Monday 17 July 2017

Section 25 - "Illuminous Illuminae" (Relevant Music) 1982



Section 25 were probably one of the most successfully inept musicians since Neu to be taken half-seriously.As the only interesting group to come out of Blackpool who were named after a section of the mental health act;they made a strain of northern English Blackpool Krautrock. Another source of inspiration from the Prog era that infected the Post-Punk scene.
This cassette of demo's, jam's,and live bits, reminds one of second album Section 25, "The Key Of Dreams"; which was about as psychedelic as  Factory ever got with its sparse rudimentary guitar solo driven jams.Allegedly, that album was edited down to forty minutes from five hours of jam sessions.....must have been a job and a half finding something half good from that lot......this is of course, How funky krauts'Can' made their albums; the difference was, 'Can' had four very competent musicians to knock out some famous repetitive grooves, and Section 25's drummer was certainly no Jaki Liebezeit (RIP).....but shockingly, I think I prefer Section 25 to Can.....at least until they (S25) went 'disco'. Some would even label them as Acid House before Acid House?...which is pushing it a bit I think!?

Tracklist:

1–New Horizons Intro (Demo 1981)2:48
2–Are You There? (SSRU Demo 1981)2:09
3–Floating (SSRU Demo 1981)4:26
4–There Was A Time (SSRU Demo 1981)5:26
5–Rigi Rigi (Demo 2.1981)5:47
6–Mirror (London Lyceum 29.2.1980)2:57
7–You're On Your Own (Den Haag 1.11.1980)4:12
8–Friendly Fires (Den Haag 1.11.1980)3:56
9–One Step (Nottingham Rock City 18.4.1981)6:23
10–Opening (London The Venue 6.5.1982)8:47
11–Virtually Every (SSRU Demo 1981)3:28
12–Fallen (SSRU Demo 1981)1:12
13–Tape Loop (SSRU Demo 1981)3:33
14–Cry (SSRU Demo 1981)3:54
15-Subferior (SSRU Demo 1981)3:36
16–In The Garden Of Eden (SSRU Demo 1981)1:58
17–Never Mind The Sex Pistols Here's The Bollocks (Poulton Old Library 29.12.1978)1:26
18–Just To See Your Face (Blackpool Mardi Gras 7.1979)6:36

10 comments:

W. said...

I'm loving this - thank you - much preferable to CAN.

Anonymous said...

Look
https://www.discogs.com/es/SXXV-Illuminous-Illuminae/release/3693483

https://www.discogs.com/es/Various-Section-XXV-The-Night-Watch-Illuminus-Illumina/release/564610

Which disc is?

Chris Sessions said...

Same as the above comment. Great series of posts with the Factory related stuff. Thanks so much Jonny!

Jonny Zchivago said...

Cheers Chris, i wasn't going to post anything Factory, but sort of fell into it...and am rather enjoying reliving this stuff.

Jonny Zchivago said...

Although dunno what anonymous is going on about?

Chris Sessions said...

Not sure either! I was referring to the top comment about 'loving this!' Hopefully we'll see some more factory stuff at some point down the line... Until then, I'll enjoy the ride. Thanks!

Tom Avazian said...

I'll take can's best work over section 25's but I see your point. "Mushroom" would cause me to side with can if pressed. After all, how many songs are there written about the aftermath of nuclear war, written by someone who was there? Utterly affecting and brilliant if you let it catch you. Just found this blog while looking up the good missionaries. Kudos for this, tom.

RVax said...

Hello. There is a mistake here i think. What you provide is from a 2001 compilation which name is "The Night Watch / Illuminus Illumina". The "Illuminous Illuminae" tape is from 1982, with different tracks.
You can see it on discogs :
https://www.discogs.com/fr/Various-Section-XXV-The-Night-Watch-Illuminus-Illumina/release/564610

https://www.discogs.com/fr/SXXV-Illuminous-Illuminae/release/3693483

Jonny Zchivago said...

You are of course correct as it seems...dunno why i didn't cross reference the track listing! Ah well, its still good.

Jonathan said...

9–One Step (Nottingham Rock City 18.4.1981)6:23

Damn, I must have been there since we used to travel all over to see Section 25 back then, so we'd obviously have been to a gig at home, but I can't remember anything about it at all. Was it with New Order?

Then again, I shouldn't really be surprised since I can't remember half the gigs I've been to, even the ones I've been to this year.