Active since the mid of the eighties, japanese musician Yutaka Tanaka released his works under the name S·Core. Early works are all cassette albums he put out on his own cassette label Afflict Records, many of those were recorded via mail collaboration with many sound artists from international underground scene, such as Stefano Biasin (Italy), Telepherique and Trigger B (Germany), Merzbow (Japan), Al Margolis/If, Bwana (USA), Rafael Flores (Spain). [SOURCE: DISCOGS]
G.I.S.M. were notorious for their confrontational attitude and violent live performances; frontman Sakevi was known for being particularly dangerous and unpredictable during live shows. Sakevi's live antics include running into the crowd with a chainsaw, attacking front rows with a lit flamethrower, throwing fireworks at the crowd, beating random concertgoers with a club, threatening the audience with a loaded revolver, and firing gun shots on stage. Early shows of the band included very violent visual media such as footage from Vietnam war and vivisection videos. Sakevi has also done time in prison for acts of violence unrelated to the band; one reported incident involved Sakevi attacking a salaryman in the Tokyo subway for staring at him, and he also allegedly stabbed a man for wearing a bootleg G.I.S.M. shirt. Sakevi was also known for attacking fans and especially journalists and photographers who tried to approach him.
The band split up in 2002 due to the death of founding guitarist Randy Uchida; but reunited for Roadburn 2016 at the request of Cathedral vocalist and longtime friend of the band Lee Dorrian, who curated the event. Surprisingly, there were no violent incidents at the show and Sakevi was reportedly very friendly and even took numerous photos with the fans. This Roadburn event was the first G.I.S.M. show after a 13-year hiatus, along with being their very first show outside of Japan in their 35-year history. It is unknown if the band are still active or if there are plans for other reunion shows as there have been no official statements since the Roadburn event.
The band are also noted for their secretive approach and DIY ethics, releasing their albums in limited quantities through their own label Beast Arts. Uchida and Sakevi both made collage art and hadled the artwork for the band; Sakevi also handled production and mixing.Moreover, he made a cameo appearance in the Japanese film "Robinson's Garden" in which he is shown beating up a man for teaching spirituality to children.
G.I.S.M. stands for various things: "Grubby Incest Stripper Mastitis", "God in the Schizoid Mind", "Gay Individual Social Mean", "Genocide Infanticide Suicide Menticide", "Gnostic Idiosyncrasy Sonic Militant", "Guerrilla Incendiary Sabotage Mutineer", "General Imperialism Social Murder", "Gravity Impel Slaying Machine", "Get Incinerated Sorrow Mass". G.I.S.M. appeared on several Japanese hardcore punk samplers from 1982 til 1984 and since original G.I.S.M. releases are limited, countless bootlegs appeared and some of them are rarities too.
Sakevi released a solo EP, named 'The War', on Beast Arts in 2004 under the name S.K.V. (short for: "Swastika Kozmic Victorz"). He also has his own clothing label, named stLTH®. He personally designs all artwork for his brand. He also designed the sleeve for the 'Outsider' compilation LP, released in 1982. In 2006, Sakevi designed the artwork for hardcore band World Burns To Death's new album entitled 'Totalitarian Sodomy'. [SOURCE: THE METAL ARCHIVES]
New York noise rockers Loudspeaker combined the bleak experimentalism of bands like The Jesus Lizard, Swans, and Unsane with the garagey blues-punk of outfits like Laughing Hyenas, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and Royal Trux. The original Loudspeaker lineup featured two ex-members of Crucifix -guitarist/singer Matt Borruso and drummer Chris Douglas- and two ex-members of Boss Hog in guitarist Kurt Wolf (also of Pussy Galore) and bassist Jens Jürgensen (also of Swans). The group debuted in 1987 with a 12" EPfor One Little Indian. Jürgensen subsequently departed, and was replaced by Charles Hanson. Their first full-length album, 'Supernatural', appeared in 1992 on the Patois/Cargo label. At this point, their avant noise leanings had yet to give way to the bluesier style -complete with slide guitar- of later releases. That evolution started with another lineup change, which found Borruso trading in the rest of the band for a new power-trio format, with a rhythm section of bassist Christian Bongers and drummer Martin Kob. This version of Loudspeaker recorded the band's second album, 'Rubberneckers vs. Tailgaters', for Sympathy for the Record Industry in 1995. Their third and final album, 1996's 'Re-Vertebrate' (cut for Another Planet)' was their clearest fusion of noise rock and scuzzy blues, featuring Borruso on organ as well as guitar. Kurt Wolf went on to play with Emma Peel. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Ban on appearances and media hype pursued the short-lived Swiss punk/power pop outfit Kraft Durch Freude (1979-80). Rudi Dietrich embellished his Beatles-influenced pop consciousness with a particularly shocking punk habitus. [SOURCE: DEFINITIV]
John the Postman (real name Jonathan Ormrod) was an English punk rock singer from Manchester. Among his various jobs, the best known was that of a postman, hence the nickname. Jon was a postman in Manchester in the 1970s and after many years travelling and in various other jobs he is once again working for the post office in Manchester. One of the attendees at the first Sex Pistols gig at the Lesser Free Trade Hall, he has been described as "a committed and omnipresent figure on the punk and post-punk scene in Manchester", and he became known for his eccentric behaviour at many local rock gigs during the late 1970s, including those of acts such as Joy Division and The Fall. He initially became known for waiting until headline bands had finished their set (sometimes before they had finished) before mounting the stage in a drunken state, grabbing the microphone, and performing his own versions of rock 'n' roll classics such as "Louie Louie". The first time he did this was at a Buzzcocks concert at the Band on the Wall venue on 2 May 1977.
He attracted a cult following and became a local celebrity in Manchester, playing his first official gig on 29 May 1977 in support of Warsaw (later renamed Joy Division). After a handful of solo performances, he was joined by local musicians, forming a band and becoming a regular support act, and when a special concert was held to mark the last night of Manchester's Electric Circus venue (captured on the Virgin Records album 'Short Circuit: Live at the Electric Circus'), with a bill that included Joy Division, The Fall, Steel Pulse, and John Cooper Clarke, he closed proceedings by performing "Louie Louie" backed by Buzzcocks, with an introduction from Pete Shelley.
He released two albums, 'John the Postman's Puerile' (which was the first record to feature Mark E. Smith, who introduced "Louie Louie"; A version of the song by The Fall with John on vocals appears on The Fall's 'Live 1977' album) and 'John the Postman's Psychedelic Rock 'N' Roll 5 Skinners Steppin' Out of Holts' Brewery', both released on Dave Bentley's Bent Records. The first featured an extended version of "Louie Louie", which was described by Stewart Home in his book "Cranked Up Really High: Genre Theory and Punk Rock" as taking "the amateurism of the Kingsmen to its logical conclusion with grossly incompetent musicianship and a drummer who seems to be experiencing extreme difficulty simply keeping time," while the second included a similar treatment of Van Morrison's "Gloria". Both albums were reissued on a single CD by Overground Records in 1998. A further recording session known as 'John the Postman's Legendary Lost Session' was never released other than on a bootleg, although two songs turned up on a long-unavailable compilation LP entitled 'The Disparate Cognoscenti' released on The Fall's now-defunct Cog Sinister label, which John helped to run (along with The Fall's fanclub), while studying for a degree in Politics & History at Salford University. After he lost his job with the GPO, John travelled around Europe and spent five years living in San Francisco, before returning to Manchester. John's body was discovered at his home on 26 July 2015 - he had apparently been dead for 3 days - from a burst mitral valve caused by an infection. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
Iko was a minimal/synth/wave outfit from Canada. The most notable release by Iko is their LP simply titled '83', which was released on a small Canadian disco label called Manhattan-Formula. It is a common mistake that the group’s name is “Iko ‘83”, however, it is just Iko. Not much is known about the group due to little information in their record sleeves and little to no traces of information about the label they released on. [SOURCE: MINIMAL WAVE RECORDS]
'Heartache' is the only LP from Hambi & the Dance, though a handful of singles were pulled from the record. Two singles followed, the former exclusive and the latter pulled from a second LP, which was released just as Hambi. There were quite a few big names involved in this project over the years, including ex-Adam & the Ants drummer Chris Hughes, second Frankie Goes to Hollywood vocalist Paul Rutherford, and even The Mission / Sisters of Mercy’s own Wayne Hussey (who must have been an early member, as there aren’t any credits on their recorded output). Vocalist Hambi Haralambous previously worked with other members of this band in Tontrix, also notable for featuring a pre-A Flock of Seagulls’ Mike Score. [SOURCE: SYSTEMS OF ROMANCE]
The Games truly were visionaries and pioneers. They never got the credit they deserved because they were not in the right place at the right time and lacked the contacts good management could have provided. However sharp eyed local musicians such as Andy McCluskey from OMD and Wayne Hussey from The Mission understood their potential. A must for all synth-pop enthusiasts and lovers of quality pop anthems. [SOURCE: CLONE.NL]
The Edsel Auctioneer were a band formed in Leeds in 1988 by Ashley Horner (guitar/ vocals), Phil Pettler (bass/ vocals), Aidan Winterburn (vocals, guitar) and Chris Cooper (drums). They were named after the ill-fated Ford automobile whose front grille was supposed to have resembled a woman's pudenda. Best friends with Pale Saints, they lived on the same street in Leeds, Harold Avenue (which spawned the so-called 'Voice of the Harolds').
In early 1988 they recorded a number of songs for a small independent record label in Glasgow but this never got released. Instead the songs found their way to BBC Radio 1 DJ, John Peel, who described in Offbeat magazine the moment he heard the cassette he drove off the A12 to Suffolk in shock. Peel subsequently invited the band into Maida Vale to do a session. They recorded four songs ("Brickwall Dawn", "Blind Hurricane", "Between Two Crimes" and "Place In the Sun") and it was broadcast in late 1988, and again in 1989. On the back of this they signed to Decoy Records, a sub-division of Rhythm King Records that also was the home of Mega City Four. They recorded their first single 'Our New Skin / Strung' in Camden with Iain Burgess and followed this with EP 'Gutted'. These first two releases were collected as a mini-album, 'Voice of the Harolds'. The music has often been classified as something like Dinosaur Jr., Hüsker Dü and My Bloody Valentine, although there were also traces of The Byrds, The Monkees and sixties garage bands as well as The Go-Betweens and Pixies.
At this time, they were moderately successful in the UK, supporting Teenage Fanclub, Ned's Atomic Dustbin, Senseless Things, The Telescopes, Buffalo Tom, Silverfish, The Lemonheads and The Wedding Present. They were televised on Transmission, an early morning ITV show and Snub TV on BBC Two where Aidan Winterburn the lead singer can be seen attempting to stop security beating up his brother in the crowd. Chris Cooper left in 1992 to join Pale Saints full-time (he had been in both groups at the same time) and Tris Williams joined the band as replacement.
Edsel Auctioneer recorded their first proper album 'Simmer' with Chris Nagle (who had produced The Charlatans) in Edinburgh and Strawberry Studios in Stockport in late 1990. The record label had financial problems, and the album was not released for nearly a year, by which time a lot of momentum had dissipated. The album spawned a series of singles including 'Starfish' (which included a cover of Madonna's "Borderline") and 'Undertow' in 1992 and 1993. The label subsequently folded and the group were forced to look for another label. Alias Records (home to Archers of Loaf and Yo La Tengo) came to the rescue in 1993 after they played the CMJ festival in New York and toured the US. Their second album 'The Good Time Music Of...' was recorded in Huddersfield in 1994 by Steve Whitfield (engineer of The Cure) and released by Alias in 1995. The album spawned one single "Summer Hit", an atypically breezy bubblegum pop song with Meriel Barham from Pale Saints singing back-up. The album also had a guest spot from Paul Yeadon from Bivouac. The album was not commercially successful, and the band broke up in late 1995 with various kinds of job and family obligations taking over. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
