The Squid's Ear Magazine

Shock Troops

Central Dada Time

Shock Troops: Central Dada Time (FMR)

Recorded in 1989 and only now released, this studio album includes Pat Thomas on keys & electronics in a sextet with guitar & bass, synth, turntables, electronic wind instruments, drum machines, samplers, &c., merging ea-improv approaches with disruptively odd asides, fragmented voices, and swelling interventions, making something otherworldly out of then-revelatory technology.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Geoff Serle-drum machine, sampler, electronics

John McCullough-electric bass

Peter McPhail-electronic wind instrument

Richard Chapman-guitar

Pat Thomas-keyboards, electronics

Neil Palmer-turntables


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UPC: 748079797079

Label: FMR
Catalog ID: 514-1018
Squidco Product Code: 26889

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2018
Country: UK
Packaging: Digipack
Recorded at N7 Studio, in London, England, UK, in 1989, by Jono Twycross.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.
a

Recorded in 1989 and only now released, this studio album includes Pat Thomas on keys & electronics in a sextet with guitar & bass, synth, turntables, electronic wind instruments, drum machines, samplers, &c., merging ea-improv approaches with disruptively odd asides, fragmented voices, and swelling interventions, making something otherworldly out of then-current technology. It's at times amusing, at times amazing, rarely predictable, and always engaging. One wonders why this never saw the light of day, and research found no indication the band performed live, or explains their relationship. Having collected many albums in the pop, jazz and experimental vein that included similar instrumentation, I find the intention and mischievous nature of the music fascinating. In many ways it points to the future direction of ea-improv and similar non-idiomatic approaches. But it also reminds of the excitement of that orchestration, and the enthusiasm of those working with those then-revolutionary instruments. Definitely a fun and informative listen.



This album has been reviewed on our magazine:

The Squid
The Squid's Ear!

Artist Biographies

"Geoff Serle was born in Bristol, England and played in various rock and jazz groups in the seventies before recording his first album in 1979 with renowned jazz bassist Paul Rogers.

He formed Research in 1981 as an electro-funk industrial jazz unit who supported the likes of Material and Swans as well as playing at Womad and recording sessions for the BBC. The band recorded three albums, including Social Systems featuring keyboard player Django Bates.

In the eighties he played in the systems music big band Tranceathon, a funk outfit called Rhythm Force and Elbow Room, an improvising group with Soft Machine saxophonist Lyn Dobson.

In 1987 he formed Radius with King Crimson violinist David Cross to explore ambient rhythmic grooves. Sonicphonics, formed in 1988 with B-Shops for the Poor guitarist John Dobie, is a more hard-edged, guitar oriented band which later included violinist Billy Bang.

Other projects include the short lived Shock Troops with saxophonist Pete McPhail and keyboard player Pat Thomas, who recorded the still unreleased electronic album Hedonism, and a dance music project Proof."

-Tek-San (http://www.tek-san.net/)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

John McCullough is a bassist and experimental musician, known for the groups Radius, Research, Urban Refuse Group, and Shock Troops.

-Discogs (https://www.discogs.com/artist/519480-John-McCullough)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

Peter McPhail s a multi-reedist, known for the groups Alex Maguire's Cat O'Nine Tails, London Jazz Composers Orchestra, Meltdown, Oxford Improvisers Orchestra, Resound, and The Siger Band.

-Discogs (https://www.discogs.com/artist/303100-Peter-McPhail)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Richard Chapman (born 9 May 1956 in Pembury, Kent, England) is a British guitarist, composer and author. He is a self-taught musician who has developed a personal style which is inspired by a lifelong interest in landscapes and Celtic mythology and English folklore.

He grew up with a diverse range of influences including jazz, classical and rock music and started playing on both acoustic and electric guitars at the age of 11. He moved to London when he was 18 and performed mainly on the jazz and improvised music scene with leading figures including John Stevens. During this time he became increasingly interested in 20th century classical composition, English folk music and Arabic music. He took up private teaching, specialising in harmony, improvisation and technique for intermediate and advanced players. After moving to Oxfordshire in 1984 he explored new approaches to traditional English folk material with concertina player Dave Townsend.

He returned to live in London in 1988 and in 1991 was approached by the publishers Dorling Kindersley to write a book on guitar playing. The Complete Guitarist (1993) went on to sell over a million copies worldwide. He also wrote Guitar: Music History Players (2000) The New Complete Guitarist (2003) and Guitar (Eyewitness Companions) (2005).

From 1991 until 2000 he was a part-time consultant to the auction house Christie's, advising on the Charlie Parker sale (1994) and writing the catalogue for the Eric Clapton guitar sale (1999). In 2004 he was invited by Paul McCartney to compile an archive of his instruments and their musical history.

In 2000 Richard Chapman returned to full-time playing and composing. He designed a new type of nylon string guitar in collaboration with classical guitar maker David Whiteman in 2004. In 2007 he returned to performing, leading his own group featuring harp, double bass and percussion. In 2008 he founded the label British World Music and in 2010 released Lost Places, a CD featuring his own compositions. "

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Chapman_(musician))
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Born 27 July 1960; Piano, electronics. Pat Thomas started playing at the age of 8 and studied classical music and played reggae. He began playing jazz at sixteen after seeing Oscar Peterson on television then listened to snatches of jazz on the radio before, in 1979, playing his first serious improvised gigs. From 1986 he played with Ghosts which was Pete McPhail and Matt Lewis.

In addition to programming his keyboards, Pat Thomas also utilises prerecorded tapes. He told Chris Blackford (1991), 'As far as the tapes are concerned I'll probably just sit in front of the TV and tape whatever's going on and so some editing afterward to decide what might be useful. ...But I don't actually put a label on each tape saying what's on there, so when I come to use them I don't know what I'm going to be playing. That obviously prevents me from setting things up. I pick them at random and see what happens. So I'm just as surprised as anybody else at what comes out'.

In 1988 he was awarded an Arts Council Jazz Bursary to write three new electroacoustic compositions for his ten-piece ensemble, Monads: Roger Turner and Matt Lewis, percussion; Pete McPhail, WX7 wind synthesizer; Neil Palmer, turntables; Phil Minton, voice; Phil Durrant, violin; Marcio Mattos, bass; Jon Corbett, trumpet; Geoff Searle, drum machines. The intention was to feature different aspects of electronics using improvisation so, for example, one piece - Dialogue - featured Pete McPhail and Neil Palmer, another concentrated on the interaction of percussionists and drum machines, and a third piece had Phil Minton and Jon Corbett improvising with a computer. The pieces were performed at the Crawley Outside-In Festival of new music in 1989.

Pat Thomas was invited by Derek Bailey to play in Company Week in 1990 and 1991 and he also took part in the Ist International Symposium for Free Improvisation in Bremen with the guitarist. He has been a member of the Tony Oxley Quartet (documented on Incus CD 15) and played in Oxley's Angular Apron along with Larry Stabbins, Manfred Schoof and Sirone at the 8th Ruhr Jazz Meeting and in the percussionist's Celebration Orchestra. He plays with Lol Coxhill in a range of combinations from duo to being a member of 'Before my time', is a member of Mike Cooper's Continental Drift, and he has a well established duo with percussionist Mark Sanders and a trio with Steve Beresford and Francine Luce. In 1992 Pat Thomas formed the quartet Scatter with Phil Minton, Roger Turner and Dave Tucker; funded by the Arts Council they toured the UK in 1993 and again at the beginning of 1997.

On the 'Festival circuit', Pat Thomas has appeared at: the Young Improvisors Festival at the Korzo Theatre, Den Haag (with Jim O'Rourke, Mats Gustafsson and Alexander Frangenheim); Angelica 95 in Bologna, Italy; the Stuttgart 5th Festival of Improvised Music 96 (with Fred Frith, Shelly Hirsch, Carlos Zingaro and others); and the 3rd International Festival 96 in Budapest (with Evan Parker, Phil Minton, John Russell and Roger Turner).

-EFI (http://www.efi.group.shef.ac.uk/mthomas.html)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

Neil Palmer is a UK Turntablist and improviser known for his work with Pat Thomas and the group Shock Troops.

-Discogs.com (https://www.discogs.com/artist/2920039-Neil-Palmer-8)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



1. Radio Galaxies 4:37

2. Black Line 9:08

3. Korma 3:23

4. Disauder 7:46

5. Vandals On The Moon 7:12

6. Central Dada Time 6:19

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
Electro-Acoustic
Electro-Acoustic Improv
London & UK Improv & Related Scenes
Sextet Recordings

Search for other titles on the label:
FMR.


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