The Focus Group

Last updated

The Focus Group
Birth name Julian House
OriginEngland
Genres Electronica, library music, sampledelia, musique concrète, hauntology, psychedelia
Occupation(s)Musician
songwriter
Years active2004present
Labels Ghost Box
Website Ghost Box Records

The Focus Group is a project of experimental electronic musician and graphic designer Julian House. The Focus Group's sound is a blend of influences ranging from old library music sounds produced in the 1970s, 1960s-inspired pastiches, public information films, and soundtracks to 1970s films and programmes, as well as the sound collage of musique concrète. [1]

Contents

The Focus Group have released five studio albums on House's own label, Ghost Box: Sketches and Spells (2004), Hey Let Loose Your Love (2005), We Are All Pan's People (2007), The Elektrik Karousel (2013) and Stop-Motion Happening with the Focus Groop (2017). [2] Hey Let Loose Your Love was featured in The Wire's top 50 albums of 2005. [3]

Additionally, House collaborated with indie electronic band Broadcast, resulting in the 2009 album Broadcast and the Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age (issued by Warp) and the 2010 7-inch EP Familiar Shapes and Noises (released on Ghost Box). Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age was named The Wire's top album of 2009.

Graphic design

House is also noted as a graphic designer; his work has included cover art for Broadcast, Oasis, Can, Stereolab, Martina Topley-Bird, Razorlight and Primal Scream. [2] [4]

Discography

Studio albums

Singles and EPs

Related Research Articles

Post-rock is a form of experimental rock characterized by a focus on exploring textures and timbre over traditional rock song structures, chords, or riffs. Post-rock artists are often instrumental, typically combining rock instrumentation with electronics. The genre emerged within the indie and underground music scene of the 1980s and early 1990s. However, due to its abandonment of rock conventions, it often bears little resemblance musically to contemporary indie rock, borrowing instead from diverse sources including ambient, electronica, jazz, krautrock, dub, and minimalist classical.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Astbury</span> British singer

Ian Robert Astbury is an English singer, best known as a founding member, lead vocalist and frontman of the rock band the Cult. During various hiatuses from the Cult, Astbury has fronted the short-lived Holy Barbarians in 1996, and later from 2002 to 2007 served as the lead singer of Riders on the Storm, a Doors tribute band that also featured Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger from the original Doors. He replaced Rob Tyner during an MC5 reunion in 2003, as well as appearing on several one-off guest vocal performances on other artists' songs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broadcast (band)</span> British electronic rock music group

Broadcast were an English indietronica band formed in Birmingham in 1995 by Trish Keenan and James Cargill (bass). Their musical style blended elements of 1960s psychedelia with early electronic music and samples from esoteric sources; it earned the band a cult following.

<i>The Power to Believe</i> 2003 studio album by King Crimson

The Power to Believe is the thirteenth and final studio album by English progressive rock band King Crimson. It was released on 4 March 2003 through Sanctuary Records and met with generally favourable reviews, with several critics appreciating its heightened aggression. The Power to Believe was preceded by the EP Happy with What You Have to Be Happy With (2002), which features alternate and otherwise unreleased tracks.

Keith York is an English session drummer who has toured throughout the world and worked with a range of bands, including The Lightning Seeds, Pitchshifter, bivouac, Ladytron, and Esoteric, Bentley Rhythm Ace, Broadcast and Love Amongst Ruin. He was a founding member of the 1990s Liverpool-based psychedelic rock band Dr Phibes & the House of Wax Equations along with Howard King, Jr. and Lee Belsham. He is currently playing various jazz gigs and festivals, while recording, touring, and drumming for The Orb.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Damien Jurado</span> American singer-songwriter

Damien Jurado is an American singer-songwriter from Seattle, Washington, United States. Over the years, he has released albums on Sub Pop, Secretly Canadian, Loose, and is currently on his own label Maraqopa Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hey Ladies</span> 1989 single by Beastie Boys

"Hey Ladies" is a song by American hip hop group the Beastie Boys, featured on their album Paul's Boutique. It was the album's only charting single, hitting #36 on the Billboard Hot 100. It is also the first single in history to chart in the Top 20 of both the Billboard Hot Rap Singles and Modern Rock Tracks charts, hitting #10 on the former and #18 on the latter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edgar Jones (musician)</span> Musical artist

Edgar William Jones, also known as Edgar Summertyme, is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Jones was originally the bass player and singer-songwriter for the Stairs and has since formed and fronted the Isrites, The Big Kids, Edgar Jones & the Joneses and Free Peace. He has also played as a session musician for several artists including Ian McCulloch, Paul Weller, Saint Etienne and Ocean Colour Scene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ghost Box Records</span> British electronic music record label

Ghost Box is an independent, UK-based electronic music record label, launched in 2004 by graphic designer Julian House and producer Jim Jupp. Its roster includes artists such as Jupp's Belbury Poly, House's The Focus Group, and the Advisory Circle, as well as releases by Broadcast and John Foxx among others.

Eric Zann is an alias of electronic musician Jim Jupp. Jupp's releases are on the Ghost Box Music label, of which he is a co-founder. The name references a minor H. P. Lovecraft short story, The Music of Erich Zann.

<i>Hey Let Loose Your Love</i> 2005 studio album (mini-album) by The Focus Group

Hey Let Loose Your Love is a mini-album by Julian House, under the pseudonym of The Focus Group. The album was released in 2005 on the Ghost Box Music label.

<i>Sketches and Spells</i> 2004 studio album by The Focus Group

Sketches and Spells is an album by Julian House, under the pseudonym of The Focus Group. The album was released on CD-R in 2004 on the Ghost Box Music label.

Manimal Vinyl is a Los Angeles-based record label founded in 2006 by film/TV producer, composer and former fashion editor Paul Gebser-Beahan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Control</span> Electronic music group

William Control is an American electronic music project founded in 2008 in Seattle, Washington. It was the side project of Aiden's William Francis before Aiden's hiatus, and he later operated as William Control full-time. 'William Control' therefore refers to both the band as a whole and to Francis as his stage name. Francis was signed to Victory Records before starting his own independent label, Control Records, and, as William Control, has released five full-length albums, an EP, two acoustic albums, two live DVDs and a remix album (Remix). The first part of Revelations, The Pale, was released on October 14, 2016. The second EP The Black followed on February 17, 2017, and the third, entitled The Red, followed that with a release date of July 14 of the same year. The album was completed by The White on November 24.

Chris Zane is an American music producer, engineer and mixer based in London. He's worked with an array of artists such as Jack Antonoff, Passion Pit, St. Lucia, Holy Ghost!, and Friendly Fires.

Alex Aldi is an American, New York City-based record producer and mixing engineer, who has worked with bands such as Passion Pit, Magic Man, and Holy Ghost!.

<i>Broadcast and The Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age</i> 2009 studio album by Broadcast and the Focus Group

Broadcast and the Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age is a collaboration album by Broadcast and the Focus Group, released by Warp on 27 October 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birdengine</span> Musical artist

Lawry Joseph Tilbury, also known as Birdengine, is an English musician, producer and singer-songwriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broadcast discography</span>

The discography of Broadcast, an English indie electronic band, consists of three studio albums, one collaborative mini album, one soundtrack album, two compilation albums, seven extended plays and seven singles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hauntology (music)</span> Musical genre

Hauntology is a music genre or a loosely defined stylistic feature that evokes cultural memory and aesthetics of the past. It developed in the 2000s primarily among British electronic musicians, and typically draws on British cultural sources from the 1940s to the 1970s, including library music, film and TV soundtracks, psychedelia, and public information films, often through the use of sampling.

References

  1. "The Wire magazine No. 273, November 2006". Archived from the original on 23 February 2007.
  2. 1 2 "The Focus Group - Ghost Box". Ghostbox.co.uk. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  3. "The Wire magazine best of 2005". Thewire.co.uk. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  4. Reynolds, Simon. "Hauntology: Ghost Box label profile, Frieze magazine October 2005". Reynoldsretro.blogspot.com. Retrieved 26 October 2018.