Totnes

"Totnes...What A Mess...Totnes" to paraphrase the Prats "Inverness".
Or "I Love The Smell Of Incense Sticks In The Morning......It Reminds Me Of Totnes" to totally paraphrase or even misquote Robert Duvall as Lt. Col. Kilgore in "Apocalypse Now"

Now the Famalie Cammai have become travelling and/or nomadic we shall be visiting small towns and villages in Devon and Cornwall. Yesterday we embarked on a journey to Totnes. It's about 7 or 8 miles South East from where I live. Totnes is kind of alternative culture heaven. Not a place where all roads meet, but a place where all ley-lines meet. A small town occupied by ex-hippies, alternative therapists and a Conservative stronghold. Not an ideal place for me - but what it does have is excellent vegetarian restaurants and charity shops that still stock vinyl! I have been down here in the South-West for 7 years and this was my 4th time to Totnes. On my last visit I picked up a 7" by Sheffield funksters Workforce on the Rorschach Product label. (1986). Very happy I was too - Workforce being ex-Chakk members. This time I found a couple of records...Passage "Degenerates" LP that was going for a fiver, but was in such a cak condition that I decided against and John Cooper Clarke's "Snap, Crackle and Bop" LP on Epic Records. (It didn't have the lyric book in the top pocket but I have got a copy of his book "Ten Years In An Opened Neck Shirt", I found that in a charity shop in Bovey Tracy for a pound). There was also Wayne County + The Electric Chairs LP "Storm The Gates Of Heaven" which I could not force myself to buy again! And The Wolfgang Press 1st LP (I have this already - otherwise a change of underpants would have been needed).
Tamsin picked up some nice (but expensive) wool from one of the myriad, nay plethora of wool, beads, needlecraft type shops and Oscar got a carrier bag full of toy cars and monsters from the various charity shops and market stalls. Veggie meal at The Willow restaurant was £24 (for 4 - inc. overpriced organic lager)...so all in all, a good day out.
If travelling through the South West I do recommend stopping in Totnes - a walk up and down the high street'll take an hour or so...and it is where 23 Skidoo performed "The Culling Is Coming".

The Cooper Clarke LP took me back. It is a long while since I've heard any JCC.
He is a genius. Full stop. I do prefer his non-musical output though. "Innocence" EP withstanding. Back in the day that EP was the only JCC in my collection. The LP "Snap Crackle and Bop" came too late. Listening to it now, it's not that good. Lyrically it is outstanding. "Evidently Chickentown" had me and the kids dancing - simple rhythm machine and snare beat. other than that the music sounds like a cross between Sad Cafe and The Albertos (with a bit of The Smirks). Does not really work. The only track where the music does suit JCC lyrics is "Beasley Street", which still has me in tears. (I have lived there)!
John Cooper Clarke is a genius. In the days of punk poets he set the bar at a very high level. In fact - nobody touched that bar.....Attila The Stockbroker, Seething Wells etc. Not in a piss mark of John. I used to visit a squat in Salford (1983) and on the middle floor was punk-poet Dino The Frog. Whatever happened to Dino? Probably living in Totnes...

Section 25

Very sad to learn about the death of Larry Cassady today. Section 25 are one of my favourite bands of all time. Their records are still highly relevant in my life today.
I saw them on many occassions as they played the triangle of Retford, Nottingham and Sheffield often in the late 1970's - early 1980's. My favourite SXXV gig being when they supported A Certain Ratio at Nottingham Rock City and played tracks from the first album. The final time I got to see them they had expanded from a three piece to a five or six piece! 1984 at the Hacienda in Manchester.
I shall now go and play "Charnel Ground".

Dining Out On Campbell's Soup

Only two months in to the year and I have three new Astral Social Club releases. Two of them coming in a jiffy this week, along with the Early Hominids CDEP.
Firstly "Metal Oblation", a CDrEP on the (new to me) Apollolaan Recordings label. I am thinking that this is a Dutch label (?). Limited to 100 copies and lasting a little over 25 minutes this is a fine EP. 5 tracks that melt in to one, easy listening and excellent Campbell fare. No punches or surprises pulled here - this is why we buy Astral Social Club. The photocopied insert is pretty cheap and nasty . A pet hate of mine I'm afriad, these hand drawn and hand written inserts, they usually accompany stuff that comes out of Scotland. Mmmmm, is Apollolaan a Scottish label? I played Astral Social Club "#21" directly afterwards and it is a nice follow. 30 odd minutes this time. "Colt" opening up the CDr sounding like an attack of the fax machines - chaos of speeds, blips, tweeks and electronic buzzes. Like the aforementioned release all tracks melt in to the singular and "Lunar" takes us in to a great psychedelic swirl of electronica, rhythms and samples - speeded up and slowed down cassette whirr, heavy keyboards and .. well, sounds that I just cannot recognise. Track 5 "Duct" is "Information Overload" again. Masses of beeps, clicks, whizzes and burrs like when you see documentaries of old massive Babbidge style computers with discs rolling backwards and forwards and soundtracks of beeps, clicks, etc. Lovely stuff. Shorter than the other ASC label CDr's but I must mention that the artwork is changing. Early doors and all Astral Social Club "#" series CDr's had the same sleeve, just different coloured logos on the front sleeve, now the releases are becoming more stylised. I wish Neil had stayed with the "uniform" sleeve - still no going back now. These CDr's'll get played but still nothing compares to "Stig 'Fucking' Anderson" on these two.
Early Hominids 3"CDrEP released by new French label La Station Radar is a different barrel of fish. Recorded live at Batley Baths. Early Hominids are Neil Campbell and Paul Walsh (aka Paul Noonen) both ex members of Smell + Quim. This is 20 odd minutes of improvised "noise" rather like the early days of Smell + Quim. A pleasant listen, but not one that'll have repeated plays. Perhaps I had to be there, if this gig at all existed!
See what March brings....perhaps the new Astral Social Club 3"CDr on La Station Radar if it isn't sold out.

1. Neil Campbell Live.
2. "Metal Oblation" cover.
3. "#21" cover.
4. Early Hominids "Bathz" sleeve.

Dieter Muh#40

John Peel

Just finished reading the book "John Peel:A Life In Music" by Michael Heatley. I read it in week, which is strange for me - I am a notoriously slow reader - but I read the book in the style of which it was written. Quickly. After finishing the excellent "England's Dreaming Tapes" I found myself with no book to read. OK, I have Barry Hale's "Legion 49" + "Thee Psychick Bible" by Genesis Breyer P-Orridge...2009 version - but I'm not taking them to work to read! They cost too much money to be smeared by canteen food and greasy fingers.....so I dug down to the bottom of the "to read" pile and found this book. I picked it up for a pound at Christmas from Saint Marychurch "Animals In Distress".
I've already read the Peel (auto) biography "Margrave Of The Marshes" and his printed columns "The Olivetti Letters". I got them as Christmas/Birthday presents over the past few years - well...what do you buy a guy who likes music, but not like proper music that other people like? A couple of years ago I spent a long weekend in Penzance, Cornwall, and found it bereft of secondhand record shops and charity shops so I bought the Ken Garner "Peel Sessions" book. All these three books are great reads. Unputdownable books. "A Life In Music" is the opposite. An easilyputdownable book.
It was 50p. 50p. You can't go in to a charity shop and not spend money. 50p on a book about John Peel. Bargain.
This book is a fleshed out obituary. The publishers, Michael O'Mara Books, gave the job to music journalist Heatley to flesh out the obituaries that were in the nationals and music papers and add tributes from the fan pages on the Internet...collate the material - put in some pictures that are free - i.e. pictures of Anfield, Scissor Sisters, Radio 1 DJ's and hey presto! A book. There is one chapter in this book that covers the 1980's in 20 pages "From Hip Hop To Hardcore" that just names bands that Peel played. Throughout the 1980's there is no insight to Peel's life. Not that I am interested - it was all covered in the (auto)biography - but it is just bad journalism.
In 1983 he played Stump and The Smiths and had a session by etc etc. In 1984 he featured records by Sonic Youth and Shamen. Just very poor.
I do not recommend this book.
The last few pages are of tributes from artistes who have been touched by John. A blatant exercise in appropriation from Peel tributes pages on the Internet.
Poor.

One night - August 1978 - I was in a hotel in Newquay (Cornwall) on holiday with my parents. They had had a long day and were ready for bed by ten. I, as a 16 year old, wanted to stay up and carry on drinking at the hotel bar - but i was sent to my room. Mum said "Listen to John Peel". The hotel had one of those radios built in to the walls - so I did and immediately heard Ultravox! and Ian Dury. From that night on - I was hooked. In 1981 I taped every Peel Session. I think I am right in saying that the first Peel Session of 1981 was Crispy Ambulance.
My Peel story: I met John Peel one night. It was 1985, I am sure it was 1985 and Peel was curating a week at the ICA in London (in conjunction with Heineken Lager). Thursday night was Shoot Dispute! (From Scotland), Big Flame (From Hulme, Manchester) and SPK. I travelled from Hulme, Manchester as a guest of SPK.
The gig ended in a riot. A riot at the ICA! It was all down to the London Fire Brigade and them not allowing SPK to use axle grinders and flame throwers during their set and SPK refusing to play under those conditions. I was in the "changing rooms" as the conversation was taking place. Squatting on the floor next to Brian Williams and a guy dressed as Fireman Sam - it was surreal. But surreal, real surreal was yet to happen. SPK played for 10 minutes. "Junk Funk" was the opener, then Brian started with the axle grinder and the sound was turned off. Audience threw objects at the stage, picked up monitors to throw at the speakers etc. Graeme Revell handed me his Fairlight synth and said "Keep It Safe".
I ran backstage, Fairlight underarm and hid behind a large PA cabinet case. I was soon to be joined by Bruce Foxton and John Peel. We looked each other in the eyes as if to say "FUCK" and then Bruce said "Nice Synth those", and that is all I remember. I was squatting behind a PA Stack cabinet case staring John peel in the face whilst a riot ensued all around and Bruce bloody Foxton is trying to chat to me about Fairlight synths.
I was staying in Mile End that night and I caught the last tube back dressed in army fatigues. I got stick from Cockney wide boys all singing the Status Quo song "You're In The Army Now".
A night I shall never forget.

Plurals

Was asked a few weeks ago to perform live in London. The venue is The Ivy House in Nunhead, or Peckham Rye depending on which search engine you use, this will be the first Dieter Muh live gig of 2010 - it will also be the first Dieter Muh live gig with just myself.
There are other live dates being planned for later in the year (and I thought these would be the first Dieter Muh gigs as solo performer), but being asked is always an honour and also on the bill are Plurals.
Last year I got in to the sound of Duncan Harrison and he kindly mailed me a jiffy of his wares as a solo artiste and as a member of Plurals. I played the Plurals stuff loud as I pottered around Hartop Towers...liked...and told him so. Now I am doing a gig with Plurals I thought I should reacquaint myself with their sound.
I played the CDr "Half Reality". Released by Dead Sea Liner label. When I first played this I was reminded of Popul Vuh + Moebius and the first track on this "EP" (it's 25 minutes long) still leaves me in this frame of mind. There's lots of chords played by keyboards and guitars being held by feedback on the brink of destruction creating a swirling swamp of psychedelia that lifts and switches from ear to ear. (phew)!! It's good stuff - very cinematic. Track 2 begins like the Spelt/Lynch soundtrack to "Eraserhead" with factory ambiance and the sounds of escaping gas ... very good .. but soon switches back in to heavy Yamaha keyboard chords and swirling guitar feedback and a depressive vocal drone. It kind of veers into Skullflower territory but doesn't quite reach that self-indulgent level. Think Astral Social Club, think Culver ... It's OK.
What I like is the sound is obviously produced by "musical" instruments (No laptops were harmed during the making of this release) - I could be wrong, it will be funny if I arrive at the gig and see Plurals set up with three laptops - and recorded live.
I am looking forward to The Ivy House gig. (March 19 by the way). I shall be doing an improvised piece lasting 23 minutes of all new Muh material + sound......

Killing Joke

Just spent a pleasant while listening to Killing Joke's second and best LP "What's THIS for...". A classic LP and one I used to dance around and gesticulate to when it was released. I was never a big KJ fan though, never saw them live (although they were constantly playing nearby venues in Sheffield and Nottingham) and gave up with them after the "Chop Chop" 7" - after a poor showing with "Empire Song".
Back in the day (late seventies - maybe 1980) I was in Lincoln's premier indie record shop "Sanctuary Records" and the guy behind the counter (Nick Green - drummer with local heroes Sinking Ships) handed me a copy of the 1st Killing Joke LP with the words "'ere you'll like this". Nick Green gave me the 1st Killing Joke LP, and like I did. I whipped up the "Wardance" 7" and the not so good "Turn To Red" EP. Even bought Ski Patrol records because they were on the same label. The second LP was their climax though.
I found the LP for a pound not so long back + the "Tension" 10" for ten bob.
Now, nigh on 30 years later and Killing Joke still sound bloody fresh and exciting. I can hear the influence of The Glitter Band in their sound, and dub. There is also the sound of what was around in there too - Theatre of Hate, Public Image Limited springing immediately to mind. And now I can hear Ministry, Minister Of Noise and even Skullflower in Killing Joke. I'm going to have to buy the 1st LP now.

In the day Killing Joke were a very "secret" band. Not much known about the members and a manifesto wrapped in the occult/numerology/fascist politics etc - it went over my head at the time - I know they relocated to Iceland to await the end of the world and came out the other side with a bloody poor LP, but a lot was left in secrecy. Is there a book on/about Killing Joke? I'd buy it. I know they have reformed - was even tempted by a London show in 2008 but thought about a venue full of ex-Goths and Chicken Dancers put me off.