Big Block 454 is a semi-amorphous post-modern / situationist neo-dada cross-platform compositional construct from Manchester, England (featuring people from Liverpool, Leeds and Lincolnshire).
Over the years, Big Block 454 have unleashed a series of albums and multi-media happenings upon an unsuspecting public, combining influences such as Faust, Can, Brian Eno, The Residents, the Bonzo Dog Band, King Crimson and the BBC Radiophonics Workshop - surrealism meets Krautrock meets downright Northern stupidity. We play whatever we bloody well like, alright?
Big Block 454 have worked on multi-media projects with famed dada artist Russell Mills, and have been championed by such people as the BBC's Stuart Maconie and Sunday Times writer/comedian Stewart Lee.
Big Block 454 have guested on Stuart Maconie's BBC 6 Music radio show The Freak Zone.
The Big Issue magazine said of "Their coats flapped like God's chops": this excellent album / outrageously funky / moments of real beauty / strange humour.
Review by Daniel from Onion Jack : It's just absolutely bloody bonkers. It shouldn't make sense, but it just does. "Eating Soap Alone" is simply magical..
From an American fan : "I actually hear a lot of German psychedelia in your music. If compared to art it would be a cross between Dali and Hieronymus Bosch. I don't know if having done LSD allows me to approach music like yours from that angle but I'm sure it helps. This music disturbs me and touches me on many levels, rarely have I heard such a mix of chaos and beauty mixed together."
From Stephen Fonzo: "Brilliant arrangements, well engineered... humbling, really, and very imaginative as well."
From Tony of Nth Degree Murder Indictment: "This stuff is supercool. It's like you guys have spearheaded a nonprofit awesome squad."
The Steals said: "Who ARE you crazy weirdos? Your music's wicked.....that Cheetham Hill to Miles Platting (by hovercraft) track is possibly the funniest track I've ever heard...... "
Sodderpot said: "You guys are freakin' awesome! And fess up,you really have Eno locked up in your studio,now don't you? 'Lush Ulan Bator' could have been on 'Taking Tiger Mountain'.....I'm passing your site around to our many Eno admiring friends.Great work!"
Some of Big Block 454's albums are available through their eBay shop, including "Their coats flapped like God's chops", "That's a nice hat", "Strange Ululations" and "Fistula !"
Coming soon - reissues of the early Big Block 454 albums "I changed my dentist... I changed him into a horse", "Three Lucky Boys" and "Rough as Sausages".
Some feedback from people who have bought the CDs through the eBay shop:
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Amazing band. I thoroughly enjoyed the CDs.
- Check out 'Big Block 454', amazing
- Good CD, recommended.
- Got the cd last night. Am loving it. Must've listened to the Cheetham Hill song a dozen times giggling like a little girl.
- Fantastic music, quick delivery. my new favourite band.
- I want to have sex with you all now, especially the bass player.
- The best seller I have encountered on eBay in six years, excellent music!!!!
- What is a Nepalese arse flute?
The Rachael Neiman Experience
Mark and Colin from Big Block 454 guested on The Rachael Neiman Experience radio show on March 14th on Bailrigg FM in Lancaster. We were our usual profound, sincere and meaningful selves (especially during Mark's brief yet moving tribute to the late Ivor Cutler). We're hoping to return to play a few numbers - if they'll have us back...
Visit Rachael's Cherryade Music site.
Great review on the Incendiary Music site
Go to Incendiary Music and look under Reviews / Albums. It mentions ethereal, stripped down beauty / sublime trippy ambient loveliness / owls quarrelling in a bicycle factory / the music sounds as if Fela Kuti has been taken hostage by a convention of table tennis enthusiasts / a great release and one you should hunt down without delay.
Good review on the Manchester Music site
Go to Manchester Music and look under Releases. Cath Aubergine mentions Big Block 454s fascinating and sometimes scary world / wander through someone elses dreams and nightmares, funny and frightening and just plain incomprehensible in different places / uneasy listening, sub-genre fractured genius.
Endorsement from Real Time Images
Big Block 454 track "They Ate My Breakfast" was used as theme and background music for the Positive Activities for Young People - Oldham 2007 Video and event.
The video was shown to an audience of young participants, providors and workers in the scheme, teachers, local council officials, community officials and the Mayor of Oldham in a celebratory event at Grange Art Centre Oldham on Sept 5th.
The music from Big Block 454 really helped to drive the momentum of the video forward and gave me a hook to motivate the fast cutting style on this show. It helped make the 7 minute video fly and was commented on by members of the audience and those participating who received copies of the DVD. Oh and it was cheap. I look forward to stealing from them again.
Les Howarth, Real Time Images.
p.s. The Grange Arts has a good sound system and we played it loud enough to be heard at the Latics.
Chill Town Films use Big Block 454 music in a soundtrack
Chill Town Films have used Big Block 454's music as a soundtrack for their "Electric Berlin" documentary, which looks at some of the architecture, art and history of Berlin as well as checking out the night life and music scene of the city. Click here to visit their MySpace page and watch the film.
Mail from Marvin of Californian band OozingGreatness
Thank you for the turn-on to your art. I will treasure the experience of hearing Big Block 454 for a very long time. Actually, I'm not quite sure the effects will ever wear off. What I felt was on the same level of intensity as my first read of Naked Lunch, my first view of Eraserhead or the time my music professor played Bartok on a Steinway baby in our classroom with tears in his eyes. No dose required! Love you mate. Consider you a brother.
Mail from Renaldo from Ralph Records band "Renaldo and the Loaf"
Your tracks are in a word....excellent.
Great review of "Bratislava" on the Manchester Music site
It talks about Big Block 454's wild and frankly disturbing leftfield, progressive pop, and says the latest album maintains this skewered intelligence and allows the low slung new wave strangeness to shine through. "I for one think that the world has only just caught up ... this album is immensely relevant and ground breaking, given that many other bands have begun to explore similar territories." It goes on to mention reference points, "but really these are only necessary to (i) explain the competence and quality and (ii) provide the easiest way to describe the sheer diversity of this compelling group. There’s no reason why this band shouldn’t be more widely feted."
Read the whole review on the Manchester Music website.
Review of "Bratislava" in Progression Magazine Issue 55
Bratislava is one wild ride. To say the instrumentation is unorthodox would be a gross understatement... an Arabian acid trip ... strangely beautiful... Each successive play reveals clever instrumentation and subtle background vocals. An original and enjoyable release, Bratislava is a gift that keeps on giving.
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