Live In Bradford With Shift & Mutant Ape - Sept 16th 2005

A early start to the day and I made the long train journey to Bradford, lugging around a heffer of a suitcase (aka the portable lab) what is fun. I turn up in Bradford expecting red carpet treatment but all I get is moody looks from some mental kids. Ahhh just like home.

Anyway after a crappy coffee and chips I get to the 1 in 12 and meet George (Mutant Ape) and he's massive. Anyways we are really early so we find the Weatherspoons pub and some mentalist gets thrown up after throwing a wobbly about not being able to take a bottle of wine out of the pub. Haha, I sink a Efes and then we make our way to the venue where we meet the sound chap.

When you try to explain what kinda music we make to a sound guy and you say "noise" they dont actually get it that you are going to make noise but thats cool, I unpack mess about with some gear, by this time Martin (Shift) turns up and I have to say I am impressed by the ammount of gear and professionalism. Up until then I was not aware of his stuff but the records I got and his set blew me away.

So I play and make some fun harsh stuff happen, I tried to mix in some beats but I dont think that worked so then I squeezed in a quite nice ambient loop at the end. and just did a really nice 19 min set what gave me a big grin.

then we drank some more, I was shocked that I got a round and got change from a £5 note!!! I mean thats a rare thing in London and I also got to drink unknown beers that were class.

So then Mutant Ape plays and delivers a tidy set from a awesome little suitcase, really really ripping set. Gave me quite a few new ideas and was suitable sound track for all the juiced up kids outside having a drinking session. George's set was just what the doctor ordered.

Ok so then another short break and I'm so glad I recorded the sets onto mini disc.

Then steps up Shift who I'd not heard of before but then he unleashes a god nasty roar of a set what really tests the 1 in 12's sound system, it's really angry and direct Lovely stuff!! Inspiring and I was instantly won over by the set. God knows what the random chap in the corner thought of it but I kept on drinking and just enjoying the set. Amazing!

Ok then we all have a jam and it's good fun I cant remember what was going on but I added loads of strange sounds what kinda worked for me. But it was just harsh.

Then I had to make an exit after another beer, wandering the streets of Bradford with a massive case and a little bit tipsy was fun. I was lost so I asked a Goth for directions and he was the most happy Goth ever!! Nice chap, so I found the Hotel I was staying at. And drunkenly checked in, listening to my bootleg of the gig made me grin and vomit shortly after. What a drunken idiot!

Next day massive breakfast and the long journey back to London.. Amazing gig!

New split ep with Coco & Fiend Friend

New split ep with Coco & Fiend Friend

ltd to 12 copies come get some.

NxFxTxEx

as part of the 3 year celebration of Baron Bum Blood. It has been announced that the much sought after split with noise legend NxFxTxEx, should have a reissue. So here it is. BBBlood has produced a strictly limited pressing of the "We Hate Cher" 1 release. Order/Email now to avoid disappointment!!!! Also mentioning the legend of NxFxTxEx, He has recently remixed BBBlood on his latest workings. We are not sure what part or track is used for this noise but it is excellent and NxFxTxEx has done the Baron proud.

Remix Page

BBBlood to be artist of the month July...

The Baron has been chosen to be the first artist of the month on the Titus Records myspace account. The entire track 'Spirits' is to be broken up into 4 sections and available to download from the titus records myspace page. 'Spirits' is a representation of BBBlood live and was recorded all in one take earlier this year.

New releases to follow, also BBBlood is taking pre-orders of the UK edition of MVOI what is finally expected out this month by Nost8ment.

BBBlood Vs Guanoman Live Review!

Taken From http://www.geocities.com/beatsketching/gig_reviews/guano.htm
*Note the reviewer gets BBB confused with Guanoman in this review, Thanks to the guy who wrote it Guanoman & Baron Bum blood, Psychedelic Circus @ Hitchin Club 85, Sun 28th Nov 2004

Now, Club 85 has a host of regular promoters. Besides our old friends Live Circuit, their names are such as NHSPH, Rustbeard, Underdog and Psychedelic Circus. Do any of them sound too appealing? You might think the first is National Health Service Public House, but in fact it’s North Herts Ska Punk Hardcore. Psychedelic Circus, meanwhile, is a funny old one. Psychedelic Sunday has swirling patterns projected behind the night’s performers: the obvious lava lamps, the kind of tunnel vortex forever linked with Doctor Who, and some strangely bright-coloured dinosaurs. Progressive/acid/excessive rock is played on the PA. On this wet wintry night, an audience of single figures sits around waiting for the special guests, both of whom go under terrible names. It really doesn’t sound too appealing, does it? For one thing, regular readers might know my distaste for distractions from the music stage. A band and its instruments are surely aesthetically pleasing enough already, with no fancy lightshow.

It’s almost choreographed chaos when a group gets things moving... and when they finally stop. Any regular readers will also know of my enjoyment for the visceral noise often achieved at the end of rock gigs. Guitars against amps, bodies against drumkits, band against audience: that final confrontational attempt to convince a crowd of their power, or merely to revel in the fun art of destruction. Chorus, verse, all structure finished with, no need for even a tune anymore.

Tonight’s group number only two, a guy with a bass and another with, heck, some unseen machines and a min-theremin; so this duo lack the band aesthetic, and that’s not all they ignore. Apparently big on the London noise scene, anyone walking in here off the street would probably think "what the-" and walk out. What if you forgot all that trad song structure to start with?

Music stops being heard as musical, and enters the obscurist world of art. I’ve gone through my share of phonic art experience. There were concerts where the sound of a stylus and a turntable were more important than the presence of a record; where catchiness might be a bourgeois notion. It was often interesting and sometimes enjoyable. Of course, it’s quite subjective.

Improvisation as an intuitive art can by its nature take a while to get going; however, it’s good to be kept waiting once in a while. It can also be good when you're made to feel uncomfortable. At one point, the pair alternate in attempts to create the widest contrasts: so the Baron strokes out the depths of his bass, and Guanoman replies with a squeal. It’s like a conversation between two primitive creatures. There are certain sounds that seem to physically move through you, while other times you’re just waiting for something to happen. There's no beat - the duo make up their own rhythm as they go along. I usually prefer something to have just a little more structure.

But if you want to enjoy this sort of thing – and at plenty times tonight I felt like going home to do something else – while in the gig space all you can do is sit back and subject yourself to it completely. When one hum is left droning, and the projected tunnel spiralling behind comes to a sudden freeze, it’s like everything has stopped. It made for a few of the most thrilling moments I’ve felt at a gig in a while. I even laughed at the stupid dinosaurs. And I was sober! So the lightshow worked – there wasn’t much else to look at, though the musicians did wear wrestler-style masks – and it all made almost for sensory overload.

The club might like to use films to add more interest (or maybe that would be too much). As for those awful monikers, I’ve considered before why comedy names might be used by serious musicians to stop critics taking their “art” too seriously. It should deflect the over-evaluation that might have you condemned to forever play art galleries and appear only in the Wire.

No poolside photoshoots for you, Tortoise! Meanwhile Mogwai get pissed with titles like ‘Hunted By A Freak’. More power to them, and to what some might call their cathedrals of sound (!).

And well done you two sonic crusaders, Guanoman and Baron Bumblood. Or, should I say, sonic clowns?