Milovan Srdenovic ‘Songs From West Of The Pelvic Girdle’

01 Watchman What Of The Night (2:06)
02 Five Gold Louis (1:57)
03 San Quentin (2:44)
04 120 Degrees (0:39)
05 Zulu Gynaecologist (4:01)
06 Lets Be Frank (2:40)
07 Flesh Crawled Out Of Flash (2:32)
08 Drink Myself Sick (0:54)
09 Angel Of Mercy (1:55)
10 Our Eyes Met (4:20)
11 Ride A Cock Horse (1:59)
12 Frogfish Tail (2:56)
13 Diz’s Matches (0:46)
14 Son Of Hellhole Billygoat (3:42)
15 Vance Hotel (1:12)
16 Dont Grouse About The Turkeys Dont Beef About Their Bull (2:44)
17 Pig Stealin Man (1:10)
18 From Rags To Riches From Bags To Bitches (2:36)
19 Looking At The World Through The Bottom Of A Glass (1:19)

Total time 42:00
LP released on Freedom From, 1998

There is a kind of perfection only a clown can achieve and there is indeed perfection in Srdenovic’s efforts to reconfigure the dirty blues idiom, since this LP is actually a straight blues effort, albeit with weird, repulsive lyrics – something early bluesmen where familiar with, though.‘You made a monkey out of me’, says Milovan Srdenovic on track#3 and while this is no excuse for the kind of inept and embarassing songs he’s playing on this album (check ‘Zulu Gynaecologist’ for instance), this is as apt a description as any other. The more minimal the better when it comes to blues songwriting, and some skeletal songs on this LP are based on 2- to 3-notes guitar chords, even one-note amazingly on one track. A few of these songs (ie tr.#6, 10 & 12) appeared on the Davy Walklett 1990 cassette I posted some time ago, evidence of permeability between the man’s multiple aliases. Hence there is a chance this 1998 LP is a retrospective album, since some songs appear to be 10 years old. B&w pictures show Srdenovic’s associate Diz Willis in performance – wearing socks with stripes on the bottom picture. No surprise these british eccentrics eventually united in some Smell & Quim performances of typical (?) Yorkshire hysteria. Thanks to reader Phil for the music.

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Milovan Srdenovic ‘Voodoo Bastard’

01 The Last True Fact (10:06)
02 Sierra Diablos (05:48)
03 The Couch (04:53)
04 Esirper (02:14)
05 Voodoo Bastard (04:10)
06 Messianic Breakfast (14:45)
07 Reprise (05:06)
Total time: 47:00
K7 released 1997 on Dreizehn, Germany (originaly self-released by the artist)

Art brut industrial music out of West Yorkshire, England, by the infamous and unpredictable Milovan Srdenovic, aka Eva Perouk, Davy Walklett, Golden Testicle of God, and half of Smell & Quim duo. When britons go berserk, man, it’s serious! Check it out on these Smell & Quim and Srdenovic solo videos. One comment on Srdenovic goes like this: ‘the macabre yawp of an English folk artist who sings sweetly about slashing his wrists’. Those of you familiar with the Davy Walklett cassette I posted earlier will recognise his abject, nonsensical lyrics, the quiet pace while delivering his outrageous rants, his guitar playing with roots in c&w. The sound on ‘Voodoo Bastard’ is muffled throughout, as if recorded with microphones buried underground – especially on track #2, sounding like an underwater Throbbing Gristle. Maybe this is part of a concept, what he calls the ‘semi-audibility of faraway’ on ‘The Last True Fact’. Religion is the target of many bitter and insulting lyrics here and some tracks on the subject are obviously overlong – ‘Messianic Breakfast’, for instance. Keep in mind Srdenovic is an apt musician, being part of the great english band Rimarimba, more structured and song-like, akin to some Rock In Opposition bands. On a side note, I understand there is a possibility this website is Srdenovic/Smell & Quim related. [The b&w picture above is from an unrelated Srdenovic LP]

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Various ‘Annual Jissom 90’

Somewhat unexpectedly, readers by the hundreds have been brave enough to download Annual Jissom 1988 (posted earlier on the blog) – more than 600 downloads, apparently. Annual Jissom was a series of compilation cassettes published by Davy Walklett (aka Milovan Srdenovic) between 1988-90, possibly the busiest period in his life, as he simultaneously launched the Stinky Horse Fuck label, the first Smell & Quim cassettes, as well as his own solo projects. A.J.‘s first issue appeared in 1988, and here is today the 2nd A.J. episode, published 1990. Usual suspects of the S&Q galaxy appear on many a track (Swing Jugend was a S&Q member, The Bubbleheads was a band Srdenovic was in, and GTOG was one of his many aliases), but several outsiders also made it to the final tracklist, most surprisingly Christophe Petchanatz’s Klimperei toy piano miniatures. Consequently, the tape offers a nice selection of music, more apporachable than anything else on Stinky Horse Fuck. The variety on offer here includes the great minimal synth song The Unconscious Life by Milovan and Jar (after Peter Hammill’s song), an amiable Smell & Quim track, the Bob Dylan impersonation of David Glynn Jones, the strange Mobile Phone Numbers read by J. Shrimping, the wonderful ambient electronic tracks of P(delta)3, among various hometaping experiments. Two tracks are excerpted from Belgian label Corrosive Tapes releases, Radio Diffusor Maracaibo and Maxa (Black Rubbish). Cover hum… art by Diz Willis. Photo from Diz Willis’ MySpace page.

01 P(delta)3 Parallel Resonance (6:25)
02 David Glynn Jones On the Grassy Knoll (6:17)
03 Now Placebo (1:12)
04 Now Interaction (2:08)
05 J. Shrimping Mobile Phone Numbers #1 (1:45)
06 The Bubbleheads Theme Tune (Hey, Hey, We’re The …) (:36)
07 The Bubbleheads Hassan Et Omar (Hubble Bubble) (7:17)
08 Milovan and Jar The Unconscious Life (2:57)
09 Smell and Quim Skunk Pussy (10:45)
10 Klimperei Attendre Le Jour (1:34)
11 Klimperei Song for Mr. Charles (1:38)
12 J. Shrimping Mobile Phone Numbers #2 (5:22)
13 P(delta)3 Inductive Reactance (5:45)
14 G.T.O.G. Mmmff Ha Ha Oomf Hee Hee (3:33)
15 Ken Kersley Bitching (1:33)
16 Swing Jugend On the Morning Following Correction (1:23)
17 Swing Jugend Happy Dancer (:08)
18 Tom Ato I Wandered Lonely As A Psychopath (2:00)
19 Art Raid and The Fallouts Elementary Shrapnel #1-4 (4:59)
20 David Glynn Jones Marlene On The Wall (4:30)
21 Radio Diffusor Maracaibo Schlagwerk (1:57)
22 Maxa (Black Rubbish) Free Mason Dub (4:50)
23 The Marx Chapman Experience Penis Halves (1:33)
24 Sutcliffe Rubber Charenton (4:02)
25 G.T.O.G. Chocolate Spaceman (6:05)
26 Klimperei Si tu Dors (1:07)
27 Tom Ato Money, Hardcore, Luxury (4:18)

Total time 90mns
Cassette released by The Davy Walklett Institute, UK, 1990

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Rimarimba ‘On Dry Land’

After the end of his The Same duo with Florence Atkinson, Robert Cox published 5 full-length releases of his Rimarimba solo project between 1983 and 1987, either on his own Unlikely Records or Hamster (see discography below), all reissued on Peeved and Cordelia Records during the same period. So, there’s a total of 5 Rimarimba albums, not 4 as I stated previously. At the time of Gone To Hell in a Bucket, Rimarimba’s last cassette in 1987, Cox had entirely transported his acoustic instruments+keyboards formula onto DX7+Yamaha CX5 sequencer platform, and his final opus is consequently less exciting, though some of the ancient charm remains. But the present On Dry Land, released 1984, does include his usual trademark of marimba, guitar, bass and synth programming (DX7, CX5 and Casio CZ 101) in addition to less frequent ingredients like found vocals and Industrial sounds. Overall, the cassette is more varied than the preceding Below The Horizon. Though the info sheet only lists 3 tracks, I cued the multiple (sometimes very) short tracks according to the Cordelia reissue LP’s track list. A wonderful collection of skillfully arranged, instrumental melodies with the closing, longest tracks (#15 & 16) not sounding like Rimarimba at all.

On Dry Land:
01 Do Wonders For Me (1:05)
02 Tacky Travel Tune (3:11)
03 Crash (:39)
04 Fairground (1:00)
05 Down From The Sky (:04)
06 I Wouldn’t Ask (:35)
07 Can’t You Feel It (4:00)
08 Welsh Water (2:02)
09 On The Range (4:51)
10 Gnats (1:41)
11 Cacoughanation (2:37)
12 Sick + Spirit (2:13)
13 Foulground (:11)
14 Machinebeat (1:30)
15 Beyond Pain (6:32)
16 Not Enough Time (10:30)

Total time
Cassette released by Unlikely Records, URT87, UK, 1984

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Rimarimba discography:
1983 Below The Horizon, cassette, Unlikely URT81
1984 On Dry Land, cassette, Unlikely URT87
1985 In The Woods, LP, Unlikely Records UR89
1986 Chicago Death Excretion Geometry, k7 & LP, Hamster Records [+]
1987 Gone To Hell in a Bucket, cassette, Unlikely URT105

More from Unlikely:
1983 Rimarimba ‘Below The Horizon’ [+]
1985 Eva Perouk ‘Auto Da Fé/La Semaine D’Une Somnambuliste’ [+]
1985 Rimarimba ‘In The Woods’ [+]
1986 Milovan Srdenovic ‘Voodoo Bastard’ [+]

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The Same ‘Downtown’

UK minimal electronic duo The Same‘s first LP, published by Unlikely Records in 1981, was posted a while ago on Capa Nostra Syndicate, and here’s their only other release, a 7” single with two exquisite melodies by Robert Cox and partner Florence Atkinson. The former, pictured on the back cover above, is non other than Mr Rimarimba himself, here toying with his faithful ol’ Casio VL Tone. The A side is a cover of Petula Clark’s 1964 song Downtown, written by Tony Hatch. The B side is a Rumanian traditional sung by Altkinson with Casio and guitar accompanyment by Cox.

01 Down Town (3:01)
02 Du-Mă Casă (3:13)

Total time 6:14
7” released by Unlikely Records, URS49, UK, 1982

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More from Unlikely:
1983 Rimarimba ‘Below The Horizon’ [+]
1985 Eva Perouk ‘Auto Da Fé/La Semaine D’Une Somnambuliste’ [+]
1985 Rimarimba ‘In The Woods’ [+]
1986 Milovan Srdenovic ‘Voodoo Bastard’ [+]

Davy Walklett ‘Genitalmania’

01 The Story So Far (3:36)
02 Divine Intervention Now (4:20)
03 Tales Of Cruelty (2:08)
04 Bummer (3:24)
05 The Wages Of Action (4:53)
06 Venus In Furs [Lou Reed] (4:25)
07 I Want My Fruitgums (3:56)
08 Burn Toast (2:21)
09 Fabrication Alcoolique (:37)
10 The Fat Women Jeer (1:34)
11 Macramé Chicken (2:01)
12 Not Ben Kingsleys Penis (3:03)
13 Who The Devil Are You ? (:55)
14 Two Lines Cross (1:38)
15 The Clay House Invocation (2:08)
16 He Was Hatching A Duckegg (:46)
17 The Steer He Rides (3:59)
18 Cardinal Index Point (5:52)
19 All Along The Watchtower [Bob Dylan] (2:04)
20 Locker Room Etiquette (2:11)
21 Feeling Feeling (2:58)
22 Beneath The Valley Of Hellhole (1:01)
23 Pus In Boots (1:36)

Total time 60:00
Cassette released by Jarmusic, Berlin, Germany, 1989

A while back I posted a cassette by Davy Walklett compiled for French label Underground Productions. ‘Genitalmania’ is a compilation as well, this time for Jarmusic, a Berlin label led by Joachim Reinbold. Jarmusic was active from the mid-1980s to the mid-noughties and published many British surf rock bands like Deep Freeze Mice, The Creams, Martin Newell, as well as Legendary Pink Dots or R. Stevie Moore. Some of the tracks on ‘Genitalmania’ also made their way on ‘Sacred Hymns And Twisted Blues’, but also, strangely enough, on Srdenovic albums like ‘Songs From West of the Pelvic Girdle’. In a mail correspondence, July 2009, Milovan Srdenovic explains: ‘It took a little while to pin down who I should be’. Anyway, the Walklett alias was Srdenovic’s vehicule of choice for dirty blues tunes with blunt lyrics – the latter having more to do with Bukowski than, say, Yeats. With the exception of two cover songs, tracks are all Walklett’s original compositions. The style blends early blues a la Robert Johnson/Blind Willie Johnson with a 1980s cold wave/new wave sensibility. In a way, Walklett explores a connection between early US blues and UK’s cold wave, based on simple guitar chords and minimal bass lines. The fabulous ‘Bummer’ is typical of this vein. Walklett is no averse to synth, sampler, drum machine or harmonica (on the Dylan-like sounding #17 ‘The Steer He Rides’).  Track #15 ‘The Clay House Invocation’ is credited as ‘Pre-Bubbleheads’ in the track list, a band Walklett used to play with before going solo. The logo on the front cover is the Golden Testicle Of God symbol, the label of some of Walklett’s self releseases, like the Annual Jissom compilations.

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Possibly related:
Eva Perouk >
Milovan Srdenovic > & >
Davy Walklett >
Annual Jissom 1988 >

Various ‘Annual Jissom’

01 Jody And The Creams ‘The Revolving Countess’ (2:46)
02 Webcore ‘Fly Wheel Fly’ (5:09)
03 Hugh Thomas ‘Anal Fistula’ (3:21)
04 Swing Jugend ‘Slowly Dipped and Wriggling’ (3:47)
05 Blind Boy Grunt ‘Dead Girls Don’t Cry’ (3:41)
06 John Boardman ‘The Orgasmic Circle Of 330,216,446’ (4:44)
07 Pseudonymous Bosch ‘Sandwich And Outside’ (14:25)
08 Hinchcliffe And Dick ‘Leave Now’ (2:47)
09 Abstract Skulls ‘Skarp Hedin’s Axe’ (3:25)
10 Abstract Skulls ‘Kicking The Can Blues’ (1:18)
11 Milovan Srdenovic And Jar ‘Virgins Anus Mantra Ray’ (0:34)
12 Smell And Quim ‘Albert Cometh’ (1:00)

Total time 46:09
Cassette+magazine released by GTOG, Huddersfield, Yorkshire, 1988

From the dark vaults of Smell & Quim’s headquarters in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, came ‘Annual Jissom’, a 1988 magazine+cassette release. This monstrosity is a compendium of insane acts from UK labels like Cordelia Records, Stinky Horse Fuck, Unlikely Records, Hajra and Swing Music (all but the first from Yorkshire, of all places). The zine itself offers short stories, comic strips, drawings, collages in a rather ambitious mix of artwork and literature by various local luminaries including Milovan Srdenovic or cartoonist Les Coleman, as well as unclassifiable mavericks like John Trubee (with a sexually explicit written manifesto, not included in the scans) or Diz Willis (an excerpt from his ‘Diaries Of Richard Burton’). While not as horrendous as regular Smell & Quim releases artwork, the zine still includes the typical blasphemies and sexually provocative content here and there. The cassette is a robust mix of depraved lyrics, Yorkshire post-industrial rock, sound poetry and spoken word. It starts with 2 bass-heavy, new-wave acts from the Cordelia stable (Jody And The Creams and Webcore) ; Srdenovic himself appears in various guises (Abstract Skulls, S&Q and very likely Blind Boy Grunt with its blunt pedophiliac/necrophiliac, inept lyrics) ; Hugh Thomas delivers a short, partially speaking-in-tongues, sound poetry track, obviously recorded at home on portable cassette ; Swing Jugend is P. Walsh, aka Smell & Quim member Paul Nonnen, for yet another West Yorkshire sinister offering with low rumbles a-plenty (see attached ‘Severe Lactations’ ad) ; also included is the longest phone prank I’ve ever heard: Sandwich And Outside, credited to Pseudonymous Bosch. Here’s what Diz Willis specialist Phil Smith wrote about the track:

I think THAT one is Diz, doing his cheesy French accent (he lived there for a bit). I thought that was pretty amusing, spinning the guy out without just being downright rude as in many prank calls . . . The slightly misspelt HinchCliffe and Dick must be George Hinchcliffe, now of the Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain… they were all pals. (email, May 3rd, ’09)

There’s enough insanity in this collection of tracks to offend any innocent listener, but the musical side (so to speak) is quite varied and surprising, hopping from the lugubrious to the hilarious while actually getting close to the ‘lowest form of art’ at times. The magazine and tape obviously contain immature material, but multifarious bad jokes are delivered with tongue firmly in cheek and a joyous, messy artistry throughout. Thanks to Phil for invaluable help writing this post. Diz Willis is fortunate indeed to have such a dedicated archivist.

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More Yorkshire hysteria on Continuo:
Diz Willis >
Milovan Srdenovic > & >
Davy Walklett >

Diz Willis ‘Sketches In Steam’

01 King David (8:39)
02 Frenchy (8:01)

8″ clear vinyl on Stinky Horse Fuck, UK, mid-1990s.
All drawings by Diz Willis.

Diz Willis (1938-1999) was a british poet, painter and performer. During the 1970s, he was a member of performance groups Welfare State, Australian Dancers, Matchbox Purveyors, Portable Theatre, John Bull Puncture Repair Kit, Burton Richards, Birdyak and later Smell & Quim. Stinky Horse Fuck was a label run by Smell & Quim member Milovan Srdenovic aka Davy Walklett, releasing noisy records with usually offending covers. This record is Diz Willis recollecting memories from his days in Soho (he lived in Soho at the end of the 1950s-early ’60s), mythologizing the area while including personal memories. He’s backed by a ‘Steve’ on saxophone and by Srdenovic’s background ambient noise from library/ethnic records – in a mysterious and surreal vein. This is spoken world with background music re-enacting the area’s pub life. Willis’ voice is sometimes overdubbed for a dialogue with himself or a background pub song. The narration is mostly in a charming half Monthy Python, half Paul Bowles tone. The character on the cover refers to Ironfoot Jack, one of the liveliest denizens meeting in Soho’s French Pub on Old Compton Street, the place where the artistic community gathered during the mid-1950s.

‘It was also, for better or worse, the haunt of the notorious Ironfoot Jack, the self styled ‘ King of the Bohemians.’ The portly Jack flaunted long hair, a Homberg hat and a long black cape hung over his short leg which was elevated by an iron boot. He would approach the unwary and try to sell them copies of his poems on pieces of grubby paper. Jack’s abysmal personal hygiene – he was the man who put the BO in ‘Bohemia’ – meant he always had plenty of leg room in the French’. [from article]

The A side is a portrait of King David, one of the caracters foundly remembered by Willis. The track called ‘Frenchy’ starts with a brief but horrible rendition of the French national anthem on a cheap keyboard preluding to an evocation of The French Pub. The recitation includes a list of alcohols in french at end of side 1 and beginning of side 2. While I enjoy the drunkard’s anecdotes about this artistic community, I’d have appreciated mentioning famous visitors in these pubs, namely Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon. Anyway, I really love this record, despite being oblivious of situations described. The great nostalgia pervading these stories is universal. Another of Diz Willis’ sound poetry recordings, ‘Travels of Burton Richards’, is available here.

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