Not many bands are fronted by a star of television drama and deal in songs about witchcraft. The Eccentronic Research Council are clearly not every other band.
Adrian Flanagan and Dean Honer are two vintage synth lovers drawn together by their love for the obscure. Such is their passion for the perverse, they somehow persuaded one time Shameless actress Maxine Peake to deliver spoken words odes to the Pendle Witches on their creepy record, 1612 Underture.
The band will make their live London debut at Village Underground in London’s east end tonight (17 May) as part of the Noise of Art collective’s celebration of 100 years of electronic music.
The evening is a rare chance to see the group play live as well as hear DJ sets from the likes of Justin Robertson and Jim Stanton.
Read our recent interview with The ERC.
Below you can get yourself in the mood for this evening’s festivities by listening to Adrian’s exclusive M playlist.
Adrian Flanagan and Dean Honer are two vintage synth lovers drawn together by their love for the obscure. Such is their passion for the perverse, they somehow persuaded one time Shameless actress Maxine Peake to deliver spoken words odes to the Pendle Witches on their creepy record, 1612 Underture.
The band will make their live London debut at Village Underground in London’s east end tonight (17 May) as part of the Noise of Art collective’s celebration of 100 years of electronic music.
The evening is a rare chance to see the group play live as well as hear DJ sets from the likes of Justin Robertson and Jim Stanton.
Read our recent interview with The ERC.
Below you can get yourself in the mood for this evening’s festivities by listening to Adrian’s exclusive M playlist.
It’s full of both the weird and the wonderful including Joe Meek, Wayne Smith and The Human League. Check out his guide to these future sounds from way out…
Entry of the Globbots - Joe Meek (album - I Hear A New World)
This was recorded in 1959 and taken from one of my all time favourite albums I Hear A New World by Joe Meek and The Blue Men. It’s got marching beats, demented sped up voices, people blowing bubbles with straws and clashing rock a billy and surf guitars. I think it only sold 100 copies when it came out originally as part of a EP in 1960 and pre-dates Bowie’s Laughing Gnome by years. I bet David's gutted about that.
The Four Horsemen - Aphrodite’s Child (album - 666)
This Greek beast is a big favourite of Maxine Peake. Whenever she comes to my house, she usually leaves with an arm full of my records. Astonishingly she’s the only person I know who gives them back. She'll scour record shops to get the original vinyl of the ones she likes. She’s bang in to her prog is our Max.
Under Me Sleng Teng - Wayne Smith (album Under Me Sleng Teng)
This Wayne Smith classic was made using the "rock" preset setting on a Casio MT40 and also featured the first fully computerised rhythm track in Jamaican music, which despite being an amazing track, pissed off a lot of drummers. Which is a good thing.
It reminds me a lot of going to parties when I first moved to Sheffield. I’d say this track was a unifying and massive influence on a lot of people making music in their bedrooms in Sheffield - from early Warp to the Northern Electronic thing to Toddla T. For many years this track was the only sunshine those fuckers ever got.
Too Fortiche - Pierre Henrey (album- Henry: Messe pour le temps present )
It’s originally part of a score for a ballet. This track is taken from probably Pierre Henry's most experimental album and is one of his best songs. Funky drums, fuzz guitars and heavy psychedelic synths spar it out in either a Parisian Go-Go bar or The Penny Black pub in Salford circa ‘67. You decide??!
Kanong Krung - Teungjai Bunpraruks (album - Thai! Dai?)
This was released by the Finders Keepers record label. I love [label manager] Andy Votel - his graft, passion and ‘Rainman’ style knowledge has certainly made my record collection an infinitely better one. I love this song and like to turn it up loud and go in another room in my house. Try it. It sounds like a neighbour is jamming along too it on a really out of tune bass. It’s brilliant.
Love - In (December) - Hal Blaine (album - Psychedelic Percussion)
Wrecking crew drum god. Mr Hal Blaine, makes a psychedelic cash-in album called Psychedelic Percussion. Turns out to be the real deal.
Waltzinblack - The Stranglers (album - The Gospel According To The Men in Black)
Dean Honer, my musical partner in The ERC, turned me onto this album. He's a big fan of The Stranglers. This particular album that this track is from is heavy on the analogue synths. A big but not obvious influence on Dean's other band, I Monster.
Disco Devil - Lee "Scratch" Perry (album - Reggae Legends)
Lee Perry's dubbed out re-titled version of the Max Romeo/Perry penned classic Chase the Devil. Anyone who starts a song with the line ‘Lucifer son of the Mourning, I’m gonna chase you out of earth’ is a good lad in my book.
Rock Me Again and Again and Again - The Human League (Album - Hysteria)
Human League do fun cover version of a Lyn Collins funk soul classic. I once listened to this solidly for two hours on hash cakes. I got the proper giggles.
Two Time Slim - Snatch and the Poontangs (album - Johnny Otis presents:)
Guitarist Shuggie Otis, side project. I think he recorded this around the time he was knocking about doing sessions for people like Frank Zappa. I really love this Last Poets style rant about how bad he is. The language and imagery is incredible.
Pop Orbite - CHICO Magnetic Band - (album - Acid Rock)
Heavy psych rock produced by France's very own Joe Meek, Jean -Pierre Massieria. Heavy drums, organ and fuzz get bullied by Massieria's bonkers effects, bringing sweet, brilliant results. Bands don't realise when choosing your producer it's always best to work with the slightly unhinged type. Otherwise you just end up sounding like a competent Jimi Hendrix rip off. Or Lenny Kravitz.
Black Doe - Mary Epworth (album - Dream Life)
Mary came to see my lot when we played in Portmeirion last year and expressed great enjoyment at our witchy skills via Twitter. I was really flattered because I’m a big fan of her debut album.
I'd never seen them live so I rectified this last month and managed to catch a couple of their live shows when I happened to be in exactly the same cities as her twice in one week. They are ace. Within five minutes of meeting Mary after the show she excitedly took me in to a graveyard to show me a spooky tree planted by Thomas Hardy. She's one of us and this track, although not the best on the album, is a bobby dazzler.
All I Do Is Think About You - Tammi Terrell(album- Come On and See Me)
It's hard to believe this incredible Tammi Terrell recording was left unreleased in the Motown vaults for over 30 year before it saw the light of day, for it to then only be stuck on some Motown compilation in the 90s. It's one of the best records never released. While doing a duet onstage with the late great Mr Marvin Gaye, she collapsed in to his arms cold. Tammi was taken to hospital where it was discovered she had brain cancer. After many attempts to remove the tumor, she died three years later aged only 24.
Drumming is my Madness - Ringo Starr (album - Stop and Smell The Roses)
After all that sadness and heartache, here's Ringo in his element.
Night Time is Here - Cilla Black (album - 1963-1973 The Abbey Road Decade)
Imagine it’s the evening and you’re at a hot beach bar in Jamaica in the 60s. A crowd have gathered on the beach and they’re dancing to some cheerful music. You can hear a voice that sounds familiar but something isn't quite right about it. You push through the crowd and see a very white, ginger lady from Liverpool. With no shame.
Ghost of Old Lizzy Southerns Returns - The Eccentronic Research Council (album - 1612 Underture).
This is the closing track on our album. I wanted to write an alternative National Anthem and Danny Boyle missed a trick not getting this in the Olympics opening ceremony, but to be fair it wasn't released then.
Imagine it though, Seb Coe does his bloody awful speech, then Maxine breaks out of that big fake hill behind him on 30ft stilts inside a giant Angel of the North robot and she starts reciting these words directly to the nation, whilst firing lazers out of her robot eyes at the attending politicians. Dean and I are swinging underneath a couple of helicopters, naked but for a couple of vuvuzelas covering our modesty. We’d be sitting astride a couple of surfboards, while playing delicate Moog passages high above the stadium.
One day someone will have my vision.
Entry of the Globbots - Joe Meek (album - I Hear A New World)
This was recorded in 1959 and taken from one of my all time favourite albums I Hear A New World by Joe Meek and The Blue Men. It’s got marching beats, demented sped up voices, people blowing bubbles with straws and clashing rock a billy and surf guitars. I think it only sold 100 copies when it came out originally as part of a EP in 1960 and pre-dates Bowie’s Laughing Gnome by years. I bet David's gutted about that.
The Four Horsemen - Aphrodite’s Child (album - 666)
This Greek beast is a big favourite of Maxine Peake. Whenever she comes to my house, she usually leaves with an arm full of my records. Astonishingly she’s the only person I know who gives them back. She'll scour record shops to get the original vinyl of the ones she likes. She’s bang in to her prog is our Max.
Under Me Sleng Teng - Wayne Smith (album Under Me Sleng Teng)
This Wayne Smith classic was made using the "rock" preset setting on a Casio MT40 and also featured the first fully computerised rhythm track in Jamaican music, which despite being an amazing track, pissed off a lot of drummers. Which is a good thing.
It reminds me a lot of going to parties when I first moved to Sheffield. I’d say this track was a unifying and massive influence on a lot of people making music in their bedrooms in Sheffield - from early Warp to the Northern Electronic thing to Toddla T. For many years this track was the only sunshine those fuckers ever got.
Too Fortiche - Pierre Henrey (album- Henry: Messe pour le temps present )
It’s originally part of a score for a ballet. This track is taken from probably Pierre Henry's most experimental album and is one of his best songs. Funky drums, fuzz guitars and heavy psychedelic synths spar it out in either a Parisian Go-Go bar or The Penny Black pub in Salford circa ‘67. You decide??!
Kanong Krung - Teungjai Bunpraruks (album - Thai! Dai?)
This was released by the Finders Keepers record label. I love [label manager] Andy Votel - his graft, passion and ‘Rainman’ style knowledge has certainly made my record collection an infinitely better one. I love this song and like to turn it up loud and go in another room in my house. Try it. It sounds like a neighbour is jamming along too it on a really out of tune bass. It’s brilliant.
Love - In (December) - Hal Blaine (album - Psychedelic Percussion)
Wrecking crew drum god. Mr Hal Blaine, makes a psychedelic cash-in album called Psychedelic Percussion. Turns out to be the real deal.
Waltzinblack - The Stranglers (album - The Gospel According To The Men in Black)
Dean Honer, my musical partner in The ERC, turned me onto this album. He's a big fan of The Stranglers. This particular album that this track is from is heavy on the analogue synths. A big but not obvious influence on Dean's other band, I Monster.
Disco Devil - Lee "Scratch" Perry (album - Reggae Legends)
Lee Perry's dubbed out re-titled version of the Max Romeo/Perry penned classic Chase the Devil. Anyone who starts a song with the line ‘Lucifer son of the Mourning, I’m gonna chase you out of earth’ is a good lad in my book.
Rock Me Again and Again and Again - The Human League (Album - Hysteria)
Human League do fun cover version of a Lyn Collins funk soul classic. I once listened to this solidly for two hours on hash cakes. I got the proper giggles.
Two Time Slim - Snatch and the Poontangs (album - Johnny Otis presents:)
Guitarist Shuggie Otis, side project. I think he recorded this around the time he was knocking about doing sessions for people like Frank Zappa. I really love this Last Poets style rant about how bad he is. The language and imagery is incredible.
Pop Orbite - CHICO Magnetic Band - (album - Acid Rock)
Heavy psych rock produced by France's very own Joe Meek, Jean -Pierre Massieria. Heavy drums, organ and fuzz get bullied by Massieria's bonkers effects, bringing sweet, brilliant results. Bands don't realise when choosing your producer it's always best to work with the slightly unhinged type. Otherwise you just end up sounding like a competent Jimi Hendrix rip off. Or Lenny Kravitz.
Black Doe - Mary Epworth (album - Dream Life)
Mary came to see my lot when we played in Portmeirion last year and expressed great enjoyment at our witchy skills via Twitter. I was really flattered because I’m a big fan of her debut album.
I'd never seen them live so I rectified this last month and managed to catch a couple of their live shows when I happened to be in exactly the same cities as her twice in one week. They are ace. Within five minutes of meeting Mary after the show she excitedly took me in to a graveyard to show me a spooky tree planted by Thomas Hardy. She's one of us and this track, although not the best on the album, is a bobby dazzler.
All I Do Is Think About You - Tammi Terrell(album- Come On and See Me)
It's hard to believe this incredible Tammi Terrell recording was left unreleased in the Motown vaults for over 30 year before it saw the light of day, for it to then only be stuck on some Motown compilation in the 90s. It's one of the best records never released. While doing a duet onstage with the late great Mr Marvin Gaye, she collapsed in to his arms cold. Tammi was taken to hospital where it was discovered she had brain cancer. After many attempts to remove the tumor, she died three years later aged only 24.
Drumming is my Madness - Ringo Starr (album - Stop and Smell The Roses)
After all that sadness and heartache, here's Ringo in his element.
Night Time is Here - Cilla Black (album - 1963-1973 The Abbey Road Decade)
Imagine it’s the evening and you’re at a hot beach bar in Jamaica in the 60s. A crowd have gathered on the beach and they’re dancing to some cheerful music. You can hear a voice that sounds familiar but something isn't quite right about it. You push through the crowd and see a very white, ginger lady from Liverpool. With no shame.
Ghost of Old Lizzy Southerns Returns - The Eccentronic Research Council (album - 1612 Underture).
This is the closing track on our album. I wanted to write an alternative National Anthem and Danny Boyle missed a trick not getting this in the Olympics opening ceremony, but to be fair it wasn't released then.
Imagine it though, Seb Coe does his bloody awful speech, then Maxine breaks out of that big fake hill behind him on 30ft stilts inside a giant Angel of the North robot and she starts reciting these words directly to the nation, whilst firing lazers out of her robot eyes at the attending politicians. Dean and I are swinging underneath a couple of helicopters, naked but for a couple of vuvuzelas covering our modesty. We’d be sitting astride a couple of surfboards, while playing delicate Moog passages high above the stadium.
One day someone will have my vision.
