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shadowplay wrote: I think somewhere along the way from the early 80's the electronic side and the 'band' side somehow drifted apart in the popular conciousness but in period I certainly never considered them something separate and I tunnelled right into the 'Futurist Chart' in Sounds as much as looked for the guitar side of things. It was all the same thing as far as I was/am concerned, fuck even though it's Disco Donna Summer/Giorgio Moroder felt as much part of what was happening as Joy Division did, both carried that sense of otherness in the beauty in bleakness (Joy Division) and a sense of cold delirium in glamour.

D

If you've never heard 80's 90's Sydney band Distant Locust, you need to.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6yB9WpR7B4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_NToL8E7GI

sammynb wrote:

shadowplay wrote: I think somewhere along the way from the early 80's the electronic side and the 'band' side somehow drifted apart in the popular conciousness but in period I certainly never considered them something separate and I tunnelled right into the 'Futurist Chart' in Sounds as much as looked for the guitar side of things. It was all the same thing as far as I was/am concerned, fuck even though it's Disco Donna Summer/Giorgio Moroder felt as much part of what was happening as Joy Division did, both carried that sense of otherness in the beauty in bleakness (Joy Division) and a sense of cold delirium in glamour.

D

If you've never heard 80's 90's Sydney band Distant Locust, you need to.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6yB9WpR7B4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_NToL8E7GI

Pretty sweet stuff.

sammynb wrote:
If you've never heard 80's 90's Sydney band Distant Locust, you need to.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6yB9WpR7B4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_NToL8E7GI

I know them but thanks for posting. I never saw them live or anything but I think I picked up the records because they were on Contempo.

I always liked Mark Stewart's I Feel Love x mad tramp.

D

Art Institute- Kind of New Wave-ish- certainly not the gloom and reverb brand of post-punk (I might just call a band Gloom and Reverb someday now)- Vocals are kind of like Devo meets Gang of Four, Guitar work is slashy and trebly goodness, and the drums remind me a little of early Mission of Burma; the bass is good.

Found two this week that are definitely worth sharing:

• The Hunt (NYC)- evidently also the name of two other fairly prominent bands; this is unfortunately the only available source for their music online, maybe if I'm feeling ambitious later this week I'll upload some to youtube.

Kind of Cure-ish, vocals sound like Tim Curry (from Rocky Horror, among other things). Very traditional, but also minimal (as opposed to some other revival acts), and just the right amount of 80's pop feel. I also don't think it would be shallow to compare them to Joy Division, despite how shallow a comparison that usually is.


• The New Sound of Number- aside from having the best band name I've heard in a while that wasn't one word, or "the"_____, these guys are an awesome band from the more upbeat vein of post-punk.

Accurately compared to the B-52's by their label, but "weirder" for lack of a better way of putting it. David, you'll probably really like this one if you haven't heard it yet.

I remember seeing Ashrae Fax in the 90's as a two piece. I may have their cassette or CDr still. Cool too see they're still around.

Here's a few I never seem to get enough of. While not STRICTLY Post-Punk, they all contain elements.

Holograms - "Monolith" from the self titled album Holograms

http://youtu.be/UmoMR4iFNyU


Little Girls "White Night" from the Cults EP

http://youtu.be/5ewDUMAZkUw


And finally

Demontré - "Act III, Scene V (Days of Yore)"

http://youtu.be/iq7S3JeHRK4

Emiliana Torrini & Steve Mason - I Go Out it's only the one song and they are all sold out (250 sevens) but this is a brilliant wee song.

D

A much more well-known band than many in this thread but I always consider Liars to have a very post-punk way of doing things. Just throwing various elements together, trying new things, seeing what works and never really staying in the same musical place for long. To me that's more what that stuff was about rather than a having a post-punk 'sound' which seems to be where a lot of bands influenced by that period stop.

BBRRTT wrote:A much more well-known band than many in this thread but I always consider Liars to have a very post-punk way of doing things. Just throwing various elements together, trying new things, seeing what works and never really staying in the same musical place for long. To me that's more what that stuff was about rather than a having a post-punk 'sound' which seems to be where a lot of bands influenced by that period stop.

Yes absolutely especially WIXIW, the music, the approach, hell even the choice of some of the remixers (like Vessel) are very much kindred spirits with what I am getting at here (Vessel being very much on a lineage running through the likes of Shoc Corridor, CTI and Monoton etc ). Some of the remixing is quite revealing, take the Vince Clark mix of No1 Against the Rush, it totally reminds me of Matthew Dear who also has his music shot through with loping post punk spirit while not making cliched Post Punk music.

D

I hadn't heard that Vince Clarke mix! Great stuff.

shadowplay wrote:
Interesting, for me it's pretty simple; Punk in itself was never that interesting to me, what was interesting is how it enabled and encouraged artists though it's aftershocks. I guess that over the years Post Punk has become a style but to me it's more about the aftermath of the punk explosion (hell even the 'influences' were influenced; like say Dieter Moebius). It's one of my things, I've literally thousands and thousands of records that you could chuck in this genre but they aren't generally hidebound by guitar/bass/drums. To me Monoton are Post Punk, Chris and Cosey are Post Punk, lowland Minimal Wave groups are post punk, Monte Cazazza is Post Punk, Cabaret Voltaire are Post Punk, Fad Gadget is Post Punk, Robert Rental & Thomas Leer are Post Punk, Malaria! are Post Punk. It's a broad church, at least the way I look at it and being of an age that I bought records in period my instinct is perhaps contrary to some of the people who didn't. Genre is pretty fluid sometimes but I always go on instinct and maybe experience.

I couldn't agree more.

I've always shied away from the linear paradigm of punk then post-punk. Rather, I've described post-punk as (1) taking its cue from disco, reggae, electronic music, and free jazz, along with Afrobeat, French pop, and Krautrock, whereas punk took its cue from early "rock 'n roll" and (2) art created by those freed from the strictures of "rock" by punk's Year Zero mentality. To me, Throbbing Gristle is post-punk as are Young Marble Giants and the Pop Group.

I think the very fluidity of the post-punk genre is what distinguishes it from punk. As with all adjectives/descriptors used by music critics today, I think it has lost all meaning other than as a critics shorthand for "this music reminds me of (insert genre name)."

shadowplay wrote:
I think somewhere along the way from the early 80's the electronic side and the 'band' side somehow drifted apart in the popular conciousness but in period I certainly never considered them something separate and I tunnelled right into the 'Futurist Chart' in Sounds as much as looked for the guitar side of things. It was all the same thing as far as I was/am concerned, fuck even though it's Disco Donna Summer/Giorgio Moroder felt as much part of what was happening as Joy Division did, both carried that sense of otherness in the beauty in bleakness (Joy Division) and a sense of cold delirium in glamour.

Eno famously described 'I Feel Love' as the future of music to Bowie. To me too, the Donna Summer/Giorgio Moroder collaborations are a part of the same milieu. 'Love to Love You Baby' remains a celebration of the "cold delirium in glamour."

P

Ok since i agree with you, I'll just add that, I think the genre/epochs reappraisal and rehabilitation has seen some lazy thinking drift in, along with too many bands who ape but don't extend. I'm quite guilty of liking some of them but I prefer a band who have something of the spirit but take the time to learn a little from the subsequent 30 years. A good Example of this I would say is ERAAS, their music is shot through with markers but it's also drawing from Post 85 as well.

I also think that the majority of articles, compilations and books on the subject are largely terrible. However I thought that Mutazione: Italian Electronic & New Wave Underground was an incredible work of real and humbling knowledge and passion. It was compiled by Sam Willis and Alessio Natalizia of WALLS and it's superb throughout and I think a perfect illustration of the many sides of Post Punk. I generally never buy this sort of compilation because I usually own it all already but this had stuff on it that was news to me and it necessitated subsequent digging to fill in a few of my gaps.

Some sample tracks

La Bambola Del Dr Caligari - Deep Skanner

Winter Light - Always Unique

Victrola- Maritime Tatami

D

shadowplay wrote: I also think that the majority of articles, compilations and books on the subject are largely terrible. However I thought that Mutazione: Italian Electronic & New Wave Underground was an incredible work of real and humbling knowledge and passion. It was compiled by Sam Willis and Alessio Natalizia of WALLS and it's superb throughout and I think a perfect illustration of the many sides of Post Punk. I generally never buy this sort of compilation because I usually own it all already but this had stuff on it that was news to me and it necessitated subsequent digging to fill in a few of my gaps.

Seems like a superb compilation... and one well worth having.

At the moment I cannot recall the name of the one book on post-punk (out of several read) that I found to be quite good... it's in the lock up and I'll post the title when I get it (although I *think* we discussed the book previously)... evidently, the memory is the first thing to go....



P

Rip It Up and Start Again by Simon Reynolds? It's been a long time since I read it but I remember finding it pretty good. Then again I felt like I'd been waiting so long for an England's Dreaming-style book on post-punk that it probably couldn't really fail.