HERCULES II - 'POSEIDON AVENGED'

Formats

• RWR015 - CD

Details

Hercules II is not for the faint hearted. It is a mystery that it exists at all. A latter day saga for todays corporate image obsessed lowlife and digital blog-media savy Mini-Me-Murdoch moguls to fathom out. So here’s a small clue to help the helpless. Hercules II is willfully obscure project put together by the reclusive Dane, C. Poulsen, a man so paranoid, and somewhat reminiscent of Joe Meek or Brian Wilson in character, who lives on a small sailing boat, constantly moving around small islands in Denmark. A man with not much truck for all things modern, such as what one would consider basic commodities like electricity, running water, money or companionship. He is very much living an off-grid existence and despises almost everything the world has to offer. Despite being illegitimate and illiterate (and it has been suggested he is perhaps really the son of a Norse Vanir god), he is a man of few words who writes, or rather paints, dense musical rock soundscapes. Occasionally hooking up with old friends Ashley Davies, Robert Lewis and perhaps one or two others who work out the sonic palette to realize his works. This is truly epic scale Outsider music. Hercules II albums are obscure, hard to find collectors dreams, often in multiple editions whilst being available in plain sight most of the time, questioning the illusion of freedom in todays e-commerce culture. Their live shows have been few and far between sold-out affairs. The last of which was a private, invitation only, invocation ritual at the willfully random The Hellfire Club, (a name much used of course and another example of Outsiderists hiding in plain sight). This performance has now become ‘Poseidon Avenged’. A collection of 10 instrumental songs of characteristic doom laden despair and dark foreboding malevolence sprinkled with just a hint of grinding punknoise. This album follows on from where last years ‘Herculaneum’ opus left off. No compromize. No prisoners. The musicians who perform for Hercules II are a loose collective of friends and veritable supergroup to boot, all more than happy to rally for the flag. C. Poulsen himself plays guitar on the recordings and very, very rarely perfroms live. Aside from the aforementioned Ashley Davies (Headbutt, London Dirthole Co etc), who plays on of two earthshattering basses alongside Chris P. (Headbutt, Silverfish). Out front is the (non)flying V guitar formation of Robert Lewis (Pulkas, LDC), Fuzz (Silverfish), GG (Midnight Mines, LDC) who realize the bleed and blister of the sonic shards of Poulsens compostions and last but not least, bringing up the rear on cascading drums is one Roger Carne (Hagar The Womb, LDC). The mighty Poseidon himself could not have wished for such an earthquake inducing band of warriors. File under: Loud dirty heavy rock noise bastards

Tracks

1 Kronos 6 Enlig (Del 3)
2 Yggdrasil 7 Cerberus
3 Dionysus 8 Nemesis
4 Sabre Tooth/Ascelon 9 Barbarian
5 Anubis 10 Centurion

Press

Audio & Video

THE BLOOD TUB ORCHESTRA - 'THE END OF MY OLD CIGAR'

Formats

• PHOER030 - 7"

Details

Phono Erotic is proud to announce its second release by the deliciously Outsiderist Music Hall ensemble that is The Blood Tub Orchestra. Now let’s clear something up straight away; this is no retro pastiche but a real working group tampering with the remnants of the almost lost and forgotten songbook of the lower classes, The Music Hall. Once considered one of the seven curses of London that detracted those working class types from their duty to make money for Queen, Empire and the intolerant ruling elite, Music Hall was a den of vice, sharps and wanton behavior, a lurid spectacle of unblushing immodesty…well not too much has changed for the binge drinking masses, festival frenzied fornicators and the crack den denizens of the inner cities, other that nowadays, the leopards’ spots are equally placed on the disposable equity burdened middle classes, who are quietly having their purses pinched by the pasty faced sharks of the new unfettered borders in this current great empire of finance. The rousing rancorous heyday of these ‘palatial shams’, where ‘the modern comic vocalist doled out feeble jingling idiocies of his own composition’ lasted only a few short years in reality before it was sanitized by those with an eye for a fast buck and the state backed rise of the Temperance movements. It then slowly dissolved over 100 years into the tepid light entertainment of 60’s and 70’s Variety Shows and televised ‘spectaculars’ such as The Black & White Minstrel Show and on to the further degenerate televised horrors of shows today like ‘Strictly’ and ‘Britains Got No Talent’ (sic). So it is with great relief, honour and privilege that we announce The Blood Tub Orchestra’s declaration of intent to strive for the restoration of these glorious days of bitter humour, coarse innuendo, political satire and a damn us all to hell and the trenches of a jolly old knee’s up, come one, come all, to restore the lost voice of the Great British cattle classes. The great Harry Champion would no doubt raise a laugh at such wry commentry. Our Harry, the voice of the people throughout the 2 World Wars and an endless amount of skirmishes in both battlefield, bar brawl and brothel no doubt, provides us with the ammunition of the lewd entendre laced standard, ‘The End Of My Old Cigar’, given more than a healthy dose of boiled bully and gin tonicised blather, in this rousing interpretation. The Immobile One and generally uncheeky chappie, Sam Mayo’s performance of ‘I Played My Concertina’ gives us the starting point for our next insight into the Pre-WW1 mentality of ‘ornery people’ and their laughter in the face of misery, with yet another piece of lyrical smut. Please note, no smiles were cracked during the recording of this performance. While the first side of the EP represents a small sampler of the sort of thing to expect from the forthcoming Blood Tub Orchestra album, the second side was recorded live at the Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club, one of London’s rare thus far unscathed multi-purpose cultural venues, a true anomaly that lives and breathes many of the attributes and attitudes of the heady days of the East End music halls and the stainged glitter hangover that goes with it. Blood Tub’s belt and braces revamp of Lesley Sarony’s ‘Bloomin’ Well Dead’, an ascerbic prod at the hypocrisy of behavioral misdemeanor at funerals, still rings as true today as it ever did. And finally there’s, ‘Oh Father, Do Come Home’, one of a number of satirical jibes aimed at popular hit of the day, ‘Father, Dear Father, The Brokers Are In’, a In the Temperance song of warning style that increasingly infiltrated the Music Hall scene, in order to combat the profligacy of the immoral games of ‘fox-and-goose’ distracting our fine young fellows from their devotion to good deed and good stead. Again, nothing changes, with the recent Government Guidelines recommend that alcohol consumption to be limited to 6 pints or 6 glasses of wine per week, ring a bell? Ah well, bah humbug to the lot of ‘em! Who’s for a quick tiddly wink or three? The Blood Tub Orchestra are a most interesting and innovative outfit. A delightful and enthralling experience with their wholly unique idea of unearthing Victorian and Edwardian music gems from often long-forgotten artists and rattling their bones to breathe new life into them by evolving the pieces into fully-formed 21st century creations whilst retaining the characteristics and soul of the original, historic works. The ghost has firmly spooked the machinery. The rose-tinted veneer is peeled back and injected with the spirit of the age, both ancient and modern. With the cosy mothball whiff of fancy dress nostalgia removed, a straight bare knuckle fight between the song and the performers ensues, finding its place in creating the most mouthwatering proposition since The Rolling Stones re-introduced Blues to America. Great Britain, this means you! The Blood Tub Orchestra is comprised of a rag tag assortment of musical waistrels. Tim Whelan (Transglobal Underground, Furniture etc), Ashley Davies (Project Dark, London Dirthole Co etc), Kirsten Reynolds (Project Dark, LDC etc), Rob Lewis (Pulkas, LDC etc), Debbie Smith (Echobelly, Ye Nuns etc) plus various guests

Tracks

The End Of My Old Cigar, I Played My Concertina, Bloomin? Well Dead (live), Oh Father Do Come Home (live)

Press

Audio & Video

VARIOUS - 'DATA CORRUPTION'

Formats

• RWR014DTX08LP - 12"

Details

An absurd idea, brilliant! It happened in December 2014, during some aftershow beers when mnntaB performed in London. Friends reignited! 2 labels rosters covering each others songs in the spirit of mutual fun and support. The Melbourne based electronocentric Detonic Recordings label with its fetid oozing Dirt Beat and dirtier attitude provide the stroppy glamour to the London based Outsider label, Radiowave Recordings' roughneck garroullous garage grunt guitar gyrating gism. 14 acts, 14 songs, 14 devious diversions, 14 belches of joy. A double A-side compilation ? A box set of split singles? A tetradecagon A sided album, if you will, of new-fi, lo-rent joyous spleurge and run. The face-off starts with Brisbane's Wolf Shield belting out a beat infested take on Project Dark's 'Nudge Nudge' on one side with London's cesspit supergroup Black Rat Speedway Machine's sonic sssault on School Damage's 'Sick Of You' in response. Both intrinsic power and boom-bastic ways to kick off. We then have the razor raunch and grind of Infecticide ripping through ‘Atomic Suplexed By A Girl’ up against a rare appearance from Hell From Above who’s apocalyptic presence from the dark side of the Industrial mirror reflects back the two tracks ground together into ‘Prehistrionic Partytime’ Sweaty tension rises all round to for healthy dose of on Pan European Particular. Waterfall Person’s demented hospital therapy terror version of LDC's 'You Never Made Me Cry' butts up against a born again Project Dark empassioned blaze through Wolf Shield’s ‘No More’. Both equisite evolutions from the dissolution of their origins, simultaneously spectral and turkey bastered. The Diesel Dudes psychomaniacal raid on Sexton Ming’s leather cod pieced pean ‘I Am Spartacus’ has the favour returned by the Mirror Twins (fronted by Ming) who wreak savage damage on the innocent salad crops in ‘Earthmover’ Ex-pat Londoners Dik (Bastard Kestrel) & Jon (Penthouse/Gin Palace) pulverise their bogan banger racing car stereos,with a gnarly take on the Super Snipes 'Aint No Nothin', while an inpromptu performance of Headbutt trounces the spindley legged Dik’s band of his youth, The Lost's, 'Too Old' Layers and layers of crossed histroical paths with these people, The rock’n’roll Time Team live to slug in out another day. School Damage go all school disco as they snog the blushing Hot Pant/Black Rat's joyful divorce revenge malady classic 'Lift Off', while the London Dirthole Company seep, sleeze and slide their way through MnntaB's electrosonic Gang of 4esqe gem 'Wires & Pulses' And proceedings draw to a shuddering climax with The Super Snipes uptempo valium’d garage pop rattling sabre thrust though Waterfall Person’s ‘Are You Ever Anywhere?’ while mnntaB shove’s a menacing red hot poker up Headbutt's cult 90’s single 'The Shooting Party'. Honours even. All in all, this Long Player contains something for everyone with a penchant for the absurd, ridiculous and downright dirty joy of music. It’s not so much of a ‘Who's Who?’ as a Why? Why? What The Fuck! An insight into the gloriously derranged underground that lurks in the shadows just the other side of plain sight and perhaps an earworms bollock away from infecting your life. It's either that or living the slow orbitting decay of Radiohead or onwards into the blandishments of the U2 of the 21st century. Be smart, dont be safe. File under: Beatpunk Electroniky Stomp

Tracks

Side A: BLACK RAT SPEEDWAY MACHINE ?Sick Of You?. HELL FROM ABOVE ?Preshistrionic Partytime?. PROJECT DARK ?No More?. LONDON DIRTHOLE COMPANY ?Wires & Pulses?. MIRROR TWINS ?Earthmover?. HEADBUTT ?Too Old?. SUPER SNIPES ?Are You Ever Anywhere??
Side 1: WOLF SHIELD ?Nudge, Nudge?. SCHOOL DAMAGE ?Lift Off?. IINFECTICIDE ?Pourquoi Pourquoi (Atomic Suplexed By A Girl)?. PISS PRUNES ?Ain?t No Nuthin??. DIESEL DUDES ?I Am Spartacus?. WATERFALL PERSON ?You Never Made Me Cry?. MNNTAB ?The Shooting Party?

Press

Audio & Video