Saturday, March 31, 2007

Images In Vogue

Images in Vogue formed in April 1981 when Don Gordon And Gary Smith joined together with Kevin Crompton and Joe Vizvary. The four came together out of common interests in synthesizer-based music and the many types of post-punk experimental music coming from England.


Rather than playing in bars around Vancouver, the band decided to concentrate on writing and recording. By September 1981, Images in Vogue (IIV) had released two well-received 5-song demos to college radio and local DJs. The band found Dale Martindale through mutual friends, and the band's line-up was complete. Images in Vogue's first Canadian tour started in January 1983 and continued until May 1983, climaxing with opening slots with Depeche Mode in Toronto and Roxy Music in Edmonton and Vancouver. During the tour, band generated record company interest, and in March 1983 IIV were signed to Warner's Canada. The band's first major label release was a self-titled EP containing remixes of "Lust For Love" and "For Germans" and re-recordings of "Masks", "Breaking Up", and "Just Like You". After a final show in November 1991 at the Opera House in Toronto, the band unofficially ended as members went on to other projects

In 1994, IIV’s first compilation CD, Collection, was released on SPG records. The CD featured extended mixes of many songs as well as remixes and unreleased tracks from 1982 and 1986. Through the nineties, IIV songs appeared on many eighties compilation albums.
In October 2002, after years of fan requests, IIV reunited for a concert at Toronto’s Opera House. They reunited again in Vancouver on August 2004 for a concert at the Commodore Ballroom and filmed a video for "Look Me in the Eye" later that year. A new collection of rarities is expected in late 2005 entitled Evolution and there is hope for another video to be shot.

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Panda Bear- Person Pitch

Person Pitch is the third solo album released by Animal Collective member Panda Bear (aka Noah Lennox), released on March 20, 2007. Five of the seven tracks on the album were released prior to the album, some of them with different mixing and/or lengths. "I'm Not" and "Comfy in Nautica" were released together as a double A-side single in 2005. "Take Pills" will be released as a 7" single on June 19, 2007, the same day that Person Pitch is being released on vinyl.



Sunday, March 18, 2007

Pink Industry

Pink Industry was a duo of former Pink Military vocalist Jayne Casey and bassist Ambrose Reynolds. Casey Jayne and her brood of mates would become one of the first gaggle of youths which would fly the flag of the 'new wave' in the City of Liverpool in the mid to late 1970's. Already tuned in to what was happening regarding new music and styles from New York-past and present, Casey was ready to open eyes and ears as well as ruffling the feathers of many a passer-by in the city center with her creative and outrageous flair in clothes, hair and make-up.

 
After Pink Military ended, Casey joined up with bassist/keyboardist Ambrose Reynolds (a one time member of Frankie Goes to Hollywood), adding a guitarist after the first album, and continued to evade commercial success as Pink Industry. Inhabiting and exploring an original world of sound and vision, Pink Industry continued in the path that Pink Military was headed during their brief existence. The group combined the "anything goes" spirit of post-punk with further use of experimental electronics. Pink Industry sounded something like Siouxsie Sioux fronting Japan, using bits of guitar, bass, drums, electronics and found audio to weave a fascinating soft cushion for Casey's plain vocals.

Between 1982 and 1985, they released three albums, one EP and two singles "What I Would Give" and "Don't Let Go". Their third album New Beginnings proved to be their final work together. A series of retrospective packages followed throughout the late 80's and 90's, a self-titled release on Cathexis got the ball rolling in 1988, followed by 1990's Retrospective and 1995's New Naked Technologies.

Most of their recording material was reissued on a New Naked Technology compilation in 2010.

Saturday, March 3, 2007

Instant Hit: The Nits- Slip Of The Tongue

Probably best remembered for their single "In The Dutch Mountains", Nits have released over 50 singles during their long lasting career. "Slip of the Tongue" was one of the songs from their early opus, released in 1983. It was taken from Nits' third studio album Work, released in 1981 in the Netherlands for CBS where the Nits originally came from. 

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