Throwback Thursdays Retro Video Project; UK New Wave

Assorted UK New Wave;

PUBLIC IMAGE LTD;
The post Sex Pistols project of Johnny Lydon (nee Rotten) had little in common with the Pistols but would be effectively the first Post Punk band and would be a huge influence on the likes of Joy Division, Gang Of Four, Bauhaus, the Banshees, Killing Joke, Clock DVA and pretty much every other artsy dark and moody UK band ofthe 1980's by eschewing the thrashy power chords of punk for funky-dub bass lines and shards of angular guitar and Lydon's keening vocals. The classic albums were the first self titled debut and the second "Metal Box" with it's iconic film can packaging. PIL would carry with an ever fractious lineup. At the end of the eighties they suddenly took an unexpected turn to more conventional sounds for their last three albums. The Pistols would briefly reform in the nineties.

PUBLIC IMAGE LTD ~ "ALBATROSS";


For this video I used an early Gothic horror film from French director Maurice Tourneur "The Wax Figures" (1914)

SUBWAY SECT; Subway Sect were part of the first wave of London punk bands but they were radically different than than the thrashing three chord punks. Led by singer Vic Goddard the Sect filtered their slower Stooges chords through a low-fi artsier lens. They only released a few singles (including a minor hit with "Ambition") while the album they recorded sat on the shelf unreleased to this day after Goddard fired the rest of the band before completely restructuring them as a non-rock cabaret act for a few years. Subway Sect's time in the limelight didn't last long but their crude, droning art-punk and drab black and grey visual aesthetic would have an influence on the next generation of art punks like the Fall, Wire, Magazine, Joy Division and the Psychedelic Furs. The Jesus & Mary Chain would go on to cover "Ambition" in their early days.

SUBWAY SECT ~ "CHAIN SMOKING";


For this vid I used some footage of a London Cabaret in the 1930's

SUBWAY SECT ~ "WE OPPOSE ALL ROCK & ROLL";


This vid uses footage from a 1930's newsreal of a rally by the British Blackshirts and leader Sir Oswald Mosley that turned into a riot.

MAGAZINE:

Magazine were formed by singer Howard DeVoto after leaving the Buzzcocks. They had several albums and a few hits from 1977 - 1981. After the band petered out guitarist John McGheogh went on to Visage (first album) and three highly regarded albums with Siouxsie & The Banshees finally ending up with Public Image Ltd by the late eighties. He died in 2004. This song was later covered by Bauhaus singer Peter Murphy on his first album and also by Trotsky Icepick.

MAGAZINE ~ "THE LIGHT POURS OUT OF ME";


This video uses some street scene footage from 1920's Wiemar Germany.

FINGERPRINTZ;

Fingerprintz were a Scottish group who put out three highly regarded but not very successful albums between 1979-1983. Each of their albums were quite different with the first album being artsy guitar based, the second more power pop and the third slick and dancable. In spite of getting great reviews nothing quite worked and they broke up with singer Jimmie O'Neil and guitarist Cha Burns reforming as the Silencers who would face a similar fate.

FINGERPRITNZ ~ "SYNCH UNIT";


This early instrumental with a spaghetti western feel uses a clip of a silent western starring Jack Hoxie, (in the white hat of course).

THE PSYCHEDELIC FURS;

The Furs started out as an artsy post punk band with a droning cacophonous sound of the Subway Sect/Wire school. After original producer Martin Hannett had to bow out in order to rescue New Order after the death of Ian Curtis the Furs went to Steve Lillywhite who had previously produced the first albums by Siouxsie & The Banshees and Ultravox. (Note; Another young band also being produced by Hannett also ended up with Lillywhite, that band was U2). Lillywhite would produce the Furs first two albums.

THE PSYCHEDELIC FURS ~ "SO RUN DOWN";


This track from the first album uses a 1908 George Melies film.

THE PASSIONS;

The Passions were a band a female singer (Barbara Gogan), who put out three well reviewed albums between 1979 - 82 with two classic hits including "I'm In Love With A German Film Star" and "African Mine" before they broke up. Later guitarist Kevin Armstrong later went to play with David Bowie in Tin Machine, Iggy Pop, Morrissey and Sinead O'Connor. And that's about it.

THE PASSIONS ~ "I'M IN LOVE WITH A GERMAN FILM STAR";


I naturally used an Andy Warhol screen-test of Nico because of course I did.

THE CULT; The Cult started out as a murky proto-Goth band as The Southern Death Cult who released a couple of singles and ep's before briefly shortening it to the Death Cult with another ep before finally settling on The Cult who finally settled on a cleaner big guitar and vocal sound with some psychedelic imagery on the "Dream Time" and "Love" albums which finally became, um, cult hits in the UK and Canada. By 1987 they evolved into a more 1970's hard rock sound with "Electric" and it's follow-up "Sonic Temple" which finally broke them into the U.S. market. It didn't really last though and the next few albums got diminishing results and cock-rock gave way to grunge. Eventually they broke up and singer Ian Astbury joined a reformed version of the Doors with Ray Manzerek.

THE CULT ~ "PHOENIX";


For the opening track off of "Love" I used an old film "A Trip To Mars".

THE CULT ~ "NIRVANA";


For this track from "Love" I used some early animation from German Dada film-maker Walter Ruttmann from the 1920's.

THE FIXX;

The Fixx were one of the last groups of the post-Joy Division Simple school of artsy, atmospheric, keyboard heavy, New Wave with their first album coming out in 1982 although they had been kicking around for a few years. Unlike the likes of Simple Minds, Ultravox and Japan however the Fixx surprised everyone, including probably themselves, by scoring a series of hits on both sides of the Atlantic, helped no doubt by the rise of MTV. This track off of the first album uses a short art film made for the Dadaist Fluxus Film collective circa 1967.

THE FIXX ~ "THE FOOL";


This track off of the first album uses a short art film made for the Dadaist Fluxus Film collective circa 1967.

THE FIXX ~ "THE SIGN OF FIRE";


This track uses an early film about a home invasion.

THE CHAMELEONS;
The Chameleons (sometimes called the Chameleons UK in the USA for legal reasons) were a band from Manchester with a loud echoey guitar sound and deep voiced vocals somewhat midway between early U2 and Sisters Of Mercy. They put out three albums between 1983 -86 before breaking up and reforming a couple times including a reunion tour this year. The first album was the best.

THE CHAMELEONS ~ "DON'T FALL";


This song of the first uses a clip from a Harry Houdini adventure movie from the 1920's.

THE CHAMELEONS ~ "SECOND SKIN";


Another song from the first album using an early French film about a stalker.

ERASURE; One of the bigger synth-pop bands, Erasure were a spin-off from Depeche Mode starting in 1985 with a number of hits. ERASURE ~ "SHIP OF FOOLS";


This vid uses an early colour film (1926) using dancers from Martha Graham's modern dance troop.

Throwback Thursdays Retro Video Project; Cabaret Voltaire pt.3

I already made a bunch of Cabaret Voltaire here and here but since then I've made a few more so....

CABARET VOLTAIRE ~ "THE SET UP";


For this early track I used an early colour film by George Melies.

CABARET VOLTAIRE ~ "PREMONITION";


This vid uses another George Melies short "Satan In Prison".

CABARET VOLTAIRE ~ "NO ESCAPE";


This vid for a live version of a cover of a Seeds song uses an early short about an attack on a train.

CABARET VOLTAIRE ~ "IF THE SHADOWS COULD MARCH";


This bid uses a distressed fragment of a short doc showing a ship entering a harbour in Holland. Sountrack taken froma short track off the second album slowed down multiple times.

CABARET VOLTAIRE ~ "PARTIALLY SUBMERGED";


This vid uses footage of Edie Sedgewick from Andy Warhol's "Poor Little Rich Girl" (1965)

CABARET VOLTAIRE ~ "NEWS FROM NOWHERE";


This vid uses more footage of Edie, this time doing her laundry

CABARET VOLTAIRE ~ "WALLS OF KYOTO";


This vid for a live version off "Hai! Live In Japan" uses an Op Art film by George Cupp from 1977.

CABARET VOLTAIRE vs QUEEN ~ "WE WILL NAG YOU";


This track is a mashup of the Cabs and Queen and uses another Op Art film by George Cup from the 1970's

The Throwback Thursday Retro Video Project; Modern Eon & Section 25

Joy Division had a heavy influence on the post punk scene with a couple of groups showing an obvious influence.

Section 25 were the most obvious band to take after the Joy Division. They had actually toured together and not coincidentally for their first album, "Always Now" (1981), they had the same producer (Martin Hannett), album cover designer (Ian Saville) and record label (Factory Records). Not surprisingly they sound exactly like Joy Division albeit with a singer who has a more airy sound than Ian Curtis.

SECTION 25 ~ "FRIENDLY FIRES";


This spooky track uses a George Melies short "The Haunted Castle";

SECTION 25 ~ "BABIES IN THE BARDO";


This vid uses a strange 1900's short featuring some early stop-action animation.

SECTION 25 ~ "INSIDE OUT";


This vid uses a 1960's Op Art film by Robert Breer.


Modern Eon were a Liverpool group who put out one album in 1981 which tempered their Joy Division influences with a more ethereal sound. They showed altogether more original potential than Section 25 and earned good reviews from the fickle UK music press for their one and only album (and a couple of indie singles) but just as Joy Division met disaster on the eve of their first North American tour, Modern Eon had to cancel their proposed tour after their drummer, who was integral to their sound, was injured. They broke up soon after and none of the members went on to have any noteworthy musical careers.

MODERN EON ~ "WAITING FOR THE CAVALRY";


This vid uses an early silent film by Segundo De Chomon which feature some cool stop-motion animation.

MODERN EON ~ "HIGH NOON";


This vid uses a Segundo De Chomon short from the 1900's "The Chinese Dancers"

MODERN EON ~ "MECHANIC";


This vid uses a 1900's travel doc which has some unintended lighting effects caused by the degradation of the film stock.

MODERN EON ~ "EUTHENICS";


This vid uses another silent travel doc

MODERN EON ~ "CHILD'S PLAY";


This vid uses some spectacular 1900's nighttime footage of Coney Island

MODERN EON ~ "AFTER THE PARTY";


This vid uses some more travel doc footage for an early track which didn't make it to the album

MODERN EON ~ "CARDINAL SIGNS";


This vid uses one of series of short Op Art films by George Cup made in the 1970's.

The Throwback Thursdays Retro Video Project; Cancon Edition

Cancon; New Wave Edition;

STURM GROUP ~ "TO THE BALTIC";


Sturm Group were a Toronto band in the 1980's who were basically in a similar genre to artsy post-punk groups like PIL, Joy Division, Wire, Pere Ubu, Section 25, Modern Eon, Clock DVA, Jass and Section 25. They put out three albums along with an earlier cassette before breaking up in the early 90's. There was also a side project named Norda who put out an ep. Bassist Walter Sobzjack went on to be a producer and play in Raggadeath in the 90's.

STURM GROUP ~ "TWENTY";


For both these instrumentals I used two George Melies films from the 1900's.

SIMPLY SAUCER ~ "MOLE MACHINE";


Simply Saucer were an Art Punk/Noise band from Hamilton in the late 70's somewhat similar to the Fall and Wire with a heavier Velvet Underground, Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd. They only released a single but did record an album that was released some years after the band broke up. This instrumental track uses a 1920's German Dada Art film by Walter Ruttmann.

FM ~ "STARLESS";


FM with Nash The Slash were part of the first wave of Toronto Punk scene of the late 70's although they were really more of a Prog Rock band. They recorded one album before Nash quit and the band carried one for a couple more albums with Ben Mink. This King Crimson cover is from the early Nash era and uses a George Melies space travel film which seems fitting as Nash was also known for composing music for silent film showings.

THE SPOONS ~ "NOVA HEART";


The Spoons were one of the few bands of the Toronto early 80's scene to find some degree of international success. They started out as a similar vein to early Simple Minds and Ultravox before adding more layered keyboards similar to the Human League and OMD when the had a couple of hits like "Nova Heart" and "Arias & Symphonies". After that there sound became more mainstream and less interesting although they did have a few more hits. This vid uses an art film from the 1970's be George Cupp and Steve Elliot.

Throwback Thursdays Retro Video Project Pres; Ramleh

Ramleh were one of the bands to emerge from the early Dada-Industrial scene of Northern England led by the likes of Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire (who also made a series of vids for to be scene here and here) and Clock DVA (ditto here). Starting in 1982 they have continued (with an ever shifting lineup) to today releasing records on various small indie labels. Ramleh differ from the other bands mentioned in that while these bands would embrace electronic and even dance music, Ramleh have continued to work within the original Noise-Rock framework of traditional guitar, bass and drums drenched in screeching feedback, distortion, droning echo, shouted vocals (if any) and long, apparently free-form jams.

RAMLEH ~ "FAG-ENDERS";


For this track off the 1994 "Homeless" I used an early silent animated film by Winsor McCay, the father of animation, who incidentally I've also written about here. Note that the "Fag" in the title probably refers to the British slang term for cigarettes but I can't be 100% sure since the vocals are completely indecipherable.

RAMLEH ~ "CHICKENHAWK";


This track from "Homeless" uses a weird early sci-fi film from the great French director Abel Gance ("Napoleon") which includes some hallucinogenic camera tricks.

RAMLEH ~ "MAGIC TIGER";


This track uses another early French film, this time from George Melies which includes some early hand-tinted colour.

RAMLEH ~ "THUMB BUSTER";


This track uses a short art film made by Yoko Ono for the Fluxus Film art collective in New York in about 1967

Throwback Thursdays Retro Videos Presents; Savage Republic, pt.1

This week on my Throwback Thursdays Retro Video Project; Savage Republic.
Savage Republic may well be my favorite obscure 1980's post-punk band (American division). This California group with an ever-shifting line-up combined epic spaghetti-western-surf-guitar with tribal drumming, industrial distortion and some occasional ethnic seasoning to create a moody, atmospheric sound completely their own. They also had a striking visual style for their record covers as they had access to an antique off-set printing press and a willingness to use it. They put out a series of albums starting in 1982 to about 1992 before splitting into various spin-off groups, some version of Savage Republic exists to this day. They made no actual videos which is a shame as I always thought their cinematic music especially well suited for the medium.

SAVAGE REPUBLIC ~ "TABULA RASA";


This is a song off the 1988 fourth album "Jamahiriya" using an early DW Giffith film "Edgar Allan Poe" in which Poe is inspired to write "The Raven" in order to find money to feed his dying wife. The actor does bear a striking resemblance to Poe.

SAVAGE REPUBLIC ~ "JAMAHIRIYA";


Another track off the fourth album this time using a 1908 film "The Haunted House" by Spanish film-maker Segundo De Chomon, a contemporary of the Frenchman George Melies whose style he expanded on.

SAVAGE REPUBLIC ~ "TRUDGE";


The group were in full-on Ennio Morricone on this epic track off the 1986 "Trudge" ep. For the vid I used a George Melies film "The Alchemist".

SAVAGE REPUBLIC ~ "TREK";


The other epic track from "Trudge", this time using a perfromance art film by Dutch film-maker Franz Zwartjies.

SAVAGE REPUBLIC ~ "TARANTO";


This track uses another Segundo De Chomon film "Les Grenouille" from 1908.

SAVAGE REPUBLIC ~ "VALETTA";


For this Mediterranean influenced track I used a documentary film "Burgos" about a Spanish city made by in 1911 by Segundo De Chomon in one of his rare docs, it's also one of the earliest colour films. The music runs out before the video ends and normally I would have junked it but the imagery matches up with the music so perfectly I had to keep it.

Throwback Thursdays Retro Video Project Pres; The Silver Apples And Syrinx

This week on my Throwback Thursdays Retro Video Project; The Silver Apples and Syrinx.
Back in the late 1960's while everybody else was slinging guitars, organs and the occasional sax the Silver Apples and Syrinx were among the first groups to use synthesizers. Although both groups were hopelessly obscure and mostly forgotten by all but the nerdiest of rock-snobs (like yours truly) they pioneered a path leading directly to the synth-pop, industrial and techno bands from the 1980's onward. Especially fellow New Yorkers Suicide.

The Silver Apples were one of the weirdest products of the New York underground scene of the 1960's. And this was a scene that included the Velvet Underground, the Holy Modal Rounders, Lothar & The Hand People, Albert Ayler and Moondog. Starting in 1967 as a fairly conventional psychedelic band that included the electo-noodlings of Simion Ross. The Moog synths of the day were massive affairs, with a jungle of patch-chords and vacuum tubes. They were not only huge but also expensive so Simion didn't actually play one, instead he built his own jerry-rigged contraption of various electronic pulse generators, effects pedals and feedback. The resulting mountain of gear took up two tables and was referred to as the "Simion". This ungainly monster was capable of an arsenal of whirring feedback and hypnotic tones for a spacey, ethereal sound that sounded like literally nothing that had ever came before (or since). This cacophony soon drove all of the other members of the band out as superfluous save the drummer, Brian Taylor. Influenced by Mitch Mitchell, Taylor developed an intricate rapid-fire style that filled up the space left by the now departed guitars and drums. On top of all this Ross added his own ghostly tenor vocals and the occasional banjo or flute.

Somewhat amazingly these weirdos actually got signed to Kapp Records, an otherwise thoroughly conventional home for acts like Loouis Arsmtrong, Cher, Burt Bacharach and Bob Wills (although they also had Budgie). They even managed to put out two albums in 1968 and 1969 which, in an unexpected development, failed to get any airplay or press. They had recorded a third album which was not released before Kapp gave up on them. After that they broke up and returned to the void from whence they came. In the 1990's the group was rediscovered by a small group of electro-nerds and their two albums were released on one CD in 1994 and Simion Ross reformed the group (minus Taylor) albeit using more conventional synths and samplers as his original "Simion" had long since been broken up and tossed away. In 1998 Taylor discovered the master tapes of the lost third album which was finally released as well. Taylor died in 2005. Simion Ross continued to record and tour until a serious car crash badly injured his back and smashed his gear in 1998. After taking a few years to recover he has resumed recording and touring.

Not surprisingly there is no live or video footage of the band. When I went about making some I decided the abstract shorts made by German Dada film-maker Hans Richter in the 1920's and the Op-Art films made in the 1960's by George Maciunis would perfectly suit their ethereal sound.
THE SILVER APPLES ~ "OSCILATIONS";


Using a 1966 film made for the New York Flux Films collective.

THE SILVER APPLES ~ "I HAVE KNOWN LOVE";


THE SILVER APPLES ~ "WATER";


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Unlike the Silver Apples Toronto's Syrinx actually did use a proper Moog and could be considered perhaps the first real synth band, along with the Germans Tangerine Dream with their first albums coming out in 1969. Syrinx consisted of Moog player John Mills-Cockell along with Doug Pringle on sax (often played through various effects) and Alan Wells on percussion. Their sound was more lush and conventionally melodic compared to the droning cacophony of the Silver Apples. The trio were also trained musicians while Simion Ross was an inspired amateur (although Apples drummer Derick Taylor did have jazz training) which allowed Syrinx to weave longer, more complex pieces similar to those being toyed with by the similar sounding Germans Tangerine Dream (first album in 1969) and Terry Riley. They put out two albums ("Syrinx" in 1970 and "Long Time Relatives" in 1971) which were released only in Canada and did some touring and played on the CBC before breaking up. Mills-Cockell would go on to do film and TV soundtracks while Pringle would go on to found Toronto punk one-hit wonders The Poles with his performance artist wife Michelle Jordana. The Poles would go on score a classic hit single with "CN Tower" before fading away. In spite of their status as electro pioneers Syrinx were quite forgotten about for years while their German contemporaries Tangerine Dream would go on to decades long world-wide success with a similar approach. In 2017 their long out of print collected works were put out as a box set and short film doc was made.

Unlike the jarring other-worldly noise of the Silver Apples the more contemplative sweep of Syrinx seemed to lend itself to more conventional film narrative.

SYRINX ~ "December Angel";


This mournful track off the 1971 album uses newsreel footage from the Titanic.

SYRINX ~ "FATHER OF LIGHT";


This track uses footage from the 1915 German sci-fi horror film "Homonculus". This largely forgotten film was a major influence on the later classic German Expressionist films as well as "Frankenstein".

SYRINX ~ "FIELD HYMN";


For this track I used a film by French director George Melies, "The Airship".

The Throwback Thursdays Retro Video Project Pres; Siouxsie & The Banshees (pt.2)

More from my Throwback Thursday Retro Video Project. This week; Siouxsie & The Banshees, pt.2.

SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES ~ "HALLOWEEN";


This is a song off their best album, "Ju-Ju" from 1981. The video uses a 1907 short by the Spanish-French film-maker Segundo De Chomon, a contemporary of the more famous George Melies, whose style he expanded on.

SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES ~ "VOODOO DOLLY";


Another song off of "Ju Ju" using a Segundo De Chomon film.

SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES ~ "LET GO";


This song is a b-side off the 1984 "Swimming Horses" single using another Segundo De Chomon short film, "Les Oeufs De Paques" from 1907. I also used this film for an Ultravox song.

SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES ~ "PULLED TO BITS";


This song was originally a b-side that later appeared on the 1983 live album "Nocturne" using newsreel footage from the collapse of the Tacoma Bridge in 1946.

SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES ~ "SWITCH";


A song off their debut 1978 album "The Scream" using an Edwin S Porter film "Life Of An American Fireman from 1903.

SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES ~ "ISRAEL";


This track uses an odd short film featuring miniaturized versions of the Denishawn Dancers, an influential Modern Dance troupe from the 1910's.

SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES ~ "WE HUNGER";


This is a song from the 1984 "Hyena" album. This is a clip from a longer film "Shoes" (1916) directed by Lois Weber and seemed to fit the song perfectly.

SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES ~ "THE RAPTURE";


This epic track is obviously in need of a video, here using a chapter from a 1923 British serial about the "Dr Fu Manchu" character. Note the ending of this chapter has been lost.

SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES ~ "TURN TO STONE";


This track off the 1986 album "Peep Show" uses another film by Segundo De Chomon

The Throwback Thursdays Retro Video Project Presents; Clock DVA

More from my Throwback Thursday Retro Video Project.
This week; Clock DVA. A Northern English band led by Adi Newton who combined a jazz-funk lineup with post-punk/industrial influences on their first three albums. After that the band broke up and Newton continued on as a purely techno band under the Clock DVA name. Guitarist John Valentine Carruthers would go on to join Siouxsie & The Banshees. They don't seem to have made any proper videos during their classic early phase so mine appear to be the only ones.

CLOCK DVA ~ "SENSORIUM";


A track off their 1981 second album "Thirst" (also their best) using a silent "Lone Ranger" cartoon which was filmed off of a television set. This one definitely has the feel of an early Cabaret Voltaire video.

CLOCK DVA ~ "BLUE TONE";


Another song off of "Thirst" using an early French film "History Of A Crime". The film itself obviously filmed on a stage backdrop and is interesting in using a second stage during the scene where the prisoner is shown sleeping to portray him dreaming of his past life. This was a technique used on stage but not in film once they figured out how to do flashbacks.

CLOCK DVA ~ "MOMENTS";


This song from "Thirst" uses a strange British sci-fi comedy "The Automatic Motorist" from 1911. The film's idea of space is basically that of George Melies films but unlike Melies this film uses multiple sets and allows for a car chase and would have made the Melies films of only a few years earlier seem old hat by comparison.

CLOCK DVA ~ "FOUR HOURS";


The closest thing early Clock DVA had to a single (from "Thirst), here mashed up with a George Melies film "Zeus' Thunderbolts".

CLOCK DVA ~ "PIANO PAIN";


Another track from "Thirst" using some very early BBC TV footage that was captured on an American TV where it was somehow beamed through freak atmospheric conditions. Since almost no TV recordings exist from that era it's interesting to see how similar it was to that of the 1950's Golden Age. Incidentally while most people assume that TV started in the 1950's it's not at all true as I've written about here.

CLOCK DVA ~ "NORTH LOOP";


This one uses Edison Studios newsreel footage of the San Francisco earthquake and fire.

CLOCK DVA ~ "DISCONTENTMENT";


This track off the obscure 1980 debut album "White Souls In Black Suits" which was put out by Industrial godfathers Throbbing Gristle on their Industrial label on cassette only. Yes I actually have one. The video uses newsreel footage of New York shot for the French Pathe company sometime in the mid 1930's. Note; I had some trouble with sound levels on this one.

CLOCK DVA ~ "STILL SILENT";


This track from "White Souls" uses another Op-Art Fluxus film, by John Cavanaugh.

CLOCK DVA ~ "THE CAGE"


This track comes from a set of early demos and uses a "In The Land Of Nod" a weird film which uses some early stop action animation.

CLOCK DVA ~ "SEXUAL OVERTURE";


Another early demo for which I used a WW1 British film "The German Spy Peril". Actually it's only part of the final reel in which the hero is captured by an oddly large group of spies and tossed into a tunnel under Big Ben with a bomb. The rest of the film is apparently lost.

CLOCK DVA ~ "UNTITLED DEMO TRACK 2";


This is another early demo and uses one from a series of amateur videos various people made as homages to the Andy Warhol "Screen Tests" of the 1960's

CLOCK DVA ~ "THE SONOLOGY OF SEX";


This song is from the b-side of the "Sound Mirror" single from 1990 put out by the latter, synth only version of Clock DVA. The song is about Elizabeth Bathory the infamous Bloody Countess of the sixteenth century so I used various still photos portrayals of the Countess including some of actresses who have played her on screen including Isabelle Hupert and Palmoa Picasso.

The Throwback Thursdays Retro Video Project Presents; Cabaret Voltaire

Lately my newest hobby is making music videos by taking old silent movies and adding music to them, usually from 1980's Post-Punk, New Wave and Proto-Industrial Bands whose music has a certain cinematic quality. I remember growing up in the 1980's early days of videos when a few such bands like Cabaret Voltaire, Throbbing Gristle, Severed Heads and Sturm Groups made such super low-budget videos using a mixture of "found footage", abstract art films, grainy super home movies and excerpts from various old movies and TV shows. And for a couple years such videos could actually get played on TV, at least on Much Music in Canada if not on American MTV.

So far I've made about a hundred including such old faves as Cabaret Voltaire, Simple Minds, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Clock DVA, Destroy All Monsters, Savage Republic, Killing Joke, Ultravox, Wire and The Silver Apples. I've already uploaded them on to Youtube so for the next while I can collect them in one place here. Starting with;
CABARET VOLTAIRE pt.1 (the early years);
One of the founders of Industrial Music, before it became techno-metal dance music, the Sheffield trio actually started recording their experiments in tape-collages, feedback, analog synths and distortion as early as 1974, although it took the post-punk fallout in 1978 to actually get around to releasing anything or doing actual gigs. They were not exactly welcomed by punk audiences of the time, at one gig the audience actually stormed the stage, assaulted the band and smashed their gear. However their noise experiments and theories about what they called "Industrial Music" became hugely influential, along with those of their even more outrageous (albeit less talented) compatriots Throbbing Gristle. Partly due to their aloof image and lack of any stage stage presence whatsoever the Cabs also pioneered the use of video presentations. The use of visual backdrops using film clips, slide shows, light shows and smoke machines was nothing new going back to the psychedelic era with bands like the Velvet Underground, Pink Floyd (Syd Barret era), Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead and the Creation, but Cabaret Voltaire took these ad-hoc displays with their own moody electro drones into fully realized video art.
My videos attempt to invoke this era of video art using found footage;

"SPACE PATROL";


This piece is an early sound collage and the video uses another Flux Film op-art film made by Paul Sharits for a Dada film collective called Flux Films who made a series of such shorts in 1965-67.

"SAD SYNTH";


This track is a simple analog synth doodle using another Flux Film short.

"COUNTER REACTION 2";


Another early sound experiment, this time I used old newsreel footage of the aftermath of an explosion shot by Edison Studios.

"REVERSE PIECE ONE";


Yet another early sound experiment, this time I used old newsreel footage from the Graf Zeppelin, probably from 1929.

"STOLEN FROM SPECTRA";


This video uses another Edison Studios film, however this one is not a newsreel but is instead a recreation of the execution of the assassin of President William McKinley along with some shots of the actual prison.

"SYNTHIACS 2";


Another early synth noodle. This time I used an a short by the pioneering Spanish filmmaker Segundo De Chomon who was a contemporary of the more famous Frenchman George Melies upon whom Chomon built his own style.

"VOICE OF AMERICA";


A snippet from of a track from the second album using a George Melies film "Gold Fever".

NEXT TIME; CABARET VOLTAIRE pt.2

Niut Blanche 2009 review

I finally got around to doing the whole Niut Blanche thing. For those who don't know, it's a whole night of various art pieces throughout the city from dusk to dawn, and it's free. It's been around for a few years but I was always busy or whatever and I wasn't real clear on what it was. But Alisa does the whole experience every year and invited me so we stocked up on water, munchies, comfortable shoes and an umbrella and made a night of it.

7pm ~ Nuit Blanche officially starts, I haven't left home yet but CIUT is playing an electronic soundtrack while the lights on the CN Tower change and pulsate to the beat. It's not dark enough yet to get the full effect though.

8pm ~ Meet up at The R.O.M. where they are showing an exhibit of photos and covers from "Vanity Fair" going back to 1913. This isn't really an actual Nuit exhibit but rather an ongoing one that they are including in for free. Fairly crowded but the line up moves quickly. Not surprisingly we prefer the old black and white photos, Louise Brooks and her shining black do, James Joyce and his eyepatch, Cary Grant, Albert Einstien, Sergi Eisenstien, H.G.Wells, Picasso, Jean Harlow, Kate Hepburn. Someone wonders aloud if Kate is related to Audrey and if Jean Harlow copped her look from Marylin Monroe. Time to move on. By the time we get outside the line is winding around the corner.

9:15pm ~ The Royal Conservatory; Now we're talking, a sound college made up of musicians on three floors playing sustained notes with plenty of echo and coloured lights. In the auditorium there are eight singers exchanging more sustained notes. Eerie. Sounds like the soundtrack from Kubricks "2001". I would have turned the lights down for more atmosphere though. The Royal also has a collection of cool antique instruments behind glass. Outside a large group of buskers have shown up to take advantage of the crowds provided by the now long lineups. The usual jugglers, giant unicycle rider and a troop of Morris Dancers. For those who don't know Morris Dances are English folk dancers who wear baby blue hats, vests, kneepants and bells on their legs and shoes while dancing in circles while waving sticks and hankies. They look like the Tetley Tree Folk from the old commercial. Why the English who had the worlds greatest empire and body of literature also produced the world's silliest folk dance I'm sure I don't know. Afterwards we stop off at Subway to polish off a quick hogie. I mention this because it's almost the only money I had to spend all night.

11:30 ~ Hart House; Heading south we reach U of T where CIUT's new digs are, they're not actually home since they are broadcasting from the CN Tower. However in the courtyard the Foodjammers have a giant wheel offering coffee snowcones, which we pass on thanks, seems somewhat less than hygenic. There's also a blasting techno soundtrack which we also pass on. Inside there are several photo exhibits which are rather dull and we pass through quickly. However there are also some more interesting video art pieces which we spend more time on. There's one of a mirror image of a woman banging her head against a wall (with sound), and another of a guy hyperventilating loudly. There are also some silent ones from 1970 with some guy standing in a barn and dropping stuff and another guy walking down the side of a building, those look they belong in the creepy video from "The Ring". Speaking of creepy some group called Cry School Yearbook are taking photos of people done up in zombie goth make up for an imaginary school yearbook. There's a bit of a wait so we make an appointment for 5:30am, which is quite a commitment and decide to come back. Outside The CFS is protesting tuition fees by showing "V for Vendetta" on the side of a building and giving out free popcorn, cotton candy and hot chocolate. I'm no fan of CFS grandstanding but we'll take their free munchies though.

12:30am ~ The Polish Veteran's Hall; Outside is some kind of rickety stick canopy while inside another dull photo exhibit along with a short film about a guy who graphically kills his plumber so he can take his job. I assume this is supposed to be some kind of comment on the economic meltdown but it's mostly just gratuitous violence. There is also a photocopied zine handout which conjures up fond memories of the 1980's art zines. They also have some kind of interactive piece but we judge the lineup as being too long. All in all fairly dull stop so why does the Polish Art exhibit have a good size crowd? Because they have the best food (Yay! perogies and cabbage rolls) and they have beer (Yay! Polish beer) that's why. A few doors over is Steelworker's Hall on Cecil street which has a Caribana related display of large dayglo dolls made up like Caribana parade dolls looking like a lightbrite game. They loudly ban cameras from this one but Alisa sneaks a pic anyway before we make a beeline out of there.

1:00am ~ The AGO; They have a display out front of discarded computer consoles covered with flower stickons. Don't know what's inside since they also have another long line up so we head down to OCAD where they have giant stuffed white Casper looking toys scattered about while smoke machines belch away. Around the corner is the inevitable impromptu rave. Down at the Music Gallery they have...no music. But they do have a ten foot wedding cake with a trampoline on top that you, yes you, can jump on with a bouncing bride while more annoying techno music plays. Yet another line up for that one of course.

2:30am ~ City Hall; At the Armory st. entrance there is a "12 Hour interpretive dance piece" about dead philosophers or whatever. Yeah, OK, whatever you say. Moving right along to Nathan Phillips Square they have giant flashing lights spelling out random four letter words while white noise blares. It's ok but we wonder if better use could have been made of such a large central place. On the other hand back in the nineteen sixties when Mayor Phill Givens bought the Henry Moore sculpture and put in on display some people were so outraged that he lost the next election, now city hall is being used to blast out Throbbing Gristle while people wait to see if an obscene word will inadvertently pop up. Toronto certainly has come a long way baby.

3:00am ~ The Royal Bank on Bay st. in the financial district; Midway rides on Bay St! I know this is supposed to symbolize the stockmarket rollercoaster and all, but more importantly; Midway rides on Bay St! Actually there's just two; a giant slide and the Avalanche ride ( it's kind of like the Pirate ship at Wonderland), and there's the usual linups, but thank God for artful butting in line at least at the Avalanche ride which wakes me up nicely thanks.

3:45am ~ Old City Hall has another lineup? At 3:45am? Go home already people. Trinity Spadina Church (where the Cowboy Junkies recorded) has an even longer one. I'd like to see the interactive music experience at Massey Hall but I'm told that the lineup there is even worse. So heading back west we pass through that tiny park behind City Hall where there's supposed to be a ghost walk. Actually it's a group of people in white sheets reading some sort of chant. The photo in the guide shows them glowing green but it's just guys in sheets. Alisa likes it but I think it could have used some dry ice.

4:15am ~ The AGO is now closed but the Cinemateque is still open. They're showing the 1903-04 silent films of George Melies including the classic "Voyage to the Moon" accompanied by live piano to a full house. I love silent films but I don't usually get to see them on a big screen. It's good chance to take off our shows, polish off some chocolate and take a load off for a bit. It's 5am and the theatre is still packed when we leave.

5:15am ~ Passing through King's College Circle on our way back to our Hart House appointment (remember?) we run into some die-hards passing out sparklers. Much spinning and twirling about while snapping blurry photos ensues.

5:30am ~ Back at Hart House; Exactly on time to the second with the afore mentioned diehards in tow to get our gothy pictures taken. No more lineups, no more wheel of coffee snowcones, no more free cotton candy and popcorn. But we do get our photos done and leave with goth makeup intact after hanging out and making shadow puppets on the video screens. We have officially been up too long.

6:40am ~ St. Thomas Anglican Church on Huron St.; There was supposed to be a hologram display with music, but by the time we get there they are packing up equipment and the music is done. There are still a few holograms though and a strange collection of portraits of famous people burned into pieces of toast. I guess the message is that Charles Darwin and Karl Marx are toast. But then why is Tim Allen here praytell? Anyhow there's also lots of free cookies and tea to stock up on for the trek home.

7:00am ~ Bloor St.; Walking back to the car and wondering if anything is still open. Nope, The Bata Museum is dark as a tomb and the ROM and Conservatory are locking up. However turn on the car radio and CIUT is still playing an electronic drone while the lights still pulse on the CN Tower.

7:30am ~ Home; And so to bed. Over and out.