That's it.  Minghe Morte are now a quartet.  Andrew Plummer, vocal chord shredder and pin-up boy of the Bilbao Syndrome, is now joining Minghe Morte in preparation for a new album sometime in the future... maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow... but soon, and for the rest of you life.

Well, yes, that's about it...  we played with Marc Ducret and Franck Vigroux at the Wardrobe in Leeds...

...Marc said he liked Chris' drumming...

...nuff said really... good time was had by all.

Cash money, ass money, face money, monkey money, farce monkey... Minghe Morte!

The album has been mixed, mastered and generally beaten into submission.  Important people involved in the creation of this filthy mini-masterpiece include:

Barrie Gledden: producer - Barrie is a freakin' genius (Google him and see what you find).  We took everything to Barrie... far too much, and he spent days with finger over the delete button... then he took what was left and worked his magic.  We're gonna try and convince him to come out on a few gigs with us... play guitar, manipulate sounds... sweeeeet...

Richard Kimmings: mastering - Richard mastered the album and made it sound even bigger than it already did... Huzzah!

Andy Bell: recording engineer - the only person to have seen everything that went on in that studio in Castleford... he was there the whole time... he saw it all... my word, yes, he saw it all...  Andy has been singlehandedly responsible for many cool albums from Leeds-based groups (including Metropolis' last album 'III').

Chris Sharkey: guitar on 'Kendal Mintcakeface'.

Matt Bourne: Rhodes and synths on 'Mothership' Parts 1 and 2.

Yes, yes, the album has been recorded.  It's going to be mixed/mastered in October and we have plans to produce a video for one of the tracks.  The video will consist of teenagers, who will be wearing wastepaper baskets on their heads, jumping off bus stops and landing in bushes... it may also feature said teenagers headbutting bus stops with their headgear.

Should you be a teenager wishing to appear in a music video, and have experience of jumping off of/headbutting bus stops, then the Minghe Morte want to hear from you... Go on, drop us a line.

Mort Butane (Matt Bourne) took over from de Bez for a gig at the Beer Keller in Manchester on the 8th June, 2006.  We were supporting Subtle (Lex Records) who were incredible (see below)... anyway, this is what Boonjam had to say on www.last.fm

Next up was Minghe Morte. My friend had booked these guys all secretly, so none of the rest of us had heard them or really even knew anything about them until they started playing. And man they were fucking impressive. It was a drummer/bassist/keyboard set up. Minghe Morte is actually a three piece with drummer/bassist and I think saxophonist, but the latter was doing a solo gig, so internationally regarded pianist Mort Butane was playing with them. I guess their music is kind of hard to describe. They're part of/affiliated with LIMA, the Leeds Improvised Music Association, and they do sound like several other British improvised bands currently doing the rounds, only from what I could tell the songs they were playing were pre-written, or at least only semi-improv, since they had such as names. This of course gave them the bonus of sounding very tight, whilst also keeping the inherent craziness in improv. Mort Butane supplied mass amounts of that. The middle song in their set was my favourite, had long stretches of ridiculously fast drumming, incredibly loud distorted bass strumming, and Butane going absolutely apeshit on a keyboard that sounded like a fairground organ. At the start of the set, all my philistine friends were like 'ur what the shit is this,' but by the end they had all been brought around by the music. A victory!

And last up was of course our headlining boys Subtle. Dax wasn't on the tour, but the other five were all present, dressed all in red, and, despite having been on a huge tour for a long time (only two dates left after the Manchester one) were completely vitalised and intense on stage. Dose One is as much a performer and showman as he is a musician, and as he rapped he walked across the stage, utilising a vast array of props -a weird Psycho Mantis style bust on a pedestal, a skull, large dice, a big playing card, and dozens of plastic forks which we had mysteriously been told to get for them, amongst other things- and interacted alot with the front row, whispering whispered lyrics directly into someone's ear, or holding a plastic fork at the throat of one of my friends. And inbetween songs he talked in his inimitable Doseone way, which included childhood stories and readings from his favourite Henry Rollins novel, all laden with wit to such an extent that one of my Great Unpopular buddies said he felt like he was wishing the songs would end just so he could hear Dose talk some more. Everyone seemed to be having a pretty great time, and a joyful encore featuring some of their greatest tunes was received very well.

JAZZ NOTES Twenty 4 Seven Friday 31 March 2006

JazzYorkshire is a funding and development body covering Yorkshire and Humberside. Last Monday 27 March three bands, chosen from 35 which applied, took part in a showcase gig promoted by JazzYorkshire at the Leeds Wardrobe Club.

First up was an unorthodox trio of bass guitar, drums and tenor saxophone, Minghe Morte. We are about to explore the filthy, unseen, back passages of the jazz genre, announced Colin Sutton (bass). The band embarked upon a dizzying, headlong, helter-skelter of instrumental virtuosity, both acoustic and electronic, to exciting and emotional ends. Eye liner on jazz musos is not always normally expected, but it was a positive contribution to the studied theatricality and on-stage excitement of Minghe Morte. Saxophonist Chris de Bezenac has mastered circular breathing to produce breakneck post-Coltrane sheets-of-sound and drummer Chris Bussey is capable of delicate percussion or speed-freak drumming in Seb Rochford-style. Plus, he has a black thatch of hair, goateed chin and teeth that Tom Cruise would die for. Watch out, girls.

The audience was totally transfixed, with only the occasional dropped, unbelieving, jaw among the older members, who should know better. Jazz at the Wardrobe is seldom merely nostalgia music, but aims to showcase what is happening now.

Go to www.myspace.com/minghemorte to sample Minghe Morte`s ability to move from gentle acoustic melody to frantic thrash, often within just one track, and be amazed.

Review by Martin Laine at www.lepti.net

Minghe Morte at the Packhorse

Friday, June 17, 2005

As I said in my previous post, on Monday I went to the Packhorse to see the first proper Minghe Morte gig. I saw them at the LIMA showcase last May (more about it here) and really loved their performance. The Packhorse gig confirmed my first impressions: Minghe Morte just ROCK! They are Colin Sutton on bass, guitar, bass pedals and sampler, Chris Bussey on drums and sampler and Christophe de Bezenac on sax. The music is loud and powerful but full of melody and surprises, the rhythms are complex and demand full concentration from the audience, what else could I ask for?

And on top of this, when you go to a Minghe Morte gig, you get fed! The flyers didnt lie, for the £3 entry fee, each of us got a free cheese toastie and the chance to win fabulous prizes at the free prize bingo during the interlude. This was a great stunt, the turn out was impressive and the audience really loved it.

My brother David and I spotted a few covers and quotes including a piece from virtuoso drummer Jim Blacks Alasnoaxis and another from Queens of the Stone Age. Need I say more?

Musical highlights: Busseys drumming (from start to finish), great use of samples, Suttons bass guitar sound.

Overall, a great night of music and cheese. Definitely looking forward to more feeder gigs!