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Foist was a photocopied mail art magazine published in the 2nd half of the 1980s by Scott Dohring, from Rochester, NY. Comparable to Lloyd Dunn’s PhotoStatic magazine (to which Dohring also contributed, ie: #36, 1989), Foist included writings, drawings and copy art sent by international contributors.

Issue #7, 1989, is downloadable from the Internet Archive.

A musician himself, Scott Dohring played bass with rock bands Deerpark and If Viscous, while also making solo electronic music under the d’Zoid alias. Several issues of Foist were compilation cassettes of audio art contributions, like the 1988 cassette Foist Compilation II, in addition to today’s Collective Foist LP, also from 1988. In 2009, Dohring conceived the Mixed Logit Intercepts spoken word project with contributions from 9 poets including John Bennett, Sonia Talkaczs or Ted Williams, backed by Dohring’s abstract, electronic sounds. The result is brilliant and a joy to listen. It has been uploaded by Dohring himself on his Mediafire page.

♫ The 1988 Collective Foist LP focuses on the Rochester scene exclusively, with styles ranging from new-wave to post-punk, from experimental to industrial rock. Some of the influences show on some tracks, like the opener ambient-industrial soundscape ala Controlled Breeding or Peter Landers‘ vocal acrobatics ala David Moss. But the LP also offers highly creative contributions: Vingt Doigts is Jack Schaefer on guitar, violin and reeds, Zeppi Vin Doigts, bass, and John Grieco, drums. Their track Lethargy is one of the highlights of this LP, an instrumental going through various phases, at times delicate chamber music, at times muscular prog rock. Also a member of the Stripminers trio, Grieco opened for the Butthole Surfers with his Down With People trio with Schaefer and Zeppi (see this Rochester City Newspaper article). The disc ends with Jim Denault‘s sublime Trucker, for toy piano, harmonica and tape effects, with echoes of Biota or Ennio Morricone – to no surprise, Denault is now a film director.

01 Dinosaur+Boysenberry=Choo Choo .06 Mucus Membrane Morning Glory (3:33)
02 M. L. Qubed Dictionary Of Symbols (5:18)
03 Matt Messinger Bad Rythem (5:21)
04 Deco Vocal Percussion II: Nominals (3:35)
05 Peter Landers Vocalese (1:02)
06 Lilacs Dr. Gene (5:30)
07 Vingt Doigts Lethargy (3:57)
08 Stripminers Ol’ Walt (3:11)
09 Deerpark Mmm, Perestroika (4:55)
10 Health & Beauty Afro-Vaginum (1:34)
11 Health & Beauty I’d Rather Be In Rochester (1:48)
12 Jim Denault Trucker (3:42)

Total time 43:25
LP released by Foist Magazine, Rochester, N.Y., USA, 1988

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