UT – "Ut" (Out Records – OUT R 01) 1984

Another early UT,again recorded at Cold Storage, ably assisted by Charles Bullen...he of This Heat....under the auspices of John Loder, who produced or provided technical expertise to a plethora of Punky Rocky types,most notably, from my point of view, Rudimentary Peni ;can't get better than that...so no surprise that he died before he turned 60.

Luckily I've never achieved anything as perfect as Rudi P or i'd only have 2 years to live!

Charles and John had a brave stab at recording UT,the result of which is this EP,and showcases UT's classic improvised No wave tunage. Discordant struming,a fine sounding muddy Bass,and a drum kit reduced to tribal toms without the Funk,no flim-flams or paradiddles here,just things being hit with sticks.

Tracklist:

1 Sham Shack
2 This Bliss
3 New Colour
4 Exilee Goes Out

DOWNLOAD IT HERE!

UT – "Conviction" (Out Records – OUT R 03) 1985

UT recorded at This Heat's / David Cunningham's Cold Storage facility shocker! Recorded/produced by Henry Cow chap Tim Hodgkinson,who contributes his nefarious saxophonal abilities,as well as some dodgy drumming.....all assisted by all round 'decent chap' Charles Bullen,late of This Heat. You may even notice,Tim's ugly fizzog displayed on the cover surrounded by pretty avant-garde rock chicks looking moody and existential;or is that Antonin Artaud?...also looking moody and existential...he was an Ac-tor you know.I also suspect that our fun chum Antonin is the fellow in an unfortunate postion on the cover too. 

It seems,even experimental avant-rock No wave music never fails to cash in on having a pretty lady on the cover at the slightest opportunity.

At the risk of being brought to tears by a mob of livid and shouty vegan lezzers I must approve of this brazen use of female imagery as bait for the casual male music nerd to chance an arm on....or at least a wrist?

As jolly good UT are.....i think they are still going sporadically?....they seem unappreciated in their native lands,never gaining a release there from a US based label. Brits always like a less successful in america american looming on the local scene don't they? And dismissing them as Avant-Wank fodder is a trifle disingenuous of me....but funny.However, this debut Lp doesn't quite reach the dizzying heights of their later work .....don't get me wrong,it's still jolly good,it's just that there was better to come....oh alright I fancy them too.....they have pulses don't they?

Tracklist:

1.Confidential
2.Sick
3.Phoenix
4.Absent Farmer
5.Stain
6.Prehistory
7.Bedouin
8.Kcahsmahs (Spare Coconut)
9.Mouse Sleep

DOWNLOAD out of cold storage HERE!

UT – "Ut Live Nov 1981" (Out Tapes – OUT 001) 1982

A tangle with the DCMA(Copyright protection shit) has left me upset and directionless.It seems that some corporate entity has Steve Beresfords back, so this leaves me no choice but to act on a recent suggestion as to "Why No UT?".....also 'Cut Hands' was put forward...but that's William Bennett,and the same reason exists as to why there is no longer any Whitehouse on this blog......although William was very polite about it,so I complied like the pop stars bitch I am.

I am sensing another crackdown like that last seen in 2012,so it seems that every decade we get some shit....I have it all backed up ready.

I suppose UT are No wave are they not? I am told that the tunes,or No Tunes, are improvised behind the words,which are not???? Why?

Apparently, not having actually seen UT live, they were well known for long..."Artistic"....discussions between pieces,as to who plays what and what goes where. I suspect a reluctance for rehearsal time here.

The sound quality is very good.Obviously taken from the sound-desk,and,as proudly displayed on the cassette itself...."No Dolby".....I am tempted to do some Spinal Tapisms here,but will refrain...but its true innit...You don't do heavy metal in Dolby!

I don't really know if UT were posh girls from wherever Posh Girls come from in the USA,but i suspect it is so. I am reassured by my reluctance to Google to see if they were actors, like Mars were,which is a real turn off.Do these people know real pain? The music suggests they do if you listen with your mind.The juries out,and the verdict hasn't been corrupted by exposure to media sources,mainstream or alternative.The pop'n'rock world is littered with fake news,which is all part of the myth that makes it all so much more enjoyable.The right wrong facts make it all so much more ....well...y'know? Somethings are best left unsaid....They're Posh alright! Not quite at Marianne Faithful levels but enough to ooze art schooling paid for by rich parents.If that qualifies at all as Posh?

The politics of Envy are big on these shores,but i don't envy being dismissed as Posh....which of course I have been back in the fertile seed beds of my distant youth,where the weeds grew woody and bitter,and no-one is allowed an escape route by the fellow inmates.

So i think that all means that UT are good.

DOWNLOAD without dolby HERE!