Neonates – Gridlock
Order a copy here, and more info here.
Endless thanks to Mary for sending me the tape!
12 Jul 2010
Neonates
Neonates are a new band from Los Ángeles, consisting of Mary, Gwendolyn and Max. They play refreshing and catchy songs, and have just released a split tape with Pussy Patrol on Clan Destine Records.
Neonates – Gridlock
Order a copy here, and more info here.
Endless thanks to Mary for sending me the tape!
Neonates – Gridlock
Order a copy here, and more info here.
Endless thanks to Mary for sending me the tape!
Mr Epp & The Calculations
…or the worst band in the world.
Mr Epp & The Calculations – Live @ the Langston Hughes Cultural Center (1983)
More info here.
Mr Epp & The Calculations – Live @ the Langston Hughes Cultural Center (1983)
More info here.
18 Jun 2010
How minimal can you get? #25
The Door and the Window – Detailed Twang LP
“Initially inspired by the first wave of industrial bands and the ethos of DIY pioneers like the Desperate Bicycles and Scritti Politti, Nag and Bendle played their first gig and recorded their first single sometime before they bothered to rehearse. Playing with an ever-changing lineup TDATW became first gradually rhythmic and then melodic. Mark Perry became a third permanent member. Unhappy to remain in one musical ghetto, they inhabited several – playing gigs with post punks and ska bands, playing free tours with idealist hippies and gradually becoming deeply involved with the London Musicians Collective. They co-produced a magazine about the politics of record production, hosted the seminal “Jazz Punk Bonanza” festivals of 1980, ’82 and ’86 and ran the weirdly eclectic sprouts conspiracy Cabaret Club. Nag and Bendle also played in The 49 Americans and The Liberated Sound Octet, Nag played with Mark Perry and Karl Blake in The Reflections and Bendle with The Casual Labourers and The Late Music Group.”
“Having faithfully followed D.I.Y.'s minimum prescriptions for musicianship (none, initially: they learnt as they went), production values (ditto), and packaging (blank labels with stickers, hand-folded sleeves, thank-you credits listing just themselves), Nag and Bendle took it all one step further by abandoning all pretext of melody. (Their lyrics remained enjoyable but conventionally witty/Marxist/anti-rockist.) After two resolutely unhummable EPs on their NB label (for 'Nag & Bendle'), The Door and the Window's glorious din had annoyed and enraged much the press and large segments of the DIY 'establishment' as well… but it was pure aural catnip for anti-pop icon Mark Perry (Sniffin Glue/ATV) who promptly recorded two similarly tune-free 45s for NB –and modestly accepted a position as The Door and the Window's drummer. This line-up recorded TDATW's landmark LP, Detailed Twang.” Chuck Warner (Hyped to Death)
The Door and the Window – Part Time Punks
Get it here, here or here.
“Initially inspired by the first wave of industrial bands and the ethos of DIY pioneers like the Desperate Bicycles and Scritti Politti, Nag and Bendle played their first gig and recorded their first single sometime before they bothered to rehearse. Playing with an ever-changing lineup TDATW became first gradually rhythmic and then melodic. Mark Perry became a third permanent member. Unhappy to remain in one musical ghetto, they inhabited several – playing gigs with post punks and ska bands, playing free tours with idealist hippies and gradually becoming deeply involved with the London Musicians Collective. They co-produced a magazine about the politics of record production, hosted the seminal “Jazz Punk Bonanza” festivals of 1980, ’82 and ’86 and ran the weirdly eclectic sprouts conspiracy Cabaret Club. Nag and Bendle also played in The 49 Americans and The Liberated Sound Octet, Nag played with Mark Perry and Karl Blake in The Reflections and Bendle with The Casual Labourers and The Late Music Group.”
Nag, The Door & Bendle, The Window
“Having faithfully followed D.I.Y.'s minimum prescriptions for musicianship (none, initially: they learnt as they went), production values (ditto), and packaging (blank labels with stickers, hand-folded sleeves, thank-you credits listing just themselves), Nag and Bendle took it all one step further by abandoning all pretext of melody. (Their lyrics remained enjoyable but conventionally witty/Marxist/anti-rockist.) After two resolutely unhummable EPs on their NB label (for 'Nag & Bendle'), The Door and the Window's glorious din had annoyed and enraged much the press and large segments of the DIY 'establishment' as well… but it was pure aural catnip for anti-pop icon Mark Perry (Sniffin Glue/ATV) who promptly recorded two similarly tune-free 45s for NB –and modestly accepted a position as The Door and the Window's drummer. This line-up recorded TDATW's landmark LP, Detailed Twang.” Chuck Warner (Hyped to Death)
The Door and the Window – Part Time Punks
Get it here, here or here.
14 Jun 2010
How minimal can you get? #24
The Tom & Marty Band – Afraid to go to sleep CS
“The largest concentrations of experimental bands (on vinyl, at least) in the U.S. centered in greater Los Angeles, and along a narrow strip running from Baltimore to Richmond, Virginia: arty electronic, experimental or just "difficult" music found an unusual level of acceptance in the southern Mid-Atlantic. The Artifacts label scene in Richmond, Virginia tended to be more jazzy/classical and "serious," while the northern end of the scene (which sometimes unselfconsciously referred to itself as "Balto-weird") tended to be more clever and artwavy. The Tom & Marty Band was a studio-only gig by two central figures in the Richmond scene: Tom Compagnoli and Marty McCavitt. They produced a ton of stuff on Artifact, and Marty played in Idio Savant, Trans-Idio, Glad Corp and House of Freaks, as well as on much of LaDonna Smith's more high-brow stuff.” Chuck Warner, Hyped to Death
“The Tom & Marty Band is composed of Tom Campagnoli & Martin McCavitt. These two met many years ago while they were both in high school in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. Tom and Marty have been involved in many artistic endeavors over the years, but Marty is the real musician of the group while Tom writes most of the lyrics. Inspired by space, science, myth, love, nature, their children, their childhoods, and the world and sounds around them, The Tom & Marty Band doesn't take itself too seriously and do appreciate a good (or bad) joke now and then.”
“Formed in 1980 the Tom & Marty Band was known for its unusual instrumentation and unique lyrics – often being referred to as "Electronic Folk Music." The Band played into the early 1980s when the Band took a hiatus only to reappear in the year 2001 with new instruments and new songs. They were known as the Band that would not go away, and true to form they are back. Only time will tell what really will happen.”
“We heard Chrome and Throbbing Gristle and thought they were pop bands...” Marty
The Tom & Marty Band – Havin' A Canipshun
Get it here and visit their website here.
“The largest concentrations of experimental bands (on vinyl, at least) in the U.S. centered in greater Los Angeles, and along a narrow strip running from Baltimore to Richmond, Virginia: arty electronic, experimental or just "difficult" music found an unusual level of acceptance in the southern Mid-Atlantic. The Artifacts label scene in Richmond, Virginia tended to be more jazzy/classical and "serious," while the northern end of the scene (which sometimes unselfconsciously referred to itself as "Balto-weird") tended to be more clever and artwavy. The Tom & Marty Band was a studio-only gig by two central figures in the Richmond scene: Tom Compagnoli and Marty McCavitt. They produced a ton of stuff on Artifact, and Marty played in Idio Savant, Trans-Idio, Glad Corp and House of Freaks, as well as on much of LaDonna Smith's more high-brow stuff.” Chuck Warner, Hyped to Death
Tom in the recording studio, 1981
“The Tom & Marty Band is composed of Tom Campagnoli & Martin McCavitt. These two met many years ago while they were both in high school in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. Tom and Marty have been involved in many artistic endeavors over the years, but Marty is the real musician of the group while Tom writes most of the lyrics. Inspired by space, science, myth, love, nature, their children, their childhoods, and the world and sounds around them, The Tom & Marty Band doesn't take itself too seriously and do appreciate a good (or bad) joke now and then.”
Marty in the recording studio, 1981
“Formed in 1980 the Tom & Marty Band was known for its unusual instrumentation and unique lyrics – often being referred to as "Electronic Folk Music." The Band played into the early 1980s when the Band took a hiatus only to reappear in the year 2001 with new instruments and new songs. They were known as the Band that would not go away, and true to form they are back. Only time will tell what really will happen.”
The Tom & Marty Band: The Band That Wouldn't Go Away!
“We heard Chrome and Throbbing Gristle and thought they were pop bands...” Marty
The Tom & Marty Band – Havin' A Canipshun
Get it here and visit their website here.
How minimal can you get? #23
Ut – Ut EP
“Notes and chords collide as if the instruments were all talking at once, creating one unvarying tone. They sound undisciplined, yet they are bound together in taut concentration. Daring to experiment, they occasionally grope about clumsily. They are a promising, sometimes awkward, Punkish debutant band, ready to blossom.” Doris Keily, New York Rocker
“None of us had been programmed in rock licks or the correct way of doing things… so we didn't think or act with any sense of restraint. Weird tunings, weird positions – everything was permissible with us. We didn't have to make this leap because we didn't see the walls.” Jacqui Ham
“We decided right away to not stick to a single instrument each, which meant changing [between songs]. We got a lot of flak about how impractical it was. But it kept us in the mode of constantly experimenting without getting into ruts on any one instrument.” Sally Young
“We weren't easy to place – we fucked around too much for the art scene, we were too raw and dissonant for the post Punk norm, and we didn't conform to anything they could conceive of.” Jacqui Ham
UT – New colour
Get it here.
Excerpts taken from the No Wave book.
“Notes and chords collide as if the instruments were all talking at once, creating one unvarying tone. They sound undisciplined, yet they are bound together in taut concentration. Daring to experiment, they occasionally grope about clumsily. They are a promising, sometimes awkward, Punkish debutant band, ready to blossom.” Doris Keily, New York Rocker
UT, No Wave's über-non-conformists.
From left to right: Sally Young, Jacqui Ham and Nina Canal.
“None of us had been programmed in rock licks or the correct way of doing things… so we didn't think or act with any sense of restraint. Weird tunings, weird positions – everything was permissible with us. We didn't have to make this leap because we didn't see the walls.” Jacqui Ham
“We decided right away to not stick to a single instrument each, which meant changing [between songs]. We got a lot of flak about how impractical it was. But it kept us in the mode of constantly experimenting without getting into ruts on any one instrument.” Sally Young
“We weren't easy to place – we fucked around too much for the art scene, we were too raw and dissonant for the post Punk norm, and we didn't conform to anything they could conceive of.” Jacqui Ham
UT – New colour
Get it here.
Excerpts taken from the No Wave book.
6 Jun 2010
How minimal can you get? #22
OH-OK – Wow Mini Album EP
Jason Gross: What kind of band did you want Oh OK to be?
Linda Hopper: No guitars. When we were talking about it originally, I was going to play guitar but then it just came to be bass, drums and singing. We actually did things like play on bent saws and baby toys and things like that. It was noisy, it was very pop. But at the same time, it was very weird. I don't think we said 'let's make it weird.' Maybe it had something to do with being in art school. In that first term, ideas just hatch and grow and you try. We did tons of different things. I remember that was when Casio (keyboards) first came out. We were always trying to make a song with a Casio but we never did.
Jason Gross: In the original band you had, there was no guitar. That was pretty unique.
Lynda Stipe: Hopper was going to play around with it but it was working out fine without it. Actually, even now all my bands tend to be a little bottom-heavy. Now, I'm on cello and then there's the bass. Double basses were always really cool. We really didn't care much (about not having a guitar) but we got a lot of slack from soundmen. First, we were girls and I played the bass like a girl, barely hitting the thing. (laughs) So they were like 'Where's the guitar? That's it, huh?' Oh well.
Read the Linda Hopper and Lynda Stipe interviews here and here.
OH-OK – Lilting
Jason Gross: What kind of band did you want Oh OK to be?
Linda Hopper: No guitars. When we were talking about it originally, I was going to play guitar but then it just came to be bass, drums and singing. We actually did things like play on bent saws and baby toys and things like that. It was noisy, it was very pop. But at the same time, it was very weird. I don't think we said 'let's make it weird.' Maybe it had something to do with being in art school. In that first term, ideas just hatch and grow and you try. We did tons of different things. I remember that was when Casio (keyboards) first came out. We were always trying to make a song with a Casio but we never did.
From left to right: Lynda Stipe, Linda Hopper and David Pierce
Jason Gross: In the original band you had, there was no guitar. That was pretty unique.
Lynda Stipe: Hopper was going to play around with it but it was working out fine without it. Actually, even now all my bands tend to be a little bottom-heavy. Now, I'm on cello and then there's the bass. Double basses were always really cool. We really didn't care much (about not having a guitar) but we got a lot of slack from soundmen. First, we were girls and I played the bass like a girl, barely hitting the thing. (laughs) So they were like 'Where's the guitar? That's it, huh?' Oh well.
Read the Linda Hopper and Lynda Stipe interviews here and here.
OH-OK – Lilting
15 May 2010
Maestros And Dipsos
“Dual female vocals weren't heard much outside of folk circles and so the sound of Debbie and Ashley's close harmonies was bound to be memorable. However, the band were always a little tentative, seemingly a bit uncomfortable with themselves and each other, especially on stage. Their strong point will always be the direct, confessional lyrics which made a marvellous change from the bluster that other bands produced. In songs like Inertia and the gorgeous Backslide, simple guitar and drums, strong bass, floating melodies and emotional text combine perfectly.” No Night Sweats
Discovered this lovely band thanks to the Detailed Twang post back in the day, and since then, I've been wanting to hear more stuff by them. Recently, (thanks again for this, Camille!) I was lucky to know there are more Maestros and Dipsos songs floating around the internet. So, thought it would be nice to spread the word.
Maestros and Dipsos – Sex and Pelt
Get it here.
Discovered this lovely band thanks to the Detailed Twang post back in the day, and since then, I've been wanting to hear more stuff by them. Recently, (thanks again for this, Camille!) I was lucky to know there are more Maestros and Dipsos songs floating around the internet. So, thought it would be nice to spread the word.
Maestros and Dipsos – Sex and Pelt
Get it here.
Support the scene and stand united!
Nah, just kidding… Here's an anti-Hardcore and Straight Edge parody post.
“You know me – there's nothing I like less than intolerant people, especially conservative Punks. Originally, every band sounded totally different. Nowadays it's been put into all these narrow parameters. A band picks a style, plays in nothing but that style, and puts the intelligent members of their audience to sleep. (…) in terms of independence and freedom quickly became such a formula and book of rules – how to dress, to sound, to act – it wasn't fun anymore. It was over and it was time to do something new.” Jello Biafra
“Most things needs criticism now and then, like most other subcultures in western society, punk has its own conformism which must be made fun of or even ridiculed if we are to be free individuals. Tons of kids with the right T-shirt or haircut doesn't mean much. Although it's fun to dress like your peers but differently from your parents. When I was in high school I was a hippy and dressed like others in my group. In the early 80's I still had long hair and punkers and new wavers will sneer at me. Now in the late 80's it's fashionable to have long hair again (in the punk world, not in mainstream society). I guess a lot of Bob’s lyrics were saying that we all look a certain way, but what's inside? What's your attitude? Punk and other rebellious movements have their silly sides and we attacked them.” Duff, Th’ Inbred [Read the full article here.]
“I thought bands who played straight-ahead Hardcore music missed the whole point. Playing Hardcore became like being in a Rockabilly band, aping a style that happened years ago. You're not creating anything original at all. The ritual became retarded.” King Koffee
“I had been listening to people sing about subjects as 'important' as scene unity, and beer drinking, and not drinking beer, and fighting each other, and friendship and vegetarianism. That shit made no sense to me. Why would I expend energy, time, and effort getting a band together to stand on a stage in front of 300 straight edge kids and say, 'This song is about straight edge' just to get a huge applause and a bunch of people jumping on stage to sing along? Nick and I wrote the lyrics and we wanted to have people read them and think. That's it, just think. Think about the shit going on around them. Think about the fact that all of this shit is happening and they 'Remain Sedate' because it is easier to just go see a band that tells them they are doing the right thing and everything will be okay.” Charles Maggio
Crucial Youth – Crucial Youth
Get it here.
Straight Youth – Positive Stand
Get it here.
Grudge – Cap'n Straightedge
Get it here.
Pleased Youth – I'd Rather Be An Asshole
Cyanamid – Support
Get it here.
Th'Inbred – Positive Song
Get it here.
“You know me – there's nothing I like less than intolerant people, especially conservative Punks. Originally, every band sounded totally different. Nowadays it's been put into all these narrow parameters. A band picks a style, plays in nothing but that style, and puts the intelligent members of their audience to sleep. (…) in terms of independence and freedom quickly became such a formula and book of rules – how to dress, to sound, to act – it wasn't fun anymore. It was over and it was time to do something new.” Jello Biafra
“Most things needs criticism now and then, like most other subcultures in western society, punk has its own conformism which must be made fun of or even ridiculed if we are to be free individuals. Tons of kids with the right T-shirt or haircut doesn't mean much. Although it's fun to dress like your peers but differently from your parents. When I was in high school I was a hippy and dressed like others in my group. In the early 80's I still had long hair and punkers and new wavers will sneer at me. Now in the late 80's it's fashionable to have long hair again (in the punk world, not in mainstream society). I guess a lot of Bob’s lyrics were saying that we all look a certain way, but what's inside? What's your attitude? Punk and other rebellious movements have their silly sides and we attacked them.” Duff, Th’ Inbred [Read the full article here.]
“I thought bands who played straight-ahead Hardcore music missed the whole point. Playing Hardcore became like being in a Rockabilly band, aping a style that happened years ago. You're not creating anything original at all. The ritual became retarded.” King Koffee
Straight Edge glossary
“I had been listening to people sing about subjects as 'important' as scene unity, and beer drinking, and not drinking beer, and fighting each other, and friendship and vegetarianism. That shit made no sense to me. Why would I expend energy, time, and effort getting a band together to stand on a stage in front of 300 straight edge kids and say, 'This song is about straight edge' just to get a huge applause and a bunch of people jumping on stage to sing along? Nick and I wrote the lyrics and we wanted to have people read them and think. That's it, just think. Think about the shit going on around them. Think about the fact that all of this shit is happening and they 'Remain Sedate' because it is easier to just go see a band that tells them they are doing the right thing and everything will be okay.” Charles Maggio
Crucial Youth – Crucial Youth
Get it here.
Straight Youth – Positive Stand
Get it here.
Grudge – Cap'n Straightedge
Get it here.
Pleased Youth – I'd Rather Be An Asshole
Cyanamid – Support
Get it here.
Th'Inbred – Positive Song
Get it here.
9 May 2010
Zwitschermaschine
“Punk for me was the cracking open of form. At the Dresden Art School where I studied, the professors were preparing for re-tirement and didn't have a clue about what was going on in our lives. So it wasn't surprising that Ralf Kerbach and me cranked up the amplifier at his studio (that reeked of turpentine) one morning to experience what we demanded from life – a thrill!” Cornelia Schleime
“Our aim was to irritate and to drift off into a world no longer interested in understanding. We didn't want to be there for anyone – apart from ourselves. Each singer wrote their own lyrics – reflecting our lack of expectations in a bizarre and melancholic manner.” Cornelia Schleime
“When I look back on Punk, the images hit me like the blows of an axe – memories of pogo and the soles of my feet cut by glass. When I fell asleep with black feet I never realized the state I was in. I wore a gas mask on my head walking through Prenzlauer Berg – to promote my case to be allowed to leave.” Cornelia Schleime
“Life only existed for the moment – there was no future in the country that I was imprisoned in.“ Cornelia Schleime
Zwitschermaschine – Geh über'n Fluß
Get it here.
Excerpts and photo taken from the book Too Much Future, Punk in der DDR.
“Our aim was to irritate and to drift off into a world no longer interested in understanding. We didn't want to be there for anyone – apart from ourselves. Each singer wrote their own lyrics – reflecting our lack of expectations in a bizarre and melancholic manner.” Cornelia Schleime
Cornelia Schleime (right), 1982. Mita Schamal
“When I look back on Punk, the images hit me like the blows of an axe – memories of pogo and the soles of my feet cut by glass. When I fell asleep with black feet I never realized the state I was in. I wore a gas mask on my head walking through Prenzlauer Berg – to promote my case to be allowed to leave.” Cornelia Schleime
“Life only existed for the moment – there was no future in the country that I was imprisoned in.“ Cornelia Schleime
Zwitschermaschine – Geh über'n Fluß
Get it here.
Excerpts and photo taken from the book Too Much Future, Punk in der DDR.
Kleenex Pt. II
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