Throbbing Gristle
“Industrial music is a genre of experimental music which draws on harsh, transgressive or provocative sounds and themes. AllMusic defines industrial music as the ‘most abrasive and aggressive fusion of rock and electronic music‘; ‘initially a blend of avant-garde electronics experiments (tape music, musique concrète, white noise, synthesizers, sequencers, etc.) and punk provocation’. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by members of Throbbing Gristle and Monte Cazazza. While the genre name originated with Throbbing Gristle’s emergence in the United Kingdom, concentrations of artists and labels vital to the genre also emerged in Chicago. … The precursors that influenced the development of the genre included acts such as electronic music group Kraftwerk, experimental rock acts such as Pink Floyd and Frank Zappa, psychedelic rock artists such as Jimi Hendrix, and composers such as John Cage. Musicians also cite writers such as William S. Burroughs, and philosophers such as Friedrich Nietzsche as influences. …”
Wikipedia
20 of the most iconic songs in industrial music (Audio)
Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music
The 10 Best Industrial Albums To Own On Vinyl
all music: Industrial
amazon: Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music
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Month: January 2019
Trisha Brown – Water Motor (1978)
“It was winter 1978 and Soho was still a quiet place mostly habited by artists who all knew each other and were far from imagining the commercial mecca that it is now. Walking in the street you met your friends. And it is what happened on that winter day when by accident I met Trisha in the street. She told me that she was working on a new solo and was very happy about it. I proposed to come and see it and she said: ‘Come anytime’s. I am doing it every day. Just call when you are ready’. In 1978 I was the semi official photographer of the Trisha Brown dance company and knew her dance vocabulary very well. I knew she was preparing new work for an evening at the Public Theater on Lafayette Street where she would be performing for the first time. I was looking forward to it. I always like to see what I am going to photograph before the actual photography session and avoid arriving at the dress rehearsal without preparation. So one day I went to scout Trisha’s solo at her loft, curious about the new work. She had named the solo Water Motor and it was short at about four minutes. I was stunned when I saw it. Not only was it absolutely thrilling but I also felt it was an enormous departure from the movement in her previous piece Locus. Somehow you could hardly see the movement (dance) because it just went too fast. It was totally new. …”
On the Making of Water Motor, a dance by Trisha Brown filmed by Babette Mangolte
Trisha Brown – Water Motor
ARTFORUM – YOU CAN STILL SEE HER: THE ART OF TRISHA BROWN
YouTube: Trisha Brown – “Watermotor”, by Babette Mangolte
Dub music
“Dub is a genre of music that grew out of reggae in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae. Music in this genre consists predominantly of instrumental remixes of existing recordings and is achieved by significantly manipulating and reshaping the recordings, usually by removing the vocals from an existing music piece, and emphasizing the drum and bass parts (this stripped-down track is sometimes referred to as a riddim). Other techniques include dynamically adding extensive echo, reverb, panoramic delay, and occasional dubbing of vocal or instrumental snippets from the original version or other works. It was an early form of popular electronic music. The Roland Space Echo was widely used by dub producers in the 1970s to produce echo and delay effects. Dub was pioneered by Osbourne ‘King Tubby’ Ruddock, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, Errol Thompson and others in the late 1960s. Augustus Pablo is credited with bringing the melodica to dub, and is also among the pioneers and creators of the genre. Similar experiments with recordings at the mixing desk outside the dancehall environment were also done by producers Clive Chin and Herman Chin Loy. … Dub music is in conversation with the cultural aesthetic of Afrofuturism. Having emerged from Jamaica, this genre is regarded as the product of diaspora peoples, whose culture reflects the experience of dislocation, alienation and remembrance. Through the creation of space-filling soundscapes, faded echoes, and repetition within musical tracks, Dub artists are able to tap into such Afrofuturist concepts as the nonlinearity of time and the projection of past sounds into an unknown future space. …”
Wikipedia
Dubbing Is A Must: A Beginner’s Guide To Jamaica’s Most Influential Genre
In A Dub Style (All Vinyl Roots Reggae Dub Mix) (Audio)
Kid – Pretenders (1979)
“‘Kid’ is a song written by Chrissie Hynde that was released on the Pretenders 1980 debut album Pretenders. It was also released as a single and reached #33 in the UK. … Author Alex Ogg describes ‘Kid’ as a ‘resonant ballad.’ The lyrics express the singer’s devotion to the listener, who may be her child, but could also be her lover or just a friend. Allmusic critic Stewart Mason calls it ‘an all-time classic rock and roll love song’ and ‘probably the [Pretenders]’ masterpiece.’ He particularly praises Hynde’s ‘beautiful and emotional’ lead vocals, and James Honeyman-Scott‘s lead guitar playing, which he says sounds like the Byrds at times but also sounds tougher when necessary. Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine also praised how Honeyman-Scott’s ‘unconventional’ playing adds additional dimensions to the “measured pop” of ‘Kid.’ Author Jeremy Simmonds said of ‘Kid’ that it ‘showed the group’s complete mastery of sixties hooks with sharp. confident new wave leanings.’ Rolling Stone Album Guide critic J.D. Considine praises how melody expresses ’emotional vulnerability.’ Considine also praises how the band adds ‘soul’ to the song’s ‘sentimentality.’ …”
Wikipedia
Genius (Audio)
YouTube: Kid, Kid – TOTP, Kid (Acoustic Performance)
Exposure – Robert Fripp (1979)
“Exposure is the debut solo album by guitarist and composer Robert Fripp. Unique among Fripp solo projects for its focus on the pop song format, it grew out of his previous collaborations with David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, and Daryl Hall, and the latter two singers appear on the album. Released in 1979, it peaked at No. 79 on the Billboard Album Chart. Most of the lyrics were provided by the poet and lyricist Joanna Walton. After terminating the first run of King Crimson in 1974, studying at the International Academy for Continuous Education through 1975-1976 and assisting Peter Gabriel in both studio and stage capacities, Fripp decamped in 1977 to the Hell’s Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City. New York was then a centre of punk rock and what would come to be known as new wave, and Fripp dived into the scene, playing and recording with Blondie and the Roche sisters, absorbing the sounds of the active downtown music scene. He envisioned a new approach, and incorporated elements of these NYC experiences into his current palette, including ‘Frippertronics‘, the technique he had developed with Brian Eno. At Eno’s invitation, Fripp performed on David Bowie’s ‘Heroes’ single and album in 1977. Originally, Fripp envisioned Exposure as the third part of a simultaneous trilogy also comprising Daryl Hall‘s Sacred Songs and Peter Gabriel’s second album aka Scratch, both of which Fripp contributed to and produced. …”
Wikipedia
Exposure Pages
Discogs (Video)
YouTube: Exposure 43:17
Sorrow Tears and Blood – Fela And Afrika 70 (1977)
“Fela wrote the title track of this album as a response to the Soweto Uprising of 1976 in which thousands of South African students protested the forced teaching of Afrikaans, the colonial language of Apartheid. During the uprising and the ensuing riots, hundreds of students were killed. The song calls out killings that have gone on in the name of authority and totalitarian rule as well as the instruments of repression of colonial Africa – the police and the army. In this way the song indirectly references the brutality that Fela and his family have experienced in the series of raids on his family compound, the Kalakuta Republic. The musical composition parallels the somber tone of the lyrics; focused and direct, the track avoids the bombastic funk of many of Fela’s compositions. ‘Colonial Mentality’ follows in the same manner, pointing out that those who wish to live in a post-colonial mentality are in essence living as slaves. Musically, the Africa 70 returns to a more funk and jazzy grooves while relaying a pertinent message to those who looked to Fela as a leader of the resistance.”
bandcamp (Audio)
W – Sorrow Tears and Blood
Discogs (Video)
YouTube: Sorrow Tears & Blood (Original Extended Version), Colonial Mentality
Punk 45: Original Punk Rock Singles Cover Art
“Punk 45 is a revelatory guide to hundreds and hundreds of original seven-inch record cover sleeve designs–visual artifacts found at the heart of the most radical and anarchistic musical movement of the twentieth century. Spurred by the Desperate Bicycles’ rallying cry ‘It was easy, it was cheap–go and do it!’ and Mark Perry’s ‘Here are three chords. Now form a band,’ thousands of new groups emerged in the wake of the Pistols, between 1976 and 1980. This politicized do-it-yourself ethic was applied to design as much as it was to music, and these lo-fi record sleeves declared politics ranging from anarchism to socialism, anticonsumerism, feminism and more. Spanning pre-punk to postpunk, Punk 45 is introduced and co-compiled by Jon Savage, author of the acclaimed, definitive history of the Sex Pistols and punk music, England’s Dreaming, and the period’s most pre-eminent historian. It features sleeves from bands such as the Adverts, Cabaret Voltaire, Crass, Dead Kennedys, Electric Eels, The Flamin’ Groovies, The Human League, Joy Division, Pere Ubu, Plastic Bertrand, The Residents, X-Ray Spex and many, many others. As well as original artwork, the book also includes interviews and articles on designers such as Peter Saville, Jamie Reid, Malcolm Garrett and Gee Voucher, and interviews with record label founders such as Geoff Travis (Rough Trade), printing pressers and more. Punk 45 is an exhaustive, thorough and exciting celebration of the stunning artwork of punk music, including everything from the most celebrated and iconic designs through to the stark beauty of the cheapest do-it-yourself lo-fi obscurities.”
Printed Matter
Guardian: The best punk singles record covers – in pictures
amazon
Hüsker Dü – Zen Arcade (1984)
“In many ways, it’s impossible to overestimate the impact of Hüsker Dü‘s Zen Arcade on the American rock underground in the ’80s. It’s the record that exploded the limits of hardcore and what it could achieve. Hüsker Dü broke all of the rules with Zen Arcade. First and foremost, it’s a sprawling concept album, even if the concept isn’t immediately clear or comprehensible. More important are the individual songs. Both Bob Mould and Grant Hart abandoned the strict “fast, hard, loud” rules of hardcore punk with their songs for Zen Arcade. Without turning down the volume, Hüsker Dü try everything — pop songs, tape experiments, acoustic songs, pianos, noisy psychedelia. Hüsker Dü willed themselves to make such a sprawling record — as the liner notes state, the album was recorded and mixed within 85 hours and consists almost entirely of first takes. That reckless, ridiculously single-minded approach does result in some weak moments — the sound is thin and the instrumentals drag on a bit too long — but it’s also the key to the success of Zen Arcade. Hüsker Dü sound phenomenally strong and possessed, as if they could do anything. The sonic experimentation is bolstered by Mould and Hart‘s increased sense of songcraft. Neither writer is afraid to let his pop influences show on Zen Arcade, which gives the songs — from the unrestrained rage of ‘Something I Learned Today’ and the bitter, acoustic ‘Never Talking to You Again’ to the eerie ‘Pink Turns to Blue’ and anthemic ‘Turn On the News’ — their weight. It’s music that is informed by hardcore punk and indie rock ideals without being limited by them. ”
allmusic
Make Mine a Double #2: Husker Du’s “Zen Arcade” (Video)
Something I Learned Today: A Review of Hüsker Dü’s Zen Arcade
W – Zen Arcade
YouTube: Zen Arcade [1984, FULL ALBUM] 1:10:20
Urgh! A Music War (1982)
“Urgh! A Music War is a 1982 British film featuring performances by punk rock, new wave, and post-punk acts, filmed in 1980. Among the artists featured in the film are Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), Magazine, The Go-Go’s, Toyah Willcox, The Fleshtones, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, X, XTC, Devo, The Cramps, Oingo Boingo, Dead Kennedys, Gary Numan, Klaus Nomi, Wall of Voodoo, Pere Ubu, Steel Pulse, Surf Punks, 999, The Alley Cats, UB40, Echo & the Bunnymen and The Police. These were many of the most popular groups on the New Wave scene; in keeping with the spirit of the scene, the film also features several less famous acts, and one completely obscure group, Invisible Sex, in what appears to be their only public performance. …”
Wikipedia
Discogs (Video)
YouTube: Urgh! A Music War 26 videos
News from Babel
“News from Babel were an English avant-rock group founded in 1983 by Chris Cutler, Lindsay Cooper, Zeena Parkins and Dagmar Krause. They made two studio albums with several guest musicians (including Robert Wyatt) and disbanded in 1986. In the wake of English avant-rock group Henry Cow (1968–1978), Art Bears (1978–1981), a song-oriented group, was formed by three of Henry Cow’s members, drummer Chris Cutler, multi-instrumentalist Fred Frith and singer Dagmar Krause. In Art Bears’ wake, News from Babel emerged in 1983, comprising Cutler, Krause, Henry Cow woodwind player Lindsay Cooper, and United States harpist Zeena Parkins. It was Parkins’s first ‘rock group’ and the first time she had recorded with her harp. This new group followed the song-oriented approach of Art Bears, but with a different musical emphasis. Cooper composed the music and Cutler wrote the song texts. News from Babel were purely a studio group, and its formation, name and first album were inspired by literary critic George Steiner‘s 1975 book on language and translation, After Babel. Commenting on the group, Cutler said: ‘I liked the idea of a record as a letter or a newscast from a doomed but hopeful place.’ In 1983 they recorded Work Resumed on the Tower, the title referring to the Tower of Babel, with guest vocalist Phil Minton. At the same time they also recorded ‘Contraries’, a Parkins/Cutler composition released as a single with Work Resumed on the Tower subscription editions. In 1986 they made Letters Home, named after the title of one of Sylvia Plath‘s books. By this stage, Krause had left the group, but she still guested on the album, which also featured guest vocalists Robert Wyatt, Sally Potter and Phil Minton, plus guitarist Bill Gilonis from The Work, who also produced the album. Cooper’s music on both albums is a blend of rock, jazz and cabaret, while Cutler’s lyrics are literate, exploring Marxist themes and personal alienation. The group disbanded in 1986 after recording their second album. …”
Wikipedia
News From Babel – Sirens And Silences/Work Resumed On The Tower, Letters Home
Discogs (Video)
News From Babel (Lyrics)
bandcamp: Sirens And Silences/Work Resumed On The Tower (Audio), Letters Home (Audio)
YouTube: Letters Home FULL ALBUM 35:19
Punk Scrawled Artist 