Exotic Pylon

Johnny Mugwump, head of Exotic Pylon Records and long-time DJ on resonance fm, responsible for 2 seasons of the excellent Weird Tales For Winter series - which took classic tales of weirdness from the likes of William Hope Hodgson, Nigel Kneale, and Thomas Ligotti - and set them to music and soundscapes by fellow esoterrorists Advisory Circle, Moon Wiring Club, Vindicatrix, etc.

He's been hosting a monthly event at The Vortex
, but he's decided to hang it up, in order to focus on the record label, which is good news and bad: good news if you want more and better records, bad news if you live in the UK. But he's decided to go out with a bang and a whimper, throwing a 4 day blow out at the vortex, one last hurrah. Last night was the first night, but there's still three left! If you happen to be on that side of the pond, sell yr watch and go! I'd give a gallon of my neighbor's blood to be there; i like to imagine drinking espresso with k-punk and johnny trunk, watching Cut Hands freak out the squares, but i'll just have to settle for the Oregon rain.

The Exotic Pylon posse - Johnny and Dolly Dolly and the head technician of Pye Corner Audio - run in the same shadowy circles as some of the more well-known hauntologists - Leyland James Kirby, aka The Caretaker, and Jim Jupp, evil genius behind Ghost Box and The Belbury Poly. They frequent sites like the Found Objects and argue about fonts. They collect mouldering scraps and scratchy vinyl. They have turned me on to more good weird horror movies than you can imagine.

To commemorate the Pylon's last hurrah at The Vortex, i have cobbled together a mix of my favorite cuts from all 6 Exotic Pylon releases so far, including a special treat - a surreal sound edit featuring some sounds from the upcoming Gentleforce
ep, out on 3.26, stitched together with some sounds from Ronny Juzzle's sounds from the Spaz-tec National Diploma in Horseriding 3" cd. I've titled it why are you so far away?
, i tried to stay true to the concrète punk of Ronny Juzzle's track, with Gentleforce's cosmic optimism. The end result sounds like some bad happenings on the Solaris spaceship. The mix really illustrates Exotic Pylon's eccentricity - garage psychedelia from Misty Roses, mournful Wicker Man folk from legendary weirdos Band of Holy Joy, radiophonic hip-hop from The Lord, and the missing link between grime and dubstep, from Infinite Livez.

I've also written a small essay, in a PDF, extolling the virtues of Mugwump, and of all the smoldering British weirdos.

You may have already missed Black To Comm, but you can still see Andy Stott, Cut Hands (William Bennett from Whitehouse with musicians from Haiti, the Congo, and Ghana!!!), Cindy Talk, Infinite Livez, and others.

Exotic Pylon Records
The Second To Last Hurrah
mix

Weird Tales for Winter

Winter has a lot of festivities. Some live for Christmas. Some swear by New Years. Some freaks even seem to love Valentine's Day, that candy coated abomination. But weird people need weird holidays, and for this night-dweller, it doesn't get any better than Weird Tales for Winter, produced by perennial favorite Johnny Mugwump, on ResonanceFM.
The premise is simple, and sublime. Modern noiseniks, many of the hauntological persuasion, which means, of course, that they really like weird old samples, doing sort of 'radio plays' of Weird Fiction; flights of cosmic horror, classic ghost stories, steampunk dinner parties, and what have you.
For me, this series, now in its second year, as well as Johnny Mugwump's weekly radio show, exotic pylon, come as a real blessing, being utterly compelled by the likes of Ghost Box, Mordant Music, Broadcast, etc. but not really sure how to dig beneath and beyond the canon, to find the mouldering bones and angry spirits of the underground geist of the freaks that make this shit. Like a true Lovecraftian hero, i needed to know MORE! I have also had difficulty finding excellent Weird Fiction, many years ago having exhausted the piles of Lovecraft, Derleth, even Algernon Blackwood and Lord Dunsany, for chrissakes. I thought i would spend the rest of the days of my meager, pitiful existence spending my pennies on ratty pulp magazines from the 30s, trying to unearth some gems from the drek. But this wonderful crew of English eccentrics have come and saved the day, turning me on to M. R. James, William Hope Hodgson, Nigel Kneale, and others i look forward to diving into. Along the way, i have found out about new audio alchemists like Dolly Dolly, West Norwood Cassette Library, and Vindicatrix, besides new works from acknowledged masters like Baron Mordant, The Advisory Circle, and Belbury Poly. Really, it is phenomenal that Mr. Mugwump has gathered this remarkable cesspool of talent, and doubly so that they give this shit away for free. We all must really be insane.
Icing on the cupcake, there's an excellent facebook group to whip the butter into a froth, posting odds and bobs of weirdness, to make yr day more surreal. You can even find some of the artists, shoulder to shoulder with the audience, in rank exaltation of sweet delight. For me, it has made all the difference in the world. Hauntology struck a resonant chord in my soul, strange and spooky, but ultimately inaccessible. I'd heard all the burial records, the caretaker, even the whole ghost box catalog, felt like i'd fallen down a rabbit hole, and was not looking forward to the sudden, abrupt halt. To get to know some of the people making vital art, exchanging pleasantries and geekery and arcane wisdom, all wrapped up in a candy-colored bow, has been inspiring and delightful.
In short, i recommend you listen to every episode, and tune into exotic pylon as well. All the episodes are available for download, including last years season, and there's guest mixes available, to sweeten the pot.

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