Rallying around the considerable talents of British producer / modern dub mastermind Adrian Sherwood, the New Age Steppers were not so much a band as they were a loosely knit aggregation of musicians from some of Britain's best avant-garde post-punk / funk bands. There was Ari Upp from The Slits, Mark Stewart from The Pop Group, and John Waddington and Bruce Smith from Rip, Rig & Panic. Along with the usual gang of suspects employed by Sherwood's dynamically creative On-U Sound (George Oban, Style Scott, Eskimo Fox) studio, the sound of the New Age Steppers was that of cut-and-paste dub mixing, psychedelic swirls of found sounds, dissonant aural collages, sinewy reggae riddims, and odd, semi-tuneful vocals. Not for the faint of heart, the music created by Sherwood and his Steppers was among the most exhilarating and consistently challenging to come out of Britain during the early post-punk era. It wasn't always accessible, but it has few peers in terms of ingenuity and daring. Highly recommended to those whose musical tastes occasionally reside on pop's radical, experimental fringes. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Forerunners of post-rock and the modern-day revival of space rock, The Dead C are an improvisational, hugely prolific noise rock trio indebted to Sonic Youth (whose Thurston Moore is an avowed fan), as well as Krautrock and psychedelia. Challenging and mostly instrumental, they have been a definite anomaly on the New Zealand scene, which was still known primarily for the jangly collegiate pop associated with the Flying Nun label when the band first emerged in the late '80s. Perhaps in part for that reason, The Dead C didn't attract much of a fan base in their home country; their audience was mostly international, developed initially through fanzine culture and word of mouth.
They did, however, help spark a more experimental music scene around their native Dunedin, which was centered around bassist Bruce Russell's Xpressway label and boosted the careers of musicians like Alistair Galbraith and Peter Jefferies. They have also influenced a broad range of bands, from the ambient post-rock of Flying Saucer Attack and Labradford to the neo-psychedelia of Bardo Pond to lo-fi indie rockers like Pavement and Sebadoh. The Dead C's own music holds elements of all those styles, and has remained essentially the same for most of the band's life: murky, hazy, loosely structured drone rock, enveloped in a thick crust of avowedly low-fidelity guitar noise, and often warped with tape manipulations or studio treatments. Consistent almost to a fault, their catalog is generally very much of a piece, with minor variations here and there; this, combined with size and scarcity of their oeuvre, could make finding entry difficult, but experimental rock enthusiasts have often found the rewards worth pursuing.
The Dead C were formed in Dunedin, New Zealand in 1986, with a lineup of guitarist/occasional vocalist Michael Morley (a onetime member of the evocatively named Wreck Small Speakers on Expensive Stereos), bassist and Xpressway label head Bruce Russell, and drummer Robbie Yeats (formerly of the well-liked Kiwi pop band The Verlaines). In keeping with the early format of Xpressway and Morley's own Precious Metal imprint, their earliest releases were only available on limited-run cassettes, but they also hooked up with Flying Nun in 1988 to issue their first LP, 'DR503' (which was retitled 'DR503b' and 'DR503c' for later reissues). A second Flying Nun LP, 'Eusa Kills', appeared in 1989 and featured a bizarre cover of T. Rex's "Children of the Revolution."
The Dead C next forged a relationship with Philadelphia-based indie Siltbreeze, which would issue the majority of their output during the '90s. The first was 1990's 'Helen Said This', which was later reissued on CD as part of a two-fer with the formerly cassette-only 'Trapdoor Fucking Exit' (the latter's title was used for the CD). Released in 1992, the double-LP set 'Harsh ‘70s Reality' is regarded by most as a high point -perhaps the high point- of the band's career, ranging from relatively concise songs to the side-long jam "Driver U.F.O." In its wake, Morley and Russell both launched side projects -Gate and A Handful of Dust, respectively- that allowed them to pursue even more esoteric avenues. A flood of Dead C material followed between 1993-1994 as well: the improvisational 'The Operation of the Sonne', the outtakes / archival collection 'World Peace Hope Et Al' (on the British label Shock), the live album 'Clyma Est Mort', and an EP titled 'The Dead C Vs Sebadoh' (which is not a collaboration with the American indie rock band fronted by Lou Barlow).
The Dead C hit another creative high point with 1995's 'The White House', a fan favorite that brought a touch more structure to the group's usually free-form compositions. The live album 'Repent' followed in 1996, while the next year's 'Tusk' -titled ironically after the Fleetwood Mac album- proved to be their last effort for Siltbreeze. It also marked the end of their most prolific period, as the band subsequently spent an astonishing (for them) three years off record. They weren't inactive, though; when they finally returned in 2000, it was with an eponymously titled double-CD release of sessions conducted from 1995-1999. The Dead C was released on the group's new Language Recordings label, which allowed the bandmembers greater financial control. Their second Language album, 2002's 'New Electric Music', was the most electronically oriented item in their by then large discography to date. Issued in 2003, 'The Damned' found a more widespread American release via the Starlight Furniture label.
Following a 2005 12" with African percussion ensemble Konono No. 1, released as the 18th volume of FatCat Records' Split Series, The Dead C began a long-running relationship with American label Ba Da Bing, which released 'Relax Fallujah - Hell Has Come' (a 7" of early recordings) and the double-CD compilation 'Vain, Erudite and Stupid', which spanned their entire career up to that point. A split LP with Hi God People on the Nervous Jerk label also appeared in 2006. The Dead C's first albums for Ba Da Bing were 'Future Artists' in 2007 and 'Secret Earth' in 2008. These were followed in 2010 by the new album 'Patience' and reissues 'Clyma Est Mort / Tentative Power' and 'Perform M Harris'. 'Armed Courage', consisting of two side-long tracks, appeared in 2013, as did a split LP with Rangda. The four-LP live box set 'The Twelfth Spectacle' was issued by Grapefruit Records in 2014. A limited 7" single titled 'Palisades' was released by I Dischi Del Barone in 2015. The double album 'Trouble' appeared on Ba Da Bing in 2016. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Charanjit Singh (1940 – 5 July 2015) was an Indian musician from Mumbai, who performed as a session musician,often as a guitarist or synthesizer player, in numerous Bollywood soundtrack orchestras from the 1960s to 1980s, working with filmi composers such as Shankar-Jaikishan,R.D. Burman (Rahul Dev Burman), S.D. Burman, and Laxmikant-Pyarelal. Singh led a wedding band and recorded and released a number of albums covering popular film songs. These were a form of instrumental elevator music, some of which have since been re-released by Sublime Frequencies, such as his steel guitar renditions of "Manje Re" from "Bandhe Haath" in 1973 and "Chura Liyaa Hai Tumne" from "Yaadon Ki Baaraat" in 1975. In 1981, he produced synthesizer-based electronic renditions of the "Silsila" soundtrack in his record 'Charanjit Singh: Plays Hit Tunes on Synthesizer of Silsila'.
In the 21st century, Charanjit Singh gained attention for his 1982 release 'Synthesizing: Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat', an album originally intended as a fusion of electronic disco music with Indian classical ragas. Singh's use of both the TR-808 drum machine and TB-303 bass synthesizer has led some music journalists to suggest that it is perhaps the earliest example of acid house music; predating Phuture's seminal Chicago acid house record "Acid Tracks" (1987) by five years. Comparisons have also been made with the work of other electronic dance musicians who were inspired by acid house such as Ceephax, Phuture 303, and Aphex Twin. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
Early 1980s post-punk with icy string synths, detached vocals, heavy driving bass, and razor sharp guitars like Factory / 4AD vibes. 'A Look From Outside' is the lone release by UK band The Blush, who self-released this 7” in 1982. The lineup on the back of the sleeve lists five members -two guitars, bass, drums, and of course, synths. There may be some Associates connections, though it’s hard to tell if the original lineup changed or adopted pseudonyms before this single was recorded. Even without confirmation, this single should definitely please fans of early Associates material, as well as bands like The Names, Acute Logic, etc. [SOURCE: SYSTEMS OF ROMANCE]
Ann Steel, lead singer from Boston, had arrived in Italy in 1979 with a master at the University of Michigan in Medieval and Renaissance music and some experience in American experimental theatre with the Living Theater by Julien Beck, as well as classical, playing: King Lear, Old Times by Harold Pinter and many other theatrical pieces.
She was chosen by Roberto Cacciapaglia after a long search. Ann Steel possessed pop music features but also the wanted sonority. She was modelling, and her voice was well cared for and straightforward with little vibrato, she had sung for a long time sacred music in churches and cathedrals in America.
The songs are crafted with acoustic instruments masked by electronica. For example, all the bass lines are performed by playing the piano with prepared rubber between the strings, the rhythmic harmonics are performed with light chains that touch the strings of the piano and give a metallic and percussive sound, but harmonious, many guitar parts are executed at low speed or taped and then turned backwards. In some passages Roberto Cacciapaglia used filtering of the harpsichord and the portative organ. The drums and percussion were performed separately in order to be manipulated independently: it may sound electronic, but the truth is that all was played acoustic, with great skill and precision by Peppe Sciuto.
Lyrics by Giada Manca di Villahermosa are a fundamental part of the project, bizarrely suggesting an artificial world, that in many respects has proved to be prophetic.
The first release of 'The Ann Steel Album', was distributed in 1979, in Italy by Durium, France by Barclay and in Germany by Metronome, it has received international acknowledgement including the Olimpia di Parigi.
'The Ann Steel Album' CD was released in 2003, dedicated to the memory and work of Guglielmo Marconi, it includes all songs from the original LP and the single 'Media / Sweet Life'. The CD booklet also contains a number of unpublished pictures that portray the beautiful model-singer.
The idea of re-issuing 'The Ann Steel Album' was born by the interest that trendy Parisian label Colette had shown about the song “My Time”, which they included in one of the Colette’s compilations: Colette N°4. The increasing attention on this song brought the Recording Arts (which publishes Roberto Cacciapaglia’s work) to re-issue the whole album that is still today modern and timeless. [SOURCE: RATE YOUR MUSIC]
Often referred to as "the Mexican Ramones," The Zeros (guitarist and singer Javier Escovedo, second guitarist Robert Lopez, bassist Hector Peñalosa, and drummer Baba Chenelle) were just one of many contributors to the L.A. punk explosion in the late '70s. Although they never received the acclaim of such L.A. peers as Black Flag, The Circle Jerks, or X, The Zeros made admirers out of such renowned artists as Tom Waits, Patti Smith, and The Damned, played numerous West Coast shows with the likes of Dils, Avengers, X, Plugz, Nerves, and Wipers, and even gave the Germs their very first live gig -opening for them in 1977. The group was first formed in 1976, and were initially known as "The Main Street Brats" -but by the time of their first show, they had settled on the name The Zeros. Although the quartet broke up in 1981, The Zeros have re-formed sporadically for live shows (such as a 1991 benefit show for ailing punk rocker / writer Craig Lee, and a few years later, Bomp Records' 25th anniversary party), and a full album -1999's 'Right Now!' In addition, several of The Zeros' compositions have been covered by other bands around the world, including Spain's La Secta ("Wild Weekend"), Australia's Hoodoo Gurus, Sweden's The Nomads ("Wimp"), and Hollywood's The Muffs ("Beat Your Heart Out"). [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Dunedin supergroup The Weeds were Michael Morley (bass, vocals), Shayne Carter (guitar, vocals), Robert Scott (guitar, bass, vocals) and on drums, Jeff Harford, Chris Healey or John Collie.
Sometimes they played in their underwear and in 1985 they released the raucous folk-blues ‘Wheatfields’ as a one-off single, flipped with a live take on Elvis Presley’s "Trouble" on Flying Nun Records.
'Pay It All Back', a 13-song tape, was released in 1985 on Scott’s Every Secret Thing tape imprint, followed in 1986 by songs on three subsequent EST compilation tapes. An EP was recorded with Ivan Purvis at Chippendale House in Dunedin in November 1985 but remains unreleased in that form.
Hometown shows in Dunedin’s Chippendale House in August 1985 were followed by a trip north to Christchurch’s DB Gladstone in October 1985. [SOURCE: AUDIOCULTURE]
There's little documented about this L.A. band. Vox Pop were active in the timeframe of 1978-1980 and preceded and perhaps overlapped a little with 45 Grave to which three of the members eventually ended up. They are most famous as a footnote to The Germs story in that this band is often cited as the reason Darby Crash kicked Don Bolles (Germs drummer) out of the band.
They released two singles, at least one on the same label that released some Angry Samoans (Bad Trip Records) an other on Mystic Records. The front cover photo of this record has Dinah Cancer holding what looks to be a 7" record (that's Paul B. Cutler providing the full frontal nudity and Jeff Dahl standing in shock to left). [SOURCE. VINYL MINE]
Uvegraf is Juan Teruel, also involved in the scene of fanzines of the 80's ("Mental") and founder of the tape recorder Proceso Uvegraf in 1985, where he published the first work: 'A.C.I. / Enucleación' (C-40). He later edited the legendary compilation 'Conspiración' (1986) which counted on the contribution of some of the main protagonists of the electronic underground scene of Madrid (Esplendor Geométrico, Interacción, Depósito Dental, La Otra Cara de un Jardin, etc..) [SOURCE: GH-RECORDS]
There are several components that would contribute to what would become Those Little Aliens / This Little Aliens and the zine / labels Flowmotion and Image 341 and Un-Ltd.Abilities, all run by British DIY-Protagonists Ian Dobson and Gordon Hope. [SOURCE: CLONE.NL]
Silvia is the name of a Neue Deutsche Welle (NDW “New German Wave”) project created Tommi Stumpff and Silvia Nemanic. The pair met in Düsseldorf in the late 1970s and started dating when Tommi was the singer of punk band Der KFC. Silvia was absolutely inexperienced in musical things, she said, “I’ve played the recorder.” Tommi rented Klangwerkstatt studio for a few days in January 1982 to record his an album with his bandmate Ferdinand Mackenthun aka Käpt’n Nuss of Der KFC, but finished earlier than expected. With one extra day that was already paid for, they quickly wrote some more songs and recorded them. All they needed was a singer, so they asked Silvia.
Simply titled 'Silvia', the record was released in mid-1982 on cult label Schallmauer Records, which had released many German punk, NDW, and New Wave records in the 80’s. Tommi and Käpt’n Nuss played all instruments and wrote the lyrics. Since Silvia had a very deep voice, Tommi slightly pitched up her vocals to sound higher on the recordings. The album displays Tommi’s transition from punk rock to cold electronics, EBM and eventually Techno. Tommi’s instrument set up was a Sequential Circuits Pro One and Moog Prodigy controlled by a Fricke sequencer and a Korg SQ-10 Analog Sequencer. Silvia urges the listener to save themselves and says “No miracle will happen. You die tomorrow, young and guilty” evoking the urban Zeitgeist of the Cold War. Sadly Silvia passed away in 2003. [SOURCE: DARK ENTRIES]
Thanks to the reductive onslaught of the "'80s party weekend" radio format and the numbing similarity of most '80s hits compilations, hearing the name Romeo Void instantly conjures up the phrase "I might like you better if we slept together" in most minds. The unforgettable chorus of their best-known song, 1981's "Never Say Never," the phrase on its own makes the song sound like some kind of shock-value novelty, and indeed, that's probably how many people remember it. Yet a careful listen to the verses, with their intimations of incest, murder, homelessness, and other dark subjects, makes plain that singer / lyricist Debora Iyall has more on her mind than simple salaciousness. The combination of Iyall's powerful vocals and searing imagery with the band's muscular blend of Joy Division's atmospherics and the Gang of Four's rattling momentum, with Benjamin Bossi's splattering free jazz saxophone coloring everything, made Romeo Void one of the strongest of the American post-punk bands.
Debora Iyall, a Native American (from the Cowlitz tribe) born in rural Washington and raised in Fresno, CA, moved to San Francisco in the mid-'70s to attend the San Francisco Art Institute. While there, she fell in with fellow students Peter Woods and Jay Derrah, who had formed a tongue-in-cheek '60s revival band called The Mummers and the Poppers. Iyall became the group's singer and also began incorporating music into her own poetry and performance art projects, drafting Frank Zincavage, a sculptor who also played bass and electronic drums, as her work partner. (Zincavage was also a noted graphic designer and photographer; his name and that of his sister, Diane Zincavage, appear in the credits of many San Francisco and Los Angeles indie albums of the era.) Intrigued by the burgeoning local punk and post-punk scenes, which included fellow Art Institute students like Avengers singer Penelope Houston and members of The Mutants and Pearl Harbor & the Explosions, Iyall, Zincavage, Woods, and Derrah formed Romeo Void on Valentine's Day 1979. Iyall has said that the name, meaning "a lack of romance," was inspired by a headline on the cover of a local magazine that read "Why single women can't get laid in San Francisco."
Shortly after the group's formation, original saxophonist Bobby Martin and another local reedsman, Benjamin Bossi, swapped bands, with Martin joining art punk extremists The Offs and Bossi teaming up with Romeo Void. The revised lineup recorded their debut single, "White Sweater," and a cover of Jorgen Ingmann's atmospheric 1961 twang-guitar instrumental hit "Apache", for the new local indie 415 Records in 1980. Before sessions commenced for their first album, 1981's 'It's a Condition', Derrah left the group, replaced by ex-Explosions drummer John "Stench" Haines. One of the masterpieces of American post-punk, 'It's a Condition' received rave reviews upon its release. Perhaps even more importantly, Cars leader Ric Ocasek heard the album (supposedly, a roadie played it in The Cars' tour bus) and invited the group to his Synchro Sound studio in Boston. The resulting Ocasek-produced EP, 'Never Say Never', on the back of the enormous dance club and college radio airplay of the single, led directly to 415 Records' ongoing association with Columbia Records (bringing not only Romeo Void but also Red Rockers, Translator, Wire Train, and others to major-label status), who reissued the EP later in 1981 before ushering the group back into the studio to record their next album.
1982's 'Benefactor' kicks off with a less-impressive shortened mix of "Never Say Never," almost completely eliminating Bossi's squalling, Albert Ayler-like solo, fading out before the hypnotic ending and bleeping out a rude word in the second verse. (This is the version the video, an early MTV staple, features.) A denser album than the sparse 'It's a Condition', 'Benefactors' is nearly the equal of the earlier record, with the hyperactive dance-pop of "Undercover Kept" signaling a new interest in musical directness that would reap commercial benefits on their next album.
Like 'It's a Condition', that third album, 1984's 'Instincts', was produced by 415's former house producer David Kahne, but it's far slicker than the debut, a precursor to the ultra-shiny albums Kahne would do with The Bangles over the next couple of years. Although this newly commercialized approach scored the band their only Top 40 hit, "A Girl in Trouble (Is a Temporary Thing)," which Iyall claimed is an answer song to Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean," the album is a disappointment in comparison to the stellar work that had preceded it. By the time of these sessions, Haines had been replaced by former session drummer Aaron Smith, and relations had become strained in the group. Romeo Void broke up in early 1985.
Debora Iyall recorded one solo album, 1986's 'Strange Language', which continued the commercial tendencies of 'Instincts', then returned to her previous career as a poet, artist, and teacher. She formed the noise pop duo Knife in Water in the '90s. Benjamin Bossi joined The Ordinaires. Romeo Void reunited for a few benefit shows in 1992 and later that year released a career-summary compilation, 'Warm in Your Coat', which featured one excellent previously unreleased song, "One Thousand Shadows," recorded as a live demo in late 1984 for a movie soundtrack, but it was never finished. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Pel Mel were an Australian post-punk music band, which formed in Newcastle in mid-1979 and moved to Sydney in late 1980.They issued two studio albums, 'Out of Reason' (1982) and 'Persuasion' (1983). They toured until the end of 1984 and then disbanded. They reformed in 2012 as the Pel Mel Organisation and have played occasional shows since.
Pel Mel's early lineup included Graeme Dunne (guitar, vocals), Judy 'Jude' McGee (saxophone), Jane McGee (guitar), Glenn Hill (bass), Dave Weston (drums) and Nigel Savage (saxophone). By early 1980 Nigel Savage had left, and by late 1980 Lindsay O'Meara (ex-Voigt/465, Crime and the City Solution) replaced Hill on bass. Judy McGee began playing keyboards in 1980 and began sharing vocals with Dunne. Jane McGee left in February 1981 and Craig Robertson replaced O'Meara on bass in late 1981.
Pel Mel's first single, 'No Word From China', was originally recorded at the Double Jay radio station and gathered so much interest that it was rush released on the band's own label, Primate Records, in January 1981. The band performed the song on the nationally broadcast music show, "Countdown". It was subsequently re-mastered and re-released through GAP Records in June 1981. It was followed by two additional singles, 'Head Above Water' and 'Blind Lead the Blind' in December 1981 and November 1982 respectively. The band released its debut album, 'Out Of Reason', in December 1982.
Pel Mel's second album, 'Persuasion', was recorded by a new lineup including Graeme Dunne on vocals, bass and guitar, Paul Davies
on guitar, Jude McGee on vocals, keyboards and saxophone and Dave
Weston on drums. The album was released by GAP in October 1983.
The band toured extensively, playing with local bands including The Reels, Mental as Anything and The Birthday Party, as well as supporting international acts Elvis Costello, New Order and The Fall.
Pel Mel moved from an early punk-influenced sound to a distinctive pop sound, and were a backbone of the thriving inner Sydney music scene in the early 1980s. Other bands associated with this scene include Pel Mel offshoot band The Limp, Wild West, Tactics, The Particles, Scapa Flow and the bands from the M Squared label and studio.
The band continued to tour until the end of 1984 before eventually disbanding without breaking into the mainstream. "No Word From China" was included on 'Tales From The Australian Underground', a collection of key Australian independent singles from 1976-1989.
In March 2012 the group reformed under the name Pel Mel Organisation, with an expanded line up of Dunne, Judy and Jane McGee, Paul and Mark Davies, Dermot Browne and Stuart Nichols. Pel Mel have since played a number of shows in Sydney under both names. A best-of and a live album were released in 2016. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
O.R.D.U.C. started as a project for experimental music. Gradually the music chanced to minimal-pop. In 1980 it got ‘worldfamous’ through the release of “Crazy Computer” on the EP '17 To 7 On 33', by Plurex. April 1981 followed the album 'Pink & Purple'. Later that year 'Fast Forward' and 'New Cubism' were released. 'The Beatear' (1984), 'D-Train' (1988), 'Bonus-Tracks' (1998) and some tracks on compilation-albums were released. In 2009 was the album '107' released. In 2011 O.R.D.U.C. celebrated its 40 year jubilee, with the compilation LP 'Ruby Jubilee'. [SOURCE: DISCOGS]
French alternative band Noir Désir formed in the mid-'80s, comprised of vocalist / guitarist Bertrand Cantat, guitarist Serge Teyssot-Gay, bassist Frédéric Vidalenc, and drummer Denis Barthe. The group's first EP, 'Ou Veux-Tu Que J'Regarde', was released in 1987. Two years later, Noir Désir released their debut full-length, 'Veuillez Rendre l'Âme (A Qui Elle Appartient)'. By second album 'Du Ciment Sous les Plaines' (1990), the band's harder, more punk-inspired elements began to come to the fore, and the progression remained on 1992's 'Tostaky'. After the live double LP 'Dies Irae', Noir Désir broke out with 1996's '666667 Club'. The band continued throughout the early 2000s, releasing albums every couple years. In 2003, lead singer Bertrand Cantat was charged in the death of his girlfriend, actress Marie Trintignant, who died -on August 1 that year- of head injuries after being punched by Cantat in a domestic dispute. Cantat was convicted of manslaughter and incarcerated for four years. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Maurice Deebank is a classically trained English guitarist. He was the co-founder and lead guitarist of the British indie band Felt from its debut album until 1985, and was responsible for the ornate, atmospheric guitar work found on many of the band's early recordings. During his tenure in Felt he co-wrote most of its material with frontman Lawrence.
Deebank was brought up in Water Orton on the eastern edge of Birmingham, where he attended the local school and knew the other founder members of Felt, without particularly being friends with them. He is considered to be a prodigy, a unique compositional voice and "father of indie guitar". He has also been cited as a major influence by The Smiths' Johnny Marr, as well as many other mainstream and alternative indie acts. Felt had released their first single 'Index' in 1979, which had unexpectedly been made Single of the Week by Sounds magazine. Lawrence -who at this stage still couldn't tune a guitar- invited Deebank to join the band shortly afterwards. Lawrence was later explicit in recognising Deebank's importance to early Felt. He was voted into Guitar Player magazine's Top 40 Underrated Guitar Players of all time in 2007; a celebration of the publication's fortieth anniversary.
Deebank's work as a solo artist combined eclecticism with a musical sophistication derived from his classical training. His solo album, 'Inner Thought Zone', was released on Cherry Red Records in 1984, with four additional tracks recorded in 1992 added to the CD issue. The track "Dance of Deliverance" from 'Inner Thought Zone' later appeared on the Felt compilation 'Absolute Classic Masterpieces'. He also co-wrote and performed on the Saint Etienne song "Paper", which first appeared on their 'Avenue' single.
English post-punk band The Lines first recorded in 1977 and released their last material in 1983, quietly leaving a pair of albums -'Therapy' (October 1981) and 'Ultramarine' (March 1983)- and a handful of singles and EPs in their wake. Fairly indifferent to the press, affiliated with a very small label, and, despite connections to Alternative TV,PragVec, and Fad Gadget, not part of any scene, The Lines gained a small and fervent following, and their releases remained obscure until the Acute label's 2008 reissues. 'Memory Span', released in May, compiled single and EP material. 'Flood Bank', released in November, contained all but one song from the band's two albums. Vocalist and guitarist Rico Conning assisted with the discs; after The Lines broke up, he had remained involved with music, engineering, and mixing for the likes of Swans and Depeche Mode and worked closely with William Orbit. In 2016, Acute released 'Hull Down', an assemblage of previously unreleased and unfinished material that had been recorded after their second album. Exploratory and experimental, the recordings involved the use of sequencers and synthesizers. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Such industrial alt-metal outfits as Nine Inch Nails and Ministry received the lion's share of press and commercial success during the '90s, but a handful of other bands slugged it out for just as long (or much longer), including KMFDM. The band's name has been the subject of countless debates among fans over the years as to what it stands for (their record company even went as far as holding a contest in 1994 for fans to submit possible meanings, resulting in more than 1,000 entries), but the confirmed meaning is "Kein Mitleid für die Mehrheit" which, when translated into English, means "No Pity for the Majority." The German band has included countless members over the years, but through it all, their leader has remained Sascha Konietzko, whose multiple roles have included that of songwriter, producer, mixer, programmer, sampler, vocalist, percussionist, bassist, and electronic gadgeteer.
Originally formed in Paris, France, KMFDM were founded by Konietzko and German painter / multimedia performer Udo Sturm. The duo made their in-concert debut on February 29, 1984, when they performed at an opening for an exhibition of European artists at the Grand Palais in Paris (with the show consisting of Sturm playing a synthesizer that would play feedback, and Konietzko playing a five-string bass). The same year, KMFDM issued their debut release, 'Opium', but Sturm exited the group shortly thereafter (around the same time, Konietzko was joined by drummer En Esch, who would remain with the group until 1999). With Sturm out of the picture, Konietzko and Esch put KMFDM on hold at first and joined up with New York industrialist Peter Missing to form the outfit Missing Foundation. But before the new outfit could issue any recordings, both Konietzko and Esch had dropped out and returned to KMFDM (Missing Foundation would carry on with replacement members and go on to issue albums on their own from the late '80s through the early '90s).
KMFDM's sophomore effort, 'What Do You Know Deutschland?', came in 1986 and was the group's first of many for Chicago's famed industrial label Wax Trax! But instead of if being an album of all new tracks, it was comprised of selections spanning from 1983 through 1986 (in fact, several were prior to Esch's joining). Around this time, KMFDM struck up a relationship with artist Aidan Hughes (aka Brute!), who would steadily supply cover artwork for the group; the images would become synonymous with KMFDM's hard-hitting music. Konietzko and company pushed forward with such further '80s releases as 1988's 'Don't Blow Your Top' and 1989's 'UAIOE', during which KMFDM found themselves in the middle of an underground industrial movement (it didn't hurt matters that Wax Trax! quickly became one of the leading industrial labels in the world, as they were the home to such other similarly styled acts as Ministry, Revolting Cocks, Front 242, My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, etc.).
But KMFDM had yet to tour America by 1989 (having heavily toured Europe with the likes of Einstürzende Neubauten, Young Gods, and Borghesia, among others), something they sought to correct when they were offered a slot opening a U.S. tour for labelmates Ministry, who at the time were readying their classic 'The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste' release. With the tour lined up for a summer launch, it was pushed back several times (due to Ministry leader Al Jourgensen falling ill) and the tour finally got underway in December 1989. The tour successfully established KMFDM as a band to watch in the industrial underground, as they returned to Europe after the tour's completion to work on their fifth full-length release overall, 1990's 'Naïve'. Realizing that industrial's future lay in the U.S., Konietzko relocated KMFDM's home base from Hamburg to Chicago during 1991. The same year, KMFDM's side project Excessive Force was formed, issuing a debut release, 'Conquer Your World', in 1991, the same year that KMFDM issued a new release as well, 'Money'.
But just as it appeared as though KMFDM were about to break through to a wider audience, Wax Trax! suddenly found itself on hard times, resulting in the label being bought out by TVT Records. What followed for KMFDM were some of its best-known and strongest releases: 1993's 'Angst' (which earned the group its first real exposure on MTV via the video clip for the track "Drug Against War"), 1995's 'Nihil', and 1996's 'XTORT'. During the same time, Excessive Force issued a second release, 1993's 'Gentle Death', while Konietzko relocated once more, this time to Seattle. Further releases followed in the late '90s (1997's 'Symbols', 1998's 'Agogo', and 1999's 'Adios'), before KMFDM disbanded on January 22, 1999.
In the wake of the group's split, Konietzko assembled a new outfit, MDFMK (yep, KMFDM spelled backward) and issued a lone self-titled release in 2000 before KMFDM reunited in 2002 for an all-new album, 'Attak', and the live album 'Sturm & Drang Tour 2002'. The year 2003 saw the release of 'WWIII', followed by 'WWIII Live 2003' a year later. Released on KMFDM Records, 2005's 'Hau Ruck' was classic KMFDM in all its aggressive industrial power. The 'Ruck Zuck' EP followed in 2006, with the full-length 'Tohuvabohu' landing in 2007. Remix album 'Brimborium' and rarities collection 'Extra, Vol. 1' were both released in 2008. 'Blitz' followed in 2009, with the greatest-hits compilation 'Würst' arriving a year later.
New material arrived in 2011 with the loud and heavy 'WTF?!' 'Kunst' followed in 2013, with a song dedicated to the jailed Russian anarchist group Pussy Riot along with a collaboration featuring the Swedish group Morlocks. In 2014, the group celebrated "Over Two and a Half Decades of Conceptual Continuity" with a live album, 'We Are KMFDM', and their 19th studio effort, 'Our Time Will Come'. KMFDM signed a new contract with Ear Music in 2016. Their first release for the label was 'ROCKS: Milestones Reloaded', which featured remixed and updated versions of their hits. The following year saw the band issue a new EP, 'Yeah!', as well as a full-length outing, 'Hell Yeah', later that August.
