Nurse With Wound

A loose experimental project formed in 1978 by Steven Stapleton, Nurse with Wound explored abstract music -influenced by Krautrock, freewheeling jazz improvisation, and Throbbing Gristle but including a heavy debt to surrealists Dali and Lautréamont- with an overpowering release schedule of limited-edition albums and EPs. Stapleton worked with an ever-changing list of collaborators during the early years of Nurse with Wound, though Current 93's David Tibet was the only frequent recording companion during the 1980s and '90s. 

Nurse with Wound's first three albums ('Chance Meeting on a Dissecting Table of a Sewing Machine and an Umbrella', 'To the Quiet Man from a Tiny Girl', and 'Merzbild Schwet') reflect a naked, minimalist slant with long periods of quiet suddenly interrupted by guitar chords inspired by the avant-garde wing of psychedelia/jazz-rock, chains, music boxes, and found-sound recordings. By the early '80s, Stapleton had begun to incorporate noisy, abrasive rhythms that put him more in line with contemporary EBM masters like Skinny Puppy and SPK. Though Stapleton continued his surrealist slant, he often moved back to more empty recordings. These works -beginning with 'Soliloquy for Lilith' in 1988- came to light in the context of the growing ambient/electronic movement, however, putting Nurse with Wound squarely in line with music trends for the first time. 

Stapleton recorded two split singles with Stereolab during 1995 and continued his hectic, uncompromising release schedule from his base in southern Ireland. In 2005 the double-CD compilation 'Livin' Fear of James Last' offered an overview of their output. That same year the two-CD compilation 'Judas as Black Moth' was released through the Sanctuary label. On May 5, 2005, Stapleton recorded an improvisational live piece in Vienna and released it in 2006 under the title 'Soundpooling'. 'Tooth, Teeth, Milk, Skin, Teeth' was released in mid-2007, while NWW's terrifying 1982 cult classic 'Homotopy to Marie' was reissued on CD just in time for Halloween 2007. Three new albums were issued in 2008: 'Huffin' Rag Blues', 'The Bacteria Magnet', and 'The Continuous Accident'. In early 2009, the retrospective 'Paranoia in Hi-Fi: Earworms 1978-2008' prefaced a slew of new albums including 'Space Music', 'The Surveillance Lounge', and 'May the Fleas of a Thousand Camels Infest Your Armpits'. 

In 2010, NWW collaborated with Larsen and Eberhard Kranemann (aka Fritz Muller) on 'Erroneous: A Selection of Errors', for Important. With NWW remaining ever-prolific, 2011 saw the releases of 'Space Music 2', 'The Vernacular Surface', and collaborations with Sunn 0))) ('The Iron Soul of Nothing') and composer Graham Bowers ('Rupture'). Two self-released CD-R albums -'Dream Memory' and '?'- were issued in 2012, as was the collaborative LP-only release 'Cabbalism' with Blind Cave Salamander. The NWW reissue campaign continued in early 2013 with 'A Sucked Orange/Scrag'. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC] 

Chrystal Belle Scrodd

Chrystal Belle Scrodd is the stage name and solo musical project of Diana Rogerson, an occasional member and associate of British experimental group Nurse With Wound. Scrodd's first album, 'The Inevitable Chrystal Belle Scrodd Record', was released on the United Dairies label in 1985 and featured contributions from Steven Stapleton of Nurse With Wound, Robert Haigh and Karl Blake, among others. A second album, 'Belle de Jour', was released in 1986. The 1993 compilation 'Beastings' collects tracks from both releases, and the 1999 Nurse With Wound compilation 'The Swinging Reflective' collects three of these recordings (credited to Diana Rogerson). [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA] 

Sol Invictus

 

Founded in 1987 by English musician Tony Wakeford, Sol Invictus is one of the most prolific and influential bands associated with neo-folk or apocalyptic folk, along with Current 93 and Death in June. Wakeford uses the term "folk noir" to describe his work. The group combines acoustic guitars and neo-classical instrumentation with elements of industrial electronics, and lyrics reflecting a pessimistic view of modern society, with later releases containing more personal lyrical themes. Wakeford has been the only constant member of the group, but other contributors have included Ian Read, Karl Blake, and Gareth Smith. 

 

Wakeford had been in '70s punk group Crisis before co-founding Death in June with Douglas P. (also formerly of Crisis) and Patrick Leagas during the early '80s. Wakeford was dismissed from the band in 1984 and started the post-punk group Above the Ruins, which proved to be controversial due to their association with right-wing politics. Wakeford disbanded the group and distanced himself from those views, forming Sol Invictus in 1987. Debut album 'Against the Modern World' appeared on L.A.Y.L.A.H. (also home to releases by Coil, Nurse with Wound, and The Hafler Trio) in 1988. The album had a dark post-punk sound with elements of what would would later be termed "martial industrial." The live album 'In the Jaws of the Serpent' (which featured Rose McDowall on drums) appeared on S.V.L. Records in 1989. 

 

In 1990 Wakeford founded the Tursa label, which gained distribution by World Serpent. Sol Invictus' 'Trees in Winter' was the label's first release, and numerous albums by the group followed well into the next decade. They gradually shifted into more of a neo-classical style, with the side project L'Orchestre Noir further exploring this direction. Wakeford also released collaborative albums with Steven Stapleton (Nurse with Wound), American painter/musician Tor Lundvall (whose artwork often graces the covers of Sol Invictus releases), and Matt Howden. Eventually, Cold Spring began to distribute the group's music after World Serpent folded sometime during the 2000s. Tursa was relaunched in 2007, and two years later, Sol Invictus signed to Auerbach Tonträger, a neo-folk sublabel of Prophecy Productions, subsequently severing ties with Cold Spring. Auerbach released deluxe versions of the group's catalog, as well as the comprehensive box set 'The Collected Works' in 2011. The 2013 single 'Mr. Cruel' preceded the studio album 'Once Upon a Time', which appeared in 2014. Another single, 'The Last Man', was issued in 2016, in anticipation of the full-length 'Necropolis'. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]

Current 93

With a glut of industrial-pop hybrids on the market in the 1980s and '90s, several bands stayed true to the experimental nature of early industrial music. The Psychic TV axis alone spawned many creative artists, including Current 93's David Tibet, who blends Gothic chanting and haunting atmospherics with industrial noisescapes courtesy of tape loops and synthesizers. Though Tibet doesn't quite have bandmates, he frequently works with a core of collaborators including ex-Psychic TV compatriot John Balance (more famous for his work with Peter Christopherson in Coil); Fritz Haaman, formerly of 23 Skidoo (like PTV an offshoot of the most influential of the early industrial acts, Throbbing Gristle); Steven Stapleton of Nurse with Wound fame; Rose McDowall of Strawberry Switchblade; and Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, also a former member of Psychic TV. Steven Stapleton is probably the most frequent member, appearing on virtually all Current 93 releases -a favor which David Tibet returns by working with Stapleton on most projects by Nurse with Wound.

The trio of Tibet, Balance, and Haaman debuted in 1983 by recording the single "Lashtah" for Laylah Records. Until the end of the '80s, Tibet -utilizing the various lineups- recorded at a frenetic pace, issuing more than two albums per year for both Laylah and the Maldoror label. By the '90s, Tibet's output and style changed slightly: his productivity slowed somewhat, and the sound grew more subdued, encompassing acoustic folk in its most sinister permutations. Productivity picked up in the 2000s with more Current 93 material being recorded and reissued. Tibet also designed a bottle label for the Absinthe liquor company in 2005. 2006 saw the release of both 'Black Ships Ate the Sky' and 'Sleep Has His House' on Durtro Records, followed by 'Inmost Light' in April 2007. The latter record marked a new direction for C93. In 2009, they released 'Aleph at Hallucinatory Mountain' amid a flurry of other activity including Tibet's art exhibitions and touring. Though it kept its mostly acoustic dreamy feel, Tibet expanded his sonic palette and added some real electric, nightmarish rock on this set. Some of its special guests included guitarist James Blackshaw, Rickie Lee Jones, and Andrew W.K. A new Tibet side project, Myrninerest was formed with some of Current 93's collaborators including Blackshaw, and Andrew Liles. Their debut, 'Jhonn, Uttered Babylon', was recorded in memory of Jhonn Balance of Coil and released in 2012. Current 93, who continued to play live sporadically, returned to recording in 2013. 'I Am the Last of All the Field That Fell' was released in March of 2014. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC] 

Lustmord

Lustmord, the solo project of Welsh artist Brian Williams, is often credited as the creator of the post-industrial genre known as dark ambient. His bleak, disturbing music often utilizes field recordings, deep bass frequencies, and ritualistic instrumentation, such as Tibetan horns. Initially associated with the industrial scene during the early '80s, when he was a member of SPK, he established his signature sound with releases like 1986's 'Paradise Disowned' and 1990's particularly groundbreaking 'Heresy'. Since then, he's collaborated with artists ranging from Robert Rich (on the 1995 classic 'Stalker') to alternative metal groups like the Melvins (2004's 'Pigs of the Roman Empire') and Tool (2006's '10,000 Days'). He also became a prolific sound design artist for Hollywood films and video games, often working with Graeme Revell and Paul Haslinger. He remained active throughout the 2010s, performing semi-regularly and releasing recordings such as 2016's 'Dark Matter'. 

 
Born and raised in North Wales, Williams first performed as Lustmord in 1980 as a series of unannounced "support slots" at larger gigs, with Williams simply leaping on-stage and performing until security became aware of the situation. Though understandably brief, the rock terrorism gained Williams contact with like minds in the proto-industrial scene, including SPK and Throbbing Gristle. He soon began appearing with SPK on tour and in the studio, and in 1981 released a self-titled 'Lustmord' LP, including work by Coil's John Balance and Nocturnal Emissions' Nigel Ayers (who issued the album on his Sterile Records). His second album, 'Paradise Disowned' (released by SPK's Side Effects label in 1986), featured recordings made in a variety of subterranean locales including the crypt at Chartres Cathedral, Dunster Abattoir in Bangor, Wales, and on the ocean floor. By that time, Williams had also taken over running Side Effects. 

 
Though he released no additional Lustmord material during the rest of the '80s, Williams did record (and do sound research) for albums by Current 93, Nurse with Wound, SPK, Chris & Cosey (with whom he collaborated as TGT), and SPK member Graeme Revell's solo LP 'The Insect Musicians'. Lustmord returned in 1990 with 'Heresy (Soleilmoon)' and released a pair of albums for Side Effects, 'The Monstrous Soul' in 1992 and 'Place Where the Black Stars Hang' in 1994. Also during the first half of the '90s, he collaborated with Andrew Lagowski under the name Terror Against Terror, and released solo albums under the monikers Arecibo and Isolrubin BK. Williams moved to California during the '90s after being recruited by Graeme Revell to work on his sound library for the scores of feature films including "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers", "Street Fighter", "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", "The Crow", and "Spawn", among others. 

 

 

Another Williams collaboration, this one with space music pioneer Robert Rich, debuted with the 1995 release of 'Stalker' (inspired by the Andrei Tartovsky film of the same name), recorded for Hearts of Space. One year later, Williams responded to requests from the ambient-techno DJ community for Lustmord material on vinyl by releasing a single for Plug Research. The recording inspired his next project, a collaborative live album titled 'Lustmord vs. Metal Beast' that skirted the edges of dark ambient-techno. The compilation 'Purifying Fire' appeared in summer 2000, but it was his critically acclaimed 'Metavoid' (2001) that raised eyebrows. Lustmord's soundtrack to the psychological horror film "Zoetrope" was released in 2002. Also that year, he collaborated with breakcore artist Hecate (Rachael Kozak) on the 'Law of the Battle of Conquest' EP, released by Hymen Records in late 2002. 

 
The year 2004 saw the release of Lustmord's 'Carbon/Core' album, as well as a collaboration with the Melvins titled 'Pigs of the Roman Empire', which was issued by Mike Patton's Ipecac Records. Williams' ties to the alternative metal world strengthened when he worked on Tool's 2006 album, '10,000 Days', as well as the debut album by Puscifer, a side project of Tool leader Maynard James Keenan. On June 6, 2006, Lustmord performed live for the first time in 25 years during a high mass observance by the Church of Satan. The concert was released by Williams' Vaultworks imprint under the name 'Rising'. Lustmord's 2007 album 'Juggernaut' was released by Isis leader Aaron Turner's Hydra Head Records, and featured guitar and vocals from the Melvins' King Buzzo. Lustmord's second release for the label, 2008's '[Other]', included guest appearances by both Turner and Buzzo. Two discs of extended ambient versions of '[Other]' tracks, '[The Dark Places of the Earth]' and '[Beyond]', appeared on Vaultworks in 2009. Additionally, the dub-focused EPs '[Other Dub]' and '[Transmuted]' (the latter featuring a mix by Justin K. Broadrick) were released that year. 

 
Williams celebrated the 20th anniversary of 'Heresy' with 'Heretic', an album of alternate mixes and early versions, issued in 2010. He then released 'Songs of Gods and Demons', a collection of recordings for movies, video games, and TV shows, in 2011. In 2013, the German label Vinyl-On-Demand released 'Things That Were', a three-LP box set that included a remastered edition of Lustmord's first album, rarities, and unreleased material. Also that year, Blackest Ever Black released Lustmord's studio album 'The Word as Power', which featured guest vocals by Keenan, Jarboe, and others. The live albums 'Kraków' and 'Stockholm' followed on Vaultworks, and in 2015, Lustmord remixed Japanese band Vampillia's song "Sea" on a limited-edition CD EP. Lustmord's solo dark ambient album 'Dark Matter' was released by Touch in 2016. Two recordings of 2011 performances, 'Hobart' and 'Maschinenfest', followed in 2017. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC] 

 

Skullflower

Skullflower is a British noise rock band formed in 1987 who served as the flagship band of the Broken Flag collective, a group of experimental noise rock bands from the U.K. (most notably Ramleh, Total, and Sunroof!) that often swapped ideas and personnel. Led by guitarist Matthew Bower, the prolific Skullflower boasted the largest cult following of the bunch, with a sound based on sludgy, stomping, doom-garage riffs overlaid with hallucinatory feedback, fuzzed-out guitar noise, dark ambience, and monolithic drones derived from power electronics and throttling rhythms, all played at an ungodly volume. Their lyrical subject matter is obsessed with death, violence, misanthropy, and sexual deviancy. Always an improvisational outfit, their textured noise freakouts grew increasingly free-form over the course of their career, moving farther and farther away from even loose definitions of "rock." While recordings such as 1989's 'Form Destroyer' and 1995's 'Transformer' revealed a true post-punk approach to rock, later offerings such as 2008's 'Taste the Blood of the Deceiver' and 2010's 'Strange Keys to Untune Gods' Firmament' revealed an evolving sound that relied more on sonic deconstruction and spontaneous improvisation than formal process. 

Skullflower was formed in London in 1987, growing out of guitarist Matthew Bower's previous band, Total (which subsequently turned into a solo side project). Skullflower's early core members were Bower, drummer Stuart Dennison (the only other constant besides Bower), and bassist/guitarist Stefan Jaworzyn. The lineup was fairly fluid, however, especially early on; other contributors included guitarist Gary Mundy (also the leader of Ramleh), bassist Alex Binnie, bassist/drummer Stephen Thrower (also of Coil), and auxiliary bassist/guitarist/drummer Anthony DiFranco (also known as JFK). Initially recording for the Broken Flag label, a community enterprise that also handled Ramleh and Total, Skullflower made their recorded debut with the 1988 EP 'Birthdeath' and followed it with the full-length 'Form Destroyer' in 1989. Like much of their subsequent output, both releases were pressed in extremely limited quantities. Material from both was included on 1990's 'Ruins', the group's first release on Jaworzyn's Shock label; several tracks appeared in remixed form. 

The contentious mixing process for Skullflower's next release, 1990's 'Xaman', spelled the end of Jaworzyn's involvement in the group. Bower subsequently recruited Anthony DiFranco to take over full-time bass duties, and this trio recorded 1992's 'IIIrd Gatekeeper' for Godflesh guitarist Justin Broadrick's HeadDirt label; they also toured as Godflesh's opening act that fall. Two more albums followed in 1993: 'Last Shot at Heaven', on Noiseville, and 'Obsidian Shaking Codex', on RRR. By this time, DiFranco was decreasing his involvement in the group, and eventually left altogether to record as Ax; his place was filled by official second guitarist Russell Smith, formerly of Terminal Cheesecake. 

Hereafter, Skullflower concentrated on free-form noise improv to a greater degree than ever before. Released by VHF in 1994, 'Carved Into Roses' featured guest vocals from Philip Best (also of Ramleh and Whitehouse), plus Casio squiggles from Simon Wickham-Smith. The year 1995 was prolific even for Skullflower: 'Argon' (issued on Freek) added horn players John Godbert and Tim Hodgkinson to the overall din, while 'Infinityland' (a second effort for HeadDirt) again welcomed Best and Wickham-Smith, and the live 'Adieu, All You Judges' (back on Broken Flag) captured a joint performance with Ramleh. Arriving in also 1995, 'Transformer' was released on the prominent garage-oriented indie label Sympathy for the Record Industry, and marked a quieter, more ambient direction for the band, complete with strings. It was followed later that year by the similar 'This Is Skullflower', which appeared on VHF and featured Godbert on piano, as well as third guitarist Richard Youngs. Following that release, Matthew Bower opted to concentrate on his other bands, the even more improvisational Sunroof! and Total, and retired the Skullflower name.

Bower and Dennison resurrected the group in 2003, recording 'Exquisite Fucking Boredom' for the tUMULt label along with guitarist Mark Burns and bassist Steve Martin; it was co-produced by Neil Campbell (Vibracathedral Orchestra, ex-Total) and Colin Potter (Nurse with Wound). 'Orange Canyon Mind' and 'Tribulation' appeared on Crucial Blast in 2005 and 2006, respectively; both were primarily recorded by Bower solo. From there, Skullflower became more prolific (as well as drone-based) than ever, with a barrage of releases on numerous labels, ranging from limited, self-released CD-Rs to ambitious box sets. The year 2008 alone saw releases on Utech ('Desire for a Holy War'), Not Not Fun ('Taste the Blood of the Deceiver' LP and a split 7" with Axolotl), and Turgid Animal ('Pure Imperial Reform' and the three-CD box 'Circulos Vitiosus Deus'). In 2009, Noiseville released 'Vile Veil', and 'Malediction' appeared on Second Layer Records; Posh Isolation released a Skullflower/Limepit split LP. 

The year 2010 began with Neurot Recordings' release of Skullflower's double-CD 'Strange Keys to Untune Gods' Firmament'. The group made its debut on power electronics label Cold Spring with 2011's 'Fucked on a Pile of Corpses', which included input from Samantha Davies, George Proctor, and Lee Stokoe. Split albums with Mastery and Utarm appeared in 2013, while Shock/Dirter Promotions released 'Kino I-IV', a box set of material from the group's early years. Bower and Davies recorded the double-CD 'Draconis', which was released by Cold Spring in 2014. Skullflower then began releasing numerous digital recordings through their Bandcamp page in 2015. Aside from the limited CD-R 'Military Temples (For Coil)' and a collaborative cassette with Der Blutharsch, their first major physical release since 'Draconis' was 2017's 'The Spirals of Great Harm', another epic double CD on Cold Spring. Soon after, the Egyptian label Nashazphone released Skullflower's LP 'The Black Iron That Fell from the Sky, To Dwell Within (Bear It or Be It)'. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC] 

Whitehouse

Whitehouse formed in 1980 on the fringe of the industrial music scene. Created by William Bennett, they pioneered a branch of experimental noise known as "power electronics," a genre explored by Japanese artists such as Merzbow. Influenced by contemporaries such as Throbbing Gristle and composers such as Alvin Lucier, Whitehouse developed a unique sound mixing high and low frequencies with aggressive bursts of electronics and vocals. With their label Come Organisation, they released what they termed "the most extreme music ever made." Often subject to censorship by stores and distributors due to subject matter and graphic record designs, they never bowed to commercial pressures and remained in control of their music and label. Whitehouse has recorded with Steve Albini since 1989. 

William Bennett played guitar in the post-punk band Essential Logic. After leaving the group, he recorded the 'Come 1' single under the name Come. This groundbreaking release, sequenced by Daniel Miller, featured relentless synthesizer pulses that hinted at the sound that would later typify Whitehouse. The Come Organisation was created by Bennett to release like-minded artists, though the majority of the releases on the label involved the founder himself in some capacity. 

The Whitehouse project began with the full-length 'Birthdeath Experience' with William Bennett on vocals and synthesizer, Paul Reuter on synthesizer, and Peter Mckay credited as effects and engineer. Though relatively timid compared to their later material, it is important for the formation of their unique aesthetic. Their third release, 'Erector', was one of the first to fully take advantage of the dynamic potential of electronic music. Considered by many as the first power electronics record, 'Erector' set the standard for aggressive experimental noise.

Aware that they were staking new ground, several releases soon followed. They released eight full-length records in three years, each one being proclaimed by the Come Organisation as "the most extreme music ever made." During this period, William Bennett found time to collaborate with Steven Stapleton (of Nurse With Wound) as 150 Murderous Passions, a project inspired by the Marquis De Sade. 

Satirizing the music industry much like Throbbing Gristle, Whitehouse went to great lengths for originality. While Throbbing Gristle operated Industrial Records as a corporation, William Bennett operated the Come Organisation as a radical libertarian political collective where personal liberty and personal pleasure was to be maintained at all costs. Referring to live performances as "actions," disseminating propaganda that praised serial killers, and expressing an extreme ideology of personal pleasure via the media, Whitehouse gained a cult following based on their growing mysterious status. 

Always controversial, anti-Whitehouse sentiments reached new heights in 1982. People misinterpreted the intention of William Bennett's article "The Struggle For a New Music Culture" published in the magazine Force Mental. Controversy surrounding the piece led to further censorship and distribution problems. Following their first U.S. tour, Whitehouse released two of their most shocking records to date: 'Right to Kill' and 'Great White Death'. These releases took sex and violence as lyric subject matter to unheard-of proportions with the equivalent in extreme electronic sound, and they also saw the addition of two new collaborators Kevin Tomkins and Philip Best. 

After a five-year hiatus, Whitehouse returned with a new label name and a new producer. 'Thank Your Lucky Stars', released on Susan Lawly in 1990, was the first for Whitehouse to be recorded by legendary producer Steve Albini. Rarely deviating from the themes outlined by 'Right to Kill' and 'Great White Death', Whitehouse released several more full-lengths throughout the 1990s. Sonically they have remained true to their original sound and are still quite extreme in nature. Slowly but surely, the coveted early records by Whitehouse are being reissued on CD, sometimes as special editions with bonus tracks. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC] 

F/i

In the late '70's in ol' Milwaukee town, self-confessed sci-fi nerd, krautrock enthusiast and all-round nice guy, Richard Franecki, formed The Drag with a friend, Greg Kurczewski. Described as "a Stooges/MC5-type band," The Drag did the rounds like so many others, before Richard split the group and formed The Shemps with Jan Schober, this time veering into a more hardcore direction. Around 1982, as The Shemps dissolved, Rick started hanging out and jamming with another local, Brian Wensing, who was intrigued by Franecki's experimental guitar stylings, which he was temporarily putting to use in "a strange surf group," The Surfin' Fuhrers. Sensing a meeting of the minds, both being heavily into the "industrial" scene of the time (Throbbing Gristle, SPK, Nurse With Wound, Whitehouse, etc.), they roped in Greg Kurczewski to help form the tape/recording project cryptically known as F/i. 

 

Before long shortwave radio buff Steve Zimmerman was involved and they were recording on a regular, nay, weekly basis. F/i's tape output was prolific, to say the least. Franecki has noted in interviews that at the height of the "tape culture" craze of the mid-'80s, the band had roughly 15 of their own cassettes out, as well as contributions to literally dozens of compilations. From '82 to '85 their sound mainly concentrated on experimental electronics -from harsh white noise to Mort Subotnik-style keyboard blips to Stockhausen-influenced musique concrete pieces. A lot of the good stuff from this period is documented on the hideously rare 3-LP box set from 1989, 'Past Darkly/Future Brightly', but more on that later. 

 

By 1985, things had changed. Reaching for a new direction, the band decided to incorporate elements of rock into their music and professed a new aim in their sound: "Hawkwind + Blue Cheer + harsh electronics." F/i the rock band was born. Gaining a rep in the underground tape scene, Ron Lessard of the infamous Massachussetts label, RRR, a longtime fan of the group, asked them to do a split LP with similar Milwaukee noiseniks, Boy Dirt Car. The band said yes and the fantastic and imaginatively titled 'Boy Dirt Car/F/i Split LP' was unleashed. F/i's side was a godsend: throbbing waves of power electronics and stunning, lunk-headed, fuzzed-out power chords played over a bass-y, low-end rumbling rock beat. They did indeed meet their goal: the ultimate combination of Hawkwind, Blue Cheer and harsh electronics. '87's 'Why Not Now?... Alan!' LP, also on RRR, is another goodie. Though the sound's a bit thin (a remastered version with heavier bass antics would hit the spot just nice), it also contains some of their best songs, such as the closing "An Observation: The Eye at the Top of the Pyramid," a lumbering rock drone that hitches the ride like the best of Hawkwind ca. 'Doremi Fasol Latido', and "Electric Waltz" a galloping two-step number layered with sheets of fuzzed-out string action. 

 

F/i were on a roll now, and released their best yet with '88's spectacular 'Space Mantra' LP. Again on RRR, it boasted their most ambitious music yet, with the usual mix of Hawkwind/Kraut-inspired rock moves, as well as pulsing electronic pieces (and no mere noodling; we're talking real songs here) and more ethereal numbers, acoustic guitars and the whole shebang. Working like a musical suite -even with the obligatory "reprise" tracks- 'Space Mantra' was hailed at the time by the usual well-meaning folk as a breakthrough work and one of the best truly "psychedelic" albums of its time, and all dozen or so people reading stood up and took notice. 1989's 'Paradise Out Here' LP was released on the Human Wrechords label, and its elusiveness, small pressing, poor distribution -whatever- has made it pretty much impossible for one to get one's mits on, so instead let's discuss their 'Past Darkly/Future Lightly' triple-LP box from '89 on RRR. It's a killer. Six sides charting the band's evolution from '83 to '89, and featuring all unreleased and rare material, the gamut of sounds here goes the full three-ring circus from white noise, blips and whoops and primitive Chrome-ish rock workouts to the blistering psych-rock that had by then become their trademark sound. Working a roughly 50/50 split between the experimental and rock sides of the group, it's a mighty nice item to look at, observe, sit on the shelf as a trophy, or even to listen to. Limited to a ridiculous 300 copies on its one-off release, it's also a pretty much extinct item at this point in time. 

 

Following 1990's 'Blue Star' LP on RRR, a part live/part studio gem that basically continued on the well-worn/well-loved vein of  'Space Mantra', things got a bit sticky in the F/i camp. Richard Franecki quit the band after not wishing to tour and sensing that the group was losing its original experimental focus and simply becoming "another rock band," and so the band forged on without him. F/i also was experiencing problems with their new drummer wanting to become a rock star, and in '92 there was even a "scab" version of F/i that toured the States, which consisted of the rhythm section of the group and two pick ups. All Spinal Tap anecdotes aside, there's some good recorded material from the period, namely the 'Out of Space and Out of Time' CD on RRR, a best-of of sorts from their '80's period and a live CD called 'Earthpipe', recorded (mostly) in Germany and released on the RecRec label outta Switzerland in '92. Best of all is the split LP with Richard Franecki's new (at the time) project, Vocokesh, on RRR, a fetching clear-vinyl/clear-plastic-cover item where both bands excel. F/i's side (now sans the drummer that was making their life a misery) is a super blend of outer-space spaghetti western riffs ("Theme for an Industrial Western"), pulsating guitar grooves ("Zombies in the Slave Trade") and the stunning "Pleasure Centre/The Beach," which moves like a mixture of early Chrome and early 'Neubauten in a mid-western bar. Tasty. 

 

Moving it along, there's also their "To Poppy With Love" 7" on SSS from '95, an excellent two-track selection of heavy rifferama, and the unfortunately so-so 'Helioscopium' CD from '98 on the Ceres label, which, despite boasting some top material, also contains its share of duds and has way too much keyboard noodling to hold one's interest throughout. F/i are still around and still recording and playing. A cult band in the true sense of the word, their name means nothing to most, and a lot to some. Their recorded legacy speaks for itself, and given their (currently fashionable) musical mentors (as said, Blue Cheer, Hawkwind, Can, Popol Vuh, Stockhausen, etc.), the best of their '80's/'90's material sounds frighteningly ahead of its time, even if they were working in a rather retro-styled basis in the given period (that is, copping moves from old '70's "head" discs). F/i stalwarts Grant Richter and Brian Wensing are like the living embodiment of the American garage rock mythos: part-time rock'n'rollers with their own band, play the odd gig every year, release the odd album for the faithful that give a shit. [SOURCE: PERFECT SOUND FOREVER]

 

Hal McGee

Hal McGee is an American experimental artist and producer, active since 1981. He is widely considered as one of the most important and seminal members of an early homemade cassettes musical movement in USA. Together with Debbie Jaffe, McGee operated legendary Cause And Effect cassette label and distribution, releasing such artists as Merzbow, Nurse With Wound, Controlled Bleeding, Robert Rich, If, Bwana, Algebra Suicide and others. In the mid 1980s McGee recorded numerous works as a member of Viscera, solo as Dog As Master, and in collaboration with If, Bwana and JABON. In the late 1980s and early 90s McGee was operating Electronic Cottage label, simultaneously with an Electronic Cottage Magazine. This was restarted as an online zine and community in April 2018. In the mid to late 1990s Hal McGee released dozens of cassettes of homemade experimental music, solo and in collaboration with Jeph Jerman, Brian Noring (EHI), Big City Orchestra, Emil Hagstrom (Cock E.S.P.), Charles Rice Goff III and others. Also he produced a series of "Tape Heads" cassette compilations on his own HalTapes label. In the late 1990s and early 2000s Hal McGee started releasing homemade CDr albums. During this time he collaborated heavily with Brian Noring of the FDR Tapes, in person and via mail collaboration, and with his long-time partner Chris Phinney. In 2003-04 Hal McGee produced the five-volume 'Quotidian Assemblages' compilation project. In 2005 he recorded and released a 2-hour video film called "The Secret Life Of Hal McGee". In 2006, with the encouragement of Andrew Chadwick and Christopher Miller, McGee began performing live for the first time since 1987, joining the ranks of Florida's live noise/experimental music scene. From 2014 to 2015 Hal operated a new label, Kassette Kult Tapes. Hundreds of McGee’s solo and collaborative releases and compilations, both archival and recent (including many works created in 2012), are available for free from his official Bandcamp page. [SOURCE: DISCOGS] 

Attrition

Attrition are an electronic music band, formed in Coventry, England in 1980 by Martin Bowes and Julia Niblock. The band emerged from the experimental post-punk scene of the early 1980s and, along with other groups such as Throbbing Gristle, Coil, Einstürzende Neubauten, and In the Nursery, greatly contributed to the development of industrial music in the UK. Still active 30 years later, Attrition have been a stanchion of darkwave and industrial music, influencing many younger bands in the genres while continuously fine tuning their own distinctive sound. 

In 1979, Martin started a xeroxed fanzine called "Alternative Sounds" to document the Coventry music scene (including such notables as The Specials and Furious Apples). The fanzine ran for 18 issues until 1981, and culminated in a vinyl compilation, 'Sent from Coventry' (on Cherry Red) and a brief appearance on the BBC's "Something Else" programme. During this time, Martin met Julia at a local gig and, with the addition of Martin's brother Chris on guitar, Attrition was formed. In 1980 Chris was replaced by Julia's brother Ashley Niblock on synthesizer, and a short time later they replaced their live drummer with a drum machine; these changes facilitated Attrition's development beyond the post-punk of the early 80s into more experimental veins of sound.

Influenced by punk's do-it-yourself aesthetic, Attrition took part in the emerging cassette culture, contributing multiple early tracks to underground cassette compilations and fanzines alongside contemporaries such as Portion Control, Konstruktivits, Chris & Cosey, The Legendary Pink Dots, Nurse With Wound, and Coil. Attrition's first album release came in the form of 'Death House', a cassette of two experimental electronic soundtracks inspired by zombie films. In 1983, Attrition received their first exposure in the national music press through a review by Dave Henderson in his "Wild Planet" column in "Sounds", which led to their "Dreamsleep" track appearing on Henderson's compilation 'The Elephant Table Album', the band's first vinyl appearance. A postal collaboration with Seattle-based improvisational collective Audio Leter led to Attrition's second cassette album release, 'Action and Reaction'. Attrition's first London concert followed, with a supporting slot from Coil, and the first European tour in April 1984 with The Legendary Pink Dots. 

The debut album 'The Attrition of Reason' appeared on Third Mind Records in autumn of 1984. The next year, Julia left the band to join The Legendary Pink Dots, and Bowes returned with new band members Marianne, Alex Novak, and Pete Morris to release the second proper Attrition album, 'Smiling, at the Hypogonder Club', which was generally well received. The following year, however, this lineup dissolved and Bowes released 'In The Realm of the Hungry Ghosts', a collection of rarities, compilation tracks, and B-sides from the preceding few years. This was the last release on Third Mind. The band then switched to Belgium's Antler-Subway Records for the release of 'At the Fiftieth Gate' in 1988, which saw the addition of guitarist Gary Cox.

After a short hiatus, Bowes began work on music once more and Julia rejoined Attrition in 1990. A compilation of songs from previous releases was released by Projekt Records in the US, introducing Attrition to US audiences. 'A Tricky Business' was released in 1991 on Italy's Contempo Records and marked a new era for the band. These US releases were complemented with European editions on German labels Hyperium and Trisol. 'The Hidden Agenda' came out in 1993, followed by 'Ephemera' in 1995, which mirrored the dark ambient nature of early album 'Death House'. 

1996 saw the release of '3 Arms And A Dead Cert', which showed an increased use of organic instruments, including orchestral elements. This album also was the first proper release on Projekt, a relationship that would continue for many years and would see the release of a succession of albums during the '90s that saw progressed development of Attrition's signature sound. Also in 1996 the band toured the US for the first time, at the culmination of which Julia left the band once more. The following year, Bowes revisited various works from the past decade of Attrition music and recorded new classical string variations of the songs, releasing them as 'Etude'. After heavy touring in the late 1990s, including a stop at Wave-Gotik-Treffen, Attrition released 'The Jeopardy Maze' in 1999. 
 

Five years passed between 'The Jeopardy Maze' and the next Attrition album, 'Dante's Kitchen', released in 2004. During the interim a remix album and a rarities album were put out and the entire back catalog of Attrition was reissued on CD in Europe and the band focused on touring and playing live again. Attrition finally founded their own label, Two Gods, in 2006 and released 'Tearing Arms from Deities', a 25th anniversary collection of material spanning Attrition's career, and 'Something Stirs - The Beginning', a collection of many of their cassette compilation tracks from the early 1980s. Two Gods would serve as a vehicle for releasing remastered reissues of the entire Attrition back catalogue in the following years. It has also served as a label for releases from other bands, including Rossetti's Compass.
 

In June 2008 Attrition once more became a multi-member act with the addition of female vocalist Sin D'rella. Bowes and Sin then released the twelfth album proper for the band, 'All Mine Enemys Whispers - The Story of Mary Ann Cotton', a concept album built around the true story of a mid-19th century serial killer in England, the arresting officer of whom Bowes is a descendant. The album bears a marked departure from what has come to be seen as the signature Attrition sound, ditching prominent synthesizer base lines, percussion, and vocals for atmospheric, ambient, and found sounds. Guests on the album include Emilie Autumn, Erica Mulkey, and Bowes' own two children.  
 

2009 has seen the release of a live album, 'Kill the Buddha!', that celebrates 25 years of live touring, and 'Wrapped in the Guise of my Friend', an album of Attrition songs covered by other bands. 2012 and Martin has worked with his wife Kerri on their first full-length movie score, 'Invocation'. Martin taught music technology at City College in Coventry for many years and left in 2011 to work full-time on mastering and production for Attrition and other artists in his studio The Cage. 2013: 'The Unraveller of Angels'. 2015: 'Millions of the Mouthless Dead' and album Martin made with Anni Hogan (of Marc and the Mambas fame) exploring First World War poetry set to dark ambient scores; includes a guest appearance from Wolfgang Flur (ex-Kraftwerk) 
 

Martin Bowes has cited a wide variety of influences on his music, including experimental rock, punk, post-punk, and industrial groups such as The Velvet Underground, Crass, The Sex Pistols, Magazine, Joy Division, and Cabaret Voltaire, early experimental electronic groups like Kraftwerk, classic rock'n'roll (Elvis), and even Beethoven.  
 

In the early 1980s, Attrition was grouped into the post-punk movement, and as post-punk birthed subgenres and cross-pollinated with others, the band came to be seen as an early and influential part of the fledgling industrial and darkwave genres. Later on they would also gain a considerable following among the goth scene. By the early 90s Bowes had become the primary member and songwriter and Attrition had developed its own distinctive electro-acoustic sound. This was based on Martin's deep growl, Julia's fretless bass work and breathy sub-operatic vocals, and a backline of electronic instrumentation, comprising analogue synthesizers (including a Korg Mono/Poly and Korg MS-20), sequencer (Roland MC-202), drum machine (Roland TR-808), and various effects units. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA] 

Patti Palladin

Patti Palladin is primarily known for her work with Snatch (with Judy Nylon) in the early 1970s, Johnny Thunders, and The Flying Lizards. Palladin co-wrote the track "Trial by Fire" that appeared on the 1982 Judy Nylon album 'Pal Judy' (with her backing band Crucial). Snatch was included in the influential Nurse With Wound list released as part of the artwork for the 1979 'Chance Meeting on a Dissecting Table of a Sewing Machine and an Umbrella'. Snatch recorded the song "R.A.F." with Brian Eno, which was released on the 1982 EG Records compilation album 'First Edition' and included audio samples from a Red Army Faction ransom message. 

 

Palladin also worked extensively with Johnny Thunders of The Heartbreakers, the former lead guitarist for New York Dolls. Palladin appeared on Thunders' 1978 debut solo album 'So Alone' and his 1985 album 'Que Sera Sera', and in 1988 they together released the album 'Copy Cats' on Jungle Records. She and Thunders also recorded a 1984 cover of Fred Wise and Ben Weisman's "Crawfish" for Postcard Records. 

 

Palladin became a member of The Flying Lizards around 1980, with whom she recorded the 1981 album 'Fourth Wall'. Palladin's "The Nuns New Clothes" appeared on 1983's 'The Batcave: Young Limbs And Numb Hymns' on the London Records label. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]

 

Laibach

Laibach is an industrial group whose members prefer to be known as a collective rather than reveal individual names; they've been seen as fascists and of practicing Germanophilia because of their music's Wagnerian thunder and their military attire. According to Laibach, "We are fascists as much as Hitler was a painter." Since fascism needs a scapegoat to flourish, the members of Laibach mocked it by becoming their own scapegoat and willingly sought alienation. Showing a ridiculous lust for authority, Laibach's releases featured artwork influenced by anti-Nazi photomontage artist John Heartfield, and the group's live shows portray rock concerts as absurd political rallies. In interviews their answers are wry manifestos, and they never break character.

Formed the same year longtime Yugoslavian leader Marshall Josip Broz Tito died, Laibach started activity in 1980 in the industrial coal-mining town of Trbovlje in the center of what is now Slovenia. They took their name from the nearby city Ljubljana's title during Nazi occupation. Their first performance was canceled by authorities for their controversial use of symbols, and military service kept them away from performing until June of 1981. Laibach first played Ljubljana in January of 1982, and the 'Ljubljana-Zagreb-Beograd' collection captures some the group's performances from this time from cassettes sold at shows. The 'Laibach/Last Few Days' cassette from 1983 was the group's first proper release, and cassettes from labels like Staal Tapes and Skuk followed. Milan Fras joined as vocalist, and his distinctive growl and grim stare still make him the group's most recognizable member. An appearance on Yugoslavian TV with shaved heads and military attire provoked the state to issue a ban on the name Laibach in Ljubljana that was not lifted until 1987. 

Around the time of the EP 'Panorama/Die Liebe's release, a concert was planned and posters put up overnight with only Laibach's trademark cross representing the group. Both concert and poster are captured on 'M.B. December 21, 1984'. Laibach soon joined the like-minded artist collective Irwin and theater group Scipion Nasice Sisters to form the organization Neue Slowenische Kunst, or NSK. NSK became involved in the group's concerts and Irwin's artwork would often be displayed at venues. The group's debut studio album, which also featured the cross only, was released in 1985 but was reissued in 1999 as 'Laibach'. 'Baptism', from 1986, includes the group's soundtrack to the NSK stage production "Baptism Under Triglav". Laibach's music had remained a challenging combination of military marches and tape loops that only fans of Throbbing Gristle, Nurse With Wound, and the like paid much attention to, but things were about to change. 

Wax Trax! in America and Mute in the U.K. gave 1987's 'Opus Dei' Laibach's first widely available release. Included were bizarre thumping cover versions of Queen's "One Vision" and one-hit wonder Opus' "Life Is Life," and videos of both were shown on MTV. A worldwide tour followed, and Laibach was invited by John Peel to do a Peel Session and Michael Clark commissioned the group to provide music for his dance company. The idea of covering pop music in Wagnerian style was expanded on 1988's 'Sympathy for the Devil EP', which included multiple versions of the Rolling Stones' classic, and 'Let It Be', which reproduced the whole of the Beatles' album, minus the title track. 'Let It Be' included a version of "Across the Universe," sung by fellow NSK members Germania, whose ethereal female vocals would show up on many later releases. Another world tour followed, and a bootleg video of a Dallas, Texas, concert showed up on the short-lived Videophile label. The group's success caused various early recordings to be reissued, and 1990 saw Laibach return to more orchestral work with its soundtrack to a NSK production of "Macbeth".

Laibach celebrated the fall of the Berlin Wall with the 'Oktober/Geburt Einer Nation' single, containing more of a techno slant and a remix credited to the mysterious Kraftbach. Released in 1992, 'Kapital' fully embraced minimal techno and focused on the growth of capitalism in Eastern Europe. A world tour (with each member's skin painted silver) and more reissues followed. A return to bombastic cover versions was heard on the war-focused 'NATO' as the former Yugoslavia fell apart. The techno was left up to the new side project 300,000 V.K. and its debut, 'Also Sprach Johann Paul II'. The 'NATO' world tour was documented on the limited-edition CD and video box set 'Occupied Europe NATO' in 1996, the same year the band released the religious-themed and cover version-filled 'Jesus Christ Superstars'. That album's live show toured the world on and off until the release of 2003's 'WAT', a return to techno and the band's first pop album to contain primarily self-penned material in a while. 

The 2004 compilation 'Anthems' featured two CDs: one compiling singles, the other remixes. 'Volk' from late 2006 reimagined national anthems from around the world, including those of Germany, Italy, the U.S., and even the Vatican. Their 2008 album 'Kunst der Fuge' featured "Laibachian interpretations" of Johann Sebastian Bach's "The Art of Fugue", then in 2012 the film "Iron Sky" arrived with a Laibach score including the 'WAT' track "B Mashina," which was also released as a single. That same year, London's Tate Modern museum hosted an overview of the NSK's work, including a Laibach concert, a recording of which was released by Mute as 'Monumental Retro-Avant-Garde'. In 2013 the EP 'S' arrived, featuring a cover Serge Gainsbourg's "Love on the Beat" along with three original songs that landed on the group's 2014 album, 'Spectre'. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC] 

Asmus Tietchens

Active since the mid-'60s, synthesizer experimentalist and musique concrète producer Asmus Tietchens has been a major influence on several generations of avant-garde electronic musicians and sound artists. Heavily inspired by Karlheinz Stockhausen, he has pursued "absolute music" through rigid formal exercises. His music is often harsh, alien, and abstract, but he's also recorded several albums of strangely playful material, including a handful of early-'80s Sky Records releases as well as later works as Hematic Sunsets. In addition to releasing over 100 recordings (including collaborations with Merzbow, Vidna Obmana, and Thomas Köner), Tietchens has taught acoustics at Hamburg universities since 1990, and he has written liner notes for dozens of albums released by the Bureau B label, particularly reissues of Cluster-related albums. 

Born in 1947 and based in Hamburg, Tietchens listened to German radio as a child and heard pioneering electric transmissions by the likes of Stockhausen and Gottfried Michael Koenig. He began recording his own home experiments in 1965 with crude reverb devices and picked up a MiniMoog several years later. Also influenced by atonal Krautrockers like Cluster and Faust, Tietchens met Okko Bekker and began a partnership that lasted for decades (Bekker has produced most of Tietchens' work). Tietchens participated in Liliental, a supergroup featuring Cluster's Dieter Moebius, engineer Conny Plank, bassist Hellmut Hattler, sax player Johannes Pappert, and Bekker. Their self-titled album was released by Brain in 1978. 

After Tangerine Dream's Peter Baumann heard a tape of his work, he produced Tietchens' debut album, 'Nachtstücke', released in 1980 on the French label Egg. His four albums for Sky during the early '80s ('Biotop', 'Spät-Europa', 'In die Nacht', 'Litia') focused on surprisingly accessible electronic pop, though 1984's 'Formen Letzter Hausmusik' (recorded for Nurse with Wound's United Dairies label) began a period of more abstract, concrète recordings that often use tape experiments as well as synthesizers. These include albums released by A-Mission Records, Discos Esplendor Geométrico, and Multimood. In 1986, upon invitation from the Goethe-Institute, he began traveling to South America to present lecture-concerts of his work, after which he began teaching in Hamburg. 

During the '90s, Tietchens recorded for dozens of experimental labels including Barooni, Staalplaat and Syrenia. In 2000, he initiated the Menge series of extremely minimal microsound works, initially released by Mille Plateaux sublabel Ritornell and later continued on Richard Chartier's Line imprint. In 2003, Die Stadt began reissuing Tietchens' early albums on CD for the first time, starting with the Sky releases. Tietchens wrote liner notes for these reissues, as well as reissues of Cluster-related albums. In 2012, Tietchens collaborated with Moebius for a self-titled album issued by Bureau B. The label subsequently reissued the Sky albums on CD and vinyl, with the bonus tracks from the Die Stadt reissues compiled as 'Der Fünfte Himmel'. He continued releasing new works on labels such as Auf Abwegen and Stille Andacht. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]