23 Skidoo - Ethics 7" (1981)

Early compatriots of Cabaret Voltaire and Throbbing Gristle on Britain's experimental/industrial scene, 23 Skidoo pursued an improvisational fusion of ethnic drumming and post-punk dance on their few recordings of the early '80s. Named after a mysterious Illuminati phrase that appeared in the work of Aleister Crowley, William Burroughs and filmmaker Julian Biggs, the group formed in London around brothers (and martial-arts experts) Alex and Johnny Turnbull and Fritz Catlin (aka Fritz Haamann). Influenced by Fela Kuti and the emerging New York hip-hop scene, 23 Skidoo released their first single "Ethics" in 1980. For their second, the band recorded at Cabaret Voltaire's Western Works with Genesis P-Orridge of Throbbing Gristle helping out on production.

In 1982, 23 Skidoo released the mini-LP Seven Songs and the Tearing Up the Plans EP for the Fetish label (also home to recordings by Throbbing Gristle and Clock DVA). After replacing their nominal rhythm section with bassist Sketch (who shared the trio's aesthetic), the band continued with 1983's The Culling Is Coming and 1984's Urban Gamelan. Their varied influences and occasionally sublime sound confused many critics and listeners, who expected all industrial groups to be as loud and chaotic as the emerging Test Dept. or Einsturzende Neubaten. Even after disbanding in 1984 however, 23 Skidoo continued recording together sporadically during the rest of the decade, and the quartet -- the Turnbulls plus Catlin and Sketch -- formed their own Ronin label in 1989. Though no material from the band appeared in the '90s, they did several remixes and recorded for advertisers including Nike, Wrangler, and Smirnoff. Finally, in 2000, 23 Skidoo released a new, self-titled album for Virgin. [Source: AMG]


23 Skidoo - Ethics

Tracklist:

A Ethics 3:36
B Another Baby's Face 4:41

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23 Skidoo - Ethics 7" (1981)

Yona-Kit - Yona-Kit (1995)

Yona-Kit introduces Zeni Geva's K.K. Null to some of Chicago's finest musicians: Null fronts a quartet featuring Jim O'Rourke, Darin Gray, and Thymme Jones (all of Brise-Glace, and various other projects), with Steve Albini producing and Melt-Banana's Yasuko O. dropping vocals in on "Franken-Bitch" (Melt-Banana have also worked with Albini and O'Rourke). The results aren't as noisy or abraisive as Zeni Geva, but Null's influence is felt heavily throughout the buzzy, all-out rock of the recording-- even on the closing track, a 23-minute exploration very much in the vein of Brise-Glace, there are broad touches of Null's signature scratch and grind. [Source: AMG]


Yona-Kit - Franken-Bitch

Tracklist:

1 Franken-Bitch 2:44
2 Dancing Sumo Wrestlers 3:35
3 Desert Rose 1:14
4 Hi Ka Ri 4:45
5 Twa Corbies 4:26
6 Skeleton King 2:50
7 Get Out Of Here 2:34
8 Disembody 2:14
9 Slice Of Life 23:36

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Yona-Kit - Yona-Kit (1995)

The Three Johns - Death of the European 12" (1985)

A side group started in 1982 by Mekons co-founder Jon Langford, The Three Johns, originally made up of Langford, John Hyatt, Phillip "John" Brennan, and a drum machine, specialized in abrasive, politically charged, danceable rock. Sounding almost nothing like Langford's main band, the Johns were a silly-serious bunch of political and cultural provocateurs. Recording during the height of Margaret Thatcher's ill-conceived Tory rebellion, the Johns were openly antagonistic to this new, conservative vision of Britain's future. And while their elliptical and epigrammatic lyrics might not offer the sloganeering that would easily identify them as lefties, certainly there were enough hints dropped along the way to remove any doubt. Unlike other rock agit-prop, the Johns played a fairly accessible version of polemical post-punk anti-pop that embraced big, messy arena-rock-sounding guitars and hard, repetitive, quasi-hip-hop dance beats. Perhaps the most subversive thing about the Johns is that, despite Langford's and Hyatt's goofy vocals, they were, in their own weird way, pure pop for now people, especially those who hated Thatcher. With collective tongue planted firmly in cheek, the Johns took on British and American obsession with materialism, the diabolical Reagan-Thatcher lovefest, the machinations of the pop music industry, all of it done with a great sense of humor mixed in with genuine fear and horror. Frequently hard to pin down, the Johns reveled in being slippery, exhibiting a love and loathing for pop music. In some respects, the Johns resembled friends and fellow Leeds, England mates the Gang of Four, but where the Gang of Four was dour and serious (bordering on academic), the Johns were loutish and boisterous, which when combining politics and rock & roll can, ultimately, be a good thing. After the release of Eat Your Sons in 1990, Jon Langford turned his attention full-time to the Mekons, putting The Three Johns on what has turned out to be an indefinite sabbatical. [Source: AMG]


The Three Johns - Death Of The European

Tracklist:

A Death Of The European

B1 Heads Like Convicts
B2 Rabies
B3 Twentieth Century Boy

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The Three Johns - Death of the European 12" (1985)

The Verlaines - Hallelujah All The Way Home (1985)

Hallelujah All the Way Home finds the band looking for a style, somewhat aimlessly. Through epic-length complex compositions, the band sometimes loses its way, but in a few cases (such as "It Was Raining") a glimpse of potential is revealed. Not a great album, but a few very good songs. [Source: AMG]


The Verlaines - Ballad of Harry Noryb

Tracklist:

1 It Was Raining 5:01
2 All Laid On 2:10
3 The Lady And The Lizard 5:52
4 Don't Send Me Away 1:53
5 Lying In State 2:35
6 Phil Too ? 4:37
7 For The Love Of Ash Grey 3:34
8 The Ballad Of Harry Noryb 7:32

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The Verlaines - Hallelujah All The Way Home (1985)

The Telescopes - Celeste EP (1991)

The Telescopes third EP for Creation marked the full flowering of the band's lush and dreamy shoegaze sound. They finally cast aside almost all vestiges of the noise rock band they once were and set sail for the Isle of Bliss. Leadoff track "Celeste" is three minutes of circular guitar riffs, oscillating keyboards, baggy dance beats, and swooning background harmonies. In 1991, guitar pop didn't get much more perfect than this. "All a Dreams" is a sleepy, sensual ballad with a very sweet melody crooned by Stephen Lawrie buried beneath the shifting atmosphere created by the guitars and effects. Celestial is a nine-minute remix of "Celeste" that opens up the dense sound of the original and shoots it off into outer space. It is a fine piece of shoegaze dub, a genre that not enough bands explored during shoegaze's heyday. The Telescopes never got the press that other bands like Ride or Catherine Wheel got, but the band was making some very fine, somewhat revolutionary records. Both "Celeste" and Celestial are on the flawed 2003 Telescopes collection As Approved by the Committee, but if you can find this EP you should pick it up because it sounds better on its own than it does on that disc. [Source: AMG]


The Telescopes - Celeste

Tracklist:

1 Celeste 2:40
2 All A Dreams 3:43
3 Celestial 9:13

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The Telescopes - Celeste EP (1991)