The untimely return of Postman Lomu

Around 4 years ago I birthed a project called Postman Lomu, a kind of harder-edged noise-wall-ish adjacent sound that was a bit too cut-throat for my usual Soloman Tump sounds.  The project was a response to the feelings on the sudden Russian invasion of Ukraine - and its sad to note that the whole bloody war still rumbles on and civilisians are still dying in ghastly numbers every day.  

My original blog post can be found here.

I have updated the original стіна EP release with an additional long form track, a 20 minute recording of harsh noise rumblings and synth grumblings. The EP also now includes the track "attempt 3" which was featured on the Monolithic Blocks compilation by Camembert Électrique, also from 2022.

https://solomantump.bandcamp.com/album/- is where you will find the updated EP....

So this is very much a Postman Lomu month.  I submitted a new original track for the incredible Mima Kass fundraising compilation WITH LOVE AND NOISE by Blacksmith Noise Records, 180+ tracks covering all forms of experimental sounds and noises, an incredible listen and an honour to be part of the project. For a minimum donation of $1 (please give generously) you get 16+ hours of sounds to entice, arouse, perplex and stun you with.  Do it!  Oh, Postman Lomu - "Noise for Mima Kass" is track 129 if you were wondering :)

AND...

On top of all that, I just decided to relaunch a couple of my old Soloman Tump releases under the Postman Lomu banner.  These 2 x 20-minute long (ish) tracks were early experimental netlabel releases by me, on The Dark Thursday netlabel.  That label is no longer with us, so I felt it was time to resurrect these archival recordings, update the artwork, and share them for all once again. 

You can give the new/old tracks a listen here.  I would be interested to know what you think! It is interesting for me to listen to these again after a few years and hear the gestation of the original Soloman Tump sound, although be it a bit "harsher".  There is the structure and rhythm (kinda buried under the noise a bit), but also the field recording manipulations and meddling that went on to become a main part of my early EP recording methods. I think I started making these tracks in 2017, and I can't really remember what equipment I had available to me around then.  But its nice to hear the primitive workings with less kit, and its been a fun process to visit them again and makes we want to return to that method of working.  So, expect maybe some more sounds of this ilk coming again soon.

The photograph for On A Dark Thursday comes from Nesscliffe Training Camp in Shropshire, which keeps with the military themes explored with the cover photo of the стіна EP.

As always thanks for reading / listening.

Soloman Tump - Bun Rights

 

The wonderful Human Geography Recordings released a few of my tracks under the name "Bun Rights" and I'm very proud of this one.  It's the second of their C-15 series, the first being released by the wonderful Stonecirclesampler  but you should also check out other excellent releases from the likes of Black Hair Rolled in Dried Blood, QNDFK and Liminal Haze which have all featured on previous episodes of my Tump Clump radio show. 

So anyway, you can grab a final copy of the tape here if you are quick, or the digital, and both come with a bonus track recorded from the same session:

https://human-geography-recordings.bandcamp.com/album/bun-rights 

My text for the label to stick under the release;

Soloman Tump - Bun Rights

Recorded at home and in the field May - July 2023.

Field recordings from across Dartmoor, UK.
Sounds composed through no-input mixing, resonant instruments Geiger Lab (thanks to Plague Arish) and homemade scrap metal instruments, all connected through various effects pedals.

Side A - Bun Barrow
Field recordings from visiting Bun Barrow and the nearby Blackslade Ford. It is meant to be summer, yet the weather is abysmal.

Side B - Shewte Rights
No input-mixer drones and collapsing feedback. A response to the wild camping ban - which has since been lifted. Not that we stopped anyway. Leave no trace; create only memories.

Side C - Knave-Go-By (digital bonus track)
An additional recording spawned from the recording sessions, named after the village, which is sometimes thought to be on Dartmoor yet is located in Cornwall. A real outsider.

 

Photo is from near Meldon Quarry, Dartmoor.  Nature reclaiming the steel that we put there years ago. '

Thank you for having me Human Geography Recordings! I really like the aesthetics of your label and the exciting sounds that you are putting out there.  

I did a real tape

I failed at mentioning it too much on this blog prior to release because I didn't want to broadcast details before the label did; and then it sold out pretty quickly, and then I forgot. 

My collaborative album alongside Paradox Encounter Group (aka Paul Xemporium) seemed to go down pretty well.  It was one of those long distance pass files backwards and forwards editing as we go along type things.  

If you so desire you can grab the digital direct from Tone Burst here, they did a fantastic job on the artwork and the physical media so I suggest supporting them if you are able. Couple of aleftover artist copies of the tape available on my bandcamp page if you wish....

Was a fun and slightly chaotic album to work on.  Paul sent me 4 of his tracks; I worked some ideas of them.  He liked them so much he called them "finished". Hah! Brilliant.  Me, the forever procrastinator, wanted to work some more magic into them.  But in the end we kept with the raw / DIY approach of calling it down.  I then sent him 4 of my tracks which became 5 once Paul had finished.  8 of them made it to the tape and the last one was played on Tump Clump a few months ago.  It might end up online at some point. 

the P.E.G sound is one of harsh noises and volume shifts.  The Soloman Tump sound is one of dismal repetitions and electronics.  I think they go together quite well. 

My original photo which inspired the artwork

The Tump Clump Episode 15 - MIXCLOUDSPESH

The Tump Clump reaches episode 15, and due to the summer siesta for SoundArt Radio, this is a Mixcloud exclusive edition for July / August.  Which also coincides with my 40th birthday so I decided to play a few extra tracks because I do not need to stick to the usual prescribed one hour slot......

Another disclaimer: I only play tracks I own. Either physically, digitally, or gifted to me direct from the artist/label.  If you enjoy the sounds played on this show, please directly support the artists and labels buy purchasing some of their art.

https://www.mixcloud.com/solomantump/the-tump-clump-15-040822/ 

Opening with the monolithic drone of Shiverdust by Lucidet which is taken from the Life Death Chaos Order album, a sprawling 4xCD / digital album of longform dirge and dark dynamics.  A feast of a trip if ever there was one.

Drek 5 by Ekoplekz is next - part of a suite of unreleased tracks that Nick was kind enough to send me a while back.  Check out his new single release which is on 7" lathe - be quick, not many left!

The next couple of tracks come from the compilation album The Quietened Mechanisms which was released by A Year In The Country back in 2018.  I recently revisited my CD copy and released again just how many great tracks there are on the release.  So I have included the offerings by Field Lines Cartographer and Grey Frequency which seem to sit well amongst the opening electronic drones of tonight's show.  I love the way the Grey Frequency track melds into a lush pad with birdsong halfway through.

A track by False Moniker from the Screen Memory tape which was released on Strange Rules in 2020.  Pretty much everything on the label is gold, but it seems to be a bit quiet of late as label owner Cremation Lily is concentrating on touring and releases their own sounds.  

Then I gratuitously played my remix of the Klaus Von Mork track "Little Owl" from the Rental Yields Volume One compilation, out now on Front & Follow.  It is really great to be involved in this digital series, and I thoroughly enjoyed putting this track together.  It's a sort of noisy / squelchy distorted vision of KVM's original session recording and found samples.  Future editions of the compilation will include the Megaheadphoneboy interpretation of my samples, and then the Klaus Von Mork rework of a Megaheadphoneboy track.  There are 20 tracks on this volume, all of excellent quality and touching up the various strands of electronics / experimentals, and sales are raising money for the homeless shelter charity in Manchester, so please support if you are able.  

AUTECHRE! I previously said on The Tump Clump that I wouldn't play any Autechre because if you wanted to listen to them you know where to find them.  But for this special edition of the show (and to kind of commemorate my 40th birthday!) I decided to play Tankraken, lifted from the Versions edition of their 2008 Quaristice album.  It still sounds superbly future, with icy percussion and moody grumbling bass.  I hope the mixcloud algorithm AI doesn't pull my show because I played this.

Then more excellent moody electronics from Helm, with a track called MOLE from the recent Axis album.  

Time to play some noisier stuff... kicking off with GRIMWITH who I recently discovered via the double edged sword of Instagram.  Some great digital / tape noise coming at ya from Leeds.  Check it. 

I dipped back into the Rental Yields album with a track from Kinver Ponds and TarotPlane, with a track called For The Benefit Of The Community.  Lovely brutal repetition and ethereal voices.  Some might say "dismal".

Some may say that quite foolishly I decided to then play RatCornSample by DK.  This beast of a track appeared in my inbox recently and I cackled hard and had to play it.  So there.  VAMPIRES!

Then a bit of crackling noise wall for you, 5 minutes to be exact, courtesy of Gynaeolotry and the Plastic Bag: A HNW tribute to Vomir.  You will also found my Postman Lomu tribute to Vomir on the digital download extension should you really wish to listen to more.  

Black Lead Crucibles is a side project of the mighty Disgusting Cathedral - a long form tense droning beast of dungeon noise.  This meshes nicely into.....

....Hoodrat Messiah and the track Casablanca from the new EP called Gospel. Panic inducing atonal drones! Lovely stuff.  Another artist I discovered via Instagram, and they often put up pictures of their wonderful array of pedals and synths used in the creation of these sounds.  

To finish wish, I play a track by another Tump Clump favourite which is Salac, with their album closing number called Manifesto from Illicit Rituals.  It's a few years now since they interviewed for my now defunct Snare Rush zine, so maybe I should try and entice them back to Intrusive Signals for some more.  Hope to hear some new stuff from them soon! 

That's it for now.

April Showers

It's April already!

And so, a quick update.... as it seems a lot of stuff has happened over the past couple of weeks and I failed a bit to keep this place up to date for one reason or another. ....

////////////////////////////

Intrusive Signal's issue 3 is with me and copies are "flying" out (I guess...)//// it's had a healthy support amongst the wonderful regular readers of my zines as well as some new supporters too.  Which is always good to see.

You can also find limited reprint copies of issue 1 at both links below....

>>>> LINKY FOR BANDCAMP <<<<

>>>> LINKY FOR LIMITEDRUN <<<<

And I do have a couple of copies of both available for free in the UK if anybody would like one.  Just send me a message.  And of course, trades are most welcome too.

////////////////////////////

My harsh noise alter ego POSTMAN LOMU created a track for the MONOLITHIC BLOCKS compilation out via the French label Camembert Électrique which was released this week.  

Many thanks to them for including my track, and it sits at Track 22 out of an impressive 85 entries in the roster.  I am slowly making my way through it all, an impressive range of interpretations of the harsh / experimental spectrum indeed.  It's free to purchase / download so give it a go, although of course any contributions you make to the label would be greatly welcomed I am sure....

>>>> LINKY FOR BANDCAMP BLOCKS <<<<

///////////////////////////

And also... my set for Wonder Valley Experimental, in collaboration with visual artist Arachnopus, is now up on Youtube.  Thanks to Phog Masheen for including my set, and I must say that all of the other sets on the festival are well worthy of your time too.  Some great variety in there, and it's an honour for my dismal racket to be played.  Trigger warning for flashing images.... 

You can see it >>>>> HERE <<<< 

//////////////////////////

Tump Clump Episode 12 is up next week, with some more live / exclusive / archival / unheard / demo tracks... so I shall post about that soon.

Cheers one and all

TUMP 

x

Wonder Valley Experimental 14

I discovered the festival called Wonder Valley Experimental which has been running for the past 14 years in California (Palms Restaurant, to be exact).

The organiser Phog Masheeen has kept it going through the pandemic in a virtual setting, and this year both the virtual and physical festivals are taking place.  Here's a little clippy video to get you excited!

I real shame I cannot get to the physical place - would love to perform somewhere like that! It looks a great venue.  My damp shed shall have to suffice for now.  Here is the poster for the physical in person (meat space) festival:

Here is the full virtual lineup:

I applied for a slot to the virtual festival and by golly I was accepted.  I have recorded a dull video using my recent "Palimpsest" setup (me stood in the corner of my shed twiddling things) and enlisted the talents of Arachnopus to edit some glory into the footage.  

You can check out one of her other videos here for Dollarstore Keyboard and she seems to be some sort of wizzo at doing this.  I supplied some raw footage of Dartmoor and the surrounding area - am exciting to see what she comes up with!

Oh and I pretty much finished Intrusive Signals issue 3, more on that next....

The Tump Clump Episode 10

 

Welcome to Tump Clump Episode 10!

I enjoyed putting this show together - for some reason more so than usual.  Listening back to the recording, I do sound quite relaxed.  Hmm, strange.  A lovely selection of dimsal music for your ears.  

I hope you enjoy listening.  

Please support the artists. 

00:00 Metgumbnerbone - Cailleach Bheur [Anthropological Field Recordings for the Dispossessed, Old Europa Cafe]

06:40 Pact Infernal - Circle 3 [The Circle, Horo]

10:30 Allegory Chapel Ltd - Come Forth [Harsh Noise Movement Compilation]*

*Hmm..doesn't appear to be on bandcamp anymore.  Not sure where you will find it?

16:35 Beth Gripps - Your Stolen Land will Boil Beneath Your Feet [Heal The People, Heal The Land, Vital Things]

22:00 Chafik Chennouf and Kasunori Sawa - False Paradigm [Fragments of Reference EP, The Stone Tapes]*

* I falsely referenced this track as not being from The Stone Tapes release - my bad! It is the opening track of the EP.  Check out the full release HERE. And it is also a collaborative release alongside the artist Kasunori Sawa, so again my apologies for not referencing them on the recording.

25:58 Alberich & Lussuria - Anti Renaissance [Borgia, Hospital Recordings]

32:10 Convulsive Action - Sick, Twisted [Pulverising Image, Strange Rules]

36:19 Stone Jaw - Ourselves in Relation to God [Amphibian LP]

42:35 Dregs of Zen - In Beat-Ween The Days [Dregs of Zen, Weird Garden Recordings]*

*Thanks to TQ Zine 50 for getting the code for this album to me, excellent stuff.  Everything I have heard on Weird Garden is indeed fab so check out the label....

47:52 Mutant Beatnikz - MaCKeral Sky, Mad Piglets and Panda Bear [Bandcamp?]*

*I just discovered this is in fact 3 separate tracks from the 2008 album Animal Farm

54:01 Plague Arish - Cascata (Waterfall) - EXCLUSIVE!

The Tump Clump Episode 9

 Welcome to 2022, and episode 9 of The Tump Clump.

There is no run-out groove vinyl sampling this time around, I assembled this episode from the relative safety of my bedroom and not a single 12" record is in sight. Perhaps it will return next month.  We shall see.

Instead I offer some live generative synthesis from my Behringer Neutron, patched "Krell" style to offer some quasi-random bleeps and squeal.  It was good to have the device chiming away in the background as I put the show together, and maybe this is a primer for a future Tump Clump where I offer a completely live performance..... hmmm.... soon come?

The Tump Clump #9 - 11th January 2022
Chlorine - Limousine

COLDSORE - Chemical

Soloman Tump - Vulgar Fly

Babe, Terror - Shipyard Superwaves

Bourbonese Qualk - Succubare

Iker Ormazabel Martinez - VIII

Lee Riley - Open The Door To The New World

Usagi - The Descent of The 99 Mortal Steps

HAIRSABYSS - Gliding

Hoodrat Messiah - Penance

LampEyes - VoiceBurntFlower

Soloman Tump - Bonus Krell Bleeps

I opened the show with a track by Chlorine, northern UK based field recording and loop manipulator.  I have recently become slightly obsessed with the output by Chlorine, and a lot of his album have recently been remastered with bonus tracks and amazing artwork.  Find them here. 

Another artist I have been diving into a lot over the winter is COLDSORE, a Finnish based artist in the realms of dark ambient and drone, who also creates unique noise-leaning effects pedals.  Maybe one day I will invest.....

I include a track by Babe, Terror which is quite a dismal / lo-fidelity offering, composed of surface crackles and slowed down samples.  A lot of his output could be described as outsider house, presented in a fairly downbeat style and not particularly suited to club listening.  I discovered him via the Ancient M'Ocean release from 2017 on Erol Alkan's Phantasy Sound label (yep, I really do listen to all sorts of stuff) - which was great because it came with a comic.

Bourbonese Qualk, with their stunning album Laughing Afternoon, released the year I was born back in 1982.... I am constantly amazed by how GREAT this album sounds, with its political themes and dirty production styles still being hugely relevant to todays austere world.  I cannot recommend this album enough, so go and listen to it all and then realise they have quite a big discography to wade through.  

Then you will hear Iker Ormazabel Martinez on Brachliegen Tapes, 45 minutes of sinister blown out electronics to ease you into the new year. I have become a keen follower of this fledgling label, who have also put out records by Mark Dicker, Knifedoutofexistence and Like Weeds, all whom I have previously played on The Tump Clump.

Lee Riley presents us with Open The Door To The New World, a short guitar piece that Lee always manages to craft together so well.  

The piece by Usagi comes from the compilation Urban Graves For Feral Souls, put together by the MOON MUSIQ label and concerning Witches and Witchcraft and Magick.... also raising money for GEMS as per their previous excellent compilation which I previously featured in Tump Clump 7.  Some very strong material on this release, so check it out if you can.

After the show I continued to experiment with the Neutron Krell patch, adapting it slightly, and made a note of the settings because I thought it sounded quite good.  I recorded about 3 hours of audio in the end - so maybe a track or two will result.... I am constantly surprised by how good the Neutron is.  For such a cheap piece of equipment, it is very versatile.  And for Behringer it is nice for it to not be a direct rip off of other existing equipment - more of a Frankenstein's monster of a fixed semi modular rig.  I call it the gateway drug.... hmmm.... maybe one day when funds are flowing again, I will bite the bullet and dive into the modular world.... but for now, this is completely awesome and still fun after 2 years.

(happy) new year.