The other night I was playing the mighty Fantastic Fall's "Reformation!" during my local gig. Some bloke came up to me and asked, "What sort of music is this?"…I thought to myself, "you've got to be kidding!" and then I thought "fair enough – you can't know everything in life, and good to find out what things are if you don't know". I wondered whether it was because he didn't like it – I asked and he said that he did like it…so I told him, "I don't know what sort of music it is, but it's the Legendry Fall and you should go and buy everything they have made…!" "You could call it dance music if you like" I added.
I might also add that, the same night, I played Múm's new single "They made frogs smoke til they exploded". I mistakenly played it at 33rpm; rather than stop it and adjust the speed accordingly, I slowed it down even more – it sounded really good – I liked it. And so did some girl. She came up and asked, "who is this?" – I told her, and she made a note and went away happy. I neglected to tell her that it was playing at the wrong speed. I played a few more songs and thought that I'd play "They made frogs smoke til they exploded" again at the required 45rpms. The same girl came up and enquired once more, "Who is this?" "The same band as before…Múm" I said…once again I neglected to add that it was the same song just played at a different speed…I might do that a lot more.
And so it comes to Mucky Sailor. I heard them for the first time a week or so ago – looked them up and ordered their single directly from Gus, the Roland piano playing roaring whining father of the duo. Steven plays the drums and backs up with the vocalisationing and whingeing of an overzealous son.
The name alone, Mucky Sailor, is quite brilliant…conjures up all sorts of scenarios and I stand by them in name, alone, in order to encourage someone to purchase their single, out on wildlife records and can be bought at www.myspace.com/muckysailor.
To try and categorize them would be futile as is all pigeonhole-ing for the most – but you could put them over there somewhere with Progrock or Lightning Bolt; or Rip Rig and Panic or Blurt with a sprinkling of Norwegian Black Death Metal Fairy Dust and Tony Bennett crooning. It is all these things and if you listen carefully, all the while luring horses into oncoming traffic on the highway…?You could call it dance music too if you want! -Walter Anka
"Brand spanking debut by Leeds legends Mucky Sailor, this is excellent stuff combining an experimental quirk with some super heavy garage rock sounds...like Beefheart meeting Sonic Youth this is great. On the smashing British Wildlife label...More please! Recommended.
-Jumbo Records
and the Artrocker review
"Horse/Hello Troubled, I'm Pignoramous(British Wildlife Records)
The debut single from self-styled tropical/thrash/disco-house mentalists is a toweringly subversive art rock achievment. Firstly it was recorded in the cavernous interior of Leeds' Corn Exchange - a Victorian trading hall-cum-shopping centre built in 1864. Secondly to bag such a speaker-blowing recording space, Gus Mucky Sailor spent a Saturday afternoon tinkling easy listening classics for old ladies in said shopping centre. Thirdly the resulting 7 inches sound as if the drummers from Add(N) To (X), Clinic and Parliament formed an avant garde hip hop collective and improvised a live soundtrack to a Hammer Horror/Wicker Man double bill. And if that's not enough, listen carefully and you will hear subliminal bestial whisperings about luring horses onto motorways.
Can your band do that? I didn't think so.
Matt Humphreys
Mucky Sailor: 'Horse' (British Wildlife) Is a limited edition 7" single which is so wrong it's right. A tale of horses found wandering the motorways of England, it is at times disturbing and engaging with turgid vocals part growled, whispered and whined, backed by a sparse musical map of just electric piano and drums. Could be described as part Prog Rock, avant funk, doomcore or just the deranged bleatings of a father and son cabaret duo from another universe somewhere in ..:NAMESPACE PREFIX = ST1 />West Yorkshire. You must own this record, if only for the most surreal artwork, the gurgling, screaming and complete lunacy only freedom of expression allows. My single of the week...:NAMESPACE PREFIX = O />
Norman Records
Mucky sailor drop a double a side single featuring 'horse' and 'hello i'm pignoramus'. the sound is a excellent combination of chrome and bbc radiophonics workshop or lightning bolt played on keyboards. good and very limited which is how we like seven inches. on british wildlife records.
Rough Trade
12" HEROES: mucky sailor
by Walter Anka
And so it comes to Mucky Sailor. I heard them for the first time a week or so ago – looked them up and ordered their single directly from Gus, the Roland piano playing roaring whining father of the duo. Steven plays the drums and backs up with the vocalisationing and whingeing of an overzealous son.
The name alone, Mucky Sailor, is quite brilliant…conjures up all sorts of scenarios and I stand by them in name, alone, in order to encourage someone to purchase their single, out on wildlife records and can be bought at www.myspace.com/muckysailor.
To try and categorize them would be futile as is all pigeonhole-ing for the most – but you could put them over there somewhere with Progrock or Lightning Bolt; or Rip Rig and Panic or Blurt with a sprinkling of Norwegian Black Death Metal Fairy Dust and Tony Bennett crooning. It is all these things and if you listen carefully, all the while luring horses into oncoming traffic on the highway…
You could call it dance music too if you want!
26 Reds Magazine
Mucky Sailor
Horse (British Wildlife)
The sleeve of this 7" depicts a 'mucky sailor' in all his naked glory, shamelessly copulating with an obviously female, human sized seahorse which has the end of its tail jammed firmly up the seaman's backside. I mention this only because its disturbing, nightmarish vision is perfectly suited to the unhinged, queasy ravings of the music contained therein. Augustin Bousfield on wildly abused electronic keyboards and Steven Nuttall on flailing drums are Mucky Sailor, but they are also respectively credited with "roaring & whining" and "screaming & whispering".
While 'Horse' has a more or less conventional verse/chorus structure, all the mumbling and shouting make it sound like a pop song constructed by the insane.
Approach with caution, and not at all if you're on hallucinogens or under psychiatric care.
Johnny Ersatz-Culture
SANDMAN