P a r t   6 :   M   i s   f o r   M u s i q u e   c o n c r è t e ,   a n o t h e r   M o t h e r   &   M e n t a l   M e l t d o w n . . .

Coming in to 2025, life seemed far less complicated, but we didn't really feel any closer to a clear vision as to the final content of the album, just that we needed to produce another 17-18 minutes of new material to fulfil our side of the deal. It wasn't until April until at least the first half of it began to come together in my head. There was a plan for the didgeridoo recordings, that was to represent 'original man'. Me and Skit had recorded some vocal samples for it, but were a long way from putting it all together yet. The next thing we'd wanted was something to represent 'original machine', that could only be the Tandy TRS-80, vis-à-vis, 'The Rib Sacrificed (Opus 80)'.  I never personally had one, seem to recall they were quite pricey at the time. My first computer? The Sinclair ZX81, complete with 16k expander unit. Programs were loaded via one of those small portable cassette players and used to make the strangest noises, which seemed right up our street. Obviously, my ZX81 and all the cassette tapes that went with it are long gone. However, by a rather fortunate coincidence, our old MMATT sequencers, Casio CZ230S variety, were programmed the same way, and those I did still have. Most of the old MMATT back catalogue live sequencer program cassettes are still in a drawer in The Mmatterialisation Chamber here, so the first thing to do was digitise them...

Right: The Tandy TRS-80, inspiration for 'The Rib Sacrificed (Opus 80)'

Below: MMATT sequencer program cassettes for the 1991 'White Hawk Atomic' album

Purely by accident, the first one I'd recorded from a cassette was done on the wrong setting, I'd accidentally left the selector switch on 'phono', so the result was naturally distorted. And it sounded wonderful! Okay, so I carried on and did a few more properly, but there was no way that serendipitous mishap was going unused. The first two takes were put together the first week of April, working titles being 'the headphone mix' and 'the unison mix' (spent hours coming up with those). The former used two tracks with the offset tremolo technique, creating a delightfully headfuck pan that would leave your ears ringing at the end of it. The latter used the two tracks together, but one slightly detuned to create a discordant electronic chorus effect. Neither were quite what we'd planned to use on the album, but were much too good to waste, so were both ultimately released on compilations for the benefit of those who like to feel the trickle of blood from their ossciular cavities...

   The Rib Sacrificed (Opus 80 - Headphone Mix) (5:21)

 from "Synthetic Dystopia" (The Church Of Noisy Goat, 23rd May 2025)

https://thechurchofnoisygoat.bandcamp.com/album/synthetic-dystopia

   The Rib Sacrificed (Opus 80 - Unison / Metropolis Mix) (5:21)

    from "Metropolis (1927)" (Plataforma Recs, 18th August 2025)

https://plataformarecs.bandcamp.com/album/v-a-metropolis-1927

But, as it turned out, life wasn't quite ready to show us that much mercy just yet, now it was my other mother's turn, my adoptive mum (anyone who remembers the 'Zoen Nostalgia' album from 1989 will surely recall her delightfully mad ansafone messages!), the one who had actually raised me and was now living in our annex. She was just heading towards 94 and had endured a recent spell in Blackpool Victoria Hospital, followed by rehab at Clifton in Lytham. Sadly, this was just the beginning of another spell of chaos and uncertainty. It may have been all smiles for me in this photo, but things were getting tough. In spite of good care packages and as much support as we could give, she simply wasn't coping at home. Every time she came back, there would be two or three weeks of stress and interrupted sleep, followed by another fall, an ambulance and back to hospital again. It was really starting to tell on all of us. But me? I think this track, recorded in the same sessions and also using the offset tremolo technique, rather says it all...

    Autistic Brain On Fire (4:33)

from "Audio Report V" (Institute For Alien Research, 15th September 2025)

https://ifarmusiqueconcretecompilation.bandcamp.com/album/consciousness

THE FINAL PART