Named after Alan Freed, the original Rock and Roll DJ and dedicated mostly to music & radio. See also my Classic Film & TV blog @ http://thesilverscreenchronicles.blogspot.ca/
For My CIUT 89.5fm in Toronto radio playlists; http://moondogsplaylists.blogspot.com/
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.
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
The Throwback Thursdays Retro Video Project presents, Jass;
I don't actually know very much about this band but their music is perfect for soundtracks. Jass were apparently a Shefield based band from the early to mid 1980's and part of the same scene as Cabaret Voltaire and Clock DVA and they tread similar ground to the Cab's circa "Three Mantras" and "Red Meca" era. Albeit in a more minimalistic and trance-like way. One of their tracks ("Trap Drip Drop") also shows some influences from Steve Reich's tape-loop works "Come Out" and "It's Gonna Rain". Their entire recorded output seems to consist of an album of demos recorded in 1985-86 and a live album from 1987 and that's it. Needless to say the videos I made are the only ones for this band. Incidentally the group's name comes from the original 1900's spelling of the of the word "jazz".
JASS ~ "OLD FILM LIFE";
For this video I used an early French Pathe film "Sculptures Moderne" which features some crude stop-action animation.
JASS ~ "FRONTIER JUSTICE";
This one uses another Pathe stop-action film.
JASS ~ "SUNKEN SOLDIER BONES";
For this track I used a 1960's silent op-art short made for the Fluxus Art Collective by George Maciunas.
JASS ~ "TRAP DRIP DROP";
This track uses another art film made in the 1960's for Fluxus, this one a series of performance art films made by Frenchman Ben Vautier
JASS ~ "UNTITLED LIVE TRACK NO.2"
This track off the live album uses another film by Ben Vautier although this one is essentially a home movie
The Throwback Thursdays Retro Video Project Presents; Japan:
Japan is another one of those bands like Simple Minds and Ultravox, who went from being a guitar-oriented Post-Punk band to a more atmospheric sound using keyboard washes, guitar arpeggios and funky basslines to make atmospheric and occasionally danceable music that seemed perfect for film soundtracks.
JAPAN ~ "LIFE IN TOKYO";
After two ablums of forgettable glam funk Japan introduced some electro-dance (via producer Georgio Moroder) as well as thier first flirtation with Asian music although at this point it's basically limited to J-Pop. Accordingly for this video I used a Segundo De Chomon film "Hombres Chinoises".
JAPAN ~ "VISIONS OF CHINA";
For this song off of the 1981 album "Tin Drum", which more deftly incorporated Asian influences, I used a 1908 French silent film
JAPAN ~ "METHODS OF DANCE";
For this song off of the 1980 album "Methods Of Dance" I used a 1962 French performance art film by Ben Vautier which basically consists of him sitting on a jetty holding a sign that says "Look At Me" while the camera records their reactions. It actually kinda works out with the "dance" theme.
JAPAN ~ "GENTLEMAN TAKE POLAROIDS";
For this track off the same album album I used a 1965 Dada German film short by Wolf Vostell, "Sun In Your Head". I also used this film for a Cabaret Voltaire track which I liked better but I thought this one still works.
JAPAN ~ "A FOREIGN PLACE";
This instrumental uses travel footage from 1950's Hong Kong
JAPAN ~ "OIL ON CANVAS";
This instrumental track is off the "Oil On Canvas" live album and uses a short film made by John Cale in 1967 as part of the Fluxus Film Dada art collective.
JAPAN ~ "TEMPLE OF DAWN";
This is another insturmental track off of "Oil On Canvas" using another Fluxus Films short, this one "OPUS 2" by Eric Anderson.
This week on my Throwback Thursdays Retro Video Project; Savage Republic pt.2.
Once again we return to my favorite obscure post-punk-indie band (American division) with their unique spaghetti-western-surf-guitar and industrial-tribal drums.
SAVAGE REPUBLIC ~ "EXODUS";
This echo and feedback drenched track form the first 1982 "Tragic Figures" album uses Edison Studios newsreel footage from a huge fire in Berkley, California.
SAVAGE REPUBLIC ~ "ATTEMPTED COUP; MADAGASGAR";
Another track off the first album this time using footage from another one of Spanish film-maker Segundo De Chomon's late period actualities, this time shot in Venice in 1912.
SAVAGE REPUBLIC ~ "EMPTY QUARTER";
For this one I used another Edison Studios newsreel footage of a fire, this time a gas refinery in New Jersey in 1900.
SAVAGE REPUBLIC ~ "WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS";
Another track off the first album and one of the bands rare vocals. This time using George Melies film "The Haunted Convent".
SAVAGE REPUBLIC ~ "ON THE PROWL";
For this track I used "The Hasher's Delirium", an early piece of animation.
SAVAGE REPUBLIC ~ "ZULU ZULU";
This short track off the first album uses a short Dada art film made by Paul Sharits for the Fluxus Film collective in 1966.
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.
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".
This week on my Throwback Thursdays Retro Video Project; Wire.
One of the first generation of Art-Punks (along with Siousxie & The Banshees, The Fall, Ultravox, Subway Sect, Alternative Televison, Soft Boys and Desperate Bicycles), Wire quickly gained a different approach from the basic three chord thrash on their three albums from 1977 to 1979, plus a live album in 1981. After breaking up for a decade they reformed in 1987 and took up right where they left off and they're still at it to this day, albeit sometimes with a different drummer.
WIRE ~ "LOWDOWN";
For this classic from the 1977 second album, "Pink Flag", I used a clip from a 1920's western starring Jack Hoxie which seemed to fit the almost Ennio Morricone feel of the song. Too bad the last few seconds of the fadeout got cut off. I also used this vid for a Fingerprintz vid.
WIRE ~ "STRANGE";
WIRE ~ "FRAGILE";
This one uses some 1920's aerial footage of Wiemar Berlin
Another song off "Pink Flag" this time using a 1907 film by Spanish film-maker Segundo De Chomon, a contemporary of French director George Melies whose style he built upon. I used this film for a Siouxsie & The Banshees song but could decide which I liked better so I kept both.
WIRE ~ "STRAIGHT LINE";
A song off the first album using an early Edison Studios film with a crude attempt at special f/x.
WIRE ~ "A TOUCHING DISPLAY";
for this song off the "154" album I used "Bob's Electric Theatre" by Segudo De Chomon
WIRE ~ "FIELD DAY FOR THE SUNDAYS";
This song from the first album uses a short Dada art film made for the Fluxus Film Collective by George Maciunas circa 1967.
This week in my Throwback Thursdays Retro Video Project; Ultravox and Visage.
Ultravox,led by Midge Ure are remembered for their series of 1980's New Romantic club hits like "Dancing With Tears In My Eyes", "Sleepwalk" and "Vienna". But there was an earlier version of Ultravox led by John Foxx who recorded three albums from 1976 to 1978 which were not hits but did became an influence on bands like Simple Minds, Joy Division, Japan, The Fixx, Comsat Angels, Killing Joke and especially Gary Numan with their icy guitar and keyboard sound and coldly moody songs about dehumanization, dislocation (also one of their song titles) and alienation.
ULTRAVOX ~ "CROSS FADE";
For this song off the 1978 third album "Systems Of Romance" album I used footage from the end of the 1915 German Expressionist Horror film "Homnonculus". Although little known now this film was one of the influences on later horror films like Frankenstein. I also used this footage for a Killing Joke song but couldn't decide which version I liked best so I kept both.
ULTRAVOX ~ "THE QUIET MAN";
Another song off the third album, this time using footage of a Navaho Indian dance for Teddy Roosevelt made by Edison Studios.
ULTRAVOX ~ "SLOWDOWN";
Yet another song off the third album using a film by Spanish filmmaker Segundo De Chomon short film, "Les Oeufs De Paques" from 1907. Chomon was a contemporary of George Melies whose style he built upon. I also used this film for a Siouxsie & The Banshess song.
VISAGE ~ "FADE TO GREY";
After John Foxx left Ultravox in 1979 he was replaced by Midge Ure who changed the focus and sound of the band into a more lush and dreamy feel which would eventually spawn the New Romantic scene. But first he also joined with other members of Ultravox and Magazine to form a band around scenester Steve Strange as Visage who put out two albums and had a hit with the atmospheric "Fade To Grey" which sounds tailor made for silent films. Here I paired it with footage from the 1915 German Expressionist horror film "Der Golem". This film (starring Paul Wegener) was remade in 1922 (also with Wegener) and both versions were hugely influential on the later "Frankenstein" movies. The 1915 version was long considered lost until these snippets from the ending surfaced a few years ago. There is enough here to tell that there were considerable differences from the later version, notably that this version was set in modern times while the later was set in medieval Prague. In both versions however Wegener's iconic costume and makeup are largely the same.
VISAGE ~ "VISA-AGE";
In xxxx Steve Strange reformed Visage to redo songs from their first two albums with a full orchestra. This video of a song originally off the first album uses aerial footage from Berlin in the 1920's.
VISAGE ~ "NEVER ENOUGH";
Another from the orchestral album for a song originally on the second album using a short old silent film from the 1910's with an extended dream sequence.
VISAGE ~ "NIGHT TRAIN";
Yet another from the orchestral album for a song originally on the second album using a short art film by George Cup & Steve Elliot from 1972.
More in my ongoing retro video project. This time more Cabaret Voltaire, pt.2, mid-period recordings.
"IF THE SHADOWS COULD MARCH";
This video for a remixed track recorded in 1974 which eventually turned up in a shortened form on the second album. The footage is from a short art film made by Wolf Vostell for a Dada film collective called Flux Films who made a series of such shorts in 1965-67. I think this one really captures the feel of the Cabs early vids.
In 1983 Cabaret Voltaire did a soundtrack for an obscure film called "Johnny Yesno". I took a couple of these tracks to make videos of.
JOHNNY YESNO";
For this one I used a short art film, "Tails", by Paul Sharits. This film spliced together the faded, underdeveloped ends of other films, hence the title.
"TAXI MUSIC";
Another from "Johnny Yesno". For this one I used one of DW Giffith's first film (from 1908) about a home invasion. I also used this film for a Monoton video but couldn't decide which I liked better so I kept both.
"SPREAD THE VIRUS";
This track is off the 1981 "Red Mecca" album. The video uses newsreel footage of the Red Baron's funeral and wreckage of his plane from 1918.
"INVOCATION";
This track is from the 1988 album "Eight Crepescule Tracks" using a performance art film from 1968 directed by Dutch art film-maker Franz Zwartjes.
Besides these found film videos I also made a few collages using still images.
"BAADER-MEINHOFF";
For this track off the second album about the 1970's terrorist group I used newspaper footage of the group.
"SLUGGIN FOR JESUS";
OK; the idea of three (very) pale white English dudes covering the theme from a 1970's blacksploitation flick may seem ill-advised but you can't argue with the results. We're just talkin' bout Shaft. Shut your mouth.
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".
THIS TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 13;
