V/Vm

Last updated

V/Vm
Birth nameLeyland James Kirby
Also known asBilly Ray Cyrix, Butcher Claus, Butcher Claws, The Caretaker, CV[ev], Dr. Fred, The Edgeley Musher, Leyland Kirby, Leon and Hits, MC V/Vm, The Notorious P.I.G., Pole (disputed), The Stranger, V/Vm Allstar Marching Band, V/Vm and the Hog Chorus, V/Vm with Garry's Glitter, Alien Porno Midgets
Born (1974-05-09) 9 May 1974 (age 50)
Origin Stockport, England
Genres
OccupationMusician
Instrument(s)Computer, sampler, turntable
Years active1996–2008, 2016-2017
Labels V/Vm Test Records (1996-2008), History Always Favours The Winners (2016-2017)
Website Official website

V/Vm was an alias of English musician Leyland James Kirby, used for producing experimental music. Although starting out mainly in the style of noise music, most releases under the V/Vm alias were plunderphonics, with some original compositions. Most, but not all, of V/Vm's music was released under the V/Vm Test Records label. Alongside the work of the V/Vm project, Kirby also recorded as The Caretaker. He currently resides in Kraków.

Contents

History

Leyland Kirby began producing music under the V/Vm alias in 1996, mostly under his own label, V/Vm Test Records. Early releases were electronic in nature, including a split 12" release on Fat Cat Records. [1] In 1999, V/Vm released the EP Pig, [2] consisting mostly of the sound of pigs feeding, which some critics mistook as the sound of pigs dying.

In 1998, V/Vm appeared on the cover of The Wire (October 1998, issue 176). [3] Under the banner "Harder! Faster! Louder!". The article explored a developing scene which also included Alec Empire, DJ Speedranch, Diskono, and Fat Cat Records.

The late 1990s saw V/Vm begin to produce music under the genre of plunderphonics, which was released in a manner which ignored copyright. At this time, V/Vm was in conversation with the artists spearheading the bootleg, plunderphonics, and mashup (a.k.a. bastard pop) genres. In 2000, V/Vm's plunderphonics song, The Lady in Red (Is Dancing With Meat), which sampled The Lady in Red, achieved Single of the Week in the NME. [4] The Lady In Red (Is Dancing With Meat) later appeared on V/Vm's 2000 album Sick-Love . [5]

In 2003, V/Vm received legal threats after he re-released "Relax", the seminal 1983 hit by Frankie Goes to Hollywood. In a reproduction of the original release, a double LP, a 7-inch picture disc, and a CD single were released, each featuring numerous remixes of "Relax." Within weeks of the release, V/Vm received legal threats, causing V/Vm to withdraw the release. [6]

V/Vm Test Records

From 1996 to 2008, Kirby ran the V/Vm Test Records label, which released records from About This Product, Goodiepal, Jansky Noise, and Fast Lady, among many other experimental musicians. The label used to give away free audio [7] via the V/Vm Test Records website. [8] [9]

Later projects

In 2005, V/Vm recorded a remix of the Alphaville song Forever Young , which was going to be used in an advertisement by Sony for the PlayStation. While the advertisement was recorded, it never aired, due to a dispute with TBWA Worldwide.[ citation needed ] Although it never aired, the advertisement was leaked and uploaded to YouTube. [10] [11]

In 2006, V/Vm produced V/Vm 365, which he spent the whole year on. V/Vm described V/Vm 365 as "The idea is basically to create and upload free audio for one whole year and leave a massive big mess behind, warts and all, for you to digest as you see fit." When it was finished, V/Vm 365 contained 603 audio tracks and six video tracks, with a total running time of 52 hours, 3 minutes and 57 seconds. [12] Each day one or more audio pieces were uploaded along with text and a picture for the day.

In 2007, V/Vm received an honorary mention for his work as The Caretaker at the ARS Technica 2007 awards. [13] He was also included in an exhibition in Madrid entitled "Ruidos, Silencios y la Transgresion Mordaz. De Fluxus al techno-noise"; the exhibit featured V/Vm video and artwork by V/Vm, Fluxus artists (Nam June Paik, Philip Corner, Wolf Vostell), and other contemporary artists and musicians (Ultra-red). [14]

In 2008, V/Vm released the album There Was A Fish...In...The Percolator, the last album he would release under the V/Vm Test Records label. [15] Later in 2008, V/Vm Test Records would shut down.[ citation needed ]

Discography

Selected releases

Compilation appearances

Discogs has the most comprehensive release overview of V/Vm Test Records [30] and V/Vm [31]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Porky Pig</span> Warner Bros. theatrical cartoon character

Porky Pig is a cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. He was the first character created by the studio to draw audiences based on his star power, and the animators created many critically acclaimed shorts featuring the character. Even after he was supplanted by later characters, Porky continued to be popular with moviegoers and, more importantly, the Warners directors, who recast him in numerous everyman and sidekick roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Oswald (composer)</span> Canadian composer

John Oswald is a Canadian composer, saxophonist, media artist and dancer. His best known project is Plunderphonics, the practice of making new music out of previously existing recordings.

The Beatles' bootleg recordings are recordings of performances by the Beatles that have attained some level of public circulation without being available as a legal release. The term most often refers to audio recordings, but also includes video performances. Starting with vinyl releases in the 1970s, through CD issues in the late 1980s, and continuing with digital downloads starting in the mid-1990s, the Beatles have been, and continue to be, among the most bootlegged artists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">March of the Pigs</span> Nine Inch Nails song

"March of the Pigs" is a song by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails from their second studio album, The Downward Spiral (1994). It was released on February 25, 1994 as the album's lead single.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Múm</span> Icelandic indietronica band

Múm is an Icelandic indietronica band whose music is characterized by soft vocals, electronic glitch beats and effects, and a variety of traditional and unconventional instruments.

<i>Grayfolded</i> 1994 live album by Grateful Dead

Grayfolded is a two-CD album produced by John Oswald featuring new edits and re-mixes of the Grateful Dead song "Dark Star". Oswald used a process he calls "plunderphonics" to edit fragments of over a hundred different performances of the song, recorded live between 1968 and 1993, to produce two new versions of the song each lasting about an hour.

The Caretaker was a long-running project by English ambient musician, James Leyland Kirby. His work as the Caretaker is characterized as exploring memory and its gradual deterioration, nostalgia, and melancholia. The project was initially inspired by the haunted ballroom scene in the 1980 film The Shining, the 1978 TV show Pennies from Heaven, and the 1962 film Carnival of Souls. His first several releases comprised treated and manipulated samples of 1930s ballroom pop recordings. Most of his album covers were painted by one of his friends, Ivan Seal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No Age</span> American noise rock band

No Age is an American noise rock duo consisting of guitarist Randy Randall and drummer/vocalist Dean Allen Spunt. The band is based in Los Angeles, California, and was signed to Sub Pop records from 2008 to 2013. No Age's fourth studio album, Snares Like a Haircut, was released by Drag City on January 26, 2018. Drag City also released Goons Be Gone, their fifth studio album, on June 5, 2020, and their sixth studio album People Helping People in 2022.

Cheer-Accident is an American progressive rock ensemble headed by Thymme Jones. Jones took the name of the band from a Hallmark Cards shopping display, and first formed the group in 1981 with singer Jim Drummond and drummer Mike Greenlees.

<i>Sick-Love</i> (album)

Sick-Love is the debut remix album by V/Vm, an alias of English musician Leyland Kirby. Released in 2000, it samples several 1960s-1990s pop songs about love, distorting them to create a sinister atmosphere. The album is mostly unavailable physically because of copyright laws; V/Vm later released the similar album The Green Door. Met with a positive reception from music critics, the album and its single received airplay on various radio stations, achieving the NME title of single of the week.

The Wind in the Willows was an American psych folk band, best known for being the first band of Blondie co-founder, Debbie Harry. The group took its name from British writer Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, a classic of children's literature.

Plunderphonics is a music genre in which tracks are constructed by sampling recognizable musical works. The term was coined by composer John Oswald in 1985 in his essay "Plunderphonics, or Audio Piracy as a Compositional Prerogative", and eventually explicitly defined in the liner notes of his Grayfolded album. Plunderphonics is a form of sound collage. Oswald has described it as a referential and self-conscious practice which interrogates notions of originality and identity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Futurians (band)</span> New Zealand sci-fi punk band

Futurians are a New Zealand sci-fi punk band formed in Dunedin in 2001. Foxy Digitalis magazine called them the "best punk band on the fucken planet."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shopping (band)</span> British post-punk band

Shopping is a British post-punk trio based in London and Glasgow. Its members are Ray Aggs, Billy Easter, and Andrew Milk, who formed the band in November 2012 out of their previous band, Covergirl.

<i>Everywhere, an Empty Bliss</i> 2019 compilation album by the Caretaker

Everywhere, an Empty Bliss is the twelfth release by the Caretaker, an alias of English musician Leyland Kirby. Released on February 26, 2019, the record is compiled from archived tracks that were meant to be used on the Caretaker's albums. Before finishing his album series Everywhere at the End of Time, Kirby released the album as "a surprise golden farewell".

<i>Selected Memories from the Haunted Ballroom</i> 1999 studio album by the Caretaker

Selected Memories from the Haunted Ballroom is the debut studio album by the Caretaker, an alias of musician Leyland Kirby. Released in 1999, it consists of an influence from the horror film The Shining, manipulating songs from the 1920s to resemble the film's music. It differed from Kirby's earlier works in that it did not manipulate pop songs to create noise albums, as he did under the V/Vm alias. It rather slowed down big band records to create a hauntological atmosphere. However, the packaging was the same as other V/Vm releases. The album was met with positivity from music critics, who praised its hauntological themes.

<i>Well All Go Riding on a Rainbow</i> 2003 studio album by the Caretaker

We'll All Go Riding on a Rainbow is the third studio album by the Caretaker, an alias of musician Leyland Kirby. Released in 2003, it was the last of Kirby's "haunted ballroom trilogy", which spans his albums influenced by the film The Shining. It features distorted melodies from the 20th century to recreate the ambience of The Shining's ballroom. We'll All Go Riding on a Rainbow was met with positive reception from music critics, who praised its themes of the paranormal. Kirby's next album as the Caretaker, Theoretically Pure Anterograde Amnesia (2005) would abandon the haunted ballroom concept and install themes of memory loss.

<i>A Stairway to the Stars</i> 2001 studio album by the Caretaker

A Stairway to the Stars is the second studio album by the Caretaker, an alias of musician Leyland Kirby. Released in 2001, it was created after one of Kirby's pop manipulations as V/Vm gained attention. Following Selected Memories from the Haunted Ballroom, A Stairway to the Stars features new genres such as darkwave and elements such as reversed vocals. The record was met with positivity from music critics, who praised its ambiance. It is regarded as Kirby's best album in his haunted ballroom trilogy, which spans his first three releases.

<i>Persistent Repetition of Phrases</i> 2008 studio album by the Caretaker

Persistent Repetition of Phrases is the seventh studio album by the Caretaker, an alias of musician Leyland Kirby. Released on 1 April 2008, it was his first record to cover themes of Alzheimer's disease. The album was also the first Caretaker release to present looping of short segments within tracks. It marked Kirby's change of record labels from V/Vm Test to History Always Favours the Winners, which he felt might have helped with the record's success.

<i>Theoretically Pure Anterograde Amnesia</i> 2005 studio album by the Caretaker

Theoretically Pure Anterograde Amnesia is the fourth studio album by the Caretaker, an alias of musician Leyland Kirby. Released in 2005, it abandoned the haunted ballroom aesthetic of the previous albums and explored memory loss. Divided into six CDs, it consists of seventy-two drone tracks combined to create an almost four hour long release. It was compared by several critics to other musicians, including Merzbow, Boards of Canada, and Krzysztof Penderecki.

References

  1. FatCat Records : Releases Archived 15 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine . Fat-cat.co.uk (1 March 1998). Retrieved 5 August 2011.
  2. "V/VM - pig - 7" - VVM". Archived from the original on 9 December 2007. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  3. "The Wire Index : Second Century". Sat.dundee.ac.uk. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  4. Rocklist.net...NME End Of Year Lists 2000. Rocklistmusic.co.uk (9 May 1992). Retrieved 5 August 2011.
  5. 1 2 "V/Vm - sick love - CD - VVM". Archived from the original on 30 June 2007. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  6. "[Rumori][Snuggles] Fw: V/Vm :By listening and owning V/Vm you are breaking". Detritus.net. 13 March 2004. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  7. "V/VM Test Records - Downloads / Free Digital Media". Archived from the original on 20 October 2007. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  8. "VUKZID - FREE AUDIO DOWNLOADS - Powered by V/Vm Test". Archived from the original on 14 October 2007. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  9. "V/VM - Microsites". Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  10. V/vm Playstation Video. YouTube (11 August 2006). Retrieved 5 August 2011.
  11. "V/VM - playstation2 war ad - Video Download". Archived from the original on 21 October 2007. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  12. 1 2 "V/VM 365 - VVMT365 - VVM". Archived from the original on 28 November 2006. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  13. "ARS Electronica PRIX". Archived from the original on 3 November 2007. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  14. "La Casa Encendida". Archived from the original on 20 August 2007. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  15. https://www.discogs.com/master/87110-VVm-There-Was-A-FishInThe-Percolator
  16. "V/VM - up-link data transmissions - 12" - VVM". Archived from the original on 10 November 2006. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  17. "V/Vm / Third Eye Foundation - split series - Fat Cat Records - 12". Archived from the original on 2 June 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  18. "V/VM - machine - 7" - VVM". Archived from the original on 8 March 2007. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  19. "V/VM - pig - 7" - VVM". Archived from the original on 10 November 2006. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  20. "VARIOUS - auraloffalwaffle - 2CD - VVM". Archived from the original on 10 November 2006. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  21. "V/VM - the lady in red / all night long - 7" - VVM". Archived from the original on 10 November 2006. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  22. "V/VM - masters of the absurd - 12" - VVM". Archived from the original on 7 July 2007. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  23. "V/VM - snooker loopy - 7" - VVM". Archived from the original on 30 June 2007. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  24. [ dead link ]
  25. "V/VM / DIMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH - the missing symphony - CD - VVM". Archived from the original on 10 November 2006. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  26. "V/VM - stigma - CD - VVM". Archived from the original on 10 November 2006. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  27. "V/VM - sabam (belgian new-beat) - CD - VVM". Archived from the original on 10 November 2006. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  28. "White Death | V/Vm". Vvmtest.bandcamp.com. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  29. "VUKZID01 - V/VM - the death of rave (the source)". Archived from the original on 26 October 2007. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  30. V/Vm Test Records – CDs and Vinyl at Discogs. Discogs.com. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
  31. V/Vm Discography at Discogs. Discogs.com (9 August 2008). Retrieved 5 August 2011.