMur Radio will return to SoundArt Radio in the autumn please stay tuned for further information. 

Grey Frequency 'Empyrean / Ritual' 7".

 

Haemoccult Recordings are very proud to announce that their next release will be by GREY FREQUENCY and is entitled "Empyrean" c/w "Ritual". Limited edition of 100 copies (numbered). Catalogue number HAEM 003.

Copies will be available via the new Haemoccult Recordings Bandcamp page (coming soon), Discogs and selected distribution outlets. Details will follow, also available directly from  from Grey Frequency. http://www.greyfrequency.co.uk

Hopefully out by late September, stay tuned for more details.

(Test pressings pictured).

Cazazza / Cazzaza

 

Many years ago in a land far far away ... well 1996 in York to be precise, I used to shop regularly at Depth Charge Records on Gillygate. Depth Charge Records was opened shortly after the Red Rhino Records shop on Goodramgate closed down (there are a lot of Gates in York). The staff were basically the same in both shops. I fondly remember staff member Dave Moss (aka Mossy). After a few months shopping there (at both Red Rhino and Depth Charge) he would tell me about releases that had just come in and not hit the racks yet, or were imminent ("put a copy aside for me, please"),  I would always get a discount and sometimes an 'unsellable' 7" or CD. Nice chap Dave. A guy called Tony ran both shops, but I rarely saw him ... he was always in the backroom. 

I cannot remember the exact year that Red Rhino Records morphed into Depth Charge but my guess is around 1994. It was in October of that year that Dieter Müh played their first live performance, at The Bonding Warehouse (just off Skeldergate) and we managed to convince Ilpo Väisänen, Tommi Grönlund and Lassi Lehto (aka Jimi Tenor) to come and play on the evening as well. They performed as Sähkö Crew. They were on a short tour of the UK and had previously played Glasgow the night before and their next gig wasn't until 2 days later in London ... so we invited them down, break the journey etc. I remember the evening being filmed by members of Sähkö but I have never seen the results. Perhaps it is this film? https://ra.co/news/39582. At the end of the evening a few folk from Depth Charge Records showed their faces (there could have been no more than 10 people watching the performances), word had got around town that members from Sähkö were performing, but the evening finished about half past ten. I remember Beaumont Hannant and his posse took the 'Crew' away to a party and I never saw them again ... a shame because only a few miles away at my house in Thorganby I had a few barrels of beer, a cupboard full of drugs and plenty of space to collapse.  

I mention this because it raised my 'profile' in Depth Charge Records, the chaps behind the counter, the local wannabe DJ's and mixmasters started to talk to me. For the first time in my 32 year life ... I was 'cool'. I was the chap that brought the Sähkö Crew to York (I didn't, it was all Dave Uden's doing. He was friends with Ilpo and Mika Vainio, he had been since the mid 1980's when they used to correspond and swap tapes etc, they connected through the Bill Nelson Fan Club of all places. It was Dave who got Dieter Müh played on national Finnish radio, he did record with them in Turku in the early 1990's but I have never heard the results). 

Back to 1996 and a trip to Depth Charge Records. They used to have an 'Industrial' section in the 12" racks, that was always my first port of call. Around that time I was still listening to stuff by Psychic Warriors Ov Gaia, Lagowski / Terror Against Terror / Psychic TV etc and nesting in the pile was a 12" by Cazzaza. I knew it was a misspelling and it was on the Telepathic Recordings label who had already put out the "For Charles" 12"EP by Psychic TV ... it just had to be Monte Cazazza. It came in a plain sleeve (what we call 'generic' in the trade) and had a shop produced sticker saying "Beatles Samples". Expensive (at the time) import price but I had to have. Monte's homage to The Beatles? A reply to Genesis' obsession with Brian Jones and The Rolling Stones? It had to be bought. 

                                                     Leaving Depth Charge Records, 1996.

When I got back to my place and slipped the disc on the turntable I was very surprised, no sampling of "Blackbird", "Revolution No. 9" or "Happiness Is A Warm Gun" etc, just synth sounds, sporadic whooshing and the like. Very disappointed. I mentioned this to Mossy the next time I was in Depth Charge Records who seemed surprised at my dismay, he grabbed another copy from the racks and pointed out that the shop produced sticker read : Beatless Samples. I never played the 12" again and in my travels and house moves over the next five or six years the record kind of disappeared. 

A few weeks ago I saw the record listed again filed under 'Warehouse Find'. I had honestly forgotten all about this 12", but now ... 26 years later curiosity got the better of me. was my overriding disappointment of the record not containing samples of The Beatles at the time overshadowing the actual content? Could it be a great 12"? I saw a review of the 12" on the Discogs site by someone called DrGiggles. : "This is a killer record, one side spaced out electronics, way out there like Nik Raicevic, other side kind of power noise like Daniel Menche or Lou Reed Metal Machine Music, but enough changes on in the songs and variation to make them interesting and awesome dj tools to boot". After reading that, the record needed a re-listen / re-evaluation. "Kill Your Self", two untitled pieces of abstract electronics. One side is seven and a half minutes, the other eleven. Both sides verge on the unlistenable. What I am hearing is someone who has just bought a new synthesiser (maybe two?) and they are discovering what sounds they can make ... which turns out to be, not very good ones. After the two singles Cazazza put out on Industrial Records in the1979 / 1980 and the rather excellent "Stairway To Hell" single on Sordide Sentimental in 1982 this is a wholly disappointing 14 year follow up. The way that Depth Charge Records listed the 12" as 'Beatless Samples' back in 1996 makes me think that this is not a piece of vinyl to be listened to for pleasure but maybe a piece of vinyl to take some whooshing synth sounds and bubbly-burping sounds to sample? 

It shall remain (this time) in my collection but it should've been included on the compilation album "The Worst Of Monte Cazazza". 

Blod

 Blod. Blod is Gustaf Dicksson. Blod are from Gothenburg. I think I first became aware of Blod in 2016 and the 7" "Käre Jesus" on the I Dischi Del Barone label. By this time IDDB had been releasing some of the finest 7" singles of the century by the likes of No Intention, Krube, Kostis Kilymis, Arv & Miljö, Leda and Sarah Mary Chadwick to name a few. When I read of the announcement of a new release by Blod I sent off the € straight away. 

I first became aware of Blod in 1999 and their excellent 7"EP on Segerhuva called "Romantic And Deranged". Blod are from Sweden. I bought records by Blod ending in 2008 with the three album compilation box set "Red Light Companion", again on Segerhuva. I was surprised to find them turning up eight years later ... and on IDDB. I commented so to Matthias (Andersson) the head mandarin of IDDB. "It's not that Blod" was the reply.

                                                                    "It's not that Blod!"

In the magazine "Discreet Music" (Issue #2) Matthias writes "People in the know of course got dizzy and spilled their gruel when Gustaf took the name Blod for his solo stuff, as there was already ANOTHER Blod (In fact there's plenty of Blods'). In Gustaf's defence, he has no connection to the 'noise scene' whatsoever and I guess he got guilty by association as he happened to hang out with freaks like me and Dan* around the time. And frankly I just don't think he cares". (* Dan being Dan Johansson of Sewer Election). It became apparent that I already have Gustaf in my ears  as he is a member of the group Enhet För Fri Musik and appears on the excellent album from 2015 "Document 1: Improvistioner Och Bandmusik För Vilt Dansande Själar" on Holidays Records. 

Just as a side note and a bit of a ramble ... a few years ago I was invited (as Dieter Müh) to play The Venn Festival in Bristol alongside Anenzephalia and Antivalium. We were all having a drink in a pub across from the venue when this guy introduces himself saying he is in the band Hunting Lodge, a hardcore noise band from Bristol. I did tell the chap there's quite a famous US post-industrial band from the 1980's with the same name. He knew this but didn't care. That annoyed me and probably still does. Also, why is Christoph Heemann calling his drone project In Camera? Doesn't he know????

Any ramble over .... back to Blod.

So, 2016 was the time to start discovering Gustaf's Blod and associated projects. I managed to get hold of the self released "Livets Ord" cassette in 2018 and the split single with Arv & Miljö (again another I Dischi Del Barone release) in 2019. These are great releases and regular sounds at MuhMur HQ. 

                                                 The two 7" releases on I Dischi Del Barone.

The albums "Tusen Bitar" and "Missväxt" were released in the following months, and Blod became a regular on the MuhMur Radio playlist. There was a shift in direction at the start of 2021 with the two CDR releases on Förfall, Gustaf's own imprint. The sounds were less 'musical' and more introspective, field recordings, loose meanderings and personal. This carried through to the double album "ABBA" which Discreet Music put out towards the end of last year. A very lo-fi recording of introspective material which sometimes verges on the unlistenable. 

I went back to the earlier releases, the tapes and 7" singles and decided to step backwards with Blod. I have travelled from A to B, so now I shall try from B to A and catch up on Blod's back catalogue. Fortunately the Belgian Aguirre Records have just re-issued two Blod albums from 2017 and 2018 and I managed to pick up a copy of the 2015 cassette "Exotic Sounds" from Discogs (at a reasonable price). So the journey begins ... back in time ... 

"Exotic Sounds" was first released in September 2015 on a C60 cassette by Blod, a self-release, no label information. A month later the Swedish label Zeon Light re-issued the cassette in an edition of 40. Two pieces, one a -side. Side A, entitled "Exotic Sounds" is a thirty minute swirl, a hypnotic trance-like journey involving Moroccan Souk rhythms merging and melging with Appalachian Mountain music and Voudon chanting. Side B is titled "Eyes Marked Red" and has a spoken introduction and outroduction in Swedish. Again, the piece deals with repetition and creates a very hypnotic state as sounds of the accordion, banjo and wind organ (maybe it's a quartet of bowed instruments) socialise with each other keeping the bells, drums and vocal wailing on the outside of the party. As the piece builds there is very clever tape manipulation by Gustaf, slippin' and slidin'. Classic Blod. The plan to discover the back catalogue is working ... but why the naked teenager on the cover? 

In 2017 Förlag För Fri Musik released the Blod LP "Leendet Från Helvetet". ("The Smile From Hell"). The LP has a great cover of graduating Swedish students with their mouths covered in red smiling lipstick. 

The cover, and pictures on the accompanying LP insert, it takes me back to a time when I was playing a gig in Mäntsälä Finland in 2000. It was at a venue called The Seurojentalo where Dieter Müh played alongside Putrefier, Grunt + Cloama, STROM e.c. and Temple Of Tiermes. (What a night!). It was after the gig that myself, Mark Durgan (Mr. Putrefier), Steve Underwood (tour guide and bottle catcher) and various members of Grey Park and Tiermes decided to investigate the bars of Mäntsälä only to discover it was 'Graduation Night" and the town was full of partying students dressed in gear resembling the Navy Guy from Village People. Oh what fun we had ... Mark and I danced the night away. Great memories .. Great LP sleeve. Apparently the Navy / Sailor attire is a Scandinavian tradition. 

"Leendet Från Helvetet" is a very melancholic album, the opening tracks on side A feature melodies played on saxophone, flute, glockenspiel and (cardboard) drums. It sounds like a funeral dirge for toys. The title piece has a more sub-velvets vibe that plays into a reprise that brings to mind Coil's "Is Suicide A Solution?" with it's talk of family death and concern translated through phone calls. Wonderful stuff. The B-Side starts with piano and blurts, I could be listening to a Borbetomagus album. "Tro, Hopp & Kärlek" brings the album back to listenable (not a big free jazz Borbeto fan) ears, an instrumental piece with a beautiful melody played out on flute and guitar and accompanying bass-line, the track merges (again) in to a "Reprise" with a low-end market sampler keyboard and cardboard drums. 

In 2017 Förlag För Fri Musik released the Blod album "Knutna Nävar". (Which I think means 'fists' .. could be wrong though). 

In opposition to the previous album this one plays with an uplifting summer vibe verging on Swedish traditional folk music with flutes and bells played with a childish charm, there's some communist propaganda, choirs and guitar all in the mix too. Brilliant. "Inmarsch" opens side two sounding like an old Velvets jam played at 16rpm instead of 45. The whole of side two plays at a slower tempo to side one. Again, simple melodies played with flutes, drums and glockenspiels. Funnily enough the last album I played before putting "Knutna Nävar" on the turntable for the first time was the (Jim Jones) People's Temple Choir "He's Able" and the musicianship, especially on the last track "Utmarsch" is very similar, church organ and all. Did Gustaf learn his craft playing in a church band and/or choir? His most recent album "Pilgrimssånger" takes inspiration from the Swedish Christian Parish culture. 

There is still more from the Blod back catalogue to discover .. I am hunting out a copy of the 2015 album "Unga Röster" ... maybe Aguirre Records will re-issue? 

MuhMur Radio Summertime Special Broadcast July 2022.

 

With SoundArt Radio (102.5 FM) taking part in the 3 month Pan-European 'Radio Art Zone' project MuhMur Radio is taking a summer hiatus. Last month I went into the studio to pre-record this 'summertime special'.  The idea is make radio for the summer BBQ, plug in the bluetooth speakers and dance around the garden ... or the park .. or balcony .. wherever your favourite dance floor is. The playlist features some old MuhMur Radio favourites alongside tunes that I wouldn't normally play on the evening programme. 

https://www.mixcloud.com/tamsin-jane-cammack/muhmur-radio-summer-special-2022/

* Please note that there is 20 second silence between The Cigarettes and Negatives, I'll hold my hand up, I forgot to put up the vinyl slider ... too busy dancing to The Cigarettes!

Playlist :

01: Public Image Limited : "Pop Tones" (Virgin Records) 1979.

02: Pylon : "Driving School" (Armageddon Records) 1980.

03: Suburban Lawns : "Janitor" (Superior Viaduct) 2021.

04: Ivy Green : "I'm Sure We're Gonna Make It" (Epitaph) 1996.

05: Ice Yacht : "Break Their Legs So They Can't Lay Eggs" (Snatch Tapes) 2022.

06: Lucrecia Dalt : "Di" (Rvng Int.) 2020.

07: Slits : "Newtown" (Island Records) 1979.

08: Amos And Sara : "Mudchucker Man" (Sing A Song Fighter/OMA 333) 2017.

09: Crispy Ambulance : "Deaf" (Factory Records) 1981.

10: Parabelles : "Schatten" (Ihretwegen) 2014.

11: Adam And The Ants : "Physical" (Do It Records) 1979.

12: Foetus Under Glass : "OKFM" (Self Immolation) 1981.

13: Ultravox! : "Blue Light" (Island Records) 1978.

14: Com-Sat Angels : "Red Planet" (Junta Records) 1979.

15: The Cigarettes : "All We Want Is Your Money" (Company Records) 1979.

16: Negatives : "Money talk" (Aardvark) 1980.

17: Merton Parkas : "You Need Wheels" (Beggars Banquet) 1979.

18: The Amber Squad : "Six Of Me" (The S+T Label) 1981.

19: Deep Freeze Mice : "Minstrel Radio Yoghurt" (The S+T Label) 1981.

20: Camp One : "This Is Not A Happy Home" (Zaius Tapes) 2022.

21: Punishment Of Luxury : "Puppet Life" (Small Wonder Records) 1978.

22: Alex Fergusson : "Stay With Me Tonight" (Red Records) 1980.

23: Thomas Leer & Robert Rental : "Monochrome Days" (Mute Records) 2022.

24: Thomas Leer & Robert Rental : "Day Breaks, Night Heals" (Mute Records) 2022.

25: Rip Rig & Panic : "Blip This Jig It's Shamanic" (Virgin Records) 1983.

26: 4,000,000 Telephones : "Icebox" (Summerhouse Records) 1986.

27: XS Energy : "Eighteen" (Dead Good Records) 1979.

28: Sinking Ships : "Weight Loss" (Stark Products) 1980.

29: Juveniles : "Another Kind Of Guy" (Stark Products) 1980.

30: The Vibrators : "Nazi Baby" (Epic Records) 1978.

31: Scars : "They Came And Took Her" (Pre Records) 1980.

32: Mark Beer : "Other Doubts" (Waste Records) 1978.

33: Mark Beer : "Song For A Public Man" (Waste Records) 1978.

Thanks for listening ... 

Modelbau : Buchstaben

 

"They smilin' in your face.  All the time, they want to take your place. The Buchstaben (Buchstaben)" to misquote The O'Jays, but when I read that Modelbau were releasing an album called "Buchstaben" I couldn't get the song out of my head. Buchstaben is not Dutch for Backstabber, it is German for letters, as in letters of the alphabet ... not letters of correspondence. 

"Buchstaben" is a 6 cassette release with 5 x C30 tapes and a C40 tape. There are no titles to the pieces, they are all listed A to L. (Buchstaben). It's packaged in an oversized vacubox with art by Frans de Waard and a metal stencil. All pieces were recorded between 2019 and 2021. 

There is around three hours of sound in "Buchstaben". Buchstabe A : Mainly sounds of lo-fi industrial rubble and rumble. A swill around the wasteland. Buchstabe C : 15 minutes of sensible peace. There's birdsong and animal sounds, field recordings of a Dutch countryside (?). A shortwave radio provides voices and a church service. Moog patterns move around the clicks and glicks and tonal drop ins (and outs). This has become one of my favourite Modelbau pieces already. Buchstabe E : These fifteen minutes brings us back to lo-fi ('live-fi'). A recorded piece of spacious drones, sounds from the turbines. All with deft modulations and subtle increases of layered noise. A great sound. It brought back memories of Ferial Confine and the 'The Full Use Of Nothing' LP, memories of hearing Kapotte Muziek for the first time and a hint of early recordings by MNEM. Buchstabe G : A crystal clear sound after the mid 80's blast of Side E and a sound that is very .. er .. Modelbau. Pulsating waves and moving drones. The piece has a below the awareness vibration, a frequency playing a very calming tune. Subliminals? Again, it's very good. It plays at the same pace throughout, proper ambient drone music. Buchstabe I : This 15 minute piece is a game of two halves. It begins with looping in a Dillowayesque style. Contact mic's on various objects and body parts manipulated and looped, then it all slows down in pace with the ending of the looping and the introduction of (dark) synth waves. The sound of distant (distanced) ordnance and sirens. Gunfire to bonfire to home fire. The piece ends on one of the finest long fades I have heard in a long while. Buchstabe K : This is the sixth and final cassette in the collection and is a C40. Probably taking inspiration from NASA / ESA / Arecibo space recordings this piece is plays like a message from space. There are tones and waves and very delicate spaces explored playing like it could be a language. As the piece progresses the spaces close and we are left with clicks, warbles, pulsebeats and frequencies. There is an overall sense of melancholia. 

I have not written about the cassette sides B, D, F, H, J and L because these are all 'source' sounds, sounds to be used and manipulated by the listener at their will. 

It's a fascinating idea, perhaps I will resurrect my Dieter Müh project and construct a live set around these sounds ... I could call it Mühdlebau. Just a thought. 

The cassette is released by the German Maneki Neko Tapes label and is limited to 23 copies. Maneki Neko Tapes have also released "Buchstaben" as a 12xWAV file release. They can be contacted via SoundCloud here : https://soundcloud.com/maneki-neko-tapes I think they have a Facebook page too for all of you who are that way inclined. 

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.