ZEITGEIST 1981 Post Punk

Zeitgeist - Stop/Time won't Tell 12" Jamming Records 1982

Zeitgeist,  originally from Cornwall, England relocated to London around 1979-1980. They put out a handful of incredible dancy post punk singles on Jamming Records in the vain of A Certain Ratio, Au Pairs, and Pop Group. The band had dropped a demo by Tony Fletcher who was the founder of Jamming Fanzine in hopes of a record review and some good press to get them some London shows. Zeitgeist had self pressed an impressive 7" single titled "Shake-Rake" which garnered the attention of Human records that re-released "Shake-Rake" as well as a new single called "Touch" before the label went out of business.  Fletcher had recently partnered up with Paul Weller from The Jam to form Jamming Records and decided Zeitgeist would be an excellent second release. Zeitgeist released a few more singles for Jamming before Fletcher and Weller went their separate ways.

Zeitgeist - Touch 7" Human Records 1980

Line-Up:
Boasting two lead singers Jaf and Zaz, Apparently they had a sense of humor and used abbreviated names: Jaf (vocals), Zaz Detroit (bass), Chris (percussion) and Dynamite (drums). (vocals), Tex (guitar), T.C. (sax)


Zeitgeist singles:
Sniper/Shake-Rake 1980 (Enchaine)
Shake-Rake 1980 (Human)
Touch 7" (Human) 1980
Ball of Confusion 7" 1981 (Jamming)
Over Againn/Ripped 12" 1982 (Jamming)
Over Again 7" 1982 (Jamming)
Stop/Time Won't Tell 7" 1982 (Jamming)
Time Wont Tell/ Stop 12" 1982 (Jamming)

Jamming Fanzine No.11

Zeitgeist - Ball of Confusion 7" Jamming Records 1981

For more info about Zeigeist and hear the cover of "Ball of Confusion" from this article on Zeitgeist by Tony Fletcher at his website ijamming.com.

Y PANTS

Y PANTS

Y Pants were an all girl three piece art-rock band from New York city in the late seventies early 80's known for stripped down art-performance no wave minus the jagged screeching guitars but rather using a much quieter assult of thumb drums, ukeles and various toy instruments. Formed by Gail Vachon, Virginia "Verge" Piersol, and Barbara Ess who was an integral part of the NYC no wave emergence having been a prior member of Theoretical Girls and Static with her then boyfriend Glenn Branca. Branca produced their rare 1980 debut Ep on 99 records with the Rolling Stones cover "Off the Hook' reminiscent of The Slits, The RainCoats, and ESG. The band Later recorded a full length album titled Beat it Down produced by Wharton Tiers and released on Glenn Brancas Neutral Label in 1982. The Band was short lived as the broke up to follow their careers in Film, and Writing.

Barbars Ess (bass, ukulele, thumb drum, vocals)

Verge Piersol (drums, vocals)

Gail Vachon (keyboards, ukulele, vocals

Buy It Here.

Glenn Branca

In terms of musical architecture its hard to imagine what our record collections would look like without the first two albums by Glenn Branca Lesson No.1 and The Ascension. Glenn Branca is an extremely influential avant-garde composer who's experimental roots in the No Wave band The Theoretical Girls formed in 1977 with friend and producer Wharton Teirs laid the foundation for No Wave bands in New York City in the late seventies and the 1980's post-punk noise rock to follow. Forming his first avant-garde experimental guitar orchestra in the early 80's Branca's line-up of musicians included Lee Renaldo, Thurston Moore, and Michael Gira which spawned Sonic Youth and Swans and paved the way for much of the indie rock as we know it today. Around 1980 Branca created compositions for guitar ensembles and orchestras of droning electric guitars and percussion. On Lesson No.1 and The Ascension, Branca's first two solo albums, the chiming, droning guitars, squalls of feedback, sledgehammers, dissonance, mallet guitars, and cacophonous tribal rhythms mark Branca's work as the first of its kind in rock music mixing composers like La Monte Young, Steve Reich and Philip Glass with guitar work of the likes of Captain Beefheart, Joy Division. Lesson No.1 was the first album released on NYC no-wave label Ze records and is a suiting title for an album as important in experimental music as it is. Branca has gone on to create 15 symphonies including a remarkable piece written for a French Organization called 2000 Guitars in celebration for the millenium that Branca was not excited about so he scrapped it because of the technical monstrosity of orchestrating 2000 guitars. He reluctantly later performed the piece as Symphony No.13: Hallucination City stripped down for 100 Guitars for the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council in New York City consisting of a phenomenal group of 100 guitarists and a single drummer. 

Glenn Branca Website | Glenn Branca Info

David Byrne, "More Songs About Buildings and Food," 1978. Polaroid SX-70 prints
(photomontage for album cover), 90 x 90 inches. Courtesy of the artist/nasher.duke.edu

David Byrne's original 90x90 in polaroid photo montage artwork for the 1978 Talking Heads album "More Songs About Buildings and Food" goes on display this month until Febuary 6th, 2011 at The Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. The group exhibistion The Record: Contemporary Art and Vinyl explores the culture of Vinyl records through 50 years of contemporary art. 41 Artists from the 60's to the present exhibit painting, sculpture, sound work, video and performance, illustation, drawing and photography. 

                  

 Kevin Ei-ichi deForest, The Record Shop series (1/2 the Jap), 2005. Pencil on record cover,
 12 x 12 inches. Courtesy of the artist.  Photo by Brian Hudesmyth Photography

 Alice Wagner, "Serie Percusión (Percussion Series)" (detail) 2009. Colored thread, wax on five
canvas panels, 12.5 x 12.5 in ea.
 Courtesy of the artist and Galeria Lucia de la Puente, Lima. Photo by Peter Paul Geoffrion.

Artists in the exhibition include Laurie Anderson, Felipe Barbosa, David Byrne, William Cordova, Moyra Davey, Kevin Ei-ichi deForest, Jeroen Diepenmaat, Sean Duffy, Yukio Fujimoto, Jack Goldstein, Gregor Hildebrandt, Satch Hoyt, Jasper Johns, Taiyo Kimura, Tim Lee, Ralph Lemon, Christian Marclay, David McConnell, Mingering Mike, Dave Muller, Ujino Muneteru, Robin Rhode, Dario Robleto, Ed Ruscha, Malick Sidibé, Xaviera Simmons, Mark Soo, Meredyth Sparks, Su-Mei Tse, Fatimah Tuggar, Alice Wagner, Carrie Mae Weems and Lyota Yagi.
The Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University is located on central campus, at Duke University Road and Anderson Street, adjacent to the Sarah P. Duke Gardens. The street address is 2001 Campus Drive, Durham, NC, 27705. The mailing address is Box 90732, Durham, NC, 27708. Reach the Nasher Museum by phone at (919) 684-5135.

Talking Heads "More Songs About Buildings and Food"

The Jam "In The City"

Gang Of Four Go on Tour

Gang of Four have announced a headlining tour of North America beginning in Toronto, ON starting Febuary 4th. The band will be supporting their first album with new material in 16 years, titled CONTENT, with a release date set for January 25th, 2012 on Yep Roc Records.  Gang of Four released their first album ENTERTAINMENT! in 1979 and since has influenced decades of new wave, punk, and post-punk bands including Sonic Youth, Minutemen, Fugazi, Liars, and Blonde Redhead to majors like U2, R.E.M, Rage against the Machine and Red Hot Chili Peppers.   

Tour Dates.
02/04 - Toronto, ON - Phoenix Concert Theatre 
02/05 - Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts 
02/07 - Boston, MA - Paradise 
02/08 - New York, NY - Webster Hall 
02/09 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club 
02/11 - Chicago, IL - Metro 
02/12 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue 
02/15 - Vancouver, BC - Venue 
02/16 - Seattle, WA - Showbox @ the Market 
02/17 - Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom 
02/19 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore 
02/20 - Anaheim, CA - House of Blues 
02/21 - Los Angeles, CA - Music Box


More info ant The Gang Of Four Website

Book: Touchable Sound

Touchable Sound: A Collection of 7-inch records - from the USA.

Soundscreen's next book, Touchable Sound: A Collection of 7-inch Records from the USA, is an exciting celebration of nearly 25 years of labor intensive 7-inch record packaging and design. Curated by Brian Roettinger, Mike Treff, and Diego Hadis, Touchable Sound features over 300 records and 600 bands, with an introduction from the always insightful Henry H. Owings, and essay contributions from Simple Machine's founder Kristin Thomson, Amphetamine Reptile founder Tom Hazelmyer, Three One G founder Justin Pearson, and many more.

Conceived and compiled by Brian Roettinger, Mike Treff and Diego Hadis.

Designed by Brian Roettinger.

Introduction by Henry Owings.

Editorial contributions from Mike Amezcua, Tom Hazelmyer, Sam McPheeters, Mark Owens, Justin Pearson, Brian Roettinger and Kristin Thompson.

By: Soundscreen Design


Get It! Insound | Amazon

Marine

Formed in Brussels in 1980, Marine played experimental & funk influenced post punk. Their brand of punk-funk was said to have influenced Josef K. The short lived Belgian band reached mild success in 1981 when their single on record label Les Disques du Crepuscule  "Life in Reverse" hit number 6 in the UK on the NME indie top ten charts and captured the attention of John Peel. Having booked a session with Peel in conjunction with label mates and fellow Beligians The Names,  Marine disbanded during the recording of their first Peel Session. Splitting up over creative differences, singer Mark Demarais went on to form La Muerte influenced by The Birthday Party and The Stooges.

Photographer: Brian Griffin

Brian Griffin celebrates his retrospective titled Face to Face from September 30, 2010 until November 21, 2010 at Snow Hill Plaza in Birmingham. The outdoor exhibition focuses on his portraiture showcasing some of his influences that inspired his creativity and work over his career of photography, film and Audio-Visual Art. Brian Griffins body of work is inspiring and influential and he is considered one of the most influential British Photographers creating colorful iconic imagery for music, commercial, and film from the seventies until today. Although he mainly focuses on commercial and Film these days, it's hard to forget the iconic imagery he created for some of the great musical artists in the 80's including Echo and The Bunnymen, Depeche Mode, Elvis Costello and The Attractions, and Joe Jackson to name a few.

Echo & The Bunnymen 'Crocodiles' Photography by Brian Griffin 1980

Echo & The Bunnymen 'Heaven up Here' Photography by Brian Griffin 1981

Echo & The Bunnymen 'Porcupine' Photography by Brian Griffin 1983

Echo and & Bunnymen 'Ocean Rain' Photography by Brian Griffin 1984

Brians image for Joe Jacksons Look Sharp is considered by many to be one of the greatest album covers of the seventies.

Brian worked with co-conspiritor and genius graphic designer Barney Bubbles on many photo and design projects during the seventies and eighties creating album covers for many great artists including Elvis Costello and Depeche Mode. Barney passed away in 1983 but his work is still inspiring and influencing designers and artists today. A Barney Bubbles post will sure to be up soon!

                                   

Echo & the Bunnymen "The Killing Moon" Directed by Brian Griffin 1984

The exhibition Brian Griffin: Face to Face, a retrospective runs until November 21 and showcases portraiture from the last 38 years.

For more information on Brian Griffin and his work visit 

www.briangriffin.co.uk

www.briangriffin-facetoface.co.uk