Record Collector July 1998

Single of the Month

Bizarre beyond belief. Ming is an underground impressario, Steady the glue behind the unstable music of Minty's Leigh Bowery. Together they create cross-dressing madness accurately described as "Lee Marvin meets Eurovision". Or how about a theme to some warped daytime kids' TV programme? Taken from last year's "Rogue Male" LP. Sweet SWEE 009

A more propitious hunting ground for eccentricity is the Grimms fairytale, synthi-pop territory stylishly staked out by Sexton Ming & Steady. The London pair's "Lost Wine Gum Mine" (Sweet) is a cool vinyl curio. Cult figure Ming has a voice like a damp pork scratching and Steady's keyboards are reminiscent of early Depeche Mode. Together they come up with the first ever "Teletubbies-noir" hybrid which will eventually make this as collectable as Bowie's "Laughing Gnome."

Heavy of eyeliner, lacy dress and deep voice, Sexton Ming is one of those underground cult figures that are all the rage these days. Steady, meanwhile was a friend of the late Leigh Bowery and part of corrosive art terrorists Minty. Together theyÕve dreamt up a compellingly sick slice of Euro-dub, the kind of thing Jason Nevins might invent were he forced to spend a night watching body painting and al fresco urination in the name of art. "Lost Wine Gum Mine" is probably done in the glamorous spiret of shock, eccentricity and outrage, but Mings seamy voice combined with bilious bass is more a reminder of those men who hang around public libraries in stained trousers looking up childcare books.