Tuesday 30 June 2015

Circuit Breaker Live In London.





Earlier this year, March to be exact, my old friend Steve Underwood told me about Circuit Breaker. He had seen them support Sleaford Mods in Milton Keynes and he was bowled over, so much he wanted to put an album out on Harbinger Sound. A weekend spent in Nottingham and it was all he talked about - and all he played. The 12" EP on Tombed Visions and the cassette "Grid" -of which I'd be lucky to get a copy. To me Circuit Breaker evoke the sound of early 80's experimental post-punk synth music. Robert Rental, Eyeless In Gaza and Cabaret Voltaire. The music is similar but not copyist - more advancing the plan. 21st Century. I too have fallen for the sound - on returning I bought the 12" EP and got a copy of "Grid" (I am a lucky guy).
Fresh from the German tour with Sleaford Mods & Sudden Infant, Circuit Breaker played the compact and bijou venue of Ryan's Bar in Stoke Newington. It's a venue I like, although the PA is never loud enough, I had to witness the live sound of Circuit Breaker.

The evening was organised by Nurze Nurze aka Lisa Lavery from Melge. I met Lisa last March when we were both drumming for Vagina Dentata Organ at Tate Modern.
An addition to the evening and first on was Emilie Gautier. A talk on the trauma in the works of Thomas Hardy, be it characters or landscapes….or at least that is what I think was being talked about (I missed the opening few minutes). Emilie got my attention but it was a little like a job interview or walking into some book publishers office. It was the next day on the journey home that I realised that this was a brilliant "support", a great idea. Like a salon event or cabaret of old …
The following two bands / artists were not my cup of tea. Closed Circuits came across like a Karaoke act. Some guy with too many Scott Walker records and Deep Men were loud, brash, amateurish and slightly annoying. But at least I wasn't in some basement with a load of noise-nerds wearing their freshly ironed Iron Fist Up The Bum T-Shirts and watching some youth with a laptop and six effects pedals making a noise, with everyone nodding like he's just re-invented the wheel or something. Deep Men had guitars and drums …
Circuit Breaker played a short set. No let up from their recorded output. Perhaps more subdued tonight. A week journeying around Germany with the Harbinger Sound Travelling Circus & Freakshow can take its' toll. Perhaps it was because there was only a dozen folk watching? Excellent set though - I recognised "Grey Materials" from the 12", but little else. The forthcoming LP is something to look forward to.

Pictures:
1: Gig Poster.
2: "In The Garden" (Clive Graham, David Mellor, Eddie Nuttall, Paul Watson).
3: Emilie Gautier.
4: Circuit Breaker.

Friday 26 June 2015

MuhMur Radio SoundArt Radio MNEM Special Broadcast : 25/06/2015.





Scraps of paper, I found MNEM through scraps of paper. Altham Terrace, Lincoln 1997 and I was receiving tapes and CD's from a variety of outlets and artists. I remember being sat in the flat and emptying a jiffy bag of tapes and scraps of paper advertising other folks wares and lists from mail order distribution outlets. It could have come from EE Tapes, Cheeses International or Betley Welcomes or neither but the small scrap of paper headed "Members Ov Sonic Cults" caught my eye and imagination. 
MNEM aren't on the compilation, the label; Negart was operated by J. Karpov who alongside 1W went on to form MNEM. I traded a copy of the Dieter Müh CD "Black Square" for a copy of the cassette and a correspondence and friendship with Juri (J. Karpov) and Weno (1W) began. Negart morphed into Negative Foundation and released the compilation CDR "Halogen Ball" which also featured Dieter Müh, Grey Park and Alchemy Of The 20th Century. 
The programme features a journey through MNEM releases, I tried to keep it linear but there were moments where jumping years seemed to fit. The recordings for "MuhMur Radio" are the first recordings to surface since the 2013 compilation project "Stein" on Verlautbarung. 
One piece I would like to have featured is the track "The Misc" from "Ambient Intimacy 4" CDR compilation on EE Tapes. (2000). But unfortunately the disc doesn't register any more. Surely a need for a CD re-issue here Eriek (if you are reading this)?
Please have a listen. (Copy + Paste) : https://www.mixcloud.com/muhsteve/muhmur-mnem-25-june-2015/ Comments always welcomed.

Playlist.
01: MNEM : "Genocide Mobile" (Negative Foundation) 1999.
     (From the compilation Cdr "Halogen Ball").
02: MNEM : "Siera Star" (Kaos Kontrol) 2000.
     (From the 10" EP "Engrama"). 
03: MNEM : "Erytherma" (Negative Foundation) 1999.
     (From the Cdr "Arkaeo").
04: MNEM : "Sediment Thesis B" (Kaos Kontrol) 2001.
     (From 7" Single).
05: MNEM : "Invisible Organism" (Adeptsound) 2010.
     (From the compilation CD "Bacterium").
06 : Extract from Dieter Müh audio tour diary - Helsinki - Dresden 2000 (Private Recording).
07: MNEM : "Hypostatic Ground B" (Drone Records) 2002.
     (From 7" Single).
08: MNEM : "Trilemn" (Kaos Kontrol) 2003.
     (From CD album "For Delta Relics").
09: MNEM : "Golyma" (Segerhuva) 2005.
     (From LP "Golyma").
10: MNEM : "Syphilitic Solar Surge" (Segerhuva) 2004.
     (From the compilation CD "Sweetness Will Overcome).
11: MNEM : "Saturnalia" (Negative Foundation) 2006.
     (B-Side of "No Cosmic Ox" 7" Single).
12: Dieter Müh/MNEM : "Galan Taerti" (Cipher Productions) 2008.
     (From CD album "Atomyriades").
13: MNEM : "Troktopillar" (Verlautbarung) 2013.
     (From compilation double album + 7" "Stein").
14: MNEM : Disaster Marginal" (Not On Label) 2015.
15: MNEM : "Resorcinum" (Not On Label) 2015.
16: MNEM : "Fallibilis Hegonon" (Not On Label) 2015.
     (Three tracks recorded and produced exclusively for MuhMur Radio).
17: MNEM : "No Cosmic Ox" (Negative Foundation) 2006.
     (From 7" Single).
18: 1W : "Wirelogic" (Negart) 1997.
     (From compilation cassette "Members Ov Sonic Cults").
19: The Fall : "Free Range" (Cog Sinister) 1992.

The Fall are a favourite band of MNEM! 
The next programme will be broadcast on July 9.

Pictures:
01: The "scrap of paper" that lead me to MNEM.
02: Inside the Black Palace.
03: 1W.
04: J. Karpov.


Friday 12 June 2015

MuhMur Radio SoundArt FM Broadcast : 11/06/2015.



Last nights programme featured some exclusive material from London duo Circuit Breaker. Sandwiched around pieces from their "Grid" cassette and "TV 12" 12"EP was "Alternative History Via Unreleased Material" which features a track from their forthcoming LP on Harbinger Sound. "The Descent Into Capital". The needle played up a bit on the Eyeless In Gaza + Rema Rema vinyl and the cassette machine decided to swap between mono + stereo whilst playing Ice Yacht .. but that's the norm for MuhMur Radio. Please take a listen : (copy & paste) :
https://www.mixcloud.com/muhsteve/muhmur-radio-soundart-broadcast-11062015/

The next programme will be at 20:00 hrs (gmt) on June 25.

Playlist:
01: Muslimgauze : "Empty Quarter (PTI)" (Limited Editions) 1984.
02: Bourbonese Qualk : "Born Left Hearted" (Mannequin Records) 2015.
03: Eyeless In Gaza : "New Risen" (Cherry Red Records) 1983.
04: John Foxx : "Endlessly" (Virgin Records) 1982.
05: Ice Yacht : "Summer With Snow Bees" (Fragment Factory) 2015.
06: Ice Yacht : "Vostock Station Hallucination" (Fragment Factory) 2015.
07: Ice Yacht : "Whiteout Woman" (Fragment Factory) 2015.
      (All Ice Yacht tracks from the cassette "Pole Of Cold").
08: Fieberflug : "Fieberflug_an 1" (Floppy Beat Disk) 2014.
09: Sudden Infant : "Crane Boy 1 (Acoustic Version)" (Voodoo Rhythm) 2014.
10: Circuit Breaker : "Grey Materials" (Tombed Visions) 2014.
11: Circuit Breaker : "Worm 7" (Tombed Visions) 2013.
12: Circuit Breaker : "Drop Zone" (Tombed Visions) 2013.
13: Circuit Breaker : "Klopf" (Tombed Visions) 2013.
14: Circuit Breaker : "Simplicity" (Tombed Visions) 2013
15: Circuit Breaker : "HNV" (Tombed Visions) 2013.
      (Tracks 11-15 from the cassette "Grid").
16: Circuit Breaker : "Portals" (Tombed Visions) 2014.
17: Circuit Breaker : "Alternative History Via Unreleased Material" (Not On Label) 2015.
      i    "Totems" (Early Home Recording circa 2005/06)
      ii   "Untitled" (Outtake from "Cairn" CDR session. 2012)
      iii  "Control" (Practice Room Recording circa 2009/10)
      iv  "Untitled" (4-Track Demo. 2011)
      v   "Untitled" (Outtake from "Grid" cassette session, Rotterdam. 2013)
      vi  "Grey Materials (Live)" (France. 2014).
      vii "Sand & Cement" (From forthcoming LP on Harbinger Sound)
    (All tracks compiled and edited by Circuit Breaker for MuhMur Radio).
18: Rema Rema : "Entry" (Inflammable Material) 2015.
19: Extnddntwrk : "Dirty Soup" (Fourth Dimension Records) 2014.
20: Appliance : "A Gentle Cycle Revolution" (Mute Records) 2001.
21: Circuit Breaker : "Worm 7 (Second Version) (Tombed Visions) 2014.
22: Circuit Breaker : "Body" (Tombed Visions) 2014.
23: Ballerini : "Beautiful Ground" (Oak Editions) 2015.
24: Idol Death : "Black = Sticky Death" (Dipsy) 1980.
25: Alternative T.V. : "Obsession" (I.R.S. Records) 1981.