Saturday, February 02, 2008

Zahgurim - Moral Rearmament LP


Another obscure one here. Don't know who's exactly behind Zahgurim but they got help from Simon Crabtree and Julian Gilbert of Bourbonese Qualk.
An interesting collection of experimental tracks, going from rhythmic to a more darker sound.
It seems that Zahgurim had ties with TOPY as they thank Genesis P. Orridge and the wellknown TOPY symbol appears on the backsleeve.
No further info to be found on the net. Released on the German Atonal label, more known for the Berlin Atonal festival they organized. 2 split albums with Psychic TV were the first 2 releases of the label. 6 vinyl albums were made, than the label changed to CD-only releases, mainly of Art Zoyd and offshoots. The other vinyl releases are 'Carbon' of Elliott Sharp, 'The Lyon Concert' of Chrome and 'Delivery-Berlin' of The Anti Group.

Moral Rearmament LP (Atonal-ST 3005-1984)
1. Dropkick!
2. New Flesh
3. The People's Temple
4. Panstwo
5. Shower Scene
6. Two Women

Zahgurim

13 comments:

fuckingdestruction said...

have ripped the two kiss the blade ep's for you will get them uploaded as soon as my ISP decides to give me reasonable speeds

Curious Guy said...

That would be great! The Young Soldier 12" was on eBay lately but I can't afford the prices these go.
just take your time, I'm in no hurry.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for this, I've been looking for it for twenty years! LOL

Andrew Micklethwaite said...

A snippet of info on the mysterious Zahgurim: in the mid-80's, i became friends with one of the band, a fella by the name of Andrew Wadsworth. He lived in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, UK at the time, after a period of living in Kansas with his girlfriend and future wife Michelle (she was a native and they had William Burroughs for a neighbour!) He was a lovely lad - Michelle was a super girl too - and then there was this unsettling music he made: it was hard to equate the two, if you know what i mean. I went to Andy and Mimi's wedding in Dewsbury in '85 or '86 and for their first dance at the reception, they played 'Roman P' by PTV. Needless to say, I've not been to a wedding with such an interesting choice of music since. Unfortunately, in an age before wireless communication and reliable answering machines...well, we lost touch. I often wonder what happened to them, and whether Andy ever made any more music. And i never did get the full story behind Zahgurim either. I can't find you on the Net, but if yr out there, drop me a line - i'm on Fakebook. Best, Andrew Micklethwaite.

Anonymous said...

"Andrew Wadsworth, an apostate psychic youth from kinky England" gets a mention in Burroughs' 1995 book My Education

Anonymous said...

I was in this band. We never meant to be mysterious. We just never thought anyone was listening. Strange that I should type the name in after all these years and find this, especially since I lost my own copy of the LP so long ago.

Curious Guy said...

Thanks for leaving a coment here. Still no name so that adds to the mystery ;) or is it Andrew?
Maybe some people are interested in getting in contact with you. Some music demands to be reissued. You'll never know.

Anonymous said...

No I'm not Andrew.

Actually he left the band a while before the album was recorded, so doesn't appear on it, but he did play the Berlin Atonal gig and I think there are some recordings of that on the net somewhere.

I'm so pleased that the music has found its audience at last, but I don't really have the desire to dwell on the past - I guess I'm just a bit flattered that people were listening at all, never mind waiting 20 years to get their hands on a copy.

Anonymous said...

Why did you name one of the track "Panstwo"? It means in polish "The State". Did you have any connections with Poland?

Anonymous said...

I'll pick up the conversation. I'm another member of the band. None of us are currently in touch...

We collaborated with Andrew Brown for our first live performance at Lanchester Polytechnic, Coventry in 1984. Andrew had been spending time in Poland.

P

Hungarina said...

I saw them once to play in Budapest, in 1986... and made a pic of the guitarist. Unfortunately it has not the best quality, but you can look it if you like on fb: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=3922523817166&set=a.1501237926532.66378.1101716740&type=3&theaternlyearN

Curious Guy said...

Thanks for that picture.

Anonymous said...

I bought this at Wax Trax in Chicago, when it was released. The track New Flesh appeared on every old-school industrial mix-tape I made since. I am going to give it another spin. I'm sure I'll find much more to appreciate.