Category Archives: Circle Records

Deep Entries : Gay Electronic Excursions 1979​-​1985

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NEW ALBUM !

Deep Entries : Gay Electronic Excursions 1979​-​1985NEW ALBUM !I am delighted to announce that one of my own songs, first released on a cassette by TTKK records in 1983, is now featured on a brand new compilation on the famous alternative American label Dark Entries. 

“(I want) to be Different” is an electronic song that was made partially live in The House studios in Jumet in the early days of my musical carreer. At the time, à;GRUMH… hadn’t released records yet and I had my own label called “Titicaca records and tapes”, in short TTKK, which released albums on cassettes. Those released included CULT tapes such as the “Cake One” compilation, à;GRUMH… first three albums “By the Phone”, “Live at the Ravenstein Gallery” and a third that was about la fête des mères and fucking your own mother but the exact name eludes me now. Also my solo project Polar Praxis released four albums, “Gory Oscillation”, “Werk één”, “Werk twee” and, try to guess is : “Werk Drie”. 

Later in the 80’s, Polar Praxis released two albums on PIAS/Circle Records whilst à;GRUMH… was having the great carreer we know it had. 

It’s been a project for a while that the San Francisco based label Dark Entries would release an album of some of my old Polar Praxis songs (from the 3 “Werk X” cassettes) but that release was cancelled due to a fire in the record manufacture they use. I don’t know if it will happen, I hope so since I am quite proud of some of the work I did back then which is not so well known by the fans. 

Now this song that I really love is part of this magnificent compilation which is listed here : 

Dark Entries has raided the bathhouse to bring us Deep Entries: Gay Electronic Excursions 1979-1985, 10 tracks of obscure queer synth bliss. One of Dark Entries’ most important missions has been illuminating neglected facets of gay musical history, with crucial archival works by legends like Patrick Cowley, Sylvester, and Man Parrish. On Deep Entries, the label spans 6 years of gay electronics – from sultry to angsty to camp, these songs are overflowing with snappy 808 snares and sinewy analog synth leads. The ’80s were a difficult period for many in the gay community as they grappled with the horrors of the HIV/AIDS crisis. The 10 tracks on Deep Entries, varied in genre and vibe, are united in their portraiture of 1980s gay life, and the hope for love or fleeting romance. Previously unreleased cruising soundtracks come courtesy of Patrick Cowley’s “Love Me Hot” featuring vocalist Paul Parker and Boytronic’s “Tonight (Alternate Mix)” set on Hamburg’s famous “Mile of Sin.” Brisbane-based Megamen deliver the proto-electroclash number “Designed for Living,” which prefigures Madonna’s Marlene Dietrich rap in “Vogue.” Trans vocalist Paula “Ula” Villagrá  declares, “Everyone is gay!” on Muzak’s “Happy Song,” a skittering tecnopop anthem. Dereck Higgins’ “This Was Something” rings like a lost Joy Division cut draped in bizarre effects, and Polar Praxis’ “(I Want) To Be Different” is a seething ode to alterity. Nightmoves’ “Nightdrive,” is best known as the brooding instrumental B-side to their epochal “Transdance.” Transistor Jet’s “Master Of The Universe (BW’s f-w)”, Maxx Mann’s “Just Like a Razor” and Bachelor’s Anonymous’ “A Stranger’s Bed” are mood music for the pleasures of BDSM and one-night stands. The record comes housed in a retro bathhouse fantasy sleeve designed by Gwenaël Rattke and includes a double-sided poster with photographs and lyrics. Deep Entries arrives on December 1st in honor of World AIDS day, and proceeds will go to the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.

CIRCLE records page on Facebook

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There is now a CIRCLE RECORDS fan page on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/CircleRecords

 

Many posts have been added already, with links to videos from nEGAPADRES.3.3., Theee Rebearth Corporation, and old industrial ambient à;GRUMH… tracks.

The story behind A CHUD CONVENTION

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In 1986, à;GRUMH… toured with Skinny Puppy all over Europe. cEVIN Key, Dwayne and Ogre and us rapidly became good friends due to the promiscuity in our touring van, sound check and… smoking 🙂

When we were driving on the roads of Europe, we played lots of silly games. One of them was the Fart Game. Everybody in the crowded van would fart as bad as they could, and whoever opened a window lost the game. S3 used to create these huge noisy farts of several liters of methane, but not smelling that bad. The winner in that game was always Dwayne. His thing white body produced small farts but of deadly capacity. We usually ALL lost to him as it was impossible to breathe after he had emitted his dethly gasses.  We espescially enjoyed this game in Germany, since the highway exits say “AUSFAHRT” which to us sounded a lot like “Out farts” ands triggered the game, or a groupe shouting of “Ausfahrt, Ausfhart, Lekken meine Scheisse”. LOL.

Another habit of ours was to stop at rest areas to take gas, and also fill up with “disgusting food things”, either junk food like pre-packed sandwiches tasting like modelling paste, or chips, banana’s, chocolate, biscuits etc… The habit was called “Chudding” from the movie C.H.U.D. where some monster was living in the sewers of the city. The food we bought being, basically, shit, it was assimilated to shit, ergo sewers, ergo CHUDS – Rot and Assimilate. So each time we stopped at a gas station we yelled “CHUDS” and went raiding the shop for horrible things to nibble on.

Another game we played was NOT to throw our trash anymore but dump it on the floor of the van on purpose, like an ART statement. Trash, papers, wrapping, banana peals, etc, started to pile up to a level of 50cm or more, and was “naturally” flowing out of the van when the doors were opened. We considered the waste as an entity, a growing organism able to reproduce and grow based on the “food” we were prodiving to it. That experiment stopped after 5 days as LIO said it was smelling horribly and he kicked everybody out of the van to clean it and forbid us from starting another bash. 🙁

 

After the tour was over, we had three days off in Brussels before Skinny Puppy had to fly home to Canada, and we decided we should get into a studio and try to improvize something. We got to Paul Delnoy’s studio one full day, and cEVIN and S3 started improvising basic tracks and came up with one long industrial song. cEVIN basically played the drum machine, and then was spending more time on the phone than focused on the project, so it really ended up more a S3 project with cEVIN and the singers, than a real combination of the entire two bands. After the track was completed, J3 and Ogre  improvised some vocals on it. But J3 had got a big cold and was coughing a lot. Dave Ogilvie and Didier Moens were helping Paul Delnoy at the mixing desk.

During the mix, we took off most of J3’s coughing to mix SILENT SORROW that turned out as being the A-Side of the EP, and then, since we saw we wouldn’t have enough time to compose another song and everybody was tired, we just made another mix WITH the coughs and mixed PATIENT SORROW that ended up as the B-Side. The records was released as A CHUD CONVENTION on PIAS/à;GRUMH…’s “Circle Records” label. It sold very minimal at first, but later became a totally cult record. It is revered until now as a very rare piece of industrial music.

 

nEGAPADRES.3.3. album’s official release coming

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“Exstrophy of Amphigouris” will finally be officially released by the french label hERMETIQUE. Release dates are still unknown but it’s beginning of 2005. The release will be under dvd-size jewel box with hyper-esthetic printed cards included and limited edition t-shirt. The label is also planning the re-release of the previous n.3.3. records including “Rebearth”, but there is also a competing project of “Circle Records Anthology” including all the circle products on the german label Ironflame. At the moment we still don’t know which one, or both, will take place.

April to December

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S3 and J3 sEUQCAJ met several times either to go to restaurants (S3’s favourite choice of activity) or to work in the studio to make new songs (J3’s favourite choice of activity). They recorded and produced several tracks, for example “Obstinacle”, “Absinthe à la Guinguette de l’Espadon” and “Litz Day Kursk”, and many other mixes.

S3 started to work on a home page for à;GRUMH…, nEGAPADRES.3.3. and the Circle Records and TTKK products. Archives were digged, and the first draft of the home page was put online at the end of the year. Many reactions from fans and old and new friends started to flood by email. J3 got online right at that time, saving S3 lots of work in replying that mail. 🙂