The Wreckery

One of the more important bands on the Australian post-punk scene of the 1980s, Melbourne's The Wreckery played dark, atmospheric music informed by the blues and the same sort of chemical and cultural obsessions as their contemporaries Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds -in fact, co-founder Hugo Race had been an early member of The Bad Seeds. Guitarist and vocalist Race formed The Wreckery with guitarist Ed Clayton-Jones in 1984; the group grew from an earlier project, Plays With Marionettes, which also featured multi-instrumentalist Robin Casinader, who had gone to school with Race. Plays With Marionettes began in 1980 and ended in 1983, when Nick Cave (who had recently left The Birthday Party) recruited Race and latter-day Plays With Marionettes drummer Mick Harvey (also a Birthday Party alumnus) to join his backing band The Bad Seeds after Plays With Marionettes opened for Cave. Race appeared on Cave's first album with The Bad Seeds, 1984's 'From Her to Eternity', and was a guest musician on 'Kicking Against the Pricks' and 'Tender Prey', but after completing his first tour with Cave, Race reconnected with Clayton-Jones and began writing songs; they decided to form a new group of their own, and took their name from one of their first new tunes, "In My Wreckery". Joining Race, Clayton-Jones, and Casinader in The Wreckery were Charles Todd on saxophones and Nick Barker on bass; the group released their first EP, 'I Think This Town Is Nervous', in 1985 on the tiny White / Hot Records label. The better-established Rampant Records signed The Wreckery in time to release their second EP, 'Yeh My People' which, like its precursor, did well on the Australian indie charts and helped the band become a frequent presence on the touring circuit. In 1987, The Wreckery released their first full-length album, 'Here at Pain's Insistence', with another EP, 'Ruling Energy', following in early 1988. Despite The Wreckery's success, Rampant Records was having financial problems, and after Rampant released a "Best-Of" set titled 'Collection', the band jumped ship for Citadel Records, who in late 1988 brought out 'Laying Down Law', regarded by many as the group's strongest work. However, tensions within the band, exaggerated by touring and health issues, came to a head, and by the time 'Laying Down Law' was released, The Wreckery had already chosen to split up after a brief tour, with guests standing in for Barker and Casinader. Nick Barker went on to a successful solo career, and Race, Clayton-Jones, and Casinader remain active in music with a variety of projects. In 2008, Memorandum Records issued 'Past Imperfect', a two-CD anthology drawn from the group's catalog, and The Wreckery reunited to play a handful of shows in support. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC] 

Vita Noctis

Vita Noctis were a trio from Vilvoorde, Belgium in the Flemish Region. Inspired by the post-punk movement twin brothers Kris and Jos Kips convinced Kris’ girlfriend Martine Genijn to start a band in 1981. They recorded their earliest songs onto a 2-track tape deck in their bedroom studio using second-hand equipment they could afford: Roland TR-808 drum machine, Casiotone MT-31, Ibanez bass guitar and a Korg MS-20 keyboard. Their first album 'In The Face Of… Death' was self-released on cassette only followed in 1984 by the 'Much Money Good Boy, No Money Good-Bye' cassette in 1985. In February 1986 the band recorded five songs at Studio Care in Gent, Belgium later released as the self-titled 12″ Mini-LP on Mad Tapes & Records. Their final recording session was November 1986 returning to the band’s bedroom studio, resulting in the song “She Likes Me” which appeared on the 'Climax Productions Presents' LP compilation. 

More “arthouse” than “goth”, Vita Noctis blend the sneering attitude of punk with the spartan structures of minimal electronics. The band had more in common with the early electronic Sheffield scene of Cabaret Voltaire, Vice Versa or early Human League than their Belgian contemporaries. Urgent vocals go from a whisper to a scream in seconds and sound restless, bored and irritated all at once. Fuzzy guitar, simple baselines and crude electronics take turns accompanying the dynamic vocal stylings. While lyrics tackle weighty topics like death and religion, the landscape they paint is as playfully bratty as it is grim. Vita Noctis are the soundtrack to Armageddon, very fitting in the contemporary climate of dissatisfaction and social upheaval. [SOURCE: DARK ENTRIES RECORDS]

Thirst

In 1987 Martin Bramah (The Fall, Blue Orchids) formed a new group with ex-Fall drummer Karl Burns called Thirst. They released one single record, the EP 'Riding The Times'. [SOURCE: DISCOGS] 

Shox

Shox were a post-punk trio comprising Mike Atkinson, Jaqui Brookes and John Peters. Their sole release was a single, ‘No Turning Back’, issued on the pre-4AD label Axis. Pop with an electronic twist, it was likened to early Human League by the NME. [SOURCE: 4AD] 

Richard H. Kirk

Former Cabaret Voltaire member Richard H. Kirk is widely regarded as one of techno's busiest men, a distinction he's picked up through a release schedule that keeps discographers sweating and die-hard fans near bankruptcy. No doubt, that work ethic developed during Kirk's time with Cabaret Voltaire, who, in their nearly 20 years together, released as many albums and even more EPs. Kirk's even more productive as a solo artist, with countless released credited to Sandoz, Electronic Eye, and works released under his own name, as well as collaborations with British DJ Parrot (as Sweet Exorcist). 

While the Sheffield-based Cabaret Voltaire began as an electronics-and-tape-loops outfit with obvious ties to other English post-industrial experimentalists like Throbbing Gristle, Einsturzende Neubauten, and Chrome, the group eventually penetrated a pop group context while retaining the edge of dystopia and isolation at the core of their earlier work. Kirk's solo work has evolved along similar lines, although he works more toward integrating technology with more humanitarian concerns. His stylistic palette -mostly house, early techno, and ambient- and his status as a fixture of the early days of the Warp label pegged Kirk as an evangelist of "intelligent techno," but his solo work actually comes off closer to sample-heavy ambient house and techno. His affection for African and tribal percussion and thematics connects his various works in obvious ways. 

Kirk's first solo effort under his own name was 'Disposable Half-Truths', a cassette released by Throbbing Gristle's Industrial Records in 1980. Similar to early Cabaret Voltaire, the release combined distorted vocals, primitive drum machines, and sheets of noisy guitars and electronics. Three years later, Cabaret Voltaire's Doublevision label released Kirk's double LP 'Time High Fiction'. In 1985, Kirk collaborated with Peter Hope for a single called "Leather Hands". The following year, Kirk released two full-lengths on Rough Trade: a dark industrial pop record called 'Black Jesus Voice' and a more experimental, sample-driven album titled 'Ugly Spirit'. This album focused on ethnic influences more than any of Kirk's previous releases, and pointed to the directions he'd take in his future projects. 

In 1987, Kirk and Hope released a full-length titled 'Hoodoo Talk'; Wax Trax! released the album in the United States. Cabaret Voltaire continued releasing music, and moved in a direction more inspired by techno and house, influences that also figured into Kirk's solo and collaborative projects. Cabaret Voltaire teamed up with Ministry for a one-off single as Acid Horse, and bleep-house duo Sweet Exorcist released some of the earliest (and most influential) singles on Warp. Kirk started a label called Intone for some of his own works, and its first release was the 'Limbo' EP by his dub-influenced Sandoz moniker, which went on to release several highly regarded albums on Touch. Under his own name, he released 'Virtual State' (1994) and 'The Number of Magic' (1995) on Warp. Ambient techno albums as Electronic Eye followed on Beyond. Mute reissued Kirk's early albums on their sublabel The Grey Area, and Blast First (also affiliated with Mute) released Kirk's limited experimental album 'Knowledge Through Science' in 1998. Touch released Kirk's 'Darkness at Noon' (1999) and 'LoopStatic' (2000). Kirk then released much of his output under Intone, including albums as Blacworld, Biochemical Dread, and Digital Terrestrial, as well as several compilations made up of material by various Kirk projects. In 2004, as Mute reissued some of Cabaret Voltaire's earliest output, the label released Kirk's 'Earlier/Later: Unreleased Projects Anthology 74-89'. In 2014, Die Stadt released the triple-CD compilation 'The Many Dimensions of Richard H. Kirk', which included three early-2010s albums that were intended to be released by the label but instead appeared as digital releases on Intone. In 2016, Mute released '#7489: Collected Works 1974-1989', an eight-CD box set of Kirk's early solo albums and rarities, as well as '#9294: Collected Works 1992-1994', a five-CD box similarly compiling his early work as Sandoz. The following year, he released his first solo effort in five years, 'Dasein'. Written, recorded, and produced over a three-year period at Sheffield's Western Works, the album featured Kirk's first use of vocals in about ten years and was released via Intone. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC] 

PBK

PBK has been working in the areas of noise, ambient and electroacoustic music since 1986. PBK is an acronym for Phillip B. Klingler, born in 1960 in Flint, Michigan. In the early 80's Klingler studied art at Northern Michigan University and CSU San Bernardino. He exhibited his expressionistic paintings in the Los Angeles area and was active on the international mail-art scene.

In the mid-80's, Klingler began experimenting with sound, creating abstract music that related to what he had been doing with visual art. In 1987, PBK began collaborating with tape underground legend, Minoy. Their prolific collaboration began with the Disco Splendor project, led to several Minoy / PBK releases and culminated in PBK's first official solo album, 'Descent', which featured contributions from both Minoy and analog synthesist, David Prescott. PBK released many albums between 1988 and 1990, appeared on numerous compilations and was reviewed extensively, and favorably, in the international underground press. As a prominent figure in the U.S. noise underground, he collaborated, during this time, with such artists as Asmus Tietchens, Jeph Jerman (Hands To), Dirk Serries (Vidna Obmana), Illusion Of Safety and many others. 

In 1992, PBK's first solo CD, 'Macrophage / The Toil And The Reap' was released on the ND label. Two years later ND also released 'Shadows Of Prophecy / In His Throes'. A four-year stay in Puerto Rico, from 1992-96, resulted in deeper isolationist experiments. Using turntable manipulation and an extreme approach to midi-sequencer programming, PBK created an early form of glitch best exemplified by the album, 'Listening To The World Vibrate'. Two projects were released on the RRRecords label, a 3-LP boxset titled 'Domineer / Asesino / Retro' and a cd which featured PBK's collaborative works with AMK and Jeph Jerman. 'Life-Sense Revoked' was recorded during this time also, and featured collaborations with AMK, Brian Ladd, Deaf Lions, Jarboe (Swans), Jeph Jerman and an un-credited Vidna Obmana (Vidna Obmana, who mastered the album, insisted his name be removed from the credits on the track in question, "Cabalistic Personage", resulting in a falling out between the two artists). In 1996, PBK appeared at the 2nd Annual Experiences Festival in Paris, France performing on the same stage as ConDemek, Schimpfluch-Gruppe, Toy Bizarre and others. 

Klingler moved back to the U.S. in 1996, returning to take up residence in his childhood home of Flint, Michigan. The late 90's found PBK utilizing a broad improvisational context in live performance and expanding collaboratively into hip hop, free jazz and metal genres. In the late 90's he worked on two albums, 'Headmix' and 'The Mescaline Tracks', both albums influenced by his interest in electronica and also by his personal use of psychedelics. He collaborated with Artemiy Artemiev, Slavek Kwi (Artificial Memory Trace) and Yasutoshi Yoshida (Government Alpha). His collaborations with Artemiev, 'Dreams In Moving Space' (2000) and 'A Moment Of Infinity' (2002), won critical praise, receiving extensive radio airplay and landing in the Top 50 of the U.S. new age charts. 

In the 2000's, PBK has continued to expand his concept while remaining uncompromising in his approach to sound. His work has been discovered by the younger generation of experimental artists and he has collaborated with such musicians as Ben Brucato (Clew Of Theseus), Brent Gutzeit (TV Pow), C. Reider, Telepherique, Wolf Eyes and many others. In 2004 PBK toured the eastern U.S. with Government Alpha and in 2005 he toured the midwest with De Fenestra. Recently he has been working with independent filmmakers, contributing sound cues for the Detroit area horror series, Lee Martin's "The Midnight Hour", Hart D. Fisher's "Flowers On The Razorwire" and director Joe LiTrenta's film adaptation of Thomas Mann's "The Magic Mountain". [SOURCE: DISCOGS] 

Ornamental

Ornamental were a British / Icelandic musical collaboration between Rose McDowall (of Strawberry Switchblade) and Einar Örn Benediktsson (of The Sugarcubes), along with Dave Ball (of Soft Cell) and Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson. Their biggest hit in the U.S. was "Crystal Nights". [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA] 

La Noche Americana

La Noche Americana were founded in Madrid around 1984 by Juan Carlos Matheu (vocals), Javier Jiménez (guitar), Ricardo Neila (guitar), Kike Cabañas (bass) and Julián Rodríguez (drums). Both Julian and Ricardo came from V2-Berlin and Julian had shared stage with Iñaki Glutamato. With a musical style in which the sound of their sharp guitars flooded the songs, La Noche Americana were influenced from bands such The Psychedelic Furs.

In 1985 they recorded for Gloria Records their only official record, a MiniAlbum titled 'Que Habeis Hecho Con El Tiempo', directed by the singer Rubi and with an impeccable production of Joe Borsani. They even came to record a video of the song "Dias de Lluvia", which could be seen in the famous TVE program "La Bola de Cristal". 

One of his most memorable shows was in September 1986 during the 6th Hortaleza Youth Week, at the Pinar del Rey Auditorium. There they were able to demonstrate to all the attendees the good quality of the sound, the force, the energy and the desire to act absolutely overflowing they had, something that could not be captured in their study work. Soon after, the group dissolved by not getting the desired results. [SOURCE: GRUPOS NACIONALES NUEVA OLA 80] 

Masonna

Maso Yamazaki (山崎マゾ Yamazaki Maso), better known by his stage name Masonna, is a Japanese noise musician. He was born Takushi Yamazaki (山崎卓志 Yamazaki Takushi) on November 16, 1966 in Miyazu, Kyoto, Japan. 

Masonna (マゾンナ) was started in 1987 in Osaka as Maso Yamazaki's noise project. The name is a combination of the Japanese words Maso (マゾ, Masochist) and Onna (女, Woman). It is also a pun on the name of the pop singer Madonna. The name is sometimes rendered as an acronym for Mademoiselle Anne Sanglante Ou Notre Nymphomanie Auréolé (血まみれのアンヌ嬢・若しくは・我等がニンフォマニアが・後光に包まれる) or Mystic Another Selection Of Nurses Naked Anthology. 

Maso also performs as Space Machine using vintage analog synthesizers. He has performed with the psychedelic rock groups Christine 23 Onna (with Fusao Toda of Angel'in Heavy Syrup), which then became Acid Eater with the additions two members, as well as the noise supergroup Bustmonster and the noise trio Flying Testicle. 

Maso has said that he became interested in making noise music when he heard the sounds of destruction on television as a child, but that his first exposure to the Japanese noise genre was Hanatarash's debut LP, which at the time did not impress Maso. It was however later, upon happening on an LP entitled 'LSD' by a Tokyo noise band named Nord, and mistakenly thinking it was an album by the band LSD, that these experiences had possibly kindled his future interest. A year thereafter Maso sought many different types of noise releases in the underground music stores in and around Osaka Japan. Two years would pass until Maso would start to develop his own style of noise and begin producing, at which time he quit listening to the noise albums of others and focused in on his own unique style. Previous to his interest in noise Maso played guitar in several bands, one of which he states in interviews was a Led Zeppelin cover band, playing the occasional Deep Purple song. 

All of Maso's projects draw heavily from the psychedelic music scene in outward style, but sonically most of them resemble very few of the traits of late 1960s and 1970s psychedelic music. Maso has an interest in avant-garde films, having stated in interviews that his two favorite movies are the Alexandro Jodorowsky films "The Holy Mountain" and "El Topo". He also claims to admire and had the wish to have worked with American musician Captain Beefheart.

The Masonna project has been the opening act for several well-known artists on their Japanese concert dates, including Sonic Youth, Beck and Slipknot. Masonna also caught the attention of John Peel and was featured on his program, having even done a limited Masonna 'John Peel Sessions' CD. 

Masonna is most known for Yamazaki's wild live performances which usually consist of damaging his equipment, jumping around madly, and at times getting injured. He has given entire concerts which last only a few seconds. In 1996 Masonna toured the United States on the "American Mystique Tour" named after his album 'Inner Mind Mystique'. Maso was also the manager of Jojo Hiroshige's Alchemy Music Store until its closure. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA] 

Linear Movement

Linear Movement is Belgian mastermind Peter Bonne (A Split-Second, Twilight Ritual, Autumn) joined by Peter Koutstaal, and Lieve Van Steerteghem on vocals. Some tracks appear on the exquisite 'Pulse Music' cassette (released by the Micrart Group) while the rest are previously unreleased. Linear Movement was featured on V/A 'The Lost Tapes' LP with their highly acclaimed "The Game", described as an “unstoppable pop song”. Due to so much interest in this song, Minimal Wave decided to release Linear Movement’s ‘On The Screen’ LP, a collection of songs originally slated for release in 1983. [SOURCE: MINIMAL WAVE RECORDS] 

Keine Ahnung

Keine Ahnung was a quartet from Wörth am Rhein, Germany formed in 1980. The original line up was Rolf Schmuck, Franz H. Rodenkirchen, Elke Fuchs and Olaf Schumacher. Hermann Kopp from Stuttgart, a friend of the band, contributed a composition on their first LP and became a full member in 1985. Taking cues from Conrad Schnitzler, Tuxedomoon and Dome, the band members shared a common interest in industrial, pop, avant garde literature and cinema. Their controversial name translates to “Don’t know” or “Haven’t got a clue” in German. The quartet would record three LPs in 6 years, two of which remain unreleased. 

In March 1983, Keine Ahnung recorded their self-produced and financed debut LP in two days in a small studio in Stuttgart (12 hours total). The mixing was done in one day in a studio in Karlsruhe, April 1983. The self-titled LP was released later that summer on their own PASSIV label in an edition of 1000 copies. This record obtained recognition far beyond the German borders. Keine Ahnung in the studio and live were completely different. Studio time was expensive in these days, so the music was minimal electronic pop, expertly crafted and razor sharp man machine music. The live sound utilized more complex synthesizers, tapes, guitars, metal percussion and custom built electronics. The beats and bass lines came from the Roland 606/303 duo triggering a KORG MS-20 for the bass drum. The track “Funkbild DPA” is a spontaneous “live in the studio” recording, that gives a hint of what the live sound was like. All four members would take turns singing and playing the instruments. [SOURCE: DARK ENTRIES RECORDS] 

The Individuals

The Individuals were a Hoboken, New Jersey-based power pop band led by Glenn Morrow (guitar, vocals, sax, keyboards) and featuring Janet Wygal (bass, vocals, guitar, keyboards), Janet's brother Doug Wygal (drums, percussion), and Jon Light Klages (lead guitar, keyboards, vocals). They were an outgrowth of several jam sessions that also included at various times, Bernie Kugel (The Good, Mystic Eyes) and Dee Pop (Gun Club, Bush Tetras).The band played regularly at Maxwell's and were a central part of the early 1980s Hoboken music scene. 

Their debut EP, 'Aquamarine', was produced by the dB's Gene Holder. It was voted one of the best EPs of 1981 in the Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop critics' poll. The band's one album, 'Fields', was also produced by Holder and engineered by Mitch Easter. 'Fields' featured the minor college radio hit "Dancing With My Eighty Wives". 

The Individuals broke up in 1983. Morrow then formed the band Rage To Live and later went on to help found Bar/None Records, while Janet Wygal and her brother Doug went on to form The Wygals, and Janet Wygal later formed the group Splendora, which provided the theme music for MTV's show "Daria". Both 'Fields' and the 'Aquamarine' EP were reissued, along with four other bonus tracks, on Bar/None Records on July 22, 2008. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]

Hipnosis

Hipnosis (on some records also named Hypnosis) was a successful Italian techno-disco band in the early '80s, born in Parma and founded by Stefano Cundari. It also featured Paul Sears and Ugo Solenghi. At the beginning of the year 1982 Angelo Bergamini from Kirlian Camera joined the band. Cundari had the idea of covering the song "Pulstar" by Vangelis for the label Memory Records. They recorded the song together with Anfrando Maiola from the group Koto. In the ensuing period all of the original members left the project and Bergamini turned down the proposition to stay as a composer and musician of the new line-up and decided to leave the sixty date world tour. At the same time as Hipnosis was developing, Paul Sears officially joined Kirlian Camera's new line-up. In 1987 Cundari released another 7"/12" ("Droid") under the Hipnosis banner. Soon after he passed away. At this point the official Hipnosis-Story ends. 

In 1991 a CD anthology entitled 'Hypnosis' was released. In 1992 a certain Humphrey Robertson released a single and an album for ZYX Records under the name Hypnosis. On both releases the font-logo which can be seen on the 'Hypnosis'-CD was used, so it seems that the label tried to re-animate Hypnosis with other musicians. The last sign of life of this replica was another 12" record in 1994. In 2006 Angelo Bergamini recorded the Song "Kaczynski Code" for the Kirlian Camera album 'Coroner's Sun' under the name Hipnosis Italy. In 2016, for the 'Greatest Hits & Remixes' compilation, ZYX mingled original Hipnosis tracks with selections by Humphrey Robertson as well as yet another Hypnosis, the seemingly unrelated Hypnosis from Canada. [SOURCE: DISCOGS] 

Gone

Formed near the end of his tenure as the leader of Los Angeles hardcore legends Black Flag, Greg Ginn's instrumental group Gone walked the strange fine line between atonal jazz, riff-heavy rock, and brief forays into funk stylings sporadically from 1986 onward. The first Gone release, 'Let's Get Real, Real Gone for a Change', and its follow up, 'Gone II: But Never Too Gone', featured eventual Rollins Band members Sim Cain (drums) and Andrew Weiss (bass). Gone went quiet after their first two releases, not to return until 1994 with not one but two new full-lengths releases that year, 'Criminal Mind' and 'All the Dirt That's Fit to Print'. With Cain and Weiss no longer playing with Ginn (Weiss, by this time, had moved on from the Rollins Band and taken up bass duties with Ween), replacements were found with bassist Steve Sharp and drummer Gregory Moore. 1996 and 1998 saw further Gone releases, 'Best Left Unsaid' and 'Country Dumb', respectively. Other projects, as well as distribution problems at Ginn's (and for that matter Gone's) label, SST, kept Gone quiet after 1998, limiting the band to occasional live appearances. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC] 

Ferial Confine

Ferial Confine is the alias formerly used by Andrew Chalk in the 1980s for his noisier endeavours. Although not as mellow as most of the work for which Andrew Chalk is known, is definitely not a barrage of noise, and really has little in common with most of his Broken Flag label-mates from back in the 1980s. The comparison that immediately comes to mind is Organum's material from around the same time period, something which makes a bit of sense since Andrew Chalk was involved in Organum for a time. His music definitely have the metallic, tense atmosphere associated with Organum's earlier material -high-pitched scraping noises, creaking metal and general uneasiness. [SOURCE: SOUNDOHM] 

Ethnic Acid

Ethnic Acid was the nom de plume of British noise musician Anthony Di Franco, who is currently a member of the legendary UK band Ramleh, and previously of Skullflower, AX, JFK and Novatron. While still a schoolboy, Anthony was carving out a singular identity as a electronic noise musician, recording for labels such as Broken Flag and Birthbiter (UK), Disciplines Productions (Italy) as well as his own JFK imprint. Obscure and arcane, this music had only previously been available to the most dedicated hardcore noise fanatics. [SOURCE: SICKNESS STILL ABOUNDS] 

Dagcenter-Pöbeln

DC-Pöbeln (or sometimes Dagcenterpöbeln, or the shorter DC-P) was concieved in the Swedish city of Örebro by "Guggi" & "17" in the fine year of 1982 as a piece of confusing grafitti. Tommy Olson being "Guggi". As for "17", it feels like a bit of an outing to reveal his identity as he is now a famous adult oriented rock-producer with a great appetite for cholesterol, but what the heck; he was christened Johan Kugelberg by his parents. That´s the line-up really, apart from them there were no "members" as such; merely collaborators and people who happened to own synthesizers and stuff. People unlucky enough to cross their path. More a concept than a band; which is common now, but from where they came unheard of then. DC-Pöbeln played live twice, and it is symptomatic that the only person present on stage on both occassions was a rather distant relation who performed some wacko kind of rituals without ever being asked. Johan was on stage on the first event, and Tommy Olson on the other. (Oddly enough, both concerts took place in museums) And "17" is not present on the recording of 'Bettan' (though he assembled the material that appears on the b-side). Since both Tommy and Johan/"17" moved quite often across the map, recording sessions were sparse, but there were 4-5 sessions between 1983 - 1994. However, both of them made stuff with other people that appeared all over the industrial tape trading network at the time under the name, or one of the names. [SOURCE: THE X FILES] 

Chain Of Command

During spring of 1979 two friends got chatting about the music they were into, Neil Whitehead and Dave Taylor had been friends since 1978 when they met at college. After this discussion they decided to form a band of their own. Neil had a Korg micro preset keyboard, a Rickenbacker bass guitar, and a drum machine. Neil got to work on a couple of song's and they arranged a practice at Neil's mum's house, they practiced at least two times a week, Neil on bass and Dave on keyboard. Neil didn't like playing bass and would rather add another keyboard or synthesizer. This idea came into place when a rather bizarre meeting between Dave, Neil and a friend of Dave's, Matt Adams. They met at a secret Elvis Costello gig at the Grand Hotel New Brighton and got chatting about forming a band. Matt told them he was a keen bass player and was looking for a band, although the band were not actively seeking a bass player the idea was good so they invited Matt to the next practice. The band then set out purchasing another synthesizer and Dave bought a Roland SH09 -Chain Of Command was now complete. 

The band decided they were ready for some live work and set up two practice gigs, one at a friend of Matt's house party, the other, a full dress rehearsal, at the Willaston Memorial Hall, for which the band set up a PA and issued tickets for specially invited guests, mainly friends and family. These both went down well and they were ready to go public. 

Their first public performance was at Birkenhead Park Rugby Club. The gig was a hit and saw the introduction of the backing tapes, slide presentations, and pyrotechnics' that were to become Chain of Command trademarks. Their next gig was at Brady's, the famous music club in Liverpool which had previously been Eric's (it had just changed hands), probably the most influential venue of the late seventies / early eighties era. To play there was amazing; for Dave, Neil, and Matt, Eric's was a place they went at least once a week. The fact the club had been renamed did not matter, this was hallowed ground. Unfortunately the gig was soured by the theft of one of the club's microphones, for which the band had to pay after having one of their synths impounded by the management. 

Two other gigs at Birkenhead YMCA, and St. Luke's Church (Wallasey) followed the latter without Matt who had left to work with another band at the time (A Sleep Secret) after some musical "differences". The band patched things up and Matt re-joined in time for their next gig which was at a local nightclub, Sir James Entertains, followed by the band's biggest ever gig at Mr Pickwicks supporting China Crisis. The band's final gig was at the Warehouse Liverpool. For the Mr Pickwicks and YMCA show's Chain of Command recruited a female singer / dancer Debbie Currie. [SOURCE: CHAINOFCOMMAND.INFO] 

The Blackouts

The Blackouts were a punk rock band formed in Seattle in 1979 by singer / guitarist Erich Werner, bassist Mike Davidson, and drummer William Rieflin, who were all former members of a local punk band, The Telepaths. They were joined by Roland Barker, first on synthesizer and later on saxophone.

Following a single and EP on small local labels, Davidson was replaced by Roland's brother Paul Barker in 1981. This line-up recorded the 'Exchange of Goods' single for English label Situation Two, and relocated to Boston in 1982. There they met Al Jourgensen of Ministry, who produced their last recording, the 'Lost Soul's Club' EP for Wax Trax! Records.

The band next relocated their second time to San Francisco in 1984, and toured the East Coast with Ministry that year before breaking up. Jourgensen recruited Paul and Roland Barker and Rieflin to the line-up of Ministry, playing a major part in the transformation of Ministry from a synth-driven dance band to one of the top exponents of industrial metal. This started a long collaboration between Paul Barker and Jourgensen in Ministry, Revolting Cocks, Lard, and other projects. Rieflin released a solo album in 1999, 'Birth of a Giant', worked with KMFDM, Pigface, Ruby, Peter Murphy, and Nine Inch Nails, and was the studio and touring drummer for R.E.M.. Erich Werner went on to join the Toiling Midgets. In 2004, Olympia's K Records released 'History in Reverse', compiling the band's studio recordings. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA] 

Alternate Learning

Alternate Learning (or ALRN) was a power pop / new wave band from 1977 to 1982, based in Davis, California and fronted by Scott Miller, a singer-songwriter later known for his work as leader of the 1980s band Game Theory and 1990s band The Loud Family. Alternate Learning, which was Scott Miller's first band to record on independent recording label Rational Records, was initially formed while its original members were in high school. Miller, Jozef Becker, and Scott Gallawa began performing at Rio Americano High School under the name Alternate Learning as early as 1977. 

The group's self-titled first release, a four-song 7" EP, was recorded by the three original members in Sacramento, in Miller's home recording studio. The EP was independently released on Rational Records in 1979. The band and the 'Alternate Learning' EP both became known by the abbreviation ALRN, which was prominently featured on the front cover of the debut release. Although the disc was labeled with the band's unabbreviated name, the release is most often known as the 'ALRN' EP. The first EP is also sometimes referred to as the 'Green Card' EP, based on the title of its first song.

In 1978, Miller moved the band to Davis, California, where he was attending college. Bass player Carolyn O'Rourke and keyboard player Lynn Ross joined the Davis-based band, which became regionally well known for their performances in the Sacramento area, in San Francisco, and most frequently at U.C. Davis. In 1980, Lynn Ross, Scott Gallawa and Jozef Becker left the group, with Becker citing conflicts of personality. Gallawa and Becker formed the Les-Z-Boys with Guy Kyser; Becker and Kyser went on to become founding members of Thin White Rope. Becker, who was also a member of True West, rejoined Miller as a member of Game Theory from 1989 to 1990, and later was a member of Miller's 1990s group The Loud Family. 

In February 1981, drummer Eric Landers joined Alternate Learning, as did keyboard player Byl Miller (no relation to Scott Miller).The 1981 lineup of Alternate Learning recorded a full-length LP called 'Painted Windows', which was released on Rational Records. During the recording of 'Painted Windows', Miller distanced the band from the previous ALRN release, writing in a newsletter that the 1979 EP "was not made by the present Alternate Learning, but by Scott Miller with Joe Becker and Scott Gallawa (now of Les-Z-Boys)."

After recording the album, and prior to its release, the 'Painted Windows' line-up debuted in an appearance with Pylon in April 1981. They went on to perform a series of shows from April through October 1981. Although the album was released in January 1982, the band did not perform again until late February 1982. After the release of 'Painted Windows', the group's final show took place at the U.C. Davis Coffeehouse on Saturday, February 27, 1982. The trio of Scott Miller, Carolyn O'Rourke, and Byl Miller performed without a drummer, accompanied by taped percussion and effects, until they were joined onstage by drummer Gavin Blair of the X-Men for their concluding songs. Alternate Learning was officially disbanded by Miller in May 1982. Within a few months, Miller had formed his new group, Game Theory. The new band included keyboard player and backing vocalist Nancy Becker, who had previously performed on synthesizer as a "sometime" member of Alternate Learning.

In 1981, Alternate Learning members collaborated with Steve Wynn to form a trio called 15 Minutes, which released one single on Wynn's label, Down There Records. 15 Minutes consisted of Wynn on guitar and lead vocals, Caroline O'Rourke on bass, and Eric Landers on drums. Their single, "That's What You Always Say" b/w "Last Chance For You", was written and produced by Wynn, with Scott Miller engineering. The A-side, "That's What You Always Say", was later recorded by The Dream Syndicate for their 1982 album 'The Days of Wine and Roses'. Both songs by 15 Minutes appear as bonus tracks on Rhino Records' 2001 remastered CD reissue of 'The Days of Wine and Roses'. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA] 

Six Sed Red

Released on Sire, the only Six Sed Red's release was produced by Cabaret Voltaire and features two tracks by the duo of Cindy Ecstasy (Soft Cell / Marc and the Mambas) and Rick Holliday (early B-Movie lineup). It’s as good as it gets for club-ready, sex-dripping electro, and sounds like Prince and the girls from Strawberry Switchblade decided to record a cover of “Sensoria”. [SOURCE: SYSTEMS OF ROMANCE] 

Yximalloo

Yximalloo is Naofumi Ishimaru alone, but he drafts a loose ensemble of players, including the core of Shigeo Ootake and Takashi Korgo (who appear on all discs), as collaborator-executors. All of his releases are on his own label, and none have seen a distributor yet (which is why you very rarely find his CDs in stores). Ishimaru works like a Japanese Jandek without the angst, like the Boredoms minus the bombast. Spiritual kin to early artpunk and especially the LAFMS, he revels in mock-ethnic music and nonsense. Lo-fi, sweet and primitive, he uses ancient drum machines, hand percussion, and electronic droplet noises, sometimes set to melodies gathered from some imaginary South Sea island where the traditional instrument is seemingly an old '80s synth. Handclaps and chanting abound, but Yximalloo has also been painted as a Japanese Half Japanese -Jad Fair himself has collaborated with Ishimaru and draws the covers several releases (gorgeous dayglo and glow-in-the-dark covers in iridescent plastic cases). Recording since 1973, he still has but one Yximalloo release in the States, 1999 retrospective LP on Old Gold. Most CDs are around 70 minutes and usually contain over 30 tracks. [SOURCE: YXIMALLOO] 

Wreck Small Speakers On Expensive Stereos

The excellently named experimental rock duo Wreck Small Speakers on Expensive Stereos existed from 1980 to 1986. Consisting of Michael Morley on guitar, keyboards, and vocals, and Richard Ram on bass, guitar, and vocals, the duo formed in Dunedin, New Zealand in 1980. Their experimental, drummer-less music was quite unlike anything even on the artier side of Kiwi pop; its closest comparison would be the post-Galaxie 500 mid-'90s slowcore groups like Bedhead, Low, and Codeine. In the early '80s, the music of Wreck Small Speakers on Expensive Stereos was almost entirely alien, with little precedent other than perhaps the third Velvet Underground album taken to an absurd conclusion. 

The duo's first release, the EP 'River Falling Love', wasn't released until 1987. It was followed one year later by a cassette-only release called 'A Child's Guide to Wreck Small Speakers on Expensive Stereos' on the New Zealand indie Xpressway Records. Other than a single track, "Rain", on the 1986 label compilation 'Xpressway Pile-Up', that was the end of Wreck Small Speakers on Expensive Stereos. Michael Morley formed The Dead C in 1987, and later instigated the noise-rock project Body/Gate/Head. Richard Ram apparently retired from music. Responding to Morley's greater international profile with The Dead C, the Chicago indie Ajax Records released the CD 'River Falling Love' in 1993, consisting of the entirety of the similarly named EP, with selected tracks from the cassette release and the compilation track. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC] 

Vidna Obmana

Belgian producer Dirk Serries, aka Vidna Obmana, is a prolific composer of deep ambient and electro-acoustic music, utilizing slow, shifting electronic figures and sparse environmental recordings to construct long, minimalist, often extremely personal textural works. Taking his nom de plume from the Yugoslavian for "optical illusion" (a concept which carries much weight in his composing, as well), Serries has released material through a wide range of different labels, including Projekt, Amplexus, Extreme, Hic Sunt Leones, Syrenia, ND, and Multimood. Born and raised in Antwerp, Serries began recording experimental noise musics in the late '80s, working solo and in combination with artists such as PBK, exploring the more abrasive side of electronic composition. Beginning with the release in 1992 of 'Shadowing in Sorrow', however, (the first part of what would come to be known as Vidna's ambient 'Trilogy') Serries began moving toward an almost isolationist ambient aesthetic, exploring themes of calm, solitude, grief, and introspection in long, moving pieces which tended to chart similar ground as American space music artists such as Robert Rich, Michael Stearns, and Steve Roach (Serries has since collaborated with both Rich and Roach). The first two movements of the Trilogy -'Sorrow', as well as its follow-up 'Passage in Beauty'- were self-released by Serries in 1990 and 1991, with the third volume, 'Ending Mirage', appearing the following year on the American ND label. The album was praised as some of the finest post-classical experimental electronic music of its time, and the Stateside connection finally opened his music up to an American audience, leading also to his association with Sam Rosenthal's Projekt label (the entire 'Trilogy' was finally reissued by Projekt sister label Relic as a boxed set in 1996, with several new Vidna releases also appearing in the interim). 

Although his textural recordings form the core of his output, Serries' solo and collaborative works (such as 'The Transcending Quest', 'Echoing Delight', and 'The Spiritual Bonding') have also found him pushing the minimalism of his earlier works into the Fourth World territories of artists such as Jorge Reyes, Michael Stearns, and Jon Hassell, setting lush, dreamy soundscapes in a larger, more engaging rhythmic framework (usually with contributions from percussionists Djen Ajakan Shean and Steve Roach). Still, as many compilations and retrospectives of his earlier or unreleased work have appeared in recent times so as to confuse somewhat the trajectory of his development, which at any rate seems to trade more or less equally between the freeform conceptual landscapes of his earlier Projekt, Relic, and ND works and the more structured interactivity of the Extreme and Amplexus releases. Collaborations have also increasingly occupied Serries' time, with full-length works with Steve Roach ('Well of Souls', 'The Spiritual Bonding'), Robert Rich ('The Spiritual Bonding'), Asmus Tietchens (a self-titled collaboration for Syrenia), Sam Rosenthal ('Terrace Of Memories'), and Djen Ajakan Shean ('Parallel Flaming') appearing all within the space of only a few years. Both 'Landscape in Obscurity' and 'The Shape of Solitude' followed in 1999, and in the spring of 2000 Obmana returned with 'Echo Passage' and 'Surreal Sanctuary'. 'Subterranean Collective' was issued the following year. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]