FOLLOW US ON:
GET THE NEWSLETTER
CONTACT US
John Lydon’s 1978 record of the year, reissued on ‘Music for Alien Ears’
04.30.2014
11:03 am
Topics:
Tags:


 

RECORD OF THE YEAR
Martin O’Cuthbert, “B.E.M.S” (Esoteric Records)
Seriously, when I played this record, an object on the wall started to vibrate very quickly, and I have witnesses to prove it. Martin O’Cuthbert is either a very evil person (just listen to the record) or a total fool (just listen to the record). Probably be big in Japan, and at a guess I’d say the whole thing comes off a Yamaha organ cos no synthesizer could sound that bad, could it?
—John Lydon, New Musical Express, July 22, 1978

How very Lydon, that his gesture of public praise for his favorite single of 1978 could just as easily read as a pan. “B.E.M.S” stands for “Bug Eyed Monsters,” and its author was the obscure synth-pop experimenter Martin O’Cuthbert.
 

”B.E.M.S,” 1978
 

 
O’Cuthbert was a more rough-at-the-seams contemporary of Fad Gadget, Gary Numan, The Normal, et al, and like those artists, he explored the very common early synth-pop themes of alienation and emotional deadness, self-releasing unfindable singles and EPs under the pseudonym Martoc. He lists as his influences “Kraftwerk, Pixies, Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, manic depression, extra terrestrial cultures.” No Earthly idea how the Pixies fit in, as Martoc’s music seems to have changed very little through the years, as is demonstrated by the new compilation Music for Alien Ears. The title and artwork refer back to Martoc’s 1983 collection For Alien Ears, but the new comp includes music from the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘oughts.
 

 

”The Vigilante Rules,” 2009
 

”Navigator Through Nowhere,” 1979
 

”Born in a UFO,” 2005

There’s more music to be heard on Martoc’s Bandcamp and Soundcloud pages. Also, his personal web site is as endearingly primitive by current web design standards as his music is by current production standards.

Thanks to Bent Crayon John for cluing me in to this.

Posted by Ron Kretsch
|
04.30.2014
11:03 am
|