The Island of Doctor Death

 C'est la Mort was a small but influential independent record label that operated from the home of Woodrow "Woody" Dumas in Baker, Louisiana. C'est la Mort specialized in ethereal, ambient, dream pop & darkwave bands. It operated from 1985 to about 1994.

postcard  sent to mailing list members announcing the next CLM release

The label featured a series of Doctor Death compilations, which grew out of Dumas's Doctor Death radio show. Dumas began his Dr. Death radio show on KLSU in December of 1983. The radio show led to a mail order business known as Deadly Records, then eventually to the CLM label itself. In all there were six Dr. Death compilation albums released. They presented highlights from many of the labels stable of bands: album; non-album; & previously unreleased tracks. C'est La Mort did much of its business via mail order & indie record stores, but did eventually establish distribution through Cargo in the '90s.

Associated bands included: Area, Beautiful Pea Green Boat, East Ash, Heavenly Bodies, Handful of Snowdrops, Controlled Bleeding, The Arms of Someone New, Johanna's House of Glamour, Room Nine & Psyche along with many others.

A few C'est La Mort releases, including all four Area albums, were eventually reissued by Projekt's Archive sub-label. Any releases not reissued by Projekt remain long out-of-print & most difficult to locate.

Various Artists - Doctor Death's Volume IV - The Marvels Of Insect Life,

C'est La Mort CLM 029-2, 1990.
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Tracklist:

M-1 Alternative - The Marvels of Insect Life Theme
Johanna's House of Glamour - Dark Hour
Mumbles - Two Clouds
Double Happiness - Cut
Critical Mass - Vacation
Flower Sermon - If God Is
M-1 Alternative - Slumming
Talisker Tale - Alone
Psychic Surgery - Greeks & Romans
Area - Green Light
Blackgirls - Translator
Leigh Gregory - Athea
Halcyon Daze - Ragman
Millions, The - Delicate Balance
Magnetic Fields, The - Crowd of Drifters
Future Neighbors - Salty Sea
& Siamese Urbain - Whale's Belly
Handful of Snowdrops - Now, Then & Forever

Enjoy,

NØ  

There Will be Big Blood

Big Blood is known as “the phantom four piece”. Featuring Colleen Kinsella, Asian Mae, Caleb Mulkerin, & Rose Philistine. Appearing only as a duo. Two members are on the physical plane & two are on the more cerebral train. 

Cerberus Shoal, now on ‘hiatus’ according to Caleb, is a prolific Portland, Maine ensemble of art rock weirdos. They formed in 1994 at the Berklee College of Music (Boston), a group of Maine expatriates led by Chriss Sutherland & Caleb Mulkerin. Things like: their self-titled first release; Crash My Moon Yacht; collaborations with others, including Herman Dune & The Magic Carpathians Project or Sir Alan Bishop of Sun City Girls fame (called The Vim & Vigour of Alvarius B & Cerberus Shoal);...are all must-haves, in my opinion. Colleen Kinsella joined Cerberus Shoal for 2003s Chaiming the Knoblessone. She quickly became vital to the group as multi-instrumentalist & singer. Her vocals veer from a very distant & dry delivery to screaming banshee heart-plucking bitchgodessness.

 Big Blood evolved from Cerberus Shoal. Colleen & Caleb had a baby together, thus changing the dynamics of sound & soul. Big Blood became their outlet for musical, artistic & familial activities. In the past 4 years, they've released 13 or 14 full-length CDRs, each one reflecting the set list from a live show they've played.  Each CDR is unique unto itself, not a glimmer of rot, predictability, or filler.  This disc is from a couple shows: Space Gallery – Jan. 27, 2007 + Sahara Club – Jan. 28, 2007. You can get most or all of their output free at Free Music Archives. I picked this one because “She Said Nothing” (blush…blush).

 Big Blood – Space Gallery Jan. 27, 2007, DontTrusttheRuin-dttr 005, 2009. 

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Glory Daze

The Rise of Qunnisa Rose

A Troublesome Lot I

Shrining Light

She Said Nothing

A Hole in One

Don’t Trust the Rain

A Troublesome Lot II

Sequins

Enjoy,

NØ

Donnez-moi un Billet pour un Avion

Métal Urbain was one of the first French punk groups, formed in 1976 in Paris. Probably because the French already have such a pissy attitude toward everything, punk never caught on there like it did with the Brits or the Yanks. The Brits dug MU, so UKs Rough Trade signed them & released “Paris Maquis b/w Cle de Contact” as their first single (RT001).

Although they were heavily influenced by The Clash & The Sex Pistols, they used much more heavily distorted guitars & they replaced the traditional rock rhythm section of bass guitar - drums with a synthesizer & a drum machine

The band broke up by 1979, though Éric Débris – singer & electronics & Charlie H – electronics went on to become Metal Boys, teaming up with mysterious English vocalist China to record Tokio Airport in 1980. It was re-released in 2003 & 2004 with different (some added & some missing) tracks.

 Metal Boys ‎– Tokyo Airport, Celluloid ‎– CEL 2-6560, 1980. 

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Side A –

New Malden

Parlez Moi d’Argent

Carbone 14

The Pleasure

Café Sale

Love in Dub

Side B –

Colt 45

Commando

Hurry Back

Tokio Airport

Un Petit Peu d’Amour

Enjoy,

NØ

It's a Miracle

Miracle is some mighty fine example of On-U Sound. Bim Sherman was a bright star in the Jamaican Dub/Reggae world by the mid-70s. Adrian Sherwood heard Bim & dug his style. He invited Bim over to London to do some work with On-U Sound. Bim went & stayed.

Miracle was released in 1996 on On-U & Mantra with: Bim Sherman – vocals; Skip McDonald – acoustic guitar & backing vocals; Doug Wimbish – bass; Talvin Singh – tablas & percussion; & Carlton Oglivie – backing vocals. With additional strings by Studio Beats Orchestra Bombay.

What I’m offering up today is the Miracle Demo Sessions from 1995. These are unreleased acoustic versions that later were developed into the Miracles official release.

 Bim Sherman & Fats Comet & Friends – The Miracle Demo Sessions cassette, 1995.

Side A –

Life (called “Simple Life” on Miracle)

Golden Locks

Over the Rainbow

Side B –

Missing You

Just Can’t Stand It

Bewildered

My Woman

Enjoy,

On-U (I mean NØ)

Leave on the Jacket

Bromheads Jacket emerged from the burgeoning musick scene in Sheffield, England in 2005. They have been lumped with the other Sheffield bands of the time. However, with their crude sound situated somewhere between punk & indie rock, they are heavier than most of their citymates. Tim Hampton provides heavy guitar. His singing style & Hampshire accent also adds another element that adds to their uniqueness. Some say they sound like The Streets on speed, but others are sure Bromheads Jacket combines the sound of Squeeze, Bad Manners & the Sex Pistols.

Most of their output is available free from the band or elsewhere on the interweb. In 2009 they became a two piece known simply as Bromheads, with the loss of bassist Jono West. They have played tirelessly since that time, touring & playing shows & festivals. In fact they have a new album, Choro, due out April 13th this year that can be preordered on theirofficial site.

Well, here is a demo of some of the songs they played live their first couple years.

Bromheads Jacket are: Tim Hampton (vocals - guitar), Jono West (bass) & Dan Potter (drums).

Bromheads Jacket – Demos, 2005?6? (I made up the cover)

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Trip to the Golden Arches

Land of the Brave

A Pinch of Psalt

Met a Dark Girl

SRI’s & Big Bore 4’s

Celebriyism

ATM

Enjoy,

NØ

Close only Counts in Love & Handgrenades

After the Fats Comet singles, a friend asked me to post up Tackhead’s first full length release, 1989s Friendly as a Hand Grenade. All the usual suspects plus Bernard Fowler on vocals. Some new & many older instrumental tracks with added lyrics & vocals. All songs written & composed by Bernard Fowler & Tackhead except "Ska Trek" by Prince Buster. 

 Tackhead – Friendly as a Hand Grenade, TVT 4060-1, 1989. 

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Side A –

Ska Trek 1

Tell Me the Hurt

Mind & Movement

Stealing

Side B –

Airborne Ranger

Body to Burn

Demolition House

Free South Africa

Ticking Time Bomb

Ska Trek 2

Enjoy,

NØ

Meanwhile, in LA

Mardi Gras time again. I need to tell you this, dear friends…

I wish to warn you about a new crime ring that is targeting business travelers. This ring is well organized, well funded, has very skilled personnel, & is currently in most major cities, recently very active in New Orleans.

With the highly intoxicated masses mobbing the Big Easy, they are making for BIG EASY pickings.

A person in the bar walks up as you revel & offers to buy you a drink.

The last thing you remembers until you wake up in a hotel room bath tub, your body submerged to the neck in ice, is sipping that drink. There is a note taped to the wall instructing you not to move, but to call 911. A phone is on a small table next to the bathtub for you to make the call.

 You call 911. They have become quite familiar with these calls. The 911 operator instructs you to very slowly & carefully reach behind you to feel if there is a tube protruding from your lower back. The you find the tube & answers, "Yes." The 911 operator tells you to remain still, having already sent paramedics to help. The operator knows that one or both your kidneys have been harvested.

This is not a scam or out of a science fiction novel, it is real. You have just become another victim of kidneythieves.

 With the release of 2011s The Invisible Plan, kidneythieves had been honing their art & telling their story for 14 years. Trickster was the beginning of that story. Although Trickstereprocess is still available, this 1998 debut album seems to be unavailable for the time being.

kidneythieves was an industrial rock band led by Free Dominguez –vocals & Bruce Somers – guitar & engineering) often with Chris Schleyer – guitar , Christian Dorris -bass, & Sean Sellers - drums.

kidneythieves – Trickster, Push-64494-90202-2, 1998.

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Tracklist:

Taxicab Messiah

S & M (A Love Song)

Swanmate

Feathers

Trickstrer

Creature

K

Pretty

Layers

Pleasant

Mustard Seed 

Enjoy,

NØ

This Dub's On-U

On-U Sound with Adrian Sherwood at the helm produced, in my opinion, the best dub outside of Jamaica. When Sherwood met Keith LeBlanc in New York in 1984, things would never be the same at On-U or in the world of dub musick.

LeBlanc met up with Skip McDonald & Doug Wimbish in 1979. McDonald & Wimbish had been part of the New York 70s disco scene in the band Wood Brass & Steel They released a self-titled album in 1976 on Turbo records that gave them a pair of minor hits, "Always There" (a Ronnie Laws cover) & "Funkanova" (an underground jazz/disco classic still enjoyed by club-goers decades later). After meeting LeBlanc, the three hooked up with the newly-formed Sugarhill Records. They soon became the label's house band, providing backing for the Sugarhill Gang, Grandmaster Flash, & Melle Mel. They were instrumental (literally) in launching 80s rap.

 As Sugarhill self-destructed (accompanied by drawn-out legal hassles over musick rights), the three musicians continued to work together on various projects. Described as one of the day’s ‘most extraordinary rhythm sections’, they moved on from Sugarhill to Tom Silverman's Tommy Boy label. There Keith LeBlanc released some solo work ("Maneuvers" & "Uh!" on the 1985 Masters Of The Beat compilation). He created the now legendary unique DMX drumbeats style by mixing it with his own special drum sound. LeBlanc’s release "Malcolm X No Sell Out" featured the cut-up words of civil rights activist Malcolm X juxtaposed against the infamous DMX drumbeat, now acknowledged as the first ever sampling record. Sugarhill had purchased some of Malcolm X’s speeches & LeBlanc got some samples from Marshall Chess. He then recorded “Malcolm X No Sell Out” at Tommy Boy, as Sugarhill was not willing to pay Malcolm’s widow royalties. In fact, Sugarhill released a version of the song, credited to the phony group Sugarhill All-Stars.

"Malcolm X No Sell Out" caught the attention of London's dub-meister extraordinare & On-U Sound label owner Adrian Sherwood. Sherwood was working on a remix of Akabu’s "Watch Yourself" for Tommy Boy. He met LeBlanc, along with Keith’s cohorts McDonald & Wimbish. This meeting spawned the radical collaboration between the British producer & the three American musicians that continues to this day. Later the four teamed up in London to begin work on a new project which they christened Tackhead/Fats Comet. Wimbish came up with the name Tackhead, which is New Jersey slang for homeboy. Fats Comet was the alter ego of Tackhead.

Tackhead is the zenith of years of experimental collaboration: LeBlanc’s beats; Sherwood’s Dub Methodology; McDonald’s distorted guitar; & Wimbish’s funky bass.

To quote Steve Barker's liner notes for the Tackhead/Fats Comet compilations Power Inc., volumes 1 & 2:
      "In short, the master plan, although never commited to either memory or paper, was for                 Tackhead to take dub/funk on a journey through leftfield and into the unknown to God knows where, and then for Fats Comet to pilot the mothership smoothly back from this alternative dimension to a safe earthly landing with sounds that you would recognise instantly without ever having heard before."

Here, collected in one place, are all the singles of FatsComet…

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BOP  BOP  

(12" on World Records & Magic Records/World Records - 1985/1988)

• Bop Bop
• Zoop Zoop

Credited: Fats Comet and The Big Sound

 DEE JAY'S DREAM

(12" on World Records - 1985/1988)

• Dee Jay's Dream
• Dee Jay's Program
• Eat the Beat

 DON'T FORGET THAT BEAT

(12" on Rough Trade Records - 1985/1987)

• Don't Forget that Beat
• Freak Out

Credited: Doug Wimbish featuring Fats Comet

 KING OF THE BEAT 

(12" on World Records - 1986, never officially released)

• King of the Beat
• (It's Time)
• Body to Burn (So Different)
• Eat the Beat (Put a Smile on Your Face)
• (Now Here Comes that Beat)

Credited: Fats Comet with DJ Cheese

 ROCKCHESTER

(12" on World Records - 1987)

• Rockchester
• O.K. Bye!

 STORMY WEATHER

(12" on Rough Trade Records/Logarhythm Records/Rough Trade Records - 1985/1986/1987)

• Stormy Weather
• Dub Storm

Enjoy,

NØ

How about Some New Electric Music?

I don’t really have to say much here, do I? The Dead C. Lotsa noise…lotsa fun.

This is from 2002 & TDC are at this point exploring sound experimentation. They start out kinda slow on “Killer”, but the resonant guitar tones keep shifting pitch with strange regularity, & analog sounding clicks & pops signal weird changes in structure. Minimalism at its most exquisite. Next,“Hush” even features some so-called ‘vocals’. Trippy. There’s radio noise, distorted guitars, free-form drumming, variable pacing, more distorto vocals. Then “Forever”, which doesn’t really last forever, only 30+ minutes, screams with bowed guitar & feedback, barrages of purest sublime noise.

I don’t really have much to say. The Dead C. If you don’t know ‘em, you might not want to start here. If you know ‘em & like ‘em, this is tastee!

 The Dead C – New Electric Music, Language Recordings – LR Three, 2002.

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Killer

Hush

Repulsion

Stand

Forever

Enjoy,

NØ

A Man with Everything Against Him

Patrick Miller, leader of underground ensemble Minimal Man, was born in Glendale, California, on 2 January 1952. He studied art at Sonoma State University, where he concentrated chiefly on silk-screening. In 1979 he moved to San Francisco & began working on experimental musick & film. Minimal Man began as a vehicle to produce soundtracks for his films. Miller also began to collaborate with a wide variety of punk, new wave & industrial musicians, including Tuxedomoon. By October Minimal Man was performing at the legendary Deaf Club & other venues around the city. As the musick blossomed, Miller became less interested in film & more interested in the music itself.

Minimal Man cut two albums of dark industrial punk rock (The Shroud Of… &  Safari ) while in San Francisco. The debut Minimal Man album The Shroud Of... was originally released by Berkeley label Subterranean Records in 1981, when the core band was a trio made up of: Miller – vocals, keyboards, & tape manipulation; Andrew Baumer – bass & saxophone & Lliam Hart (Pansy Division) - drums. Minimal Man became one of a select handful of influential groups from this era to bridge punk & industrial music. They mixed punk aggression with tape-loops & atmospheric electronics, creating a dissonant, unsettling sound described at the time as ‘antimusic’. Although usually classified as industrial punk, Minimal Mam’a musick contained elements of cold wave, art rock, post-punk, new wave, avant-garde, experimental electronics & noise.

Although the foundation of the band was Miller, Baumer, & Hart, Miller wanted the group to be more of a musical collective, so their debut record featured contributions from a myriad of artists: Hitoshi Sasaki; Stephen Wymore (Pink Section); Stefano Paolillo; Michael Belfer (Sleepers, Tuxedomoon); Steven Brown (Tuxedomoon); Michael Fox (Code of Honor) & Gary Miles. However, only their debut & Slave Lullabyes (featured here) would showcase such an array of collaborators.

Miller relocated to Europe in 1985 after the dismal response to the band here in America, settling in Brussels alongside fellow SF expats Tuxedomoon. While there, the band released four albums: Sex With God; Slave Lullabyes; Hunger is All She has Ever Known;  & Pure.

In the 1990's Miller returned to America, settling first in New York, then back to California, working as a set dresser in the movie business. He stayed in that line of work & never recorded any further music. He died at his home in Eagle Rock, California on 14th December 2003 from Hepatitis C.

 Minimal Man – Slave Lullayes, Fundamental SAVE 11, 1986. 

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Side One –

Trains

Heaven Lies

Far Away

War at Nite

The Light

Noose Gets Tight

Side Two –

I Wish

Rue du Cinema

Voice of Vacaville

Fun!

Enjoy,

NØ

Happy Beekeeper's Day - - - Psych!

Braen’s Machine was an obscure studio project of renowned Italian composer Piero Umiliani 

with the help of Morricone spaghetti-western whistler-extraordinaire & guitar wizard Alessandro Alessandroni (aka Braen).

Recorded in the SoundWorkShop studio in January 1971. It was released in a very limited issue of around 100 copies on Umiliani’s own Liuto label. This is instrumental psych featuring acid-drenched fuzz guitar, Hammond keyboards & interesting drumming. It could easily be the soundtrack to an unknown movie.

Braen’s Machine – Underground, Liuto Records LRS 0044, 1971. 

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Side A:

Flying
Imphormal
Murder
Gap
Military Police

Side B:
New Experience
Fall Out
Obstinacy
Description

Enjoy,

NØ

What a Week It's Been

The Past Seven Days were from Sheffield, England. They signed with 4AD & released this single.

 

 

I know these tracks are both available on 1997 4AD rerelease of Various Artists - Natures Mortes-Still Lives, a compilation of early 4AD bands that was originally released in Japan in 1981. I just thought that some folks might like to have the original so here it is. I liked a lot of older 4AD bands (Xmal Deutschland, The Wolfgang Press, & more). This is some early post-punk, kinda dark but not really goth, maybe more like noir. There are plenty of synthesizers, but it is not synth driven, there is plenty of scratchy guitar, sparse rhythms, & early 80s era moody vocals.

I believe this is the bands only release. After this 7”, they left left 4AD to sign with DinDisc (home of OMD & Martha & The Muffins, among others). They seem never to have had any output on that label, unfortunately. 

 

 

 The Past Seven Days – Raindance b/w So Many Others 7”, 4AD – AD102, 1981.

Side A – Raindance

Side B – So Many Others

Enjoy,

NØ

Alzheimer's & Osteoporosis & Incontinence, Oh My

Re-Upload: This delight has been re-upped on August 31, 2020 from files rescued from the apocalypse. Enjoy, NØ

Common Ailments of Maturity formed in Boston in1985 with Lawrence Dersch, Dennis Plinn, & Timothy (Ratdiet) Robert. They are most noted for their live shows which featured new member John Breglia who took over as keyboards, bass, & melody on his Chapman Stick. The Stick was popularized by Tony Levine in King Crimson.

     “Imagine creating music on a stringed instrument that is simultaneously a guitar,

       a bass, a piano, & percussion. Add unlimited electronic capabilities & forward-    

       thinking playing techniques for ultimate expression. Now, design a tuning to

       make navigation of the instrument amazingly simple, streamline the look &

       feel for optimal accessibility. This instrument already exists as the

       Chapman Stick.”

CAM released three LPs & two singles in their short life-span. The band was active until about 1992 when they released their final work, the single “Machinery Turning b/w Erosion”. They were praised by the music press, played with the best of the Boston underground, but reached a relatively small audience. This could be caused by the fact that they played a noisy, difficult, uncompromising music which was hard to pigeon-holed. It’s funk-jazz fusion blended with punk, creating a highly personal disharmonic rock ‘n’ roll.

Smoldering Lunchbox released in 1987 by Common Ailments of Maturity themselves, on their label Extremely High Quality Records (EHQ 12001). On this recording, CAM was: Timothy Ratdiet – guitar & vocals; Dennis Plinn - synthesizer; & Lawrence Dersch - drums.

The following pseudo-biography is from the records insert:

“April 30 1987
Fed up with hearing "Proud Mary" and "We've Only Just Begun" every night for twelve consecutive years, Dennis Plinn abandons his lucrative position as musical director of a Caribbean cruise ship. He moves to Boston, taking a job as piano accompanist for a strip tease act at the Naked I Cabaret in the city's notorious combat zone. Although the money isn't good, Plinn finds his new occupation spiritually uplifting.

October 1 1987
Lawrence Dersch is financially ruined, alcoholic and homeless. Once a well respected radio and television technician, his skill have become obsolete with the advent of the microchip. Desperate, Dersch turns to panhandling in Boston's subway corridors. On this evening, though, his fortune takes a turn for the better...Dersch discovers he can triple his income by beating out rhythms on the foreheads of passing commuters. Dersch becomes a local celebrity overnight.

October 21, 1987 5:45 PM
Timothy Ratdiet, importer of counterfeit Fender Stratocasters, locks up his office on the tenth floor of a dingy warehouse in Boston's Chinatown section. In a dark mood after making a hush money payment to a U.S. Department of Commerce official, Ratdiet drives his '83 Porsche 911 two blocks to the Naked I for a stiff drink and a new attitude.

October 22, 1987 2:35 AM
After a massive barroom brawl at the Naked I, Ratdiet, Plinn and Dersch find themselves sharing a cell in Boston Police District Four Headquarters. Discovering a common interest, the three while away the hours waiting for a bail bondsman by singing Lithuanian folk songs of the 18th century. Common Ailments of Maturity is born.”

Common Ailments of Maturity ‎– Smoldering Lunchbox, 

Extremely High Quality Records ‎– EHQ 12001, 1987. 

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Side One –

Smoldering Lunchbox

Carpet Bag

Mental Block

Wetness

Side Two –

Drop Dead

Stake

Trudge

Restless Hunger/ Trench

Acid Mix

Enjoy,

NØ

It's All ABout Exposure

The Night that Donna Martin Lost Her Virginity refers to an episode of the original 90210 in which Tori Spelling as Donna Martin lost… This is a Greek project with some of the same personnel that gave the world About Exposure - About Exposure. This project is Abex (ABout EXposure, get it) 2, espousing the same philosophy: 

     “We believe that music exploration has definitely been constrained by means of property, money makin’ and fame gainin’. Therefore these recordings are given away for free. 200 copies were distributed hand by hand. Keep copying. The cost of this project was 100 €, June 2003”

Instantly classic experimental, music-noir, instrumental, electro, darkcore, trip-core.

The Night that Donna Martin Lost Her Virginity – Abex 2, self-recorded, 2003.

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Tracklist:

1.

ice

i have to feed my soul

would you hold my hand (if I had a gun)

dirty summer

παρένθεση

έτσι

i don’t have a dream

one more blippy song

10

Enjoy,

NØ