Ennui / Impulse

Marine: Life In Reverse / Marenas Bop / Scrub  Les Disques Du Crépuscule (1981) It's about time this weblog brought the funk, and trust the Belgians to be the ones to bring it.  After centuries of of minimal musical influence, Benelux bands were everywhere in the 1980s, mainly via  Les Disques Du Crépuscule ,  one of the most successful independent labels of the era. Like their UK counterpart Factory there was no end to their pretension and ambition and the label ended up running a fancy bistro in Brussels, which is perhaps why their label name always makes me think of pancakes. Life in Reverse features punctual bass and drums and some groovy work on at least two guitars further complemented by nondescript vocals and an incomprehensible lyric ('I'm such a happy'). This is punctuated by a bongo beat down, some party time whistles and a sax on the edge of a nervous breakdown. It's an arch and s lightly self-conscious record, as if the group are aw

Martin O'Cuthbert:  Serene Machines / Space Will Weave Our Destiny Esoteric Records (1978) Textbook DIY single, from the wraparound photocopied sleeve to the home recorded wobbles and wonks within. Martin O'Cuthbert composed, performed and produced this E.P, the first of many, on a record label he set up to ensure his music could be heard.  Martin saw Esoteric as 'An underground label offering an alternative to the total commercialism of the major record companies...a label which will become big in terms of imaginative music and resolute ideas, but not big in the sense of unfeeling disposable product attitude of the money orientated majors'. Mission accomplished, young man. Both sides have a great deal of sparse charm, consisting only of Farfisa Organ, Electric Piano, some drums and various sparingly used electronic effects. The overall impression is of someone trying out a new keyboard, prodding at it and twiddling the knobs and being pleasantly sur

Bee Vamp: Valium Girls / Lucky Grills / With Barry in Bengal  Monster in Orbit Records (1981)  'Well tell me, do you ever get headaches?' One in three of all post punk bands came from Liverpool. Probably. You may not know this, but the city apparently has a rich musical heritage.  Bee Vamp  won't be getting a statue, a coach tour or a commemorative tin of shortbread biscuits any time soon, but they did leave behind two nice singles, the first of which is the quietly extraordinary  Valium Girls .   Intoxication is a standard subject for popular music in all its forms, particularly the getting high and the coming down. Fewer songs tackle domestic addiction, however, the epidemic of ordinary people in the thrall of prescription or over the counter remedies which now, apparently, affects nearly a million people in the UK alone. This song both parodies and celebrates the public’s obsession with pain killers, sounding like an art rock version of a pharmaceutica

prag VEC: Bits / Wolf / Existential / Cigarettes Spec Records (1978) 'There is no future, 'cause you're in a fiction' Accomplished and confident, occasionally strident, prag VEC released two singles, and recorded three sessions for John Peel. Their name is a conflation of Pragmatic and Vector,  too complex for Ingsoc but  very  Philip K. Dick. Beneath their paint spattered punk facade, Bits and Wolf have a quirky Canterbury poly-rhythm going on, an almost progressive rock-ist interest in complex time signatures and interesting chords involving lots of fingers. These short, sweet, swervy blasts are agit-prop nursery rhymes played by supply teachers high on sexual politics, radical economics and arts centre poetry.   Existential is the pick of the bunch, a sultry slow burner punctuated by angry, intellectual sounding French language narration and a series of wild, jagged guitar solos. It's tremendous, Stereolab plus steroids.  Finally, ther

File Under Pop: Heathrow / Corrugate / Heathrow 5LB Rough Trade Records RT0011 (1979) Everybody has a record in them. It may not be a double album, it may not be any good, but it's there, waiting to be pulled out. The post punk era facilitated many such extractions, from eager and energetic boys and girls who spent a couple of hours and a few quid in a cheap local studio and committed the results to black plastic for future generations to blog about.  File Under Pop (full irony to be revealed) released a solitary 45, a three track effort where two of the tracks were recorded live at London Heathrow Airport. These tracks are not musical in any conventional sense, consisting of nothing but snatches of ambience, tinny tannoy announcements, overheard conversations and a series of unnerving inorganic noises including at least one electronic arcade game and what sounds like a witch being electrocuted. They are  jarring, badly recorded and compressed to hell, and sound like a