Chin13: Oblivian Substanshall "Finnish....But Don't Wait Till You Stop"

Surrealism as a method of art has become almost synonymous with advertising over the past 20 years, the original movement's power to disturb and shock eaten away by the overuse of images of talking fish, lobsters in spats, and coat-hanger headed people to sell Tampons, Baked Beans and Spandex trousers.



One area of artistic practice where Surrealism has remained relatively undisturbed by the influence of advertising, however, is sound and music. This is fortunate for us, because the artist who goes by the curious monikers of variously TOSS, Tengemort, and Oblivian Substanshall is undeniably a dyed-in-the-wool Surrealist. A hugely prolific artist in radio, music, cartoons and painting, he has developed, through his regular broadcasts on Soundart Radio and releases on Chinstrap, built an aesthetic that is as singular as it is unpredictable.

The Surrealism of the mysterious figure of Oblivian Substanshall, who is sometimes seen talking into biscuit tins, is not the Surrealism of advertising, but closer to the comic and disturbing imagery of Max Ernst, whilst also harking back to the English nonsense tradition of Lear & Carroll.

His latest release on Chinstrap "Finnish But Don't Wait Till You Stop" is his most diverse and accomplished release yet. A veritable treasure troves of ideas and creative avenues, Mr Substanshall is just as adept in whipping out an unforgettable pop song as he is in weaving a nonsense narrative or a clanging, Beefheart-esque guitar driven opus. The diverse nature of this release is unified first of all by his distinctive aesthetic, and secondly by his voice, which is instantly recognisable, simultaneously as warming as a cup of tea and disturbing as a naked, wizened, bleeding dog-lady turning up in your bed.

So sit down, pour your favourite beverage, and immerse yourself in the barmy and beautiful world of "Finnish...."

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This album comes with a new video from Chinstrap's resident film-wizard Martha Moopette, using elements of every track on "Finnish...." to create an intense, strange and hilarious film collage of death and digestion. Featuring Amie Willingale, Talulah Lotus, Autumn Poppy, and a range of dead animals from the streets and fields of Bridport.

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Cover photography by Martha Moopette. Cover design by Ergo Phizmiz.

CHIN09 - Plushgoolash

Chinstrap are delighted to present the first release by the genius pop-music-machine that is Plushgoolash. Recorded over almost ten years, and selected from a massive archive of uberpop, this album contains some of the most finely crafted songwriting of recent times.



It is also very, very funny. Plushgoolash are living proof that great pop music needn't be po-faced and self-importantly earnest. Here are superb songs about dogs, cats, testicles, monkeys, Michael Jackson, terrible Lions, and brown rainbows. By turns dreamlike, scatological, hysterical, and suffused with a strange melancholy, every song has instantly hummable ear-worm potential.

Plushgoolash is the collaborative project of Erik Bumbledonk and Bambie Racheed. Those familiar with Ergo Phizmiz's work will be no stranger to Mr Bumbledonk, writer, raconteur, film-maker, songwriter, comedian, actor and prostitute. Mr Racheed, film-maker, musician, sensual escort for animals, and actor, is a long-term collaborator with Mr Bumbledonk, through Plushgoolash and the acclaimed comedy troupe Smuglybeige, who recently opened Prague Fringe Festival, many of whom guest in elegant castrati stylings on the final track of this album.

This is the first of a series of projected Bumbledonk releases on the Chinstrap label. Look out shortly for the MNJ Club, and an Erik Bumbledonk solo album of songs, comedy and spoken-word.

And don't forget, cannibalism is illegal, Bobo...

CHIN08 - Angela Valid - (1) A ball. The invention of a ball. (2) For the home or for the body

Chinstrap are delighted to present a new piece from Angela Valid:





"Iain Chambers and Alexander Jones have been working under the name Angela Valid since 2002.

At irregular intervals.

Additional, somewhat regular members are often drafted in to collaborate in a live environment.

Their most recent activities include a blah blah blah soundtrack, a session on a radio show, a couple of blah blah blah (Arts Council funded) releases and blah fuckin blah piece for Ergo Phizmiz's Faust Cycle.

More info on the internet (link to something)."



And if that's not exciting enough, look how beautiful these two gentlemen are....




Obviously both liberally sprinkled with finest Layamon's Brut....

Chinstrap - January - March 2010

All the first Chinstrap releases, in one convenient post....

CHIN05 - Various Artists
"Cyclic Bits : The Raymond Scott Variations"
Remixes of Raymond Scott by some of the most inventive composers around.


CHIN04 - Oblivian Substanshall "The Greatest Hits of Oblivian Substanshall....and so on"
Pop songs, spoken-word, radio-art, and drawings from a unique purveyor of timeless English nonsense abstraction. Triple album.


CHIN03 - Martha Moopette, Heather McCallum & Rosalind Noctor "Hedgehogs & Honeybeads"
Electroacoustic soundtrack to award winning dance & animation film.

CHIN02 - Various Artists "Windpipe Moods"
Re-issue of sound-poetry compilation, first released on Mukow CD 2004.

CHIN01 - The Travelling Mongoose
"Singin' In The"
Field-recording sound-collage from a Mongoose who perpetually travels with a sound-recorder.

CHIN04 - Oblivian Substanshall "The Greatest Hits of Oblivian Substanshall, and So On"

Chinstrap proudly presents "The Greatest Hits of Oblivian Substanshall, and So On", three versatile volumes of audio delight from a fine gentleman's imagination.



Volume 1: "If You Can't Help It"


Twelve slices of off-kilter pop from Mr Substanshall's prolific oeuvre. Imagine the worlds of Lewis Carroll, Edward Lear & Vivian Stanshall colliding with the spirit of 50s rock'n'roll, who's just taken a crash course in musique-concrete and sound-art. This brings us somewhere close to where Oblivian Substanshall is leaping off from, let's complete the picture with words from the man himself...



"The so called pop and cutting-edge cultural approach I most definitely give a good straddling too. Indeed, it gives me a lot of freedom to exploit and play around with these idioms to my hearts content. And like you pointed out, it's the fragments of these styles of expression which one can re-work, and try and achieve something fresh and amusing with, and hopefully interesting to listen to, or view. It's this looking back to move forward approach that I enjoy or, perhaps that's all there is anyway. It's nostalgic to some extent with a hint to the homage with an idiosyncratic slant. Some people may call this approach post-modern, but I see it as, yes, mixed up alright, and a little schizophrenic, but at the same time, entirely 'contemporary' in its make over, boasting no actual and definite rules to hold you back... It's an elastic art form that can be stretched and stretched and so on... But in saying all that, I don't really like to analyse things too much, I think its better to just get on with it and play,play,play, happily immersing oneself within this 'contemporary landscape', and to be as creative and as inventive as one can possibly be within it."

And .... download a PDF of Oblivian Substanshall's rather smashing drawings, selected for the "If You Can't Help It" release RIGHT HERE.

Volume 2: "Tengemort & Other Absurdities" - Monologues by Oblivian Substanshall







Volume 3: "Let's Talk Art" - Oblivian Substanshall takes on the history of 20th century art









And if that all wasn't Substanshall enough for you, find out more at ....

www.myspace.com/obliviansubstanshall
www.myspace.com/tosstossos

Chinstrap / Automata Recordings : Invitation for Participation

You are cordially invited to join the Chinstrap Automata Recordings project, an ongoing Creative Commons licensed archive of unprocessed recordings of automata, machines, mechanisms, mechanical musical instruments, mechanical toys and music-boxes.

The recordings will comprise a series of Chinstrap releases, and we anticipate putting out a series of albums made of sounds from the archive.

If you fancy joining the mechanical fun and submitting some recordings of anything you might have lying around, from Dancing Ballerinas to Dot Matrix Printers, drop us an e-mail on ergophizmiz at gmail dot com, and you shall be furnished with upload details!

CHIN03 - Martha Moopette, Heather McCallum & Rosalind Noctor "Hedgehogs & Honeybeads"

"Hedgehogs & Honeybeads" was a collaboration with film-maker Martha Moopette, musician Heather McCallum, and choreographer Rosalind Noctor, crossing film, sound-design, dance, and installation art. Created in 2006, the project went on to acclaim, most prominently at Motion Plymouth Film Festival (where it won Best Artistic Merit), and Art-Bereg film festival, St Petersburg.



This release, the third on Ergo Phizmiz's netlabel Chinstrap, comprises a remastered version of the film soundtrack, and four alternate edits created for simultaneous looping in installation form.

The project was devised and created by Martha Moopette & Rosalind Noctor

Flute & Guitar improvised by Heather McCallum

Edited & Produced by Martha Moopette

And here is the film ....