Webcore – Cinematography [Cass] (1984, A Real Kavoom)

'Cinematography' was the first cassette from Webcore, a Cornwall-based psychedelic/progressive rock group that emerged in the early 1980s around the free-festival, squat and alternative gig circuit. It appeared in 1984, at a time when cassette releases were a practical way for small underground groups to get their music out without the expense of vinyl.

Webcore had formed in Cornwall in 1984, although several of the musicians had already been active elsewhere. The group centred around Mick West on vocals, Phil Pickering on bass, Paul Chousmer on keyboards and Clive Goodwin on guitar, with Colin Woolway and later Nick Van Gelder on drums, while Dan Carpenter contributed saxophone and Jackie Hannah and Karen Kay provided backing vocals. The line-up changed around the band’s relatively short existence, which is usually given as lasting until 1987. 

There was a particularly strong connection between Webcore and the emerging psychedelic/free-festival network surrounding the Ozric Tentacles. Paul Chousmer later recalled that Webcore and the Ozrics were regularly playing the same squats, benefit gigs and free festivals, and that the groups became closely associated with the early Club Dog scene. Webcore also helped establish the Alice in Wonderland events with the Ozric Tentacles, providing a link between the older free-festival culture and the psychedelic dance and electronic underground that developed later in the decade. 

The sound of 'Cinematography' belongs firmly to that early-80s British underground, where psychedelic rock was being pulled in several different directions. Webcore had the extended, exploratory feel of progressive and space rock, but there was also a more mechanical edge, with keyboards, effects, processed sounds and prominent bass giving the music a less traditionally hippie character. Contemporary descriptions of the band stress that, although they were heavily psychedelic, their arrangements could be considerably more structured and electronic than those of many of their free-festival contemporaries.

 
The tape also gives an early glimpse of the ideas that would develop further in Webcore’s later recordings. “The Feather Mask”, for example, became part of their live repertoire and was subsequently recorded again, while “Captain’s Table” would later provide the title for one of their 1987 12-inch releases. The first cassette was followed by 'The Great Unfolding' on A Real Kavoom in 1986 and 'Consider The River' on M.E.L.T. Music in 1987, before Webcore moved into the vinyl world with their self-titled LP and further 12-inch releases through Jungle Records and A Real Kavoom. 

A Real Kavoom was a small independent imprint operating from the same DIY environment, and Phil Pickering, Webcore’s bassist, was one of the people behind it. Pickering had previously played with Vane alongside Webcore drummer and keyboard player Paul Chousmer. The label had already issued material by the electronic group Goat, a project involving Pickering and former Cuddly Toys member Sean Purcell, before becoming an important outlet for the Webcore circle and related projects. Music Week reported in 1982 that Purcell had formed A Real Kavoom with Pickering and that the label was working through Jungle for distribution. 

A Real Kavoom’s catalogue was small but fairly revealing of the musical environment around Webcore. Alongside the band’s cassettes, the label issued 'My Dreams In Your Hands' by Another Green World in 1984, a project formed by Webcore members Paul Chousmer and Dan Carpenter. It also put out recordings by Phil Pickering under his Eden alias and material connected with Artistic Control. The catalogue therefore moved between psychedelic rock, experimental electronics, ambient music and the more left-field end of the early-80s underground rather than following a conventional genre line.

 
The connection with Another Green World is particularly interesting in the context of 'Cinematography'. Chousmer and Carpenter began that project around the same period, initially creating music for the early-morning chillout sessions associated with the psychedelic/free-festival circuit. Their first A Real Kavoom cassette appeared in 1984, and the project later became involved with Club Dog, the Deptford Crypt, Whirly-Gig and Return to the Source. The overlap between the two projects shows how porous the boundaries were between psychedelic rock, experimental electronics and the emerging chillout culture during the 1980s. 

Webcore remained active through the second half of the decade, eventually issuing 'Webcore' on LP in 1987 and 'Webcore Webcore' in 1988. Members also continued into other projects: Chousmer and Carpenter developed Another Green World, while Mick West, Phil Pickering and Chousmer later formed Zuvuya, whose 1990s recordings moved into ambient and electronic territory and included collaborations with Terence McKenna. Clive Goodwin also became involved with the Ozric Tentacles as a sound engineer, while drummer Nick Van Gelder, who had previously played with the Ozrics, later became associated with Jamiroquai.

 

Label: A Real Kavoom – ARC 4 

Format: Cassette, Album 

Country: UK 

Released: 1984 

Style: Psychedelic Rock, Experimental, Prog Rock, Post-Punk 

 

Tracklist: 

A1 Exit The Fear 

A2 Jack Smack 

A3 Shades Of Light 

A4 Son Of Man 

A5 Webcore Atman 

B1 Poison Without Trace 

B2 Captains Table 

B3 Edentide 

B4 The Feather Mask And This Prophet Gear 

 

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The Velvet Crush / The Golden Dawn – Walking Out On Love / The Sun Never Shines [7''] (1989, Raving Pop Blast! Records)

 

The split 7" 'Walking Out On Love / The Sun Never Shines' appeared in 1989 as a limited flexi-disc packaged with the third issue of the Scottish fanzine Fine Art of Shoplifting. Released by the tiny Glasgow-based Raving Pop Blast! Records, it brought together two young bands from opposite sides of the Atlantic who were both part of the late-1980s indie pop underground. At a time when fanzines, mail-order catalogs and flexi-discs played a huge role in spreading new music, releases like this became prized snapshots of a thriving DIY scene. 

 
On the A-side, The Velvet Crush were making one of their earliest appearances on record. Paul Chastain and Ric Menck had recently moved from Chicago to Providence, Rhode Island, after several projects together including Choo Choo Train, The Springfields and Bag-O-Shells. With guitarist Jeffrey Underhill joining the lineup, they launched Velvet Crush with a slightly tougher, power pop-influenced sound that still retained their indie pop roots. Their contribution is a spirited cover of Paul Collins' "Walking Out On Love," played with ringing guitars, punchy rhythms and the melodic energy that would soon become the band's trademark. It served as an early preview of the direction they would take before signing with Bus Stop Records and later attracting wider attention through albums such as 'In the Presence of Greatness' and 'Teenage Symphonies to God'. 

 
The flip side features Glasgow's The Golden Dawn, who had already earned a reputation through a pair of acclaimed singles on Sarah Records. Formed in 1986, the group mixed jangly guitars, feedback and a slightly rough-edged approach that set them apart from many of their contemporaries in the UK indie pop scene. "The Sun Never Shines" captures that balance between shimmering melodies and a raw, almost garage-like atmosphere, fitting neatly alongside the band's Sarah releases while showing a darker, noisier edge. Several members would later continue with projects such as Christine's Cat and Besotted after The Golden Dawn came to an end. 

 
Raving Pop Blast! Records was a small independent label closely connected to the Scottish fanzine network, issuing a handful of limited releases that documented emerging guitar pop acts before many of them reached a larger audience. Rather than chasing commercial success, the label focused on introducing exciting new bands through inexpensive, collectible formats such as flexi-discs, making it part of the vibrant cassette-and-fanzine culture that linked fans and musicians across Britain and beyond during the late 1980s. 

 

 

Label: Raving Pop Blast! Records – rave 16fx 

Format: Flexi-disc, 7", 33 ⅓ RPM, Single Sided 

Country: UK 

Released: 1989 

Style: Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Power Pop 

 

Tracklist: 

A1 The Velvet Crush – Walking Out On Love 

A2 The Golden Dawn – The Sun Never Shines 

 

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UA – Cantante De Opera / Maldoror [7''] (1982, Hispavox)

 

UA's only 7-inch single, 'Cantante De Opera / Maldoror', appeared in 1982 on Hispavox, capturing a brief but memorable moment in the early Spanish new wave and synth-pop scene. The project revolved around Raimundo M. Luengo, who handled vocals, keyboards and songwriting, while the recording itself featured a studio line-up including operatic singer Luna Estebaranz, keyboard player Juan Antonio García, bassist Celestino Charro and drummer Miguel Ángel Guillermo. Although UA existed as a band during its earliest live appearances, Raimundo increasingly became its driving force, eventually continuing alone under the name BIT-32 after relocating to Valladolid in the mid-1980s. 

The A-side, "Cantante De Opera", had already begun circulating as a demo before its official release and quickly attracted attention thanks to its unusual combination of cold synthesizers, mechanical rhythms and soaring operatic vocals. Earlier live versions had featured Teresa Verdera, who had studied classical singing, while the single introduced Luna Estebaranz as the soprano voice, giving the recording its distinctive theatrical atmosphere. At a time when many Spanish synth-pop groups were looking towards British electronic music, UA mixed those influences with an unexpected dose of dramatic classical singing, creating a sound that stood apart from most of their contemporaries. The song received a fair amount of radio airplay and became something of an underground favourite despite dividing opinion among critics and fellow musicians, with some praising its originality while others found its ambitious style excessive. 

The B-side, "Maldoror", revealed another side of Raimundo's writing, leaning further into dark electronics and experimental textures. Its title references "Les Chants de Maldoror", the nineteenth-century surreal and transgressive literary work by Comte de Lautréamont, fitting perfectly with the fascination many early 1980s underground artists had for avant-garde literature, performance and unconventional imagery. Together, both tracks offered a snapshot of a project that refused to fit comfortably into the commercial synth-pop mould developing in Spain at the time. 

The single arrived through Hispavox, one of Spain's most important record companies, whose catalogue during the early 1980s ranged from established pop stars to emerging acts connected with the explosion of new wave and La Movida. Alongside artists such as Alaska y Los Pegamoides, Radio Futura and other adventurous signings, the label occasionally took chances on more experimental projects like UA, even if they fell outside mainstream expectations. 

Despite the originality of 'Cantante De Opera / Maldoror', sales were modest and Hispavox soon dropped its support for the project. UA disappeared shortly afterwards, although Raimundo M. Luengo returned several years later under the original name to record the 1987 mini-LP 'España Es Un Planeta', this time with a renewed line-up that included Agustín Villafáñez, María Luisa Muñoz "May" and former Aviador Dro keyboard player Mario Gil. The 1982 single nevertheless remains the recording most closely associated with UA, standing as an unusual blend of synth-pop, theatrical performance and early industrial-tinged experimentation within the Spanish underground. 

 

Label: Hispavox – 45-2231 

Format: Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, Single 

Country: Spain 

Released: 1982 

Style: New Wave, Synth-pop, Minimal. Movida Madrileña 

 

Tracklist:  

A Cantante De Opera 3:33 

B Maldoror 3:12 

 

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The Teardrops – Final Vinyl [LP] (1980, Illuminated Records)

'Final Vinyl', released in January 1980 on Illuminated Records, was the only full-length album by Manchester's short-lived The Teardrops. By the time it appeared, the band had already gone through several line-up changes and had evolved far beyond its early punk roots. What began in 1978 as a side project for Buzzcocks bassist Steve Garvey gradually became a vehicle for a more adventurous mix of new wave, art rock, psychedelia and post-punk experimentation, making 'Final Vinyl' feel less like a straightforward debut and more like the final chapter of an already complicated story. 

The Teardrops were originally put together by Steve Garvey alongside Trevor Wain, John Key, Dave Brisbane and drummer John Donelly. Their first recordings appeared on the 'In and Out of Fashion' EP, released by Bent Records in 1978. Soon afterwards the line-up shifted dramatically with the arrival of Tony Friel and Karl Burns, both formerly of The Fall, and the band re-recorded much of the same material for the 'Leave Me No Choice' EP. A year later they released the 'Seeing Double' single, although there has always been some uncertainty over whether Garvey actually played on that recording despite being credited in some discographies. 

By the sessions for 'Final Vinyl', the group had changed once again. Trevor Wain remained while Helen Barbrook and Dave Price joined the fold, bringing fresh ideas to a record that embraced experimentation without abandoning the band's punk instincts. Several earlier songs were revisited in new forms. "Everything's O.K." was a reworking of "Teardrops and Heartaches," originally the B-side of 'Seeing Double', while "Teenage Vice" returned from the band's early EPs with a different arrangement that reflected how much their sound had developed over just a couple of years. 

The album has often been described as an overlooked late-'70s UK new wave and art rock curiosity. Instead of sticking to one style, it jumps between energetic power pop, angular post-punk, psychedelic textures and quirky pop ideas. The opening track, "Everything's O.K.," bursts out with a sharp, power-punk energy that recalls Garvey's work with Buzzcocks, while "No One Is Innocent" leans into more angular art rock territory. "Hey Count De Bok Bok" throws in funky rhythms and playful whistle effects, "Teenage Vice" and "Some People" drift into psychedelic territory, and the notorious "Fackin Kant" delivers schoolboy humour wrapped in pogo-punk attitude. The result is a messy but surprisingly creative blend of new wave, psych and arty pub rock that constantly shifts direction from one track to the next. 

Steve Garvey was already well known as the bassist of Buzzcocks, one of Manchester's defining punk bands, while Tony Friel and Karl Burns had both been part of the earliest incarnation of The Fall before joining The Teardrops. Trevor Wain played an increasingly important role as the band's line-up evolved, helping steer the material towards the more adventurous sound heard on the album. Those connections placed The Teardrops right in the middle of Manchester's fertile late-1970s underground, where punk bands were quickly branching out into stranger and more experimental territory. 

The album appeared on Illuminated Records, an independent British label that became known during the late 1970s and early 1980s for releasing adventurous post-punk, industrial, experimental and alternative music. The label's catalogue sat comfortably alongside the era's DIY ethos, giving space to artists who didn't fit neatly into commercial expectations, making it a natural home for an album as unconventional as 'Final Vinyl'. 

Not long after the album's release, The Teardrops came to an end. They contributed the song "Colours" to the Manchester compilation 'Identity Parade' in 1980, documenting another small piece of the city's thriving independent scene. Some of the musicians continued with the short-lived Bok Bok, who released the single "Come Back To Me" later that same year, while 'Final Vinyl' remained the band's only full-length statement and a snapshot of Manchester's restless post-punk creativity at the turn of the decade. 

 

Label: Illuminated Records – JAMS 2 

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album 

Country: UK 

Released: 1980 

Style: New Wave, Post-Punk 

 

Tracklist: 

A1 Everythings O.K. 

A2 No One Is Innocent 

A3 Hey Count De Bok Bok 

A4 Teenage Vice 

B1 Meet The Teardrops 

B2 Some People 

B3 Slow Glass 

B4 Fackin Kant 

B5 Time To Go 

 

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