The Neon Judgement is a Belgian new wave band, formed in Leuven in 1981 by Dirk Da Davo (born Dirk Timmermans, keyboards / vocalist) and TB Frank (born Frank Vloeberghs, guitarist / vocalist). They have often been cited, alongside fellow Belgian band Front 242, as the pioneers of electronic body music (EBM), an electronic dance genre from the early 1980s combining industrial and electro music.
They combined minimalist industrial drones and new wave synthpop and dance music, with cold, mechanical rhythms. Their early work was aggressive, danceable and dominated by synthesizers and drum-machines. Later in their career, their work featured prominent guitars.
The Neon Judgement recorded most of their output for the Play It Again Sam label in Belgium, beginning with 1986's 'Mafu Cage'. Their first American release came in 1987, with the sex-themed concept album, 'Horny As Hell'. Subsequent recordings included 'Blood and Thunder' (1989), 'The Insult' (1990), and 'Are You Real' (1992).
The duo took a three-year hiatus in 1992, returning in 1995 with 'At Devil's Fork', an LP recorded with percussionist Ben Forceville entirely in a wooded area.
The band stopped performing in 1998, but reformed in 2004 and started performing live again to promote a series of remixes and re-releases of their material.
Timmermans is also part of the side project Neon Electronics, for which he started his own record label Dancedelic-D and he both reworks old classics and composes new material.
In November 2005, The Neon Judgement played at the Machina Festival at the Broadway Club in São Paulo, Brazil. The festival celebrated the first eight years of the site FiberOnline and the launch of the label Fiber Records. Fiber Records released the DVD 'The Neon Judgement – Live at Machina Festival' in 2005 featuring the whole concert of 13 songs.
In 2007, the band released the compilation album 'Redbox'. The release followed the 100% vintage 2 CD 'Box' released in October 2005. 'Redbox' mainly contains the band's work during the second half of the 1980s. The album also features remixes from acts such as David Carretta, Blackstrobe, Lifelike, and Helmut Kraft. 'Redbox' also contains a new cover version of "Heroes" by David Bowie.
The band released another album, 'Smack', in 2009. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
Neon Hearts were Wolverhampton's first punk band that had a short lived existence from 1977 to 1981 at the height of the punk movement.
The band was founded in the summer of 1977 by Steve Heart when he quit Birmingham-based Suburban Studs after being told a sax player was inappropriate in a punk band. The initial line up included Steve, his cousin, a bass player called Paul Raven, a drummer friend of Paul's, Keith Allen, and Martin Ratcliffe, a guitarist friend of Keith's.
After a few weeks rehearsing, the band went into Lee Sound Studios to arrange a demo recording session.
They soon came across a solo singer playing local pubs and clubs doing his own songs and a few Bowie covers. Tony Deary (later Tone Dial) joined the band after a couple of meetings and the band (now five members) was complete. After much debate the band decided to call themselves Neon Hearts.
After the first sessions at Ginger Studios two songs, "Regulations" and "Venus Eccentric" were chosen to become a double A-sided single released on 1 December 1977 on the band's own label, Neon Hearts Records. The first pressing of the single was released in an oversized 8" sleeve due to a printing error.
Throughout this period record company interest increased, but was narrowed down to two main candidates. The band signed to Satril, a satellite company of WEA, in May 1978. From day one problems occurred Satril attempting to get the band to move into a more 'funky' direction and submit material to the Eurovision song contest. Being optimistic, Neon Hearts felt things would improve however, things worsened and they ended up trying to make the best of a bad job.
The first demos for Satril were recorded at PYE Studios in London on 6 June 1978 under the supervision of A&R manager Paul Jenkins. The band wanted to release 'Popular Music' as their Satril debut, but they were overruled by the label that chose 'Answers', which was released late July 1978. The single was given no promotion by Satril so the band self-promoted it by gigging. Satril agreed to release 'Popular Music' as the second single.
In preparation for promoting the album the band appeared on Look! Hear!, a TV music show that was screened on BBC Midlands, in January 1980. They performed the new single "Popular Music" and "Synchronisation", a song that was never recorded elsewhere.
The band recorded a John Peel Session on 21 March at the Maida Vale Studios in London. The tracks were "Roll-On Deodorant", "Rings of Confidence", a re-working of "Body Language" and "The Other Great Sex Pros (Airborne Hormones)".
In late 1980 Steve and Tony decided to reform Neon Hearts. The same year, Tony released an EP, 'You Keep Coming Round', with a new band, Silhouette Theatre. The material was strong but inadequate distribution and airplay meant it achieved little commercial success. Dial subsequently joined Birmingham group Fashion for a period.
By chance the five band members met up in August 2002 and ended up recording two new songs written by Tony, "Retrograde" and "Heart of Darkness". This was the last time the band played together due to the tragic death of bass player Paul Raven in October 2007. Paul had become a highly influential musician best known for his work in the seminal punk/goth/metal/electronic group Killing Joke. He later played in the alternative rock/industrial rock bands Prong and Ministry.
Tony Dial later changed his name to Vael Deary and is now writing songs towards entertaining an audience. Vael won't do the retro thing with the Neon Hearts. He's busy playing to unsuspecting audiences across the UK.
A compilation CD called 'Ball & Chain' was released by Overground records in 1997. This included alternate versions of songs on the 'Popular Music' album, the John Peel session and a number of other previously unreleased recordings. Based on the success of this CD Overground re-released the 'Popular Music' album in CD format in 2002. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
Negative FX was a hardcore band from Boston, formed in 1981. Though the band lasted only a short time, playing a total of five shows (six flyers exist), the band was well known for their involvement in the local straight edge
scene of the early 1980s.
Along with members of the bands DYS and SS Decontrol (SSD), Negative FX was part of the "Boston Crew", a group of social friends who traveled around the country with SSD and other Boston hardcore bands.
Negative FX played fast and unmelodic hardcore punk that often featured shouted gang vocals on the songs' choruses. The band members consisted of Patrick Raftery on guitar, Rich Collins on bass, Dave (Bass) Brown on drums, and high-profile vocalist Jack Kelly, who frequently went by the name of "Choke". Kelly went on to form the bands Last Rights and Slapshot.
Negative FX released only one self-titled album, which was recorded in April and November 1982 at Radiobeat Studios in Kenmore Square, but was not released until 1984 on Taang! Records. It was rereleased in 1989. In 2002, Belgian label Reflex/Wolfpack Records reissued the album under the name 'Discography & Live' with the addition of a live version of "Might Makes Right". Distortions Records issued the 'Government War Plans' EP in 2003, consisting of early demos.
Successful punk rock band NOFX's name is a reference to this band. Eric Melvin had listened to Negative FX's one studio album, and when trying to come up with a name for his new band with Fat Mike, he suggested the name "NO-FX". [SOURCE: TAANG!]
Detroit's Negative Approach, along with Maumee, OH's Necros, were the undisputed champs of Midwestern hardcore in the early to mid-'80s. Legend has it that vocalist John Brannon recruited drummer OP Moore and the guitar/bass team of Rob and Graham McCulloch at a skate park sometime in 1981. Lead by the bald-headed Brannon's hoarse wail, the band concocted an extreme sound devoid of frills that alternated between violent and mean. This was first fully documented in 1982 on their self-titled Touch and Go 7". The band released the more metallic-sounding 'Tied Down' 12" on Touch and Go in 1983, but died out in 1985 as Brannon incubated the Birthday Party blues of Laughing Hyenas. Unfortunately lacking the more widespread post-hardcore fame of peers Ian McKaye and Henry Rollins, Brannon's Negative Approach has not gotten the later-day due often accorded Minor Threat and Black Flag. Negative Approach was certainly as influential as those two bands, touching everyone from Poison Idea to Sonic Youth to Los Crudos, as well as entire generations of hardcore fans in Boston and New York. The band was also as original and extreme as any early-'80s punk outfit -the rhythmic crush created by Moore and the McCulloch brothers continues to be an undeniable steel-toe to the face. Touch and Go compiled the band's discography as 'Total Recall' in 1992, an essential listen for anyone who wants to understand hardcore. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Naux was Juan Maciel. He died on February 8, 2009 after a prolonged illness. Naúx is pronounced ‘nah-ooj’, based on the reversed spelling of his first name. Naúx was a guitarist for Richard Hell’s Voidoids during the 'Destiny Street' sessions & was a co-founder along with bassist Steve Cohen of China Shop. China Shop has enjoyed a retrospective digital download release from Anthology Recordings, but Naúx's solo album remains a vinyl-only rarity.
'Light, Traps & Exploding Wires' is a rather obscure and rare LP from the New York no wave collective named here simply Naux. This record was the second release on the Noise New York label, recorded at Noise New York studio located on 34th Street above La Polpetta (the Meatball), owned by Frank and Dwight Eaton. It has all the hallmarks of No Wave: jagged guitar lines; funky bass lines; lyrics about alienation; and an all-around artiness. It features some of the New York No Wave scene’s finest.
Richard Horowitz & Sussan Deihim would go on to release exquisite albums of synth-heavy Western/Middle Eastern fusion; Fred Maher was the original drummer in Material as well as playing with the Voidoids; Robert Quine is well-known as Richard Hell's main guitarist and for his guitar work on Matthew Sweet's 'Girlfriend'; Mike Allison continues recording today under the moniker Darshan Ambient; and Steve Cohen has played with Mike and Naux in China Shop (with a young Richard Edson). [SOURCE: NOTHIN' SEZ SOMETHIN']
Nature and Organisation is the creative musical works of British musician Michael Cashmore. The music of Nature and Organisation is characterized by a mix of acoustic, classical and folk structures met with abrasive electronic instrumentation.
Cashmore has also been a member of the group Current 93 since the late 1980s. He has collaborated with many artists, including David Tibet, Douglas Pearce, Steven Stapleton, Antony Hegarty, Marc Almond and Rose McDowall. Cashmore wrote most of the music for Current 93 after the departure of Douglas Pearce in the 1990s.
During a long silence after 1998, it was unclear if Nature and Organisation still existed, as the official Nature and Organisation website was no longer online, and Cashmore released no official statements since the release of the 1998 album, 'Death in a Snow Leopard Winter'. Since then World Serpent Distribution has dissolved and all Nature and Organisation material is out of print.
In 2006, after breaking his silence with a new official MySpace page, Michael Cashmore released a new album under his own name entitled 'Sleep England' on Durtro Jnana Records. This was followed in 2007 with the mini-album 'The Snow Abides' with vocals by Antony Hegarty, and a collaborative album in 2008, 'Gabriel and The Lunatic Lover' with singer Marc Almond.
In 2015, the German label Trisol released the long-awaited CD reissue of the complete World Serpent recordings by Nature and Organisation including the two albums 'Beauty Reaps the Blood of Solitude' and 'Death in a Snow Leopard Winter' along with the 'A Dozen Summers Against the World' EP and another compilation-only track. Entitled 'Snow Leopard Messiah', the double-CD set features lyrics and entirely new artwork by Michael Cashmore. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
Playthings were an early vehicle for notable Christchurch musicians Jay Clarkson, Paul Kean, and David Toland. The band were kind of like the Patti Smith Group of the Christchurch music scene, as British punk and post punk took hold. Their music featured time changes and complex chord progressions. Toland played a home-made all metal drum kit, apparently very heavy.
They played from 1980 to February 1982 in the various line-ups and played predominantly if not exclusively Christchurch gigs.
The bands line-up was originally
Jay Clarkson - Vocals / bass (They Were Expendable), Janine Saundercock (Guitar / Vocals),
David Toland on Drums (Springloader, Chicane, Future Stupid) and
Nick Carter - Guitar.
The band recorded and self released a 7" single -'Sit Down Stand Up / Colours'- before Saundercock left the group.
Clarkson moved to playing Guitar and the band were joined by Paul Kean - Bass (Bats, Toy Love, Basketcases).
Nick Carter died from a brain tumour sustained after a number of falls incurred as a result of a strong drug habit.
The band self released another 7" single - 'Birds Eye View'-, and posthumously an album through Flying Nun in glorious pulse-pounding mono. [SOURCE: FAILSAFE RECORDS]
The Orb virtually invented the electronic genre known as ambient house, resurrecting slower, more soulful rhythms and providing a soundtrack for early-morning ravers once the clubs closed their doors. Frontman Dr. Alex Paterson's formula was quite simple: he slowed down the rhythms of classic Chicago house and added synth work and effects inspired by '70s ambient pioneers Brian Eno and Tangerine Dream. To make the whole a bit more listenable -as opposed to danceable- obscure vocal samples were looped, usually providing a theme for tracks that lacked singing. The group popularized the genre by appearing on the British chart show Top of the Pops and hitting number one in the U.K. with the 1992 album 'U.F.Orb'. The Orb managed to remain signed to Island Records throughout the '90s, even as they were releasing some of their most challenging work ('Pomme Fritz', 'Orbus Terrarum'). During the 2000s, the group became affiliated with German techno label Kompakt, home to solo recordings by Orb member Thomas Fehlmann; 'Okie Dokie It's the Orb on Kompakt', one of the group's most straightforward techno releases, appeared in 2005. The 2010s brought high-profile collaborations with two major influences: David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) and Lee "Scratch" Perry. The Orb returned to Kompakt for 2015's hip-hop-influenced 'Moonbuilding 2703 AD' and 2016's ambient release 'COW / Chill Out, World!'. Paterson and company's post-Kompakt output has included 2018's 'No Sounds Are Out of Bounds' and 2020's 'Abolition of the Royal Familia', outward-looking works with numerous collaborators.
Paterson had worked as a roadie for Killing Joke during the '80s, and he began to be influenced by the explosion of Chicago house music in England during the mid- to late '80s. He joined the A&R department of EG Records -the home of Brian Eno himself- and first recorded as The Orb with Jimi Cauty (who had played in the Killing Joke side project Brilliant and later gained fame as half of The KLF). The duo's first release as The Orb, a failed acid house anthem named "Tripping on Sunshine," appeared on the 1988 compilation album 'Eternity Project One'. In May 1989, The Orb released 'The Kiss EP', a four-tracker dedicated to -and heavily sampled from- New York's KISS-FM. Paterson had begun to DJ in London around this time, and Paul Oakenfold recruited him to man Land of Oz, the chillout room at his club Heaven.
Paterson's ambient sets incorporated a wide array of samples and sound effects, ranging from BBC nature recordings to NASA space broadcasts and special effects. With those samples mixed underneath the music of ambient pioneers such as Eno and Steve Hillage, his sets became popular alternatives for dancefloor victims and worn-out club kids. Hillage happened to be in the room one night when Paterson sampled his 'Rainbow Dome Musick' album. The two became friends and later recorded together, Hillage contributing guitar to The Orb's "Blue Room" single and Paterson working on the debut album by Hillage's System 7 project (or 777, as it is known in the States due to copyright problems with Apple).
The Orb's first actual foray into ambient house appeared in October 1989 on Paterson's WAU!/Mr. Modo label. The 22-minute single 'A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules from the Centre of the Ultraworld', which sampled ocean noises and Minnie Riperton's "Loving You," actually hit the U.K. charts that year. The single became popular with indie kids as well as club DJs, and earned Paterson and Cauty the chance to re-record the song in December 1989 for a John Peel session. (That version was released two years later, alongside their second session, on The Orb's 'Peel Sessions' album.)
In early 1990, Dave Stewart asked Paterson and Cauty to remix his single "Lilly Was Here"; the track hit the U.K.'s Top 20, and The Orb's remix work soon became just as popular as their original material. Erasure, Depeche Mode, Yello, Primal Scream, and more than 20 other bands eventually received the remix treatment before Paterson began to cut back his remixing work in 1992. (One of the only outside remixes of Orb material occurred around this time when breakbeat pioneers Coldcut remixed 'The Kiss EP' for a U.S.-only single.)
Paterson and Cauty had been recording an album during the turn of 1989-1990, but the two split in April 1990 -a result of Paterson's fear that The Orb had become known more as a KLF side project than an original act. Cauty stripped Paterson's contribution to the recordings and released the eponymous album -credited simply as Space- later that year. (Cauty released another ambient album that year: 'Chill Out', this time with his KLF partner Bill Drummond.) In the meantime, Paterson had been working with Youth (from Killing Joke) on the new track "Little Fluffy Clouds," with a melody incorporated from composer Steve Reich. The single appeared in November 1990, sparking the wrath of the sampled Rickie Lee Jones, whose dialogue with LeVar Burton -from the PBS children's program "Reading Rainbow"- was sampled for the chorus and title of the track; Big Life later settled out of court for an undisclosed sum. Though the single failed to place in the charts, its laid-back vibe made it a big hit on the dancefloor.
Youth's other commitments made it impossible for him to become a permanent member of The Orb, so Paterson decided to recruit Kris Weston (nicknamed Thrash for his punk/metal roots), a young studio engineer who worked on "Little Fluffy Clouds" and had recently left his previous band, Fortran 5. The Orb performed live for the first time just after the pairing, early in 1991 at London's Town & Country 2 with Hillage on guitar. The group's live dates soon became their forte, breaking down the boundaries that had previously separated electronic music from rock. An Orb show encompassed the best elements of performance hall and club, with colorful light shows and visuals, and a relaxed, positive groove rarely found in electronic circles.
All this was fine and good, but The Orb had not yet released an album, the vehicle that virtually all modern musicians use to make artistic statements. Finally, in April 1991, 'The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld' was released in England to considerable critical acclaim. Its popularity extended to the general public as well, pushing the double album into Great Britain's Top 30 LP charts. By mid-1991, The Orb had signed a deal to release 'Ultraworld' in the States, but were forced to edit the album down to one disc. (The full double-disc version was later released in the U.S. by Island.) Paterson and Thrash toured Europe during 1991, and compiled The Orb's first two 'Peel Sessions' that November. One month later, the duo released 'The Aubrey Mixes' as a Christmas special. The album, a remix compilation with reworkings by Hillage, Youth, and Cauty, was deleted on the day of its release, but still managed to place in the U.K. Top 50.
In June 1992, the new single "Blue Room" hit the British Top Ten. The longest single in chart history at just under 40 minutes, it earned The Orb a spot on Top of the Pops, where they ruminated over a chess game and waved at the camera while a three-minute edit of the single played in the background. Released in July, the album 'U.F.Orb' concentrated not on space but the beings who inhabit it. (The actual "Blue Room" is an installation where the U.S. government allegedly keeps the relics of a 1947 saucer crash outside Roswell, New Mexico.) It hit number one on the British album charts, and also did well with critics, who praised it and the duo's sold-out tour of England.
The non-album single "Assassin" -originally slated to feature vocals from Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie- followed in October, and it reached number 12 on the British charts. The U.S. release of 'U.F.Orb' appeared two months later, with initial copies including a second disc with the full version of "Blue Room" plus mixes of "Assassin." A limited-LP release of 'U.F.Orb' in England included a live recording of The Orb's appearance at London's Brixton Academy in 1991. (The date was later released on video with an added CD soundtrack as 'Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld: Patterns and Textures'.)
Though The Orb had released several hours of recordings and many remixes during their first three years of existence, the beginning of 1993 prompted a dry spell of over a year-and-a-half. The problem wasn't a lack of material; Paterson and Thrash continued to record, but Big Life Records had begun a controversial campaign to reissue several early singles. The Orb threatened to release no new material until the label promised to cease and desist, and negotiations stalled while the duo looked to opt out of their contract. In the meantime, Big Life spent 1993-1994 reissuing five CD singles and two other 12" releases, including "Little Fluffy Clouds" (which hit the British Top Ten), "Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain," and "Perpetual Dawn" (the second single from 'Ultraworld'). Paterson finally signed an international deal with Island in 1993 and released the stopgap 'Live 93' later that year. The double-disc set -which hit number 23 in the album charts- included highlights from Orb appearances in Europe and Japan, and featured another clever dig at Pink Floyd: the cover has a large stuffed sheep suspended over a power station, à la Floyd's 'Animals' cover.
The Orb's first studio release for Island appeared in June 1994. 'Pomme Fritz' (a "little album") was quite a departure from ambient house, the field that had since caught up with Paterson's revolution of the late '80s. The album has a schizophrenic quality that portrays the group caught between two worlds: the pastoral ambience of the first two albums and the harsher, almost industrial rhythms that The Orb were pushing forward. 'Pomme Fritz' made number six on the British charts, but critics hated it, charging that Paterson had finally disappeared up his own arse. They even compared him to Pink Floyd's own Syd Barrett, who masterminded the psychedelic classic 'Piper at the Gates of Dawn' but later slipped out of the band as the world's first -and most popular- acid casualty.
'Pomme Fritz' was also a watershed in that the role of Kris Weston had diminished greatly. Credited on 'Pomme Fritz' only as an engineer, Weston did appear with Paterson on the August 1994 side project FFWD, the collaboration between Robert Fripp, Orb members Paterson and Weston, and Orb contributor Thomas Fehlmann (hence the name: Fripp, Fehlmann, Weston, and Doctor). By early 1995, Weston finally left The Orb to devote time to his own projects. Before the duo separated, however, they teamed for The Orb's most famous live appearance: on a rave bill at Woodstock 2 with Orbital, Aphex Twin, and Deee-Lite.
Taking up the slack from Weston's departure was Thomas Fehlmann. The Orb had previously remixed a single from his Sun Electric project, and most of 'Pomme Fritz' was recorded at his Berlin studios. Finally, almost three years after 'U.F.Orb', the new and improved group released The Orb's third studio LP, 'Orbus Terrarum'. With a concept and a sound rooted solidly on terra firma, the album's dense rhythms and return to natural samples heralded a turn away from the cosmic fascination within ambient house -which had been nurtured in large part by 'Ultraworld' and 'U.F.Orb'. During 1995, Paterson and Fehlmann mounted an ambitious world tour. After the release of a double-disc remix compilation, The Orb returned to the great beyond with the spacy sounds of 1997's 'Orblivion'. The retrospective 'U.F.Off' followed in 1998, and though Paterson and company finished their fifth studio effort, 'Cydonia', soon after, Island delayed its release until the new millennium.
A shift in labels was in order, so 2004's 'Bicycles & Tricycles' found The Orb on Sanctuary. Working their next label change into the album title, 'Okie Dokie It's the Orb on Kompakt' appeared at the end of 2005, as did the first volume in the rarities compilation series 'Orbsessions', released by the Killing Joke-associated label Malicious Damage. 'The Dream', released in 2007 in England, featured a change of lineup; joining The Orb were Youth, last heard on the hit single "Little Fluffy Clouds," and Dreadzone's Tim Bran. The record appeared in 2008 on the American label Six Degrees. One year later, another volume in the 'Orbsessions' series appeared, a soundtrack recorded by Paterson and Thomas Fehlmann. (Although the film's title was "Plastic Planet", the record itself was titled 'Baghdad Batteries'.) Youth and Paterson collaborated again on The Orb's next proper album, 'Metallic Spheres', which also featured Pink Floyd's David Gilmour contributing guitar and lap steel to the album's two lengthy pieces.
The 2011 release 'C Batter C' featured a 17-minute Paterson/Fehlmann composition recorded for "Battersea Bunches", a short film featuring Super-8 Paterson family footage from 1956. Seven remixes of the track filled out the disc. The next Orb project, 2012's 'The Observer in the Star House', featured a starring role for seminal dub producer and longtime Orb influence Lee "Scratch" Perry, along with a remix of "Little Fluffy Clouds," dubbed "Golden Clouds." After they assembled a pair of box sets, 'History of the Future' and 'History of the Future, Pt. 2', Paterson and Fehlmann returned to Kompakt for 'Moonbuilding 2703 AD', released in 2015.
In 2016, The Orb celebrated the 25th anniversary of their classic debut full-length, 'Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld', by performing the album in its entirety at London venue Electric Brixton. The Orb continued to perform the album live during their subsequent U.K. tour, which also included material from their Kompakt-released 'COW / Chill Out, World!', described by the bandmembers as their most ambient release to date. That same year, they issued a series of short releases, including the 'Alpine EP' and the 'Sin in Space' series, which included a 'Moonbuilding' remix collection, an 'Alpine' "diskomiks," and four remixes of tracks from the 'COW' album.
Heading back into the studio in 2017, the duo decided that they wanted to move away from the relatively streamlined nature of the previous two albums. To that end, they invited a swathe of guest musicians to expand their palette, including Roger Eno, Guy Pratt, Hollie Cook, Jah Wobble, and the return of Youth, to name a few; the result was 2018's 'No Sounds Are Out of Bounds'. The ethos of utilizing guest artists continued into their next full-length project, 2020's 'Abolition of the Royal Familia', with the return of Steve Hillage and the addition of his partner, Miquette Giraudy. The record also saw Michael Rendell brought in as a co-writer. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Neo was a project that the Coventry musician Kevin Harrison did in cahoots with fellow electronic explorer Peter Every from Neophyte Records. As you can tell from the primitive drum heavy tone of the music, Neo surfaced in 1985 with the only 8 track cassette release 'Global Network', which echo the pulsing electronic rhythms of the Harrison's 'Fly' EP, and will find as much favour with those who sleep on the left side of disco as fans of cold wave. [SOURCE: DEEJAY.DE]
Mettle was one of the first bands in Ontario, Canada to front the electro/minimal scene in the city and also were a support act for OMD. Post punk new wave in the vein of Breeeding Ground, Ceramic Hello or Kinetic Ideals. features Rob Brent, who played guitar for The Demics. [SOURCE: MUSEUM OF CANADIAN MUSIC]
The fathers of grindcore, Napalm Death pushed the envelope of metal to new extremes of ear-splitting intensity, rejecting all notions of subtlety to forge a brand of sonic assault almost frightening in its merciless brutality. Formed in 1981, they trafficked in the usual heavy metal fare for the first few years of their existence, but by the mid-'80s they began to expand their horizons, incorporating elements of hardcore and thrash into the mix, culminating in the release of 1992's acclaimed 'Utopia Banished'. More influences crept in as the years progressed, with career-defining efforts like 'Utilitarian' (2012) and 'Apex Predator: Easy Meat' (2018) embracing crust-punk, noise-rock, and industrial and death metal, adding nuance to the group's eye-opening sociopolitical lyrical commentary.
Building their reputation on a series of incendiary radio sessions and live dates, Napalm Death set about recording their debut LP, 'Scum', issued in 1987 on the Earache label. A series of lineup changes during production resulted in the record's two sides each containing almost completely different rosters: while the first half featured guitarist Justin Broadrick and vocalist/bassist Nick Bullen, the flipside presented new vocalist Lee Dorrian, guitarist Bill Steer, and bassist Jim Whitely; only drummer Mick Harris played on every track. While largely ignored by the mainstream media, 'Scum' proved hugely influential throughout the global metal community; among Napalm Death's most public supporters was BBC Radio One DJ John Peel, who repeatedly played the track "You Suffer" before inviting the group to record a legendary September 1987 Peel Session introducing new bassist Shane Embury.
With 1988's 'From Enslavement to Obliteration', the band grew even more extreme, issuing some 54 total tracks, many of them clocking in at just a few seconds in length. (The compilation 'Grindcrusher' offered perhaps the ultimate distillation of the aesthetic by including a bonus split-single from Napalm Death and the Electro Hippies with each side lasting just one second; the shortest single ever.) More roster shifts followed, as Dorrian exited to form Cathedral and Steer jumped ship to found Carcass; with vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway (formerly of Benediction) and guitarists Jesse Pintado (ex-Terrorizer) and Mitch Harris (ex-Righteous Pigs), Napalm Death resurfaced with 1990's 'Harmony Corruption', a nod toward more conventional song structures and a less punishing
Mick Harris, the only remaining member from the unit's earliest lineups, exited Napalm Death in 1992 to mount an acclaimed ambient dub project named Scorn; he was replaced by drummer Danny Herrera for 'Utopia Banished', followed by a single covering the Dead Kennedys' "Nazi Punks Fuck Off." With 1994's 'Fear, Emptiness, Despair', Napalm Death earned some of the best critical notices of their career, and to the shock of many even found themselves in the Top Ten of the U.S. pop albums chart by virtue of their appearance on the soundtrack to the motion picture "Mortal Kombat". The 'Greed Killing' mini-album appeared in 1995 as a teaser for the following year's relatively accessible full-length 'Diatribes'. Greenway was subsequently fired in November 1996 and replaced by Phil Vane of Extreme Noise Terror; however, after recording a split EP with Coalesce, the band reconsidered, and Greenway re-joined in time for the 1997 album 'Inside the Torn Apart'.
Next was 1998's live release 'Bootlegged in Japan', trailed early the next year by the well-received 'Words from the Exit Wound', which proved to be their final album for Earache (from which they experienced an acrimonious split). The year 2000 saw the release of the covers EP 'Leaders Not Followers' in mid-summer. Napalm Death returned to their early grindcore roots to a degree with their next full-length, 'Enemy of the Music Business', which was issued in early 2001. Throughout the remainder of the decade, the band reliably stuck to its guns, releasing high-quality albums -including 'Order of the Leech', 'Smear Campaign', and 'Time Waits for No Slave'- at a rate of roughly one every other year. To ring in 30 years of punishing noise, the grind metal pioneers released their 15th album, 'Utilitarian', in 2012, followed by split singles with the Melvins and Insect Warfare in 2013. Touring and recording consumed much of 2014. The latter resulted in the release of 'Apex Predator: Easy Meat' in January of 2015. It took Napalm Death five years to produce their next record, marking their longest-ever gap between albums. 2020's 'Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism', inspired by the era's febrile socio-political climate, took aim at popular trends and fashions, as on the unrelenting single "Backlash Just Because." [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Formed by drummer Mark Edwards in August 1984 after the breakup of the Cleveland band Riot Architecture, My Dad Is Dead has remained his solo project -with occasional help from a revolving-door cast. Edwards learned to play guitar during late 1984, and played his first show the following year with a backing band consisting of a drum machine. He recorded his first LP, 'And He's Not Gonna Take It Anymore', at a friend's home studio, and released it in May 1986 on St. Valentine Records. After a lengthy tour supporting Modern English and then the Butthole Surfers, he released 'Peace, Love and Murder' in May 1987. Edwards signed a contract with Homestead Records early the following year, and released 'Let's Skip the Details' in May 1988. Soon after, he added the first bandmembers to My Dad Is Dead: bassist Jeff Curtis and drummer John McEntire (later to gain fame in Tortoise). 'The Best Defense', an album of material from the previous album's sessions, was released on Homestead in December 1988.
With McEntire gone on to Bastro and Curtis unwilling to tour, Edwards recruited the Prisonshake rhythm section -Chris Burgess on bass and Scott Pickering on drums- for a 1989 tour of Europe. The group's fifth album, a 1989 double LP titled 'The Taller You Are, the Shorter You Get', was its last for Homestead. With yet another lineup (this time guitarists Tim Gilbride and Doug Gillard plus Burgess on bass), My Dad Is Dead moved to Scat Records in April 1990 for the 'Shine' EP. The band's first album for Scat, 'Chopping Down the Family Tree', was released in October 1991. Over two years later, 'Out of Sight, Out of Mind' also appeared on Scat, credited to MDID. Edwards and company moved to Trance Syndicate the following year, and released 'For Richer, for Poorer' in 1995. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Mr. Bungle's sound and approach are a unique mix of the experimental, the abstract, and the absurd. Commencing in 1985 as a neck-snapping death metal outfit, the Northern Californians underwent a full sonic lobotomy in the '90s, operating under the influence of ska, heavy metal, disco, thrash, funk, and avant-garde jazz (often in the same song), and issuing a trio of acclaimed and idiosyncratic albums ('Mr. Bungle', 'Disco Volante', and 'California') before ceasing operations in 1999. Mr. Bungle reconvened in 2020 for a series of shows and released a re-recording of their 1986 demo 'The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny'.
It all began in 1985, in a small California town named Eureka. The group (bassist Trevor Dunn, drummer Danny Heifetz, alto saxophonist Theo Lengyel, tenor saxophonist/clarinetist Clinton McKinnon, vocalist Mike Patton, and guitarist Trey Spruance) met while in high school and took their moniker from an extremely corny children's educational film regarding bad habits (it was featured in a Pee Wee Herman HBO special back in the early '80s). The band's first demo, 'The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny', was recorded around this time, and soon others followed: 'Bowl of Chiley', 'Goddammit I Love America!', and 'OU818'. With each release, their sound became progressively more mutated, until musical boundaries began to melt (metal, funk, experimental, jazz, ska, techno, etc.).
Mike Patton landed the lead vocalist slot with Faith No More in 1988 (it was in fact a Mr. Bungle demo that got Patton the job), and instead of breaking up Mr. Bungle, Patton decided to keep both bands going simultaneously. Due to FNM's success (1989's 'The Real Thing'), Mr. Bungle was signed to Warner Bros., which released their self-titled debut in 1991 (with almost all the members going by obscure aliases). The band built a large and loyal cult following on the subsequent tour, as they performed in masks to hide their identities, and played unlikely covers during their set (Billy Squier's "The Stroke," "The Star Wars Theme," John Sebastian's "Welcome Back"). When the tour wrapped up in 1992, Patton returned to Faith No More while the rest of the group focused on side projects (Spruance on Faxed Head; Heifetz on Dieselhed and Zip Code Rapists; and Spruance, Dunn, and Heifetz on the Secret Chiefs 3); Spruance briefly joining Patton in FNM for the recording of 1995's 'King for a Day'.
It took Mr. Bungle four long years to follow up their debut with the superb 'Disco Volante' (1995). A long and extensive world tour followed, with the group widening their fan base. Mr. Bungle quickly regrouped in early 1997 to record an album of their eclectic cover songs, which was eventually put on hold before completion as Patton began a tour with Faith No More and the others returned to various side projects. The group reconvened in 1999 for the release of 'California' and split up after the following tour.
After decades spent working on myriad other projects, Mr. Bungle reunited in early 2020 to play a short series of shows, with Patton, Dunn, and Spruance joined by Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian and ex-Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo. This lineup returned to the studio to re-record songs from the band's demo tape. 'The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo' was issued in October of 2020. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Luxuria was a duo consisting of former Buzzcocks and Magazine singer/songwriter Howard Devoto and Noko. Devoto began working with the Liverpool musician a few years after the release of his solo album, 'Jerky Versions of the Dream'. The duo eventually released two albums on Beggars Banquet, which ranged from sparse acoustic accompaniment to involved dance beats. 'Unanswerable Lust' was released in 1988 to lukewarm reception, followed two years later by the improved 'Beast Box'. A number of singles were released off each record to little effect on the U.K. charts. Shortly after the duo split, a Japanese box set was issued, combining both CDs with a VHS containing videos for each song off of 'Beast Box'. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Over the course of his long career, Sonic Boom's unvarying desire to explore the beauty and power of repetition through hypnotic, sometimes abrasive sound made him a legendary figure. Whether utilizing guitars and drug imagery as part of the influential group Spacemen 3, digging into electronic noise and avant-garde sounds with the Experimental Audio Research collective, or fronting his vintage synth-driven pop unit Spectrum, his devotion to his aural ideals earned him an impressive following in the late '80s through the '90s. He turned his focus towards production and collaboration after that, working with important artists like Panda Bear and MGMT and those further underground like Cheval Sombre. In the late 2010s, he returned to making music, collaborating on an EP with No Joy in 2018 and two years later releasing the quintessentially hypnotic 'All Things Being Equal'.
While attending art college, Rugby, England native Pete Kember teamed with Jason Pierce to form Spacemen 3, recording a demo tape in 1986. After signing to Glass Records, the group recorded their debut LP, 'Sound of Confusion', for which Kember adopted the name Peter Gunn. By the time of their follow-up EP, 'Walkin' with Jesus', he had rechristened himself Sonic Boom, keeping the pseudonym for the duration of the band and beyond. In 1989, he issued an album under the Sonic Boom name, 'Spectrum'; then when Spacemen 3 broke up soon after, Kember recycled the Spectrum title as the name of his new band. Spectrum debuted with the 'Soul Kiss (Glide Divine)' LP in 1992, and released two more LPs ('Highs, Lows & Heavenly Blows' and 'Forever Alien') as the decade progressed. They also issued many singles and EPs, as well as collaborations with Silver Apples and Jessamine.
At the same time, Sonic Boom was also the driving force behind the avant-noise Experimental Audio Research project, a loose configuration of musicians including My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields and Techno Animal's Kevin Martin, among others. That group released many records over the last half of the '90s, and resurfaced for one album, 'Worn to a Shadow', in the mid-2000s, a time when Kember was more likely to be guesting or producing someone else rather than making music on his own.
During the 2000s, he worked with Füxa, The Warlocks, Magnétophone, Dean & Britta, Cheval Sombre, Sunray, and The Flowers of Hell, both as a performer and producer. His return from the fringes of the alternative scene occurred when MGMT hired him to produce their high-profile second album, 'Congratulations', in 2010. Afterwards, he continued working steadily, adding his hypnotic magic to records by TEEN, Cheval Sombre, Panda Bear, and Moon Duo, and collaborating on a heavily electronic 2018 EP with shoegaze revivalists No Joy. A couple years before that, he had begun working on a set of instrumentals done on modular synths. Despite receiving advice from his longtime friend Tim Gane of Stereolab fame that the songs were good enough to release, Kember shelved them. After a move to Portugal in 2018, he revisited the tracks and added vocals. This time he deemed it ready, and Carpark issued 'All Things Being Equal' in 2020. The typically hypnotic and uniquely sunny album featured collaborations with Panda Bear and Britta Phillips. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Kill Ugly Pop were a UK band that sounded like a post-punk version of The Cramps.
The first album is 'Gator Breath Riot!',
the second is 'Legendary Bigfoot'. They released another 12'', 'Purple Haze' on Fever records. 'Leatherface Gets Religion (The Story So Far…)',
a compilation album of their two first 12" on Fever records was released on Dead Mans Curve in 1986. [SOURCE: LAST.FM]
As the lead singer of The Smiths, arguably the most important indie band in Britain during the '80s, Morrissey's theatrical crooning and literate, poetic lyrics -filled with romantic angst, social alienation, and cutting wit- connected powerfully with a legion of similarly sensitive, disaffected youth. These fans turned The Smiths into stars in Britain, exerting tremendous pull over much of the country's guitar-based music for many years after their breakup. Even if the group remained underground cult artists in the States, they had a fan base that slowly, steadily grew larger over the years. Indeed, within a few years after Morrissey began his solo career with 'Viva Hate' (1988), his American cult had grown to the point where he became more popular in the U.S. than in his homeland, where he nonetheless remained a perennial headline maker in the music press. After a quiet period around the turn of the millennium, Morrissey launched a comeback in 2004 with 'You Are the Quarry', an album whose success proved that he was still one of the most intriguing figures in alternative rock.
Stephen Patrick Morrissey was born May 22, 1959, in Manchester, England; not surprisingly a shy, awkward youth, he became obsessed with music and film as a teenager and devoted his writing talents to penning a New York Dolls fanzine (he was the president of their U.K. fan club), as well as a tribute to James Dean and numerous opinionated letters to the weekly music paper Melody Maker. During the explosion of punk in the late '70s, Morrissey unsuccessfully auditioned for Slaughter & the Dogs and sang for a brief period with a band called The Nosebleeds. He met guitarist Johnny Marr in 1982 and the two began writing songs together, forging one of the most productive partnerships British pop had seen in quite some time. The Smiths' 1983 debut single, "Hand in Glove," a love song filled with oblique references to homosexuality, made them an underground sensation in the U.K. and as Morrissey attracted more attention, he demonstrated a flair for manipulating the media. His interviews were filled with blunt, unpredictable opinions and intentionally outrageous statements, and his notoriety wasn't hurt by his stage presence (he performed wearing a hearing aid with flowers sticking out of his back pockets) or his self-proclaimed celibacy in the wake of much speculation about his sexuality.
Possessed of a darkly cynical bent as a lyricist, he was often misinterpreted as advocating some of the more disturbing things he sang about, which only added to the furor surrounding the band. The Smiths' eponymous 1984 debut was a smash in the U.K., and in its wake, Morrissey began promoting his political views, heavily criticizing Margaret Thatcher, and advocating vegetarianism (hence the title of the follow-up LP, 'Meat Is Murder'). 'The Queen Is Dead' (1986) was acclaimed as a masterpiece, but friction between Morrissey and Marr was growing. Marr departed after 1987's 'Strangeways, Here We Come' and Morrissey broke up the rest of the band to begin a solo career.
Feeling betrayed by Marr's defection, Morrissey channeled his frustration into creating new material with producer Stephen Street. His first two solo singles, "Suedehead" and the gorgeous "Everyday Is Like Sunday," were significant British hits in 1988 and his first album, 'Viva Hate' (its title a reference to The Smiths' breakup), was commercially and critically well received. He released several more high-quality singles, including "The Last of the International Playboys" and "Interesting Drug," but spent an inordinate amount of time laboring on the follow-up album, issuing the stopgap compilation 'Bona Drag' in 1990. In the meantime, the Madchester fad was sweeping British indie music, and when the lackluster 'Kill Uncle' was finally released in 1991, it only magnified the disappointment. U.K. reviewers took Morrissey to task, suggesting that the record marked the end of his glory days and that he would never be able to match the songs he'd written in tandem with Marr.
A misperceived flirtation with British nationalism (not helped by a couple of seemingly racial caricatures in recent songs) tarnished his image even more in the U.K. press during 1992, this coming amid even more frequent reports of feuds with his managers, business associates, and ex-bandmates. All the controversy overshadowed the fact that 1992's Mick Ronson-produced 'Your Arsenal' was a smashing return to form; Morrissey used his new guitar tandem of Alain Whyte (who co-wrote much of the material) and Boz Boorer (formerly of rockabilly revivalists The Polecats) to full advantage in crafting a crunchy, glammed-up record. It easily ranked as the hardest rocking of his career. Meanwhile, over in the U.S., tickets for his upcoming tour were selling like hotcakes and he managed to sell out L.A.'s Hollywood Bowl even faster than The Beatles had.
His confidence renewed by his American success (to the point where he permanently moved to Los Angeles), Morrissey delivered an equally strong follow-up in 1994's calmer 'Vauxhall and I', which even got him his first Top 50 singles chart entry in the U.S. with the MTV-supported "The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get." A hit-and-miss compilation, 'The World of Morrissey', followed in 1995, after which he switched labels (from Sire to RCA) for the first time since The Smiths' debut album. Also issued in 1995 was the prog rock-informed 'Southpaw Grammar', which confounded many and perhaps prevented him from expanding his American audience past a now-sizable group of longtime listeners. In 1996, he moved to another new label, this time Island, and released 'Maladjusted' the following year. It failed to sell well outside of his most fanatical followers and his relationship with Island ended in 1998.
In the years that followed, Morrissey remained a massively popular touring attraction on the strength of his singular identity, despite the fact that he had yet to land another record deal. Finally, he signed his Attack label to Sanctuary, and released his first studio album in seven years, 2004's 'You Are the Quarry', featuring production by Jerry Finn (blink-182, Sum 41, and Green Day). The album's leadoff single, "Irish Blood, English Heart," garnered considerable press, radio, and music television attention, and established a comeback of sorts. The concert recording 'Live at Earls Court' followed one year later, as did the DVD concert 'Who Put the "M" in Manchester?', which saw a brief theatrical release.
His second full-length for Sanctuary, 'Ringleader of the Tormentors', was produced by Tony Visconti (T. Rex, David Bowie) and released in spring 2006. Recorded in Rome, the album also featured some orchestration by famed composer Ennio Morricone. Around this time, Morrissey's longtime guitarist and writing partner Alain Whyte left the band. Although Whyte continued to contribute songs for Morrissey, he was largely replaced on album and in live shows by guitarist Jesse Tobias.
In 2009, Morrissey released 'Years of Refusal', his first under Decca after label changes found Sanctuary being absorbed into the Universal Music Group (which owned Decca). Produced by Finn and once again showcasing guitarist Tobias, 'Years of Refusal' found Morrissey going for a more stripped-down, back-to-basics rock approach. Sadly, Finn suffered a cerebral hemorrhage just after wrapping production on the album. He fell into a coma and died just over a month later on August 21, 2008. Despite the tragedy surrounding it, 'Years of Refusal' was largely hailed as Morrissey's best album in years.
Over the next few years, Morrissey busied himself with rejigged reissues of his solo material, and various other compilations surfaced, including the 2009 B-sides collection 'Swords' and the 2011 set 'Very Best of Morrissey'; he also played live with semi-regularity. Early in the summer of 2012, he announced in an interview with JuiceOnline.com that he was tentatively planning to retire in 2014. Morrissey then spent much of 2012 and 2013 touring the world. For a time in 2013, he had a bout with bad health that saw him hospitalized first for an ulcer and then for pneumonia.
A film of a March 2013 show at L.A.'s Hollywood High School was released as 25Live that August, and was issued on DVD and Blu-ray before the end of the year. His autobiography -published by Penguin Classics that October- was well-received and became a number one best-seller in the U.K.
In January 2014, despite his earlier proclamation of retirement, Morrissey signed a new record deal, this time with Capitol. Six months later, he released his tenth studio album, 'World Peace Is None of Your Business', on Capitol's Harvest imprint. In promotion of the album, Morrissey shot several short films that he released online, in which he delivered spoken word versions of the title track as well as the singles "Istanbul," "Earth Is the Loneliest Planet," and "The Bullfighter Dies." By August 2014 Morrissey was once again without a label, having parted ways with Harvest. He also revealed that he'd undergone treatment for an undisclosed type of cancer. Nonetheless, he continued touring, wrapping up the year with a two-month stint in Europe.
In January 2015, following several live shows in the U.K., Morrissey appeared in a high-profile concert at New York's Madison Square Garden supported by Blondie. That March he released a fifth single from 'World Peace Is None of Your Business', the digital download "Kiss Me a Lot." Also in 2015, Morrissey announced the publication of his debut novel, "List of the Lost", for Penguin. In 2017 he returned with the 'Low in High School' LP; the album entered the British charts at five and the Billboard charts at 20. Two years later, Morrissey delivered 'California Son', a collection of covers that concentrated largely on folk-rock and pop tunes from the '60s. Returning to new material, the singer collaborated with R&B icon Thelma Houston on "Bobby, Don't You Think They Know?," the first single from his 2020 album, 'I Am Not a Dog on a Chain'. Released in March of 2020, 'I Am Not a Dog on a Chain' debuted at three in the U.K. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Javier Corcobado (Frankfurt, Germany, July 30, 1963) is a Spanish musician and writer.
Son of Spanish emigrants and raised in Madrid, during the eighties he began his career with groups such as 429 Engaños, with which he recorded a demo, Mar Otra Vez, recording his first albums, now cult material, followed by Demonios Tus Ojos, recording an album of the same name. This group was opening act for Sonic Youth, and later disbanded.
In 1989 he released his first solo album, 'Agrio Beso', a mix of experimentation and avant-garde and melodic songs. In that year he published his first collection of poems "Chatarra de Sangre y Cielo".
From 1991 to 1995 he released four albums with Corcobado y Los Chatarreros de Sangre y Cielo.
Between November 2007 and January 2009, he wrote his third book of poetry, "Cartas a una Revista Pornográfica Viuda". [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
