I have had the deep pleasure of going through the complete (or near complete) collection of EPs, 12″ and singles from the early 90’s electronica band, Conemelt.

Conemelt (1993-2000) was Grant Newman, Ashley Marlowe and Nathaniel Mellors. The three met while living in Tunbridge Wells. It was the proverbial band love story — everyone working shitty day jobs (chocolate factory, record shop), making music in all the spaces in between, and playing in a hundred different bands when they came together to form Conemelt. “We met because we were knocking about together in a small town,” said Newman. “I guess we were the ones with funny hair.”

The trio produced their tracks with a variety of drum machines and analog synthesizers, drawing on predominantly punk and industrial influences of the decades before to produce experimental dance music. Newman laughs when he remembers the “technology” of the time: “The only computer we had was an Atari 1040, with a total of four megabytes of memory!”

Conemelt experienced much success in their time, touring through Europe and coming out on labels such as Full Frequency Range Recordings (US), ILL, and Andrew Weatherall’s various labels including Emissions Audio Output, Emissions Lo-Fi, and Sabres of Paradise. They were featured on the late John Peel’s Radio 1 show.

All great things must come to an end and the boys went their separate ways. Grant Newman is based in Brighton and continues to perform in experimental music ensemble NoizreverzioN, solo project Static Crash, and as an artist with the performance art collective protoPLAY. Ashley Marlowe and Nathaniel Mellors have moved to London.

Releases:
Conemelt (12″) – New Ground Dance Division, 1993
Confuse And Destroy (2xLP) — Emissions Audio Output, 1995
Crash, Bang And Wallop (12″) — Sabres Of Paradise, 1995
Flashermac (12″) — Emissions Lo-Fi, 1995
You Fuckers Fuck (CD) — New Ground Dance Division, 1995
You Fuckers Fuck (2×12″) — New Ground Dance Division, 1995
Confuse And Destroy (CD) — Emissions Audio Output, 1996
24 Carat Conemelt (2xLP, Album) — ILL, 1997
24 Carat Conemelt (CD) — ILL, 1997
Rocker’s Ruin E.P (12″)– ILL, 1997
Rocker’s Ruin EP (12″) — ILL, 1997
Artificial Timestretch Lady (CD, Maxi) — ILL, 1998
Artificial Timestretch Lady (12″) — ILL, 1998
The Last De-icer (CD, Maxi) — ILL, 1998
The Last De-icer (12″) – ILL, 1998
Sticklebrick city (2×12″) — ILL, 1999
Sticklebrick City (CD) — ILL, 1999

Complete Discography: http://www.discogs.com/artist/Conemelt

Conemelt - Hairy Knuckle Know-How

Conemelt - Don’t Fear the Funk

Conemelt - Pear Shaped Funk

Conemelt - The Joys of Surface Noise

Conemelt - Track 09 from “Confuse & Destroy”

Conemelt - Agnostic Stomp (Punx Not Dead)

Conemelt - Wallops Girlfriend

Conemelt - Floating Bloke Mandible Man (Animals on Wheels remix)

Conemelt - Hunky Monk