I Know I'm An Alien : Still Alien Still Dreaming (I Am Hobo Shaman)

In the last post I mentioned a few things had got me posting again, I Know I’m An Alien is that other thing.  It was easy to like them straight away; as I worked my way through their recordings on Bandcamp the material just became more and more fascinating.  From what I can gather since 2015 Walter Weirdheadd, Freddy Finefinggers, Buster Bashkitt and Susie Spacebrainn have two self-released records.  ‘Still Alien Still Dreaming (I Am Hobo Shaman)’ is a continuation of the Londoner’s outsider lo-fi recordings, not so long ago ‘lo-fi’ felt like the most overused/misused description of bands,  and it’s albums like this that makes one want to reconsider the genre in modern terms entirely.  I Know I’m An Alien impresses on the listener a take on the world through the view of someone on the fringes, their songs invite one into their space looking at popular culture, boring culture, historical culture, drinking culture, work culture, digital culture through collaged sound bites set alongside the band’s synth/bass/drum/guitar experimentalism.  

Human’s imagining being aliens imagining to be humans has a proven track record of being a powerful thing …. Bowie and Sun Ra both established that when one is in charge of one’s own universe there’s room to concisely define parameters in order to communicate ideas.  I can’t tell if these 13 songs feel dysfunctional as a result of rebelling against or actually reflecting our everyday life in this city.  Could well be a bit of both.   I was drawn to this record because it so clearly gets this concept across; it conveys the sensation of having oneself mirrored back –part hilarity and part surprise.  With songs like ‘Hey Hi Tech Lover’, ‘Becoming Human’ and ‘Hare Hare Against Genetic Engineering’ I Know I’m An Alien captures both those things, the absurd side to being human and the shocking.

The distorted sound of these recordings reminds me of V/VM videos and even The Coneheads in places; it’s the manipulation of famous pieces of music and heavily effected vocals that suggest these parallels to me.  I don’t know if the songwriters even listen to that stuff but it came to mind.  Some tracks lock into a groove the way Excepter might do, especially on ‘I Am A Shaman Hobo’.  I know I’m An Alien strive to make a room in this world to take you into theirs with songs that resonate with all sorts of alchemy.  It’s exciting to catch a band like this at the start of their work, download their releases and keep them on your radar.

* Just announced, I Know I'm An Alien will be supporting Colin Self soon, tickets for the show are here

This Heat : Reissues

 

Marking the band’s 40^th anniversary Light In The Attic has reissued 1979’s ‘This Heat’, 1980’s ‘Health and Efficiency’ and 1981’s ‘Deceit’.  The LP’s are in gatefold package including a booklet detailing not only the lyrics but sources of the songs and how they came together – a really nice touch.  This Heat’s timespan as a band was very short, but the impression the left was lasting.  What started as an experiment out of the heads of some kids in Camberwell with homemade recordings comprised of looped tapes, clarinets, violas, bass, keyboards and lots of manipulation became some of the most vital improvisation led recordings of its kind.  John Peel’s radio show was the yard stick to reach for when gauging the calibre of new underground bands, and when This Heat joined the esteemed list of artists who performed on ‘Peel Sessions’ their fate was sealed.  

A vast amount of ground got broken when This Heat started writing and playing music, going live almost immediately they wasted no time trying out and refining their ideas.  Despite the forward reaching approach This Heat were never popular, I’m not entirely sure ‘popularity’ is what they were even after, but you’d think this innovative kind of sound would turn more people on than it did at the time.   I don’t think they even set out to be revolutionary, the mindset focused on creating their own language – which would be teased out in eight hour rehearsals, documented in meat lockers and various other South London spaces.  This Heat abandoned technique for something they considered more important; using intuition to guide what was played and how to play it, crossing the line from inventive to radical.

Drummer Hayward had been playing in a prog group called Quiet Sun featuring Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera in 1970 but split up two years later, briefly reforming in 1975 to record ‘Mainstream’.  This recording featured Hayward’s first vocal track ‘Rongwrong’ revealing a Robert Wyatt/Soft Machine influence.  A Quiet Sun tour was scheduled but Manzanera had his hands full with Roxy Music.  A new line up was assembled of Hayward, Bill Mccormick and Charles Bullen who previously knew Hayward from playing in Dolphin Logic and Radar Favourites.   By the time the Quiet Sun London show came around only Hayward and Bullen were available to perform, they were joined by Radar Favourites manager Gareth Williams, and in Hampstead 1976 that was it, their first gig and they were called This Heat.  

Gradually moving away from Quiet Sun’s sound and eschewing punk and prog which was booming at the time, This Heat took on something more isolated and avant garde.  Williams - not being particularly musical, was the spark plug that initiated all the unusual elements of This Heat’s song-writing, he had the advantage of following gut instinct completely uninhibited.    In their lifetime as a band they released three records, the first a self-titled album, the second a superbly experimental piece with one long track on each side of the LP, and the band’s best known and universally loved ‘Deceit’ is where they ended.  Hayward continues to play in Camberwell now as Massacre, The About Group and as a solo artist; Bullen performed in Lifetones and Circadian Rhythms whilst he's active today in Ground.  This Heat did reassemble in 2001 but Williams became terminally ill with cancer and they wouldn’t perform again together again.  

These reissues were produced along with the surviving members of the band.  Not only are these available now but a cassette (made in collaboration with Mario Boyer Diekuuroh) will be on sale at the Not This Heat show at Café Oto later in the week.