Androids of Mu | |
---|---|
Origin | Frestonia, West London, England |
Genres | Anarcho-punk Post-punk |
Years active | 1979-1983 |
Labels | F*** Off Records |
Past members | Suze da Blooze Corrina Cozmic Bess |
Androids of Mu was an English all-female anarcho-punk/post-punk band based in London, active from 1979 to 1983. They were part of a West London squatland scene, alongside bands such as the Poison Girls, Zounds, The Mob and The Astronauts.
Emerging from associations with the hippy-orientated Here & Now, Nik Turner, Gong's Daevid Allen and Gilli Smyth, the Androids of Mu formed out of the Frestonia squatter community in Notting Hill Gate, West London, notable in its time for producing non-conformist music.
The band's driving force was vocalist Suze da Blooze (11 February 1950 – 19 August 2007). [1] She shared lead vocals with Corrina, and wrote much of the band's material. They released one album, Blood Robots, recorded by F*** Off Records label-head Keith Dobson (Kif Kif le Batteur) [2] in his Street Level studio.
The Androids were well received by the music press of the day. Robbi Millar in Sounds described the album as "Android genius" and likened the band to The Slits, [3] praising their "simple songs, played with limited but adventurous ability, sung with voices that scream and holler with the mispitched intensity of early Raincoats". [4]
From proto-punk and post-punk beginnings, the band soon became associated with the anarcho-punk scene. Crass invited the Androids to record for their label on condition that they recruited a "proper" drummer, but the band declined the invitation. [5] Newcastle anarcho-punk band Blood Robots [6] named themselves after Androids of Mu's only album.
In 2013, Blood Robots was reissued on vinyl by Water Wing Records. [7]
The band's line-up was: Suze da Blooze (vocals), Corrina (guitar, vocals), Cozmic (drums, synth, vocals) and Bess (bass, vocals). The second incarnation featured drummer Graham Cronin and guitarist Deborah Thomas.
Chumbawamba were an English anarcho-punk band who formed in 1982 and disbanded in 2012. They are best known for their 1997 single "Tubthumping", which was nominated for Best British Single at the Brit Awards 1998. Other singles include "Amnesia", "Enough Is Enough", "Timebomb", "Top of the World ", and "Add Me". Their anarcho-communist political leanings led them to have an irreverent attitude toward authority, and to espouse a variety of political and social causes including animal rights and pacifism and later regarding class struggle, Marxism, feminism, and anti-fascism.
The Dwarves are an American punk rock band formed in Chicago, Illinois and based in San Francisco, California as of 2009.
Subhumans are an English/UK punk rock band formed in the Warminster and Melksham areas of Wiltshire in 1980. Singer Dick Lucas had formerly been in another local band, the Mental, and other members had been in The Stupid Humans. The band's musical style is typically classified as hardcore punk or anarcho-punk.
Rudimentary Peni are a British anarcho-punk band formed in 1980, emerging from the London anarcho-punk scene. Lead singer/guitarist Nick Blinko is notorious for his witty, macabre lyrics and dark pen-and-ink artwork, prominently featured on all of Rudimentary Peni's albums. Bassist Grant Matthews has also written several songs for the band, though his lyrics primarily focus on sociopolitical themes. Very few photos exist of the band, as their albums feature Blinko's drawings instead, but Pushead published a few in an early edition of his magazine.
Anthrax are an English anarcho-punk band formed in Gravesend, Kent, England, in 1980. They recorded their first demo in 1981 and went on to release two 7" EPs on Crass Records and Small Wonder Records. They appeared on compilations released by Crass Records, Mortarhate Records and Fightback Records. They toured outside the UK twice in the Netherlands with Dutch band The Ex.
Here & Now are an English psychedelic/space rock band formed in early 1974. They have close connections with the band Gong and in 1977/1978 worked with Gong's Daevid Allen and Gilli Smyth under the name Planet Gong.
F-Minus was an American hardcore punk band formed in 1995 in Huntington Beach, California, United States, started by Jen Johnson and Brad Logan. F-Minus was known for their dueling male and female vocals in songs that were sometimes as short as 12 seconds. Before breaking up in 2004, their last album was recorded by Steve Albini. Throughout their career, they covered such bands as Antidote, Black Randy and the Metro Squad, 7 Seconds, Negative Approach, and Agnostic Front. Brad Logan currently runs his own record label Blacknoise, and is also member of the New York band Leftöver Crack. Jen Johnson currently is the designer and owner of clothing label E.C. Star, and also is a member of the California band Ammunition Affair.
Toxic Waste was an anarcho-punk band from Belfast, Northern Ireland.
The Apostles are an English experimental punk rock band, who developed within the confines of the 1980s anarcho-punk scene in the UK, but did not necessarily adhere to the aesthetics of that movement.
The Undead is an American horror punk band formed in 1980 in New York City's East Village by Bobby Steele, Chris "Jack" Natz (bass) and Patrick Blanck (drums). They were one of the pioneers in the New York hardcore scene.
Brad Logan, sometimes called Brad Minus, is an American punk rock guitarist from Los Angeles, California, who also owns and operates Blacknoise Recordings, and has collaborated on projects with Alternative Tentacles. Logan was the frontman and guitarist for hardcore punk band F-Minus but is most famous for his work in the group Leftöver Crack. In 2018, Logan joined Adolescents following the death their founding bassist Steve Soto.
Crass were an English art collective and punk rock band formed in Epping, Essex in 1977 who promoted anarchism as a political ideology, a lifestyle and a resistance movement. Crass popularised the anarcho-punk movement of the punk subculture, advocating direct action, animal rights, feminism, anti-fascism and environmentalism. The band employed and advocated a DIY ethic in its albums, sound collages, leaflets and films.
Hagar the Womb are an English punk rock band, originally active in the early 1980s and part of the anarcho-punk movement. In hiatus from 1987, members went on to form We Are Going To Eat You and Melt, with vocalist Julie Sorrell. A 2011 compilation of their back catalogue brought members back into contact with each other, and invitations to reform and play gigs and festivals led to Hagar The Womb gigging again from 2012. The band released a new EP in 2016.
Omega Tribe are an English anarcho-punk band, formed in Barnet, London in 1981. With the roles of Hugh Vivian on guitar and vocals, Daryl Hardcastle on bass, Pete Fender on guitar and Pete Shepherd on drums, their first EP, Angry Songs, was produced by Penny Rimbaud and Pete Fender for Crass Records in 1982.
Grant Showbiz is a British record producer principally known for his work with The Fall, The Smiths, and Billy Bragg plus as an artist in his own right with Moodswings. He has worked on more albums by both The Fall (15) & Billy Bragg (14) than any other producer, and continues to work with Bragg. Showbiz has been awarded Gold Records for The Smiths' Rank, Billy Bragg's Don't Try This At Home and The Wilco/Bragg collaboration Mermaid Vol.1, and received Grammy nominations for both Mermaid Avenue Vols 1 & 2.
Poisoned Electrick Head (PEH) is an English psychedelic indie rock/punk band formed in 1986 in St Helens, Merseyside, England. The band is best known for the 1994 independent chart hit "Out of Order" and for its fantasy-costumed stage act. Poisoned Electrick Head split up in 1998 and formally reformed in 2009. The band's name is taken from the final words sung by Vivian Stanshall in the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band track, "My Pink Half of the Drainpipe".
Instigators were an anarcho-punk band from Dewsbury, England, formed in 1980. The original line-up split up in the mid-1980s, but the band carried on into the 1990s.
Live Floating Anarchy 1977 is a 1978 live album by Planet Gong, a combination of Gong's Daevid Allen and Gilli Smyth and the band Here & Now. It was recorded in Toulouse on 6 November 1977, apart from the track "Opium for the People" which was a studio recording. It was originally released on the French LTM record label, run by Jean Karakos, who had previously run Tapioca and BYG.
Banana Moon is the debut solo album by Australian singer/songwriter/guitarist and Gong leader Daevid Allen, released in July 1971 on the French BYG Actuel label. The album is sometimes referred to as Bananamoon and it was also reissued as a Gong album.
Political Asylum was a Scottish anarcho-punk band formed in Stirling in 1982 and active until 1993. One of the most popular bands within that scene, they played hundreds of gigs across the U.K., Europe and America and were, according to author Ian Glasper, "an integral part of the fiercely independent underground that existed at the time."