Tag Archives: Holger Czukay

We love interval signals

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Further to our last post about interval signals, cheers to our mate John F for sending this interval signal over on Facebook from Radio Tirana, Albania (above). Simple but effective like all the best interval signals, and we’ve just found out it was a trumpet version of a tune called With Pickaxe and Rifle. Blimmin’ eck!

That got us thinking of another old one, this time from Radio Prague, which was recorded off the shortwave and put on an LP by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. Here’s a live version with an orchestra, shortwave noise and a vocal through a megaphone.

Our friend Kit G5KIT from Bristol got in touch and mentioned this excellent one from Radio Berlin International “The one I heard most as a kid”. Cheers Kit, now that is a classic!

And a favourite tune of ours from years ago that had an interval signal sampled on it, was  Rephazer‘s Interval #1 from his excellent Interval Signals set here. Here’s a Madtone re-edit of the track with a Jasmine Tutum vocal over the start as a bit of an exclusive for a shortwave mix a few years ago.

Through researching this post we have rediscovered a clip of the late great Holger Czukay listening into shortwave radio from1984. It don’t sound like any intervals signals are contained here but it’s such a good clip it has to be aired again.

There’s a great collection of interval signals here from the SWLing Post article and on this classic site here. Have you a favourite interval signal? Do send them to us here.

Just to end, here’s a lovely classic musical box/ice cream van type interval signal from HSW Bangkok Meteorological Radio (supposedly a version of “Wandering The Plains” from the Nintendo game Super Mario World). Big shout to all interval signal fans all around the globe!

Outside view*

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Yesterday morning we watered the Weeds HQ garden at just gone 8am in preparation for the 27° heatwave. The poppies we enjoy sowing randomly, just throwing seed here and there have done very well (above and below). There’s no rhyme or reason to our flower sowing sometimes but yet we’re OCD as they come when it comes to straight as a die vegetable seed rows. What’s all that about?

We’ve stuck the cacti and succulents outside now (below) as the weather’s on the up and loaded up the south suburban box found in the skip with night scented stock which are both on the top of an old belfast sink just outside the back door.

And the bonkers as anything Egyptian onions (below) are now starting to “top set”. More pictures to come of these strange onions.

And last night this tune was on rewind on the estate behind us at their summer party last night, Koffee with the tune Toast. Tune!

Which, if you’ve had a drink has a similar chord structure to the below. Well sort of, but we ain’t complaining as they are both two very good tunes and there are only so many musical notes, ain’t there? Please tell us the producers, Major Lazer’s Walshy Fire, and Izy Beats have been tuning in to the late great Holger Czukay.

*And finally as we were checking that the name of the blog post was the correct name of the song from the punk band Eater, we came across an interview (here) with Dee Generate (at the time their 14 year old drummer) from about 2002. Well what do you know, another ex-punk into gardening: “I have a sloping garden which I have designed myself, with a deck area and terraces. I have put in Fatsia Japonica, Yuccas, Cordyline, Ferns and other big plants. I plan to make some big sculptures when I get time.” As they say in the Punk circles of today: Gardening’s not dead!

Give me some signal!

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A big shout to Justin Moore in Cincinnati for getting in touch with Weeds and sharing with us some pictures of his back garden and forwarding some tune recommendations. Justin came to our attention a couple of weeks ago via the SWLing Post Blog where we read his excellent piece called “Holger Czukay, Radio Wave Surfer” here (well worth a read!) He’s a lover of good music (with an across the board taste), writes a fine blog here and is interested in, and broadcasts on, the wireless (hosting a radio show and being an active radio amateur). At the present moment he is presenting Trash Flow Radio on WAIF 88.3.
Justin’s back garden looks like a very nice space (it puts us for some reason in mind of St Stephen’s Gardens in London, W2 where we used to work for the council years ago), it’s very shaded because of a huge oak tree but he and his partner (she’s the one with the green fingers says Justin!) still manage to mainly grows herbs and a grape vine. (Pic above) lemon balm and lavender. We love a bit of lemon balm here, we got some seeds years ago, they came up, they multiplied and the plants are now going mad!
We’re loving the grapevine growing on the fence (above). Hopefully later we’ll be getting more pics including next year the veg patch out the front and the houseplants doing well indoors. We don’t have much luck with houseplants funnily enough. A good source of info when it comes to houseplants by the way is Jane Perrone’s excellent podcast On the Ledge here.

And as an addition the above are some pics of Justin’s radio shack and music listening room, we do love all of that kind of stuff here!

Justin also passed on three excellent tunes, the first being from a chap we’ve never come across before but sounds well up our street, sound artist Nigel Ayres aka Nocturnal Emissions. This is from “Nocturnal Emissions in Dub Volume 1” called “Bodmin Parkway (Disintegrated Public Transport Mix)” and features station announcements that will bring out the trainspotter in you. Tune!

The next is on the darker tip by Lustmord “the originator of the “Dark Ambient” genre” so it says on his bandcamp here (there’s also a PTV/Throbbing Gristle connection too). This is nice stuff with some Tubby’s bleeps stuck in for good measure. More off the album here.

The next (another tune we haven’t heard of) is by Dubcon called Black Hole (Martian Dub Beacon) from an collaboration between cEvin Key (Download, Skinny Puppy, PlatEAU) and Twilight Circus’ Ryan Moore. Lovely out there stuff! Is that Black Uhuru’s Michael Rose on vocals? More on the album here.

So a big thanks to Justin and we await more pics and tunes!

Cool in the pool

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We’ve been away for a week in southern Turkey for a well needed break and here’s some nice examples of what was about in the gardens of the village we stayed at. If only we had a little more heat over here in Forest Hill and we could grow a bit of what was on offer there including (above) a lovely selection of flowers and (below) one of the many prickly pear cactus and pomegranate trees in the village. The fruit was used by the local cocktail bar for their classic Pomegranate Martini, now that was a fine tipple!

While we were away it was very sad to hear that Holger Czukay the madcap bassist of Can, Jah Wobble collaborator and musical pioneer passed away aged 79. He was the creator of some classic shortwave radio sampling tunes that influenced the weeds related music project Madtone.  When we first heard those tunes many moons ago they blew us away! Here’s some of our favourites. RIP Holger Czukay!