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Hastings Of Malawi

Live In Vienna
Originally, Hastings of Malawi were Heman Pathak, David Hodes and John Grieve. They recorded their first album in one night in 1981 with no plan and no idea of what they were doing. They played drums, clarinet, synthesiser and piano but also made use of things that they found lying around the studio – old records, cookery books, telephone directories and a telephone. The recordings were played down the phone to randomly dialled numbers and the reactions added to the recording. All three had been…
Visceral Underskinnings
Hastings of Malawi are Heman Pathak, David Hodes and John Grieve. They recorded the album in one night in 1981 with no plan and no idea of what they were doing. They played drums, clarinet, synthesiser and piano but also made use of things that they found lying around the studio – old records, cookery books, telephone directories and a telephone. The recordings were played down the phone to randomly dialled numbers and the reactions added to the recording. All three had been involved in the reco…
Choreological Exchanges
Recorded at the height of the global pandemic, and at a time when remote communication was becoming increasingly prevalent, "Choreological Exchanges" is part of Hastings Of Malawi's continuing investigations into the medium of communication itself. Prior to telephony becoming digital, all phone calls were routed through mechanical telephone exchanges, and the majority of the sounds on side one are the sounds of these exchanges and some of the voices of the engineers who worked with them. Hasting…
Vibrant Stapler Obscures Characteristic Growth
*In process of stocking* A classic masterpiece from 1981, never re-released before. Originally 1000 copies pressed on orange/red vinyl. 120 copies were sold through Rough Trade and Virgin Records. 800 copies were bought and later destroyed by the United Dairies label, makin this record even more rare. Hastings of Malawi were Heman Pathak, David Hodes and John Grieve. They recorded the album in one night in 1981 with no plan and no idea of what they were doing. They played drums, clarinet, synth…
Axial Incidents
Finally and just in time for Christmas 2020 Hastings of Malawi release their third LP - the antithesis of Christmas albums.  In this bleak vinyl mid winter the sleigh bells have been replaced with twelve handsaws, two motors and a dustbin, a duet between a walrus and an autistic child on an aeroplane, a chorus of pigs and Tasmanian devils, sounds from Japan, China, Africa, Italy, India and Hawaii, digital voice synthesis, sound sculptures, randomly generated music, geiger counters, free improvis…
Visceral Underskinnings
35 years after the release of their critically acclaimed 1981 album, Vibrant Stapler Obscures Characteristic Growth (SR 428LP), the British dadaist group Hastings Of Malawi release their second album, an epic sound poem entitled Visceral Underskinnings. It is a 40-minute film without light that reflects on the human condition, on modern society, on the nature of telephony and electricity and an attempt to make sense of the world in which we live that provides no answers. It is a sound collage of…
Vibrant Stapler Obscures Characteristic Growth
**limited repress, gold vinyl edition** First reissue of Hastings Of Malawi's classic masterpiece Vibrant Stapler Obscures Characteristic Growth, originally released on the Papal Products label in 1981. Hastings Of Malawi were Heman Pathak, David Hodes and John Grieve. They recorded Vibrant Stapler Obscures Characteristic Growth in one night in 1981 with no plan and no idea of what they were doing. They played drums, clarinet, synthesizer and piano but also made use of things that they found l…
Variations 3: A London Compilation
A third and final collection of lesser-known and infrequently recorded artists living in London. Features: Syngen Brown (all the music is made using second generation sound sources as well as his own environmental recordings), Wits (first release by four women who specialize in live work. Along with their use of conventional instruments -- voice, electronics, keyboards and percussion -- and a dancer, they also fill the stage space with a huge supply of everyday objects that are noisily explored …
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