Upset The Rhythm present a reissue of Normil Hawaiians debut album More Wealth Than Money, originally released in 1982 on Illuminated Records. Normil Hawaiians had a transformative 1982. With two 7 singles and a 12" EP under their belts, they suddenly found themselves disillusioned, so they forced the hand of change. The bands true constant in Guy Smith soon found himself with a new crew of musicians: Simon Marchant, Noel Blanden, and Mark Tyler. Normil Hawaiians communal take on post punk quickly sprouted and began carving out a new furrow. Greater emphasis was awarded to group improvisations, resulting in longer, freer journeys; Tape loops, echo boxes, extended percussive sessions, and duteous faith in the tones emanating from a particular old wah-wah pedal were all employed by Normil Hawaiians to stretch their sonic fabric into wild and redolent new dimensions. Normil Hawaiians booked into Foel Studios, and Dave Anderson (Hawkwind, Amon Düül II) managed and engineered. Anderson even joined in on bass for several of those sessions. Normil Hawaiians lived together in a small cottage in the studios shadow, sharing everything together and working long days. This is how the bands debut album More Wealth Than Money was formed, through trial and close listening, through cultivation and patient growth. Of course there were significant amounts of mushrooms involved too and several UFO sightings. More Wealth Than Money proved a vastly ambitious debut album, sprawling in a way that still feels expansive, brave, cinematic even. From the plaintive pastoralism of "British Warm" to the transcendental vistas of "Other Ways Of Knowing", the album constantly surprises with its ringing trails of guitar, motorik pulse, and synth rambles. Guy Smiths vocal floats through the album in a haunting manner. Described by the press upon its release in 1982 as an "absolutely mesmerising double album travelling through progressive rock, via industrial folk to freaky art-punk whilst sounding delightfully coherent" and "a huge slab of mindblowing dark psychedelia," the album was critically acknowledged for its peculiarly British kosmische. Its curious that More Wealth Than Moneynever came out officially in the UK. The bands label Illuminated Records were temporarily blacklisted by their distributor because of unpaid debts and so the album was only available from the band at concerts within the UK. Remastered; Includes a booklet full of anecdotes and photos from all band members." - Upset the Rhythm.
After nearly a decade of false starts, multiple game plans veering off the rails, and a handful of shattered hopes and/or dreams, the odyssey is finally complete—the new Fusetron site is here.
This is the first phase of a multipart rollout that will span the next few months: the currently browsable stock includes miscellaneous new releases from the past 8+ months (we have a lot of catching up to do), plus approximately a third of our backstock. Note that we’ve reduced/slashed prices on many titles and will continue to do so in order to make room for new stock. We’ll also be expanding / tweaking / improving / debugging the site itself (for example, we still have work to do on the automated international postage system, not to mention the inevitable inventory discrepancies that come with transferring an ancient and massive database to a new system).
Over the next few months, as we take inventory, clean house, and delve into our storage, we will be uploading thousands of additional items, gradually, on a near-daily basis. This will include the majority of the LPs, as well as many titles, in all formats, once thought long-gone. Many currently “sold out” items are likely to resurface.
Finally, once our general backstock is up (probably in the next two or three months) we’ll begin making our extensive stockpile of rarities available online for the first time: tons of random out-of-print titles, "deadstock," warehouse finds, secondhand collectibles, etc., accumulated over the past few decades.
Frequent/returning customers will be getting early access to these items. Details to follow on how this will work (a priority mailing list? a 'frequent flyer'-like program?), but it will not be based on dollars spent. We want to reward those who consistently support us, especially in the discogs marketplace era (to those who show up trying to poach five copies of a one-off rarity, and nothing else, ever… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ).
So—we suggest you take some time to dig through the site—even we’ve been surprised by what’s been turning up, and there’s much more to come.
