Formed in Milwaukee in 1988, Wreck included members of The Waco Brothers and Die Kreuzen. Most of their work was produced by Steve Albini. Wreck was supported in their production of challenging and sometimes harsh industrial rock by several very influential alternative labels. Both their first self-titled EP, released in 1989, and their full-length debut, 'Soul Train' (1990), were issued by Play It Again Sam Records; Wax Trax! helped them establish a solid Midwestern fan base with the issue of their 1991 album 'House of Boris'. C/Z Records picked up where Wax Trax! left off when they rescued Wreck's album, 'El Mundo de los Niños', from the Wax Trax! trash heap. That album, which Wax Trax! had released only in a cassette advance (with the title 'Your Monkey's on Fire') before shelving the project, was re-recorded under the production guidance of the Mekons' Jon Langford and issued in the spring of 1994. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Former Cabaret Voltaire member Richard H. Kirk is widely regarded as one of techno's busiest men, a distinction he's picked up through a release schedule that keeps discographers sweating and die-hard fans near bankruptcy. No doubt, that work ethic developed during Kirk's time with CV, who, in their nearly 20 years together, released as many albums and even more EPs. Kirk's even more productive as a solo artist, with countless released credited to Sandoz, Electronic Eye, and works released under his own name, as well as collaborations with British DJ Parrot (as Sweet Exorcist).
While the Sheffield-based Cabaret Voltaire began as an electronics-and-tape-loops outfit with obvious ties to other post-industrial experimentalists like Throbbing Gristle, Einsturzende Neubauten, and Chrome, the group eventually penetrated a pop group context while retaining the edge of dystopia and isolation at the core of their earlier work. Kirk's solo work has evolved along similar lines, although he works more toward integrating technology with more humanitarian concerns. His stylistic palette -mostly house, early techno, and ambient- and his status as a fixture of the early days of the Warp label pegged Kirk as an evangelist of "intelligent techno," but his solo work actually comes off closer to sample-heavy ambient house and techno. His affection for African and tribal percussion and thematics connects his various works in obvious ways.
Kirk's first solo effort under his own name was 'Disposable Half-Truths', a cassette released by Throbbing Gristle's Industrial Records in 1980. Similar to early CV, the release combined distorted vocals, primitive drum machines, and sheets of noisy guitars and electronics. Three years later, CV's Doublevision label released Kirk's double LP 'Time High Fiction'. In 1985, Kirk collaborated with Peter Hope for a single called 'Leather Hands'. The following year, Kirk released two full-lengths on Rough Trade: a dark industrial pop record called 'Black Jesus Voice' and a more experimental, sample-driven album titled 'Ugly Spirit'. This album focused on ethnic influences more than any of Kirk's previous releases, and pointed to the directions he'd take in his future projects.
In 1987, Kirk and Hope released a full-length titled 'Hoodoo Talk'; Wax Trax! released the album in the United States. Cabaret Voltaire continued releasing music, and moved in a direction more inspired by techno and house, influences that also figured into Kirk's solo and collaborative projects. CV teamed up with Ministry for a one-off single as Acid Horse, and bleep-house duo Sweet Exorcist released some of the earliest (and most influential) singles on Warp. Kirk started a label called Intone for some of his own works, and its first release was the 'Limbo EP' by his dub-influenced Sandoz moniker, which went on to release several highly regarded albums on Touch. Under his own name, he released 'Virtual State' (1994) and 'The Number of Magic' (1995) on Warp. Ambient techno albums as Electronic Eye followed on Beyond. Mute reissued Kirk's early albums on their sublabel The Grey Area, and Blast First (also affiliated with Mute) released Kirk's limited experimental album 'Knowledge Through Science' in 1998. Touch released Kirk's 'Darkness at Noon' (1999) and 'LoopStatic' (2000). Kirk then released much of his output under Intone, including albums as Blacworld, Biochemical Dread, and Digital Terrestrial, as well as several compilations made up of material by various Kirk projects. In 2004, as Mute reissued some of CV's earliest output, the label released Kirk's 'Earlier/Later: Unreleased Projects Anthology 74-89'. In 2014, Die Stadt released the triple-CD compilation 'The Many Dimensions of Richard H. Kirk', which included three early-2010s albums that were intended to be released by the label but instead appeared as digital releases on Intone. In 2016, Mute released '#7489: Collected Works 1974-1989', an eight-CD box set of Kirk's early solo albums and rarities, as well as '#9294: Collected Works 1992-1994', a five-CD box similarly compiling his early work as Sandoz. The following year, he released his first solo effort in five years, 'Dasein'. Written, recorded, and produced over a three-year period at Sheffield's Western Works, the album featured Kirk's first use of vocals in about ten years and was released via Intone. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Greater Than One is an English electronic music band, founded by husband and wife Michael Wells and the late Lee Newman in 1985. They released many albums under this name, and also under the names Tricky Disco, GTO, John + Julie, Church of Extacy, Signs of Chaos, T.D.5, Salami Brothers, Killout Squad, Technohead and L.E.D.. Only a few of their singles were commercially successful. Since Newman's death on 4 August 1995 from cancer, Wells continues to release music under some of these names, and also as The Man and S.O.L.O.
In 1985, Newman and Wells met at the Royal College of Art in London, formed Greater Than One, and released their first album 'Kill the Pedagogue' on cassette. During the late 1980s they organised art installations and exhibitions accompanied by their own music. They formed their own label Kunst=Kapital and released four further albums under this alias between 1987 and 1990.
Their first hit single was the trance record "Pure" as GTO on Chrysalis Records, a club hit around Europe, closely followed by "Tricky Disco" as Tricky Disco on Warp Records, which peaked at number 14 in the UK Singles Chart in July 1990.
They used many aliases because, releasing so much material, they feared the press would not write about it all, if they knew it all came from the same band. Their aliases also allowed them to release different types of material on different record labels. The single "Double Happiness" as John and Julie appeared on XL Recordings; the 12 inch single "Listen to the rhythm flow" as GTO was released on Jumping Man Records in 1991; the 1993 'Tip of the Iceberg' album as GTO was released on REACT, and the 1995 album 'Headsex' as Technohead appeared on Mokum Records. 'Headsex' contained their biggest hit, "I Wanna Be a Hippy". However, Newman later died that year in August, after a brief battle with cancer. Two Technohead follow-up singles followed in 1996. "Happy Birthday" and "Banana-na-na".
Wells has recorded many singles and three more albums since, including two Tricky Disco singles in February 2007 and two Technohead singles in 2010 and 2014, both of which were released on Mokum Records. In 2019, Wells returned to Mokum Records to release the song "Hands Up!" in order to commemorate the label's 200th release and also to release the "Wasted EP" as MOK202. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
English industrial rock / EBM band. Members have included King Butcher’s John Butcher, being produced by Revolting Cocks’ Luc Van Acker. The lyrics, as can be inferred from the group’s name, are largely political, with a military bent. Their early sound was a lot more rock, but they moved in the EBM direction after a couple of albums.
Those generally intimidated by industrialists' relentless amelodic pounding may find this group's debut easier to face: the most off-putting thing about 'Themes for Violent Retribution' is the (anti-fascist) cover's swastika. While this part-time party starring Luc Van Acker and singer / keyboard manipulator John Butcher does employ the form's standard tools -stern beats, found sounds and distorted chants- Mussolini Headkick keeps things reasonably musical with an undercurrent of techno-dance conservatism and, on Side B, actual songs with verses, choruses and rough melodies.
The harsher 'Blood on the Flag', again produced by Van Acker, delves more deeply into the punishing power of electronic percussion and chaotic noise, as Butcher angrily shouts his military-minded political lyrics in topical songs like "Kabul," "Homeland" and "War Drum." With the exception of two near-songs ("Cracking Up" and "Holy War"), the shards of musical intelligence here crop up only as accents, playing a similar role to the audio vérité sound bites. [SOURCE: DISCOGS]
Lead into Gold derives its name from the mystical practice of alchemy. The band is basically a solo project for Paul Barker, a talented and avant-garde bassist who joined forces with Alain Jourgensen in the late '80s to create several influential and powerful Ministry records. Paul and Roland Barker, as well as frequent future collaborator Bill Rieflin, played in a Seattle-based band called The Blackouts. When The Blackouts inked with Wax Trax! Jourgensen (already operating under the Ministry moniker) immediately partnered with Barker and the pair unleashed a multitude of vehicles including RevCo, 1000 Homo DJs, and Lard. Jourgensen and Barker dubbed themselves Hypo Luxa and Hermes Pan (respectfully and respectively) after a pair of free-wheeling Greek prostitutes. In the midst of this plethora of pounding, Lead into Gold emerged as Barker's baby. He wrote and sang each cut on the full-length 'Age of Reason', as well as the extended singles, 'Faster Than Light', 'Idiot', and 'Chicks and Speed: Futurism'. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Pailhead was a short-lived side project of Al Jourgensen of Ministry that featured Dischord Records founder and former Minor Threat frontman Ian MacKaye on vocals. The band's sound was a combination of industrial beats and hardcore punk, presaging what Ministry would later do with Jello Biafra in another side project, Lard.
While Alain Jourgensen was living in London, he met Ian MacKaye. MacKaye had been in Washington D.C. punk bands The Teen Idles, Minor Threat, Skewbald/Grand Union, Egg Hunt and Embrace and was on the verge of forming Fugazi, while Jourgensen was taking his band Ministry into new territory -away from the more pop sound of 'With Sympathy' and toward the harder sound of 'The Land of Rape and Honey'. The two found common ground both musically and politically and decided to collaborate on a project that would fuse elements of industrial music with hardcore punk.
Pailhead released the single 'I Will Refuse / No Bunny' (released in both 7" and 12" formats) in 1987 and the 4-song EP 'Trait' in 1988, both on the Wax Trax! record label. The CD edition of 'Trait' also incorporates both sides of the 'I Will Refuse / No Bunny' single. The drummer for "No Bunny" was Eric Spicer of Naked Raygun. These tracks were later re-released on Ministry's odds-and-ends compilation 'Side Trax'. MacKaye stated that he has never played live with the band. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
1000 Homo DJs was a Ministry side-project that featured Jello Biafra (of Dead Kennedys and Lard) and Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails). According to legend, the group's name was suggested by Wax Trax! Records co-founder Jim Nash who, in addressing Al Jourgensen's concern over a remix, reassured Jourgensen that only "a thousand homo DJs would hear it" and the name stuck.
The group's first single, 'Apathy' (1988), contains "Apathy" and "Better Ways", which were both originally intended for Ministry's album 'The Land Of Rape And Honey', but ended up being rejected for not fitting in with the more aggressive sound of that album. Their second single, 'Supernaut' (1990), contains the title track "Supernaut" (a Black Sabbath cover) and "Hey Asshole", which were both recorded specifically for the project. The cover art was designed to closely resemble Black Sabbath's 'Master of Reality' album cover. A subsequent compilation called 'Supernaut' (with the same cover artwork) compiles all four tracks from both singles and was available on CD and cassette (and on vinyl in the UK.) The track "Supernaut" was originally recorded with lead vocals by Trent Reznor, but could not be released in 1990 due to legal problems with Reznor's label TVT Records. The story goes that Al distorted the vocals and claimed them as his own, although he, himself, has signaled that they are actually his own vocals. Years later, the original Reznor vocal version was released on the Wax Trax! 'Black Box' compilation. [SOURCE: DISCOGS]
Zero Kama was a ritual industrial project from Vienna, Austria, formed in 1984 by Michael DeWitt (owner of Nekrophile Rekords). The album 'The Secret Eye of L.A.Y.L.A.H.' is one of the earliest and most influential ritual ambient releases. The music on this recording was exclusively played with homemade instruments made of human skulls and bones. Before Zero Kama, DeWitt was involved with the project Korpses Katatonik, playing old school industrial music.
The recording of 'The Secret Eye of L.A.Y.L.A.H.' took place at the Secret Temple of Laylah from 5th to 28th of May 1984. Dedicated to the symbol of Laylah, meaning night and death, as well as to its numerical equivalent, Oz, a goat or unrestrained sexual force of creation, thus showing the identity of the basic two opposite forces in this generous universe of beauty and strength, in which the lovers may find ecstasy in Pan.
In November 1987 Michael DeWitt made a remix of the recording, which was released in 1988 on LP by French label Permis de Construire.
The project Zero Kama also appeared on a few compilations, and recorded a live performance in September 1985 in Arnhem, Netherlands. A planned release of a musical/ritual rendition of "The Book of the Law" was planned, but only one track ended up being completed. [SOURCE: LAST.FM]
Beginning life as an experimental electronic outfit, Sydney band Ya Ya Choral became a much-admired, if commercially unsuccessful, hard rock outfit over the course of a decade.
Ya Ya Choral's first release was the EP 'Such a Dutch Man' on M Squared in 1982, followed by the 'What's a Quaver?' album in July 1983. Guitarist Michael Filewood, formerly of Systematics, replaced Patrick Gibson for their next single, 'Two Lines', on the Red Eye label in August 1985. The next year they were featured on ABC-TV's BeatBox program and videos for "Who's the King?" and "Lonesome No More" received national airplay.
Although the group broke up in 1986, Fiona Graham, Michael Tee, and Michael Filewood revived proceedings in 1987 with a new lineup that included Joanna Urbanik on bass and Dave Kelly on drums. With a new sound that mixed hard rock and pop, support rose as they toured with bands such as Lime Spiders, The Radiators, and Sunnyboys. Their next EP, 'Grunts', was released on their own Maelstromm label in October 1988, later released as 'Extra Grunt'. Their debut album, 'One Small Step for Mankind', was released in March 1989. Spurred on by a positive reaction from the U.K. heavy metal press, Ya Ya Choral toured the U.K. later that year. A momentary name change to Fear of Angels occurred in 1990, but they reverted to Ya Ya Choral soon after. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Whipping Boy was an American hardcore punk, psychedelic, and experimental-metal band from Palo Alto, California. The band was created in 1981 by lead singer Eugene Robinson and guitarist Steve Ballinger, students from Stanford University, and rounded out by the rhythm section of Sam Smoot, and David Owens, also students. Their sound featured lightning-fast melodies, tight, chunky rhythms, and violently incoherent vocals. They espoused a radically anti-government view that caught the attention of the Dead Kennedys' Jello Biafra and led to his support. They were featured on a punk compilation 'Not So Quiet on the Western Front'. Their first LP, 'The Sound of No Hands Clapping' was produced by DK's Bassist, Klaus Flouride. The band enjoyed moderate success, and national tours in 1982 and 1983 were capped by the release of the psychedelic 'Muru Muru' in 1983. This abrupt change in style was not welcomed by Whipping Boy's fanbase. After another national tour, several personnel changes followed. In 1984 Ron Isa on bass, Steve Shaughnessy on drums, and Niko Wenner on guitar and backing vocals joined original members Robinson and Ballinger. Not long after, Ballinger left and Bart Thurber joined on guitar, though Ballinger appeared on the next LP 'The Third Secret of Fatima'. This third record was another relative stylistic change, and also involved Fluoride. After several further lineup changes and a 7" record of a live-in-the-studio recording at radio station KFJC entitled 'Crow', the band went on hiatus in 1989. Incendiary front man and lyricist Eugene Robinson, drummer Dan Adams, and guitarist Niko Wenner have shifted their focus to the avant-garde noise-rock band Oxbow, where Adams currently plays bass and multi-instrumentalist Wenner composes and produces. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
Virgin Dance was a nu pop - post punk band formed in Liverpool in 1983. They released four singles in 1983 - 1984 and then they disbanded. Their only permanent members were Edwin Hind (vocals), ex-Modern Eon drummer Cliff Hewitt and Kenny Duggan (guitar). Keyboardist Dave Knowles left after their debut single to join Here's Johnny and was replaced by Dixie and bassist Graham McMaster was replaced by Bernie Putt after their debut single and the latter was replaced by Barry Cowell. [SOURCE: DISCOGS]
Hironari Iwata began his solo project Toukaseibunshi ("Transparent Molecules") in 1985. In the same year he formed a second unit called Haiginsha, and began collaborating with Merzbow and Agencement. Iwata also ran the independent label Angakok, releasing several albums on cassette and curating a compilation that featured some the most radical musicians of the period including H.N.A.S., Asmus Tietchens, P16.D4, DDAA, etc. But in 1988 he suddenly ceased all musical activities. He returned to public attention twenty-one years later in 2009, when PSF Records released an edited reissue of his early album, 'Meta-Inorganicmatter Meta-Newlon'. 'Stratosphere Sound' is Iwata’s latest work, underpinned by his feelings of poignancy and deep passion towards his own music. [SOURCE: NORTHERN HERITAGE & FREAK ANIMAL RECORDS]
Smell & Quim is a British freeform improvised noise band from Batley, West Yorkshire, originally formed in 1987 by Milovan Srdenovic and Paul Nonnen. The duo recorded and released their debut album 'The English Method' on their own newly established label Stinky Horse Fuck in '88. The name of the band is a parody of a then-popular female pop duo Mel & Kim. The collective's creative output is often associated with controversial and taboo topics like fetishism, alcoholism, pornography, and necrophilia. Srdenovic and Nonnen played together for several years and recorded three albums. After producing 'The Jissom Killers' LP on a German label Tesco Organisation in 1992, Paul Nonnen left the band, and Srdenovic continued recording as Smell & Quim with D. Foist.
The band has a rotating cast of members performing and recordings with Milovan Srdenovic, but the core line-up currently include Michael Gillham, Stewart Walden (also known as Stewart Keith and Stewart Bizarro), Simon 'Harris', and Kate Fear.
Their live shows (often featuring bizarre costumes and masks) are often influenced by performers like Throbbing Gristle, Richard Youngs, Neil Campbell and Hugh Metcalfe. In 2007, Smell & Quim notoriously led to the cancellation of the entire Deaf Forever Festival in Leeds, after they started mutilating a pig's head on stage and attempted to set it on fire. [SOURCE: DISCOGS]
Remko Jan Hendrik Scha (15 September 1945 – 9 November 2015) was a professor of computational linguistics at the faculty of humanities and Institute for Logic, Language and Computation at the University of Amsterdam. He made important contributions to semantics, in particular the treatment of plurals, and to discourse analysis, and laid the foundations for what became an important research paradigm in computational linguistics, Data Oriented Parsing.
He was a composer and performer of algorithmic art. He made recordings of music which has been generated by motor-driven machines. One notable example of this type of music is his 1982 album of electric guitar music, 'Machine Guitars', on which all guitars are played by saber saws without human intervention, except for one in which the guitar is played by a rotating wire brush, again with no human intervention. Recorded in Eindhoven and New York, it was described by Byron Coley in The Wire 231 as one of "the definitive modern NYC guitar work[s]", and its influence can be heard in the music of Eli Keszler, Alan Courtis and many more. Performances by The Machines took place in Amsterdam, Brussels, London, Berlin, New York, San Francisco. The most recent performance was in Leiden (2015).
Scha had a longrunning involvement in the arts in the Netherlands. Alongside Paul Panhuysen he founded Het Apollohuis, a former cigar factory in Eindhoven which became a space for performance, art and music in 1980. It played host to performers such as Ellen Fullman, whose 'The Long String Instrument' LP was recorded there in the venue’s first year. Scha also founded the Institute of Artificial Art Amsterdam. In IAAA he brought together machines, computers, algorithms and human persons to work together toward the complete automatization of art production. With IAAA collaborators Remko developed machines and algorithms for the production of random artworks in a range of fields: music, drawing, architecture, graphical and product design, facial expressions. On the radicalart.info site he created an extensive analytical anthology of anti-art and meta-art that lists and discusses the art historical sources that informed his artistic views. Maciunas Ensemble was an ensemble founded in 1968 by Paul Panhuysen, Remko Scha and Jan van Riet. Scha left the ensemble in 1982. In 2012 a set of eleven CDs was released of the period Scha was involved in the ensemble. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
Los Pistones were a Madrid-based pop-rock band formed in 1980 by Agustín Jiménez (vocals), Ricardo Chirinos (guitar and vocals), Fran López (keyboards and vocals), José Marín (guitar), Enrique Martín (bass) and Ramón López (drums). The origin of the group's name comes from the fusion of the names "Sex Pistols" and "Ramones", two of the favorite groups of drummer Ramon Lopez.
With this formation they recorded their first demo thanks to the work of Fran López and the radio announcer Gonzalo Garrido, who financed it. This first demo was broadcasted in some radio stations, especially in Radio España - Onda 2, one of the most influential in the Madrid scene and in clubs like El Penta, getting the support of Paco Martín who, together with Julio Ruiz, founded a new record label called MR.
After the recording of the first demo, José Marín left the group and Agustín Jiménez, after separating from the group, founded Opera Pop. Later on Enrique Martin left the group to join Los Esqueletos, being replaced by Juan Luis Ambite on bass.
In 1982, Los Pistones that obtained a recording contract were composed by Ricardo Chirinos, Fran López, Juan Luis Ambite and Ramón López, recording their first vinyl, entitled 'Las Siete Menos Cuarto', edited by MR. It contained four songs of a pop style very influenced by the British new wave. In the same year their second vinyl was released, entitled 'Voces', an album more eclectic than the previous one and with pop, funk and soul songs, with the track "Metadona" standing out.
In 1983, after the departure of Ramón López, the band became a trio formed by Ricardo Chirinos, Fran López and Juan Luis Ambite. With this formation and with the commission of their first LP within the Ariola label, the group signs Fabián Jolivet (first drummer of Tequila in Argentina), recording the album 'Persecución' with the British engineer Peter Mac Namee and with Ariel Roth as producer. During the "Persecución" tour, guitarist Julián Infante (Tequila and Los Rodríguez) and Argentine blues guitarist Gabriel Jolivet participated with the group. After a successful tour in the summer of 1984, Fabián was invited to join the American band The Beat, filming a live concert for "La Edad de Oro" and touring Spain and France during 1985/86.
After the summer of 1984, Ricardo Chirinos had to fulfill his military service and the activity of the group was temporarily suspended. During that period, Fran López was invited to make the tour "Cuatro Rosas" with Gabinete Caligari, and later, he collaborated in the recording of the LP 'Al Calor Del Amor En Un Bar'.
After completing their military service, Ricardo Chirinos, Fran López and Juan Luis Ambite returned to their musical activities and recorded a new album, 'Canciones De Lustre', which appeared in 1986 on the Ariola label, again with Ariel Roth as producer and with the participation of Julián Infante on drums. In 1987 Ricardo Chirinos, Fran López and Juan Luis Ambite recovered their old formation incorporating again Ramón López as drummer to record the single 'Cien Veces No', this time with the label Twins of Paco Martín, and after the subsequent tour the group dissolved.
Ricardo Chirinos and Juan Luis Ambite reunited five years later with former member José Marín (bass) and Rubén Fernández (drums) to record a new album entitled 'Entre Dos Fuegos' (1992) with the Epic label. Afterwards, they recorded a live album that did not see the light of day, and they broke up for good. In May 2014, Ricardo appeared with a new formation, after 20 years, to give two performances in a small concert hall in Madrid. These two concerts possibly encourage Ricardo Chirinos to try to retake the Pistones spirit under the slogan 35th Anniversary and supported by social networks, in January 2016 together with Ambite they announce their expected reappearance in the Joy Eslava Hall in Madrid. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
Plus Instruments' existence spans over the last 3 decades. Established in 1978 by Truus de Groot in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, she tinkered with toy and electronic instruments in her flat -amidst the explosion of Punk Rock. Even though Truus was very active in that genre and New Wave as well, the more experimental side gradually took over and the concept of Plus Instruments was born. Plus Instruments released their first EP single in 1979 on Dutch label Plurex. Playing odd electronic instruments, Bass and vocals, most of their performances were improvised.
They teamed up with Michel Waisvisz, the inventor of the Crackle Synthesizer in numerous performances where they peddled their strange single. At the same time she was also the lead singer in the popular Dutch New Wave Band Nasmak. In 1980 they released an album also on the Dutch label Plurex. That album was entitled 'Nasmak Plus Instruments, Instruments Plus Nasmak', indicating that the experimental side of Plus Instruments had already vastly infused Nasmak. After hundreds of performances all through Europe Truus was looking for more challenges and in 1980 that became a possibility after she went to see Rhys Chatham play in her hometown of Eindhoven she struck up a friendship with the drummer, David Linton. He extended an invitation to her for a NYC visit. In 1981 she got on a plane to NYC never to call the Netherlands her home again.
Armed with background tapes of electronic percussion she reformed Plus Instruments with Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth) on guitar and David Linton on Drums, while Truus played Bass and sang Lead Vocals. They quickly recorded and released an album 'February - April 1981' on the Dutch Kremlin label. With this line-up they hit the New York club scene, released an Album and on to a European Tour.
After returning to the US, David and Lee went their own way and Truus reformed the band with a variety of NY musicians (Jonathan Schneider, Craig Kafton), always very active on the club scene both in NY and Europe. They recorded another album that was never released and is sitting in the vaults. Eventually one EP was released in 1982 with two cuts by Plus Instruments and Nasmak on the other side, on the German label Zick Zack. Truus in turn briefly toured Europe under the name Plus Instruments with James Sclavunos, Annene Kay and Marula Verbeek.
In 1983 Truus took a U-turn from the Electronic experimental Euro-Beat and temporarily moved to Memphis to start Trigger & the Thrill Kings with Jim Duckworth (Gun Club) playing a very raunchy Blues, country rockabilly mix. Again they toured throughout Europe and the US and released various records with various line-ups. From that point Plus Instruments went into hibernation.
Truus concentrated on various solo projects. The 90’s were a time of reflection and a move to Seattle, but late 90’s Truus released the first of 3 Exotica themed albums. Not your run-of-the-mill exotica, no attempt to imitate Martin Denny, rather a unique take on the genre.
2011 is the year Plus Instruments came out with a brand new CD, entitled 'Dance With Me' under the name Truus Plus Instruments. The full length CD features mostly Truus with select guest performances and an overall selection of songs with driving beats, grinding synthesizer grooves and haunting vocals much in the same tradition of the earlier Plus Instruments creations. Production by James Sclavunos and Peter Mavrogeorgis.
In Summer 2012, 31 Years after the release of the Plus Instruments Album 'Februari-April 81' on the Dutch Kremlin label, it is re-issued on Poutre Apparente (France). A limited edition vinyl pressing of 500 of this timeless work with the line-up of Truus de Groot, David Linton and Lee Ranaldo sounds as fresh now as it did then. Another color edition was released 2 years later. In 2013 a New Plus Instruments album 'Trancesonics' was released in July, featuring guest appearances by Jimmy Virani. Also in 2013 appears 'Exile in Paradise', a collection of never before released tracks dating back to 1982 / 83 on the German Label VOD-Records.
In 2015 Truus collaborated with Cold Void, a project of internet Visual artist Rafael Rozendaal and Film maker/ musician Luuk Bouwman. The result is the album 'Cold Void / Plus Instruments', a digital release only. In 2016 Plus Instruments debuts 'Signal Through the Waves' featuring James Sclavunos on Drums and Paulo Beto on synths. In 2017 there is a collaboration between Intige Taluure and Plus Instruments. A full length album out on ltd edition cassette. [SOURCE: PLUSINSTRUMENTS.COM]
Dutch electro-acoustic ensemble THU20 is the co-operation between Roel Meelkop, Peter Duimelinks, Sjak van Bussel, Jos Smolders (all since 1986) and Frans de Waard (member since 2007). The strength varies, their releases are limited and live shows rare.
Despite all of this, THU20 has a unique sound, established through numerous experiments in recording and collaborating (they’ve worked on hearplays, spoken word projects, highly conceptual music-making and so on), but it’s never a defined thing.. and that’s good.
The hearplay-like character of their set/music is very much imaginative and holds a lot of reminiscent, but not recognisable, elements. It’s almost as if a parallel world of sound is created, making the one it refers to as estranged as well.
THU20 prefers to perform concerts that last for a few hours and are broken down into 4 or 5 shorter sets, following a short break to re-set parameters. Each of these concerts sees the five members record their part, and all of these individual recorded elements serve as building blocks for new studio work. A THU20 gig is both a concert and an informal recording session. [SOURCE: WORM]
