The Mud Hutters ‎– "Information EP" (Defensive Records ‎– N.A.T.O. ONE) 1979

As well as The Diagram Brothers, and Dislocation Dance, Andy Diagram was in The Mud Hutters; a lo-fi prog-punk combo who could obviously play their instruments.That's right, a post punk group that included musicians!? Especially impressed by the jazz rock drumming of 'Muddy Dick' (Who I assume was Richard Harrison? Who played with such liminaries as God Is My Co-Pilot,Sterolab,and of course, Dislocation Dance, among many others)
This 33rpm 7" EP, fitted in nicely with the DIY look;the hand printed sleeve,appropriately  muddy sound, standard junior typewriter typeface, and a bunch of unpretentious choons.
"No God" has a disposable John Barry-esque melody line that would not have gone unplaced on an early Dislocation dance record.

Tracklist:

A1 No God
A2 Nice Guy/Left Right
B1 All About
B2 Neolithic Dub

DOWNLOAD from the information EP superhighway HERE!

Dislocation Dance ‎– "Music Music Music" (New Hormones ‎– ORG 15) 1981

The title of this LP by Mancunian Indie-Jazz combo, Dislocation Dance, should really have been 'Muzak Muzak Muzak' and played in shopping malls everywhere,the BBC2 afternoon test-card, with the odd daytime TV theme tune thrown in.Very pleasant it is too, in a Herb Alpert and his Tijuana Brass meets Belle and Sebastian kind of way.
It comes from around the time that groups like Weekend, and Everything but the Girl were polluting the proto-indie stream with their Jazzy Pop blandness.This at least has something spookily strange about its post-punk easy listening vibe, and if it was less 'cool' would have not been out of place being spun in the chill-out rooms of clubbing culture in the nineties.If this was by the Harvey Averne Dozen I would have bought it for the second time around in 1995.
A weird fact is that is was released on the label that kick started the DIY boom, the Buzzcocks' New Hormones, and features Andy Diagram of the wonderful Diagram Brothers, moonighting, on the Trumpet.
They were in fact a lot less polished than this,and a tad more Post-Punky and funky when they appeared on the classic UK DIY Manchester Musicians Collective compilation "Four Ways Out" only the year previously.How fast things moved in them thar days?

Tracklist:

A1 Stand Me Up
A2 Don't Knock Me Down
A3 YOPS Course
A4 Meeting Mum And Dad
A5 Friendship
A6 Take A Chance (On Romance)...
A7 ...Have A Chance
B1 Roof Is Leaking
B2 With A Smile On Your Face And A Frown In Your Heart
B3 Vendetta (Theme)
B4 Narrow Laughs
B5 Footloose
B6 Can't Race Time... And The Mad Killer (Coda)
B7 Wonder What I'll Do Tomorrow

Bonus Tracks:

15 Rosemary (7" single)

16 Shake (B-Side)

17 Can't Race Time....& The Mad killer (12" Version)

18 You'll Never Know (7" Single)

19 You Can Tell (B-Side)

DOWNLOAD some Muzak Muzak Muzak HERE!

Various Artists -"Four Ways Out" (Defensive Records ‎– pact 1) 1980

Picasso strove to paint with the innocence of a child.
Rire: To Laugh, achieved the equivalent for music  effortlessly with their two tracks, then disappeared; never to be heard of again. Such perfection cannot be repeated;to do so would harm this perfection, so the only road left is to retire.
Vision On, a name taken from a popular BBC programme for Deaf kids, never quiet achieve the heights (or lows) of Rire:To Laugh, but they do have a rather pleasant Joe Meek sounding organ,which is always something to admire methinks.
The Mudhutters could well have been real musicians trying to hide their ability;as was the trend of the day.They did have a Diagram Brother in their line-up,one Andy Diagram.....a proper musician if ever there was one. A Proto-Ron Johnson Records sound is evident here,and a noble comparison that is by any standards?
Talking about 'Real' musicians, we have Dislocation dance to finish off this shared LP.
Still active today, and partly responsible around 1979 for the White boy Punky Funk avalanche of the early eighties. Also a favourite of the hipster kids of the early 21st century in the trendier parts of Brooklyn.They also, had Andy Diagram in their line-up...what a busy chap he was,still is?

Sleeve Notes:

4 Ways Out was recorded at Croft Farm, High Legh; June 1980; on 2/4 track; by Mike Evans

4 Ways Out was produced and financed by the bands that appear on it

Tracklist:

A1 – Mud Hutters National Interest
A2 – Mud Hutters Final Action
A3 – Mud Hutters Security
A4 – Rire: To Laugh- Another Shade In The Sky
A5 – Rire: To Laugh- Bacteria
B1 – Vision On -Judgement Day
B2 – Vision On -I Live For Then
B3 – Dislocation Dance -Warm Up
B4 – Dislocation Dance -G Bit
B5 – Dislocation Dance -BUB
B6 – Dislocation Dance -Hiya
Only one way in to DOWNLOAD,but there are four ways out HERE!

Various Artists ‎– "Unzipping The Abstract (Bands Of The Manchester Musicians Collective)" (MMC Records MMC1) 1980

As Promised here is the second compilation, from the Manchester Musicians Collective,and this does include The Marvelously Monikered, Bathroom Renovations; featuring Armitage Shanks and someone called Bidet?
More of the same wonderfully amateur and ambitionless outsider punk.What more can I say to recommend this collection of sub-genius.
Its almost as good as its companion comp, 'A Manchester Collection'.

As the slogan on the back of the sleeve says, 'File under: Only a bit bleak and arty'.
I'll just say it again: The Bathroom Renovations.
That's the kind of band we should all want to be in? Isn't it?

Track Listing:

1. The Bathroom Renovations - Intensely Henna’d
2. Cajun Cutie - Black Man’s Hat
3. Dislocation Dance - You Can’t Beat History
4. The Enigma - Play With Fire
5. Gods Gift - Creeps In
6. The Hoax - World War III
7. If Only - If Only
8. The Liggers - Pretty Girl
9. The Manchester Mekon - Must Have More Wheels
10. Outter Edge - Old Wives Tales
11. Performance - Natural Equilibrium
12. The Spurtz - Boyfriends Or Your Money Back
13. The Still - 9.5
14. Undercovermen - Of No Fixed Abode
15. Vibrant Thigh - Walking Away.

DOWNLOAD and unzip the abstract mp3 file HERE!