Discography: Scattered Order's Institute of Prat Culture

Scattered Order releases

A trainspotter's complete list of Scattered Order releases (to the best of our knowledge). If you know of any others, please send us the details for inclusion.

Growing Pains

M Squared M2003 Compilation 12 inch EP
Tracks: Bent Up.
Mitchell Jones, Michael Tee and Patrick Gibson (Systematics) reveal their true intent with this ode to mag wheels. Recorded on 4 track at M Squared Studio one winter's night. Patrick Gibson is the man with the lungs.
Release Date: October 1980

More Songs That Will Never Be Released

M Squared M200C2 Compilation Cassette
Tracks: Teenage Romance; Violent 4.
Jones, Tee and Gibson deliver "Violent 4", a song about large men in Fiats and "Teenage Romance", a song about small boys with no girlfriends. A very special M Squared (Christmas 1980) cassette release with only 50 copies made.
Release Date: December 1980

Screaming Tree

M Squared M2008 7 inch EP
Tracks: World's Longest Intro; Mass Murder; Screaming Tree; Through Litre Chase.
The first dedicated Scattered Order release. Material was recorded between December 1979 and May 1980 at the M Squared Studio. Jones, Tee and Gibson are joined by Simon Vidale (Numbers) Drums.
Release Date: May 1981

A Selection

M Squared M2010 Compilation 12 inch LP
Tracks: I'm Not Whole.
On this M Squared compilation (Christmas 1981), 12 inch LP Jones, Tee and Gibson deliver a sad but noisy tale about "man". This was recorded on 4 track very late at night in 1980 at the M Squared Studio. Michael Tee on vocals.
Release Date: November 1981

Boxed Brownies

M Squared M200C5 Compilation Cassette
Tracks: Screaming Tree (Live); World's Longest Intro (Live); Mass Murder (Live).
Live cassette compilation (released in a 7 inch tape box) with Systematics, Dead Travel Fast and Splendid Mess. The band's only 2 shows with this lineup. Jones, Tee and Gibson with Michael Prowse (Prod) Drums, DC Robertson (Prod) Bass and Michael Filewood (Systematics) Guitar.
Release Date: December 1981

Entrave et Etouffement

L'Invitation au Suicide INV0400 Compilation 2 x 10 inch EP
Tracks: Bent Up; Mass Murder; I'm Not Whole.
A French M Squared compilation consisting of 2 x 10" EPs. Released in Europe as a limited edition of 4500. Jones, Tee and Gibson plunder tracks from "Growing Pains", "Screaming Tree" and " A Selection".
Release Date: April 1982

Prat Culture

M Squared M2020 12 inch EP
Tracks: Slot Car Synth; Swiss Like Knives and Forks; Absolute Moral Icepools; Contact European Repetition; Frank Sartre; Koo Koo Kamus; Prat Culture; Boys in Coal Trucks; Burros Through Mexico.
Jones, Tee, Gibson and Prowse recorded at the Basement Studio Brisbane during the "Finally, Ultimately Tour" in Feb 82 and live at the Sydney Trade Union Club. Mixed at M Squared.
Release Date: November 1982
Review: "Prat Culture is an aggressive affair where electronic and contemporary guitar based-music are fused into a powerful, melodic soundscape." Sounds Oct 15 1983

I feel so relaxed with you

M Squared M2024 12 inch EP
Tracks: The Pilot Reads Crosswords; The Learn Useless Knowing; Wronging Dogs with Ladders; Hold My Cold Hand; Heat; Personal Safety; Yellow Suit Weighing Machine.
Jones and Prowse are joined by Shane Fahey (Dead Travel Fast) Keyboards on this introspective M Squared swan song.
Release Date: September 1983
Review: "...is a moody assault, heavy metal pared down to savage strands of claustrophobia and black humour.... 'Heat' is especially potent , the building tension broken and magnified by a shocking surge of guitar that could be called a 'lead' if more traditionally conceived." Mark Mordue RAM March 16 1984

A Dancing Foot and a Praying Knee Don't Belong on the Same Leg

Volition VOLT 1 12 inch EP
Tracks: Boys of Alpha; Greek Airport Now; It's Our Friends That Kill Us; A Few Little Shocks; Find Girl in Boeing; Villa Life 84; Hugo Died in 1972.
First Volition release, recorded live in a chicken shed and the Musicians Club by Tim Whitten. Now with DC Robertson (Prod) Bass, Scott Holmes (The Same) Guitar and Drusilla Jones (Height Dismay) Keyboards.
Release Date: May 1984
Review: "A Dancing Foot attacks you. It harnesses and legitimises cacophony. It plays with jangling, exposed nerves, but it plays a game where there are no winners. And a Praying Knee brings no consolation." Jon Casimir RAM Aug 17 1984

Career of the Silly Thing

Volition VOLT 2 12 inch LP
Tracks: 1,000 Gene Autrys; Tost Rust Host; Cut You Up; The Galaxy is Dead; Life on a Bed; No Mattresses in Heaven; Career of the Silly Thing; Escape Via Cessnock; 4 Or 5; Remember May 12th; The Little Eye; The Entire Combine/Capital of Sweden.
A Tim Whitten production recorded at Electric Avenue Studio, Sydney. No Shane Fahey as band is reduced to a 5 piece.
Release Date: October 1985
Review: "Scattered Order have produced their most cohesive work to date, one of concision yet also of spontaneity and adventurousness. This is lean music with a smooth, hard surface, but not without dips and curves." Clinton Walker 1985

Escape via Cessnock

Volition VOLT 4 7 inch Single
Tracks: Escape Via Cessnock; 1,000 Gene Autrys.
A rollicking good time was had by all with this 7 inch single remix from the "Career of the Silly Thing" LP. Tape loops and nervous energy collide with Scattered Order's own take on the lament of the cowboy.
Release Date: January 1986

Career of the Silly Thing

Ink UK INK 017 12 inch LP
Tracks: 1,000 Gene Autrys; Tost Rust Host; Cut You Up; The Galaxy is Dead; Life on a Bed; No Mattresses in Heaven; Career of the Silly Thing; Escape Via Cessnock; 4 Or 5; Remember May 12th; The Little Eye; The Entire Combine/Capital of Sweden.
Jones, Prowse, Robertson, Holmes and Jones. Same track listing as the Volition release.
Release Date: February 1986
Review: "Here are a dozen tunes wrapped around a crucial bass line core with monotone vocals casually draped over the musical body, almost as an afterthought. The more identifiable as a song a track is, the greater the achievement: ....the somnolent synths of No Mattresses in Heaven and the insistent bass throb of Escape via Cessnock are therefore the high points of a carefully balanced record." Andy Hurt Sounds March 22 1986

Escape via Cessnock

Ink UK INK 1217 12 inch EP
Tracks: Escape Via Cessnock; Heat; Knife Perpendicular; Swiss Like Knives and Forks (Live); Mass Murder (Live).
A 12 inch EP, UK only release. Also contains "Knife Perpendicular" from the "I feel.." sessions and live recordings of "Swiss Like Knives and Forks" and "Mass Murder" (new versions).
Release Date: February 1986
Review: "Rough is not a swear-word in their book and they roam through a random mess of rhythm scrapes, instilled with antipodean saltiness. Scintillating stuff." Jonh Wilde Sounds Feb 22 1986

Selling the Axe to Buy the Wood

Volition VOLT 8 12 inch EP
Tracks: Loose in the House; Home Before the Sirens; Hell Changes Address; Vacation of a Lifetime.
The loss of Scott Holmes but the gain of Geoff Holmes (X) guitar is evident on this 12 inch EP release. This was Michael Prowse's last hurrah with the band.
Release Date: September 1987
Review: "An interesting four track EP, one that touches base with the variety of styles that form the Order's curriculum vitae - ranging from heavy metal to atonal experimentation....... makes it almost worth selling the stereo to buy the record." Andrew Johnson RAM July 29 1987

Comfort

Volition VOLT 14 2 x 12 inch LP
Tracks: Absolute Moral Icepools; Koo Koo Kamus; The Pilot Reads Crosswords; Heat; A few Little Shocks; Find Girl in Boeing; Remember May 12th; Loose in the House; Texas; King of Blip; Mother's Dish; Saturday; Chicken; 50,000 Volts; Lunchtime for Lungfish; Clockdog.
A double 12 inch LP. One LP of new material and one a compilation of selected older tracks.
Release Date: April 1988
Review: "Comfort shows Scattered Order still chancing it, still hungry for ideas, as resilient, ungainly and endearing as ever." Mark Carey RAM July 13 1988

King of Blip

Volition VOLT 12 7 inch EP
Tracks: King of Blip; Comfort 5 Range; Love is Not.
A 7 inch EP with the A side "King of Blip" from the "Comfort" LP. "Comfort 5 Range" and "Love is Not" are from the same sessions but not on the LP. Jones, Robertson, Jones and Holmes with the help from both Rob Souter and Greg Fitzgerald on drums
Release Date: April 1988
Review: "One of the few genuinely innovative idea groups this country is offering lately. They toy with environments, unusual blends of sounds and jarring dynamics ..." Al Webb Juke April 23 1988

Total Beat Factor

Big Noise in Archgate BNIA THREE Compilation 10 inch EP
Tracks: Escape via Cessnock;
Compilation vinyl release with Portion Control and Front Line Assembly. Contains the 12 inch mix of Cessnock.
Release Date: May 1988

The New Wave Complex - Volume 1

New Wave Complex NWC 01 Compilation CDr
Tracks: Heat;
An unofficial compilation release from Germany. Not sure of exact release date or version of Heat
Release Date: March 1990

Professional Deadball

Volition VOLT CD 41 CD
Tracks: Sheer; Doggone; Amarakbar; More Allure; Bet You Wouldn't Live In...; Fire Girl; Lotus Killers; Grid Up; Contaminated; Thief's Dust; Gaygroups; I Smell Meat; 2 x 4; This is Plunger; Cannibaloop.
Scattered Order's first CD release is an intense offering of samples, guitar and noise. Recorded at Megaphon Studio and various lounge rooms across Sydney during 1990 and 1991.
Release Date: November 1991
Review: "Mitch Jones' dry, flat, rough little voice is rarely prominent enough to be understood as easily as the thousand other sounds and the hundred broken beats. He does quite clearly say 'If you can't stand the darkness get out of the shade' and a similar warning is owed to the potential buyer of this CD only album." Colin Ink Drum Media Dec 17 1991

High

Volition VOLT CD 88 Compilation 2 x CD
Tracks: Sheer (Tom Ellard remix).
A double CD dance compilation of Volition acts. This was the band's last release for Volition Records. In an attempt to attract a "dance" audience, Tom Ellard was given the remix task. This is the same mix as the 12 inch promotional single.
Release Date: August 1992

Sheer / Lotus Killers

Volition Promotion 12 inch Single
Tracks: Sheer (Tom Ellard remix); Lotus Killers (Tom Ellard remix).
Two tracks from the "Professional Deadball" CD given a complete Tom Ellard (Severed Heads) sonic make-over. A very limited release, this 12 inch single was given away at the Annadale Hotel show in February 1993.
Release Date: February 1993

Chicken Hilton

Rather be Vinyl PTOOIE1cd CD
Tracks: It Wobbles; Wave To Brian; Pipeline; Eeek; History of Reverb; Airplane (Sheriff Lindo remix); Jose Whale; Moth; Of The Stars; 66 Stab Wounds.
Feel threatened by this cold and dank CD release for the "Rather be Vinyl" label. Recorded in the Blue Mountains during the winter of 1996. Introducing Paul Doherty (The Johnnys) on guitar.
Release Date: April 1997
Play Sample: of-the-stars.mp3 Available at the SHOP
Review: "Scattered Order have redefined themselves as electronic untouchables... Mostly though, this disc stuns, or perhaps repulses, with the depth of its individuality. We need music like this to remind us that there really are alternatives." John Encarnacao Sydney Morning Herald Sept 19 1997

Asleep in the Knife Drawer

Rather be Vinyl PTOOIE2cd CD
Tracks: Airplane; Vitamin Shape; Euroyeah; Night Home; Robert Mitchum Takes The A Train; Cough; Throw; Goal; Locomotivo Darlin; Mary Flies Below.
This was recorded in 1992 in a lounge room in the Blue Mountains and mixed by Tim Whitten in a lounge room in Sydney for "Rather be Vinyl" but released through Tom Ellard's Sevcom five years later. These were Geoff Holmes' last recordings with the band.
Release Date: May 1997

Free Sandy Nelson / Brother Number 1

Rather be Vinyl PTOOIE2cas Cassette
Tracks: Free Sandy Nelson; Brother Number 1.
A numbered, limited edition cassette single release. Seen live in both Melbourne and Sydney throughout 1998 Jones, Robertson, Jones and Doherty deliver a sonic stew of samples and swing. Recorded and mixed at Dogbox Studio by Matt Crosbie and the band.
Release Date: March 1998 Extras: matching manchester (Pol Pot tea towel)
Play Sample: free-sandy-nelson.mp3 Available at the SHOP

Pretty Boffins

Rather be Vinyl PTOOIE3cd CD
Tracks: Who Lives in the Other One?; Drought Crumbs; We Love You; Nuvo Gunk; Limbo Scuffy; Chop in the Whole; I see God; Alice and Ailie; Photosynthesise; Left Without My Tie.
Recorded at Dogbox Studio Sydney by the band and Dale Moore during 1999. Tim Whitten was called in to make sense of this end of the 90s noise mountain.
Release Date: December 1999
Play Sample: photosynthesise.mp3 Available at the SHOP

Cant Stop It! 2

Chapter Music CD CH57 Compilation CD
Tracks: Swiss Like Knives and Forks.
Late 70s / early 80s Australian post-punk compilation with Systematics, Ya Ya Choral, SoliPsiK, Severed Heads and others. Contains the original "Prat Culture" mix of this Euro-centric stage favourite.
Release Date: March 2007