Rudimentary Peni ‎– "The Underclass EP" (Outer Himalayan Records ‎– booboo7) 2000

You know what?.....this is more like it. Proper no nonsense punk metal, with a guitar sound like a buzzsaw cutting through a corrupt bankers crushed stone driveway. Topped off with Blinko's best gravel gargling vocals since 'Cacophony'; and great psychotic scribbled on padded cell toilet paper artwork. All the songs are between 58 seconds and one minute thirty in length, so they never overstay their welcome, and in some cases fit into the 'Leave 'em wanting more' slot from the annals (or anals) of 'Showbiz'. I think i could listen to the riff for "No Other Truth" for a good twenty minutes, with no need for extra vocals.......this is always a concept i have always wanted to explore musically, a bit like a heavy metal Circle*(*the finnish group who explored the magic of repetition to the nth degree).
As this RP EP only lasts less than fifteen minutes, that concept interests me more.......is a song as long as a piece of string, and if so do they merely 'end', or just 'stop'? And when they stop or end, does the effect end or stop with them.Music's magick can be truly infinite in the sonic chapter of the 'Theory of Relativity': Energy = mass divided by the speed of sound squared or E=mc2( i looked up the mathematical synbol for the speed of sound, and it was the same as for the speed of light!); so the faster the song moves the more time distorts, and bends back in on itself.Therefore are short songs really short? And would they exist if we weren't here to listen to them; for they are just different wavelengths of air movement, and you sure as hell can't listen to a movement of air pressure without a brain to create the language to understand it. Language is a virus and music is a language.
What i'm saying is, short songs may end, but their effect can last many times longer than their actual acknowledged length,like a microcosm of curved space/time in your Brain,which is the only place that music, or non-music, actually exists.

Tracklist:

A1 Captive Of Atrophy
A2 No Other Truth
A3 Essence
A4 Bequest
A5 The Mirror
A6 The Underclass
B1 Unchanged
B2 As Nothing
B3 Choice Of Evils
B4 The Internal Censor
B5 The Ocean Of Misery
B6 Clandestine Harem

DOWNLOAD some relatively short punk metal tunes HERE!

Rudimentary Peni ‎– "Echoes Of Anguish" (Outer Himalayan Records ‎– BOOBOO6) 1997

Rudi P goes metal......but it's good metal. Simple riffs, no boring solo's, short tunes, and intelligent lyrics......but it' ain't no 'Death Church'.
Mark E. Smith once said that Punk Rock was just 'badly played Heavy Metal'; well this version of Punk Rock is well played Heavy Metal, that doesn't sacrifice intelligence for power, both of which it has in spades.

Tracklist:
A1 The Flame Of Insanity
A2 In Memory Of Pain
A3 Dissolution
A4 Only Death
A5 Womb So Scorned
A6 Time Passing
B1 Echo
B2 Voice
B3 Stone
B4 Trial By Separation
B5 From The Heart
B6 Your Secret Life

DOWNLOAD echoes of once great group HERE!

Rudimentary Peni ‎– "Pope Adrian 37th Psychristiatric" (Outer Himalayan Records ‎– BOOBOO 5) 1995

After another forced hiatus of seven years, where Nick Blinko was in fact detained under section 3 of the UK mental Health Act in a psychiatric institution.It was during his time in this secure unit that he wrote another Prog-Punk concept album.....allegedly.
Its a strange beast with a speech loop of the latin translation of Pope Adrian, playing for the whole of the album between and during all the songs!?....you have to be crazy to have an idea like that.
Musically, the songs have become a standard three minutes in length, slightly slower and metallic, and Blinko's vocals have become a lot more restrained; as if he was on medication, which he probably was. These are the meds, he says stop him dreaming, that he has to stop taking in order to make his art, Obviously not necessary in order to make music.
Comfortably the worst Rudi P record......but don't worry it gets a lot better from here.

Tracklist:

1 Pogo Pope 3:26
2 The Pope With No Name 3:23
3 Hadrianich Relique 3:27
4 Il Papus Puss 3:59
5 Muse Sick (Sic) 4:25
6 Vatican't City Hearse 2:02
7 I'm A Dream 4:07
8 We're Gonna Destroy Life The World Gets Higher And Higher 3:52
9 Pills, Popes And Potions 4:08
10 Ireland Sun 3:47
11 Regicide Chaz III 3:51
12 Iron Lung 2:47

DOWNLOAD from the psychristiatric unit HERE!

Rudimentary Peni ‎– "Cacophony" (Outer Himalayan Records ‎– BOOBOO2) 1988

After a gap of five years since Death Church, during which Grant Matthews (bass) was diagnosed with cancer, Nick Blinko struggled with his schizophrenia, and they gave up playing live; Rudi P came back with an Anarcho-prog concept album based on the life and works of horror writer H.P.Lovecraft.
As with a lot of concept albums, there is a lot of between track nonsense in an attempt to link it all together like some bad musical. Top marks for doing the most non-punk thing possible, by making a literate concept album.......stick that in your mohican and smoke it!
Between the frankly irritating speaking in tongues connecting parts, there lurks some decent tunes.It would have made a killer EP, which they are very good at. As for cacophony, there are plenty of records on this blog which make this sound like ABBA.
Not the best Rudi P release by some distance, but still rather bizarre and you won't find anything that sounds quite like it.

Tracklist:

A1 Nightgaunts
A2 The Horrors In The Museum
A3 The Only Child
A4 Architectonic And Dominant
A5 The Evil Clergyman
A6 Brown Jenkin
A7 Crazed Couplet
A8 Sarcophagus
A9 Lovecraft Baby
A10 Dream City
A11 C12 H22 O11
A12 Zenophobia
A13 Sunset For The Lords Of Venus
A14 Beyond The Tanarian Hills
A15 Imps Of The Perverse
B1 The Dead Loved
B2 Periwig Power
B3 Kappa Alpha Tau
B4 American Anglophile In The World Turned Upside Down
B5 Memento Mori
B6 Better Not Born
B7 Arkham Hearse
B8 The Old Man Is Not So Terribly Misanthropic
B9 Gentlemen Prefer Blood
B10 Sonia
B11 The Day The Universe Ceased (March 15th 1937)
B12 The Crime Of The Century
B13 Musick In Diabola
B14 Shard
B15 Black On Gold

DOWNLOAD this anarcho-prog cacophony HERE!

Rudimentary Peni - "Catastrophe" (Bootleg - Rotten 3) 1985?

The sporadic releases of Rudi P after 1983 created a need for product which was generously fulfilled by this live bootleg from two pre-Death Church performances in 1982.
There were 5 years between the first and second albums; mainly due to Nick Blinko's psychological condition,and the various anti-schizophrenia drugs he had to endure, which halted the creative process in its tracks.
One must say the boys are on fine form here, blasting out their one minute symphonies to a constantly chit-chatting audience.
The sound quality is rather good, and must have been recorded from the soundboard, with Blinko's screaming being especially clear.
A fine document of a fine group.

Tracklist:

Musicians Collective, Camden, London 7/6/82:

1 Tower Of Strength
2 Farce
3 Dead Living
4 B-Ward 

Norwich Road Church Hall, Forest Gate, London 16/1/82:

5 Teenage Time Killer
6 Zero Again
7 Media Person
8 Subdued Violence
9 Tower Of Strength
10 Mice Race
11 Blind Dogs
12 Dead Living
13 Bloody Jellies
14 The Gardener
15 B-Ward
16 Farce
17 Hearse
18 Sacrifice
19 Him Hymn
20 Crazy Chain

DOWNLOAD and try not to avoid catastrophe HERE!

Rudimentary Peni ‎– "Death Church" (Corpus Christi ‎– CHRIST IT'S 6/Outer Himalayan Records ‎– BOOBOO 4) 1983

This has to be one of my 10 Desert Island Discs. As near a perfect embodiment of the Punk Rock myth that one could possibly find. The song "Rotten To The Core" simply encapsulates the betrayal us teenagers felt when our favourite Punk legends turned out to be hypocrites of the first order.
I don't usually print out lyrics,or even read them, but here goes:

Have you Realised that Rock Stars
Always seem to lie so much?
John Lydon once said he cared
But he never really gave a fuck
Said he'd use the money he made
So that people would have somewhere to go
But now he lives in the USA
and Snorts Coke after the Show.

Why is it that Rock Stars
Always seem to lie so much?
Joe Strummer once said he cared,
but he never really gave a fuck
Said he'd use the money he made
To set up a radio station to make the
Airwaves full of something more than Shit
Have you noticed we're still Waiting?

You must realise that Rock Stars
Always seem to lie so much
Some will always tell you that they care,
But they don't really give a fuck,
Still you suckers don't ever learn
That rock stars deal in money not truth
It's good Business to exploit you
Just look at Lydon or Strummer for Proof.

A bit sixth form poetry in style, but the sentiments are spot on.Kids who were my age(13-16) during the Punk Rock explosion from 76 to 78, believed in these traitors.It was more than a rock'n'roll revival for us. It was a rejection of normality,of the bland,the hum drum, of the, to quote Lie-don, "Old Order"; but they just repeated all the same Sex,Drugs and Rock'n'Roll mistakes.It was more than that for us kids.

I remember the disappointment when i heard these liars did drugs, and don't get me started on what a cock Sid Vicious was.The face that launched a thousand clones.

Lydon was full of great soundbytes, but all he wanted was a Future. A healthy bank balance ,some real estate in Chelsea,and live the Rock Star dream in LA! How he managed to make such perfect records like "Metal Box" and "First Issue", I'll never work out. His enormous ego destroyed one of the most perfect groups that ever walked this planet...yes, PiL; not the fucking Sex Pistols! And now he's every middle aged mums favourite cute interviewee, chatting with TV idiots like the hideous Piers Morgan, and the idiotic Graham Norton among many others; "Ah isn't he luvleh?".....er...NO!

The kids who turned into punk sheep didn't escape Rudi P's disdain either, as the information sheet that came with the initial release included the following quote, "There's nothing I find more tedious than the rows of identical painted leather jackets - how moronic".

Now..... "Death Church"; what more can I say? It exists like a savage bee in your inner ear. Its haunted visions are fleshed out in Blinko's creepy black and white drawings that permeate this superb package; and his simple but devastatingly dark and incisive lyrics.

Some bright spark labelled this music "Deathrock", which kinda sells it short as some type of stupid Lesser Black Metal nonsense; its far more intelligent,unique, and downright demented than that.

RP releases seemed to come when Nick was not wasting away in a mental ward, and if anything, his artwork alone, is a prime example of tortured genius; dare I say a punk rock equivalent of Van Gogh?.....or Van Goth (please excuse the dreadful pun).

"Three quarters of the world are starving

The rest are dead.

Overdosed on insensitivity
Nail varnished to crosses"

(1/4 Dead)

Tracklist:

Corpus Christi Side

A1 ¼ Dead
A2 Blissful Myth
A3 The Psycho Squat
A4 Rotten To The Core
A5 Poppycock
A6 Cosmic Hearse
A7 The Cloud Song
A8 Vampire State Building
A9 Blasphemy Squad
A10 When You Are A Martian Church
A11 Pig In A Blanket 

Rudimental Human Side

B1 Inside
B2 Nothing But A Nightmare
B3 Flesh Crucifix
B4 Slimy Member
B5 Love Is Not
B6 Radio Schizo
B7 Happy Farm
B8 Alice Crucifies The Paedophiles
B9 Army Of Jesus
B10 Dutchmen

DOWNLOAD the rudiments of proper punk rock HERE!

Rudimentary Peni ‎– "Farce EP" (Crass Records ‎– 221984/2) 1982

This is naturally weird music. It goes way beyond the boredom of the hardcore punk template, like a ominously dark scream of anguish. UK hardcore never quite matched its US relations between 1981 and 85 for either musicianship or brutal intensity, but it did have the more uniquer and stranger angles, like Rudimentary Peni and Discharge (who I think are quite bizarre?), counter balanced by the dumb and dumber end of the Exploited and GBH.Anarcho-punk was conspicuous by its total absence stateside, probably because that was equated with the commie left wing to the american mindset. Or maybe the constant soapboxing by organized anarchy commune dwellers Crass put off the spoilt Americans.It certainly put me off,even though their own DIY aesthetic, the Farce EP included, has to be admired.
Things Hardcore got weirder in the UK after 1985 with the grindcore bands like the bizarre Napalm Death. The sticker on their debut LP "Scum" declared them as the official worlds fastest band, but I reckon nerdy Indie pop stars The Wedding Present were faster,or certain parts of The Nightingales,notably their guitarist.
Now, who invented Hardcore?.....I Reckon it was The Victims from Australia, although Wire have a very strong claim for 'Pink Flag' which undoubtedly influenced The Middle Class as the first US Hardcore band; not forgetting The Damned for first bringing speed for speeds sake into the equation.
Rudimentary Peni take the prize as the most creepy,darkest and disturbing of all the 'hardcore' type groups in the third wave crop of Punk Rock.Gothcore, Deathrock, whatever you want to call it, this band are definitely very unique.

Tracklist:

A1 Sacrifice
A2 Cosmetic Plague
A3 Subdued Violence
A4 Only Human
A5 The Bile Ball
A6 Farce
B1 Bloody Jellies
B2 Mice Race
B3 Defined By Age
B4 Zero Again
B5 Bubble

 DOWNLOAD this bizarre farce if you can be arsed HERE!

Rudimentary Peni ‎– "Rudimentary Peni EP" (Outer Himalayan Records ‎– BOOBOO1) 1981

As much as I cant stand 'Anarcho Punk', Rudimentary Peni stand out like a shiny diamond amongst the washed out black clad white rasta trust fund hippy smear that populated /populate this fine extrapolation of the human 'Hive Mind'. 
True, they seem to follow the standard political line as set out by the king of the Anarchists, Crass; anti-war,anti meat, use the word 'Fuck' a lot, and seem to believe in the oxymoron of 'organised Anarchy'?
Despite this,RP seemed to to stand out sartorially (ie no black uniform and greasy dreads), musically, and most importantly, artistically. Mainly thanks to singer/guitarist Nick Blinko's dark twisted visions of existence.
Dark lyrics aside, his unique art does have a certain 'drawn in a psychiatric unit' quality about it(as mentioned previously Blinko is indeed a diagnosed Schizophrenic). A cross between Hieronymus Bosch and schoolboy doodling. It certainly stands out as pretty unique, and Blinko's drawings can fetch quite a few quid if you're lucky enough to own one.
Musically, there's something rather gothic about the otherwise standard Anarcho-punk fuzzy thrash. A demented darkness that brings to mind one of the Bible's three descriptions of Hell, 'a wailing and a gnashing of teeth' (the other two by the way are, 'the Fiery Lake of burning Sulfur'; and 'the blazing furnace'). As Blinko wrote a rant against 'religion' in the booklet that accompanied this EP, I don't think promoting the word of the 'good' book was on his agenda.
(Download the booklet here!)

Tracklist:

A1 Media Person
A2 Him Hymn
A3 Blind Dogs
A4 B-Ward
A5 Crazy Chain
A6 The Gardener
B1 Teenage Time Killer
B2 Hearse
B3 Dead Living
B4 Black President
B5 Tower Of Strength
B6 Play

DOWNLOAD  a vision of anarcho-hell HERE!

The Magits ‎– "Fully Coherent" (Outer Himalayan Records ‎– SRTS/79/CUS 401) 1979

What better way to mark the inauguration of anti-intellectual philistine Donald J. Trump as leader of the western world than to intellectualize the art of the very short avant-pop tune and outsider art?
This 'entartete kunst' (nazi for 'degenerate art') ,would be instantly labelled as 'Garbage' in the black and white world of Trump and yer average Brexiteer (Entartete Kuntz anyone?)......just like Hitler's chums did back in the thirties.
Nick Blinko's first release was with Martin Cooper on vocals/words, in a minimal synth duo called The Magits.
The four songs,if we can call them songs(?), are so short they seem to only exist as long as sub-atomic particle in the hadron collider. They have a lot in common with the 40 one minute tunes on The Residents' "Commercial Album"; like a collection of intro's, unfinished ditties,and songs cut in half. The song titles seem to describe the music very well, fragmented, disconnected, disjointed, and detached. Probably how Blinko felt within himself,as he is now a prescribed schizophrenic.
The short song was an anti-establishment statement following the progressive rock era from 1976 onwards. So the shorter the song the more punk kudos one received,until it became the art form first displayed by art-punkers Wire on the monolithic "Pink Flag" album, and taken to its logical conclusion by Napalm Death with the one second long "You Suffer" from the jaw dropping "Scum" album.
Blinko's rather good anarcho-punk group Rudimentary Peni, stuck largely to the short burst template,at least until the mid-eighties,when lengthier tunes started their comeback,for the same reasons the sub-minute songs appeared in 1977.
Blinko is now referred to,patronisingly, as a much sought after "Outsider Artist", (who isn't?) mainly due to the fact he makes interesting Hieronymus Bosch like drawings and is a Schizophrenic. He has to stop taking his medication in order to create his art,and dream believe it or not? Therefore he has to risk his mental stability to satisfy his desire to make his pictures; this really is art on the edge.
Both Magits and Rudimentary Peni's releases were works of art rather than one person's expression of their 'angry years'; they were just pure,untutored, expressions of the need to create.
In fact the first couple of hundred copies of this EP came with a small photocopied 3-page folded & stapled "Magitzine" which features collages, a small essay and lyrics. Some of these initial copies also came with a hand-made paper "magit" - a small and fragile hand-cut and glued representation of the creature image used on the front sleeve (referred to as a "Magit") - basically an egg-shaped face with a tail stuck on.

Tracklist:
A1 Fragmented 0:55
A2 Disconnected 0:48
B1 Disjointed 1:24
B2 Detached 0:55

DOWNLOAD some fully coherent outsider art HERE!

The S-Haters ‎– "Stories As Cold As The Irish Sea" (Outer Himalayan Records ‎– OHR 005) 1982

Dunno about being cold, but the Irish sea is certainly radioactive thanks to the British nuclear reprocessing plant in Cumbria on the site of the world's first nuclear power station at Windscale/sellafield.
A slightly less amateurish follow up to 'Death of a Vampire',with a half decent, and dancable(?), sing-a-long opening number on side B; followed by the obligatory Joy Division experimental tune,as in "I Remember Nothing" or "Auto-suggestion".....but obviously, not as good.
The A-side, could easily be a first album Modern English out-take. Sounding rather like a proto-goth crowd pleaser to these malfunctioning ears.

Tracklist:

A -The Deepest Of Reds
B1- Drift
B2-Industry & Nature

DOWNLOAD from a radio-unfriendly radioactive sea of post-punk singles from 1982 HERE!

The S-Haters ‎– "Death Of A Vampire" (Outer Himalayan Records ‎– OHR 002) 1981

Ooooooo,scarey!?...did someone say Vampire?
Here's some amateurish proto-goth from 1981 on Rudimetary Peni's label. 
They so wanted to be Bauhaus, but at least they got in there before The Sisters of Mercy.(possibly?)
Goth! Another British export to apologize for!?

Tracklist:

A - Death Of A Vampire
B - Research

DOWNLOAD the vampire equivalent of Bela Lugosi in plan 9 from outer space HERE!

The Soft Drinks ‎– "Popstars In Their Pyjamas" (Outer Himalayan Records ‎– OH 004) 1982

Were The Soft Drinks the UK's equivalent to 'The Screamers'? 
The Greville brothers(Jon,- future Rudimentry Peni member - and Lee) and a mate(Cliff Silver of Sad overs and Giants!), had synth had drum kit, then made a record......bizarrely on Nick Blinko of Rudimentary Peni fame's Outer Himalayan Records.
They normally liked to sing about various beverages, as heard previously on "The Thing From The Crypt" compilation.
This time they stick mainly to just one song about that Cinzano Bianco series of adverts with Joan Collins; and the a-side about 'Pop Stars in their Pyjamas" (although Cocoa is mentioned)!.....Now you wouldn't find the 'Screamers' singing about that subject matter. They liked to rock out,albeit very artily; whereas the Soft Drinks liked to have a laugh and dilute any rock to the minimum.This seems to be a common difference between Americans and Brits. Americans like to travel in one direction getting more hardcore as they crash into a wall and stay there; where their former colonial master's like to turn left or right,quite often off the edge of a cliff. These tunes are a definite turn to the left off the rock'n'roll highway, maybe even an exit, as they disappeared after this jolly single entered the bargain bins.
Quaint Synth pop ditties made with the tongue firmly in the cheek,by persons who knew how silly Pop music really is.

Tracklist:

A Popstars In Their Pyjamas
B Cinzano Wet Dream

DOWNLOAD a cinzano off the rocks HERE!

PHILIP JOHNSON - "Ellis is Poofyman" (Year Zero Records YEAR035) 2015

As Twelve Cubic feet and Exhibit A main man Paul Platypus was in Doof with the legendary Philip Johnson;it is about time I plugged the last release on Year Zero records;- the excellent "Ellis Is Poofyman", EP? Mini album?....i dunno, but its rather good.
All together now...."I've Been farting On The Moon!"
I dunno how he does it? Another sing-a-long classic from a world reflected in a fairground mirror in an underwater House of Fun. More synthetic voice phrases assembled and rearranged to reveal the true meaning of language. Backed up with all the aural abstract expressionism of a DIY Willem de Kooning;.... before he developed Alzheimers!
You should know by now NOT to be disappointed by any Philip Johnson recording,and this definitely is no exception.
Made,originally, in the much maligned 3" CD format to further limit his audience.

DOWNLOAD ellis here you poofyman!

Exhibit A ‎– "Distance EP" ~(Irrelevant Wombat Records ‎– DAMP 2) 1980

Exhibit A, your honor, is the groups pièce de résistance, the "Distance EP" from 1980; where our teenage chums go synth pop, like an even wimpier Depeche Mode. 
The stand out track is the wobbly minimal synth Indie crossover classic, "Platform 6", which gives a strong indication as to the direction Matthew Matrices /Vosburgh would take next.....ie Solid Space.
The title track is a kind of melodic Indie space pop, and it all ends with a charming peon to the uses and benefits of 'Bollards'; I've always thought Bollards have had rough press over the years.
An absolute classic, flowing with charm and innocence from the cusp of adulthood.....with cheapo synthesisers.
Although, where a few 15-16 year olds got the money to buy a couple of synths and release a vinyl record from I have no idea?....a paper round?..... selling drugs?.....or bourgeois parents(i'm picking this one)?
I'm the same age as these boys and the best my teenage band could muster, until we got on the dole, was a few plastic buckets for drums, a knackered acoustic guitar with two strings, and a mono cassette deck.
It was the same with the 'punk' groups, they were all supposed to be skint, but had brand name electric guitars, drum kits, amplifiers, expensive biker jackets, and the odd designer t-shirt. Us real people still wore high waisted flares, flowery shirts and v-neck jumpers.....with NO instruments.As it said in 'Sniffin' Glue'....Here's three chords, now go and form a Band. Which we all promptly did, but with no instruments,and consequently zero chords. This is a primary reason for the appearance of lots of Industrial acts, where having no instruments was a positive advantage.
Tracklist:

A Distance
B1 Platform 6
B2 Bollards

DOWNLOAD from a distance HERE!

Exhibit A ‎– "No Elephants This Side Of Watford Gap EP" (Irrelevant Wombat Records ‎– DAMP 1) 1979

Exhibit 'A' formed in late 1978 when four 14-year-olds discovered a shared interest in John Peel's late night radio shows — whilst avoiding sporting activities together during school breaks. They produced three issues of a fanzine, Wombat Weekly, and recorded their first EP, No Elephants this Side of Watford Gap at a central London youth club in 1979. At age 15 and 16 they were one of the youngest bands to release their own record independently. Guitarist and indie idealist Paul Platypus also played with the excellent Reflections (with Mark Perry and Nag from the Door & the Window), Doof with Phillip Johnson, and Twelve Cubic Feet (joined by former Exhibits drummer Andrew Lunchbox-good stagename- and bassist Matthew Matrices among others), and founded Namedrop Records. Matthew went on to release one of thee classic DIY tapes ever with Solid Space's "Space Museum" (1982).In fact everything the members of Exhibit A had to do with was rather marvelous indeed.
This lot deserve their place in the pantheon of real boy(and girl, as in Honey Bane*) Bands, alongside The Prats, The Fatal Microbes*, and half of Eater.
But above that they were one of the earliest indicators of what would become the 'Indie' template, and the de-rocking of Pop music; before fey shoegazing and the inordinately floppy fringe became more important than the attitude.Then, even worse, before major labels started to set up their own 'Fake Indie' labels and shoved Jesus and Mary Chain clones down our throats into the proper charts,and eventually became rebranded as 'Brit Pop'?????(ugh!).The Subway Sect and the TV Personalities would have turned in their graves....although they both still exist as Zombie Indie cash-in acts to this very day!?

Tracklist:

A1 In The Night 2:55
A2 Fame And Fortune 2:08
B1 Digital Age 1:38
B2 Maniac Garden 4:36

DOWNLOAD from someone who comes from north of the watford gap HERE!

Various Artists ‎– "The Thing From The Crypt" (The Thing From The Crypt ‎– TTFTC 001) 1981

Another classic Street Level compilation of UK DIY ,with shades of Proto-Indie, is "The Thing From The Crypt". A shared album for acts on Dead Hedgehog and Nick Blinko's (of Rudimentary Peni!?) Outer Himalayan Records.
No Anarcho Punk on here, thank fuck,despite Blinko's connection,- he always sounded a step apart from that washed out black clad clique-; but it has much to point towards the vague watershed between UK DIY and the early 'Indie' sound.
There's some quaintly amateurish Goth by S-Haters, but I don't mind a bit of that, as long as its as badly played as these two tracks.
And we have 'Sad Lovers and Giants', who are just too conventionally good in a New Wave sense, and amazingly still exist today!!?
The stand out band are obviously teenage tearaways 'Exhibit A', featuring future' Twelve Cubic Feet'-ers and 'Solid Space' members.
Altogether an album full of that uncertain amateurish charm we all love in this digitally padded cell; yet is soooo absent from today's boringly 'clued up' society. 
'They', whatever 'they' may mean(?), are so clued up they are in fact very,very, Clueless.

Tracklist:

A1 –Exhibit A - Rain
A2 –Sad Lovers & Giants - Take Me Inside
A3 –Mex  - Evil Creatures
A4 –Gambit Of Shame - Dancing With The Turks
A5 –Flying Beechcraft - Bugger Off
A6 –Image In Ruin - Tank
A7 –Soft Drinks - Squash
A8 –S-Haters - Necromancer
B1 –Soft Drinks - Pepsi Cola
B2 –Flying Beechcraft - Frog Girl
B3 –Image In Ruin - Bottle
B4 –S-Haters - Canal
B5 –Exhibit A - Echoes
B6 –Sad Lovers & Giants - Clint
B7 –Mex - Functioning Fripp Girls
B8 –Gambit Of Shame - She Lawn

DOWNLOAD like a rocket from the tombs HERE!

Blue Midnight / The Hamburger All-Stars ‎– "One Million Hamburgers EP" (Fuck Off Records ‎– FEP 003) 1982

Well...This is a catchy tune!
Round about 1982 the dreaded 'Musician' started to creep out from his priest hole and started to re-impose himself on the public who had begun to tire of doing it themselves and wanted to be entertained again.
This deadly affliction even infected Fuck Off Records, presaging the New Pop anathema which justified itself by corrupting from the inside.....but never did once the spondoolicks started rolling in.
There were some artists who, of course, emplyed this tactic correctly, like ATV, The Fire Engines,and, best of all,The Associates,
The title track of this EP is another fine example of making listenable Pop music with morals.
This Street Level super group, including Mark Perry and Grant Showbiz among others, have forged a real toe tapping slice of mellow, dubby and funky post punk .
Blue Midnight make their third appearance on a Fuck Off record, but the excellent Funky Blue Midnight from 'Love Not Devotion' are regrettably absent;replaced by some blues jamming post pub muso's.....a definite B-Side. 

Tracklist:

A –The All-Stars - One Million Hamburgers

B1 –Blue Midnight - Dream
B2 –Blue Midnight - Tribute (To Don Drummond)

DOWNLOAD and pay no more than zero pence HERE!

Various Artists ‎– Love Not Devotion" (Deleted Records ‎– DELP 001/Fuck Off Records ‎– FLP 002) 1982

This is a re-post of a re-ripped Fuck Off/Deleted Records shared album from 1982(at 320k,for those who care); featuring The Instant Automatons, Britpunkfunk combo Blue Midnight, and Street Level super groop The Hambirger All-Stars, featuring various members of Here and Now and Alternative TV, among others.
Blue Midnight are particularly fine, with their brand of punky brass led DIY funk.Like a cross between Pig Bag and early Dexy's sans the awful Kevin Rowland.
The Hambirger All-Stars are also, very fashionably for 1982, Dubbed up, Funky and Punky. A sooper groop of sorts, with 'Here and Now' street hippies Steffy and Grant Showbiz;
Anno, Mark and Dennis from Alternative TV;alomg with someone called Justin Adams from Impossible Dreamers.
Then we have, the late great, Protag and Mark automaton with 6 tracks of Instant Automatons' skewed DIY pop songs on behalf of Deleted Records.Including the classic "Short Haired Man (In a Long Haired Town)".
How can you argue against a line up like that?
Wot a great,and very lost, record!?

Tracklist:

A1 –Blue Midnight -Quarter To Blue 2:23
A2 –Blue Midnight -Fireplace 2:37
A3 –Blue Midnight -Joy! 2:21
A4 –Blue Midnight -Crazy 3:51
A5 –Blue Midnight -Hot And Cold 2:26
A6 –Hamburger All-Stars -I Woke Up 2:52
A7 –Hamburger All-Stars -Swinging London, Pt. 1 2:00
A8 –Hamburger All-Stars -Studded Leather Jacket 2:58
B1 –Hamburger All-Stars -My Life Is A Mess 1:37
B2 –Hamburger All-Stars -Swinging London, Pt. 2 5:15
B3 –The Instant Automatons -Worcester Avenue 2:38
B4 –The Instant Automatons -Catacomb 1:57
B5 –The Instant Automatons -Too Big! 1:59
B6 –The Instant Automatons -Violence 2:42
B7 –The Instant Automatons -Drunk In Woolwich 3:01
B8 –The Instant Automatons -Short Haired Man 2:31

DOWNLOAD with devotion and love HERE!

Animals & Men ‎– "Revel In The Static- A collection of demos and singles, 1979-83" (Hyped2Death ‎– Messthetics #201) 2005

The Terraplanes, also known as Animals & Men after an Adam and the Ants(Mk1) track, are another beyond great Post-Punk group to slip through the net. This is up there with Kleenex/Liliput for shambolic amateurishness; but no LP's on Rough Trade for Terraplanes!? They were left inexplicably on the shelf until Hyped2Death resurrected their corpse. The result is this cd-r compilation from 2003/5.
One definite kiss of death for pop groups is changing your name......as tempting as that may be....you are guaranteeing sub-cult status immediately. The Spizz Energi syndrome,who admirably changed their name every year to garner anti-commercial kudos, and eventually desperately back to Spizz Energi 2, to remind the public that they had had a hit single as Spizz Energi 1.
Of course, these hallowed pages are the first to applaud such an ambition-less display of  commercial suicide. The result of which are these 25 tracks of unspoilt suburban nature, now undeniably extinct.
If i could extract a sample of DIY DNA from these tunes and clone a duplicate of this group and der zeitgeist, it would fail disastrously in the modern 'everything you want now' hell we find ourselves imprisoned amongst.
To make music like this, we need freedom from choice, lack of opportunity, freedom from information , and denial of the trappings of success , dangled as a very distant carrot, just enough to keep an unattainable dream in intensive care.
The Mystery and the Dream are both now beyond resuscitation, like pop culture in general. Everyone can easily have their empty 15 minutes, if they so desire, in a world where the fatuously attainable is yours for the taking. Unless its owned by the Rothchild mafia naturally.The American Non-Dream......
If ever there was a moment for some William S. Burroughs quotes, this is it:

"The way to kill a man or a nation is to cut off his dreams"
"Communication must become total and conscious before we can stop it."

"Modern man has lost the option of silence"

"The...merchant doesn't sell his product to the consumer, he sells the consumer to his product. He does not improve and simplify his merchandise. He degrades and simplifies the client."

"America is not so much a nightmare as a non-dream. The American non-dream is precisely a move to wipe the dream out of existence. The dream is a spontaneous happening and therefore dangerous to a control system set up by the non-dreamers."

Ahhhhh....that feels better.(feel free to contribute more)

DOWNLOAD and revel in the static HERE!

Various Artists ‎– "No Platform For Heels" (Tender Hooks Records ‎– HOOK 001) 1982

As its another new year's day, it's an opportunity to post some of the few things I have left from the original inspiration for this blog,from what is now termed, UK DIY.
One of the last great UK DIY compilations featuring some of the stalwarts of that brief period, Mark Automaton, Digital Dinosaurs,and Missing Persons.
The Missing Persons are ,as usual, a bit dodgy in the 'we're all Hippies' department; whipping out the acoustic guitar for a sing-a-long around the travellers camp communal fire, as they all invariably await their trust-funds to start paying for their future Docklands apartments,and inherit their place on the board of the Bank of England. That's proto-anarcho punk for y'all!
The other Hippies on this disc are The Digital Dinosaurs, but they were genuine, working class hippies who just happened to write fantastic pop songs.One classic of which is 'Sheena Easton'; which one can adapt for todays crop of plastic pop stars by simply replacing her name with any talent show winner of your choice, and Esther Rantzen with Simon Cowell.....if you know any of these wankers, because I don't!
Mark Automaton,does his usual Mark E. Smith without an ego versions of zero-budget pop, and sounds like the Instant Automatons, but is called, on this occasion, The Stan Tomato Band.
There is lots more of ambition-less, anti-pop charm to make up the rest of the tracks on this nicely understated compilation, from a time when life was, in retrospect, not quite so shit.


Tracklist:
A1 –Missing Persons - Claire 2:44
A2 –Missing Persons  - The Pioneer Spirit 1:55
A3 –The Stan Tomato Band -  InterCity 125 1:59
A4 –The Stan Tomato Band - Ignorance Is Bliss 2:08
A5 –The Victims Of Romance - All There Is 3:23
A6 –The Digital Dinosaurs Music - For The Teeth 2:30
A7 –The Digital Dinosaurs - Sheena Easton 2:23
A8 –Lurch  - High Steppin' Momma 4:32
B1 –Polish August - Desperate Romance 2:32
B2 –Polish August - Ten Tips For Beautiful Nails 2:17
B3 –Kill Your Sons - Obsession 4:11
B4 –Len Liggins - Womb With A View 1:17
B5 –Len Liggins - Sandwiches 1:35
B6 –Len Liggins - All The Dead Men 1:30
B7 –Product Of Reason - Execution Time 2:50
B8 –Left At The Lights - Dead At The Wheel 3:33

DOWNLOAD these missing persons HERE!