Browse by Label: MESSTHETICS

Artist:	VA
Title:	Messthetics Greatest Hits - The Sounds of D.I.Y. 1977-80
Label:	MESSTHETICS
Format:	CD
Price:	$11.00
Catalog #:	MSS 100CD

"As Nuggets and Pebbles were to '60s garage-bands, as Chocolate Soup for Diabetics and Rubble were to freakbeat, and as Killed By Death and Bloodstains were to indie punk, the Messthetics series documents the essential bands of the DIY and the (very) indie postpunk generation the British Isles. Featuring two never-before heard tracks by the legendary Rejects (Bruno Wizard's 1977 band before he formed the Homosexuals). With O Level (pre-Times), Reptile Ranch (pre-Weekend), Six Minute War (pre-400 Blows), Mud Hutters (pre-Spaceheads), and Danny & the Dressmakers (producer Graham Massey pre-808 State, Bjork, etc.). Also the inimitable tunings of the Tronics, Scrotum Poles, Puritan Guitars, Dum Dum Dum, Reacta, Exhibit A, Slight Seconds, Instant Automatons, Anorexia, Steve Treatment, Take It, Thin Yoghurts, Royston, Walking Floors and the Digital Dinosaurs. Amazing lyrics from folks who later turned up as the pre-eminent biographers of Wire, Captain Beefheart and Syd Barrett (among many others) and novelist John Williams. For fans of everything from Wire to the Fugs, from PiL to Nirvana Unplugged and (especially) the Rough Trade post-punk sampler."

Artist:	VA
Title:	Messthetics #101 D.I.Y. 77-81 London I
Label:	MESSTHETICS
Format:	CD
Price:	$12.00
Catalog #:	MSS 101CD

"The Messthetics #100-series launches its grand tour of the U.K. with two full CDs of London-area D.I.Y. -- from some of the most famous, most obscure, and most idiosyncratic members of an extraordinary scene. Between 1977 and '83 hundreds of U.K. bands put out their own records and tapes -- usually on the cheap and utterly without apology. With 'D.I.Y.,' punk and everything that came before it collided gloriously with D.I.Y.'s fresh aesthetic of making and sharing recordings outside of the established music business -- with only the slightest regard for an audience. There's no common style: instead these songs are united by wit, enthusiasm, musical risk-taking (especially these London bands) ...and a conspicuous lack of pose. Rare tracks from the Scissor Fits, the Rich & Famous, Exhibit A, Different I's, Acid Drops, Grinder, Take It, the Jimmy Nipper 5, Funboy Five, Twelve Cubic Feet, Tiny Town, Existence, Collective Horizontal, Karel Fialka, and The Door and the Window. Never released material from the Homosexuals, Blue Screaming, Rejects (the final original from their 1977 demo, pre-Homosexuals), Milkshake Melon, George Harassment, Different I's, Grinder, TDATW. 16-page book, pix, 22 songs (27 if you count 5 ripping MP3s of related stuff that wouldn't fit)."

Artist:	VA
Title:	Messthetics #103 DIY 77-81 Midlands I
Label:	MESSTHETICS
Format:	CD
Price:	$12.00
Catalog #:	MSS 103CD

"D.I.Y. and (very) indie postpunk from the Midlands, '77-'81. The Messthetics #100-series hits the metal-weary Midlands, where it encounters a sparse but energetic rabble of (mostly) teens -- happily raising their own musical racket, completely outside the mainstream music business. Faster, louder, and less arty than their 'D.I.Y.' counterparts elsewhere in the U.K. Messthetics #103 collects rare tracks from the Versatile Newts [pre-Felt], Swell Maps, Prefects [pre-Nightingales], the Accused, Profile, Hardware [pre-Pigbag], Famous Explorers, School Meals, The Shapes, the Buzz, Domestic Bliss, Cracked Actors, Lester and the Brew, Human Cabbages, 021, and Cult Figures. Also selections from the first releases from Digital Dinosaurs, Spizzoil, Cravats, and Dangerous Girls. 22 songs on the CD plus four bonus MP3 tracks. Lavishly illustrated and documented 24-page booklet, with histories, photos and ephemera."

Artist:	VA
Title:	Messthetics #104 D.I.Y. '77-81 South Wales I
Label:	MESSTHETICS
Format:	CD
Price:	$12.00
Catalog #:	MSS 104CD

"D.I.Y. and (very) indie post-punk from South Wales and the Z-Block scene: '77-81 Messthetics' most obscure collection to date. By the end of 1977, years of music industry neglect (and the abrupt departure for London of the few feckless punks who'd landed record-deals) had left South Wales' fertile ground for D.I.Y. The most basic instrumentation, one-take recordings and black and white graphics ruled the day, so it's no surprise that not one of the records here sold more than 1200 copies. Mindful of these feeble sales, a dozen alumni of Cardiff's Z-Block label (and various mates) gave up releasing records altogether, and busied themselves in a frenzy of increasingly-sophisticated home recording. Here's just the tip of that iceberg -- 23 songs on the CD, plus six bonus MP3 tracks. 24-page booklet, lovingly documented with histories & photos galore, PLUS a 'reunion' appearance of the legendary Great Pop Things rock history comic. Messthetics #104 features (extreme) rarities by Reptile Ranch, Tax Exiles, Immortal Invisibles, Flying Brix, Decadent Few, Ralph & The Ponytails, Czechs, Current Obsessions, What To Wear, Spitfire Boys, Discount Chiefs, Puritan Guitars, Janet & Johns, Crash Action Winners, Addiction, Boywonders, and Hugh Volk. Unreleased recordings by Reptile Ranch [live], the Sane [ex-Dec. Few & Reptile Ranch], Table Table [ex-everyone, including YMG], John Marlon [pre-4AD, ex-Tax Exiles], The Filmstars, and the 12- and 13-year-old splendor of the Autonomes. Plus previously unpublished Moors Murderers tales and Great Pop Things featuring 'Chuck Death' (Jon Langford)."

Artist:	VA
Title:	Messthetics #105 D.I.Y. 77-81 Scotland I
Label:	MESSTHETICS
Format:	CD
Price:	$12.00
Catalog #:	MSS 105CD

"D.I.Y. and (very) indie post-punk from Scotland, '77-'81. Messthetics' first Scottish installment focuses on a brief, intense scene of ardently independent bands who got started rubbing shoulders with 1977 punk then paid no attention at all to London after that. (London returned the favor.) The sound was based on guitars of all sorts, ingeniously skewed melodies and unashamed local accents. Naturally, it all fell apart as soon as 'The Sound of Young Scotland' became a marketable commodity, but they left behind a rich cache of lost 'alternative' hits. Plenty of 'traditional' D.I.Y., too... 24 songs on the CD plus nine bonus MP3 tracks. 90 minutes of music. 24-page booklet, lovingly documented with histories & photos galore. Messthetics #105 features rarities by Fire Engines, Scrotum Poles, 35mm Dreams, The Exile, Commercials, Fakes, Metropak, Tony Pilley, Visitors, Article 58, Radio Ghosts, Rapid Dance, Strutz, Vertical Smiles, Restricted Code, Brills, Rhythm Method, He's Dead Jim, Friction and Paul Reekie. Unreleased first recordings by Dirty Reds [who became the Fire Engines], 35mm Dreams, Jazzateers, International Spys [pre-Radio Ghosts, Wee Cherubs, Bachelor Pad] and Edinburgh's legendary Ettes. Plus other never-before-released material from the Scrotum Poles, Commercials, Tony Pilley, Article 58, Radio Ghosts, Vertical Smiles, and Restricted Code..."

Artist:	VA
Title:	Messthetics #106 The Manchester Musicians Collective
Label:	MESSTHETICS
Format:	CD
Price:	$12.00
Catalog #:	MSS 106CD

...1977-1982. "Messthetics' first visit to Manchester surveys the most successful and innovative of Britain's post-punk-era musicians' collectives. The MMC's most famous spawn were obviously The Fall (who first played at an MMC meeting) and Joy Division (who loaned their P.A.), but the MMC's emphasis on public performance and its egalitarian ethic of shared gear, expertise, and, frequently, band-members, affected and inspired future stars and faintest sparks alike to create an unparalleled range of truly 'alternative' sounds. Twenty-one songs on the CD plus five bonus MP3 tracks. 80+ minutes of music. 24-page booklet, extensively documented with histories, photos and artifacts. Messthetics #106 features songs by the Mud Hutters, God's Gift, Dislocation Dance, Elti-Fits, Diagram Brothers, The Liggers, The Passage, Bee Vamp, Spherical Objects, Grow-Up, Contact, Slight Seconds, Armed Force, the Manchester Mekon, The Spurtz, and never-released tracks by The Elite, The Hamsters, Manchester Mekon, Bee Vamp, and Property Of (Messthetics fans will also note an unusual concentration of women-in-charge, unorthodox effects, provocative lyrics, wildly varied electronics and general non-punk stylings)."

Artist:	VA
Title:	Messthetics Greatest HISS: Classics Of U.K...
Label:	MESSTHETICS
Format:	CD
Price:	$12.00
Catalog #:	MSS 110CD

...Cassette Culture D.I.Y.: 1979-1982 (Volume 1). "An introduction to the D.I.Y. cassette scene 1979-84. The U.K.'s original cassette-scene hosted some of the most inept shambling in the history of recorded music, but there was no shortage of musical genius, either (be that accidental or otherwise). From endless bedrooms filled with home-made gadgets, Woolworths guitars, Casios and soldering fumes, came sounds both stunningly simple and sophisticated -- and vastly more varied than anything on vinyl. These artists seldom made more than 100 copies of their cassettes and typically circulated them for free, with untold thousands of tapes changing hands through the Royal Post. Messthetics' new series samples the more, er, musical sides of the scene (lots of cool electronics, but no 'ambient' or 'industrial' -- and everything's under 5 minutes!): Here is D.I.Y. at its most liberated. Twenty-five tracks on the CD plus five bonus MP3s. 90+ minutes of music. 24-page booklet, crammed with histories, photos, artifacts and an essay from Mick Sinclair, who wrote the original 'Cassette Pets' column for Sounds. Messthetics Greatest Hiss features the superstars of cassette culture and plenty of others: The Jelly Babies, Danny & the Dressmakers, Storm Bugs, Colin Potter, Event Group, The Get, Instant Automatons, Missing Persons, Gravity Craze, Farming Jim & his Hepcat Groovstas, 391, The Chromosomes, Mike Jones, The Living Dead no. 5, Digital Dinosaurs, The Twizlers, Aconite, Casual Labourers (Bendle and other DIY heavies), Midnight Circus, Milkshake Melon, Funhouse, Cultural Amnesia, Stripey Zebras, Chimp Eats Bananas (pre-Chumbawamba!) and Dean Johnson."

Artist:	ANIMALS + MEN
Title:	Revel in the Static
Label:	MESSTHETICS
Format:	CD
Price:	$11.00
Catalog #:	MSS 201CD

...Demos and singles 1979-19983. Messthetics is one of a series of labels run by legendary archivist Chuck Warner, documenting here the histroric UK DIY scene of the late 70s/early 80s. These are pressed CDs (not CDR's). "Terrific girl-vocal D.I.Y./ postpunk from the West Country (Somerset, UK). Unmannered vocals, grinding minimal instrumentals and a pounding/tribal/ Bo Diddley backbeat. Messthetics' first "solo" act re-emerges with vastly-improved sound and four songs from a hitherto lost 1979 session that rank with their very best, making for well over an hour of music. Contains a 12-page booklet with extensive notes, new photos and A+M ephemera, plus our traditional (and extremely handsome) pasted-on snapshot cover." "A witch's brew of The Vaselines, surf and '60s garage? The Fuzzbox-esque half sweet, half swaggering 'It's Hip' and surfy 'The Man with the Spiked-Toed Shoes' could have been one of Rough Trade's finest hours." --Ed Zed, Rock Bottom

Artist:	HOMOSEXUALS, THE
Title:	Astral Glamour
Label:	MESSTHETICS
Format:	3CD
Price:	$26.00
Catalog #:	MSS 204CD

"The Homosexuals created a musical world of their own. Holed up in no-rent studios and squats, they mined every genre from psych-folk and Afrobeat to punk and dub, added killer hooks, then exuberantly tore it all apart. They wrote and recorded for five years, but they never took out an advert, sent out a promotional record, or got paid for a gig. The legend has grown, and today the Homosexuals are arguably the most acclaimed-and-least-heard band of the postpunk era. After more than a year of research and restoration, a hundred hours of conversations with band-members, and endless surprises, the story of The Homosexuals can now be told. Astral Glamour gathers 81 songs and three-plus hours of legendary 1977-1983 artpunk -- every Homosexuals song from their records and the C-60, plus a dozen other tracks never released anywhere before. Astral Glamour also features a full-colour 32-page booklet with scores of unpublished photographs, posters, lyrics, song-by-song comments and an extensive history of their early years."

Artist:	MIDNIGHT CIRCUS, THE
Title:	Richard, Roger, Rodney, Rastus, Raoul, Roderick, Randy...
Label:	MESSTHETICS
Format:	CD
Price:	$11.00
Catalog #:	MSS 208CD

"Classic, noisy D.I.Y. from Leicestershire 1980-1983. Loughborough's Midnight Circus thrilled a handful of fanatics who bought the scarce Angst In My Pants compilation EP, but they put most of their energy into the cassette-only wing of the D.I.Y. movement. Where they churned out vinyl-worthy D.I.Y. punk tunes by the score, and unlike most bands that did make it to vinyl -- who necessarily spent much of their money on pressing and printing -- the 'Circus were free to blow it all on recording. Here's 21 of their favorite tracks from 1980-1983. 10-page insert with their complete history (they went to the same school as the Pretty Things and named themselves after one of their songs), song-by-song commentary, photos, artwork... and a tipped-in-color-plate of the Midnight Circus 'Character'... whose handsome mug adorned most of their original cassettes as well." "Primitive shit-rock to the Nth... classic obscuro English D.I.Y.... the best thing I've heard yet from the '80s cassette culture." --Agony Shorthand.

Artist:	INSTANT AUTOMATONS, THE
Title:	Another Wasted Sunday Afternoon
Label:	MESSTHETICS
Format:	CD
Price:	$11.00
Catalog #:	MSS 210CD

"The best of this classic D.I.Y. band's immense catalog of cassettes and vinyl 1979-82, plus never-released material. The Instant Automatons were not the most prolific of D.I.Y.'s cassette-culture crowd, but the lads from Scunthorpe were arguably the most influential -- and the first to start swapping (rather than selling) cassettes. The instrumentation is sparse -- bass, guitar, and an assortment of home-built electronics -- while Mark Automaton contributes some of the finest lyrics in all of D.I.Y... A bad case of writer's block spelled the end of the band in 1982, and partner/bassist/chief electrician Protag went on to Blyth Power, ATV?and the resurrected Zounds. 6-panel folder insert with bio, track-by-track commentary and plenty of photos."

Artist:	DRY RIB
Title:	Whose Last Trickle
Label:	MESSTHETICS
Format:	CD
Price:	$11.00
Catalog #:	MSS 213CD

"D.I.Y. with a guitar-genius/nonsense poet only begins to explain Dry Rib and the projects that followed, but they were one of a tiny handful of D.I.Y./post-punk-era groups who'd probably have sounded the same whether punk had happened or not. And things only got cooler, odder, and more idiosyncratic as Rob Vasey's audio insurgency progressed. Ed Ball of O Level (and later the Times and Teenage Film Stars) saw Dry Rib first in late 1978 and promptly signed them to his new Clockwork label. He writes, 'Dry Rib were a late '70s three piece group of some indefinable power -- not Powerful in the obvious sense, as in everyone slugging out the same riff... More the power of musical and lyrical imagination ... 'Rob Vasey's guitar style of blurred chord stylings coupled with continuous tremolo arm preempted My Bloody Valentine (or anyone else) by the best part of a decade. [He] wasn't like Eric Clapton or Paul Weller in way/shape/form ... Which could only be a good thing because, he superseded these fellows for sheer guitar innovation and songscapes that neither could even conceive of. Rob was ably supported by two equally intelligent musicians -- Andrew Goodwin (one of the best two drummers I've ever played with -- and that includes the so-called shit-hot session guys) and Mike Mullholland (who could make a Fender Precision sound like Entwistle, Matlock or a distressed horsefly!)' Dry Rib's EP received heavy airplay from John Peel, who featured all three tracks: 'Quail Seed,' 'Cruelty of the Victim' and their epic 'Alaska' (the latter and a demo of 'Quail Seed' appear on Messthetics #102) and briskly sold through a thousand-odd copies at the beginning of D.I.Y.'s golden age. They made several further trips to the studio, with no loss of intensity or inventiveness. Rob's career next took a more fluid and improvisational turn in a series of collaborations with various members of the Times' extended family, mostly under the flag of 'as, hem syrup' (the name taken from a nonsense prose piece of Rob's) and the lyrics grew even more fanciful. As with Dry Rib, there's no mistaking any of the material for anyone else's. There's much more of Ed Ball's account in his liner notes (including diary entries from the time) along with every surviving Dry Rib photo, lyrics, the usual daunting ephemera, and 20 songs and 75 minutes of music on the CD."

Artist:	PERFORMING FERRETS
Title:	No One Told Us
Label:	MESSTHETICS
Format:	CD
Price:	$11.00
Catalog #:	MSS 216CD

"Twenty-eight songs from one of D.I.Y.'s iconic bands, including most of their astonishingly scarce LP, which music-historian / journo / D.I.Y.- enthusiast Johan Kugelberg described as 'the most seminal LP to come out of DIY ... Fantastic over enthusiastic juvenilia of an almost supernatural beauty.' Whether or not the name was ironic, The Performing Ferrets were very much a performing band -- whose songs clearly grew out of the way they interacted. A curious rhythm, an engaging riff, an arresting lyrical snippet, and frequently a Melodica tumble and writhe, ferretlike, into song / groove / experiments that stood unique on the indie post-punk scene. The Ferrets started out in Maidstone, Kent, in 1978 but they parlayed academic careers in Manchester, Portsmouth, Nottingham and Preston into appearances all over the U.K.. John Peel once lamented that every gig he did there seemed to be a Ferret there 'clutching a demo tape in its sweaty paw'. There's a touch of The Fall and the TV Personalities, a little garage and Beat, hints of the rhythm-propelled sounds of the Monochromes, Feelies, Beefheart, Gang of 4/Delta 5 or Diagram Brothers, and a dry wit that had more to do with the Ferrets' favorite authors and comedians than anyone from the class of '77, but the Ferrets' response to D.I.Y. was all their own. In 'Mandolin' (performed on a detuned mandolin that sounds like a toy piano) they complain, 'The independent market / Is just a bring-and-buy sales ... God help those who do it small scale / You've got to watch those pennies ... You're bound to lose pounds / We just can't make money (oh no, oh no!)' Their conclusion? They'd just as soon give their records away for free (though the planned free flexi never happened). No One Told Us collects 28 tracks from 1980-82, although only three rather inscrutable tunes saw wide distribution back in the day on their lone Peel-championed 45. They also released two cassettes (perhaps 200 each) and 300 odd copies of their self-titled LP. After two years in Manchester the Ferrets wound down when two of them ended up in Miaow with Cath Carroll, another took over the editorship of Manchester's legendary City Fun, and a fourth got a doctorate in immunology. The complete saga's in the 12-page booklet, along with photos, artifacts, and almost 80 minutes of the Ferrets' finest on the CD."

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Artist:	VA
Title:	Messthetics #102 D.I.Y. 78-81 London II
Label:	MESSTHETICS
Format:	CD
Price:	$12.00
Catalog #:	MSS 102CD