Monday 18 March 2024

MuhMur Radio Update (Part Deux) ...

 


MuhMur Radio will be back on air on MARCH 31 at 18:00 GMT for the first monthly 4 HOUR LIVE Broadcast. Please make a date with the radio. 102.5FM if you're in and about the Totnes area of the South Hams, otherwise listen live via the SoundArt Radio website at : https://www.soundartradio.org.uk.


At last!

Sunday 10 March 2024

MuhMur Radio Update ...


 

I have just been to see the new SoundArt Radio Studio. It is looking very impressive ... and so big! The plan is for MuhMur Radio to now be broadcast live on a Sunday evening for four hours (6pm - 10pm) and then be repeated as two 2 Hour broadcasts over the coming weeks ... 
This is very exciting as it gives me space to play longer pieces, albums in full and to profile artists, projects, labels etc. There's also a performance space so (hopefully) I can invite folk in to do a live session / performance. The possibilities are there.




Hopefully the studio will be ready for a March 2024 MuhMur Radio Broadcast ... I will announce the first MuhMur Radio Broadcast of 2024 on this blog shortly ... also SoundArt radio will announce on their website : https://www.soundartradio.org.uk





Friday 23 February 2024

Stéphane Merenne

 


I was very saddened to hear of the passing of Stéphane Merenne. Stéphane alongside Sylvie Cartiaux were Nuit et Brouillard, an excellent label and promotions project based in Lille. (France). I knew he was unwell, but I never thought .... 

Stéphane was always encouraging, passionate and enthusiastic towards Dieter Müh. I consider him a good friend. 

.... I first met Stéphane in 1998. Nuit et Brouillard had a stall at an event called "The 11th Independent Music & Arts Festival" in Saint-Niklaas, Belgium. He was there to see Troum + LD50, and also sell records and tapes. We immediately formed a friendship that has lasted 26 years. When I heard the news yesterday I played the Nuit et Brouillard release Temple Garden's / Asche cassette 'Trance / The Older Stuff'. It was the first release I bought on their label, and it is still sounding superb. Stéphane had an ear for sound. Nuit et Brouillard is also a distribution outlet and would happily take Dieter Müh releases. The joy of getting a Nuit et Brouillard catalogue with a description (written by either Stéphane or Sylvie) of Müh was an honour. The catalogues were a joy in themselves. Stéphane would appear at Dieter Müh live shows whenever he could. He came to see us at the WGT Treffen Festival in Leipzig in 2006 where we played with Propergol (also released by Nuit et Brouillard), Novy Svet, Land:Fire and Apoptose. Both Stéphane and Sylvie came to London to see Dieter Müh play at The Conway Hall in 2009. Always supportive, always a pleasure. A pleasure to talk to and share information with. In 2014 Stéphane and Sylvie invited me to play in Lille. I stayed with Stéphane. The evening before the gig he and Sylvie entertained me with fine food and wine. We stayed up until almost daylight talking and drinking, drinking and talking, ever the enthusiast Stéphane was pulling out vinyl and putting on 'demo' cassette tapes asking for thoughts and opinion. And as a perfect and polite host my glass was never empty (it was always ... 'just one more'). It was this evening that Stéphane suggested he re-issued the Dieter Müh album 'The Bjorn Tapes' on vinyl. It was his favourite Dieter Müh release and a cassette and subsequent CDR release "did not do the sound any favours". How could I say no? The album came out in 2018 on Stéphane's 'side' label Force Majeure. 

In 2010 Stéphane invited myself and the family to stay at his apartment in Lille. This was pre Air B&B! He just gave his apartment over to myself, Tamsin and (at that point) my two young children. All free of charge and he stayed at a friends house whilst we were there. I shall never forget his kindness, his friendship and love. 

The last time I saw Stéphane was in November 2014. I was at the 'Harbinger Soundclash II' event at De Kreun in Kortrijk, Belgium. I was working at the event so didn't have much time but we did sit and chat and laugh and drink. To be with Stéphane was always a pleasure. Like I said, I knew Stéphane was unwell, he never told me and I don't think he told many people, but I never thought ... 


Gone too soon. 



Sunday 18 February 2024

From The Archives #5 Irgun Z'wai Leumi

 



 Whilst waiting for the restart of MuhMur Radio broadcasting and building playlists I have taken the time to sort out some old boxes of tapes and CDs and re-arrange some of the records and listen to some releases I have not heard in years ... 

In 2012 I played at The Fylkingen in Stockholm. It was an evening called 'Sweetness Overdue' also featuring White, Dusa, Kristian Olsson and Contrastate. It was a lovely evening and it was where I met the guy behind Proiect Hat. (Unfortunately I can't remember his name ... but I think he might thankful of this as he likes his anonymity) .. anyway, at some point in the evening we were drinking and chatting and he gave me a handful (hatful) of tapes on his Hatband label. They were mainly Proiect Hat and Wintheer  releases and 'Tracks That Go Nowhere' by Irgun Z'wai Leumi, a precursor to their / his 2008 LP "Kirrfaktor" on Verlautbarung. 

Nine tracks on side one and four on side two, subtitled '13 Tracks That Go Nowhere'. Released in 2002 the sounds are from the days before computer and laptop programmes, the sounds are from analogue synthesisers and sequencers. A sound which I prefer. Most of the tracks on side one are short and sound (sometimes) like a Whitehouse soundcheck from 1983 a couple of exceptions are 'Sanctions' and 'Everflowing Charges Of Nitro' which have a more Soviet France feel, drone, soundscape feeling. The stand alone track on side two is 'Razorback Override' with its scrambled messages from space through a broken FAX machine vibe building to a throbbing pulse, metronomic gristle with loose live wires. 'Shooting Stars' sounds like it is recorded in sensurround and 'Racket' is another drone piece constructed with low frequency rumble. It's a great cassette. 

I do remember asking is it Project or Proiect Hat? It was supposed to be Project but the person who printed the sleeves mis-read the name so they / he stuck with Proiect. I really enjoyed rediscovering this tape ... 



Saturday 17 February 2024

From The Archives #4 Modelbau


 Whilst waiting for the restart of MuhMur Radio broadcasting and building playlists I have taken the time to sort out some old boxes of tapes and CDs and re-arrange some of the records and listen to some releases I have not heard in years ... 

Ten, twelve or so years ago the 3" CDR was the zeitgeist with labels such as SoundHoles, Sheepscar Light Industrial and Small Doses leading the way. I always wanted Dieter Müh to be released on 3" CDR and was grateful when SoundHoles proposed a release on that format back in 2015. "Live At Gängeviertel" is part of their 'Sound Holes Live Editions' series. But, even more extreme than a 3" CDR was the CDR Business Card. The card contains somewhere between 5 and 7 minutes. A fetishtic item. One of my favourite Modelbau releases is the 2015 business card 'Keynotes'. Released on Record Store Day. 28 November 2015 in The Netherlands. 

From Frans de Waard's "X" book on the history of Modelbau : "I'm probably the last person who picked up on the notion that besides 'Record Store Day' and 'Cassette Store Day', there was something called 'CDR Store Day'. As an early adopter of CDRs (I started Bake Records in 1999 while working for Staalplaat), I thought I'd better not miss the opportunity. I think you had to sign up to participate 'officially', but I never did and made a small number of copies of a business card CDR that was only available on the 28th of November 2015". 'Keynotes was limited to 17 copies only. 

'Keynotes is six minutes and seven seconds long, it begins very (a)tonally. A single pitch before the voices start to enter the head (through the ears ... of course). Inuit chanting, Mongol-Tuvan throat singing, Yodelling, Moroccan singing and the Bulgarian women's choir all sonically blend into a hypnotic state fading to thirty seconds of insects riding across the tundra. Beautiful. I have no idea how I have come to own this masterpiece, this piece of audio-art, I was nowhere near The Netherlands on the 28th of November 2015 (and I have papers to prove it). I'm glad I have it though ... 

"X" can be got by contacting Frans via : https://fransdewaard.com

Thursday 15 February 2024

From The Archives #3 Francisco Meirino

 


Whilst waiting for the restart of MuhMur Radio broadcasting and building playlists I have taken the time to sort out some old boxes of tapes and CDs and re-arrange some of the records and listen to some releases I have not heard in years ... 

One of the boxes of tapes is of tapes released in boxes (if that makes any sense?). I have a couple of tape releases from the label Research Laboratories that came in little black boxes. Leif Elggren's 'Only Criminals In Crowns Find Sanctuary' and Francisco Meirino's 'Something Always Remains'. Both releases are from 2021. The Meirino release also comes with an A5 booklet of Francisco's collage art, postcard, sticker and badge. An impressive release.


'Something Always Remains' begins with the sound of the zither played percussively alongside a build of radio static and found percussion. Throughout the piece there is always the radio, creating space. The use of roaches and or other insects and running water turns the piece mesmeric, fixated and waiting for the next sound. A return to the zither, single string, acoustic and treated with delays. The toll of the bell. After the event something always remains either physical or in memory.


'There Is Nothing For Us Here' is a search for life. Not necessarily post-apocalyptic but very much in the here and now. A desolate sound of unconnected electricity, radio silence and a bed of insects, at times this sound out nurses the wound. The 15 minute piece ends in a drone,  harmonious harmonium drone and a cacophony of bicycle bells and worn cowbells. Beautiful. Both pieces have been 're-edited' and paper on the latest Francisco Meirino album "A Perpetual Host" on the American Misanthropic Agenda label. https://www.misanthropicagenda.com. After playing this tape I dug out the only Francisco Meirino 7" I have, 'Visible/Invisible' and the sound is very similar.


Francisco can be found at ... http://www.franciscomeirino.com. And if you are in Lausanne pop in to the Librarie Humus ... you might bump in to him there. 




Wednesday 14 February 2024

From The Archives #2 Dave Phillips

 


Whilst waiting for the restart of MuhMur Radio broadcasting and building playlists I have taken the time to sort out some old boxes of tapes and CDs and re-arrange some of the records and listen to some releases I have not heard in years ... 

"Burn", a C20 cassette by Dave Phillips was released in 2014 on Aaltra Records. It comes packaged inside a black plastic bag (which over the past ten years has slowly lost its glue) with a booklet on the five levels of mobility by Swiss author Benedikt Loderer and a badge. Two ten minute pieces over two sides. 'Exorcise Your Demons' is a series of erratic (car) crash and burn electronics over a variety of vocals, some orgasmic, some playful and frantic. Choirs of heavenly angels make an attempt but are hidden by the duck calls and squeezed balloons. I don't know why but the word 'Hörspiele' came to mind whilst listening to this piece ... very loud. 'Walk Out' is partially built around field recordings made in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in 2006. Totally different in sound and construct to side A. Dogs bark, bells toll and voices lost in limbo float around an acoustic piano accompaniment. 

"Burn" is in memoriam of Zbigniew Karkowski. I am uncertain as to whether Aaltra Records are still active. I know I've said it before ... but I will say it again. Dave Phillips live is one of the most life affirming and sonically challenging experiences I have had. 


Monday 12 February 2024

From The Archives #1 Shiver.

 


Whilst waiting for the restart of MuhMur Radio broadcasting and building playlists I have taken the time to sort out some old boxes of tapes and CDs and re-arrange some of the records and listen to some releases I have not heard in years ... 

Shiver is the solo project of Genova based sound artist Mauro Sciaccaluga. Mauro also operates the label Diazepam on which 'They Will Feed Us" was released. A C30 cassette in two parts running over side A and side B. "They Will Feed On Us" was the second release on Diazepam in 2011. The cassette is packaged in a hessian pouch with two inserts and two bones, my guess is chicken and/or turkey. 


Part one begins in a lo-fi manner with Dillowayesque looping, voice and speed manipulation. Stop. Start. Varispeed which slowly builds in to a wall of noise. Dense and powerful, power electronics in command. A sudden drop in power leaves with the sound of ritual / tribal percussion. Cymbals, bells hit and scraped. 


Part two begins on the ground level. Ground level lo-fi. Rising from the floorboards, the slow rumblings of bass and six-string guitar building to a canter, an easy 'groove' to travel with. Again, as with Part One, the sound builds to a wall of noise including manipulated undecipherable masked vocals and like Part One the sound drops, this time to scraped (violin) strings. It's a great sonic effect and leaves the listener in an isolated space. The floorboard frequency returns with a bass drone surrounded by escaped electricity which accelerates in to a separate wall of noise. 
"They Will Feed On Us" is a great tape, released in 2011 and a follow up to the Shiver CDR "Born To Lose". I do have the 2013 Shiver cassette "Shiver" but have yet to come across the box that one is in ... I look forward to (re)discovering it. I was uncertain to whether Mauro and Shiver were still active / releasing but a search on the internet I discovered there is a 2023 cassette on the Italian label Angst called "The Unquiet Grave". There's also a Regosphere & Shiver split tape on Diazepam I'll have to hunt down. Mauro is contactable via : http://shivernoise.blogspot.com or http://dzpm.blogspot.com


MuhMur Radio will be returning to the airwaves sometime in March 2024. 


Saturday 27 January 2024

MuhMur Radio Update ..

 


Still no date for the first MuhMur Radio broadcast of 2024. The studio move is going well, so hopefully programmes will return to air by the end of February.

Thanks for you patience ... 

Steve.


Sunday 31 December 2023

End Times ...

 


It is that time of the year when discussions open about what was released and listened to throughout 2023. Lists start to appear on forum boards and requests come through the (electronic) mail for (my) favourites of the year. It was all going swimmingly. I document all that comes through the door into Hartop Towers aka MuhMur Radio HQ, but .... this year after coming back from a 10 day car journey to the French / Spanish border with vinyl stops in Niort and Toulouse I discovered that my computer had crashed, ceased to exist as were and all files had been lost. so, what arrived in the early part of this year I can't rightly remember. I guess that if I played it on the radio broadcasts then I really liked it! 

I didn't go to that many live shows. Nocturnal Emissions, Kemper Norton and Ubiquitous Meh! in Yeovil was fun, as were Ubiquitous Meh! a few weeks later in Exeter. Joke Lanz in Cardiff was probably the best gig I have been to in quite a few years. I enjoyed record shopping in Cardiff too and have probably found a favourite in the Cardiff Record Exchange on Whitchurch Road. 

So, the last release to come through the portal this year was the latest cassette by Berlin based project Schwund. Schwund is the project of Jo Schwund, formerly one half of Das Das. I first heard Schwund when Harbinger Sound teamed up with Phantom Records in 2019 to release the LP "Technik Und Gefühl" on vinyl and cassette. I have tried to get everything since. Over the past couple of years Schwund have been putting out tapes called "Dieezer Tube" (I have no idea what this means). The tracks were recorded as a homage to the underground sound of the 1980's. This month saw the third volume released on the Nachslag label. The sound of Schwund is (probably) best described as Synth-Punk or Post-Punk Synth. It is in the tradition of late 70's / 80's Neue Deutsche Welle. "Dieezer Tube 3" has a very 'Kleinen Und Die Bösen' D.A.F. vibe to it all. It certainly makes me want to get up and dance. There's even a Residents feel about a couple of the pieces. Schwund just keep on getting better. It's not a long tape, probably a C40. I have yet to sit down and time the tracks...too busy dancin'. Eleven tracks in all with each side ending with untitled tracks that sound nothing like what went on before them. Noises, lo-fi noises of half-speed crawling and scrapings, synthesisers assemble themselves at dawn, the sound of an unearthly choir in a restaurant for puppeteers. (Ibiza Bar and Don't Throw Ashtrays At Me). 

All Schwund sounds can be obtained at https://derschwund.bandcamp.com/music. Recommended. 

Best 7" of 2024 has to be Modelbau's "Metal & Motif" on Haemoccult Recordings. Available direct from the label here " https://haemoccultrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/metal-motif




Thursday 21 December 2023

MuhMur Radio Fin Du Partie 2023. (December 16).

 




So, it comes to that time of year ... it was the best of times, it was the worst of times ... the MuhMur Radio Four Hour Festive Feast Of Fun, the end of year programme. A big big huge thank you to all the folk who have listened to MuhMur Radio throughout 2023, providing comments, congratulations and tips and to all the folk who have mailed me sounds to play on the radio .... it is always and much appreciated. 

SoundArt Radio is on the move. We change studio locations in the new year so I am uncertain as to when the next MuhMur Radio Broadcast will be, but I shall announce the date on the blog in the new year. It's a larger studio space with possibilities of live sound / performance. Very exciting. It's still situated in the grounds of Dartington Estate, you'll still be able to hear the sound of the steam trains and the doggers* in the distance ... 

(* folk who walk their dogs in the fields close by).

The broadcast starts with a live set by Colin Potter recorded at the Café Oto in Dalston (London) 2016. In 1981 ICR (Integrated Circuit Recordings) put out the album "We Couldn't Agree On A Title". A compilation featuring Colin along with Missing Persons, The 012, The Instant Automatons, The Digital Dinosaurs, Mic Woods ... and others. 42 years later and ICR (Integrated Circuit Recordings) have reached their 100th release, so the Colin Potter album is called 'We Couldn't Agree On A Total'. It features recordings from two live appearances at the Café Oto and a studio piece from 2023. Available from : https://icrdistribution.com. Der Bekannte Post Industrialle Trompeter follows with 'Stille Nacht' to get the festive mood going ... D.B.P.I.T. was Flavio Rivabella who also played trumpet from Mushroom's Patience. The piece here is from a split 7" with Feine Trinkers Bei Pinkels Daheim. 

                                      
Great to see Modelbau join the rota of RRRecords "Recycled" series. I am guessing that there are nearly 400 releases in this series. The first one I got hold of was by Smell & Quim back in the 1990's. Frans kindly mailed me the file so I got Chris at SoundArt Radio to put it on a CDR for me. I find the Recycled Tapes hard to come by. If anyone in the UK has any of the releases they don't want anymore ... please get in touch. 2024 should see a book on Ron Lessard and his RRRecords activity. It will be published by Korm. 

                                                Anji Cheung & Matt Atkins releases.

'Black Ribbon' by Anji Cheung is from the 2021 cassette album "Fearless Body" released on her own Oakseer label. https://anjicheung.bandcamp.com. The saxophone on this track is from Colin Webster, a name I know by his work with Dirk Serries (aka Vidna Obmana). 
"My Cherry In Sherry' was the debut single by Manchester band Ludus. 
Matt Atkins is a London based sound artist. 'Edgeland' is from his latest cassette album 'A Quiet Ritual' on the Scottish based Molt Fluid label. https://moltfluid.bandcamp.com. I have been listening to Matt since I first heard his contribution to the Blank Tape Compilation(s) on the wonderful Steep Gloss label. Another sound artist I follow is Lausanne based Francisco Meirino. Over the four hours I play three pieces by Francisco. The first being from the 2012 album (and wonderfully titled) "Undetected (Untreated Recordings From On-Site Testimonies Archives)". It does exactly what it says on the tin .. or in the title. 
ICR (Integrated Circuit Recordings) release number 101 is the album "Little Dipper Minus Two Plus (Echo Poeme Sequences)" by Nurse With Wound.


There are three versions of this album. Vinyl (Side A played here), CD and file. I imagine there are differences. 
I remember picking up the Kenotaph cassette "Japanese Go To War" when Dieter Müh played at the OJC Kompas in Saint-Niklaas, Belgium. 1998. Kenotaph were Stefan Roigk and Eric Metz from Germany. After the cassette release Stefan went on to be Skalp and release a great 10" EP on Tesco Organisation. (1996) and a split tape with Keimbefall - another one of Stefan's projects. Confused yet? The next time I came across Stefan's work was in 2019 and the album "Suffering For The Promised" on Fragment Factory.  Last month saw the release of "De-Composed" a book of Stefan's artwork, installations and performance on the Berlin based Errant Bodies Press label. The book also comes with a soundtrack on two compact discs. http://www.stefan-roigk.com for further information. 
Hypnopazäzu is the collaborative work of David Tibet and Youth. I apologise for the playing at the wrong speed. 

In November this year I went to see Joke Lanz perform live in Cardiff, and it was one of the best live performances I have seen in years. 'Zungsang, Sankt Jokem II' is from the cassette 'Zungsang'. Zungsang is Javanese for Back. Limited to only 80 copies this cassette was released by Vice De Forme in 2021. 


                                               Hanging with Joke, Cardiff 2023.

"Necropolis, Amphibians & Reptiles (The Music Of Adolf Wölfli)" is a 1986 compilation album released on Musique Brut, a side label of Graeme Revell's Side Effects Records. The Revell track here is from that album, although it is from the CD re-issue in 1994 which was couples with Graeme's solo LP "The Insect Musicians" also released in 1986. 
Dayin is the project of Bulgarian musician Angel Simitchiev. Angel also records under the names of Vague Voices, Leaver, Zen Died Orchestra and (until recently) MyTrip. Angel has ceased the MyTrip project to begin again as Born Erased. I always see Dayin as Angel's 'guitar' project ... a little like Frans de Waard and his Shifts project. 'Lasting Distress' is from Dayin's fourth album "Warm Like Crystal Throats" on Mahorka. https://mahorka.bandcamp.com/album/warm-like-crystal-throats. Angel also operates the excellent Amek label. Please contact at : https://amekcollective.bandcamp.com


Ordeal is the project of Dan Johansson (Sewer Election, White, Organ Of Corti and Neutral to name but a few). 'Vist' is one side from the new LP 'Vätterns Pärla'. Vättern is a lake in Sweden where pearls can be found. Out on Aguirre Records. https://www.aguirrerecords.com
I never really 'got' Renaldo & The Loaf when I first heard them ... must've been John Peel ... they sounded too much like The Residents. I am not a great fan of The Residents. I first saw them on the Old Grey Whistle Test (it was a TV show in the UK .. for younger readers), I think Bob Harris introduced some short films, figures dressed in KKK outfits made out of newspapers, fascinating stuff, so I bought an album and thought it wasn't that good. Years later I saw The Residents live at the Hacienda in Manchester (13th Anniversary Show with Snakefinger). Excellent live show but I didn't fancy buying all the back catalogue! But, back to Renaldo & The Loaf. Earlier this year I picked up a copy of their first LP "Play Struvé & Sneff" and really enjoyed it, then I read about them in the Some Bizarre book "Conform To Deform" by Wesley Doyle and they sounded like decent folk so whilst in Cardiff the other month I picked up their 'Songs For Swinging Larvae' album. It does sound a bit Residentsy but I am now partial to a bit of that sound these days ... still not going to buy The Residents back catalogue though .. 


Three classic 7" singles starting with ...And The Native Hipsters and 'Larry's Coming Back'  from the EP "Going Steady With Larry And Emma" released on their own Plattekop Volume label. Lester Square of The Monochrome Set plays guitar on this track. ... And The Native Hipsters were William Wilding and Nanette Blatt. I sat next to Nanette on a train between London and Newton Abbot (Devon ... it's my local station). I had been in London for a few days buying records and seeing Feine Trinkers Bei Pinkels Daheim play live in Stoke Newington so I was going through my bag of treasures when she commented on some of the records and told me she used to be in a band, but ... I'd of never heard of them ... so ... She told me the name of the band and I started singing 'Oh look, there goes Concorde again' to her. Oh how we laughed. Her stop was St Ives in Cornwall and we have never met on a train again. 
A book I would love to read would be a book about The Homosexuals. Is there one? I know the sleeve notes that accompany the triple CD "Astral Glamour" (on Hyped To Death) are pretty extensive, but a book on the exploits and activities of Jim Welton would be a great read. The Four Plugs were John Irvine. John went on to work with Reeves & Mortimer as writer and 'tape jockey' for their live shows. 

After a few years of releasing up to three albums, singles , EPs etc a year the years of 2021/22 were quite quiet for Astral Social Club. These years saw Neil Campbell (the man behind ASC) releasing a lot of collaborative work under his own name, working with Howard Stelzer, Paul Harrison, Nick Edwards and Shit Creek to name a few. I thought probably Astral Social Club had been put to bed. But, 2023 has been an active year for ASC with four albums released since February. 'Null Three Four One' is from the CDR "Null Three Four". go to https://theneilcampbell.bandcamp.com/merch, contact Neil and grab a copy. 

The second piece from Francisci Merino in this four hour feast is side two of the split cassette with Altar Of Flies. Released on the excellent Second Sleep label, it's called 'Exhausted We Fall'. Contact Second Sleep at : http://www.secondsleep.org/home.html. The name Hamilton Mist sounds like a Vegas crooner from the 1970's. I like the name. Hamilton Mist are an anonymous project whose first album 'The Age Of Shadows' has been released by the Finnish label Institute Of Paraphilia Studies. Five pieces of multi-layered pastoral drones and ethereal soundscapes. The Institute is operated by Mikko Aspa of Freak Animal Records. http://freak-animal.net for further details. 


Jim Haynes continues his Variant project with the album 'Inauspicious' on his own Helen Scarsdale Agency label. The album contains two variants; numbers fourteen and fifteen. I managed to get a copy from Industrial Coast in the UK, I haven't seen anyone else distributing it here. Drop a line to : https://industrialcoast.bigcartel.com or https://www.helenscarsdale.com in the USA for a copy. The aforementioned Mikko Aspa also operates as Grunt. Grunt began in 1993, so this is their 30th year. My first exposure to the sound of Grunt was with the 1998 split CD with Bad Kharma and Lasse Marhaug, 'Scandinavian Noise Manifesto', this lead me to another Mikko project Alchemy Of The 20th Century and their excellent "Birth Of A Lifeform" cassette on Kaos Kontrol. 1999, the same year we Dieter Müh appeared on the compilation "Halogen Ball" (Negative Foundation) which also included Alchemy Of The 20th Century, Grey Park and MNEM. A year later Dieter Müh played live with Grunt in Mäntsäla, Finland. 'Vieraat Huulet' (Foreign Lips) is from Grunt's latest CD "Vieraat Aivot". (Alien Brain). The CD is built from two live private performances made this summer. 


Grunt appear on the 2006 eight album compilation "Viva Negative! - A Tribute To The New Blockaders" (Vinyl On Demand), The New Blockaders have a new album out on Nihilist called "Denn Das Schöne Its Nichts Als Des Schrecklichen Anfang". It's a collaboration with S.R. Meixner of Contrastate, Ice Yacht (Two Pieces) and Das Synthetische Mischgewebe. https://nihilistrecordings.bandcamp.com/merch for more details. 
The Het Zweet track is from a CD that comes with the book "Nul Nul - Industrial Culture Fanzine (1985 - 86)". Published by Frans de Waard's Korm Plastics label. Nul Nul ('Zero - Zero) was a precursor to his Vital Weekly fanzine running for 4 issues only and concentrating on the Dutch / Belgian industrial cassette 'scene' of the time. The book has all four issues reprinted in English as well as the Dutch language originals. Old names, characters and projects pop up throughout. I have a fascination for this time and the accompanying CD is a joy to listen to with names such as Kapotte Muziek, Dal, Clinique Lutetia, Viana Obmana, THU20 and Narzisse amongst lots of others. There's a track by Sluagh Ghairm an early version of Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia and no surprise ... it's excellent. The book and accompanying CD are essential. https://www.kormplastics.nl


After the Francisco Meirino & Altar Of Flies collaboration comes another great collaboration. Grey Park & Sick Days 'Work Gothic'. Recorded throughout 2023 'Work Gothic' is a journey by sea between Canada and the Finnish mainland. The journey is told through six pieces / sections. Presented here is section 2 - 'The Boat'. Released in an edition of 40 by Vacancy Records (Sick Days label) and available from https://vacancyrecs.bigcartel.com
For regular listeners of MuhMur Radio you'll know that as sure as sugar is sweet there'll be a track by Cabaret Voltaire. 
The third piece from Francisco Meirino in the Festive Feast is 'Focus On Nothing' from the split album with fellow Swiss artist Kiko C. Essieiva. "Focus On Nothing On Focus" was recorded in 2012/13 from hours of recordings as a duo, then each one went in to the studio to assemble their own piece. Released by Aussenraum Records and available from : http://www.aussenraumrecords.com
A new item, exclusive to this years Festive Feast is "The Request Spot". The final three songs have been chosen by close friends and associates. They shall not be named, but thanks to them all the same. Eaten Alive By Insects existed for a couple years at the end of the 1970's - early 1980's. From Bradford, they were one of the highlights of Futurama 2, a festival that took place in Leeds Queens Hall in 1980. They never released anything .... The Panik were Manchester's finest on '77 and featured Eric Ramsden (who became Eric Random) on guitar and drummer Steve Brotherdale who left to join Warsaw. Bassist Paul Hilton and vocalist Ian Nance went on to form V2. 


The Country Teasers end the broadcast ...... 

For ease of listening the broadcast has been split in to two parts. Part one and then part two. The first part ends with Astral Social Club and the second part begins with Francisco Meirino & Altar Of Flies.

(MixCloud Archive will be posted shortly after broadcast)

Part One :

Part Two:

Playlist :
01: Colin Potter : "Live Café OTO 09/2016" (ICR) 2023.
02: D.B.P.I.T. : "Stille Nacht" (White Rabbit Records) 2005.
03: Modelbau : "Recycled #4" (RRRecords) 2023.
04: Anji Cheung : "Black Ribbon" (Oakseer) 2021.
05: Ludus : "My Cherry Is In Sherry" (New Hormones) 1980.
06: Matt Atkins : "Edgeland" (Molt Fluid) 2023.
07: Francisco Meirino : "Untitled 5" (OtO) 2012.
08: Nurse With Wound : "Little Dipper (A)" (ICR) 2023.
09: Stefan Roigk : "Unfamiliar Home (Part Two)" (Errant Bodies Press) 2023.
10: Hypnopazüzu : "The Crow At Play" (House Of Mythology) 2016.
11: Joke Lanz : "Zungsang, Sankt Jokem II" (Vice De Forme) 2021.
12: Graeme Revell : "Chimpnags-Apes Of The Union Canada:America" (Musique Brut) 1994.
13: Dayin : "Lasting Distress" (Mahorka) 2023.
14: Ordeal : "Vist" (Aguirre Records) 2023.
15: Renaldo & The Loaf : "Ow! Stew The Red Shoe" (Do It Records/Ralph Records) 1981.
16: ... And The Native Hipsters : "Larry's Coming Back" (Plattekop Volume) 1983.
17: The Homosexuals : "Soft South Africans" (Lorelei No. 1) 1978.
18: The Four Plugs : "Biking Girl" (Disposable Records) 1979.
19: Astral Social Club : "Null Three Four One" (Not On Label - Self Released) 2023.
20: Francisco Meirino & Altar Of Flies : "Exhausted We Fall" (Second Sleep) 2023.
21: Hamilton Mist : "The Age Of Shadows" (Institute Of Paraphilia Studies) 2023.
22: Jim Haynes : :Variant, Number Fifteen" (Helen Scarsdale Agency) 2023.
23: Grunt : "Vieraat Huulet" (Freak Animal Records) 2023.
24: The New Blockaders & S.R. Meixner : "Kein Stress Am Essitch!" (Nihilist) 2023.
25: Het Zweet : "Untitled" (Korm Plastics) 2023.
26: Grey Park & Sick Days : "The Boat" (Vacancy Records) 2023.
27: Cabaret Voltaire : "Do The Mussolini (Headkick)" (Rough Trade Records) 1978.
28: Francisco Meirino : "Focus On Nothing" (Aussenraum Records) 2013.
29: Eaten Alive By Insects : "John Wayne's Jacket" (Bradford Noise) 2009.
30: The Panik : "Murder" (Rainy City Records) 1977.
31: The Country Teasers : "The Last Bridge Of Spencer Smith" (Guided Missile) 1996. 

Thanks for listening, thanks for all your support, comments and encouragement throughout the year, and the past 11 years of broadcasts!
MuhMur Radio will be back in the new year, please keep an eye on this blog for the date or go to the SoundArt Radio website : https://www.soundartradio.org.uk
I am inclined to change it about for 2024 ~ drop the 'On This Day' section for a start and do a few more programmes with a 'theme'. Let me know what you think .... 
muhmur.radio@gmail.com  .... Cheers. 












MuhMur Radio Update (Part Deux) ...

  MuhMur Radio will be back on air on MARCH 31 at 18:00 GMT for the first monthly 4 HOUR LIVE Broadcast. Please make a date with the radio...