PF's PARTLY Slowly Shifting Shakespeare
Strange experimental electronic instrumentals, with the quite possibly unique concept of Shakespeare sonnets being recited over the music. One track mixes an Oriental sounding melody with vaguely dubby bits and weird 'wow-wow' electronic noises. Some tracks put me in mind of Gary K's unusual instrumental music. Other tracks are just plain experimental and not reminiscent of anything I've heard before. Unlike some experimental artists, PF's Partly don't just make noise. This is odd music, but it still has melody. Info from P Ferrett, 10 Atherton Street, New Brighton, Wirral, Merseyside CH45 2NY.

THE KLANGERS Space Hopper
6 tracks of experimental electronica. Has lots of spacey bloops and bleeps which overshadow what little tune there is. All a bit atonal for me, but if you're into this sort of thing contact Fergus Taggart - jackt@largs94.fslife.co.uk

DJ KOMIKON Rogue State Space Shot EP (Catchpenny)
Deterrence: lots of pounding beats, then some droning. Stigma: rumbling noise that just sounds as though you're listening to a faulty tape or something. When the tape hiss comes on at the end it just sounds like a quieter version of the track itself! Adrenalin/Launch Commit: more pounding beats and droning noise, then a sound effect like gunfire, with rumbling noise in the background. Staging: droning and harsh percussion. I really don't know what the point of all this is, it just seems like a row to these ears. More tune please! But if experimental noise is your sorta thing, contact Catchpenny Records, PO Box 88, Mold CH7 4ZQ.
The Catchpenny lot mean well - their fanzine Viva Sparky! expresses their liking for lo-fi, marginal music that never gets exposure on Radio 1 or Top of the Pops, and they are to be praised for this, but DJ Komikon is just too avant garde for me.

SHY RIGHTS MOVEMENT The Happiness Project (KAW)
Shy Rights Movement were a full band at one time, but now they're a two-piece, one of which is Mark Ritchie, who also records solo songs under the name of Frank Peck. This tape is somewhat ironically titled, as the songs it contains are anything but happy. Here are 10 minimal and extremely sombre songs, very much in the style of solo Frank Peck. kawtapes@hotmail.com

WHAT IF I Gone
4 song demo from this pop-punk band who sound like a cross between American bands like Green Day, Blink 182 and Bad Religion, and UK bands such as Mega City Four. Dingus adds a ska touch to the pop-punk, in a similar way to Who Moved The Ground? Paperweight is a tad gloomier than the other songs, with elements of fairly dark and angsty melodic rock as well as the pop and punk, and sounds less like the bands mentioned above. This sort of poppy punk has been done a million times before, but What If I are good at their chosen style of music. theband@visitwhatifi.co.uk

MARTOC The Only Good Man Is A Machine (Esoteric)
More quirky music from Martoc, most of which is a particularly odd variety of synthpop. Most of the vocals are spoken, as with previous stuff I've heard from him. There's also We Are Legion, a recited poem minus the backing music, and a techno remix of Avoid the Void. Synthpop and techno, yes, but a zillion miles away from the mainstream versions of these styles. As the label name suggests, this is definitely music for a specialist audience. Warped Mirrors is sort of rap, but too kooky to fit completely into that pigeonhole. People into the tapes scene may remember a tape called Power by James Call - this song is comparable to that. Doctor Tin God is a political song attacking mainstream medicine, with abrasive vocals. The punny-titled Mental Patience continues the puns in the lyrics - "I haven't yet passed my padded cell by date". Info on this and previous tapes from martoc@martoc.demon.co.uk

MOV YENIS Vay, Vay, Vay (Catchpenny)
Different to the experimental noise previously sent to me by Catchpenny - this band are lo-fi punk. Or should I say were lo-fi punk - the band only existed for six months during 1994. The band's lead singer, Tomasz Mlenejek, has pointed out that the songs may have historical significance in future as they could be the only songs with rock instrumentation ever written in the Wilhommenik language from the border of Poland and Russia. It is believed that the language is now only spoken by less than 200 people, none of whom are under 40, due to Communist suppression. When restrictions on the usage of the language were lifted, Mlenejek began to write songs in the language.
These four songs are melodic punk, a genre that's often ridden with cliches, but the first two songs here show that this band have their own ideas too, not just in their choice of singing in the Wilhommenik language. Part of the melody of Vay, Vay, Vay sounds as though it could be inspired by Eastern European folk music. The verse of Teenan sounds like a playground rhyme or traditional saying (well, the sing-song sound of it does, I've no idea what it actually means). Garit Uleinen is more like straightforward melodic punk - reminds me a bit of Squire's most punky song, Livin' In The City - but that's no bad thing, Squire were good. Mots is even more straightforward punk of the shouty variety - my least favourite track here as I don't normally like shouty music. The other three songs are worth checking out if you like melodic punk, but not the currently fashionable variety. catchpennyrecords@hotmail.com

MOTHBURNER The Threat of Storms
Reviewers often class Mothburner as goth or darkwave, and whilst their music is dark, I don't think either of these descriptions are entirely accurate. The band told me in a letter that their own description was 'gothic blues', and this is a very accurate categorisation for My Little Girl Come Home. This song is the most gothic blues I've ever heard from Mothburner. The other three songs aren't at all gothic though. Never Very Pretty could almost be from a musical or light opera - all it needs is some orchestral instrumentation instead of the sparse homemade arrangement it has here. The other two songs, Banish the Chill From Our Bones and The Fury are my favourites on this tape. They are sombre but also very pretty songs, and are reminiscent of traditional folk. I've always seen Mothburner as more folk than goth, and these two songs confirm my previous thoughts even more. Info from mothburner@yahoo.co.uk

THE PSYCHEDELIC BREAKFAST Memory Lapse
Despite the wacky name, this band have a mature, serious sound. Memory Lapse mixes the more popular end of indie music with psych-rock guitar and spacey synth. Chemical Youth comes across a bit like The Police at times. An odd comparison for this sort of band perhaps, but it has to be said that the melody is rather Police or even solo Sting-ish. I doubt very much that this is an intentional influence though. The overall feel of the song is somewhere between 80s rock and recent indierock, heavily garnished with psychedelia.
Final song Little Earthmen is probably the most psychedelic track here. Remember a band called Arthur, from the early 90s? The way this song goes "c'mon, c'mon, c'mon" reminds me of them, and other bits of the song put me in mind of them a bit as well. It's a more restrained song than anything by Arthur though. A rather good slice of laid-back psych-rock with fluid, meandering guitar.
The Psychedelic Breakfast are a very competent sounding band with a sound suggestive of people with decades of musical experience, but this lot are actually only in their late teens/early 20s. They've already had major label interest, which comes as no surprise. To hear them before they're snapped up by a big label contact thebreakfast@hotmail.com

PSYCHON MIST/PEEP Fompas (Morc)
Psychon Mist do instrumental music where post-rock meets neo-classical meets experimental electronica. The titles are usually quirky ones like Behold My Flushroom! and Five is No Collar for an Engineer. Mostly a bit too experimental for me, but I do like Peep, whose music is usually on the darker side of lo-fi pop. There's also Popsong which, despite the title, is more folk than pop. A good band, I'd like to hear more from them. Contact Wim at Morc - lecluyse_wimgg@hotmail.com

VARIOUS Colliding with the Zeitgeist (KAW)
Diverse compilation from this long-running tape label. Includes minimalist, homemade pop from Ajiao, Pernath, Ruth Sherbourne, Timo (who also has a less minimal song), Prethead, Chauchat and Treho's Blues, off-centre noisiness from Ceramic Hobs, a countrified, 60s tinged song with a probable Byrds influence from Chowpilot, who also appear here with a post-rock instrumental that sounds like a completely different band, 80s-ish indiepop from The Spanish Amanda, experimental stuff from Killy Dog Box, Opaque and Zent One, indie-rock from Ian C Stewart, and off-centre and quite dark indiepop from Dan Susnara. Some stuff here doesn't grab me - stuff like Opaque just sounds like an awful row to these ears - but the more pop/melodic stuff is worth a listen, particularly if you're into the more lo-fi side of pop. Chowpilot's song-based stuff is especially good. kawtapes@hotmail.com

FUTURISTS Boardwalk, Sheffield 26/8/00 (Live Magic)
This band includes Michael Canning, whose solo album was excellent, and an ex-member of Myro, who also did some good stuff, so I was expecting great things from this tape. Unfortunately, the first few tracks fail to impress me - a freeform jam thing that's too noisy for me. There are a few melodic moments but unfortunately they don't last very long. But then there's Sailor, a good piece of off-centre indie-rock, and Rise Again, a just as good spacey psych thing. A shame the rest of the tape wasn't more like these tracks though. Rise Again is also available as a single, along with The Memeticist, which mixes the freeform and the melodic. info@ghostjogger.com

VARIOUS Poetry Missile #1
Compilation in a radio show style, hosted by Andy Savage. Includes poems from Tony Walsh, Shadow Poet, Colin Cross, B D Vissian, Steve Sneyd, The Ghost of Ethelred Skudge Naggernunk and Larry Blazek. It's not all poetry though - there's also music from lo-fi artists Government, Asa Vage (aka Andy Savage) and B Sizzey, punkpop and indierock from Grasp, guitar pop from Trevor Hall and experimental electronica from The Warden Hills Walkers. It's a very warts 'n' all recording - if Andy 'trips up' when reading a poem, the mistakes are left in, and you can hear a child's voice in the background when he's reading/singing. The sound quality isn't great either but if you can see through that, there are a few gems to be found. Costs £2 from Andy Savage, 19 Downside Road, Whitfield, Dover, Kent CT16 3NS, UK.

VARIOUS Drowning by the Sea (Coastline)
This label has apparently been around for 10 years, but they must have been keeping a pretty low profile, as despite having extensive contact with tape label and fanzine people over the last decade, I've only recently discovered Coastline. In fact the label is now defunct, but they still have some tapes left if you're interested.
Erosion One start the tape with some unlistenable rumbling noise, but fortunately the rest of the tape does not continue in the same vein! Rashamon appear with a good instrumental which is post-rock meets spacey psych stuff. Donkey Kong Jr do lo-fi pop, also good. Oliva Spleen does poetry with bizarre titles - Like Deja Vu Carried On A Smell and Fart in a Barrel! Stendec have a melodic electronic piece. Catnip are another lo-fi pop band. S/W do lo-fi experimentalism, but with more tune than you may expect from that description. The Boy From Tomorrow & Retro Jim's High Speed Car Chase sounds exactly like the title suggests, like music inspired by 70s action movies. More lo-fi pop from Scout next, then some indie-rock meets pop-punk with spacey noises from The Ital Jets, who I'd like to hear more from. Azatzl do post-rock that starts off subdued then gets more noisy with a few discordant moments, before returning to the earlier laid-back sound. Stay Out Forever's track is singing over a very basic one-note guitar strum, very amateurish. Duplo have an indiepop meets spacerock song which is good even though the recording is a little murky. Finally there's a Britney Spears parody by an unnamed artist.
As this compilation begins with bad experimental noise I thought the rest of the tape might follow in a similar fashion, but it turned out to be surprisingly good most of the time. There's something here to please most homemade music fans I'd expect. Contact Stu, 15 Tudor Avenue, St Leonards on Sea, East Sussex TN38 0NS.

VARIOUS Trains Across the Sea (Coastline)
Starts with another pointless experimental track, this time from Sewercare. More experimentalism next from Toyskin, but this track makes more sense. Not quite as good as their more song-based stuff though, but that's just my preference for songs over out-and-out experimental stuff. A live track next from Ellen Cherry - sounds like it might be a good song, but it's somewhat buried under a bootleg quality recording. Shinecello are pre-Lowgold, and they do very good indiepop with post-rock-ish elements. The Hamms do irritating electronic noise - their track is described as an 'extract'; if this is an extract I'd hate to hear the full version! Mayumi & Friends are much easier on the ear - a mostly 60s-inspired song with a few 80s indiepop elements. Verlaine does acoustic pop. The Boy From Tomorrow talks about his cat whilst some experimental music/noise goes on in the background. Tim Hoyte does folkish singer-songwriter stuff; the recording is pretty lo-fi but the music itself is very good, would like to hear more from him. Oliva Spleen reads dark poetry. Minimus 3 do experimental music which is part spacey drones, part electronica, part noise.
Sterling Winthrop has an instrumental with folk and post-rock elements; unfortunately the recording is very quiet and you can't hear bits of it. The Citadels are noisepop that's good but very lo-fi and the sound drops out in places. Scout do acoustic lo-fi pop. Christopher Saint and his Well Dressed Three aren't the 60s style garage band you might expect from the name, but mildly irritating, rumbling electronic noise. Bobby Rae Lemon does slightly off-centre lo-fi pop. The Terrible Twins do folkish stuff that seems a bit tongue in cheek. No Marc does acoustic pop, as does Understudy. Stendec do experimental electronica that's actually listenable. Stay Out Forever do spoken word and unaccompanied singing. Rashamon do some chaotic random experimentation, followed by some much better melodic instrumentals. Donkey Kong Jr have some good indiepop tinged with non-naff country and psychedelia - another band I'd like to hear more from.
Further info from Stu at the address above.

VARIOUS Music from Beyond the Border
Homegrown Mailorder, based in Renfrewshire, stocks music exclusively by Scottish bands. Some you're probably familiar with, like Urusei Yatsura, Aereogramme, Biffy Clyro, Snow Patrol and Eska. Most of the bands, however, are unsigned or less well established. Niall sent me this tape (which isn't actually available to buy, it's just a selection of some of the stuff Homegrown have to offer) with the idea that I tell you about Homegrown and if you're interested in buying any of the releases, contact him for more info. Much of the music comes from an indierock/noisepop direction - bands include Mercury Tilt Switch, Odeon Beat Club, False Address, Desalvo, Stapleton, Single Point of Light, Troika, Degrassi and Ballboy.
There are also a few poppier/less noisy bands - My Legendary Girlfriend are here with a really poppy song about cloning and designer babies, Tacoma Radar have an old-school melancholic indiepop song, Cayto (not to be confused with the other two bands whose names are pronounced the same, Cato and Kaito) whose song here is kind of angsty and has strings, Camera Obscura have a really good old style jangly pop song, Micronesia do a kind of atmospheric pop, Peter Rose (also of Johnson) does alt-country, Yessa De Paso do lo-fi pop with post-rock elements, and Tyro do atmospheric, electronicy pop. There's also experimental music from Aether Flux and post-rock from Laeto.
I heard My Legendary Girlfriend and Camera Obscura ages ago and wasn't that struck, but these songs (presumably more recent ones?) are great, I'll have to track down some more stuff by them. Further details from homegrownfanzine@hotmail.com

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