Razar formed in Brisbane in late 1977 out of the ashes of two high school cover dance bands -Crossroads and Royal Bandit. Their home, Queensland, was fast becoming a police state and Brisbane was it's experience - a punk city. Members: Steve Mee (guitar), Marty Burke (vocals), Bob Wackley (bass) and Greg Wackley (drums). Members of the "second generation" of the Brisbane punk movement expanded from 1978, they benefited from radio airplay, specially with their track, "Task Force (Undercover Cops)" (1978). Razar were described them as a "Youthful and popular punk outfit which attracted a lot of attention due to their controversial material." The lyrics of "Task Force" dealt with the Queensland Police special branch, or "Brisbane's notorious undercover police." Razar, and most high-profile Brisbane punk groups, received intense scrutiny from the local constabulary with their venues often raided and closed. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
Label: His Master's Voice – PRS 2645
Format:
Vinyl, 7", EP
Country: Australia
Released: 1979
Style: Punk, Punk Rock
Tracklist:
A1 Money 2:44
A2 Self Destruct 1:37
B1 Shutdown Countdown 2:24
B2 Here Is The News 2:00
Notes:
Originally released without picture sleeve. Copies sold by the band in 2002 come with a later-made picture sleeve and insert.
Chris Phinney
is the founder of the Harsh Reality Music cassette label and a long-time home taper from the 1980s onwards. Chris revived the label in 2011 and it has been active ever since.
It produced about 350 releases during its original incarnation, including numerous compilations as well as material by the likes of Big City Orchestra, Violence And The Sacred, Viktimized Karcass and Nomuzic.
Hal McGee
is an American experimental artist and producer, active since 1981. With Debbie Jaffe, McGee operated the Cause And Effect cassette label and distributor in Indianapolis, Indiana. In the mid-1980's, McGee recorded works as a member of Viscera, solo as Dog As Master, and in collaboration with If, Bwana and JABON.
McGee moved to Florida in 1988, where he operated the Electronic Cottage label out of Gainesville, simultaneously with an Electronic Cottage Magazine into the 1990's. This was restarted as an online zine and community in April 2018.
In the mid to late 1990's, McGee released dozens of cassettes of homemade experimental music, solo and in collaboration with Jeph Jerman, Brian Noring (EHI), Big City Orchestra, Emil Hagstrom (Cock E.S.P.), Charles Rice Goff III and others. He also produced a series of "Tape Heads" cassette compilations on his own HalTapes label.
Label: HalTapes – HT 069
Format:
Cassette, Album
Country: US
Released: 1996
Style: Experimental, Ambient
Tracklist:
A1 The Ouzing Of Wormy Sounds Through A Close-Meshed Wire
Otomo Yoshihide is a Japanese composer and multi-instrumentalist. He mainly plays guitar, turntables, and electronics. He first came to international prominence in the 1990s as the leader of the experimental rock group Ground Zero, and has since worked in a variety of contexts, ranging from free improvisation to noise, jazz, avant-garde and contemporary classical. He is also a pioneering figure in the EAI-scene, and is featured on important records on labels like Erstwhile Records. He has composed music for many films, television dramas, and commercials. In 2017, Otomo became the 2nd Guest Artistic Director of The Sapporo International Art Festival 2017.
With the exception of 2 tracks, this is an entirely solo album that sees Otomo experimenting with various odd instrumentation. The behemoth opening track, "Religion-4", is the first. Otomo plays the turntables, tapes, and radio on this piece. It's pretty much straight up noise music, you can hear wailing, beeping and harsh turntable scratches for the first few minutes and not many other discernable sounds, as it crashes and screeches its way throughout its early duration. Despite of the sound sources being use here you can only barely at moments make out what the hell you're hearing. A voice, a drum beat, junk noises, occasionally peek through the chaos only to disappear as fast as they entered. About 11 and a half minutes in is the most recognizable sample with loops of a monologue, which also marks things getting a bit less harsh, but still very noisy and nonsensical. Things come down in the last couple minutes of the track with the sampling becoming much more noticeable and less overwhelming, more sparse, before one final WOOOSH finishes off the track. This takes up the entire A-Side of the cassette and is an absolute trip to listen to, apocalyptic and destructive, but oddly meditative, also proving Otomo's mastership at the art of Turntable Music. A great jam that will surely please those who enjoyed Otomo's more noisy works.
Kicking off the B-Side, the "Guitar Solo Improvisation" is exactly what the name suggests. Otomo had a different technique compared to the custom made noise guitars of his work with Ground Zero or the noisy, pedal soaked arpeggios that mark his New Jazz records. Indeed, Otomo doesn't play with seemingly any effects whatsoever. Just a tight jam that emphasizes dissonance, atonality and seemingly random plucking above the noise and feedback of his latter day output. So demented in it's chaos that it would make even Derek Bailey blush. Definitely an extremely cool solo.
"Religion-3" returns with all the instruments featured on "Religion-4" but with the addition of a violin and vocals. It opens with radio tuning sounds that sound kinda like a geiger counter before the violin just gets absolutely destroyed, being abused so badly, it sounds like high pitched static. Otomo also does these weird gurgling vocals over it and there's random samples going on in the background while he breaks the poor thing. Very amusing in it's absolute cacophony and impressive that Otomo can juggle all these instruments at once.
"Sax Of A Kind + PB Radio '84", despite the name, actually does not contain any kind of saxophone. Weird name but alright. The shortest track by far, there's three credited guitarists (including Otomo) as well as a bassist, a drummer, and Otomo on "tape recordings". Also according to the liner notes, the tape recordings are sampled from a radio. Otomo sure loves his radios even when he is not playing them. This is basically just a recording of a (sadly normal) jazz cover intertwined with japanese spoken word radio. It is a cool cover and the radio does add a bit of Otomo wackiness to the otherwise normal sounding jazz.
"Religion-1" has the same instrumental lineup as "Religion-4", with the addition of a synthesizer. It's very noisy and high pitched all the way, with the radio providing an ear piercing backing for the aforementioned sci-fi noises. A curious little noise piece.
The most confusing track is probably "Religion-2", for which the only credited instruments are the tapes and "electric springs". There's basic tape loops in the background while the springs provide a metal scraping sound, kind of like the violin on "Religion-3" but with a lot more tremolo. If a violin and spring sound similar on an album then you know you have a master noise maker at hand.
The final track, "NS-500", is a full on free jazz jam that clocks in at 8 minutes, the longest on the B-side. The standard lineup of bass, drums, guitar and tenor saxophone are on display here, with the addition of Otomo playing with toys. The bass is easily the loudest thing in the mix, and it is some very solid playing indeed. The drumming is very energetic, constant rolls and fills throughout the whole thing, the guitar is for the most part random plucking similar to the earlier "Guitar Solo", and the saxophone is very Zorn-esque indeed, piercing highs and squeals that sound like a dying pig. The toys can occasionally be heard but for the most part are drowned out by the drums and noise. The closest comparison is the Ground Zero debut, but a lot noisier and with fewer instrumentation, and without the vocals of our beloved Yamatsuka Eye. Still, a great free jazz jam. For those that looked for more stuff akin to live Ground Zero however, this will definitely please your ears.
A very grainy album that shows us what the 80s sounded like with Otomo, combining a few jazz jams with straight up noise, this is probably the best we are going to get of that for a while. Until his early tapes get rereleased, this will stand as the finest document of a young and crazy Otomo who has yet to fully develop his techniques, but there is an undeniable charm to this whole tape that makes it more than a novelty and rather a very enjoyable listen. If you heard 'We Insist?', and wanted to hear what Otomo was doing years before any of that was recorded, give this album a go. It will not disappoint. [SOURCE: RATE YOUR MUSIC]
Nocturnal Emissions has been one of the best kept secrets of the industrial genre since the 1970s. Led by Nigel Ayers, the band was one of the first to use tape cutting, avant-garde art, and underground video works to create a stage experience that was being cultivated by like-minded artists like Throbbing Gristle and Cabaret Voltaire. The band moved on to using samplers and electronic noise in their early '80s work, creating a twisted funk sound that would go on to influence everyone from Foetus to Negativland. They still utilized their former tricks, upping the ante with extremist performance art and more professional video displays. The group avoided signing to a major label, instead focusing on releasing their own music more effectively. They followed this path into the '90s when they started www.earthlydelights.co.uk, an incredibly detailed website that promotes their various ideologies (they are strongly against the British monarchy and believe that citizens should have unlimited access to space travel) and constant release schedule. The band has released countless tapes and CDs of their material, and continues to unleash their noise through their website. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Label: Sterile Records – SR9
Format:
Vinyl, LP
Country: UK
Released: 1985
Style: Industrial, Synth-pop, Experimental, Noise
Tracklist:
A1 Metal Frames
A2 Rusting Shells
A3 In Our Time
A4 Effra Barricade
B1 Let The Bad Times Roll
B2 Tanks In Gdansk
B3 Fat Slimey Parasites
B4 Bring Power To Its Knees
B5 No Sack (The Meltdown Version)
Notes:
Side A recorded in the studios of the Emission Control during November 1984.
Side B recorded live at the Ambulance Station, London 24 November 1984.
This four song EP was released on the Noetix label. Recorded in the Autumn of 1981 in Vancouver and Kelowna, it was Moev's very first record. The title track is certainly the weakest of the four. Lyrically, full of teenaged angst, one feels like they've been sneaking a peek into a girl's diary. Musically, it doesn't veer too far from Depeche Mode's "Dreaming of Me". The next tune; "2.3" is the strongest of the four and the only one that really moves. Side two starts off with another weak track; "Obituary Column" then picks up a bit with; "M.T.M.T.N.M.E.". Only 200 of these were pressed and half of them were given out to DJs as promos, so they are pretty hard to come by. [SOURCE: RATE YOUR MUSIC]
Label: Noetix – none
Format:
Vinyl, 12", 45 RPM, EP
Country: Canada
Released: Oct 1981
Style: Synth-pop, New Wave, Post-Punk
Tracklist:
A1 Cracked Mirror
A2 2.3
B1 Obituary Column
B2 M.T.M.T.N.M.E.
Notes:
No catalogue number on cover or vinyl.
Only distributed on the west coast of Canada in very limited quantities.
The versions of "Cracked Mirror" and "M.T.M.T.N.M.E." differ from those released on 'Rotting Geraniums' and 'Zimmerkampf'
LaDonna Smith has performed improvised music internationally since the 1970s as violinist, violist and vocalist, while also teaching music in Birmingham, Alabama. With long-time collaborator, guitarist Davey Williams, Smith has toured North America and Europe, and Russia, appearing at every major improvisation festival, and many new music festivals. The classically trained musician has also performed with such major improvisers as Peter Brotzmann, Anne Lebaron, Derek Bailey and Eugene Chadbourne. In addition to her work as a musician, Smith is co-editor of The Improviser, an international journal of free improvisation, and works as a visual artist, exhibiting her drawings and ceramics in the U.S.
'Direct Waves'
(LaDonna Smith, violin, viola, and
Davey Williams, electric guitar, banjo, mandolin), is a historic trans museq release from their first Canadian performances and second European Tour. Trans duo perform animated improvisations Alabama style. Side 1 was recorded live on October 12, 1979 at the Urban Institute, Grand Rapids Michigan by Thomas Gaudynski. Side 2 was recorded live at Bruxelles’ Palais de Beaux Arts on May 3, 1980 by Guy Strahle. The back cover photo by Vid Inglevics features the set from the 1978 Ear It Live Festival, at the Music Gallery, Toronto, Canada. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Label: Trans Museq – transmuseq 5
Format:
Vinyl, LP
Country: US
Released: 1980
Style: Free Improvisation
Tracklist:
A1 Early Balloon Tires 5:48
A2 Divining 2:32
A3 Aerial Farm Machinery 4:55
A4 Silent Observer's Relection 2:58
B1 Radial Steam Instruments (To Benjamin Peret) 8:14
Killdozer formed in 1983 around vocalist/bassist Michael Gerald, guitarist Bill Hobson, and his drummer brother Dan. After 1989's 'For Ladies Only' -an all-covers collection deconstructing hits ranging from Deep Purple's "Hush" to the James Gang's "Funk #49" to Don McLean's "American Pie"- Bill Hobson left the band on the eve of a European tour, and was replaced by Halo of Flies guitarist (and Amphetamine Reptile label chief) Tom Hazelmyer. Hobson later re-joined the group, but again exited in the midst of recording a never-completed LP. This single is a gorgeous, fleeting glimpse into an alternative world as Tom Hazelmyer steps in for the departing Bill Hobson and Killdozer knock two songs out of the park that combine the relentless Killdozer assault with an extra dollop of melody. The hooks here are all-consuming; Hazelmyer's low-end shredding during "Her Mothers's Sorrow" is a goddamn delight. [SOURCE: DISCOGS]
John Dowie (born 3 August 1950 in Birmingham) is a British comedian, musician and writer, often viewed as a pioneer of alternative comedy. He began performing stand-up comedy in 1969.
Described as an "idiosyncratic original" and "lone pioneer", Dowie's "arthouse proto-alternative" work mixed parody, fantasy, impersonations and taboo topics. His innovative comic style led him to being seen by many comedians that followed such as Alexei Sayle, Tony Allen, Mark Steel, and Jeremy Hardy as a precursor to the alternative comedy wave that arrived a few years later. In particular, Dowie was credited with establishing observational humour as part of the new movement. In 1977 he toured with and influenced another alternative pioneer Victoria Wood. As well as writing songs and sketches with her, he is credited with helping her to develop her future trademark patter between songs.
Dowie was among the inaugural acts on Tony Wilson's Factory Records label. In 1978 he contributed three comedic songs to the first Factory music release, 'A Factory Sample', along with Joy Division, The Durutti Column, and Cabaret Voltaire. However his best remembered song remains the satirical "British Tourist (I Hate the Dutch)" from his debut EP 'Another Close Shave', issued by Virgin in 1977. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
Totally off the wall album, and easily the most experimental release on Object Music. A collage of taped fragments encompassing folk, blues, jazz, field recordings and pure noise. Like a lo-fi 'Faust Tapes' minus the songs or the rock element, glued together with clunky cassette pause-button edits. An acquired taste, but excellent, bizarre stuff. [SOURCE: DISCOGS]
500 copies. Label press release stated: "A collage of improvisations full frequency claustrophobic sound."
Salvaged and edited at Graveyard Sounds, Prestwich, from rough tapes and cassettes.
Split LP released by the Dogfood Production System
imprint, early Australian experimental label, also known as Wrong. Co-released the Severed Heads/Rhythmyx Chymx split LP and released the first Severed Heads LP.
Garry Bradbury (1960-2022) was a British-born Australian electronic musician active in Sydney's experimental music scene from 1979 to 2022.
His first significant collaboration was in 1980, along with brothers Simon and Tim Knuckey as The Wet Taxis; a band specializing in heavily treated guitar and drum machine and various tape manipulations.
In 1981, Bradbury teamed up with two other musicians, Tokyo Rose and Montgomery Smythe, to form Hiroshima Chair, another electronic outfit featuring a vast arsenal of analogue synthesizers. In 1981, they released this half a split album 'Reset', with Texan band Culturcide. They also released a live C60 cassette through Terse Tapes.
From October 1981, Bradbury teamed up with Tom Ellard's pioneering post punk / industrial band Severed Heads. This collaboration continued sporadically from 1981 to 1985.
Culturcide was a Houston-based experimental punk band, active from 1980 to 1990 and from 1993 to the present day. They were notorious for their 1986 album 'Tacky Souvenirs of Pre-Revolutionary America', which earned the band a cult following, but also several legal threats.
Label: Dogfood Production System – Dogmat#4
Format:
Vinyl, LP
Country: Australia
Released: 1981
Style: Industrial, Punk, New Wave, Noise, Synth-pop, Minimal, Synth Punk
Tracklist:
A1 Hiroshima Chair – Reset
A2 Hiroshima Chair – Spastic Antelope Bit
A3 Hiroshima Chair – Tu
A4 Hiroshima Chair – I Think That Dress Is Completely Ruined (I Really Do)
