The Dead C

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The Dead C
Origin Dunedin, New Zealand
Genres
Years active1986–present
Members Bruce Russell
Michael Morley
Robbie Yeats

The Dead C are a New Zealand music and art trio consisting of members Bruce Russell, Michael Morley and Robbie Yeats, formed in Dunedin. [1] [2] Russell is a co-lead guitarist, Morley sings and plays guitar or laptop, and Yeats is a drummer. They have been variously praised and cited as an influence by indie musicians such as Thurston Moore and Pavement, as well as the post-rock acts Bardo Pond, Flying Saucer Attack and Labradford. [3]

Contents

Overview

The Dead C formed in Dunedin in 1987, following Morley's previous musical project Wreck Small Speakers on Expensive Stereos. [4] Their first Auckland show was in 1989, by which point they had already released two albums on Flying Nun who Russell had been doing copywriting work for. [5] They became known internationally through their releases on the Philadelphia record label Siltbreeze, especially the 1992 double LP Harsh 70s Reality . Their records are typically composed of improvised material, and are not recorded in a standard professional music studio; for instance, their 2000 self-titled album was largely recorded with a digital camcorder. [6]

The group performs infrequently outside of New Zealand, although they did travel to the US in March 2002 to perform at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival (curated by Sonic Youth), as well as shows in Los Angeles and San Francisco. They also performed for the first time in Europe in May 2004 at Le Weekend, a new music festival in Stirling, Scotland and returned to the UK to play at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival again in December 2006. [7] In 2008, they played a short tour in the United States, and returned to the UK to play All Tomorrow's Parties in December 2010. In September 2016, they played a few US dates including Cropped Out festival in Louisville, Kentucky

A compilation album covering their first 18 years entitled Vain Erudite and Stupid: Selected Works 1987-2005 was released on the Ba Da Bing label in 2006.

Discography

Albums

Release dateTitleLabel
1988 DR503 Flying Nun Records
1989 Eusa Kills Flying Nun Records
1990 Trapdoor Fucking Exit Precious Metal
1992 Harsh 70s Reality Siltbreeze [a]
1992 Clyma est mort Siltbreeze [b]
1992MetricMajora
1995 The White House Siltbreeze
1996 Repent Siltbreeze
1997 Tusk Siltbreeze
2000 The Dead C Language Recordings
2001 New Electric Music Language Recordings
2003 The Damned Starlight Furniture Company
2007 Future Artists Ba Da Bing
2007Untitled Split LP (with Hi God People) Nervous Jerk Records
2008 Secret Earth Ba Da Bing
2010 Patience Ba Da Bing
2013 Armed Courage Ba Da Bing
2016TroubleBa Da Bing
2019Rare RaversBa Da Bing
2020UnknownsBa Da Bing

EPs

Release dateTitleLabelFormat
1989The Sun Stabbed Xpressway 7"
1990 Helen Said This ¹Siltbreeze12", 33 rpm
1994 The Operation of the Sonne Siltbreeze12", 33 rpm
2005Split Series 18 (with Konono Nº1) Nervous Jerk Records
2013The Dead C vs Rangda (split with Rangda)Ba Da Bing
2015PalisadasI Dischi Del Barone
2020All GoodbyesLanguage Recordings

Cassettes

Release dateTitleLabel
1987The Dead See Perform M. HarrisDiabolic Root
198743 Sketch for a PosterDiabolic Root
1988The Live Dead See Xpressway
1989 Perform DR503B Xpressway
1990 Runway Precious Metal

Compilations

Release dateTitleLabel
1995 World Peace Hope et al. Shock
2006 Vain, Erudite and Stupid: Selected Works 1987–2005 Ba Da Bing
Notes
a 1500 copies made
b 450 copies made

Singles

YearSingle
1991"Hell is Now Love/Bone"
1991"Power/Mighty/Peace"
1994"The Dead C vs. Sebadoh"
1994"Metalheart"
1995"Metalheart" (reissue)
2000"Stealth/The Factory"
2006"Relax Fallujah Hell Has Come"
2008"Golden/Canine"

References

  1. Raggett, Ned. "The Dead C: Harsh 70's Reality > Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  2. Sprague, David (2007). "Dead C". Trouser Press . Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  3. "Dead C". Flying Nun Records . Archived from the original on 24 October 2009. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  4. "The Dead C". Beat Magazine. 4 October 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  5. "The Dead C Finds Life in the Shadows". Consequence. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  6. "In Praise of Miscompetence: Noise Icons the Dead C Remain Mysterious as Ever". Observer. 15 September 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  7. "The Dead C". RNZ . 5 September 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2022.