I am a few days behind with getting this blog posted so apologies if you have been feverously awaiting the track list for Tump Clump 20. I am but a simple human being and occasionally other stuff happens that restricts my ability to do the things I want. Hey ho.
For this show I had borrowed Mrs Tump's e-bike and had cycled off up into Dartmoor armed with my pocket sound recorder and some notes. So the vocal bits between are live from some woods which was quite nice to do. Shame about the occasional cars.
Episode 20 begins with the dark ambience of Jeremy Beckman, an artist who creates all of his tracks directly from recordings made via his phone that are then manipulated with the free software Audacity. A great artistic decision - firstly, it's not cost him anything other than his phone, and secondly, Audacity is really bloody good and there are some great plug-in effects for it. I compile my radio show with it, mix tracks, chop up live recordings and all sorts of stuff.
The track here is called "Panic Attacks" from his 2022 digital LP called A New Low. His artist bio of "Unprofessional photogapher. Amateur electronic musician." rings true and cuts deep.
Secondly tonight I played a track by Pennsylvanian artist Snartic, the final track from his album THE NEXT INSTANCE called "Final Fragmental Displacement". The sounds are a personal diary of expressing feelings through paranoia and this is evident from what we are treated with here. This artist discovered via Reddit, where I follows r/bandcamp and quite often pick up a whole bunch of excellent free YUM codes. And I like to share some of mine on there too, its a nice (fairly) open minded community!
Matt Atkins - Cracked Syntax Variants 04 was next. Matt experiments with electronic norms, squeezing new ideas into patterns and unleashing surprising results. "CSV" is a great example of this, reminding me of artists like London's Icarus, Autechre and Rob Clouth. Lush broken beats and patterns collapsing in on something else.
Histamine Tapes, 2023 sampler! Go download this! It's great! I played a montage of 3 tracks by The Dark December which really makes me want to get the album. So that's good, because that's what a sampler should do. Great label, support.
Then, Brighton based Knifedoutofexistence with "Faces Removed From The Photographs". I am writing this blog post after the Feedback & Frustration show in Bristol last Saturday, the 10th anniversary party of Knifed performing live. It was a triumphant day, a really good turnout in an excellent venue and some real talent on offer on stage. Noise, drones, power electronics, chaos, rage, feedback and frustration. I picked up some great merch tapes on the day too. A testament to Knifed's hard work running the OutsiderArt label and the diverse collective of outsider artists that are represented therein. More to come about the day soon when I have properly collected my thoughts. The track hear is a great blend of gutteral human voice sounds, harsh melodic elements, field recordings, odd noises... wrapped in despair. Thank you Dean!
2 tracks next from the ToneBurst compilation entitled "Tying Up Loose Ends #2: Sea Rove" that deftly explores nautical noise themes of Flotsam, Jetsam, Lagan & Derelict - Salvaging Sound.... the 2 tracks I play here are salvaged (remixed) sounds of other artists. Matilde Meireles has reworked sounds by The New Emphatic, and The Clumsy Giantess worked with HR Jansen. A great project and I really could have picked any of the tracks to play on tonights show, but these were the lucky ones.
Then: VIOLEER with "Bellwether" - I can't quite remember how I stumbled across VIOLEER but I am glad I did. This is not quite static noise wall - there is subtle changes and movement throughout which I really dig. Some tracks have spoken word, others have field recordings, but there is enough here to keep my ear keenly tuned in and vibrating to what I am hearing. These tracks all come from live sessions recorded at the end of last year which is quite cool.
Then, to round things off, a recording of myself and Plague Arish from the woods of Braziers Park in Oxfordshire, on the Sunday morning of Supernormal Festival 2022. We started off with quite a drunken noisy recording on Saturday night which we recorded in the woods behind the Vortex and Red Kite tents. A few people stumbled through as we strobed and whirred and bashed out some hideous sounds.
Sunday morning was a slower more caffeinated affair; birdsong, twigs, people coughing and still stumbling by and admiring us occasionally. Horns, tin cans, random detritus. Attempting to capture the sounds of the weekend in whatever way we can. Below is the kit I was using to make the drones; all battery or human powered. Plague had his own battery devices and can be heard blowing his practice sax horn thingumajig throughout the recording from various parts of the woodland. Hope you enjoy!
