The Wake

Just been enjoying a session of You Tubery and found this clip of The Wake live at The Hacienda in Manchester, 1983. I am pretty sure it was the gig where they were support to Howard Devoto.
I love The Wake (the Factory Records years) and still dig out the "Harmony" CD for a sing-a-long-a-shed-a-tear to play. They were great. I saw them a few times across the North 1983-1985...it didn't help having a "crush" on their keyboard player!
One thing I do like about this video is that my good friend and bro' Sean Rorke can be spotted front row. (I have the full DVD on LTM).
Play and Enjoy....

Secondhand Record Shops #8 : Plymouth

When I first moved down here to the South-West every town and city seemed to have a choice of secondhand vinyl stores. Bristol, Exeter, Barnstaple, Truro, Taunton, Brixham ... slowly they are all dwindling away. Plymouth. Ten years ago Plymouth had three fine secondhand record shops including a Record & Tape Exchange ... the only one outside of London. Now sadly gone.
Plymouth does have one of the finest secondhand vinyl shops left in the South-West though. "Really Good Records" situated in the Bretonside Bus Station. "Really Good" used to be situated near the University but re-development has brought it into the City Centre.
Here there is a huge choice of 12" vinyl with each genre clearly categorized. Large amounts in the "Punk/New Wave" and "Post-Punk" and "Industrial/EBM" sections. "Goth", "New Romantics", "Manchester" and "Indie - 1980's - 1990's" all have their own sections too. Great for browsing. There's also lots of Jazz, 70's flared stuff and Avant-Garde to have a go at. Big shop, big selection. I shall make visiting to Plymouth a must on the calendar.
Pricing seems fair with most vinyl costing between £3 and £10. I found a Fiat Lux White Label 12" of "Aqua Vitae" and the Wavis O' Shave LP, both mint and bargainously priced. The shop owner also cleaned my records on some "Ronco Automatic" record cleaning device and I got to keep the PVC protective sleeves at no extra cost. Good Man!
There are 7"'s by the counter, but after the huge selection of 12"'s / LP's the amount is a tad disappointing. There's also unsorted boxes to go through, but I unfortunately didn't have the time.
If in the area I thoroughly recommend Plymouth as a stop over. There's also the Barbican / Marina area full of secondhand book shops and antique / junk shops that have boxes of records.

Pictures:
1: Really Good Records in Bretonside Bus Station.
2: Really Good Records in Bretonside Bus Station with mandatory tramp.
3: Oscar, Isabel and Myself in the Barbican celebrating my Wavis O' Shave LP purchase.
4: Wavis O' Shave "Anna Ford's Bum" LP. (Anti-Pop Records).

Crash!

Sorry to say that my computer has gotten a little fucked up of late. Lost a lot of information, including addresses and E Mail addresses etc. Hopefully I can recover what has been lost, but please bare with me! Also, if I haven't answered an E Mail then I apologise - it probably didn't get through. Other than that....life is OK!

Krautrock Karnival

I do like compilation albums. I am a big fan of the comp. Last year I appeared on 4 compilations. Starting the year with "Stahlerne Lichter" CD on Licht Und Stahl and finishing with a track on the accompanying CD to "Encyclopedia Of Industrial Music:Volume 2". I am at this very moment finishing off recording a track for a future compilation CD with two other compilation projects to finish before the end of April. (I am not counting the track required by the Lithuanian "Terror" Magazine as I haven't heard from them since last November). Dieter Muh would have appeared on more compilations in the 1990's if it wasn't for the fact that Dave wasn't keen on them. I used to say "Nurse With Wound early 1980's; they were on every compilation tape going...and it did them no harm". But no (as Colin Newman once said).
When a compilation works well it is a beautiful thing, either as sampler for a venue, city, label etc or a movement or genre. A top ten of favourite compilation albums would be interesting. (I like lists)! "Front Row Festival", "Business Unusual", "Hicks From The Sticks", "Wolfsangel" bloody classics. Recently "Ambient Intimacy Volume 1" CD on EE Tapes became a benchmark for the compilation. Adeptsound's "Bacterium" CD from last year was probably one of the best compilation projects of 2010.
Certainly not in my top ten, but I dug it out for a play anyway, is the compilation CD "Krautrock Karnival" released by the Saint David's Ambient Society/Future Sound Of Exeter label in June 2002. In the summer of 2002 I went along to the CD launch party at The Phoenix Centre in Exeter and came home with a copy. What surprised me with this 12 track compilation is the lack of bands from Exeter (and/or surrounding area) on it. The Future Sound Of Exeter does not come from Exeter (and/or surrounding area).
The CD kicks off with Finnish masters Circle. By 2002 their star was in its' ascendancy, and with the CD theme being Krautrock they supply a masterful slice of the genre called "Dedafiktion". This is Finnish psychedelia clashing with the sound of Amon Duul and Neu! It's a great start. I like Circle, I have a few CD's and 7"'s and I don't play them enough! (Unknowns) Airport '71 follow with some bland space-rock followed by Appliance in "lounge musik" mode and the track "Derailleur, King Of The Mountains". Appliance are the first siting of a band from Exeter. Basildon based Ken Martin follows with some Tangerine Dream homage. Kraut in essence but not much rock. The German group Foreign Spaces give us the melancholic "Phoeton 3-Utopia". This plays like really bad film music. A bad Tony Scott film with a Pete Bardens inspired soundtrack or something. With some faux military snare in the mix it should be called "Pablo's Theme" or some such. Bloody poor. Kubusschnitt bring the whole thing back to Tangerine Dream before Cookin' With Kurt (yep' the band is called Cookin' With Kurt) supply some really bad flute/drum/bass/ washy synth piece. The project is moving far from Krautrock now and going into the area of "Hippy Music" a la Ozric Fucking Tentacles. I have an LP by Here And Now, I am not adverse, but this free-form sub Tull (and dreads) is awful...but not as bad as the next track by Damo Suzuki's Network. A fifth rate Last Poets piece. I would have though that anything after this track would be a worthwhile listen but Bluesausageinfant disappoint with a track of bland. Next up is Exeter based Egg Yum Yum with a heavy Post-Punk piece called "Ooh-Sky-Rah-Ket". Egg Yum Yum are using Can as an influence here with heavy drums and a floating violin sound. Excellent track and along with Appliance and Circle following the "Krautrock" theme. The CD finishes with Abunai! who have a bloody annoying drummer and Nebula Drone who make New-Age washing-up music.
All in all a poor compilation. The future sound of Exeter does not (obviously) come from Exeter but is hired in to teach the Exetonians a lesson! Or, as it turned out the future sound of Exeter is Will Young and Muse (from Teignmouth but lived in Exeter before hitting the cocaine world of big time) and neither of them are on this CD.
On the 7th of June 2002 The Future Sound Of Exeter held a CD launch party at the Phoenix Centre in Exeter with Circle headlining. Excellent gig. Egg Yum Yum played an absolute blinding set in an adjoining art gallery and Appliance (although billed) never played.
What happened to the future sound of Exeter as an organisation I do not know. As for Saint David's Ambient Society.....I think they're still going......

Pictures:
1: Krautrock Karnival CD Sleeve.
2: Circle Live in Exeter. 2002.
3: Myself & Circle in Exeter 2002. (I am wearing a Kaos Kontrol T-Shirt)!
4: Egg Yum Yum Live, Exeter 2002.

Magnetic North & Misery Park

I was pulling out the Minny Pops CD "Secret Story" on LTM to play at work and out came the CDr "Rechi Angelov Angelam" by Misery as well. It is packaged in a very slimline case and my CD's are shelved pretty tight together at the moment. Space issues. I took the CDr to work.
I have had the Misery album for eleven years and today was only its third or fourth play. I remember Steve Fricker recommending it on his Cheeses International list so I bought a copy.
Misery is the solo project of Russian musician Andrey Ivanov. I am uncertain whereabouts in Russia he is based, but guesses are it'll be Moscow.
"Rechi" is a five track album, all tracks being untitled and lasts just under an hour. (I think, as track 4 stuck and just carried on looping, and it took me a moment or two to notice). The first track is a 15 minute opus of noise, synthesizer through effects onslaught. Very good, but sounding very "1990's". Think M:S:B:R "Harsh Works" or Merzbow at his Batztouti stage. Like I said, good stuff. It plays like a live recording and does "phase" a little. It's like, if it was on a cassette I would be thinking that the tape heads need a good clean. The sound owes more to Japnoise than European Power Electronics. Good stuff. Track 2 is minimal by comparison. Minimal and industrial with its sparse synth and mumbled voice. "Silent Schrei" or "Science Scree" the voice seems to be saying. (If anyone out there wants either of those titles for an album or band name...you're welcome). It plays like an out-take from S.P.K.'s "Information Overload Unit" LP. Good Stuff. Track 3 has a rhythm machine. The last three tracks have rhythm machines on them, with the volume turned up to the red. The last three tracks sound like improvised studio recordings - unedited, and not so good stuff, and like I mentioned track 4 stuck in a loop-groove. I see (where would we be without the internet) that Andrey and Misery are still very active and I am keen to hear his present day stuff, see how he has progressed his sound, as for "Rechi"...I think it was stupidly limited at the time. 50 copies or suchlike. It's not even listed on Discogs.
Staying in the Baltic region. Also this week came the split tape release by Magnetic North Duo and Grey Park on the Finnish label Ikuisuus. (That means Eternity in English...I've been boning up on my Suomi y'know). Packaged in a beautiful full colour glossy card sleeve and all for 4 Euro. How do these Finns sell there wares so cheaply?
This time last year I was discovering the Norwegian musician Andreas Brandal, this year I am hearing fellow Nords Magnetic North Duo for the first time. I was expecting some sort of "Kosmische" drone, psychedelic tape sleeve and everything, but what we have on this cassette are two live tracks of improvised musique-concret. Itchy and Scratchy. There's a guitar and bass in there with their strings being scraped, plucked and vibrated all with a fair amount of contact mic' kerfuffle. Often a groove appears but it disappears into the space and silence. The tracks were recorded live in Norway. I have very little of this style of music. When played and experienced live I find it thrilling but on cassette/vinyl/CD it takes a genius to make it work. I hold up Mark Durgan & Spoils And Relics as exhibit "A" M'lud. The recordings are crystal clear unlike Side B and the recording of Grey Park live in Vilnius, Lithuania.
I have declared my passion for Grey Park elsewhere on this site. They release essential stuff, not all of it is 100% but all of it deserves a listen. Here we have a 20 odd minute live assault recorded on what sounds like a mono "Realistic" tape machine placed at the back of the venue on a table that others are using for drinking. Not a mixing desk quality. The side begins with a gruff Teutonic voice shouting "Beer! Beer!". The live sound is untitled and GP get straight in with a multi layered wall of sound, swirling and building before collapsing into a quiet piece that could have tape loops of "found voices" or it's the folks around the tape recorder discussing the next days events. The whorle of sound picks up again before it ends - all too soon. The quality of the recording does not detract from quality of the sound produced. Instant classic in the GP arsenal. The recorder is left on for about 5 minutes after the gig and ends on an unearthly garbled sound. Worth keeping the tape rolling for.
Ikuisuus is a new label on me, and this is catalogued number 16. Hopefully I can track down a record shop in Helsinki that sells some of their releases when I'm over there in a few weeks.

Pictures:
1: Misery Front Sleeve,
2: Misery Inner Sleeve.
3: Magnetic North Duo/Grey Park Tape Cover.
4: Inner Sleeve Picture.

Hyster Tapes

There I was playing the Duncan Harrison side of the recent tape split with Hobo Sonn thinking about the use of recycled tapes and through the letterbox pops the cassette "Second One" from Hyster Tapes. Hyster Tapes being the crack Finnish label that releases on 100% recycled cassettes. "Second One" is their second compilation release, their first "Your Own Shadow Blocks The Light" was released four years ago (and features a rather excellent track by Culver).
"Second One" is a very mellow cassette, tracks made of low drones and shuffling electronics. I must admit to not hearing of a few of the artists on this compilation, starting off with Aiko. They are Finnish, as are Cleavage and Re-Clip. Chances are that these are all side projects from members of Grey Park - I am not saying that they are, just that chances are. Hyster Tapes is operated by plaa of Grey Park. Side One plays like one long piece, or at least pieces from the same band. To me that is the sign of a well constructed compilation. Even Crank Sturgeon (who I have always thought of as America's answer to Smell & Quim) provides a "nice" track of tape manipulations and lo-fi noise. Side Two is that strange beast on a compilation; a side long track (by Varropas). Twenty eight and a half minutes of a repetitive guitar (4 note pattern) interrupted by various synth noodles, electronic interference and tape varispeeds. After a few minutes it becomes all very dreamy and blurred. Good stuff and I want to hear more from this project. For some reason it put me in mind of another Finnish project called Hinageshi Bondage. They were damn good but went off the radar about 10 years ago. I wonder if (t)he(y) are anything to do with Varropas?
Hyster Tapes always provide the goods and their releases will set you back 2 Euros a piece. That's right. 2 Euro a tape! What is your excuse? Go to www.pcuf.fi/~plaa/hyster.html now!
Each tape is limited to about 100 copies, which means Hyster02 "Doin' It Dresden Style" by Dieter Muh is now all sold.....
I have come across a Russian site that had the bloody audacity to put Hyster Tapes up for free download, when an actual release will set you back 2 Euro - that is a bloody disgrace.

Pictures:
1&2: Sleeve to "Second One" compilation cassette.
3: Sleeve to "Doin' It Dresden Style" by Dieter Muh (Hyster Tapes).
4: plaa & myself enjoying a pint in Kentish Town, May 2010.

Bacterium CD #2

Various Artists - Bacterium

Bacterium is the first compilation from the Australian label Adeptsound and it's a good one. Based around the concept of bacteria, the compilers Tim Mayes and Steve Cammack dig deep into the underground to bring together veterans (DDAA, Column One, Dieter Müh) with a whole bunch of newcomers. The varied strains of experimental industrial are covered here from noise excursions through industrial ambience to those that straddle both. It's an uncompromising listen that's certainly worth the effort. On the noise front Maison Close whip up something of a noise blizzard set against layers of crunchy electronics offset by the increasingly panicky outbursts of a distressed female. Josef Nadek, meanwhile, opts for short layered bursts of harsh grating noise. There's a compositional edge to Maison Close and Josef Nadek when compared to the full on brutal power noise of Praying For Oblivion which is thankfully cut short with its abrupt ending. Bacterium is particularly strong on industrial ambience with some engaging tracks from Dieter Müh, Schuster, The Psychogeographical Commission and Mnem. 'Bacteria 2' from Dieter Müh is an impressive live recording from early 2010. Opening with scraping bowls and an incessant throb it soon settles into an uneasy ambience with reverbed singing bowls and crackling tones. With the departure of Dave Uden I was uncertain whether they would continue as a solo act under the auspices of Steve Cammack but with the assistance of Simon Kane Dieter Müh, a band I have long championed, continue to deliver the goods carrying with them the hallmarks of old school industrial. Schuster is Tim Bayes, an early member of Dieter Müh circa Black Square and his contribution 'The Scattering Of Bones - Place & Call (Klebsiella)' is a fine piece of occultic ambience with a still atmosphere punctuated with growls and micro-detailing of sound. Good stuff and I'd be keen to hear more. The Psychogeographical Commission are no strangers to viruses their latest album Patient Zero imagines the effects of a solar virus on a cities populous. 'Pathogenic Suspension', their contribution here, deals with bacteria which form a parasitic association with the living. It's a turbulent instrumental of twisted electronics sounds and eerie ambience showing a more dark ambient side to this excellent project. Finnish industrial experimentalists Mnem offer 'Invisible Organism' an otherworldy creation of gritty tones mixed with subtly crafted looped sounds. German industrial stalwarts Column One don't appear to get caught up in the concept of the album. Their strangely titled 'Cindy, Loraine & Hank' offers sample ridden beaty textures wrapped seemingly around what appears to be a deconstructed dub record. 'Verdeter' from veteran French outfit DDAA use an old piece of Victor Hugo writings about earthworm. They've always been a strange proposition and this track based around gruff vocalisations and scraping violin strings and electronics, with little bursts of harmonica does little to change my opinion. From the gritty industrial ambience of the opening track from Cheapmachines that is conversely soothing and harsh as analogue electronics get swept up into a gushing drone to the closing sample ridden electronica of Sevan Oh it's clear the compilers have put a lot of thought into the running order of Bacterium. Adeptsound have secured a lot of good material here. It does what good compilations should do: presents solid contributions from established artists with plenty of intriguing tracks from the less well known. Bacterium is released in a 4 panel digipak with 12-page booklet and a hand-numbered postcard. If post-industrial still means anything to you then this is well worth your time. Spread the virus. For more information go to www.adeptsound.net Review courtesy of "Compulsion Online Magazine". Thanks to Tony Dickie.