(Experimental / Industrial) VA - VOD - Records Presents 80's Industrial & Avantgarde (13xLP+2x7'') (2014) [MP3, 320 kbps]

VOD132.1/2 Death & Beauty Foundation Recordings 1981-84 (2Lp) 25,99 Euro (21,84 Euro for customers outside EU)
The Death and Beauty Foundation
The Death and Beauty Foundation or D.B.F. was initiated on 29th April 1982 from the final year degree show at the Royal College of Art in London. The original line up was Val Denham, Mike Wells, Nick Coombe, Stuart Jane, Elita Denham and Antal Nemeth. Originally the D.B.F. was conceived as a performance/action group with experimental sound.
As the group progressed the sound became the most defining aspect of their creative output. Visuals were still evident to some degree, but, had obviously receded due to the dominance of the ‘music’. With Val Denham on vocals, lyrics, harmonica and other various instruments and Oli Novadnieks on guitar; various friends were roped in as occasional musical cohorts in their venture.
The first side of The Death & Beauty Foundation double album highlights various tracks taken from “The Darlington Tapes”, recorded by Val Denham and Andrew McKenzie (of the Hafler Trio) in 1982.
The Death and Beauty Foundation were adopted by a small group of experimental performers that orbited the Industrial ideology of Throbbing Gristle, bands such as Coil, Pure, Ake, Ramleh and Dogs Blood Order. The D.B.F. performed at the legendary Equinox Event with these bands at the London Musicians Cooperative in London 1983.
However, the D.B.F. never really considered themselves to be Industrial noise merchants at all. They were merely welcomed by these radical musicians because of their perverse and somewhat confrontational atonal sound art. To be honest they weren’t even that atonal or abstract anyway, often veering off into classic R and B riffs, performing distorted cover versions of songs such as Working in a Coal Mine, Heartbreak Hotel, Light my Fire and Tomorrow Never Knows in an almost minimalist hysterical fashion.
In fact the Death and Beauty Foundation were really avant-garde pop brutalists who liked to have a good time. Much of these rare recordings can be heard on this double album, some tracks may even sound as though they have been recorded incorrectly. They haven’t, it is all intentional, and the awkward sounds were there from the beginning. It becomes obvious that The Death & Beauty Foundation had a sense of humour, a trait that sometimes seemed to be lacking in their Industrial allies at the time.

Silverstar Amoeba was simply the slimming down of The Death and Beauty Foundation to a permanent duo comprising of Val Denham and Oli Novadnieks. The first recordings were tentatively executed at Talbot Road, Seven Sisters, London in Oli’s basement flat on an old reel to reel tape machine that could only record two tracks. Oli Novadnieks was the guitar player and Val Denham again provided the vocals, lyrics, harmonica, keyboards and tape loops etc.
The resulting experimental ‘songs’ were mixed down and transferred to cassette tape.
This was in the mid-1980s. Silverstar Amoeba became rather obscure at the time, producing entire completed albums of their own compositions with finished artwork on cassette. These editions ran to only two copies, one each for the creators themselves. They rarely played their work to anyone else. This did not stop them from suddenly popping up as the support act for bands such as Psychic TV or Einsturzende Neubauten. Impromptu performances in various pubs around London once in a blue moon added to their dark mystique.
These obscure recordings can be heard now for the first time, Silverstar Amoeba were helped along by various friends such as Danny Loker on bass, Gerry Hobday on guitar, Plume on saxophone and Elita Denham, Val’s wife at that time, on percussion.
Some of these tracks are Val Denham’s completely solo recordings made on a Fostex X.15 four track cassette recorder. Many of the lyrics were composed spontaneously whilst recording. The track, Ophelia, is taken from The Hammersmith Palais rehearsal tape for the Fabulous Feast of Flowering Light, which was a daylong event at The Hammersmith Palais, London, 19th May 1985. On this occasion The Death & Beauty Foundation performed as a trio, Val Denham on vocals and harmonica, Oli Novadnieks on guitar and Plume on saxophone and percussion. They also used a pre-recorded backing tape for this event.

VOD132.4 Counterdance The Human Slug Sessions 1979-81 (1Lp)
Counterdance the electronic experimental band was formed in the summer of 1978 in a bedroom in Bradford 5. Starting briefly with two members - Mark Bromwich / Bokowiec (oscillators and effects) and Eli Vasylenko (guitar).
Inspired by and sharing the same circuitry as bands like Can, Throbbing Gristle, This Heat and the original Human League, the group quickly expanded to four full time members with the addition of Pete Humphries (bass guitar) and Julius (of Napalm Fingernails) Vasylenko on vocals. Shortly after Val Denham joined and became responsible for the unorthodox lyrics and vocals
Rehearsals took the form of long improvisation sessions, firstly at various group members’ homes and moving on to an available empty night time studio in The Department of Psychology at Leeds University.
This album was given the name The Human Slug Tapes by Mark Bromwich (synthesisers and drum machine) when it was originally recorded at Leeds University on 25th November 1978.
Having imbibed both LSD and alcohol, most of the vocalisations were performed as he (Val Denham has since changed gender) slithered around on the floor of the makeshift studio in a somewhat slug like fashion. At one point believing himself to be in the band Kraftwerk and adopting a pseudo German accent which is both disturbing and amusing in equal measure.
Val Denham’s behaviour became increasingly erratic when Counterdance attempted to perform live at the Queen’s Hall in Bradford in 1978, preferring to simply scream instead of reciting any lyrics from his big brown book of poetry. Inevitably he was sacked.
The band expanded and contracted as various people joined the core of the group. These included Simon and Carl Bromwich on drum machine and vocals respectively, Clare (we forget her last name!) on bass guitar, Jack Hardy on vocals, John (Rok Star) Phillips on keyboards and vocals and Ray Buck (Junkyard Supermarket) on vocals.
The group finally disbanded in 1981, but Mark and Pete carried on as a synthesiser duo called Binary Man and performed gigs in and around their home town of Bradford.
This Counterdance album is dedicated to Peter Humphries who sadly left us all on the 22nd November 1998 - crucially missed and often remembered.
Discovered after decades in the back of an old school cupboard, the original and almost mythical lost tape with such classics as ‘Surburbia’, ‘Mechanical Damage’ and ‘Panic in Bradford’remains a testament to Bradford’s answer to Cabaret Voltaire, the early Human League, Throbbing Gristle and all the late 1970’s electronic experimentalists who lasted the distance.
Although these original tapes have been re-mastered they do contain the occasional malfunctions which are audible as pops and interference due to Val Denham getting entangled in electrical wiring and the leads of various instruments. The rambling majesty of these recordings has finally been preserved for all time by Vinyl-on-Demand. This is extraordinary stuff.

Продолжительность: 00:55:07
Треклист:
01. Vox Populi! - Brave Old World [00:01:59]
02. Vox Populi! - Hйmoptysie [00:00:40]
03. Vox Populi! - Ectoplasme II [00:02:00]
04. Vox Populi! - Ectoplasme I [00:01:35]
05. Vox Populi! - Ectoplasme III [00:00:54]
06. Vox Populi! - La Cathedrale Morte Part 4 [00:05:31]
07. Vox Populi! - La Cathedrale Morte Part 7 [00:03:46]
08. Vox Populi! - Baby Sex [00:02:23]
09. Vox Populi! - Ankaboot [00:03:30]
10. Vox Populi! - Gutta-Percha [00:05:32]
11. Vox Populi! - Trois Gouttes De Sang [00:02:58]
12. Vox Populi! - Guilane Djane [00:00:37]
13. Vox Populi! - Be Hedayat I [00:03:43]
14. Vox Populi! - Avaze Djodayi [00:02:38]
15. Vox Populi! - Gachtam [00:02:18]
16. Vox Populi! - Omid [00:02:29]
17. Vox Populi! - Shamgah [00:02:14]
18. Vox Populi! - Myscitisme I [00:02:10]
19. Vox Populi! - Myscitismes II [00:02:48]
20. Vox Populi! - Delome [00:05:12]

Продолжительность: 00:55:37
Треклист:
01. Vox Populi! - Nazareman [00:04:20]
02. Vox Populi! - Opium [00:02:28]
03. Vox Populi! - Ovan V [00:03:21]
04. Vox Populi! - Pellucidar [00:01:35]
05. Vox Populi! - Gutta Percha II [00:02:55]
06. Vox Populi! - Yek! [00:02:22]
07. Vox Populi! - Djostodjou [00:03:51]
08. Vox Populi! - Le Mystère Moyo [00:03:22]
09. Vox Populi! - Second Alien Voice [00:01:12]
10. Vox Populi! - Ala Okik [00:02:24]
11. Vox Populi! - Gole No Zun [00:02:07]
12. Vox Populi! - Hebris [00:02:32]
13. Vox Populi! - Ovan [00:02:52]
14. Vox Populi! - Opération Banquise [00:02:27]
15. Vox Populi! - Glassy Stare [00:03:27]
16. Vox Populi! - Let Us Get Higher [00:02:26]
17. Vox Populi! - Neume [00:01:55]
18. Vox Populi! - Egin [00:04:09]
19. Vox Populi! - Jube Man [00:05:42]

Продолжительность: 00:16:38
Треклист:
01. Vox Populi! - La Nuni Kamenuna [00:02:05]
02. Vox Populi! - Sunshine Boy’s Earthly Meditation [00:01:11]
03. Vox Populi! - Bozorg [00:01:29]
04. Vox Populi! - Miss October [00:02:22]
05. Vox Populi! - Joue Joue [00:04:13]
06. Vox Populi! - Qou [00:03:17]
07. Vox Populi! - Nakarde [00:01:59]

VOD132.5/6 Vox Populi Imaginary Myscitisms & Alternative Watermelons 2Lp/7inch 28,99 Euro (24,36 Euro outside EU)
Vox Populi! was founded by Axel Kyrou in 1981 and occupied a central and a single place in the history of french (ethno)-industrial music.
Its singularity layed in the combination of seldom joined elements, so much so that the label of “ethno-industrial” was often affixed to VP!
The cold wave and minimalist trends featured on the first record release (the ep ‘Ectoplasmies’, 1983) were soon overwhelmed by all kinds of strange experiments, most often involving very disparate kind of musics (at the same time) : ethnic, electronic, concrete music, funk, experimental, industrial, ….
Many musicians were involved along the years, but Axel’s most decisive meeting was with Mitra (vocals in Persian) and her brother Arash (percussions), twoIranians from Teheran and installed from an early age in France. Together with Axel (synth, organ and production) and Francis Man (bass and guitar), the main they quickly became group members.
Consequently, the use of “traditional” instruments and, especially, Mitra’s voice will give the music of VP! its specific tonality, without locking it up in a single style. Freedom was the alpha and omega of the music making philosophy. No rules , no boundaries of any kind. Setting the recording environment as to facilitate unforeseen events to happen. Mostly first takes, of course.
They had their own home studio in Paris and plenty of time to experiment without any pressure. Thus VP!’s productivity became very important, beginning with a first LP “Myscitismes” in 1985, entirely re-released here for the first time.
Loaded with a strong spirituality, aureoled of a meditative halo, it is the fruit of a harmonious marriage and fluidity between electronic elements (synthesizers, rhythm box, loops), Mitra’s voice and acoustic instruments played by Arash (percussions, zither).
One finds there also flutes and the horn of Axel which will become a recurring element. This 2Lp/7inch-Set features also most of the ‘ectoplasmies ep’, large extracts from the 5 cassettes the band released between 1983 and 1988, very seldom heard compilation tracks (VP! were featured on more then 70 compilations during the 80’s) and unreleased tracks.
The whole VP! Story is told in a 16 pages booklet by Tristan Koreya, the man behind the Nostalgiedelaboue blogspot and label, with original photos.

VOD132.7/8 Funeral Danceparty 'A Celebration of iDEATH' Recordings 1979-82 (2Lp/7inch)
Funeral Danceparty began in 1979. Their debut release was ‘The Curiosity Shop’ cassette which they released privately in early 1980. This contained several tracks ranging from Free Improv to Musique Concrete to mutant Pop.
A review in a national fanzine made comparisons to Cabaret Voltaire, Faust and The Residents. As was the case with many DIY releases at that time, the cassette was advertised in ‘Sounds,’ a national weekly music paper. To obtain a copy, interested parties were requested to send a blank cassette and SAE (self-addressed envelope.) Approx 100 copies were distributed worldwide.
Around this time FD began communicating with other early cassette-culture/DIY pioneers / luminaries including Alien Brains, Instant Automatons/Deleted Records, NWW/United Dairies and many others. Their next cassette (also self-released) was ‘The Attractions Of Fixed Interest’ which was also ‘sold’ via ‘Sounds.’ Reviews appeared in several fanzines. One reviewer stated, ‘FD take us on a surreal sonic journey using an array of conventional instruments (guitars, piano, violin, synth, percussion) plus various fx, tape-loops, white noise and found-sounds. Very interesting and highly challenging.’ Another review stated, 'While the sounds are made by conventional instruments, the instruments are used as sound sources of considerably spontaneity which creates a distinctive atmosphere: a mixture of Free music and collage.’
A demo cassette was sent to Industrial Records, Rough Trade and DJ John Peel, all of whom commented favourably and offered advice, suggesting FD self-finance an LP which, due to finances, wasn’t possible. United Dairies were interested in issuing an LP but on the stipulation that it be recorded in a ‘proper’ studio. One track was recorded at a 24-track studio but the finances weren’t available to record further material. This, combined with having to use a clueless in-house producer, resulted in the proposed LP for UD being shelved.
FD made their live debut at a local youth club (YMCA.) This was a free concert attended by mainly local youths who, having only previously been exposed to Pop music, were somewhat perplexed by what they saw/heard although seemed to enjoy it.
FD’s next (also private) release was ‘Qwertyuiop’ which contained both ‘studio’ tracks and an excerpt from the YMCA concert. This also received reviews in several fanzines: ‘Their most challenging release to date. Includes a free improv piece, a sound collage and a live recording sounding like a cross between the more unmusical elements of King Crimson and Throbbing Gristle, if you can imagine that?’ ‘Highly inventive mash-up of percussion, scraped and plucked strings, creaking doors, falling objects, abused tapes, and I'm sure there's a kitchen sink in there somewhere!’
Next came a performance at Spectro (Newcastle) in 1980 as part of an arts festival. Spectro was an arts centre which mainly hosted concerts by the likes of Derek Bailey, Evan Parker, Tony Oxley, etc., so the regular attendees were used to ‘challenging’ music. However, FD’s performance proved to be a little too challenging for them to the extent that several of the audience became enraged and left in disgust.
During the rest of 1980 – ’82 several other recordings were made including a collaboration with Alien Brains.
A further (final) performance took place at the beginning of 1982, this time at Morden Tower (Newcastle), a 13th. Century turret which had in the ‘60s had been a world-renowned poetry venue loved by Alan Ginsberg who performed there on at least one occasion. Leaflets were distributed simply stating Dada Siegt! (Dada Lives!) with a map of how to find the venue. A group of eager art students turned up as well as a few others curious as to what was to take place. In addition music, this performance involved all manner of costumes and props, multi cine-film projections, etc. A review appeared in a local magazine which compared the event to a Fluxus happening and ended with, ‘Based on what I heard/witnessed that evening, Dada is alive and well!’

VOD132.9/10 K2 Recordings 1981-83 (2Lp)
K2 alias Kimihide Kusafuka is one of the most important early 80's japanese noise protagonists in line with Masami Akita (Merzbow) or Hijokaidan and Toshiji Mikawa of Incapacitants with several hundreds of releases and contributions in the past three decades
In 1981 he started his musical activity devoting himself solely to recording several different styles of noise-works/music to be released primarily on his own tape-label called Kinky Tape Collection (later changing name to Kinky Musik Institiute) and released around 20 tapes during the coming 4 years with noise-music while the term and genre "noise-music" itself interestingly just established years later.
Some of his works he also licensed to other international Tape-Labels such as Schwabenstolz and Stock und Hut Records in Germany or D.D. Records in Japan or contributed to Cassette-Compilations on ZSF, Illusion Productions, De Fabriek, Calypso Now,
The era during 1981-1986 was the time of music experiments for Kimihide with 1983 being the most intense year of recordings produced At that time, he had been related to mail art & music and performed metal percussion solo-concerts.
Although Kimihide loves the dark and neurotic atmosphere of “ZombieAnatomy” series, he also loves the rhythmic noise work such as “Dance Macabre” and “N.G. Music” and he even recorded electronic pop, avant-garde rock which you can listen to in his project Techno Menses in 1983/84 (released on VOD-Records a few months ago) or Denjubaku in 1982/83 or under his real name Kimihide Kusafuka
This 2Lp-Compilation contains the very early period of K2; his previously unreleased first tape work “Student Apathy” which is a kind of music concrete or tape music in modern music as well as three serial works of “ZombieAnatomy” and the more beat noise work “N.G. Musik” and “Dance Macabre”. (Some of these works have been released in the late 80's as a 5 cassettes box by RRRecords, Pathosonico Anatomico”/ K2)

VOD132.11/12 ROBERT HAIGH Cold Pieces 1985-1989
Robert Haigh's 'Cold Pieces' is the companion collection to 2012's Time Will Say Nothing 4Lp-Set by SEMA.
These two compilations represent Robert Haigh's earliest output - covering most of the eighties (1982 to 1989.) Where 'Time Will Say Nothing' focused on Haigh's darker and more industrial period, 'Cold Pieces' represents the evolution into more piano based experimentation.
The music of Cold Pieces is haunting and evocative, employing fragile melodies and discordant twists. And as with his later works, the music here is both minimal yet mysterious, reflective yet challenging.
Included in this collection is the United Dairies album 'Valentine Out Of Season', the CD only 'A Waltz In Plain C'. Also represented are the much sought after LAYLAH EPs ('Juliet Of The Spirits' and 'Music From The Ante Chamber') and a collection of never released before improvisations and preludes entitled 'Dead Airs (Lost Sessions 1985/86)'.

VOD132.13 Blockader / Chris Connelly Recordings 1983-88 (1Lp)
This record with early to mid 80's 'Blockader'-Recordings by multi-talented artist Chris Connelly reveal a surprisingly new insight and aspect to the dark and experimental/industrialish musical life- and developing career to the former band-member of famous bands like Ministry, Fini Tribe and Revolting Cocks.
Fans of music by Sema, Nurse With Wound or early Current 93 shouldn't miss this record.
It was a cold winter’s night when Chris Connelly laid in bed with his radio in late 1978 and first heard “hamburger lady” by Throbbing Gristle. Back then he was 14 , and it changed his life dramatically for ever, and at that time in his life started a correspondence that lasts to this day.
He was already an obsessive collector of underground and independent music, and the magazine “zig zag” had published an issue dedicated to independent labels, this became his bible as I combed the record shops for rare end exotic experiences to listen to..
He had already been making sounds at home usig a reel to reel tape recorder to create loops and feedback, using short wave radio in the middle of the night- He had no instruments and did not really want any-it was too restricting! Although thinking they were awful, members of Throbbing Gristle encouraged him to push forward.
1979 saw the release of another important album for me “chance meeting” by Nurse With Wound was an absolute nightmare of a record (meant in the most positive way) followed by the beginning of Throbbing Gristle’s live cassette series, which he would buy, 1 or 2 at a time and wait for the small padded envelope in the post.
Suddenly cassette tapes by themselves were a medium to release music, and suddenly there was a network of people (their names appearing in the back of INDUSTRIAL RECORDS NEWSLETTER) to whom you could write to share ideas. His first cassette came out via the fanzine “escape as jet” in 1980 “sawing off a lamb’s head”, it was a cassette single, I don’t think I ever saw a copy.
Correspondences started up between anyone who released a cassette or a record with a home made cover (black and white Xeroxed art stuck to a white sleeve). He would get hastily scribbled notes from Whitehouse (never signed, it would be years before he met William) who’s albums “Total Sex” and “Erector” terrified and seduced me.
Eventually his solo recordings were augmented by friends and we became RIGOR MORTIS, and subsequently FINI TRIBE, they contributed to the landmark compilation “you bet we’ve got something against you” and they became friends with David Tibet.
Fini Tribe signed to WAXTRAX records at the same time Chris joined the Revolting Cocks and subsequently Ministry, leaving Scotland for Chicago.
Along the way of these band-projects he made these solo-recordings that you have here:
Some of these early to mid 80's material are most likely recorded in a damp rehearsal space in Edinburgh, some on a grey, rainy council estate in the same city, and some from sessions in Chicago. Not even the correct chronology is known but it must have been dated before 1988 as most of the recordings were part of a two Tapes found by Frank Maier in his Tape-archive which contained a radio-broadcast at WZRD-College Radio in Chicago from 1988.
Chris actively determined to not make music, young, angry and really hungry! Listening back, he has not changed very much and is grateful for that….