The Fear Merchants – "Mental (remastered)" (Emotional Response) – ER84 1983/2019

Fear NOT!....I'm not going to mention "The Special Military Operation" that is saving us all from Nuke wielding Neo-Nazi's. The only Fear Merchants I wanna listen to today are the almost God-Like Amos and Sara under another of their many guises.Featuring Jim Welton,late of the almost God-like Homosexuals, and Sara Vaughan of Sara Vaughan fame.

Originally this was a cassette on the almost God-like "It's War Boys" DIY label, or should I say "It's a Special Military Operation Boys" label.....the original cassette rip of which can be found HERE!...if you like that sort of thing...which of course you do?

This rip is from the much awaited vinyl re-releases from 2019,or thereabouts.This also means that we now know what all the tracks are called.If anyone likes a good Larry Olivier Nazi Doctor pastiche then this is the record for you.

If you wanna read my original review splurge blurb write up then click HERE!...'cus i can't be arsed to do it again.

Meanwhile a parting message for any poor lickle Russians (ahhh bless 'em!) that are still able to read this.....I'm just going to MacDonalds for a burger and a coca-cola,but first i'll have to withdraw some cash from my open banks ATM machine,then maybe do a bit of shopping before settling down to watch some of the myriad of TV channels available to me.May even browse Facebook too?......and just think, at least you've got a fine permanent leader like Vladimir Putin and we have to cope with rubbishy old Democracy. I envy you.......altogether now..."WAR!...what is it good for? Absolutely nothing".....whoops you've just been arrested as a precursor to a sound beating!?...."Huh! say it agaaaaain"......not likely Edwin,it's fifteen years banged up in a Russian Prison if certain nationalities say it twice.

Ain't life great?

Tracklisting:

1. Act One
2. Un Choix Du Mal Song
3.Meanwhile.....back in the Doctors Surgery
4. U - Boat Captain
5.Enter Giant Whales Mouth​.​. Leaving Through Its Anus Back into Surgery of Doc
6. The Uzbeck Connection 9
7. The Irate Psychiatrist is Shaking His Head in Disbelief at the Patient's 'Stories'
8. Industrialist's Dirge
9.Reflections in Psychiatrist's Spectacles Theme
10 Act Two
11. Fiasco
12.Visibly Brighter the Psychiatrist Thinks He's Getting Somewhere at Last
13. Ya Habibi
14.She Runs off Across the Sands and Vanishes in the Ripples of Hot Air Rising Upwards
15. Aristocratic Hunchback Out-cast Song
16. Absolute Misery Theme
17. When She Weighs Eighty-Six Stones
18. Mental Theme

DOWNLOAD without fear HERE!

The Homosexuals ‎– "Astral glamour" (Hyped To Death ‎– MSS-204) 2004

Way back between 1978 and '82, from a time when 'CD' was personal column talk for 'Cross-Dresser',The Homosexuals produced a cassette lake of unreleased music,and a few self-financed ep's. Then twenty-odd years later, in 2004, Hyped 2 Death released these 3 CD's in a box full of Homosexuals.

To label yourself a Homosexual in 1978 was a life-threatening act, and this bunch of, probably, straight squatters, were prepared to suffer for their art.

Firstly, no record label would touch any group called that with your barge-pole,never mind release any records.Not that anyone in The Homosexuals gave two fucks.

Their philosophy was admirably puritanical in its rejection of any commerciality whatsoever. Even the cult of personality was roundly shunned as no-one was really sure who was in the band, or what their names were, especially as their pseudonyms changed almost weekly.

Sadly,now we sort of know who the members were, and most of their recordings are more readily available for the great unwashed to exchange their monetary units for.

The most prolific member, Jim Whelton (or Welton?), carried on privately releasing music well into the 21st century, under a myriad of different monikers....which you can find in the archives of this blog by clicking here!

So this box set,featuring plenty unreleased versions of Homosexuals related material, is the logical end for our all too brief sojourn into the murky world of The Homosexuals.

Abnormal service will be resumed forthwith.

PS...check out my 'Homosexuals Special' radio show from Weds 09th May, on LYL radio at 3pm-4pm CET....click this> http://lyl.live/show/zchivagos-disco-dystopia/

Track Listing:
Disc: 1
1. Hearts in Exile
2. Soft South Africans

3. Astral Glamour
4. Divorce Proceeding(s) from Reality
5. Collected of You
6. Vociferous Slam
7. Mecho Madness
8. Flying
9. Technique Street
10. Mecho Madness, No. 2
11. (Do The) Total Drop
12. Walk Before Imitate
13. Neutron Lover
14. Naming of Parts
15. False Sentiments
16. Birds Have Risen I
17. Birds Have Risen II
18. Kiss With Venom
19. A Million Keys
20. My Night Out
21. All About Cheap
22. Hearts in Exile [Full Mix]
23. Soft South Africans [Guitar Mix]
24. Collapsible You
25. Regard Omission
26. Galore Galore
27. Cause a Commotion
28. Nippon Airways

Disc: 2
1. Prestel
2. You're Not Moving the Way You're Supposed To (Pt. 1)
3. Calvary
4. Symphonic Thaïs
5. Toto Rello
6. Yoghurt
7. Mad Bombers of Major Valour
8. Re Entry
9. You're Not Moving the Way You're Supposed To (Pt. 2)
10. Snapshots of Nairobi [Live]
11. Mitsu at the Controls
12. Still Living in My Car
13. Jesus
14. Magic Moments, Pt. 2
15. Magic Moments, Pt. 1
16. Cheetah [Vocal Version]
17. Early Developments [Vocal Version]
18. One Minute [Vocal Version]
19. Making Eyes [Vocal Version]
20. Vision Expanding [Vocal Version]
21. Charlie Watts [Vocal Version]
22. Galore Galore [Vocal Version]
23. Across Continents
24. Final Distance
25. Pamela
26. It's What's in It, Isn't It?

Disc: 3
1. Nursery Chymes
2. In Search of the Perfect Baby
3. Snapshots of Nairobi [Instrumental]
4. My Size Side
5. High and Low
6. Black Noise
7. Ants on Parade
8. In My Age
9. Woman/Man
10. Victoria Falls
11. Oh Baby Baby
12. Making Eyes
13. Charlie Watts
14. Symbols I Love
15. Especially to You
16. Two Horizons
17. There Are Shy Moons
18. Adventure Master of the Future
19. Early Developments
20. Gimme Gimme
21. One Minute
22. Cheetah (Click here for missing MP3)
23. Visions Expanding
24. Who Put the Jung in the Jungle Drums
25. Radio Ham Stormy Jam
26. Another Step
27. Funeral

DOWNLOAD CD-1 HERE!

DOWNLOAD CD-2 HERE!

DOWNLOAD CD-3 HERE!

Die Trip Computer Die - "Flowerball" (Self- Released Cd-r) 2000

Yet another unreleased samplerdelic musique concrete underground classic from Whelton and the lads.Up to their usual standards of 'out-there-ness'.Its so obscure i'm not sure the band know of its existence. Therfore it qualifies under the famed N.Senada's (see 'Not Available' by The Residents) 'Theory of Obscurity' dogma as now releasable.

Tracklist:

01 System of the Tortured
02 Gestations
03 A Bad Idea
04 In Bed With 1000 Priests
05 Seductive Song of War
06 Messrs Smirkett & Bloat
07 Fink Drummer
08 Chief-Inspector Kickback
09 Contains Psychological
10 Goodbye Again
11 Every 'Why' Is A 'How'
12 The Naked Statue
13 Roll, Frankie Roll
14 A Short Film About Gas
15 Flowerball

DOWNLOAD a bouquet of freaky flowers HERE!

Die Trip Computer Die - "Abyss" (self-released CD-r) 2004

Apparently there's about 17 'Die Trip Computer Die' CD-r's doing the rounds from around the turn of the millennium. This is one that has escaped total obscurity to tickle your lug holes and stimulate your hypothalamus.
This one is very much more Post-Club, plunderphonic samplerdelic mindfuckery. Like Trip-hop fed trough a sausage making machine with added spice in place of the pure cubes of unpalatable fat. There's nothing I'd enjoy more than feeding Tricky or Massive Attack through a mincer, and selling them back to the 'hip' ganja toking clubbing clique as tastless sausages.Smoke this sausage if you dare?
DTCD, do dance culture deconstruction effortlessly,mixing it up as a nice fluffy omelet to compliment your Trippy Tricky sausage.

Tracklist:

1-18 Untitled

DOWNLOAD into the abyss HERE!

Die Trip Computer Die - "Shorter Circuits Vol.1" (Self-Released CD-r) 2001

More plundered madness from underneath the underground,and beyond beyond obscurity.Probably recorded 'Live' around 2001,there is little or no information available on these non-releases.
This is another of these privately distributed CD-r's, by noise decomposer/ video artist Lepke Buchwater (Milk from Cheltenham) with Xentos 'Fray' Bentos (also known as L. Voag, Pete the Drummer, Dr. Shagnasty and 'Bubbles' in the Beyoncé fan club, formerly of The Homosexuals) and Ted Barrow. inventor of various ur-instruments, most notably 'The Baxtertron' which was an electronic 'black box' constructed inside a recently vacated Ferrero Rocher box.
Thrill to the turgid layers of circuit bending overlaying blatantly ripped off music loopage processed to appeal to the unsuspecting post-clubber in the chill-out room, to worm its way into the befuddled brane of Mr and Mrs Henry normal,and other tattooed Chavs and chavettes.
This abstract reorganisation of popular culture into something deeply unpopular, is subversion of the highest quality, by persons who seem to have zero interest in the cult of personality, or an ego.This is to be roundly applauded......not that they'd be interested in receiving applause;one would guess they would view that as failure. 

Tracklist:

1. Summer Evilings
2. Party Rally Anthem
3. Bloodmilch
4. the Rusting Of Techno Cop
5. Anti-Fugue(Theme of the Horn Rimmed Ones)
6. The Samantha Cycle Part IV
7. Ants...
8. Buchwater-Agnet of F.E.A.R.

DOWNLOAD some fried circuits HERE!

Die Trip Computer Die - "All Shag Ringo" (Self-released CD-r) 2004

In the grand tradition of Die Computer Trip Die,I've plundered a recycled review of this great ,very privately released record in a language I can't understand, by a member of the public on some forgotten web-site., somewhere out there; and Die Trip Computer Die are certainly very 'out there'; as deliberately obscurely as anybody has ever been.......to sell-out a little, i can reveal that this is distantly Homosexuals related, so you now know that its very good indeed......if a trifle smart-arse,but the 'Good' kind of smart-arse.
Take it away Fabio R.......:

"Enigmatica, intricata, colossale trilogia sperimentale di mai immessa in commercio quella di Die Trip Computer Die, in tre torrenziali satelliti ‘stream of consciousness’:All Shag Ringo, ottenuti tessendo con pazienza, perizia, intrigo ed estro casalingo, un’infinità di suoni e visioni, forme dinamiche e scarti di lavorazione.
Si ottiene un ‘monstre’ collage D.I.Y. in assoluta libertà strutturale, tra samplers, improvvisazioni, immersioni ambientali, decolli e frastorni psichedelici, rotte spaziali con onnipresenti lattiginosi filamenti di tastiera a tessere e palesare reami metafisici e visioni celesti. Tutto ciò è fatto ‘reagire’ con brandelli di suoni, sfigurate e terrificanti emissioni media, alieni-quotidiani dal richiamo mnemonico e d’effetto spiazzante. Si genera un rapporto conturbante e alquanto inaudito tra elementi sì disposti, dalle giunture truccate, di suggestive e arcane forme richiamate.
Incerta rimane la data di realizzazione, mancando qualsiasi menzione ad essa. Qualcuno menziona il 2002, ma questi montaggi potrebbero calarsi negli anni ’90, stanti indubbie comunanze con The Orb atterrati nella California dell’assurdo di LAFMS, o l’abilità collagista, fedeltà e immaginario, ardire e ardore tipici delle recenti, smaliziate generazioni di artisti elettronici." (Fabio R.)

I couldn't agree more Fabio......er.....what did you say again?

Tracklist:

1. All Shag Ringo

2. Untitled

3. I Was A Prisoner Of The Feedback king

4. Untitled

5. Loyal telly

6. Untitled

7. You Will Forget pain

8. Untitled

9. The Psilent Ones

DOWNLOAD to be well and truly shagged by ringo HERE!

Die Trip Computer Die - "Angry Dan Presents: Stop Killing Jelly Trousers" ( Altered States Tapes ‎– AST023) 2011

This is ,arguably, my favourite record of the 'teenies', though how one argues with oneself is worth an argument in itself.......with oneself? 
As i'm high on Volterol's anti-inflammatory magic blended with a swiftly imbibed (the past participale of 'Imbibe') pint of guiness,I will push the boat out and say, "This is a perfect record". It ticks all the boxes in my sad internet fantasyland. It's very funny, innovative to the max, challenging,intellectually stimulating, did I say 'Funny'?......well...all that lot and more.
Yes, there's a lot of Plunderphonia about this cassette, but it's not pretentious like Oswalds' version of the genre, and its shitloads more amusing than Negativland, which is natural because 'Die Trip Computer Die' are English, and Negativland are far too 'clever' for their own goods American types.Amos, aka Xentos Fray Bentos of DTCD, did, again, arguably, invent the genre after all,as L Voag back in '79? No wonder that 'Angry Dan' is livid!
Die Trip Computer Die, are ,of course, Jim Whelton, late of the Homosexuals, Lepke Buchwater (Milk From Cheltenham), and Ted Barrow.....dunno much about him,but he sounds like someone who would have ran a market stall who sold out of print soul cd's.

Here's what it  says on the Altered States website:

"Altered States is proud to plop out this latest steaming opus by the now-defunct, absurdist trio, Die Trip Computer Die. Made up of men who were at one stage or another involved in UK post-punk unit The Homosexuals, DTCD utilise various instruments, circuit-bent equipment and plundered sample loops to achieve lift-off. Most importantly they use their (collective) MIND in order to crumble YOURS. Angry Dan Presents: Stop Killing Jelly Trousers was recorded live in Pontins, Nijmegan during a holiday in 2002 with the verbal verbosity of au pair, Angry Dan mastering ceremonies. However, this recording information may be merely another red herring left in your letterbox by the Trippers. ADP: SKJT is a twice a year listen, but when you do bring yourself to press play, it ll tie your laces and poach your eggs. 60 copies, pro tapes, cover + insert by Myjyerljcle Stevrdjnen Lesteechskinz."

Tracklist:

Side A - (19:48)

Side B - (18:54)

DOWNLOAD the aNGER OF dAN here!

Various Artists ‎– "Domestic Sampler UMYU" (Umyu ‎– UmyuI-1138) 198/2

Well, while England were being knocked out of the World Cup in Spain without actually losing a single match and only conceding one goal; due to a ridiculous system now kicked to the kerb.
The Barcelona underground were strutting their stuff on this 'seminal' sampler, which also included rare tracks from Jim Whelton and Lepke Buchwater, aka Milk From Cheltenham ,Amos & Superslicks, and The Hostiapaths.These were recorded at the same session that produced the "Psst-Wanna Buy A Tape" and Bing Selfish records.
Although,most of the groups sound as if this could have been one of those fake compilations that Jim and the Homosexuals were so keen to foist on the general public.They are in fact the real Spanish deal,despite Whelton being the main reason why I have posted this album, there is a lot more of interest in the Spanish input than one would have thought.Its great stuff.

I Haven't had a bitter Rant for ages,and as i mentioned the '82 World Cup fiasco earlier........here one goes..........
Who wants to win the fucking World Fucking Cup anyway when you've got music like this to remind you that unbridled capitalistic gain has its alternatives.Such is the state of Modern Football, populated by millionaire players from countries you've never heard of, playing for clubs owned by billionaires from countries you've never heard of......a playground for the super rich, attended by the Nouveaux Riche in place of the working class who made the sport up in the first place! They've stolen our sport, like the fuckers have stolen our music, fashion, and culture. Boycott the world cup in gangster state Russia for a start (England are shit anyway so who cares?); then comes the world cup in the desert in that Football homeland of Qatar(won by bribing officials by the way...proven).With air conditioned stadia built by slave laborers, a lot of whom died so the bourgeois can watch football in comfort, before returning to their six star hotel to argue which player deserved a 100% pay rise.
Fuck that shit!.....play this record instead, and remember the days when fun was free, and the Footballers who represented your home town actually came from a street near you. 

Tracklist:

1–El Grito Acusador - Somos Punks 1:55
2–The Hostiapaths - Tchang Kai Chek 1:30
3–El Grito Acusador - James Bond No Lo Hacía Por Dinero 1:10
4–Entr'Acte - No Es Deixi Vestir Per Una Màquina 3:29
5–Milk From Cheltenham - The Unloved 1:35
6–Error Genético - Tumor En La Frente 3:00
7–Detra's Band - 10 En El Horno 1:31
8–Tres - I Doubt 3:00
9–Amos & Superslicks - Blue Pink Suits 1:08
10–Klamm - Eish Anta 6:50
11–Boris - La Banda De Doris 1:30
12–Entr'Acte - L'Altre Escàndol De L'Extranya Dona 2:45
13–Logotipo - Teoría De Contacto 3:15
14–Secreto Metro - Esparadrapo 5:01
15–Mimi Piner - Perfect Lunch 3:40

DOWNLOAD the domestic life of downtown Barcelona in 1982 HERE!

Bing Selfish ‎– "Selfish Works" (El Frenzy Productions ‎– NM008) 1983

Another tenuous Homosexuals connection is this debut 12incher from Comedian Bing Selfish,which includes a large input from Amos (Jim Whelton),Lepke Buchwater (Milk From Cheltenham,Die Trip Computer Die!) and from the Murphy Foundation (which i may post some of.....although not a fan).
Recorded in Barcelona with free studio-time during a session for the 'Domestic Sampler' compilation (up next),this fits in stylistically with Whelton's other skewed poppy work very nicely.
the rest of the tracks they recorded cropped up on the "Psst- Wanna Buy A Tape' compilation a few years later.
Bing continues to release records today.....not heard them though, so one shouldn't comment, one supposes?

Tracklist:

A1 Spanish Dictators
A2 Australia
B1 Rekjavic
B2 He Knows
B3 The Crush

DOWNLOAD selfishly HERE!

Various ‎– "PSST - Wanna Buy A Tape?" (El Frenzy Productions) 1986

Another faux-compilation over which Jim Whelton (L Voag,Amos,Xentos) looms large.All the groups, are figments of his fertile imagination and endless sense of the absurd, and contains some of his silliest band names.Hardly a bad track on here.

This was also the start of Bing Selfish's music career.Tracks A2, A4 + B4 are from 1982 Barcelona sessions that led to Bing Selfish 'Selfish Works' 12"........coming up next.

Tracklist:

Esta Cara:

Intro side A 1:00
A1 –Lenin Lads - Fantasma De La Vida 2:45
A2 –El Narciso - Pass The Buck 2:09
A3 –Lenin Lads - What's For Brechtfast 1:19
A4 –The Employees -  The Boss Came Back From The Dead 2:56
A5 –Lenin Lads - Tribute To Moira Tan 3:11
A6 –Lepke Buckwalter - Evil Harry 3:37
A7 –Bing Selfish With Mari Lou, El Narciso + Toth - Senora Tokyo 3:21
A8 –Appel Singh Bankboy's Five O' Clock Train - Sex Shop International 3:28
A9 –Lenin Lads - Party Faithful 4:04

La Otra Cara:

Intro side B 0:58
B1 –Lenin Lads - Beach Boys 2:11
B2 –The Tennis Ball's Bigger Than The Golf Ball - My Blue Moon Turned To Black 2:15
B3 –The Murphy Challengers - Party Pranks 3:39
B4 –Los Delectantes - Lulu Said..... 1:43
B5 –Bing Selfish And The Sycopants - No Puedo Dejar De Pensar En Ti... 2:48
B6 –Lenin Lads - Dunlop 1:55
B7 –D.J. Taj And The New Language - First Prize, A Trip To India 3:38
B8 –Bing Selfish And The Sycopants - Petrograd Brother 2:16
B9 –Lenin Lads - Moira 2:59
B10 –Lenin Lads - Hostile Lounge 1:53

PSSST!....wanna free DOWNLOAD of a tape?....yes?....then click HERE!

George Harrasment ‎– "Masai Sleep Walking" (Black Noise ‎– BN 6) 1980

George Harrasment (see what he did there?), was basically Bruno Wizard of the Homosexuals,aided a bit by various Homosexuals, L Voag being one of the pseudonyms of Jim Whelton aka Amos, aka Xantos Fray Bentos aka......it goes on.
What we've got here are 26 stripped down,mostly instrumental, song sketchs by the most pop orientated Homosexual, Bruno. Recorded in very lo, lo-fi, one can feel the squat ambience very nicely indeed.
Not the best starting point on your gaydar to uncover all the alias's of the Homosexuals. there are better versions on the  "Astral Glamour" triple CD-r on 'Hyped 2 Death'....i'll be posting that don't don't go and bloody buy it!

Tracklist:
A1 Vision Expanding
A2 Charlie Watts
A3 High And Low
A4 Black Noise
A5 Yoghurt
A6 Ants On Safari
A7 In My Age
A8 One Minute
A9 Victoria Falls
A10 Calvary
A11 Funeral
A12 Gimme Gimme
A13 Two Horizons
A14 Another Step
A15 Symponic Thais
A16 Making Eyes
B1 Collapsible You
B2 Across Continents
B3 Eclipse Of The Moon
B4 To-To Rello
B5 Especially To You
B6 Re Entry
B7 Symbols I Love
B8 Cheetah!
B9 Early Developments
B10 Final Distance

Credits:

Bass – L. Voag (tracks: B1, B6)
Featuring – The Homosexuals
Performer – Bruno(tracks: All), Vida S. (tracks: A7)
Voice – Zoe (tracks: A1, A5, A10)

Notes
All tracks were recorded at home. Some on 2 track Revo + some on Mono Portable cheapo cassette machine. All tracks mastered on cassette machine. Tracks: 10. on Side One + 1. 6. on Side Two Rough Mixes from Sloppy Sound Studios - Surrey. The first song on Side Two is sung by lovely 'Michelle' of Battersea. Love to the twins and L Voag for bass on Tracks 1. and 6. of Side Two and much inspiration on the rest. This album was cut at Pye Cutting Studios and consequently sounds terrible.
Part collaboration: Unsound Engineer at Free Range Studios, London: Andrew Bailey

DOWNLOAD in your sleep HERE!

The Tesco Bombers ‎– "Hernando's Hideaway" (Y Records ‎– Y 14) 1982

Mmmmm, sounds like they're haaving fun doesn't it?.....another Homosexuals spin-off, including the irritating britpopart ratpack member of the nineties, Keith Allen, father of Lily allen. Better known as the yobbish drunk twat who hung around with fellow drunk twats Damien Hirst,and that bloke from Blur, doing cocaine and champagne......because they could......and we didn't want to.
This isn't too bad for a semi-trendy chart attempt......its got Sara, on vocals, and Amos (Jim Whelton) to add some class and moral fibre.

Tracklist:

A Hernando's Hideaway
B1 Break The Ice At Parties
B2 Girl From Ipanena (Instrumental)

DOWNLOAD at asda price HERE!

Ici La Bas ‎– "Ici La Bas" (Black Noise ‎– No.4) 1979

Another piece in the Homosexuals' convoluted and deliberatly obscure jigsaw puzzle from 1979.Not that they would have garnered any fans from their first ep at all,but they would have lost them after changing their name for this 12" ep.A time homoured method of career suicide, if a career is what they wanted, which ,of course they didn't......what's a 'career' anyway? Slavery and compromise is the definition of 'Career', The Homosexuals stood for Freedom', a much better word.
There's no boring list of personnel, and who played what, just a bunch of made up pseudonyms, and band names as if it was a compilation.
The 'real' band aren't mentioned anywhere. Instead each track is by a different made-up artist to deliberately cause maximum confusion, enigma and mystery;which worked eventually, instead all that happened initially was zero sales.

1-Regard Omission - Sax; The Master, Gtr; JV Sang
2-The Total Drop - Ici La Bas
3-Galore Galore - Yanto Novitch
4-Nippon Airways - Dirty Mary Brown & the Mystiques
5-Flying - The Prolific Urdos
6-Cause a Commotion - drums; The Master, Gtr/vox; JV Sang, flute; Alex Smart.

No group of the time could match The Homosexuals' total disregard for ambition, or were as prolific, or exude such intelligence and understanding of the Rock'n'Roll myth.

They operated completely out of the mainstream with no coverage at all from the media of the time. This Black Noise release only serves to pile up yet more mystery upon mystery, with the scant documentation accumulated from previous releases only muddying the waters further.And,rhetorically, boy do they deserve muddying?

DOWNLOAD from here and over there HERE!

Amos & Lepke - "Modern shit will make you ill" (It's War Boys _ £21) 1984

As I recently acquired the sole missing piece of the "It's war Boys!" jigsaw, namely "Modern Shit Will Make you ill", aka, this tape......; and Amos (Jim Whelton) guested with The Work in Japan) and came from the same squatland scene as This Heat. I bring you this new chapter in the documentation of Amos/Its War Boys/Homosexuals recordings. Directly taken from the original Its War Boys catalog, here is one of the most obscure sonic works of the early 1980s, Modern Shit! First issued on tape (cat No. £21) this work circulated only privately among the close friends of the label and was never officially distributed. Actually, it represents one of the most intense and experimental outputs of this creative London squatland-garde period.
The idea was to create a contemporary 'Non-stop', vaguely in emulous contradiction to products by people like Cerrone and Biddulph (1970s disco queens- which in hindsight was probably even 'weirder' than this stuff?....it just lacked the sense of humour).
Lepke and Amos, the two minds behind this project (and 2/3 of the Milk from Cheltenham adventures), each constructed a half hour near-continuous non-stop collage using only the foulest materials.
In those days, they had their 8-track studio in a mouldy basement below Brixton Road, Sarf London and they happened to occasionally record some awful wannabe pop bands. It was a truly horrible experience for our heroes,but with a good side.
Almost as soon as the idiots left the studio, Lepke and Amos would start re-mixing their music, often stealing and sticking it (suitably mangled) onto new tracks, the basis material for "Modern Shit!"
Two pseudonymous British gentlemen lurk behind this Modern Shit. The first has used various vaguely absurd monikers over the years, including Amos, L. Voag, and Xentos “Fray” Bentos; the other has stuck with one improbable handle: Lepke Buchwater (no doubt meant to echo the name of legendary U.S. crime kingpin Lepke Buchalter). Currently, they comprise two-thirds of the excellent Die Trip Computer Die; in the late ’70s/early ’80s Amos was in the Homosexuals, the Just Measurers, Amos and Sara, and a host of other obscure bands, while Lepke was the brains behind the group Milk from Cheltenham.
Despite the fact that all these outfits produced wildly creative music, arguably some of the best from the post-punk era, chances are (with the possible the exception of the Homosexuals) you haven’t heard of any of them. In the case of most of these recordings, their low profile was due to a deliberate obscurantism stemming from a DIY/anti-capitalist rejection of the Music Business. As for the Modern Shit project, originally released in the early ’80s on Amos’s cassette label It’s War Boys, there was another reason for keeping things at an almost subterranean level. At the time, Amos and Lepke supported themselves by running a small recording studio, where they recorded all kinds of crappy local bands. As mentioned, after the bands had left, they would muck about with the session tapes—and a lot of that muckery/mockery found its way into this project.
Amos and Lepke’s plundered material got worked into two absurdist “mega-mixes” that were intended as a surrealistic parody of ’70s “non-stop” disco mixes produced by the likes of Cerrone (of Love in C Minor and Supernature fame). Each produced their own continuous half-hour mix, Amos’s appearing on the first side of the original cassette version (indexed as tracks 1 to 19), and Lepke’s on the flip (now tracks 20 to 37). 
Amos and Lepke worked with the same collection of resources, principally drum machines, keyboards, their own vocals, and all manner of “found” recordings—taken from records, TV, and the hapless local bands mentioned above (from whom they mostly lifted vocal tracks).
In terms of methodology, Amos’s mix bears less resemblance to an actual disco “non-stop” than Lepke’s, but it is nonetheless more impressive as a piece of music. In place of a disco’s steady rhythmic base, Amos uses recurring fragments or loops to create linkages between parts. (These bits and pieces can’t really be called “samples,” as it’s very unlikely either Amos or Lepke used samplers, which had barely been introduced at that point. Their dense collages were done the old-fashioned way, with tape manipulation, splicing, turntables, and loops.) Rhythmically, the last thing Amos lays down is a groove—rather, his rhythms are deliberately ridiculous and deranged. The mix’s wacked-out surrealism, however, is tempered by sections that are strangely beautiful, brooding, and mysterious. After a barrage of bizarrely collaged fragments, Amos’s side ends with a five-minute song that could almost seem normal if you weren’t really listening. A lifted vocal lead is rendered completely absurd through strange keyboard colourings and subtly off-kilter backing vocals.
Amos’s own lyrics (that is, when he himself is singing) are both comically ridiculous and somewhat menacing. They are also interrelated with the lyrics in Lepke’s mix: while nothing remotely like a coherent narrative emerges, both reference World War II, Nazis, and political repression.
Lepke’s mix is “funkier” than Amos’s—you can tap your foot to much of it, and an actual bona fide disco beat even crops up briefly. But it’s still a complete piss-take, and full of wildly demented humour.Hours of fun can be spent spotting the extracts form Holgar Czukay's 'Canaxis', and identifying snippets of Pierre Henri's musique concrete oeuvre.
The work these two produced,predates and will appeal to fans of the plunderphonic/cut-up work produced by Nurse with Wound, John Oswald, Stock, Hausen & Walkman, and People Like Us.But remember ,they got there first.

Tracklist:

(1-37) Modern Shit Will Make You Ill

DOWNLOAD this vintage shit HERE!

Narky Brillans - "Goes Into Orbo" (It's War Boys! Cassette, £13) 1981

It's the end of the year,so I'll do what every TV channel does and look back over the year at Die or DIY?
This time last year this blog has just been deleted by the (Ir)relevant authorities for some made up crimes against,among others, the Beatles; because one included a cover version of "I Love You" on a Stray Trolleys cassette!
The best part of a year was spent re-posting everything that was wiped,without consultation one may add, or with recourse to appeal. The inter-web my be relatively "free" but it ain't just, or secure from your own,and other countries' (USA) governments.

To celebrate(?) a year of mainly repeats,here's another repeat post,the imperious Narky Brillans 'goes into Orbo' (also known as Narki Brillans in some quarters;,but this time with a difference. Previously posted without full track editing, one has now been bothered to edit this masterpiece into its constituent tracks,and ripped it to high quality 320k mp3.
As usual with any It's War Boys release there appears to be inconsistencies with the track listing.There are seven tracks when only six are listed,so i am guessing as to which tracks are which. Checking with the vinyl re-release from a few years ago,which has eight tracks(?), i have identified one previously unlisted track,"Dave got a job in a Garage".

Here's the original review anyway:

"More looney tunes from the Homosexuals collective, this time by Narky Brillans, who created this unhinged sound collage back in 1981,again on cassette(£13 is the catalogue number not the price by the way). Brillans was a central member of that collective and this cracked 1981 side is the perfect distillation of the UK DIY aesthetic, with a series of songs, instrumentals and sound works that combine the subterranean rock style of Swell Maps with home-recorded rants, punk-pop instants, outer space drones and doomy synth. Don't know what the personnel was on this recording,but i can sense the presence of Jim Whelton, L Voag ,lurking somewhere in the background of this murky DIY concréte classic. Its very L.Voag in places, and has certain echos of the equally fantastic Gus Coma cassette(posted below,as this was also the victim of a DCMA claim,and had to be removed). These are the sound experiments that Stephen Stapleton allegedly heard to inspire his Nurse With Wound project."

Track Listing:(for Narky Brillans)

A1		Worship Worship U.S.A.
A2		On This Side Of The Tracks
A3		Dave got a job in a garage
A4		Fashist Tea Party
B1		ATom Making Bomb
B2		Falling Hole Into

B3    We Got U.S. Dollars

DOWNLOAD and Go into Orbo with Narky HERE!


GUS COMA - "Color Him Coma" (It's war Boys! £17) 1983 :

Gus Coma Tracklisting:

	Pro Walkabout Side
A1	Gut Morning
A2	Very Smart (it was)
A3	Are You Swede?
A4	Tourist
A5	Meet Our Employees
A6	The Cup Is Clean
A7	Televisions
A8	New Broom
A9	The Infiltrators
A10	Sonar Too Good
A11	The Boss's Terrible Handwritting
A12	Avril Shower
A13	Topic Of Cancer
A14	It's 09754
A15	Say Aaah
A16	Advice To The Elderly
A17	Bak Seat Driver
	Anti Walkman Side
B1	No More Shoes
B2	Shopping List
B3	Mr. West Today
B4	Stay At Home Housewife
B5	On 99 o o oh
B6	His Own 2 Feet
B7	Bethlehem
B8	Inteligent
B9	Directions
B10	Lemonade 'N' Beer
B11	His Master's Vox
B12	The Wrong Guy
B13	G'Bye For Now

Notes:

From the sleeve; "Gus Coma is 6 or 7 years old but with a brain and stomach ulcers of a 34yr old xcekutiv. Fanx to every one."

DOWNLOAD a colorful coma HERE!

The Homosexuals ‎– "The Homosexuals' Record" (Recommended Records ‎– RR 18) 1984

From the same fertile London Squats as This Heat, here's a band name to rival the Bathroom Renovations and Danny and the Dressmakers as 'best band name' ever. I wish i'd thought of it. The Homosexuals (and they were beaten up for it too), existed in London squatland from 1972, and recorded mostly to mono cassettes for themselves and friends. Hardly releasing anything in their lifetime, except a couple of singles and an e.p. between 1978 and 1982; this record collects the releases and selected highlights from the bucketload of cassettes they recorded. I prefer this collection to the 3cd astral Glamour set on Hyped2Death, as it cuts out the boring chaff and leaves the quality that this band were more than capable of, if they cared.Their angular guitars, complex melodies, and experimental leanings distanced them somewhat from the punk rock being created by their contemporaries, and has now cemented them as uk DIY legends. So much so that they(Bruno Wizard and backing band!) have now reformed and are touring.
Also the group members released various other records as various alias (which have be posted earlier on this blog), like L.Voag, Just Measurers , Amos and Sara, etc.
A reissue of the first single, 3 tracks from The Homosexuals EP, 6 songs* from the live-to-tape session at Surrey Sound that was one of the first things recorded there (You can tell which songs those are because of the awful distortion), 3 alternate mixes ** and Jim's wonderful "False Sentiments." Remastered by Bob Drake. Bruno's handsome mug appears on the cover courtesy of one of Suzy's videos... 
(Before any sad fucker mentions it, Yes, it's the CD version from 2003....yawn).

Track Listing:

1) My Night Out *
2) Technique Street *
3) Vociferous Slam (a different mix from the EP with some tape-wobble but many more effects) **
4) Soft South Africans "#1" (a previously-unreleased rough-mix) **
5) Neutron Lover *
6) A Million Keys *
7) Naming of Parts *
8) Kiss With Venom *
9) Divorce from Reality
10) Hearts in Exile (45 version)
11) All About Cheap
12) Soft South Africans (45 version)
13) False Sentiments
14) Mecho Madness (a radically different mix from the EP) **
15) Astral Glamour
16) The Birds Have Risen
17) Collapsible You (a longer, more dub-stye mix that turned up in Chris Cutler's unused tapes: the 3:45 original is on George Harrasment and AG)
18) Snapshots of Nairobi (instrumental: never released: there's also a live vocal version on Astral Glamour)
19) "Soft South Africans (raw)" Actually this is the original rough mix of "Hearts in Exile" with all the vocals and the three guitar-parts that Bruno faded out (in response to which Anton faded Bruno's vocals up-and-down, dub-style. This is the pre-mixing counterpart to the rough mix of "SSA" from the LP and it's an incredibly major "find" (It'll be on Astral Glamour, too, of course.)
20) Walk Before Imitate (from the Recommended 2LP sampler)
21) Still Living in My Car (from Venceremos)

DOWNLOAD the homosexuals' mp3 zip file HERE!

Various Artists ‎– "Recommended Records Sampler" (Recommended Records ‎– RR eight & nine) 1982

One of thee most right angled compilations of the early eighties was 'the Recommended Records Sampler. Released when Post Punk was turning into that 'New Pop' shite, and the even shite-er Goth nonsense. This handmade double album was unashamedly 'Prog' in its outlook, a dirty word, even amongst the obviously 'Prog' section of the Post-Punk brigade. Post-Punk was basically Progressive music,but with different (better) clothes,artwork,and in short song format. It's amusing to note how many intellectually interesting and/or progressive new records were released in 1977 and1978( doesn't include proggers from before punk broke). Probably only Throbbing Gristle,The Residents and Pere Ubu in '77, and Wire,Cabaret Voltaire,and PiL in '78? A Brain was not a obligatory requirement in Punk Rock,and neither was musicianship.All the big Punk Groups of '76 had prog fans as integral members (including Rotten),and some of them became the key players behind the post-punk-prog groups. The avalanche started from 1979 onwards,and continued to mutate up to 1982,when it began to sound as if the preceding five years hadn't happened.

Unknown to the new generation, the old guard of progressive music had carried on regardless,like the Henry Cow lot, and had evolved into the Rock in Opposition bracket; which is another way of saying 'Prog',but with a 'Post-Punk' edge.Like the NWOBHM,they took Punks urgency,and improved the older model for a modern,thinking,audience.

This set was definitely an eye-opener for me, with its glue and glitter sleeve, DIY artwork, and obvious anti-capitalist politics,and I noticed it had The Residents(with their best song),This Heat, and The Homosexuals on it, so it couldn't be Yes or ELP record; worth a punt.

Played this to death,and it helped me rediscover the Progger within,and still am today.

There's hardly a dull track on the four sides of this classic compilation,even the French bands are good?

Can't Recommend (Geddit?) this enough, even 32 years later.

I'll let Chris Cutler the man behind the label explain the reason for releasing this recording:
 "In 1982 Recommended was 4 years old, the catalogue had expanded and the label was firmly established; a sampler seemed an obvious and necessary next step. Compiling extracts from existing releases would have been boring, so I asked the most interesting groups under our umbrella to record something new. Most of them did. All the Rio groups appear, except for ETRON FOU LELOUBLAN who had broken up, and the sharp edge of the new generation of British bands is also well represented(THIS HEAT, THE WORK, THE HOMOSEXUALS, AMOS AND SARAH). But Europeans and Americans still predominate; the Japanese had not arrived yet. This record would have sounded very different 3 years later". "Intended on it's release to be a practical compendium, 25 years on this collection reappears as an indispensable document of the range and musical brilliance of a handful of left-field groups struggling to give shape to new musical vocabularies. The breadth of their imaginations is exemplary. And Inspiring." Chris Cutler, May 2008. 

Track Listing:

Side A:

Vogel: "Flaschenzug"
Faust: "Extract 5 from Faust Party Three: 'The Voice of the Pumpkin' "
Art Bears: "All Hail!"
Stormy Six: "Reparto Novità"
The Homosexuals: "Walk Before Imitate"
Joseph Racaille & Patrick Portella: "On ne Peut Plus Compter sur ses Doigts"
Feliu Gasul: "*"

Side B:

The Black Sheep: "Strangelove"
Univers Zero: "Influences"
Aksak Maboul & The Honeymoon Killers: "Boss de Crosses dans le Doulos"
The Work: "Houdini"
Henry Cow: "Slice"
Henry Cow: "Viva Pa Ubu"
Decibel: "Radio Extract"

Side C:

Art Zoyd: "Simulacres"
The Muffins: "Two Extracts from 'Chronometers' "
Heiner Goebbels: "Berlin Ku-Damm 12 April 1981"
Amos: "Steer Clear of England"
Conventum: "Commerce Nostalgique"
Hector Zazou & ZNR: "Vera C"

Side D:

This Heat: "Pool"
The Residents: "Walter Westinghouse"
R. Stevie Moore: "Pedestrian Hop" & "Copy Me"
Ron Pate: "Fun in the Fundus"
Picchio Dal Pozzo: "Uccelin del Bosco"
Robert Wyatt: "The Internazionale"

a DOWNLOAD is highly recommended so click HERE!