SEDATION STROKES
1983
I borrowed money from my brother David and invested in AKAI GX 4000D 1/4-inch open Reel to Reel. I also had purchased a dual octave box incredibly cheap. It was so unpredictable sonically you could never tell what was going to happen. I also had picked up a cheap Copycat echo machine which was fascinating. I could block the erase heads with photographic film negatives and create loops.
I spent £14 which was half of my fortnightly dole money (benefits) on a Shinei Fuzz box. Bad decision. Now £300 on eBay but I latterly donated it to a friend with an interest in music. It was a tough two weeks. You must weigh up what’s more essential at any given time, physical or mental health. This is the spiral for people caught in that low income economic space that the privileged will never understand.
Whilst working on Trench Musik Kore projects I also began developing a solo project Battered to Sleep. Here I was looking at more personal issues. I was angry about the barriers in my life that prevented development. State oppression through the media and the lack of opportunity.
I felt overwhelmed by persistent trauma. I was experiencing trauma because of the homicide of my brother. This is now reflected in those recordings. At that point in time, I felt like a somnambulist just existing.
Sedation Strokes has a focus on corporate sedation and systematic anaesthesia and abuse of people. The samples used are from a documentary on American women in basic army training. The male instructor is saying to Alvin a female recruit:
“you haven’t functioned as a human being since you were about thirteen, you stopped being a member of the human race and we are fortunate for that fact, you don’t give a damn!”
I
lost my father in 1975 to a brain tumour when he was 49 and I was 11. The
phrase “You haven’t functioned as a human being since you were about thirteen”
had a huge resonance for me.
The screams come from Alvin who is being mentally and physically abused whilst being forced to dig a hole in the ground for no practical reason. Alvin’s screams are treated through the copycat and slowed to emphasise the horror. This is cut with the troop’s marching chant:
“I want to be a hard-core ranger; I want to live a life of danger.”
The dehumanising of people was present within my own life at that time with massive unemployment and embittered attitudes towards the people on low incomes.
Only two people have ever reviewed my audio work. One review in the exceptionally produced Irish VOX fanzine from the 1980’s was small but warm and positive. I laugh every time I read this one from 2016. It made me think at minimum I made an impression.
Text by Paul Boddy
23rd April 2016 ELECTRICITYCLUB.
“Although as you would expect from a collection of music of this type, a lot of it is (putting it kindly) “challenging”, or if listened to as a teen “back in the day” would have a probably prompted a parental response of “turn that bloody racket down!”.
‘Sedation Strokes’ by MALCOLM BROWN on disc one neatly falls into this particular category with a cyclical bassline overlaid with what sounds like a mix of an elephant being abused and a screaming woman thrown in for good measure.
Unsurprisingly, ‘All Day’ by THROBBING GRISTLE falls into this category too and alongside tracks such as ‘In The Army’ by BLAH BLAH BLAH, these are pieces that are unlikely ever to appear on your typical ‘Now That’s What I Call Synthpop’ compilations any day soon!”
Sedation Strokes was published by Cherry Red Records in 2016. Initially on CD and then on Vinyl. CLOSE TO THE NOISE FLOOR: FORMATIVE UK ELECTRONICA 1975-1984
The screams come from Alvin who is being mentally and physically abused whilst being forced to dig a hole in the ground for no practical reason. Alvin’s screams are treated through the copycat and slowed to emphasise the horror. This is cut with the troop’s marching chant:
“I want to be a hard-core ranger; I want to live a life of danger.”
The dehumanising of people was present within my own life at that time with massive unemployment and embittered attitudes towards the people on low incomes.
Only two people have ever reviewed my audio work. One review in the exceptionally produced Irish VOX fanzine from the 1980’s was small but warm and positive. I laugh every time I read this one from 2016. It made me think at minimum I made an impression.
Text by Paul Boddy
23rd April 2016 ELECTRICITYCLUB.
“Although as you would expect from a collection of music of this type, a lot of it is (putting it kindly) “challenging”, or if listened to as a teen “back in the day” would have a probably prompted a parental response of “turn that bloody racket down!”.
‘Sedation Strokes’ by MALCOLM BROWN on disc one neatly falls into this particular category with a cyclical bassline overlaid with what sounds like a mix of an elephant being abused and a screaming woman thrown in for good measure.
Unsurprisingly, ‘All Day’ by THROBBING GRISTLE falls into this category too and alongside tracks such as ‘In The Army’ by BLAH BLAH BLAH, these are pieces that are unlikely ever to appear on your typical ‘Now That’s What I Call Synthpop’ compilations any day soon!”
Sedation Strokes was published by Cherry Red Records in 2016. Initially on CD and then on Vinyl. CLOSE TO THE NOISE FLOOR: FORMATIVE UK ELECTRONICA 1975-1984
1984-86
ERA: TASCAM 244 PORTASTUDIO
I acquired a second hand electric piano and upright piano which was tight in a small one bed council flat. I was still borrowing/using the Casio VL Tone. I was using the KIT intergrated electronic drum machine with drum pads loaned from a friend.
I never had audio equipment this good. I am still happy with a few tracks listed below despite my limited musical ability. They appear on RECORDINGS 1980-1983 released by VOD Records 2014.
Instrumental (3.14)
Improvisation (4.41) The Word Radio.
51 GC (3:24)
Occupied Winds (3.16) got recent airplay here - Deep Bath #1: Ribeka
I also had the track “Dislocated” released from this time on
Brief Exclamations and Outbursts - Sex On Sunday Cassette.
This was a positive time in my life, but the storm clouds were gathering for the mother of all impacts. Late April 1986 my mother took own her life. Everything changed.