Taken from "Trax Test excerpts from the modular network 1981-1987" 2LP/Download

'Trax Test’ is the first ever survey of Italy’s pioneering, visionary and influential label and mail art collectiveTrax, which ran from 1981 - 1987 as a network for the creation of collaborative projects. The collective included a pre-NWW Colin Potter and some of the earliest work from Masami Akita aka Merzbow, but also had deep connections with the art world; a few trax members went on to be be famous designers and artists -  Ettore Sottsass of hugely influential Memphis Group even guests on vocals on the last track of the compilation. The whole selection here is rare as heck and sorely in-demand by collectors, much of it now making its vinyl premiere some 30 odd years after the fact.

With credit due to compilers Vittore Baroni of Trax and Ecstatic’s avowed wave fiend, Alessio Natalizia (Not Waving) - who was also behind the Mutazione (Italian Electronic & New Wave Underground 1980-1988) - ‘Trax Test’ is a portal to the international scene which laid the grassroots for a proliferation of electronic music over the proceeding decades - a pioneering part of the infrastructure for independent music distribution which could be said to pre-echo the myriad social networks and platforms which exist for sharing music today.

As Frans De Waard astutely points out in the 16-page booklet, there were no ‘templates’ for this thing back then - as opposed to the forms of Soundcloud, Spotify or YouTube nowadays - meaning artists did everything DIY: from cutting, pasting and xeroxing their artwork to experimenting with recording techniques and disseminating their work; all resulting a wonderfully daring and freeform mosaic of ideas which valued the virtues of ostensibly ‘unfinished’ or open-ended work, when compared with more expensive, ‘proper’ studio output.

That’s not to say the music is a happy mess, it’s just that matters such as perfecting your mixdown or getting that hi-hat to sing just right weren’t a priority, whereas making and expressing something personal and non-mainstream were of upmost importance. These guys definitely didn’t have sync for TV and film in mind, or even dream of having their records available in shops. Rather they drew strength in their far-flung unity and counter-cultural resistance in a way that could still be learned from today.

A1 00I…Cancer - Telematic
A2 M.A.Phillips - You’Ve Lost That Loving Feeling
A3 Nausea - No Conversation
A4 Amok / Mecanique Vegetale - Untitled
A5 Daniele Ciullini / Amok - The Secret Door
A6 E-Coli - Borax 
A7 The Cop Killers - Cop Killers Theme / Calma Atmosfera
B1 Peter Mayer / Rod Summers / Robin Crozier / Capitalist Pig / Biagio D’Egidio - Notterossa/Rednight
B2 Piermario Ciani / Vittore Baroni / Nocturnal Emissions / De Rezke - Live Blister Bump
B3 Piermario Ciani / Ado Scaini / Enrico Piva / Giancarlo Martina - I Love Cancer
B4 B Sides - Tribuna Ludu
B5 Colin Potter - Solidarity At Wujek Colliery
C1 Piermario Ciani - Co.Mix 1
C2 Naif Orchestra - Fratelli d’Italia
C3 Merzbow (Vacation Of Merzbow Lowest Music & Arts) - Kimigayo
C4 Monty Cantsin - Catastronics
C5 Die Form - Sex By Force
C6 Utopia Production - Chainsaw Massacre
D1 Spirocheta Pergoli - Merendine
D2 Bi Nostalgia - Biosolution For Today
D3 Ptose - The Jellyfish’s Mood
D4 Vittore Baroni - (Living with) Prosthesis 
D5 DDAA - Ghosts Of The Paper Trumpets
D6 Zone Verte - Le Fantome De L’Elephant 
D7 I Nipoti del Faraone - Prendi l’osso e corri

Out on Ecstatic Recordings 08/09/17

TRAX TEST [EXCERPTS FROM THE MODULAR NETWORK 1981-1987]

BUY!

MERZBOW (VACATION OF MERZBOW LOWEST MUSIC & ARTS) - KIMIGAYO [ELP030]

Dead Weight

Pet Shop of Horrors [2017]

First track from "Berga", debut album by Clora released by Pomperipossa Records. Recorded in 2016 and produced by Clora

Listen/buy here:
https://open.spotify.com/album/58BSUu...

https://music.apple.com/se/album/berg...

Video & art by Maja Korpi
http://majakorpi.se
https://www.instagram.com/majakorpi

Pomperipossa Records
https://pomperipossarecords.com

Clora
https://soundcloud.com/c-l-o-r-a
https://www.facebook.com/cloramusik/

Berga

Blackwater (From "Berga" out now on Pomperipossa Records)

Press Start

Please listen with headphones or on lovely speakers. 

Mixed and Mastered by Mark Simpson (Songcraft Recordings)
Artwork by Garth Simmons

Julee Cruise

SECOND TIME BY PLAYGROUNDMCR (04-02-2020).wav

Barber Presents a Band is a podcast thing interviewing the best new talent making noise in the music scene at the moment, to find out a little bit more about them and their influences.

This episode we welcome The Be Positives, an incredible Rock 'n' Roll band based in Manchester.

Music in order:

1. 4:17 - THE BE POSITIVES - MONKEY (CHEETAH)

2. 5:25 - THE BE POSITIVES - LIKE EVERYONE

3. 7:24 - PAUL MCCARTNEY - MAYBE IM AMAZING

4. 10:03 - THE BAND - JAWBONE

5. 12:55 - NICK LOWE - LOVE STARVATION

6. 17:44 - THE BE POSITIVES - CIRCLES (THIRD MAN RECORDS RECORDING INTO SINGLE RELEASE)

7. 22:16 - THE EVERLY BROTHERS - POORY JENNY

8. 25:06 - BIG STAR - MOD LANG

9. 27:50 - THE BE POSITIVES - IT'S EASY (IF YOU TRY) - FROM OWED SUMMER, A COMPILATION ALBUM BY JOINT EFFORT AND RELEASED BY SOUR GRAPES RECORDS

CHECK OUT THE BE POSITIVES - THEY'RE BLOODY GREAT!

JOINT EFFORT ALBUM LINK: https://jointeffort1.bandcamp.com/releases 

THE PEER HAT CROWD FUNDING PAGE: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/thepeerhat?fbclid=IwAR2xGIvQvIpyeg_t358FYdE1giiazLCjE6eD0V0gKavzl2YZd6-4_2pWtk0

THANK YOU SO MUCH TO THE EDITOR IN CHIEF JACK GILMARTIN,
AND TO GEORGE FITZGERALD FOR THE FUNKY INTRO/OUTRO TUNE!

I do not own any of the rights to any of these songs.

BARBER PRESENTS A BAND: EP3 WITH THE BE POSITIVES

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Barber Presents a Band is a podcast interviewing the best new talent making noise in the music scene at the moment, to find out a little bit more about them and their influences.

This episode we speak to Locean, an Experimental band from Manchester.

Here's how it went...

Music in order:

1. 4:30 - Locean - Object

2. 6:28 -  Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood - Summer Wine

3. 7:28 - DNA - Blonde Redhead

4. 9:15 - Aqua Regia - Pump Up the L.E.D.S to Red, Take Some Drugs and Shake Your Head

5. 13:26 - Locean - Air Hostess

6. 16:28 - Locean - Shaved Skyn (UNRELEASED)

Thank you so much to the Editor-in-Chief Jack Gilmartin, and to George Fitzgerald for the funky Intro/Outro tune.

I do not own any of the rights to any of these songs.

BARBER PRESENTS A BAND: EP 6 WITH LOCEAN

Alternative/Shoegaze/Goth/Riffs/Ambient

Aughra (pronounced org-ra) are a seven piece Manchester-based band.

Their live sound includes three electric guitars, with bass and percussion, blended with ambient electronic elements and mystical sax. Kyuss, Sleep, Cocteau Twins and Lynchian soundtracks influence the instrumentation. The vocals are inspired by the likes of Elizabeth Fraser, Julee Cruise and Anna Calvi, creating a powerful and elegant vocal over dark melodic arrangements.

“An Aughra performance is a deceptive experience – let your thoughts idle for a few seconds and expect to bear the consequences.” (MIMR)

“Recalling the visceral power of Shellac and the heady atmospherics of Cocteau Twins, Aughra’s strength lies in their brilliant use of contrasting moods and textures - one minute languorous, the next snarling and carnivorous. The end result – as shown on standout songs such as Dead Weight and Corpse White – is the sort of bewitching, mesmeric brew that wouldn’t sound out of place on a David Lynch soundtrack.” David Sue (Manchester Evening News)

“Creating a brimming brew of dark, atmospheric sound steeped in textures, emotional energies and impassioned vocals – Aughra defy genre particulars and instead head straight for the eardrums. Some listeners may lose themselves in the band’s shimmering shoegaze quality, whilst others can thrash and roll with each wonderful weave of noir-rock riffs. This is genuinely interesting music, Sally Mason’s visceral vocals working with the skilled instrumentation of Simon Mayne’s lead guitar, bass from Rob Hatton and James Field on drums to open up tracks such as ‘Dead Weight’ and ‘Corpse White’. A merging of musicianship that develops Gothic-tinges into a gutsy punch over the course of each track.” Emily Oldfield (HAUNT Manchester)

Current Line Up:

Sally (Vocals/Guitar)
Greg (Guitar)
HC (Guitar)
Ellie (Synth)
Alex (Sax)
Andi (Bass)
Max (Drums)

On Julee Cruise:
James Field (Drums)
Rob Hatton (Bass)
Simon Mayne (Guitar)
Sally Mason (Vocals/Guitar)

On Dead Weight/Corpse White/Blue Light:
Drums - Lorna Blundell 
Vocals/Guitar/Bass - Sally Mason

Mixed and Mastered by Mark Simpson (Songcraft Recordings)
Artwork - Garth Simmons

Julee Cruise

AUGHRA

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