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With recent reports from various think tanks predicting we have somewhere in the range of 15 years left before the collapse of society begins, it would seem like Kevin Martin’s sonic predictions of dystopian London that were set out on 2008’s London Zoo were pretty accurate. And if we are in fact declining rapidly to chaos, there’s no better time then the present to take the focus of that sonic assault from earthly domains and blast it to the netherworlds above and below. London Zoo is where Martin, found his true voice. Pulling the fringes into a collective, unilaterally hateful assault. A psychological warfare driven by bass that on one hand captured a moment of London, yet also encapsulated a global message influenced by years of timeless and classic out-music. The latest offering from the The Bug, Angels & Devils, escapes the London cage, drawing on it for influence yet blowing it up into a world-view now seen from Martin’s new Berlin home. A record that simultaneously draws on London Zoo, completes a triptych cycle which started with his Bug debut Pressure, and fills the spaces between and inserts what was missing previously. Both a year zero re-set and a continuation of what has been. Like the Bowie/Eno classic Low, or Can’s Tago Mago, the album is split into two distinct themes and explorations of light & dark. Bringing the Angel & Devil voices together under a single common banner. Antagonist at times, but not solely for the sake of being antagonistic, there’s a beauty and lush sparseness to be found within, even when at its most chaotic. Truly only The Bug could find the common ground between Liz Harris (of Grouper) and Death Grips and make it seamless. Angels & Devils stretches the polarity of its predecessor in both directions simultaneously and is even more extreme for its new found seductiveness and added intensity. Deep space is explored, and physical assault is administered. In these days of YouTube quick fixes, and single tune memory spans, its a joy to witness Martin actually charting a cohesive narrative that rejoices in celebrating life through sonic sex and violence, beauty and ugliness. This is an audio thriller that delights in pursuing its own singular path/vision. With the Angel side(s) up first, things kick off with Liz Harris (of Grouper) in the submerged lushness that is “Void.” Followed by contributions from ex Hype Wiliams half copeland (“Fall”), the blissed out patois of touring partner Miss Red (“Mi Lost”), two truly zoned Bug instrumentals, and rounded out by Gonjasufi on “Save Me/” It’s a collection of heady, dubbed out cinematic blissfulness with a lurking darkness before giving way to devils… Devils leads off with the return of long time collaborator Flowdan on the mic and the guitar of Justin Broadrick (Godflesh / Jesu) bringing a complete about face to the proceedings and setting the tone with “The One.” Roll Deep’s Manga steps up next with the instant Bug classic “Function,” which is being currently smashed on dubplate, by Mala, Kahn and Logan Sama. Death Grips raise the antagonistic bar with “Fuck A Bitch.” Flowdan and Justin Broadrick come back for the cinematic death crawl of “Fat Mac. “Warrior Queen steps in for hands down the nastiest vocal she’s ever delivered (which is saying a lot) for “Fuck You,” and finally Flowdan steps up again to round it all off with a Devils battle cry of sorts “dirty, fuck that murky…” The concept is completed by the artistic expression it’s packaged in, courtesy of Simon Fowler (Cataract). Known for his work for Sunn O))), Earth, and others, Simon has delivered a stunning hand drawn illustration, that sort that would make Bosch proud, showing the duality of the proceedings. Utopian/dystopian, black/white, complexity/singularity, negative/positive…Angels/Devils.

 
File Under: Electronic, Grime, Dancehall

 

Jennifer Castle: Pink City (Idee Fixe) LP

File Under: Singer-Songwriter, CanCon
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The late summer of 1985 was a rather pleasant one for Martin Newell. Now past 30, and sick of being at odds with the London music industry, he decided to give up – not music exactly – but any attempt to make a living from it. Though Newell and his new musical partner Giles Smith continued to casually record and Under Wartime Conditions continued to pick up good reviews, including one in the UK’s Sound magazine, there was no intent to continue on. Yet it was due to this sporadic period of recording that the Cleaners came to, quite nonchalantly, release the cassette Living With Victoria Grey. After sending the nearly unmarked cassette to a few fanzines and selling the cassettes for $2 apiece (or even giving them away), Newell once again forgot about music until a young man named Andy McQueen offered Newell an interesting deal: though there would be little money, he and Smith could record a high quality Cleaners record without the interference of a producer. The two began working on Going to England. Although 7 of the songs from Living With Victoria Grey would appear on the album, the cassette was all but forgotten, the only master copy having been lost. It wasn’t until almost 10 years later that Newell was approached by a man he’d never met before who said, “You sent me this, many years ago and told me to look after it. I did. I thought you’d like it back now.” It was the master copy of Living With Victoria Grey. Over 10 years after its initial, quiet release, Captured Tracks is pleased to present Living With Victoria Grey on vinyl for the first time as part of the final installment of the Cleaners from Venus collection. 

Following the release of Living With Victoria Grey, Martin Newell and the Cleaners from Venus once again began taking their musical careers seriously, releasing a few singles and two vinyl LPs. However by late 1988 Newell and bass player Peter Nelson left the band and ended up forming a side project by the name of The Brotherhood of Lizards. After busking and loosely recording some demos, the band was signed to the independent label Deltic Records. Newell and Nelson gained quite a bit of media attention for their guitar driven rock by refusing to tour by anything but bicycle. This generated a lot of attention for the band, but unfortunately Nelson left the band before it could fully come to fruition. What we find in Number Thirteen is a transitional period from Newell. Intended as a demo, the cassette received positive feedback, but ultimately led no where. At 37 years old, Newell reflected upon the almost two decades of hard work and musical activity which had led him to this point. One morning he got up and began to coolly put his instruments away. He turned his small upstairs music studio into a room for books and writing. He decided to turn to the life of gardening that he’d always thought upon. However the simple life of a gardener would not last long. Newell soon found success with his poetry and writing, penning a semi-regular column for London’s Independent, appearing on many TV and radio programs and publishing several collections. Finally, in the autumn of 1992, through another series of connections and coincidences, he was asked if he would like to make a solo album, with none other than XTC’s Andy Partridge in the producer’s chair. The first thing he did, before dusting off his long abandoned instruments, was send Partridge a handful of songs from the Cleaners from Venus’ Number Thirteen cassette. Four of these would eventually form the basis of what became his first solo album and international success, The Greatest Living Englishman. The quartet of songs chosen by Partridge were, “The Jangling Man,” “Home Counties Boy,” “A Street Called Prospect” and “Christmas in Suburbia.” Number Thirteen is one of the many stepping stone releases that have led Martin Newell and the Cleaners From Venus through their storied career. Available for the first time on vinyl, and seeing its first wide release, Captured Tracks is pleased to give you Number Thirteen.

File Under: UK Indie
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Cleaners From Venus: My Back Wages (Captured Tracks) LP
Considered the “last ever” Cleaners From Venus release, My Back Wages is comprised primarily of songs written in 1992 while Martin Newell was quarantined with the Chickenpox. While some songs made it onto Newell’s The Greatest Living Englishman, many fell into obscurity, never to be released. That is until some 8 years later when long time Cleaners supporters JAR Music Germany, a small DIY label, released a collection entitled My Back Wages. Newell claims to have had no knowledge of the release, but the punning title of the album has his paw prints all over it. After spending the years between 1992 and 2000 focusing on his writing, poetry and gardening, and when the release surfaced in 2000, Newell had little recollection of even sending the songs to his friends at JAR. When Newell heard it, he was surprised to find that musical additions had been made to the tracks, which polished up his spontaneously and sometimes sloppy recording style. Newell felt touched that anyone would be interested, or even care about something which he’d regarded as a rag-bag of demos. Conversely, as a natural musical anarchist, the idea that anyone, anywhere, considered that they knew better than he did, annoyed him. This version of My Back Wages as issued by Captured Tracks, therefore, is Martin Newell’s own ‘producers cut’ of oddities, out-takes and ‘orphan songs’. “Crane Drivers” for instance, was made after a friend with a brand new Roland U20 keyboard, lent it to Newell for two days, challenging him to make a complete song using only the sounds contained within its pre-sets. “Haunt Your House” was a demo written for The Damned, who were short of songs for an album at that time. It was never used. Over 20 years later, Captured Tracks is thrilled to give Newell the chance to release this material on his own terms and put the Cleaners to rest once and for all.

File Under: UK Indie Rock

 

Etron Fou LeLoublan: Les Troise Fou’s Perdegagnent (Replica) LP
Second album by Etron Fou LeLoublan avant-rock / rock-in-opposition French pioneers. Etron Fou LeLoublan had definitely moved up a notch with this release and things would actually get even better with the next release! Still, this album is quite a juicy steak that will take quite some time to devour with the end results exceeding beyond the initial anticipations.