martoc: music for alien ears

"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 (PiL), New Musical Express, July 22, 1978. Martoc aka Martin O'Cuthbert, has been making alien and alienated synth-pop in the UK since the post-punk period. This compilation gathers six songs released on 7" EPs during the years 1978-1980, plus four songs released during the first decade of this century. The tracks show a distinctive stylistic unity, inspired by fellow spirits like Fad Gadget, The Normal, John Foxx, and Kraftwerk. Across the decades Martoc has maintained both his close relationship with his synthesizers and an arms-length relationship with society, resulting in an appealingly quirky and individualistic iciness, informed also by his love of science fiction writers such as J. G. Ballard and Iain Banks. One of the songs included here, "B.E.M.S.," was chosen as record of the year by John Lydon in New Musical Express in 1978; John Peel was also a supporter. Despite these and other accolades, Martoc and his simultaneously catchy yet disturbing music has hovered resolutely under the radar, an alien craft avoiding detection by an unaware and perhaps unprepared world. Gathered together here, this collection of tracks offers an excellent opportunity to investigate an alien explorer. Compiled by Tamotsu Mochida, the author of Industrial Music for Industrial People (2013). Newly mastered.