| :zoviet*france: | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Newcastle upon Tyne, UK |
| Genres | Dark ambient, post-industrial, industrial, ambient |
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Labels | Charrm, Red Rhino Records, Staalplaat, DOVentertainment, Soleilmoon |
| Associated acts | Reformed Faction, Rapoon, Dead Voices on Air |
| Members | |
| Ben Ponton Mark Warren |
|
| Past members | |
| Andy Eardley Lisa Hale Mark Spybey Paolo Di Paolo Peter Jensen Robin Storey |
|
Zoviet France (also known as :$OVIET:FRANCE:, Soviet France, :zoviet-france: and latterly usually written as :zoviet*france:) is a prolific music group from Newcastle upon Tyne in north east England. While often dissonant and made of industrial textures, their music also falls into the ambient music category. Formed in 1980, and remaining largely anonymous,[1] the group has had a number of members; presently it consists of co-founder Ben Ponton and Mark Warren. Former members included Neil Ramshaw, Peter Jensen, Robin Storey (who now records as Rapoon), Lisa Hale, Paolo Di Paolo, Mark Spybey (who now records as Dead Voices on Air) and Andy Eardley. In 2005 Storey, Spybey and Eardley formed a new group, Reformed Faction.
Their music often consists of droning textures set against fractured rhythms and fleeting dissonant melodies and their earlier recordings have been described as "evoking a cross between musique concrète and tribal music".[2] Neglected sound sources are frequently used, such as obscure radio broadcasts, toy instruments, and field recordings, often heavily processed or looped. Over time, they have increasingly added electronic elements but without adopting computer based composition techniques. In describing their approach to making music, the group has been quoted as saying:
| “ | All audio equipment distorts sound to some degree and, eventually through mechanical and electrical failure, fucks it up. Since indeterminacy as a compositional parameter has been a constant in our work, this often produces what we regard as interesting new developments.[3] | ” |
The packaging of their early releases was often unconventional, the group employing materials such as hessian, tar paper and aluminium foil. Since CDs became the dominant music format, their packaging has been less inventive, although they have since incorporated felt, wood veneer, and decorative pins.
Contents |
| Year | Title | Label |
| 1982 | Garista | Self-released |
| 1982 | [untitled] | Red Rhino Records |
| 1983 | Norsch | Red Rhino Records |
| 1983 | Mohnomishe | Red Rhino Records |
| 1984 | Eostre | Red Rhino Records |
| 1985 | Popular Soviet Songs and Youth Music | Red Rhino Records/Singing Ringing |
| 1985 | Gris | No Man's Land |
| 1986 | Misfits, Loony Tunes and Squalid Criminals | Red Rhino Records |
| 1986 | Gesture Signal Threat | Red Rhino Records |
| 1987 | Loh Land | Staalplaat |
| 1987 | A Flock of Rotations | Red Rhino Records |
| 1987 | Assault and Mirage | Red Rhino Records |
| 1988 | Shouting at the Ground | Red Rhino Records |
| 1990 | Just an Illusion | Staalplaat |
| 1990 | Look Into Me | Charrm |
| 1991 | Shadow, Thief of the Sun | DOVentertainment |
| 1991 | Vienna 1990 | Charrm |
| 1993 | Collusion | Mute Records/Soleilmoon in the (US) |
| 1993 | What Is Not True | Charrm |
| 1996 | Digilogue | Soleilmoon |
| 1996 | in.version | Charrm |
| 1996 | Feedback | Staalplaat |
| 2000 | The Decriminalisation of Country Music | Tramway |
| 2003 | utdrag | amino |
| 2005 | Music for a Spaghetti Western | Klanggalerie |
| 2008 | shteirlel | King Worldwide via alt.vinyl |
1985 (Lands End) (audio cassette) Touch, UK; 1993 (Collusion) (CD) The Grey Area of Mute Records, UK / Soleilmoon, U.S.
1986 (Bad Alchemy nr 4) (cassette/magazine) Bad Alchemy, West Germany; 1993 (Collusion) (CD) The Grey Area of Mute Records, UK / Soleilmoon, U.S.
1986 (Fight!) (LP) Cathexis Recordings, UK; 1989 (Absolute) (CD) Parade Amoureuse, West Germany; 1993 (Collusion) (CD) The Grey Area of Mute Records, UK / Soleilmoon, US
1988 (A Classic Guide To No Man's Land) (CD) No Man's Land, West Germany; 1993 (Collusion) (CD) The Grey Area of Mute Records, UK / Soleilmoon, Soleilmoon, U.S.
1989 (A Bead To A Small Mouth) (LP) Barooni, Netherlands; 1993 (Collusion) (CD) The Grey Area of Mute Records, UK / Soleilmoon, U.S.
1990 (Mouvements) (CD) La Legende des Voix, France; 1993 (Collusion) (CD) The Grey Area of Mute Records, UK / Soleilmoon, U.S.
1990 (CD) Ladd-Frith, U.S.
1990 (Death of Vinyl) (CD) DOVentertainment, Canada; 1993 (Collusion) (CD) The Grey Area of Mute Records, UK / Soleilmoon, U.S.
1992 (cassette/magazine) Bad Alchemy, Germany
1992 (CD) Hypnagogia, UK
1993 (CD) Work In Progress, UK
1993 (CD/book) Total, UK
1994 (2CD) Virgin Ambient, UK
1996 (CD) DOR, UK
1996 These Records, UK
1997 (CD) Double Space, Netherlands
1997 (CD) Resonance/London Musicians Collective, UK
1998 (2CD) Mille Plateaux
1998 (12" vinyl LP) RRR Records, U.S.
1999 (CD) Iris Light, UK
2000 (CD) Charrm UK
A film by Stan Brakhage (U.S. 1987). Includes an excerpt from Cair Camouflet from the album Look into Me. Released on the video 4 Sounds Films by Stan Brakhage (Joel Haertling, U.S. 1990).
A video production by Mark Mushet (Suture Productions, Canada, 1991). Includes excerpts from the album Shadow, Thief of the Sun.
A video production by :zoviet*france: (UK, 1991). A promotional video for the album Shadow, Thief of the Sun produced for television broadcast only.
A video production by Karas (Japan, 1993). Includes excerpts from the album Shadow, Thief of the Sun.
A film by Jacques Cousteau, soundtrack commissioned by Ian Helliwell for the Soundtracks for Super-8 film programme (UK 1998).
Commissioned soundtrack title: Silence Des Mers Avec Scooters.
A film by Ravi Deepres (UK 2000).
A video production by :zoviet*france: (Nuit Et Brouillard, France, 2001). Featured on the Deadly Actions Live Retrospective 1994-1996 video compilation of bands that performed at Deadly Actions festival in France.
A video production by Louise K Wilson (UK, 2003).
A video production by Francis Gomila (UK, 2003). Soundtrack taken from Amber, from the album Digilogue.
A video production by Louise K Wilson (UK, 2005).
A film by Ravi Deepres (UK, 2005).
A film by Ravi Deepres and Michael Baig Clifford (UK, 2006).
A film by Camcorder Guerillas (UK, 2008).
A group exhibition featuring album covers by :zoviet*france:.
A group mail art show featuring Return To Sender by :zoviet*france:, a physical and audio remix of Elvis Presley's recording of the song Return to Sender.
An exhibition which brought together the work of 84 leading artists and musicians, who were invited to make a visual artwork in response to a chosen track from the album release the Anthology of American Folk Music, an anthology edited by New York artist, musicologist and experimental filmmaker Harry Smith, first published by Folkways in 1952. Featured According To Joe by :zoviet*france:[7]