Perfect Mother ‎– Youll No So Wit [7''] (1980, Vanity Records)

Perfect Mother is a Minimal Wave band from Japan formed by members Atsko (vocals), Fumihiro Nonomura (tape, effects, and also member of Taco, formed at the beginning of the 80s as a loose group/collective of varying members that belongs to the post-punk alternative music movement), Gacan (guitar, bass, percussion, vocals), and Summition (vocals, percussion). They released two cassetes, 'Memento' and 'Obsessional OPP', both in 1980 in the YLEM label, and a 7'', 'Youll No So Wit', in Vanity Records. 

YLEM were a Japanese art collective and label named after the primordial material of the universe as named by George Gamow in the 1940's. Lead by Ueda, the members worked in design, pictures, poetry, music, tapes, photos, video, movies and dance. Other members included Ohmori, Konishi, Nonomura, Ohyama, Fukushima, Kato, Shiraishi, Hara, Aoki, Hagiwara, and Kataoka. The artists coming from the YLEM collective were Airyfarm, Summition, Bushman-19, Perfect Mother, Mad Tea Party and A.N. They also collaborated with Junko Tange (Tolerance), Yoshifumi Niinuma (Sympathy Nervous), Ohtomo (Marionette Karma), and Takahashi Oda (Ka Chi Fu Sui). YLEM released 12 cassettes, several Ep´s and one amazing Compilation LP. They also did concerts and at one point simply disappeared from the musical radar. The music by unkown mystery bands and artist tended to be electronic, minimalist, melodic, technoid, ambient and incredibly adventurous. Each release comes with a hand typed insert listing artist and track titles is among the best from that era and any country. 

Vanity Records in Osaka was one of the unforgettable hallmarks of the early Japanese underground music scene of the late-70's. This label was founded by Yuzuru Agi, the music critic/editor of Rock Magazine. Agi was a sort of alternative visionary with a superb talent to assess new musical modes at a time when blues and West Coast-style rock still dominated the local music scene. He was also responsible for coining the Japlish term "techno-pop" -which he used to describe Eno-produced bands like Talking Heads and Devo- that later became internationally known via Yellow Magic Orchestra. Inspired by punk and the flood of indie labels that swept New York and London, Agi started Vanity Records in 1978, releasing 11 LPs, 3 singles, 12 flexis, and 6 cassettes between '78 and '82 (each release limited to 300-500 copies).  [SOURCE: DISCOGS]

 

Label: Vanity Records ‎– VA-S3 

Format: Vinyl, 7" 

Country: Japan 

Released: 1980 

Style: New Wave, Industrial, Synth-pop, Minimal, Minimal Wave, Post-Punk

 

Tracklist:

A Dark Disco - Da. Da. Da. Da. Da. Run 

B1 You'll No So Witt 

Ephemeral Pieces 

B2.1 Water 

B2.2 Muzzy 

B2.3 O - F 

B2.4 Echo-end 

B2.5 Fan 

 

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Omega Tribe ‎– It's A Hard Life [12''] (1984, Corpus Christi)

Omega Tribe are an English anarcho-punk band, formed in Barnet, London in 1981. With the roles of Hugh Vivian on guitar and vocals, Daryl Hardcastle on bass, Pete Fender on guitar and Pete Shepherd on drums, their first EP, 'Angry Songs', was produced by Penny Rimbaud and Pete Fender for Crass Records in 1982. Their subsequent LP, 'No Love Lost', (released by Corpus Christi Records, 1983) won the hearts of many hardened anarchos and secured their place in anarcho-punk history. 

A far more melodic style, encouraged by producer and new guitarist Pete Fender (from Rubella Ballet), created a highly influential template that many other bands were to build on. They released a cassette only live release on BBP tapes in 1984. In 1984 Sonny Flint joined on drums, and they took on a sax and flute player Jane Keay. Pete Shepherd the original drummer switched to playing percussion. Pete Fender departed early in 1984. Line-up changes were fairly frequent after this period and a 12" EP, '(It's a) Hard Life/Young John', was finally released in 1985 that showed a complete change of direction. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA] 

 

Label: Corpus Christi ‎– CHRIST IT'S 12 

Format: Vinyl, 12", 45 RPM, Single 

Country: UK 

Released: 1984 

Style: Post-Punk, Pop Rock, Anarcho-Punk

 

Tracklist:

A1 It's A Hard Life 

A2 Young John 

B Nightlife 

 

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Negative Reaction ‎– Negative Reaction [LP] (1981, Dogfood Production System)

Negative Reaction were an obscure Australian group formed by Michael "Mick" Kingham, Milan Stojanovic, and Jim Bodnar in 1978. They released a cassette on the legendary Australian industrial and home-taping label Terse and eventually also released a self-titled LP in 1981. The album ranks amongst the most captivating and gripping albums from the Australian experimental post-punk time and contains good dark poetical lyrics. The music reflects the times in which the industrial and DIY-culture played an important role in the Australian music underground. [SOURCE: YOUTUBE] 

 

 

Label: Dogfood Production System ‎– Dogmat#3 

Format: Vinyl, LP 

Country: Australia 

Released: 1981 

Style: Industrial, Experimental, Minimal Synth, Dark Ambient, Noise

 

Tracklist:

A1 Jubilee 

A2 The Hollow Men 

A3 Death Or Victory 

B1 Dead 

B2 Vietnam 

B3 The Desert 

 

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Minimal Man – Safari [LP] (1984, CD Presents, Ltd.)

Less experimental, ramshackle and nightmarish than 'The Shroud Of', and much closer in vein to traditional post-punk, while also being more focused and cohesive and still very, very dark in its own right. Don't let the '80s synths and the relatively glossy production job fool you, this is clearly music made by a very haunted individual -Minimal Man brainchild, Patrick Miller. Apparently he struggled with drug abuse his whole life, and the music seemingly reflects that. 

 

The record feels like an American version of Colin Newman's 'A-Z'. It's got a similar, manic feel, sometimes with an epic tone ("Show Time"), sometimes discordant and funky ("You! You!"), eerie and paralyzing ("2 Little Skeletons"), vibrant and anthemic ("In Your Heart"), revisiting the Bauhaus-ian stomp ("Stop Running"), or with more direct punk energy -replete with Martin Hannett-like effects ("Shadows Pay A Visit"), claustrophobic and hallucinatory ("What's Not There"), epic and yet mournful ("Pull Back The Bolt"), solemn and yet paranoid ("Ascension"). [SOURCE: RATE YOUR MUSIC] 

 

 

Label: CD Presents, Ltd. ‎– CD017, CD Presents, Ltd. ‎– CD-017 

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album 

Country: US

Released: 1984 

Style: Experimental, Post-Punk, Minimal Wave, Industrial Rock, Darkwave

 

Tracklist:

A1 Show Time 4:20 

A2 You! You! 2:40 

A3 2 Little Skeletons 2:20 

A4 In Your Heart 2:20 

A5 Stop Running 2:30 

A6 Shadows Pay A Visit 2:10 

B1 What's Not There 2:55 

B2 Pull Back The Bolt 3:30 

B3 Big Head 2:20 

B4 That's Where The Sin Is! 2:20 

B5 All The Answers 2:20 

B6 Ascension 3:05 

 

Other Versions: 

'Safari' ‎(LP, Album): Good Noise [VGNS 2025] - Germany, 1985 

 

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Loopflesh / Fleshloop ‎– Like Rats / Straight To Your Heart [7''] (1991, Clawfist)

 

Godflesh and Loop cover a song originally by the other. Godflesh bring their trance / heavy treatment to a perfect Loop song for them to cover. It actually sounds like it could have been on Godflesh's debut EP. Loop take on the flesh's massive "Like Rats" which is cool, if not quite as successful as Godflesh's tune. Still, a great, odd record. [SOURCE: RATE YOUR MUSIC] 

 

Label: Clawfist ‎– XPIG 07 

Series: Clawfist Singles Club – 7 

Format: Vinyl, 7", 33 ⅓ RPM, Single, Limited Edition 

Country: UK 

Released: May 1991 

Style: Noise, Experimental, Industrial Metal, Noise Rock, Psychedelic Rock

 

Tracklist:

A – Loopflesh Like Rats 6:30 

AA – Fleshloop Straight To Your Heart 7:43 

 

Notes:

Ltd to 1400 only. 

"Like Rats" ℗ & © Godflesh 

"Straight To Your Heart" ℗ & © Loop 

 

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Kino Glaz ‎– Al Passo Con L'Arcangelo [LP] (1988, Auf Dem Nil)

 

This is the only work by Kino Glaz, released on ADN (Auf Dem Nil), a label founded in the early 80's, at the beginning as a fanzine and tape-label, and immediately characterized by its experimental 'nature'. Its vinyl catalog is still remembered for the works by Doubling Riders, Riccardo Sinigaglia, Christina Kubisch, La 1919 and Kino Glaz, italian experimental neofolk pioneers, formed by ex Tomografia Assiale Computerizzata (T.A.C.) members Simon Balestrazzi and Gregorio Bardini -who also collaborated with Thelema-, plus Paola Sartori and Patrizia Mattioli. 

 
The sound of this album can be summarized in the term 'Neofolk', though the content offers significant insights into Gothic inspiration and neoclassical expression. A record of undoubted stylistic and 'historical' value, this is an album that should be counted among the most important releases of that period. An LP not easy to enjoy, dedicated to those who want to know the path of a sound that is still immune to negative contaminations and disintegrations caused by easy listening, that matter that transforms and dissolves in musical obviousness what was born not to be. [SOURCE: SHERWOOD] 

 

 

Label: Auf Dem Nil ‎– DMM 008 R 

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo 

Country: Italy 

Released: 1988 

Style: Modern Classical, Neofolk, Experimental, Neo-Medieval Folk, Avant-Folk

 

Tracklist:

A1 Luce Del Mattino 3:21 

A2 Ecce Quam Bonum 4:08 

A3 Il Segreto Del Fiore D'Oro 5:03 

A4 Cortili D'Europa 6:16 

B1 Il Veltro 7:29 

B2 Ianua Caeli 3:54 

B3 L'Etoile Flamboyante 3:21 

B4 S. Michele Arcangelo 4:21 

 

Notes:

Recorded between Nov. '86 and Nov. '87. 

 

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Joanna Brouk ‎– Sounds Of The Sea [Cass] (1981, Hummingbird Productions)

California-based Joanna Brouk composed slow, sparse works intended for meditation and reflection, utilizing acoustic instruments, vintage synthesizers, field recordings, and the human voice. Her music was inspired by classical minimalism, but it was embraced by the burgeoning new age movement during the 1980s. Born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1949, Brouk moved to Berkeley, California in 1970 to study literature. Inspired by the cadences of poetry and the human voice, as well as the rhythms and soundings of nature, she began creating music. She spent numerous hours experimenting with synthesizers at the Center for Contemporary Music at Mills College in Oakland, and studied under the tutelage of avant-garde legends Robert Ashley and Terry Riley. After graduating, she went into radio production, and composed music for documentaries and other programs. She entered Mills' graduate program for electronic music in 1980, and created a work titled "Holy Saturday Mass", performed at the Oakland Cathedral of Saint Francis de Sales, as her thesis. Brouk's classmate Maggi Payne contributed flute, and the compositions appeared on Brouk's 1981 debut 'Healing Music', the first of five cassettes she released on her own Hummingbird Productions throughout the '80s. The tapes were a success with listeners of KPFA (where Brouk became program director) as well as therapists and hospitals. 'Sounds of the Sea', also released in 1981, was Brouk's most fully realized recording, bringing together nature sounds as well as hypnotic vocals and manipulated electronic and acoustic instruments. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC] 

 

Label: Hummingbird Productions ‎– CH103 

Format: Cassette, Album, Stereo 

Country: US 

Released: 1981 

Style: New Age, Ambient, Drone, Whale Song

 

Tracklist:

Atravesta 

A1a Invocation 

A1b Atavesta 

A1c Playing In The Water 

A1d Aurora 

A1e Diving Deeper, Remembering Love 

A1f Going To Sleep 

The Sailor And The Nymph 

B1a The Reminder Of Long Ago 

B1b The Nymph Rising 

B1c Calling The Sailor 

B1d First Meeting 

B1e Touching The Sky 

B1f The Sounding 

B1g Return To The Deep 

 

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Inhibidos Quizás? ‎– Maqueta [Cass] (1984, Not On Label)

Inhibidos Quizás? formed in mid-1983 in Valencia, under the musical influences of artists such as U2, R.E.M., Orange Juice, Magazine, The Cult or Bob Dylan. Inhibidos Quizás? practised a soft pop-rock, and their first formation was composed by Federico Segarra (guitars), Fran García (rhythm guitar and harmonica), Vicente González (vocals), Javi Soler (bass) and Gonzalo Mantarás (drums). Soon after their formation, they participated in october of 1983 in the 1st Pop-Rock Contest Valencia 83, first event of this kind offered in the city. The quintet turned out to be the winners of the contest and taking a special mention as best lyricists among the fourteen bands that reached the final stage. After two years, Inhibidos Quizás? entered the studio to record their first album at the end of 1985, 'El Precio Del Dolor', a MiniAlbum that includes six tracks recorded by Alfonso Olcina. [SOURCE: GRUPOS NACIONALES NUEVA OLA 80] 

 

Label: Not On Label

Format: Cassette, Demo

Country: Spain 

Released: 1984 

Style: Post-Punk 

 

Tracklist:

A1​ Entre Tinieblas 

A2​ Aprender a Rodar 

A3​ Tu Piel 

A4​ En el Entreacto 

A5 Enojado 

B1​ El Juez 

B2​ Marta 

B3​ Falta de Emoción 

B4​ Disculpa tu Culpa 

B5​ Diez Impactos 

 

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Haunted House – Up In Flames [CD] (1999, Erstwhile Records)

Haunted House is Loren Mazzacane Connors (guitar), Andrew Burnes (guitar), Suzanne Langille (vocals), and Neel Murgai (percussion). Although two of the three tracks on 'Up in Flames' have been penned by Langille (the other is a version of Lonnie Johnson's "Blue Ghost Blues"), this band mostly bears the mark of indie rock guitar legend Loren Mazzacane Connors. Up to 11 minutes into the first track, the album is solo Connors. But at that point, the other instruments join in for a build-up that reaches its climax when Langille's fragile vocals come in over 14 minutes into the song. The slow, simple, and hazy guitar style of Loren Mazzacane Connors and the crescendo-climax-release structure takes 'Up in Flames' into Godspeed You Black Emperor! territory. The second piece suffers from bad sound quality (awful background noise) and the listener can hear people talking throughout (these are live recordings). "Blue Ghost Blues" offers a change of pace as both guitarists let loose in this one, playing noisy blues solos. The piece rocks a lot toward the end, a welcomed change that doesn't affect the stylistic cohesion of the album. Sound problems set aside, 'Up in Flames' is a nice record of ethereal rock music in the vein of Godspeed You Black Emperor! and The Boxhead Ensemble. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]

 

  

 

Label: Erstwhile Records ‎– erstwhile 002 

Format: CD, Album 

Country: US 

Released: 1999 

Style: Post Rock, Avantgarde, Experimental, Free Improvisation, Avant-Folk

 

Tracklist:

1 Been So Long 23:02 

2 Only When You Sleep 10:27 

3 Blue Ghost Blues 23:09 

 

Notes:

Track 1 recorded at The Cooler in NYC on February 22, 1999. 

Tracks 2 and 3 recorded at The Cooler in NYC on May 8, 1999. 

 

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Gordon Mumma ‎– Dresden / Venezia / Megaton [LP] (1979, Lovely Music, Ltd.)

 

Gordon Mumma (born 30 March 1935, in Framingham, Massachusetts) studied piano and horn in Chicago and Detroit, and began his career as an active horn player in symphonic and chamber music. From 1953 to 1966 he lived in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he co-founded with Robert Ashley the Cooperative Studio for Electronic Music and the now-historic ONCE Festivals of Contemporary Music. From 1966 to 1974 he was, with John Cage and David Tudor, one of the three composer-musicians with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, for which he composed four commissioned works. From 1966 he also performed with the Sonic Arts Union, whose members included Robert Ashley, David Behrman, and Alvin Lucier. He has also collaborated with diverse artists such as Tandy Beal, Anthony Braxton, William Brooks, Chris Brown, Marcel Duchamp, Fred Frith, Toshi Ichiyanagi, Jasper Johns, Jann McCauley, Pauline Oliveros, Yvonne Rainer, Tom Robbins, Frederic Rzewski, Stephen Smoliar, Stan Van Der Beek, William Winant, and Christian Wolff. 

 
Mumma has made concert tours and recordings in North and South America, Japan and Europe. His writings on the contemporary performance arts and technology are published in several languages. His best-known engineering design was for an electronic music live-performance system at EXPO-70 (Osaka, Japan) in collaboration with David Tudor. 

 
Mumma has been on the faculties of the University of Illinois, the Ferienkurse für Neue Musik (Darmstadt, Germany), and the Cursos Latinoamericanos de Música Contemporánea (Buenos Aires, Montevideo, and Santiago, R.D.). From 1975 to 1994 he was Professor of Music at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a visiting Professor at the University of California, San Diego, in 1985 and 1987. At Mills College in Oakland, California, he was the Darius Milhaud Professor in 1981, Distinguished Visiting Composer in 1989, and the Jean Macduff Vaux Composer-in-Residence in 1999.
Mumma’s musical compositions include works for acoustical instruments (mostly solo piano, and chamber music), as well as for electronic and computer resources. His commissions include works for Radio Bremen (Germany), the Biennale di Venezia, the New York State Arts Council, Oberlin College, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the Oregon Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players. 

 
In 2000 he received the biennial John Cage Award from the Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts. 

 
Mumma's composing and performing in the 21st Century have continued primarily with solo instrumental and chamber music. Some of his recent solo music has employed electronic elements, including music for the 2006 Gaudeamus Festival in Holland. In 2008 he was featured composer at the University of New Mexico Albuquerque and the College of Santa Fe. He resides in both British Columbia and California. [SOURCE: BRAINWASHED] 

 

 

Label: Lovely Music, Ltd. ‎– VR 1091 

Format: Vinyl, LP 

Country: US 

Released: 1979 

Style: Noise, Experimental, Musique Concrète, Electroacoustic, Sound Collage

 

Tracklist:

A1 The Dresden Interleaf 13 February 1945 12:20 

A2 Music From The Venezia Space Theatre 12:10 

B Megaton For Wm. Burroughs 23:30 

 

Notes:

Composed at the Cooperative Studio for Electronic Music (Ann Arbor, Michigan) - A1: 1965, A2: 1964, B: 1963. 

Remixed at The Center for Contemporary Music, Mills College (Oakland, California). 

"Music from the Venezia Space Theatre" uses parts of André Boucourechliev's "Texte II". 

 

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Fraser ‎– Archaeology [LP] (1989, Anti Hero Records)

Chris Fraser was member of Unrest Work & Play, a British short-lived art rock obscurity, formed by Andy Wake (drums, percussion, bass, voices) and Chris (guitars, voices). They released two EPs ('Andy & Chris' in 1982 upon Art Hole Records, and 'Sound Every Day' in 1983 upon Political Underground Records) and only one full-length album, 'Informs', via Recommended Records, one of the authority labels of RIO founded by Chris Cutler and Mick Hobbs. In 1989 Chris Fraser published his solo work 'Archaeology', after Unrest Work & Play disbanded. [SOURCE: PROG ARCHIVES]

Label: Anti Hero Records ‎– AH 008 

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album 

Country: UK 

Released: 1989 

Style: Art Rock, Avantgarde, Experimental 

 

Tracklist:

A1 Archaeology 

A2 Everything Looks Different 

A3 Steep Descent 

A4 Customs 

A5 Clear 

B1 Pointless 

B2 Where And When 

B3 0119 

B4 Cellarman 

B5 Misconstrued 

 

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The Enemy – Bang Bang You're Dead B/W Trendy Violence [7''] (1979, King Tut Records)

 

The Enemy (also known as Fruitland Famine Band from 1974 to 1978) were an american punk-rock band formed in Seattle in 1978 and disbanded in 1982. Members were Suzi Grant (vocals), George Gleason (guitar, vocals), Peter Barnes (drums), Michael "Wonderful" Clarke (bass), Paul Hood (bass, vocals) and Damon Titus (guitar, bass, vocals). Michael Clarke played in the early Vancouver punk rock and new wave scene with The Rest, The Generators, and [e?]. Around 1980 he moved to Seattle and joined The Enemy. They released only two singles of catchy sing-along choruses of female fronted punk: 'I Need An Enemy' in 1978 and 'Bang Bang You're Dead B/W Trendy Violence' (1979). 

 

Label: King Tut Records – R-5229/5230 

Format: Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, Single 

Country: US 

Released: 1979 

Style: Punk, Punk Rock

 

Tracklist:

A Bang Bang You're Dead 1:50 

B Trendy Violence 2:10 

 

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