Metabolist - Stagmanaut Cassette (Cassette King CK2) 1981

Here is the other Metabolist cassette - Stagmanaut, released in 1981 on the Cassette King label. If I had to settle on one, this would be my 'favorite' Metabolist release, primarily due to the musical variety across the cassette.

Unfortunately, this also turned out to be the last Metabolist release. What have they done since? Malcolm Lane released an LP the following year w/ Max Headroom titled Max & Malcolm. Mutant Sounds posted this excellent LP a while back here. Malcolm (and Karl Blake) contributed guitar on the The Decoration of the Duma Continues LP by Pump in 1987. I have also seen a cassette titled Macac on various want lists (my own included), but have never seen/heard a copy.

Drummer Mark Rowlatt appears to have been the most musically prolific post-Metabolist. He has drummed for the following groups in live and/or studio settings: Shock Headed Peters, Camera 3, Luxuria, and Ectomorph (not the techno group(s)). Mark also contributed to a rock operetta (a la Magma) with a member of Ectomorph titled 'A Perfect Action', about, of all things - cricket!!!

Simon Millward appears as a producer on both the Camera 3 cassette and 7". I've also been told on good authority he has worked with the Legendary Pink Dots, but I'm not sure if this was studio or live (or if any of it has ever been released).

Any info about other post-Metabolist recordings/appearances is greatly appreciated!!!

The first side of Stagmanaut starts with the industrial soundscape of Cranes, which segues into Ymuzgo, a percussive and spacey piece (in a noisy sort of way), with some vocals and scraping guitars. Pigface builds into a percussion-driven pounder that, not to digress too far here, came to mind the other night while watching a live performance from These Are Powers, who hail from Brooklyn - probably because this track was still fresh in my head.

Side two begins with Johnny Loves You, a slower track with the oft-repeated lyrics "Johnny loves You, and that's fine". After a bit of an intro, Glory builds to bear a resemblance to Joy Division and is possibly the closest they came to sounding like a "rock" group with straightforward guitar, bass, drums & vocals. Quack Backwards ends the tape with metallic percussion similar to early 23 Skidoo percussion workouts and eventually cuts into what can be called 'post-rock in an era of post-punk' similar to some of the best output from This Heat.

If there is any interest, I can post the Camera 3 cassette & 7" - leave a comment!!!

Enjoy