Nort - G.O.D.A.M.B.

Sheffield's mighty "industrial funk" movement of the 80s fizzled out by the end of that decade. Cabaret Voltaire went house and then split up; Eric Random went AWOL; Chakk and Workforce disintegrated; and the band that best embodied the whole genre, Hula, disbanded despite securing a US record deal with Wax Trax. Hula's catalog has thankfully been reissued in digital form in recent years, but here is a related item that has not. Nort was Hula's drummer, and he put out a solo album in 1988 on Ediesta Records, Games Of Dance And Muscle Blood, usually listed in acronym form as G.O.D.A.M.B. Nort provides drums, percussion, voice, tapes, samples, bass guitar, treatments, sequencers, and keyboards, and is supported by a rather large cast of musicians:

• Justin Bennett - drums, percussion, violin, samples, treatments, keyboards
• D. I. Anii - drums
• D'Silva - saxophone, keyboards
• Sara - Voices
• Alan Fisch - samples, treatments
• Barry Harden - bass guitar
• Dave Heppinstall - keyboards, voice, treatments, percussion
• Sarah Morrell - trumpet
• Alan Russell - guitar
• Phaedre Selmes - voices
• Phil Wolstenholme - kazoo

It's not quite a Great Lost Hula Album, but about half of it could be: the opener "It's A Dream" could almost fit on Voice, the short "Luther's Scream" sounds like Murmur-era Hula, and there are a couple ambient tracks that would sound at home on Hula's improvised Shadowland LP. Three other rhythm-oriented tracks are in the distinctive Sheffield funk vein but are more akin to Workforce's uptempo "Back in the Good Books." Which leaves a few tracks of odds and ends somewhere between ambient and rhythmic. G.O.D.A.M.B. is thus an essential record for, well, anyone who follows this blog! Get the vinyl rip here or here.

Nort has been active in two bands of late, Yonni and The Cherokees. He has also published an autobiography, A Kill Ease, through Lulu.com.

The cover of G.O.D.A.M.B., while it has some interesting elements, is a bit of a mess. It was designed by Metroviral Visuals, which was Anthony Bennett, now a respected sculptor (and MBE awardee) whose bronze tribute to Beatrix Potter now stands in Bowness-on-Mere.

Various Artists - Imminent 2

In 1985 and 1986 the Food Ltd. label released four compilation albums entitled Imminent 1-4. Each one was a superb sampling of UK indie acts of the day, cutting across all styles and genres of rock music. A rip of the first one, featuring exclusive tracks by Eric Random and Brilliant, among others, is available at the excellent but seemingly abandoned blog Dirk Wears White Sox. A rip of the second volume is available right here. On Imminent 2 we get skronk from Biting Tongues and Gasrattle, a shimmering synthpop ballad from Recipe, an early demo from 400 Blows, Karl Blake riffing on Bad Company (!) with the Shock Headed Peters, an extended soundscape from UV Pop, some hard Sheffield throb from Hula, grebo from Zodiac Mindwarp, and more noisy rock from the rest of the bunch. Some tracks are unavailable elsewhere, I think, though I'm not going to research each song. Here's the full list:

01 Kill Ugly Pop - Church of Bloody Deception
02 Biting Tongues - The Boss Toyota Trouble
03 UV Pop - Zuitar
04 Gasrattle - Beach Party
05 Recipe - Home's Over
06 Living In Texas - Hate Me More II
07 Shock Headed Peters - Head Thorax Abdomen
08 400 Blows - Strangeways
09 Sting-Rays - Never Had It So Good
10 Hula - Bad Blood
11 Deep Freeze Mice - Here Comes the Sun Explosion
12 Zodiac Mindwarp - Drug Shoes

Get the vinyl rip here or here. The LP came with a poster, too:

Abstract Magazine 6: Audio/Visual

The late Rob Deacon's Sweatbox Records was another top UK label of the 80s, not in terms of sales but in terms of assembling a roster of cutting-edge postpunk bands. He started out publishing Abstract Magazine, which had the bonus of having an LP attached to it with songs by the bands covered in the magazine (often exclusive tracks or remixes), the LPs giving birth to Sweatbox. I've had a request for Abstract 6, Audio/Visual (1986), and as I had it handy from ripping the Chakk Theme, I've done up the whole thing in 192k mp3. It's a great collection focused on Sheffield and Manchester bands, my personal favorites being the industrial funk of Workforce, Chakk, and Hula:

A1 In The Nursery Breach Birth (Blockade Mix)
A2 Workforce Skin Scraped Back (Remix)
A3 Xymox Moscoviet Musquito (Remix)
A4 Blurt Gravespit (Live)
A5 Clair Obscur Smurf In The Goulag
B1 A Certain Ratio Sounds Like Something Dirty
B2 Anti Group, The Ha (Remix)
B3 Chakk Theme
B4 Hula Motor City Nightmare
B5 A Primary Industry They're Biting

Get it here. For a better view of the cover art and packaging, see discogs.com.