Post Punk Esoterica / Easy Listening For The Hard Of Hearing 1978 – 1984
1978 - 1981
01 : Cabaret Voltaire : Do The Mussolini/Headkick : Extended Play EP : November 1978
02: Theoretical Girls : U.S. Millie : B Side : November 1978
03: DNA : You And You : A Side : December 1978
04: Thomas Leer : Private Plane : A Side : December 1978
05: This Heat : 24 Track Loop : This Heat Lp : August 1979
06: Implog : Holland Tunnel Drive : A Side : March 1980
07: Lemon Kittens : Small Mercies : We Buy A Hammer For Daddy Lp : June 1980
08: Throbbing Gristle : Adrenalin : Heathen Earth Lp : June 1980
09: The Residents : Picnic Boy : Commercial Album Lp : October 1980
10: Colin Newman : Live On Deck : A-Z Lp : October 1980
11: Lydia Lunch : Mechanical Flattery : Queen Of Siam Lp : November 1980
12: Material : Discourse : A Side : November 1980
13: Clock Dva : Sensorium : Thirst Lp : January 1981
14: The Honeymoon Killers : Histoire A Suive : Les Teurs De La Lune Miel Lp : March 1981
15: Cabaret Voltaire : Sluggin’ For Jesus : 3 Crepuscule Tracks EP : July 1981
16: Einsturzende Neubauten : Kalte Sterne : Durstiges Tier Ep : August 1981
17: Matt Johnson : Bugle Boy : Burning Blue Soul Lp : August 1981
18: Liquid Liquid : Groupmegroup : Liquid Liquid Ep : August 1981
19: Rip Rig & Panic : Knee Deep In Shit : God Lp : September 1981
20: Virgin Prunes : Sandpaper Lullabye : A New Form Of Beauty Pt 1 EP : October 1981
21: 8 Eyed Spy : Lazy In Love : 8 Eyed Spy Lp : October 1981
22: Fad Gadget : Saturday Night Special : Incontinent Lp : December 1981
1982 - 1984
01: 23 Skidoo : Porno Base : Seven Songs Lp : February 1982
02: 400 Blows : Beat The Devil : A Side : March 1982
03: Chrome : Firebomb : Third From The Sun Lp : April 1982
04: Holy Toy : Warszawa : Warszawa Lp : April 1982
05: Cabaret Voltaire : Yashar : 2x45 EP : May 1982
06: Portion Control : All Present And Correct : I Staggered Mentally Lp : June 1982
07: Malaria! : Kaltes Klares Wasser : A Side : June 1982
08: Liliput : Outburst : Liliput Lp : June 1982
09: Tuxedomoon : The Cage : Time To Lose Lp :July 1982
10: Nurse With Wound : Tumultous Upsurge Of Lasting Hatred: Homotopy To Marie : July 1982
11: Mark Stewart & The Mafia : Jerusalem : A Side : October 1982
12: Psychic Tv : Message From The Temple : Force The Hand Of Chance Lp : December 1982
13: Swans : Big Strong Boss : Filth Lp : June 1983
14: Nocturnal Emissions : Theme Music : Viral Shredding Lp : August 1983
15: Einsturzende Neubauten : Neun Arme : Portrait Of Patient Ot Lp : November 1983
16: Fad Gadget : Collapsing New People : Gag Lp : February 1984
17: Skinny Puppy : K-9 : Back And Forth Lp : February 1984
18: Laibach : Panorama : A Side : May 1984
19: Test Department : Sweet Sedation : Beating The Retreat Lp : July 1984
20: Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel : Lust For Death : Hole Lp : August 1984
21: Shock Headed Peters : I Bloodbrother Be : A Side : November 1984
In the 21st century it’s tempting to think of post punk as just the angular agit-prop of the Gang of Four, the ominous angst of Joy Division or the new pop sensibility of ABC. Of course, in reality it was never as clear cut as that but what these groups and post punk did do was open our ears to a wide range of sounds and records so far off the dial that they continue to be missing from the radar even now. It’s easy to understand why, because they were the experimentalists, the art terrorists, pushing themselves far beyond all recognised boundaries into the unknown. Inspired by the harsh, forbidding landscape and uncertainty of the times they were the most radical of them all.
Esoterica’s first flowering in contemporary British music was seeded in industrial culture with Throbbing Gristle and Cabaret Voltaire its parameters. They did not as is often supposed celebrate industrialism, rather they were the bridge between its end and the coming of the computer age. A full decade older than their associates, Genesis P. Orridge and Throbbing Gristle were resolute non musicians, their noisescapes hugely unlistenable but their manifestos and visuals, piling horror upon horror upon horror, grimly thought provoking. On the other hand, Cabaret Voltaire despite maintaining a more distant approach were far more listenable, concentrating on mechanical repetition, loops and muttered vocals. Both Throbbing Gristle and Cabaret Voltaire’s methods were incredibly influential, techniques they perfected proliferating promiscuously.
But esoterica, as the name itself suggests, wasn’t just about earnest industrialism. It included a whole spectrum of styles and ideologies from around the globe; from Material’s New York no wave funk to Rip Rig and Panic’s Bristolian freeform punk jazz; from Belgiums Honeymoon Killers art pop experiments to Eastenders Test Department’s sturm und clang; from Berliner’s Einsturzende Neubauten’s delight in discovering how much sense could be made from the chaos of power tools to Yugoslavian Laibach’s totalitarian thunder.
Much of the esoteric aesthetic proved challenging and difficult because an adventurous imagination could not easily be transcribed in 4/4 time with regular instrumentation. To realise completely the music struggling to escape their heads, groups had to look way beyond the norm. And even though the results were often harsh and brutal, among the ugliness and the chaos it was always possible to find a rare beauty free of commercial demands and audience expectation. It was pure, indefinable aural art that deserved more.
If there was any justice in this world, Fad Gadget would have celebrated five platinum singles and Foetus’s Clint Ruin would have been a fully loaded rock star mobbed by teenage girls. I loved them all regardless, most of these recordings educating me in non-music related art, literature and -ism’s that opened my mind and my ears. Forget the Gang Of Four, Joy Division and ABC, herein lies the true underground, the real songs of the free.
July 2012
