The Arms Trade Is Making A Killing: singles of 2019

[dagmar terrace n1]

1. pessimist “austerity” (osiris music, 12”)

2. fret “salford priors” (black opal + combat recordings, 12”)

3. scorn “feather” (ohm resistance, 12”)
4. close lobsters "all compasses go wild" (last night in glasgow)

5. fret “slowly moving in” (l.i.e.s, 12”)

6. jk flesh “in your pit ep” (pressure, 12”)

7. blade “dark friends” / “make it connect” (boot, 7”)

8. gang starr ft j.cole “family & loyalty” (ttt/gang starr enterprises)

9. p jam x capo lee “nando’s riddim” (mean streets, 12”)
10. the jasmine minks “step by step” (a turntable friend, 7”)

[balls pond n1]

11. jeff rushin “amongst us” (arts)
12. izco & capo lee “stack & grind” (rinse)
13. ryuji takeuchi “rps ep” (eclectic, 12”)

14. insolate “disgrace” (h.omevvork rec, 12”)

15. etch & nico lindsay “don’t wanna know” (sneaker social club, 12”)

16. boyracer “strong arms” (emotional response, lathe-cut 7”)
17. bukkha ft. killa p “badda den dem“ (infernal sounds, 12”)
18. burial “claustro” (hyperdub, 12”)

19. ikonika “into u (kaka bootleg)” (night slugs, 12”)

=20. cappo & senz beats “tidal wave” (boot, 12”)

=20. squarepusher “vortrack” (warp, 12”)

[city of london]

21. robert forster “inferno (brisbane in summer)” (tapete)

22. dizzle kid ft. killa p “how many times” (1fgrm004) (1forty)

23. mrshl ft. grim sickers “the crown” (subaltern records, 12”)
24. math & physics club “indian ocean” (matinée recordings, 7”)
25. ewa justka “you are repeating yourself indeed” (inner surface, 12”)
26. monrella “build time” (trauma collective, 12”)

27. ryuji takeuchi “phenomenon of combination ep” (depth. request, 12”)
28. the royal landscaping society “goodbye” (matinée recordings)

29. krept “morley’s freestyle” (virgin emi)

30. gantz “garam” (exit records, 12”)

[lauderdale tower]

31. jk flesh / submerged + blacktacular “no exit strategy of certain benefit” (black lives matter) (ohm resistance, 7”)

32. merky ace “look like loubz” (prophet man)

33. robert sekula “not santa claus” (bandcamp)
34. lady lykez ft. scratcha dva & lioness “muhammad ali” (hyperdub)

35. terror danjah ft. hitman hyper “red card riddim” (tru thoughts)

36. greencryptoknight “superman” (boot, 12”)
37. durrty goodz x rapid “bar code #6” (no hats no hoods)
38. flame 2 “dive” (pressure, 12”)

39. j:kenzo ft. flowdan “like a hawk” (artikal music, 12”)

40. obituary “a dying world” (relapse)

[liverpool]

41. lx one & killa p “link up” (vantage records)

42. exhumed / gatecreeper split (relapse, 10")
43. p jam “p cut (remix)” (beatcamp, 12”)

44. arrest! charlie tipper “the 93%” (old bad habits, 7”)
45. various avian artists “let nature sing” (the rspb)

46. ghostface killah “party over here” (music generation)

47. enclave “factionless” (darknet)

48. ewa justka “acid on acid” (new york haunted, cassette)
49. dayflower “sweet georgia gazes” (cloudberry, 7”)
50. cocktail party effect “radioactive fruit” (osiris music)

[sunderland]

51. failed flowers “faces” (slumberland, 7”)

52. the harvest ministers “summer’s here again” (bandcamp)

53. richie hawtin, cortechs & mental resonance “core resonance (close combined)” (plus 8 records)
54. the wedding present “jump in, the water’s fine” (come play with me, 10”)
55. vetchinsky settings “anymore” (vertical features, 7”)

56. spooky bizzle “haunted joyride version excursion” (oil gang, 12”)
57. the perfect english weather “call me when the rain comes” (matinée recordings)
58. boyracer "bored & lonely" (emotional response, lathe-cut 7")
59. goat terror “unholy march” (sentient ruin laboratories, 7”)
60. cortechs “transparent shadow / distance between two” (d!st!nct)

[bromley fc]

61. aidan moffat & rm hubbert “cut to black” (rock action)

62. juga-naut & giallo point “the passion” (juga-naut)

63. boylan ft. flowdan “start up” (nomine sound, 10”)
64. jetstream pony “i close my eyes” / “it’ll take more than a friday” (kleine untergrund schallplatten, 7")

65. the claim “journey” (a turntable friend)
66. carcass “under the scalpel blade” (decibel, flexi-disc)
67. jackal “jackal ep” (painkiller)

68. the popguns “carrying the fire” (matinée recordings)
69. the bv’s “charlie, i don’t know who you are” (kleine untergrund schallplatten, 7”)
70. the declining winter “a journey to silsden afc and back” (paper piano)

[barbican]

71. ethan montgomery / the declining winter “53˚48’57.1”n 1˚32’36.2”w” (north brewing, 7”)

72. cortechs “here is not here” / “deconstruct” (d!st!nct)

73. the flatmates “shut up and kiss me” / “rescue me” (old bad habits, 7”)
74. devourment “cognitive sedation butchery” (relapse)

75. pinch & kahn ft killa’s army “crossing the line” (tectonic, 12”)
76. cortechs “dawn of fate” (machine box, 12”)

77. overlook “séance” (osiris music)
78. black lotus “aether” (flash recordings, 12")

79. house worker & el mende$ ft. scorzayzee “sorry mr coffee and biscuits” (house worker)
80. natty x mala xx zephaniah “word & sound” (i & i music, 12”)

[hoxton]

81. arrest! charlie tipper “freedom of speech ep” (breaking down, cd-ep)

82. riko dan “informer” (cta)

83. visceral disgorge “architects of warping flesh” (agonia records)

84. flowdan “tramplezone ep” (spentshell)

85. surgeon “raw trax 2” (dynamic tension, 12”)

86. cortechs “imperfect circles” (d!st!nct)

87. scratcha dva “kill all a’dem” (allyall)

88. brain tourniquet “brain tourniquet” (painkiller)

89. the claim “just too far” ep (a turntable friend)

90. bubblegum lemonade “heaven with you” (matinée recordings)

[gaskin street n1] [art: zabou]

91. noisem “filth and style” (20 buck spin)

92. the humble bee & benoit pioulard “i suppose i’m your past” (dauw)

93. nails “i don’t want to know you” (nuclear blast)

94. cheval sombre “been a lover” (market square, 7”)
95. dj premier ft westside gunn, conway & benny “headlines” (payday records)
96. novelist “reload king” (self-released)

97. nazar "un sanctions" (hyperdub)
98. michael schwarz "nevermind ep" (micro fon)

99. surgeon “raw trax 1” (dynamic tension, 12”)

100. niereich “warehouse industries ep” (coincidence records)

[edinburgh]

bubbling under: sarge, durrty goodz, roger robinson, full of hell, wiley, jammer, big zuu x capo lee, stavrogin, bubblegum lemonade again, body count, the a-team, mastiff, tesseract ft sarge, ayako mori, cerebral rot, jeff rushin again, cortechs again, verb t & pitch 92 ft. truemendous, regional justice center, azure blue, the hit parade, trim, pessimist again, snoop dogg, makaja gonzales, kissamatic love bubbles, red sleeping beauty, goatburner, dj dbmassive, monkey marc & pinch ft ninja man, tiki dan, killa p, soom t, rider shafiq and irah, ghostface killah, david lance callahan, hypho, the royal landscaping society again, kanine & p money, brujeria, coffins, goatburner again, infinikill beats ft scorzayzee, silvina romero, niereich again, nasty jack ft. armour, hitman hyper, yhunga & sharky major, kanine ft. killa p, sharky major, nasty jack & discarda, hitman hyper x silencer, house worker & el mende$ ft. scorzayzee again, berthold city, loraine james, insist, 1349, klaudia gawlas, entombed a.d., jaydan, unhappy fly, ian martin, gothtrad / jk flesh, quentin ravn, isolate again, kidnapped, nieriech vs shadym & tximeleta, wiley again, dj dbmassive again, niclas erlandsson, cro-mags, axis of despair, my darling you!, king kahali & raekwon, electrorites, trim again, tribe of pazuzu, evergreen symphony, rejection pact, nightjacket, tuomas rantanen, sandro galli, shorty ft. wiley, erb n dub ft. harry shotta, slow white fall, hysh?, lost souljah ft jon e clayface, marco ginelli, kryss hypnowave, flowdan again, gal tsadok-hai, tawa girl, tex-rec, circle court, meridian dan, sandro galli again, drvg cvltvure, novelist again and many many others

[canonbury n1]

Eastend Dead: albums of 2019

[shoreditch]

1. gang starr “one of the best yet" (gang starr enterprises)

2. scorn “café mor” (ohm resistance)
3. the hit parade “the golden age of pop” (jsh records)

4. the humble bee & benoit pioulard “i suppose i’m your future” (dauw)
5. mønic “in a certain light” (osiris music)

6. comet gain “fireraisers forever!” (tapete)

7. melodiegroup “being and nothingness” (southend)

8. craig tattersall & emmanuel witzthum, untitled [tchaikovsky chorales] (letra rec)

9. debussy “nocturnes” (edit.futurum)

10. sidetracked “hollowed out” (to live a lie)

[roker beach]

11. robert forster “inferno” (tapete)

12. tullycraft “the railway prince hotel” (happy happy birthday to me)

13. klute “whatever it takes“ (commercial suicide)

14. seablite “grass stains and novocaine” (emotional response)

15. memoriam “requiem for mankind” (nuclear blast)
16. ghostface killah “ghostface killahs” (new generation)
17. isnaj dui “sight seeing” (fbox)

18. the catenary wires “til the morning” (tapete)

19. brahms “3rd symphony” (edit.futurum)

20. alcest “spiritual instinct” (nuclear blast)

[on blackfriars bridge]

21. the claim “the new industrial ballads” (a turntable friend)

22. vetchinsky settings “underneath the stars, still waiting” (vertical features)

23. virgil enzinger “platinum evolve” (i.cntrl)
24. bubblegum lemonade “desperately seeking sunshine” (matinée recordings)

25. regis "necklace of bites" (downwards)

26. total fucking destruction “#usa4tfd” (give praise)

27. devourment “obscene majesty” (relapse)
28. azure blue “images of you” (matinée recordings)
29. western edges “prowess” (sound of silence)
30. exhumed “horror” (relapse)

[islington n1]

31. mastiff “plague” (apf records)

32. the bv’s “cartography” (kleine untergrund schallplatten)
33. red sleeping beauty “stockholm" (matinée recordings)

34. noisem “cease to exist” (20 buck spin)
35. ocean party “nothing grows” (emotional response)
36. arrest! charlie tipper “themes from blizzard” (breaking down)
37. onyx “yung onyx” (mad money)

38. cerebral rot “odious descent into decay” (20 buckspin)
39. article 54 “the hustle" (article 54)
40. goatburner “extreme conditions” (chaotic doom)

[cutty sark]

41. full of hell “weeping choir” (relapse)

42. jme "grime mc" (boy better know)
43. victims “the horse and sparrow theory” (relapse)

44. loraine james “for you and i” (hyperdub)
45. neutrals “kebab disco” (emotional response)
46. coffins “beyond the circular demise” (relapse)

47. g.a.m.s. “g.a.m.s.” (karlrecords)

48. cattle decapitation “death atlas” (metal blade)

49. entombed a.d. “bowels of earth” (nuclear blast)
50. terror danjah "invasion" (tru thoughts)

Reggae Stakeholder Meeting: remixes of 2019

[balls pond n1]

1. fret “salford priors” (scald process version)

2. ewa justka “you are repeating yourself indeed” (krtm remix)
3. p jam "disturbed" (trends remix)

4. full of hell “thundering hammers” (justin broadrick remix)
5. j:kenzo & flowdan “like a hawk” (kenzo’s darkside vip)

6. cappo “tidal wave” (boot version)

7. pessimist “new age” (jk flesh remix)
8. lady lykez ft. lioness "muhammad ali" (remix)

9. ryuji takeuchi “rock” (abyssal chaos version)
10. jk flesh "in your pit" (the bug remix)

[brick lane]

11. scorn “feather” (ginger grass snake mix)

12. cortechs “imperfect circles” (sven wittekind remix)

13. scorn “feather” (wittering mole mix)

14. stavrogin “echo ins” (lmajor remix)
15. squarepusher “vortrack” (fracture remix)

16. vital techniques ft general levy “give it 2 dem” (deadbeat uk remix)

17. lx one & killa p “link up” (icicle remix)
18. p jam "p cut" (d.o.k. remix)

19. watine “verrophone” (richard adams remix)

20. roger robinson "stay" (version)

[greenwich]

21. kuchinke & bayer ft jetstream pony “self destruct reality” (memorypan remix)

22. ryuji takeuchi “noctamublism (swarm intelligence remix)”

23. fret “salford priors” (stormfield version)

24. the claim “hercules” (bleak industrialists c.1987 remix)

25. jaydan “omfg” (maijistrate remix)
26. fret “salford priors” (fausten version)
27. insolate “warehouse jam” (pvs remix)

28. sandro galli “redmine” (dkult remix)

29. jaydan “ragamuffin” (upfront remix)

=30. fret “salford priors” (monster-x version)
=30. black lotus “distant signal” (jeff rushin remix i)

[balls pond n1]

Turkish Education Group: notes from 2019

[balls pond n1]

outings

1. balletboyz “them/us” at sadler’s wells

2. extreme noise terror at the new cross inn

3. robert forster at the union chapel

4. memoriam at the underworld

5. the chesterf!elds at the 100 club

6. “rusalka” at glyndebourne

7. deicide at the underworld

8. bridget riley at the hayward gallery

9. sophie ellis-bextor at the palladium
10. nish kumar at the union chapel

[isle of dogs]

compilations & reissues

1. the fall “1982” 6xcd box (cherry red)
2. insect warfare "entomological siege 2004/2009" (f.o.a.d)

3. siege "complete discography" (f.o.a.d)
4. burial "tunes 2011-2019" (hyperdub)
5, the springfields "singles 1986-1991" (slumberland)
6. baby lemonade s/t (cloudberry)
7. dub sex “search for the right words“ (optic nerve)
8. various artists “style & fashion” (soul jazz)
9. sven wittekind “reflections 2” (sick weird rough)

=10. boards of canada “peel session” (warp, 12”)
=10. the motorcycle boy "scarlet" (forgotten astronaut)

+ pretty much every 7" on optic nerve

[palladium]

7" box sets

1. lewis parker "the 45 collection" (king underground)
2. the pooh sticks box set (optic nerve)



[angel n1] 

The ilwtt.org Archive Series: Bubblegum Splash!

Bubblegum Splash! are one of the best bands ever, and there's no need to dispute that (or expand on it).

We set up a microsite shrine for them back in the turn-of-the-century days when their brilliance was not a recognised fact, and after we were evicted from our former ilwtt.org home, Tom from indie-mp3.co.uk kindly put the content on his site, even persuading Martin Whitehead to let him post the "Splashdown" EP for download. We're not going to let you do that, but here's the blurb again, for old time's sake. On our original microsite we also put up the lyrics to the seven songs mentioned below, but I suspect you'll all know them off by heart now anyway. We certainly do.

Roque from Cloudberry did a nice interview with the band some years later which followed up a couple of things below, if we remember rightly...

"But on the minus there are groups like Bubblegum Splash! we played with them in Bristol, and they just summed up everything that was wrong in music just now. I mean they had one song that went la-la-la like Primal Scream and another with the bum-de-bum drumbeats a la Shop Assistants. It was just a joke."

- Stephen Pastel , 1987

the pastels were a fine band, but stephen was presumably just jealous, because Bubblegum Splash! are probably the greatest band that ever existed. they were a five-piece from salisbury, wiltshire, england, comprised of nikki barr (voice); dave todd (bass); jim harrison (guitar); marty cummins (tambourine and backing vocals) and "alan" (drums). their legend today is helped by the fact that as far as we can discern, they only ever recorded seven songs. beyond that, as you can tell, we know so little... but it's inconceivable we could ever shake from our heads their lyrics, the cool and rather offhand vocal delivery, the thudding anorak basslines and drums, the jangly guitars and even the occasional two-bar, three-note "guitar solos".

we don't just put down our devotion to Bubblegum Splash! to nostalgia for the age of fourteen, when the journey began with john peel playing "fast of friends". and we certainly weren't alone then, for at the time the fanzine "so naive", named after a rather wonderful song by erstwhile subway labelmates the rosehips, ran an interview with the band and put out a flexidisc, split with the slightly less endearing shop assistants copyists the darling buds. if you'd told us then that one of those bands would go on to top of the pops and a major deal... still, according to the cherry red website, splashdown did get to no 15 on the indie chart.

"I remember the day we heard the Splashdown EP went into the Indie charts as we were playing a gig in Salisbury aswell and couldn't understand why we had a crowd of about 10 whilst the Arts Centre where the Splashies were playing was heaving!"

- Andy Ware, then of Mrs Taylor's Mad

no, since 1987, life has been a futile attempt to come across anyone else who will acknowledge the truth. even now a host of college radio stations in the 'states will think nothing of dropping da Bubblegum bomb into their alt-rock playlists, albeit usually in what we english call "the alan partridge slot".

a lot of people, even at the time, took one listen to the formulaic shambling and dismissed it as identikit c86. that seems to us to both get, and spectacularly miss, the point. they were probably the perfect anorak band - the production, the playing, the melodies, the sentiments - and that should have elevated their status, not detracted from it. it doesn't take a leap of the imagination to relate to the lyrics to "fast of friends" or "someone said" - it really is for everyman. the music has the same attraction and appeal - people like us, no shallow celebrity status.

"the Splashies seemed to have this unique, kinda naive sound that was very original and you couldn't pin it on any band. Jim and Dave had a very eclectic mix of backgrounds in musical tastes and I guess whilst they weren't maestros with their guitars this kinda dictated the way they wrote and played songs. Ask Jim to play a Led Zeppelin solo and I don't think then anyhow he'd get past the first bar"

- Andy Ware

the persistent rumours that jane from occupied europe are a post-splash! outfit, scarcely any longer lived, have now been confirmed - we believe they were the only one. most bands I loved from that era are still producing music today - listen to sportique, cinerama or of course the pastels - even (if you have to) primal scream. (JFOE, incidentally, included jim harrison and dave todd, and did a few records (much more detail here) including a cracking 7" called "ocean run dry" which we also treasure to this day. the fact that they were named after the second swell maps LP probably accounts for the fact that Bubblegum Splash! have been described as "swell maps"-influenced - save for the fact they were a bit d.i.y., this was never really true).

the only time we ever heard Bubblegum Splash! "in public" was back in 1990 when the DJ in the now-defunct islington powerhaus played "plastic smile" - that in itself would have made my evening. (in fact, it was merely a glorious omen, as the second support band that night, brighter, who were starting for the orchids and the hit parade, did the set which turned me into a brighter fan for life). but that's another story, and possibly another web page.

"The boys at ILWTT website have done a Bubblegum Splash! site - it’s the webzine equivalent of a 1 and a half minute flexi song, but ah, it reminded me of the flawed genius of the Splash!"

- Rachel Stevenson, 2003

and now ? well the rumours have it that ex-Bubblegum Splash! personnel are now residing in salisbury and bristol, and variously enjoying beer, teaching, football, music (but of course) and, in one case, motherhood... but we intend to fill out some of those details over time.

until then, if anyone, anywhere, knows anything about Bubblegum Splash! or has any photographs (or can correct the lyrics!) please please contact us at the address opposite, we will love you forever, just as much as we love them. or just write to let us know how brilliant you think the band were - trust us, you won't be the first and the network is international. someone once wrote into us claiming that they knew the ex-bass player, but our entreaties came to nothing - we guess people are always pretending they're mates with the rich and famous...

"I love them too! One chime of 18:10 To Yeovil Junction and I was hooked - they're everything that great pop music should be - kids with guitars who can't play to save their lives but who consequently make the most beautifully endearing music in the world."

- Chris Jones, fan

Discography

"splashdown!" 7" ep (august 1987, subway 13)

tracks: plastic smile / just walked away / fast Of friends / one of those things

split flexi (with so naïve fanzine, 1987)

track: if only. (split with the darling buds, track: spin).

"surfin' in the subway" (subway records compilation, november 1987, SUBORG 4)

tracks: someone said, the 18.10 to yeovil junction.

(also compiled on a CD of both subway comps entitled "take the subway to your suburb")

"just walked away" also appears on "whole wide world" (volume 2) compilation CD on subway organisation

*2019 update: "the 18.10 to  yeovil junction" now also appears on both "the subway organization: 1986-1989" CD on cherry red records, and the "c88" box set on cherry red*