Re-Clip

Excellent, a new cassette from Re-Clip. An eponymous titled C40 on the excellent Ikuisuus label. They released the Magnet North Duo/Grey Park live cassette last year.
Rather like the cassette "Notes" (released in 2009 by Hyster Tapes) Re-Clip presents sketches and work in progress rather than full bloodied tracks (For that I recommend the split 7" release with Kanttoripoika). Recorded on 2 and sometimes 4 track devices there are 5 pieces a side. Track #1 sounds very similar to #10 - an intro and an outro-duction. These pieces are heavy on the synthesized electronics and carry a "prog" feel, whereas tracks #3 - #9 are more experiments in rhythm. #3 has that slapping the cheeks and making shapes with the mouth type of sound (if that makes sense)? Very good. A few pieces are of broken or collapsing rhythms - broken disco is a phrase that came to mind....and it is not entirely successful. Side two has a couple of great grooves wrapped up in there. #9 has a "lost In space" vibe and reminded me of the first time I saw 808 State live at The Boardwalk in Manchester, 1988 I think ...
The last cassette I heard from Re-Clip was the split cassette release with Kanttoripoika and it had that "glitch" electronic sound, the sound Pan Sonic and Mego release, this release a bit more "lo-fi" and abstract (if that is possible).

Re-Clip used to be a part of Grey Park (Finland's finest) but has left this year to concentrate on his solo work. I bought this tape from Hyster Tapes distribution, contact them at www.pcuf.fi/~plaa/hyster.html. It costs about 3 euros. I imagine it is also available from Ikuisuus direct. www.ikuisuus.net.

Schimpfluch-Gruppe Event in Bristol. November 2012 #2.

Latest: Early Bird tickets are now available for £35. They are available from the Arnolfini web site. www.arnolfini.co.uk/whatson/music/details/1425 Essential. See you there ....

Burial Hex #6

I have just spent a pleasant while listening to the latest release by Burial Hex. "For Granted Is His Will" is a C35 released by Polish label Sangoplasmo Records and limited to 100 copies.
Side One plays like a rollercoaster, a three-dimensional soundscape. It is a meditation built on synthesizer drone and amplified metal. The sounds are similar to those that L.A.Y.L.A.H. were putting out on their compilation LP "The Fight Is On". Very Organum, a touch Hafler Trio and extremely Lustmord. There are moments of melancholy calm, moments where the sound goes to the edges of destruction. Vibrations and sonics almost tipping over into an abyss. It is very difficult to differentiate synthesizer and amplified metal - bowed and scraped, never hit ... no rhythms here. The piece is called "A Saintly Death" and (the cassette is) dedicated to Clay Ruby's brother Grant who died inside 12 months of being on this earth...I was reading this information whilst listening for the first time and the piece took on a deeper/personal life.
Side two is entitled "Our Rainbow". A slow meditative piece with tanpura and melodica. It is an Eastern Mantra. Dirge music. Esoteric and quite beautiful - the tanpura has a lovely sound .. this track will get played, played and played again over the coming months.

Quite a Burial Hex week happening here with this (excellent) cassette arriving the same day as the Burial Hex LP "Six Wings" (the edition with 2 cassette tapes).
As mentioned "For Granted Is His Will" is limited to 100 copies, and I bought direct from the label and got copy #99..but who knows...try www.sangoplasmo.tumblr.com or Discogs. Well worth the chase.

Pictures.
1: Cassette Cover.
2: Cassette Inner Photograph.
3: Cassette.

Bygones

It was a rainy Bank Holiday in Torquay...(to paraphrase Throbbing Gristle's "Very Friendly")..so we decided (as a family) to indulge in an indoor activity.
Bygones is an attraction situated about five minutes walk from Hartop Towers and seeing that in the ten years that I have been living here and have never walked through its' doors , it was decided it was time to explore. That was mistake number 1.
"Something For Everyone" the pamphlet cried out...."Three floors of pure nostalgia for adults and children". Bygones is a very small building, on the day we went the place was crammed with wet and bored tourists. Crammed. Warning. Bygones is cash only, and you will need a lot of cash. It cost £21 for three folk. Two adults and a six year old. Through the doors and you are immediately in a Victorian Street. Slowly shuffle past shop windows, which children can't see into because they are too high and folk taking photographs are blocking the view. Piss poor mannequins with missing limbs and ragged wigs are inside and outside the shop. Bodmin Jail standard is a term we use nowadays. Marvel at the shopkeeper in the sweet shop sucking his till! Pass the stinking toilets (very Victorian) and up stairs to a corridor of Victorian bathroom scenes - babies having a bath and being put to bed - again, slowly shuffling as folk stop to take pictures (there is no passing on the corridor - too narrow). Now we enter the games room and "Fantasy Land". Spend £1 to get five old pennies to put into old arcade machines that do not work, or old chocolate machines that are empty but still accept old coins. Rip-Off. We got a pile of old pennies - that was mistake number 2.
The WW1 Trench was a joke. Again, piss poor mannequins dressed in clean uniforms in dimpsy lighting. Shabby stuffed toy rats littered about the attraction. We were told that this attraction was unsuitable for small children, but if they did not pass through the WW1 Trench then they would miss (or not see) half of "Fantasy Land" or some 1950's/60's toys, so they had to pass through - or lose out.
We didn't stop for a tea in the Bygones Cafe, nor peruse the gift shop. We were out within an hour of entering. Ever had the feeling you've been cheated? In the role of entertainments and tourist guide for the South-West of UK (Devon Division) I seriously recommend giving Bygones a miss. File under Bodmin Jail, and Babbacombe Model Village. If stuck, go to Berry Head Visitors Centre in Brixham - we did yesterday and had a whale of a time.

Pictures.
1: Bygones (on a sunny day).
2: Bygones leaflet cover.
3: Total Rip-Off (to the tune of ATV's "Total Switch Off").

Aaron Dilloway #7

If there was such a thing as "Single Of The Year" (like in the old days of Sounds & N.M.E.) then Aaron Dilloway's "Stomach Pump" would be a great contender - if not winner. (Hey this is art...it's not a competition).
I have been listening to Aaron Dilloway releases for about three years now - I know, late again - and I thank whoever it was who turned me onto his sound. I have yet to be disappointed with any of his output and/or live performances. "Stomach Pump" was released earlier this year by the Italian Von label. It is limited to 300 copies only, comes in a gatefold sleeve and is pressed on black vinyl. My copy came poorly packaged in a jiffy bag, no stiffener or protection, just a flimsy over sized jiffy - damaged sleeve but the vinyl is OK. Just mentioned this as a warning to prospective buyers.
Side A kicks off with "Stomach Pump". Raw and loud and sounding like an early Non piece mixed with some Severed Heads. Instant classic. The looping construction, the layering of sound to create the madness is a work of genius. "Stomach Pump" is why I listen to Dilloway. "Convulse Syncope" is pure blitzkreig. A Stuka dive bomb dance track! Crash and burn ending too...Side B starts with "Crow Bar", and it is that this point when I realised I could listen to Aaron Dilloway all day, the EP ends with the shortest piece; "Flash". "Flash" is basic loops, a kind of Aaron Dilloway "unplugged" piece, it is almost like Aaron is saying - here are some loops, help yourself and build a track...I know he is saying that, because I will!

Like all Dilloway releases, this one is essential and I advise to get now whilst Von still have copies to buy.

Modern English

Whatever Happened To ... Modern English.....

In Totnes the other day and managed to get a copy of Modern English's second album "After The Snow" on vinyl. Import copy on Sire Records (not 4AD Records) and still got change from a two pound coin. I left the charity shop a very happy man.
Whatever Happened To ... Modern English ...
They were a great band back at the start of the 1980's. A great band with a great sound. A touch Joy Division, a bit Gang Of Four guitar but the synth/keyboards and bass line lead songs with hook, line and sinker lyrics made them stand out. They released anthemic singles. They were essentially a singles band, beginning in 1979 with "Drowning Man", put out on Limp Records and following up the following year with a debut release for 4AD Records and the superb "Swans On Glass". "Gathering Dust" soon followed, another great song with a powerful intro and sing-a-long chorus. "The pressure's on, no time to lose".
I (somehow) didn't like their first LP "Mesh & Lace", strangely enough there were no singles on the album, a big mistake for a singles band. The opening track "16 days" should have been a single, the song has all the qualities...but perhaps Modern English or 4AD Records weren't pushing for an indie hit at the time(?).
By the time Modern English came round to producing a second album a few "indie / alternative" bands had made roads into hitting the big time. Psychedelic Furs, Simple Minds, Bauhaus, Echo & The Bunnymen, Thompson Twins all spring to mind. They went to record in Rockfield Studios and produced the album to project them into the big time with rock producer Hugh Jones. Strangely enough Clock DVA did the same a year later and although releasing what has become my favourite DVA LP with "Advantage", they kind of plummeted into obscurity for a few years afterwards .. anyway, I digress. "After The Snow" was released in 1982 and was the last half decent record Modern English made. There are three singles on the album, the rest is bland 1970's rock...watery pseudo-folk Cat Stevens out-take type tracks...sad but true, but being a singles band - the three tracks that were 45's shine like diamonds in a (....well you know the rest).
There is "Someone's Calling" with its' jagged guitar and dance-tastic beat and poppy keyboards, followed by "Life In The Gladhouse", one of my all time favourite Modern English tracks. The production is superb and the editing (dropping the instruments in and out) is a little of its' time, kind of "we have the technology and we are going to use it" approach but it has not dated the power of the track. Heavy drums and bass, tweaking and screeching guitar with the hook line "Life In The Gladhouse Is Never Dull". I am sold. The final single off the album opens side two. "I Melt With You" is perhaps their most famous song, being used on adverts - and getting them an appearance on "Sabrina, The Teenage Witch". (Honest)! Eight tracks on the album, five bilge three classics. The Peel Session that was recorded to promote the LP included a track called "Being Peeled" - I have mentioned this track elsewhere, but it is a fine example of DaDaist composition and tape machine foolery...that was one thing Modern English stopped releasing early on - their "experimental moments"..perhaps the B Side to "Gathering Dust", the superbly titled "Tranquility Of A Summer Moment (Vice Versa)" was their final foray.

Whatever Happened To ... Modern English ..
And then they were gone...resettled in USA and signed to TVT Records, and became (to me) equated with the likes of A Flock Of Seagulls and ... well, just A Flock Of Seagulls actually. I never got to see them live at their "indie" height. They played locally supporting Japan, but I just didn't fancy going to see Japan. Wish I had now - but that was thirty years ago.
There is a singles compilation CD album, put out by 4AD Records in 2001 called "Life In The Gladhouse", if you see a copy and like the sound of "post-punk-pre-goth-posi-pop" then I suggest you grab it. I'm happy to have the single tracks on the LP.

Pictures.
1: "After The Snow" LP Sleeve.
2: The first 3 singles. ("Gathering Dust"/"Drowning Man"/"Swans On Glass").

MuhMur To Hit The Airwaves!

I have been in negotiations today with Chris & Lucinda from Soundart Radio and MuhMur will hit the airwaves this autumn, with a two hour show on alternate Thursday evenings.
The show will feature in depth profiles (and in some cases ... shallow) of present labels as well as artists, cities and countries - hopefully I'll get some exclusive material and the odd live session in there too., and I'll be digging into my own vault to present a Dieter Muh / IBF / Muhviertel / Carnifex Recordings "special". Also expect some random noises, squeaks and verbal bollocks (all in a Lincolnshire accent).

Soundart Radio is a community radio station set within the grounds of Dartington Hall, a mile or so South of Totnes, and has been operating since 2009. It can be found on the FM band in the Totnes / Torbay area at 102.5FM or via their website at www.soundartradio.org.uk/ At the moment it is covering sounds from the Totnes Festival. Well worth a listen.

Pictures.
1: Soundart FM postcard.
2: The Soundart FM studio. Lucinda in doorway and Chris in reflective mode, and Oscar of course (in foreground).
3: Relaxing in the grounds of Dartington Hall.