the Departure Lounge

The Departure Lounge ……

… an occasional, occasional ……

Okay we’re going to try and kick start these extended collections again, this time, unlike the doomed to fail ‘daily medications’ spot, we are going to post one of these as a round up when enough reviews have been bagged rather than putting ourselves under the undue pressure of meeting punishing deadlines and word counts, that way we please ourselves when one of these gets posted. Haven’t a clue why we pressed ourselves so hard, it’s not as if we are the kind of folk who can keep to a script, lesser so meet targets, be focused and motivated. So, let’s just see, fingers crossed, how these things pan out.

Okay, let’s firstly address the elephant in the corner, health issues. Now I don’t like talking about them, I’m guessing a fair few don’t like hearing of them, but some folk do ask and its appreciated though I do get it that it’s not a great conversation. I guess it’s better out than in, an exorcism rather than a spreading of the misery. It is what it is.

I’ve just finished the second session of chemotherapy or should I say a course of palliative chemotherapy. A corrective process I’ve been told, though the appearance of the word palliative into the conversation, did raise a thinly thatched eyebrow. I’m feeling jaded, very tired, very fatigued, yet positive and upbeat. That said don’t confuse positive for optimistic, my mental well-being is good, though confused, but my optimism for how this is going is so low I wouldn’t bet on it if it were a horse, I see my consultant for the Sunday’s scan results in two weeks and between you and me, I fear another set-back with the cancer. Sorry for being so blunt and brutal. Fear not, I’m generally happy and accepting, what it does do if afford you the chance to step back, life is no longer a race but a relaxing stroll and while you experience time in slow motion the days appear to rush by in a blink. As said the worst of effects at present are the fatigue, the cough, the coughing up of blood and need to keep on the go, seriously if I don’t keep busy and just sit for a second it’s guaranteed I’ll nod off within seconds. Woah, hang on a second, can you rewind a moment, did he just say, coughing up blood. Indeed, I did. Don’t worry, it’s not as if I’m gargling in the stuff, just an early morning greeting one day last week, a one-off event whereupon I coughed up a sizable blood spot about a teaspoon in size. Moving swiftly on, in short, I see this as a waiting room or a departure lounge whereupon I’ve turned up early, able to watch all around me in a state of frenzy and panic as I sit and blissfully chill away.

To the important stuff ….. the sounds …

Back with the rest of this a little later I shouldn’t wonder. In truth, we’ve been spending the intermittent weeks since our last posting, dreamily mind waltzing to this latest astral adventure from the much-admired Tomorrow Syndicate. Just out via Polytechnic Youth in a 10-inch edition of 500, ‘Citizen Input’ comprises six stellar suites, the first of which, for now, ‘stranger in space (Part I and II)’ has somehow burrowed its way into our affections, whatever the case, there’s no denying that this is the sexiest thing on vinyl right this moment. Traced with a simplistic lush lilt (that incidentally ruptures, cracks and fizzes into psych shredding life at the 4.14 point) ‘stranger in space’ is proofed with a distractive demurring that’s caressed with a head in kosmick sultry. Amid the pulsing sirens, a vintage 60’s time coded cool crushes and purrs dissipating a silver age stream of consciousness that imagines Leary telegraphing telepathic treaties to a hypno-grooving space age soundtrack logica composed by a gathering of Silver Apples and David Vorhaus types. Nuff said (for now ……).

I’m certain there’s a press release for this buried and lost in our inbox somewhere, something which for now at least, is evading our eye line. Just 300 of these beauties, all pressed on, I guess you’d call, space grey vinyl and featuring two extended jaunts into the inner space that is deep mind hypnosis. Mind you, for those of you long familiar with the Polytechnic Youth extended family, this latest outing, pairing together Sunray and Sonic Boom might not be as alien or indeed, a surprise, as first thought, for ‘dreamachine’ originally embarked on its initial mission to explore strange new sonic terrains some twenty years ago via a limited launch on Earworm records. Two decades on and silence is broken with an unexpected contact from the lost thought doomed project with communications re-established by the discovery of this pair of lunar messages in a bottle. First up, ‘music for the dreamachine Phase II’ in its original mix provides for a deeply mellowing fifteen-minute head trip that imagines a mystical variant of the Orb dosed up on chill pills and engaging the auto pilot while they go for an extended smoking break with the folk over at Cavern of Anti-Matter. At once cerebral, controlled and trance tripped, located on some hitherto unknown fixed point at the edge of reason, this dark star emits mind morphing subliminal pulse waves that swerve and swirl dreamily to craft and blow foggy clouds of bliss bathed bubbles of kosmische calm whilst simultaneously re-fusing your synapses to a place past caring. Over on the flip, same track only on this occasion, retooled and hacked by Sonic Boom, who for his part, takes the Sunray blue prints off their fixed-point moorings and maroons them on an orbital trajectory deep in the cosmic drift, headphones essential, your minds safe return not so certain.

Plenty of Castles in Space being prepped for feature here later in the week, among the goodies a killer thing from Polypores, who incidentally, might well pop up a little later, something from the Home Current and little gem from the folk behind the Heartwood Institute. For now, though, a wee heads up of a release being pencilled for early release next year from Keith Seatman. Titled ‘time to dream but never seen’, a short little video teaser should give plenty of evidence that eerie things are afoot for here as a haunting mirage made up of ghost folk fancies, forgotten memories and future premonitions mutate and morph with merry macabre.

Hush now, gather around, I’m going to let you in on a little secret, we here have always had a soft spot for New Model Army, it all goes back to hearing them on Peel, think it might have been ‘Betcha’ rather than ‘bitter sweet’ that yanked at our attention strings. A rare fan letter, quite possibly the only one I’ve ever done was rewarded with a handwritten postcard from Justin, a cherished thing that still proudly shines from behind the cellophane that wraps around the weathered and well worn ‘Thunder and Consolation’ album. A new full length imminent in the shape of ‘from here’ from which is sprung the slow burn brooding ‘never arriving’. Typically tempestuous, New Model Army deliver a masterclass in slow rage, a bruising clarion call savaged and soured in a questioning despair, its harrowed torment harnessed with the burn of the very elements of nature as they sit huddled in the shadows lighting the fuse.

If like me, you fear the gathering of the Twin of Trump, that’ll be the Boris, with a cautious worry that somewhere on the horizon, the four horsemen of the apocalypse watch in puzzled merriment as their decreed role appears somewhat usurped by the elected coupling of stupid and stupider (that’ll be Donny and Bozzo). And while the latter of that dynamic duo seeks to prolong the Brexit nightmare with his pompous huzzah’s and bone headed rhetoric, here’s a little love note from the outside world which I’m guessing not only rings a European bell, but a Scottish, Welsh and Irish one too…… incidentally, wonderfully scuzzy, by the Bags, now how come I’ve never heard this previously …… with side credits to Midwich Youth Club who, if I recall rightly, we lifted this from a twitter posting ……

…… all this leads nicely to new groove from Midwich Youth Club, this ‘un available both as a free download and a limited cassette (appearing around mid-August via Manchester’s the Clap imprint). Anyway, the press release goes a lot like this … ‘ ….. not actually a youth club, the project is the alter ego of Allan Murphy, the nemesis of Hauntologists worldwide. Allan makes sounds and strange samples trip up and stumble over lo-fi beats and bass. Allan plays, fiddles and mangles this mess into melting machine music …….’ . As to the actual release itself, as crooked as the author’s description, delighted to report that all the trademark zing zng zoom and kooky oddness is in place though here shifting ever more towards world’s occupied by the likes of the Bearsuit records and the Frank Wobbly and Sons imprint as was, initial listens preferring the orbital lonesome that is ‘tapeworm’ as it whirls, woos and wanders a silvery aged trajectory teetering beautifully to a nostalgic romance of beat driven beguiling and innocent childlike wonder, rest assured there will be more.

https://theclap.bandcamp.com/album/the-return-of-mr-citrus?fbclid=IwAR1taDipptgEjUqCxJsQMUBLQLYkojEfg8MnvFLfyGd43JxAhi0tW2Tm5G4

Mellow and just a tad, shall we say, playful, so that’s how it’s shaping up then. Four decades on and there is a pressing danger that the Weddoes might be becoming ‘stupidly cool’. With its hushed pop peculiars and pristine prickling,
with its corkscrewing cuteness, ‘Jump in, the water’s fine’ loosens on the trademark brittle impact of the Weddoes more direct engagements and instead opts to arrest with a hypnotic subtlety whose foggy and waywardly dysfunctional verse chorus verse formula owes much to the latter career era Quickspace and with it, delivers a sunny and deceptively alluring sucker punch of a gem. Over on the flip, the preferred ‘Panama’ is awash with a 60’s ITC theme vintage that’s possessed of a mysterious spy sci-fi snap, crackle and bop, hints of the much-missed Brand Violet and Magoo groove in its Gerry and Sylvia Anderson alchemy all undercut by a killer Stranglers’ like JJ bass stroll over which shimmering harmonies fix upon its silver age chassis, simply light the blue touch paper and biff, bang, pow.

Another pretty peculiar, this one coming seductively seasoned in a baroque swirling and fleeting folk fanciful. Pulled from a forthcoming Drag City solo titled ‘Radum calls, radum calls’, this be Sean O’Hagan with the trippy teaser ‘on a lonely day (ding, dong)’. An amorphous apparition pressed with hints of a youthful Woods as though found aboard a floating raft destined for Monsterism island sharing space with the Left Banke. Lost in its own head space, this dizzy deceiver glides, glints and floats amid a softly teased sunny psych tinged la la land, all the time seemingly distracted and somewhere else while similarly dinked with a faraway airiness of Robert Wyatt hinting in its genteel radiant pastel colouring.

Interlude ….. Stereolab …….

Footage of the mighty Stereolab from their recent Pitchfork festival appearance, we here have had the ‘Lab on heavy rotation these last few days, ‘Cobra and Phases’ still edges it in the favourite album stakes running it in tangent with the Switched On comp ‘Aluminum Tunes’ – I mean ‘golden atoms’, one note samba / surfboard’, ‘percolations’, ‘cadriopo’ and ‘get carter’ – all on one album albeit a triple …….

Just a very quick mention for a release heading out of the Maple Death imprint, this be ‘mothgirl’ , a track culled from a new tape release by Slaylor Moon titled ‘zone of pure resistance’ and something which ought to, in the first instance, appeal to all of you folks well-tuned and versed in sounds of a brooding dystopic monochromatic nature. sounding as though it’s just stepped from some abandoned cassette compilation awash with lost post punk electronica from the 80/ 81 era, all of which should fit neatly amid your prized Polytechnic Youth grooves. ‘mothgirl’ darkly piggy backs on the isolationist sounds of Laurie Anderson albeit as though lost in the surrealist sound worlds of Petunia Liebling MacPumpkin. this slow weaving shadow walker crawls and coos from the ghost fllcked backwaters of the Throbbing Gristle universe, at once beautifully edgy, yet detached and somewhat frosted and funk struck.

https://mapledeathrecords.bandcamp.com/track/mothgirl

Inierlude …… Stereolab (again) ……

….. recent live session and interview for the Marc Riley show ……..

I’m strongly suspecting we’ve a sizeable gap emerging in our Boring Machines stash what with the discovery of a handful of keynote releases that we eyed on a recent nose of their band camp page, first of which comes from Von Tesla, information on whom I’m sad to say, is scant to the point of non-existent. Anyhow grumbles aside, we’ve found a little fond spot forming for the track ‘out of the surface’, a wonderfully microsected slice of glitch greenery and binary blippery that’s very much tutored and traced with an old skool aural assembling that hints ever so teasingly to the more abstract otherworldliness of say, Biosphere and Banco de Gaia (fear not related items for the latter mentioned are being carefully prepped for review in the coming days). Anyhow, in short, a 10-minute mesmeric perfect for headphones and immersion in a darkened room free from the maddening world of distraction with the promise of blissful solitude and dreamlike disconnection. The set incidentally is titled ‘Ganzfeld’.

https://boringmachines.bandcamp.com/album/von-tesla-ganzfeld

Staying with Boring Machines, a quite stunning set from dTHEd titled ‘hyperbeatz vol 1’. A rather curious though calming affair and something which, in our humbled opinion, would have been ripe for essential playlisting by the Mixing It folk Messrs Sandall and Russell in another age and time. For now, we here have been somewhat taken by the parting ‘Ƨiănƕηm]đʉ’, a strangely absorbing sore thumb initially channelling earth beat rhythms with a choral woozy, from which emerges and waywardly weaves, a distractively sparse palette that contorts and shape shifts with a playfully haloing to tumble, stutter and shimmy its way to end groove with fracturing albeit, impish improv delight.

https://boringmachines.bandcamp.com/album/dthed-hyperbeatz-vol-1

Last up from the Boring Machines folk, the darkly pressed ‘II ciclo del Vuoto’ from aural alchemist Neunau from off which the ‘movimento II’ has been pricking our listening space, this slice of isolationist edginess is blessed with a dystopic outerism, its pulsing mesmeric lines ushering in a forbidding and foreboding glimpse of bleak futures to come as it presses its macabre industrial with hope diminishing disquiet.

https://boringmachines.bandcamp.com/album/neunau-il-ciclo-del-vuoto

Talking of things dystopic, foreboding and isolationist, Beggars Banquet’s Arkive sub-print are shortly to put out, expanded 40th anniversary sets of Tubeway Army’s / Numan’s iconic ‘Replicas’ (a brooding dark star of disassociation, disconnection and bleak alienation) and ‘Pleasure Principle’ (clinical, reflective, almost nostalgic and regretful yet self-aware) releases. Collectively titled ‘the first recordings’, these double disc sets gather together rare demo versions and alternate takes forged and formed during the session recordings for these two landmark releases. along with legendary Peel sessions. The ‘freerange’ demos come bolstered by the additional appearance of Numan’s two Peel sessions from ‘79 with both pressings arriving pressed on coloured vinyl. Full reviews in the coming days. However. for now, at least, a little aside. Stumbled over by accident earlier today, here’s Numan’s contribution to what looks like an excellent project set up by the Stories for Ways and Means collective which seeks to promote the value and advancement of children’s literacy across the globe – for more details go to http://www.sfwam.org/

In our self -imposed absence, we’ve been more than cheered by the frequent appearance of releases from the Dark Outside imprint, if memory recalls there was a superbly imagined score for ‘1984’ -at least I think it was ‘1984’ as right this minute I can’t lay my hands upon the blighter, worse still I can’t remember who did it and neither can I recall the name of the sub label its was issued through. The joys of chemo fog and ineptness, they make a splendid coupling. More startling still, prior to this TDO release, a set from the very wonderful Drew Mulholland with ‘the Wicker Tapes’ – a little write up of which we might try and sneak on here in a few days – though no promises. So that’s two appearances from Drew this year if you count the ‘Delia collaboration’ for Buried Treasure, hell’s teeth that’s more releases than he’s put out in the last 5 years. This time of asking and serviced with a 50 only cassette pressing, Tujuh Kuda take to the centre spot with a 60-minute entitled ‘lotek’ from off which the label have sneakily posted a 5-minute excerpt sequence. This ghost folk slice of dream-tronica is wonderfully pressed in a myriad of light and dark shading all spared through by the glooming weaves of Oriental mystics and a sparsely toned shadow walking chilling, its disquieting aura enhanced by degrees to the imparting of a sense of closing claustrophobia with its seasoned macabre filleting. Not one for alone listening.

Ah sub-tronic post punk with a distinct decoration of c-81 styled mutant club land grooving, just what the doctor ordered though I note he missed the Morphine script – that folks is what passes for dark comedy in our world these days folks, anyway this be the opening track of the latest ‘underground tapes’ set from the Bordellos, number 25 therein, available on free download/ pay what you want, the cut in question a lo-fi dance mix of ‘the gospel according to Julian Cope’ who as you all know, is the coolest of the crucial three or was it four or five who these days, from what we can gather, releases the occasional nugget and disappears wherever for a while without so much as a by your leave, still we’ve eyed somewhere a repressing of ‘Wilder’ – essential listening of course that needs putting in a relevant online basket for purchase. Anyway, what can I say about the track, try cool, calculated and damn, damn, damn, very toe tapping in a stare you down mesmeric way type thing. Gotta admit I’ve enjoyed this particular release more than most, perhaps safe to say the most together of these vault finds to date what with ‘New York Girl’ tuned, toned and possessed of a softly subtle mid 70’s CBGB’s vibing that appears to wear a Television t-shirt awash with Velvets badges. On the otherhand ‘dark time girl’ – a girl theme forming what, comes blessed with a delicious Hefner like waywardness while the emotional broken and distressed ‘somebody else problem now’ is the Bordellos at their most crushed, reflective and damaged.

https://bordellos.bandcamp.com/

Admit it, puts a little spring in your step does this sprightly gem, dislocating rhythms and acutely angular new wave art popisms adore it with a late 70’s time locking. Its fuzzy futurism channelling loosely, a mindset forged in an after-hours sound lab of dissenting B-52’s and Devo souls on extra curricula duties arrive adored with a spraying of radiant ear tugging effervescences which fused together, form a curious lo-fi psychedelic subtle more prevalent in the extended catalogue of the Elephant 6 collective. This be Terry with the delightful ‘Bizzo and Tophat’, a recent release heading out of the Upset the Rhythm stable.

Staying with upset the rhythm a little while longer, well two tracks more at the very least, this track would you believe, had us so distracted as we were winding down for bed at 3 in the morning, that we were minded to pause for a moment, sit with it and enjoy a rare moment of sweet solace. Agreed, it might have been our upbeat mood, enhanced by the warm weather earlier in the day and my general demeanour, calmed and relaxed though nevertheless wrestled with fatigue, that might have precipitated our momentary fondness. Yet, now in the clear light of day, still calmed, upbeat with the sun beaming into life, it clearly seems the hypnotic workings of this mellow mosaic haven’t dulled. But enough of the rambling, this be Robert Sotelo who I’m certainly we’ve mentioned before herewith the mellowing hazy ‘message of beauty’, a slow burning sigher subdued with a genteel defence laying hypnotic, its drifting chord coding initially stirring with uncertain pause soon blossoms with a nostalgic classicist burn that imports a radiant spray of hazily lazy harmonies and a lushly laid faraway fancying to its warmly becoming palette. https://soundcloud.com/upset-the-rhythm/robert-sotelo-message-of-beauty

Admittedly not on our radar nor neither prepped on the to do list, its appearance here warranted by a momentary adoring as it wheezed and waltzed into ear view without so much as a by your leave. This be Bill Orcutt with ‘the simply arresting the sun and its horizon’ which judging by the ever so brief liner notes affixed here, is set to appear sometime October through the Palilalia imprint. one for the John Fahey and Jack Rose purists among you and something that ought to chime affectionately with folk well versed of the rarefied output of Scott William Urquhart. Deeply transfixing, warming, aglow and attuned to the land, its contours and its restless search for survival and solitude, the sounds distilled with a rich vibrant toning speak like ancient echoes of a lost tongue, their woody sun-bleached aromatic captured of a natural, the fretwork and artistry beyond pristine. Perfect if you ask me. https://soundcloud.com/bill-orcutt/the-sun-and-its-horizon

Appreciably, just what we need in our life right now, something skewed, damaged and just a tad barking. Feeding on a vibe that’s more Half Man Half Biscuit than the Fall, Brian Bordello’s latest combo Roi (with John McCarthy and son Dan of Vukovar and beyond) stumble out of the confines of their bijou recording pantry into the cruel critical carelessness of a maudlin musical landscape shackled by a lack of humour and a sonic palette so saccharine, safe and neutral that it’s beyond belief boredom arrives in a shade of magnolia. Debut release then from Roi through Metal Postcards, whose wares I distantly recall, used to at one time in the dark dim past, decorate these pages with fond frequency. Anyhow, this be ‘Dormouse Records’, was their ever such a shop I wonder, kind of ‘Hi-Fidelity’ gone native and found slumbered under the counter brain stoned on some seriously potent vegetation of the hallucinogenic herb variety. Better still, this be all over the shop in the finest tradition of goofed out lo-fi though why I’m minded to drag out Pooh Sticks platters is, just for a moment, something of a puzzle, still, the waywardness, the wonkiness and the general deadpan varieties stirred into this joyfully wired weirdo is comfortably freaking. It’s been an age since I visited Southport, I do recall an antiquarian of some description that was literally stuffed from floor to ceiling with records and dusty books which as a younger self I’d visit on occasion, each and every time spending hours looking for the unnamed doorway behind which a creaking staircase would lead you to this treasure trove of delights. Maybe I imagined it all. I minded to mention this not as some randomly plucked memory out of the blue, but because the flip of this release features a cut by the name ‘straight outta Southport’. We do love these black n’ white (sometimes sordid) kitchen sink dramas from the Shea pen, yearning with a reflective nostalgia all ghosted with a gritty swoon of a lost yesterday, it certainly does it for us not least because its dimming glow comes illuminated in the subtle haze of a Teardrops c. ‘Wilder’ haloing. https://metalpostcard.bandcamp.com/album/roi-dormouse-records-straight-outta-southport?fbclid=IwAR3yWuA6dzfbWM9lg2mLrtLVOUXdkIeThiTSYe-F0aR3tFb1EdX2JtgRFPc

Sneaking in this one by way of a best wishes to Katje Janisch, who if I read the quickly appearing / disappearing notifications on our phone earlier today, is celebrating her birthday today. Anyhow as said, a very quick heads up for this one, a fuller review will be making an appearance, possibly later in the week. Working under the name Dulce Muse, this be ‘Mussette’ her latest full-length release, which incidentally is getting a limited CD pressing via the esteemed Reveerb Worship. For now, we here have been smitten by the adorably mesmeric charms of ‘perchance’. An ethereal angel sigh ghosted in mystical choral corteges all traced, trimmed and twinkled in a harvesting of timeless ghost spells whose entrancement shies and shimmers from out of the shadowy seductions of Magnet’s gallic entrancement within ‘the Wicker Man’. https://katjejanisch.bandcamp.com/?fbclid=IwAR1H6EfrupIn6D4BFKuBYKg1Az9Jgzlw9yAWanweuvvx4_nrJ30cZWqbDg8

Latest to the Polytechnic Youth family, alas long since sold out, a 99 only clear lathe cut twinset from Ian Helliwell, no doubt inspired by the celebrations marking man’s momentous exploits in space travel, most notably the moon landings. As said two cuts feature here, which assuming we have the right sides round, ‘Gemini 4: walk in space’ opens up the listening soiree. A cold celestial draped in darkening whirrs and hums, its binary toning and somewhat fracturing canvas of pulse waves and microtones eking out an oblique space scape whose sombre detachment cuts reference markers that owe to a youthful Pimmon and a mischievous Add N to X visioning. ‘Apollo 11:Man on the Moon’ by contrast positions on a more minimal sound terrain that’s commonly found stirring in Radiophonic backwaters, its playful vintage hinted of the futuristic choreography of the Barron’s, Louis and Bebe.

Now I must admit the looming to the surface of a massive apology at this point because, give or take a month or two, this time last year, when learning of our diagnosis and indeed embarking on our first experience of chemotherapy, Justin of Dreams of Tall Buildings was one of the first with comforting words, offering up sonic experimental suites he’d been developing in his aural potting shed, noting this should take your mind off the challenges. Alas the files are lost and buried on a crashed hard drive somewhere, yet to this day, I don’t think I ever got a chance at the time to say how they did indeed help me in some part through the process and boredom of a six hour sitting wired up to a drip feeding me, what was essentially, poison. Fast forward to the present and the continued experiments with plants has enabled Mr Wiggan to synthesize into a digital coding, the conversations and relationship responses of various fauna and with a great deal of wizardry, quite frankly beyond our true understanding, extrapolate these binary impulses into a musical notation from therein, with the aid of some pretty hi-tech gizmos forging an interface of sorts, with himself fto form what he calls, ‘an immersive physical dimensional field’, at this point we are ghosting into the kind of sci-fi terrains more common in the works of John Wyndham, the type of nature invasion that birthed the appearance of the Krynoid’s in the classic era Baker Doctor Who episode ‘the Seeds of Doom’. Anyhow enough of that and back to the point, new release from the uber eclectic Gardener’s Delight imprint features two (in truth just one, the flip is a more traditional musical species) of these, lab tested varieties. Pressed on mottled green lathe cut vinyl in an edition 53 ours incidentally is #22 in case you are taking notes, I haven’t as yet, worked out the significance of the 53 only pressing from which these Gardeners Delight releases are all cut, perhaps something for a later day then. Starting with the flip side, just to be awkward, ‘internal garden’ features the conservationist rap of guesting Josh set to a driving drum n’ bass work out, the message clearly politicised and bleakly direct is conscious pricking, its dystopic messaging enhanced grimly by the drilled and sterile n’ oblique ice cool fixed stare of the beats as they forge a curiously stark and mutant jazz hybrid. In sharp contrast, ‘orange soup dragon and the sleeping gunnera’ is awash with old school Radiophonic aspects, the textures cavernous, sparse and strangely trippy, relocate you to a somewhere else where, amid the seeming chuckles and outer worldly disconnection, a strange and alien subterranean world is animated in play.

Now I kid you not when I say that the newly welcomed Lenco L –3808 turntable has been seriously put through its paces this morning, its sleek lines and identikit Technics SL 1200 looks and astonishing sound response through the equally attractive Edifier book shelf speakers, have had us wowing like a child at the Christmas day breakfast table. But as near faultless as its proven to be so far, it still hasn’t managed to fathom or overcome the intricacies of this 2-inch clear lathe cut Slap Bet release which is a shame because it apparently features a blistering cover of the Nepalm Death nugget, ‘you suffer’. Seriously, we have tried every which way, altering the skating, adjusting the balances, the counterweights the lot. Disappointment aside, it has at least given us a chance to fast track ourselves to familiarising the limits of this near pristine slice of platter playing eye candy, ours is in white and looks the business. So, while we play around with the dials a little longer in the fading hope of resolution, here’s a little something from I am Voyager 1. Not sure exactly as to where this fits in the grander scheme of things or whether indeed it is in fact readily available for purchase. Of course, those familiar with all things Fruits de Mer will be all too aware of Phil 345RPM’s extra curricula musical duties, one time one half of the criminally neglected Southall Riot, he occasionally steps from behind his lathe cutting work bench to impart some cosmic freakery before disappearing back to meet exhaustive pressing deadlines cutting limited collectable curios for some of the trendiest and coolest imprints around. This particular cutting features an advertisement spot on one side, always loved these old school ‘spots’ releases, which sadly across the last three decades appear to have died a death, mainly used as film announcements for radio shows they found an unlikely outlet for garage punk labels in the 60’s and beyond, anyhow this one is basically Phil on a high enthusiastic setting imparting to all, the delights of his cool cutting services. Over on the flip, a track that appeared originally on a Fruits de Mer’s littler siblings Strange Fruit imprint entitled ‘a momentary lapse of vinyl’ which as the title hints was a CD compilation featuring the greats paying homage to the Floyd, this particular serving, an instrumental rereading of Syd’s ‘Golden Hair’ here coaxed and coded with a magically shadowy spraying that’s beautifully paused and ghosted by a deeply trance toned opining cortege of bowed chimes and a masterly turn of dark majesty.

Actually, picked up a while back during an online fill ya boots vinyl grabbing soiree. Must admit it’s been an absolute age since we had any Rise Above booty adoring our listening space, this one incidentally by Blood Ceremony comes in a limited 300 only pressing, a devilishly coolly cut slice of progressive folk vintage by the name ‘Lolly Willows’, which unless our do deceive, is cut from a becoming melodic mastery that imagines a witching hour studio gathering between prime time variants of the Curved Air and Jefferson Airplane schools all nailed down seductively by a subtly stoner gouged hazing. Over on the flip, a cover of the Who’s ‘heaven and hell’ is here adored with a lightly brushed 60’s stoner scuzzed phrasing all fried with a teen thrilled tailoring fashioned and fired up with freakish flute florets, kinda does it for us and one that should by rights, appeal to the Fruits de Mer brethren. http://www.riseaboverecords.com

Something else momentary lost in the pile of vinyl these last few months, admittedly bought on spec as you do, our mind made up by the fact that it features the pairing of folk from the Orchids and GNAC, that’ll be Messrs Tramner and Hackett then, found here collectively colluding as Vetchinsky Settings. Pressed on white wax and available in limited number through the Vertical Feature imprint. ‘anymore’ is indelibly invested with a faraway otherness, softly entrancing, reclining and mellow, there’s a statelessness attaching to its cool casual, an airless majesty whose genteel ghost like whispering, draws you close by way of its lulling lilt, applied with a dreamily drifting aspect, its tender traits courting a loose connection with the gentler moments unearthed on Archer Prewitt’s mischievously overlooked ‘white sky’ set.

One of those, blink and its gone releases, in fact I’m not entirely sure where you’d go if you wanted one of these, the usual online suspects we’ve checked appearing to have sold out in nano-seconds. Grumbles aside, not from our side you understand, we managed to nab a copy, this be Four Tet with the super limited 12-inch Text release Anna Painting’, a little something which I don’t mind saying, has been on constant rotation since the arrival of the new turntable kit (well in between the near playing to destruction of the Liquorice Experiment’s two track lathe – more about that in a while). I must say, and maybe this is just me, I don’t ever recall Mr Hebden ever sounding so free spirited and flighty as he does here, this particular made in collaboration with artist Anna Liber Lewis (Hebden the music inspired by Lewis the canvases) whose ‘breath’ incidentally adorns the releases sleeve. A sub 8-minute head rush it be, super chilled, slyly slinky and seductively choreographed with a deeply demurring nocturnal fashioning and something blessed with the heatwave sultry these isles are basking in at the moment, the flowering flotillas of arpeggios and chiming corteges along with the body popping pulse lights irresistibly arming it with a cool clubland culturing.

Much to our embarrassment, I must admit to not having come across the work of Roger Doyle prior to this, surely that can’t be right, well we’ll settle for not being aware as to. The much sought after ‘Thalia’ finally gets the Finders Keepers treatment with the impending release of a double disc outing. Released in ‘78, Doyle’s second full length was hopelessly marketed and promoted by a CBS label, who clearly proved they’d no idea what they had on their hands. Even to this day there is still a degree of mystery as to what happened to it on its original release, was it pressed in a limited form or, as some believe, was it just simply pulled from the catalogue, with all remaining copies destroyed due to an inept managerial downsizing of label product. Appearing in the Nurse with Wound list, it has over the years secured a cult status among collectors and weird ear purists. Forty years on and sent out as a teaser on the preview player, ‘Thalia part 3’ still sounds oddly disorientating. With its continual push pull choreographing, something which sees it constantly flipping back and forth between dream-like and nightmare states, ‘Thalia’’ is teased with a surrealist approach, whereupon you are served disjointed and unrelated pieces from a puzzle, cutting a distinction between isolationist and isolated, this falling into the latter, in so much as it relocates you in a place that given the choice, you probably wouldn’t care or choose to be. Between rapid fire moments of activity and stilled sequences of morose macabre, ‘Thalia’ is sparsely couched in weird ear electronic mosaics interspersed by the occasioning of haunting sounds of a female crying and the brush of lightness courtesy of a misdirected passing of a brass band parade. https://finderskeepersrecords.bandcamp.com/album/thalia

Are we venturing into paranormal psychedelia terrains, I only ask because another off the Nurse with Wound recommended listening list, features the talents of Igor Wakhévitch whose cut ‘Materia-Prima’ features on a recently released Finders Keepers compilation entitled ‘strain crack and break – music from the Nurse with Wound list – Volume 1’. A thirteen-track gathering of outsider talents, with this neat nugget seriously whipping up a degree of voodoo hoodoo, the type of which, imagines a classic era Goblin retuning John Cameron’s legendary soundtrack for classic Brit horror flick ‘Psychomania’ replete with a momentary sojourn into jazz freakery to cook up an intoxicating cauldron of wig flipped grooviness. Nuff said.https://finderskeepersrecords.bandcamp.com/album/strain-crack-break-music-from-the-nurse-with-wound-list-volume-one

Pushing on in this era of Finders Keepers’ embracing of paranoid weirdness, which incidentally we here are all aboard for, this be Turkish sound alchemist Gökçen Kaynatan with what looks to be an essential release going by the name ‘Cehennem’. A vault discovery featuring a wealth of work never heard beyond rare performances on Turkish TV, in essence making these near 50-year old recordings, the first time they’ve been out of the can and into the daylight of consumerist living rooms. Kaynatan was one of the first to embrace the EMS Synth AKS fully, spending a deal of time self-tutoring himself in all the devices little foibles and intricacies. We here have found ourselves a little taken by the track ‘Anjiyo (Angioma)’ mainly for two reasons, the first being it’s the most playful and light of the three cuts and secondly, to draw some kind of relevance or reference to what’s happening sound wise now, then this neatly fits the parlance of cold electronica like a glove, its grooving immediately calling to mind in an instant, the darker terrains of the Add N to X spectrum and the Freed Unit’s more minimal Ochre based releases whilst not forgetting to mention any number of releases escaping the Dark Outside sound house and Mat Bower’s very excellent Wizards Tell Lies project. A dark star pirouetting ominously on some distant dystopic fringe, an icy pulsar, an apparition of a bleak future to come more so a chilling slab of surveillance tech, omnipresent and ever watchful, quite perfect I’d be minded to say. https://finderskeepersrecords.bandcamp.com/album/cehennem

Okay, blame the brain fog from the last chemo session, but how on earth did this get passed me without the usually alert quality control processes being in place. Happily, sent over by Dave Chemistry Set in response to our request for sounds, I thought it sounded familiar when we fired it up, alas I just couldn’t place it. The High Violets cut ‘sparkle’ ripped from their debuting 2002 full length ‘44 down’, is a honey which I’ll admit I’d forgotten about, something quite frankly we needed in the moment, a simple slice of fixed staring feel good radiance, just the thing to give us a giddy up and very much touched with a soft psyche hymnal glazing the type of which you’d imagine attaching to Spacemen 3 had they been lounging and concocting sonic head expanders whilst on the Northern Star imprint. Anyhow, smokes in all the right places, very chilled, trippy and quite frankly the bollocks in terms of its sunshine appeal, perhaps even a tad Black Angels-y at times. All of which had us thinking, whatever happened to them, seems they are still around and releasing coolly casual cuts aplenty, the latest being ‘Heroes and Haloes’ from off which, we here have been adioring the soft seductive lilt of ‘Bells’, again a little something which in the space of a day or two, has had us much recalling Lake Ruth, this ‘un delicately demurred with a subtle psych folk lulling that quite frankly wouldn’t look out of place on the grooves of a platter bearing the esteemed name of the Honey Pot upon its binding, a bitter sweet love note shy eyed and prettily harvested in oodles of a 70’s pastoral vintage. Those preferring the more trademark shoegazing haloing might be minded to venture to the title track, a serenely stilled stratospheric which by these ears sounds not unlike a prime time Melys on surrender setting.

https://thehighviolets.bandcamp.com/album/heroes-and-halos-3

Something else picked up fairly recently on an online record buying foray, this be an excellent collaborative outing that pairs together the endless illusion and brokntoys sound houses for a planned three volume series of face off’s collectively titled ‘Human Abstracts’. A limited 12 -inch press which gouged upon its grooves, you’ll find five cuts of shadowy club land grooving from some of the finest alchemists of sound currently operating in the dark electronic / industrial spectrums. First up to the plate, Vitra Delta Drive here serving up ‘El Complot’ and into the bargain cooking a coalescing slab of shadow playing icy futurism which to these ears has something of a classic era Front 242 indelibly barcoded into its DNA albeit with the additional intravenous fusion of Coil seemingly edging up the tension dial. Equally starkly chilled and somewhat etched with an overarching bleakness, Santoine opt for a Play Dead-esque guide light on their ominous dark star ‘Transmission’, a tormenting slice of chilled foretelling all wrapped and wired around a choking industrial grind upon whose looping menace, a warning of an approaching futile is scratched deep in its welcoming. Outermost see out Side 1 with the dead eyed fixed staring ‘Mystic River’, a prowling pulsar shaved of emotion and clinically bleached, its AI subtronics calculated and mesmeric tapping out a deep bass grooved techno error binary. Konsistent open proceedings on Side 2 with the annoyingly ear addictive ‘paranoid humanoid’, something that had us much recalling the kind of sounds that at one time or another, used to fly out of the Smallfish, Rednetic and Boltfish imprints with rude regularity, this particular cut assuming a deeply vibrant and floaty albeit, lightly flowering pastoral skin atop a serenely hypnotic motorik phrasing, nuff said. It’s left to Black Propaganda to lead matters towards the end groove with ‘instrument of liberation’, in truth the best thing here by some distant, a sighing celestial orphan applied with a deeply tearful wide screen symphonic aspect all beautifully pitched with a frosted elegance and crushing majesty, all of which admittedly, put us in mind of the likes of the Home Current and Polypores. Essential. https://brokntoys.bandcamp.com/album/human-abstracts-volume-one

A very brief heads up on this while we try to decide which one of the many variants attract our eye the most. Fruits de Mer safe hands (plenty of Fruits de Mer stuff looming on the bulging to do), Sendelica revisit their earlier catalogue to gather up three key note outings from way back in their RAIG days for the first time on vinyl. Most of the variations, and there are many, are bolstered by special edition treats usually involving sets stuffed with alternate takes, demos and early workings of finished cuts, others come pressed on colourful shades of wax, autographs with additional DVD’s, postcards and other such items. The three albums, originally released between 2007 and 2010, where CD-r only affairs released on the Russian imprint RAIG. Now gathered under the collectively name ‘the Cosmonaut Years’, these sets are now available as three volume all ins or as stand alones. To whet the appetite, a select serving of teaser tracks are available on the player with opener ‘Sunfazed’ courting our ear lobes. A mellow hazer dinked in a dreamy faraway whose chilled recline bobs serenely on softly stoned psychedelic waves, smoked and airless and tripped in a clear crystalline shimmering. Equally spiking our listening lull, ‘the shit faced and fried Manhole of the Universe’ is adored in all manner of prog freakery, a serious third eye tweaking stoner equipped in all manner of stratospheric hazing and head expanding hallucinogens all cooled superbly with humungous beardy bluesed out Acid Mothers mosaics. https://sendelica.bandcamp.com/album/sendelica-the-cosmonaut-years-vol-1-3

I’m sure that about our person we’ve a download link from Mega Dodo buried in our inbox, I could of course be imagining this, probably am given the combination of sheer fatigue and the cough medicine we’ve been prescribed, appear to collude to weave a none to altogether unpleasant trippy fusion. One for pencilling in your diary, this ‘un not officially due until November time. A compilation no less, entitled ‘from a distant shore’ features a raft of folk previously unknown to us discounting that is, an appearance by Us and Them. Guess we’ll be dipping in and out of this with frequent fondness over the coming weeks, however for now, we’d just like to direct your listening in the general direction of Astor Wolfe, who features here with three cuts. Well what can we say? Utterly transfixing and something that we don’t admit in saying, caught us clearly off guard, ‘Emerald Green’ the best of the trio by some distance, a dainty delicacy beautifully breezed in a becoming bouquet of baroque folk braiding all softly surrendered in spectral fashioning whose prettily pirouetting pastorals form an ever so genteel musical daisy chain with Silver Apples (seriously I kid you not). With its undulating patterns,‘heart of Pebblestone’ courts a wonderfully serene gallic waltz hushed and spirited away in a touching intimacy that harks back to a timeless and tender folk heritage while rounding up the trio, ‘Liontine Looking Glass’ flirts and flowers to blossom into a dreamily rustic dance which in another age, wouldn’t have looked to out of place sitting on the Owl Service endorsed Hobby Horse imprint. https://megadodo.bandcamp.com/album/from-a-distant-shore

Mastered by Antony Ryan, wasn’t he the chap that formed one half of ISAN. Onward then, continuing an extended purple patch which has already seen outings on some of the coolest labels this year (Static Caravan, Polytechnic and Castles in Space – all of which, though regretfully delayed, will be swept up for review in the coming days), the Home Current now takes up limited residence on Modern Aviation courtesy of a strictly limited cassette release entitled ‘the Ardennes’. Three tracks currently sit on the preview page on the bandcamp site, off which we’ve found ‘souls of Malmedy’ seductively cutting all manner of shapes in the listening room and into the bargain, finding Mr Jensen freed up of his usual trademark techno / kosmische footings to explore a more looser sound palette that body swerves deliciously on a shape shifting and amorphous trippy orbital. https://musiqueparavion.bandcamp.com/album/the-ardennes

Were we just mentioning ISAN a second or two ago, well it seems the other half of duo, Mr Saville now pops up for an ultra-limited cassette outing alongside the much admired Oliver Cherer for the 2 part suite ‘Sizewell’. Just 150 copies pressed up of this release, all arriving accompanied by an A5 sized photozine and a link to the 19-minute film from off which here, you can sample 6 minutes of field recording interspersed serene. Best experienced for full effect alone, with headphones and free from distraction, ‘Sizewell’ is sonically engraved in a stilled melancholy, an epitaph (in respect of Sizewell A at least) traced in ghostly florals and a crystalline calm, the orphaned rustic electronics rubbed with a forlorn sense of nostalgia and monolithic majesty as nature returns to reclaim it as its own.

https://musiqueparavion.bandcamp.com/album/sizewell

Rounding up this brief catch up of Modern Aviation, we’ve taken the advice of the Concrete Islands folk and opted to dive deep in the spacious waters of ‘Nebulous Cloud’s expansive 17-minute palette. Again, on limited cassette pressing issue, this be Agathe Max. Utterly transfixing, there’s some about the tear stained chamber like technique afoot within the brooding caress of ‘Nebulous Cloud’ that hints of a church like serene more in toning to those key note releases heading out of a late 90’s Constellation sound house. At once poised, pained and panoramic, this distant soul comes replete with a weary weathering and an ache so hollowed and hurting it carries upon its shoulders a timeless and eternal curse or at least, a judgement or some such bargain to be redeemed. Here a dark beauty unfurls in tune with the very elements, a ghost folk pulsar sighed in ageless torment and tear stained in a solemn majesty, one I suspect for those versed in all things Set Fire to Flames and godspeed. https://musiqueparavion.bandcamp.com/album/agathe-max-r-ves-perdus

Typical of these things and trusting that you grabbed yourselves a copy of their super limited 50 only cassette ‘Lotek’ from the Dark Outside, we were going to revisit this set having mentioned it briefly a week or so ago. That was, until we were distracted by a newly posted free to download cut currently being prepped from appearance on an incoming Noise Bombing compilation entitled ‘local time’. We of course refer to Tujuh Kuda whose ‘the birth of a cyborg’ has been equally at home both delighting and distracting the listening space since appearing on our radar. An oddly disorientating curio which, if you wade through the confusion of sonic clatter, has lying at its core, a deeply mesmeric and sultry Persian / Tibetan-esque, snake charming motif upon which are layered all manner of scratched indents, skeletal sonics, jazzy mischiefs and shadowy folk features, which gathered together craft out a tensely wiry head trip of sorts. https://tujuhkuda.bandcamp.com/track/the-birth-of-a-cyborg

Goes without saying that after sampling further the sounds of Tujuh Kuda and indeed mentioning the Noise Bombing imprint that it would perhaps be amiss, more so rude, of us not to pay them a brief visit. So, eyeing the Indonesian self-styled noise / experimental sound house catalogue, our attention immediately turned upon their latest release pairing together the talents of Tesla Manaf and Theo Nugraha, the latter of whom, I’m fairly certain featured on occasion in these very pages a few years back. Herewith ‘Sikap Eksploratif’, a 33-minute exercise in caustic concrete sound and something which we’ll warn those of you with a deep aversion to dentistry drills might care to pass on. Agreed not pop music and certainly something that scarcely encourages any notion of anything approaching toe tapping, rather more a delightful exercise in hysteria and harsh noise ear burning, yet were most of these atonal apparitions appear created with just one objective, that being to blow you into next week with their ferocity, you sense here, that rather than subduing your senses to a brutal snow storm of power electronics, that really, all they want to do is have some fun and just generally mess with your head. On the latter note they succeed with much aplomb, though whether folk in earshot of the frazzled and fried hijinks afoot here will see the funny side is another matter. https://noisebombing.bandcamp.com/album/nb18-theo-nugraha-tesla-manaf

Those fancying their sounds somewhat dystopic, alien and pierced with a cold emotionless menace might do well to seek out Luke Lund’s ‘Pattern Recognition’ set for the Berlin based Conditional imprint. On limited cassette, our copy having taken a back seat while we preview the sound cloud offering, not because the tapes non-compliant, only given the arrival of a new sound set up, we’ve inadvertently carted into the shed the cassette deck and various other means for playing tapes, and while yes, we could go back in and rescue, its late, its dark and it’s all the faff with wires, connectors and hooking everything up. In short, I’m passing on this till tomorrow. So, while we extricate ourselves from what’s becomes a confusingly random one-sided conversational cul-de-sac, back to Luke Lund and ‘conditioning augmentation’ which in truth, is as grim as the title suggests, a nightmarish AI end game awash with shadow falling 80’s VHS styled Sci-Fi authenticity all gloomed by impacting idents of paranoiac pulse waves and the harsh scowling of a bleak future factory line monotony. Welcome to tomorrow. https://soundcloud.com/conditionalrecs/luke-lund-conditioning-augmentation-from-con026-pattern-recognition

Staying with the Conditional label a little longer, this ‘un by Nebulo weaved its way into our affections having been found stranded on sound cloud. From the recently released ‘Ascii Snake’ cassette, this is the sets title track, something which I suggest you stick with for rewards are plenty, not least because amid its fairground cosmica a feel good radiance peels and purrs with a distractive detailing as it dances in orbital trajectory amid celestial showers of euphoric eruptions. Unsettingly gorgeous. https://soundcloud.com/nebulo/ascii-snake-1

Apparently originally seeing a very limited light of day on Wood’s 11am imprint, ‘Visceral Realists’ get the full vinyl treatment through VHF and pairs together the creative mindsets of Luke Wood and Bruce Russell. I’ll be honest in saying, we’ve somewhat lost track of the happenings emanating from the VHF sound factory, more distressing for us, the absence of Russell groove in our life. We here have found our listening interests piqued by the track ‘custom castanets’, featuring Russell’s trademark spiralling sonic squalls scratched over Wood’s disintegrating electronic drones, there’s a restraint and control cooling these caustic splinters their coalescing effect imparting a somewhat, hypnotic lulling, once that is, your ears have adjusted to their atonal setting. https://soundcloud.com/vhfrecords/sets/bruce-russell-luke-wood-visceral-realists-vhf146-lp

The primary reason for hooking up to the VHF sound cloud page was simply because we’d managed to nail a copy of the Slowest Lift’s self-titled debut full length, ours being the stupidly limited cassette press, did I read right, just 50 copies. Anyhow, these folk, a duo incidentally, pairing together Sophie Cooper and Vibracathedral Orchestra’s Julian Bradley. Admittedly it’s been out a while, judging by the posting date on this sound cloud link, a year or so ago, I swear I got mine within the recent month, which without splitting hairs and other such, still doesn’t distract from the fact that it really is a dandy release. A beautiful marriage of dissonance and lilting is what you get for your trouble, our attention somewhat subdued and lost to the dream like apparition ‘Crystal fracture’, its ghost folk mistiness cut from a timeless sonic shelling waywardly woozy and dare we say, lightly distracted in a wood crafted hymnal eerie. That said, admirers of Nico’s more remote sounds, might do well to seek out the spectrally charmed title track as it emerges from the twilight fog softly bathed in snoozing electronics and the caress of petrified pastorals, almost had me minded to dig out my prized collection of Oggum 7’s from yesteryear. https://soundcloud.com/vhfrecords/sets/the-slowest-lift-st-lp-vhf144

Staying with VHF a little while longer for what might be described as an unplanned and impromptu stop, a little something from the Astral Social Club, who like Russell, we appear to have missed in our listening space, the seeming demise of Transmat much missed around here being responsible at one time or another, in bringing us into near contact. Here teamed up with Grumbling Fur for ‘time machine orchestra’ from off which, our ear took something of a fancy to ‘back to the egg’. A 9-minute head tripper which to these ears charms playfully like psychedelicised looping fairground of subliminal messages, jubilant cosmic hazes and mind morphing pulse tones which converging together emit radiant sprays of lock grooved trance tones, very lulling and hypnotically immersive if you ask me. https://soundcloud.com/vhfrecords/sets/grumbling-furastral-social-club-vhf147-lp

Interlude …… John Peel ……

…. in celebration of what would have been Mr Peel’s 80th birthday ….. still missed ……

…. December 1979 ………

… turn that racket down 1 ……

…. the last Home Truths …..

… attacked by the Goodies …..you might need to ignore the Saville mock up ……

Literally just pushed through our letter box (well it did 48 hours or so ago, life has a habit of distracting with the actual appearance of a review). The latest subscription 7 inch from the lovely folk over at wonderfulsound. As ever, this juke box styled 7 housed in generic in-house sleeve, comes accompanied by all manner of inserts, a label coaster, bespoke spider adaptor and autographs, scarcely before we’ve played the blighter, we are experiencing dizzy fits. This time of asking, a four-track serving from duo Discodor (Pierre Duplan and Lee Skelly) their debut outing no less, with ‘the arrangement’ leading the parade. A super chilled smoker invested with the coolest lounge lilts you’ll hear all year, both measured and mercurial and just a tease trippy as it slinkily moves with suave sophistication amid a sultry sound environ where sit at one side are Le SuperHomrd and to the other, a ‘Cobra’ era Stereolab here in cahoots with Beautify Junkyards. As though proving their no one trick pony, ‘Winter Leaf’ is kissed with a slick nocturnal chic whose mood mellow saunters breezily lost in the moment while to the flip you’ll find the equally laid back recline of ‘fille des sables’ and ‘punch drunk’ adoring your listening space in an arresting glow with the former particularly shimmered with a succulent early 70’s seasoning and a loosely trippy jazz exotica that could easily have escaped a secret after hours studio session between Mancini and Budd.

While I go off on a rummage for mis-laid sound files for an impending / current Riot Season happening, annoying know, but I swear they are about our person somewhere, here’s a little something which I’m sure the RS crew will approve. this be Crypt Witch with the aptly named ‘Marijuana Zombie’, a track ripped from their long since sold out debut CD set ‘Bad Trip Exorcism’ which is due shortly for vinyl exhumation via Deep Distance. This grizzled slab of hairy hell spawn provides for a punishing listening sit, loop grooving gouges of scowling stoner sludge that wouldn’t look out of place gracing the catalogues of Brew and Rise Above all speared and bludgeoned with a doom draped haloing that clearly wears its Sabbathian fondness on its molten war weary sleeve. https://cryptwitch.bandcamp.com/releases

Wow, wow, wow, I think I’m in love. Another release tucked into an appreciatively received parcel of goodies from Phil 345rpm was a killer two track affair from the Liquorice Experiment, our lathe copy made all the more unique with the addition of messenger alert fanfares inadvertently muddying the mix in the mid moments of the cuts mastering. Two tracks you’ll find fondly festooned on this EP which I’ll just now, is the best thing I’ve heard of this ilk since that rare debuting outing from the Wicked Whispers all those years back. The aptly named ‘last trip’, stoned and slinky this gem is awash in a wonderfully hazy shade adorned west coast radiance, all shimmering riff lysergic layers and fried organs all wrested upon a drifting mosaic of 60’s harmonies which when collected together, usher in a wig flipping haloing of mid 60’s cooling. In truth, we here are rather partial to the flip cut ‘wish’ of which all we say about, is that amid the spangly shimmer tones something suggesting a happening between the Zombies and the Chocolate Watchband is afoot with the Yardbirds on hand as casual fringe flopping observers. A more recent EP entitled ‘here and now’ is prepped for later week action, didn’t wanna spoil you too much. https://liquoriceexperiment.bandcamp.com/album/the-liquorice-experiment-ep

Think we promised earlier, following the non-compliant play of a 2-inch lathe cut (apparently there’s some connector type thing required to play these mini disc type vinyl things) featuring a by all accounts blistering version of Nepalm Death’s ‘you suffer’ , to try and source the Slap Bet imprint for clues. Well we got as far as finding out they are based in Singapore and they share a facebook page with Vanilla Thunder records from off which we nabbed this. This be the Radigals with a new 7 track self-titled set o spanking and speed freaked is sure to smart your earlobes. With a total duration of around 8 minutes you can’t help taking time out whilst having a crafty cigarette to sample its ferocious sonic scalping, blistering hardcore that had us immediately relocated to the early 80’s slam dancing our way through the Secret, Fresh, Riot City, Anagram etc… catalogues. Driven at a whiplashing 100mph, these brief but blistering aural attacks, impact with menacing dissent, feral and festering sore thumbs with ‘girls’ and ‘problem’ edging it as the key stand out moments of this rapid-fire set, the former a jarring slab of eye poking agit core with the latter mentioned scalded in scowling savagery. https://radigalshc.bandcamp.com/?fbclid=IwAR1cs1ztZiKkuXSK0AjsO1ZNwwanHyvOP9HMR_Vg8u7oV9t3MWylc1L4j3s

… end credits ………

Porky’s Prime Cuts……..

‘There are places I’ll remember
All my life, though some have changed
Some forever, not for better …..’

Touch …….

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@marklosingtoday
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Love and Peace xx