Contrastate

Trackimage Playbut Trackname Playbut Trackname
Poodles In Practice Dress At The Battersea Dogs Opera 00:00 Tools
Breaking The Strawmen 00:00 Tools
An End Marked By Pessimism 00:00 Tools
A Live Coal Under The Ashes (Part 1) 00:00 Tools
The Fingers Of My Foot 00:00 Tools
A Live Coal Under The Ashes (Part 2) 00:00 Tools
Poodles In Practice Dress At the Battersea Dogs Opera (Backwards) 00:00 Tools
In Absentia 00:00 Tools
Death follows the one eyed cow 00:00 Tools
Virophilia 00:00 Tools
English Embers 00:00 Tools
Perhaps It Comes Out of the Black Sea 00:00 Tools
pierre never made it 00:00 Tools
Thirst For Knowledge 00:00 Tools
Northern Twilight 00:00 Tools
Like a Saint on a Stake 00:00 Tools
Altering the Circumstances of Human Life 00:00 Tools
As Time Began 00:00 Tools
The Man Seeking Experience Enquires His Way Of A Drop Of Water 00:00 Tools
Poodles In Practice Dress At The Battersea Dogs Opera - Backwards 00:00 Tools
The Birth of Zarathustra 00:00 Tools
Circumcised By a Blind Rabbi 00:00 Tools
The Green Shoots Of Aggression 00:00 Tools
Extinction 00:00 Tools
Extract No. 10 05:52 Tools
Midnight In This Century 00:00 Tools
locomotive shudder 00:00 Tools
Through the Lens of a Mad Eye 00:00 Tools
Sleep Little Sister 00:00 Tools
From The Opened Lips 00:00 Tools
Memories Are Made of This 00:00 Tools
At the Bottom of My Dreams 00:00 Tools
locked inside a dying horse 00:00 Tools
I am a Clown Collecting Moments (And Other Chocolates) 00:00 Tools
The End Of History? 00:00 Tools
In Like a Bull, Out Like a General 00:00 Tools
I just am 16:52 Tools
Invocation to the rite of birth 00:00 Tools
A Thousand Badgers in Labour (Part 2) 00:00 Tools
black december 00:00 Tools
October dawn 00:00 Tools
My Body... 00:00 Tools
the rite of birth 00:00 Tools
Cutting The Cancer 00:00 Tools
The Sardines Have Finished Knitting 00:00 Tools
The Suitcase Or The Coffin 00:00 Tools
A String Of Puppets 00:00 Tools
A Thousand Badgers in Labour (Part 1) 00:00 Tools
To The Princes Of The New Republics 00:00 Tools
Backward Diva 00:00 Tools
My Body 00:00 Tools
mort aux vaches 00:00 Tools
The Repust Sal 00:00 Tools
The End Of History 00:00 Tools
Son Of Sam 00:00 Tools
Tripoli Calling 00:00 Tools
The Silent Fish 00:00 Tools
Against The Sky 00:00 Tools
Operation Infinite Truth 00:00 Tools
Abuse Your Illusions 00:00 Tools
i am clown collecting moments (and other chocolates) 00:00 Tools
Third Rock'n' Roll Session 00:00 Tools
under the line laying north 00:00 Tools
From the Opened Red Lips 00:00 Tools
A thousand badgers in labour (part I) 00:00 Tools
In Like A Bull, Out Like A Genera 00:00 Tools
A Thousand Badgers In Labour - Part 1 00:00 Tools
I Am A Clown Collecting Moments [And Other Chocolates] 00:00 Tools
Third Rock'A'Roll Session 00:00 Tools
Return Of Son Of Sam 00:00 Tools
Predestination 03:18 Tools
The 10/40 Window 00:00 Tools
Untitled 00:00 Tools
Repeat Offender 05:15 Tools
Regiment Of The Vultures 00:00 Tools
The True Believer 00:00 Tools
Morality Of The Uncivilised 00:00 Tools
No To Reason 00:00 Tools
Five Minutes Past Midnight - And Welcome To The Speculator 00:00 Tools
A Thousand Badgers In Labour - Part 2 00:00 Tools
The God Of Language 00:00 Tools
The Rapture 00:00 Tools
Speak In Tongues 00:00 Tools
Have You Heard the Good News? 00:00 Tools
True Believer 00:00 Tools
Haunted 00:00 Tools
Midnight In This Country 00:00 Tools
Taste The Waste For The Human Race 00:00 Tools
I Am A Clown Collecting Moments, And Other Chocolates 00:00 Tools
the man seeking experiece enquires his way of a drop of water 00:00 Tools
A Thousand Badgers In Labour Pt. I 00:00 Tools
A Thousand Badgers In Labour Pt. II 00:00 Tools
Through The Lenz Of A Mad Eye 00:00 Tools
03 - northern twilight 00:00 Tools
A Thousand Badgers In Labour - Part I (Remix) 00:00 Tools
extract n10 00:00 Tools
Altering the Circumstances of the Human Life 00:00 Tools
The Fingers Of My Fool 00:00 Tools
goodbye great nation 00:00 Tools
Ten Hands Seek Twelve Trees 00:00 Tools
A thousand badgers in labour 00:00 Tools
Side A 00:00 Tools
Side B 00:00 Tools
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Contrastate were formed in 1987 by Stephen Meixner and Jonathan Grieve. Their initial musical ventures were of a more improvisational nature, based on noise and volume (not to be confused with power electronics). Sounds emerged, sub-merged and re-emerged at varying painfully low frequencies with extremes of treble tonality. The idea was physical confrontation through sound. Nothing was ever released by Contrastate in this form, although some influences from this era are present on the first Lp “Seven hands seek nine fingers”. There were also a couple of live performances, one in London and one in Geneva. The London performance had a planned duration of 15 minutes, but instead lasted only 3 minutes as Contrastate were thrown off stage after waves of feedback had blown one of the amplifiers. Towards the end of 1988 Contrastate's music became more subtle and considered, concentrating on the atmospheric rather than aggressive content. Two live performances were done in Belgium in 1989, but these were frankly awful and very unsatisfactory for the band. This led to a four year break from live performances in order that the band could re-think their direction in this sphere. In that time Stephen Meixner and Jonathan Grieve recorded the albums “A thousand badgers in labour” and “i”. Both releases helped Contrastate gain favourable attention from the critics and an audience for their music, which was moving forward becoming more purposeful and defined. 1992 saw the release of “A live coal under the ashes” which was inspired by the events leading up to the changes across Eastern and Central Europe during 1989. This release marked the change conceptually in which the group's ideas became more specific and more focused on contemporary political issues. “A live coal...” was critically acclaimed not just for the music, but also for the artwork and packaging: - a CD placed in the middle of a 12inch clear vinyl record. Stephen Pomeroy joined the group for these recordings and became Contrastate's third member. There was also another side to the groups music, namely their penchant for dark surreal humour. “I'm a clown collecting moments (and other chocolates)” was the groups debut single released in 1993. Both the cover, music, and title are reflections of that humour found locked inside the grooves of this particular single waiting to jump out at you as the needle hits the record. Three more singles were released between 1994 and 2000. All were very different, showing an alternative side to their music. 1993 also marked the return of Contrastate to the live scene with their performance at Festival Karlsruhe. This show was extremely well received and a spontaneous ten minute ovation followed the 35 minute concert. With three people now in the group the majority of the show was live with hardly any reliance on pre-recorded backing tapes. This was far more satisfying than was previously the case. Another change concerning the live performance is that from 1993 onwards rather, than try and re-create studio material (which would have been virtually impossible), new material was specifically written to be performed live at the show(s). It was also seen as a practical matter of attempting to move on each time. “Throwing the baby out with the bathwater”, Contrastate's fifth studio album, was simultaneously released in 1994 as a CD and a limited edition picture disc Lp and 12“ set on the labels Functional and TESCO respectively. The album deals with the vacuum in society created by the lack of new alternatives and new ideas, the lack of critical thought and the push to fill this vacuum with an unquestioning subservience to tradition. This release was developed over a long period and so consequently it is a lot more careful and precise in relation to previous releases, yet at the same time also challenging. There followed three more live performances in 1995, one in London (their first full length concert in the UK), in France at the Deadly Actions II festival, and a live radio session for VPRO (Dutch National Radio). The session was subsequently released by Staalplaat as part of their ”Mort Aux Vaches“ series and remains a document of Contrastate's 1995 live shows. ”Goodbye great nation“ - the classic release of 1996 A collaboration with The Tiger Lillies, described as an anarchic castrato blues trio, producing a release blending Contrastate's sweeping electronics and sound manipulation with their passionate accordion driven blues. The Tiger Lillies have since gone on to produce a numerous excellent releases and toured extensively across Europe and America. The artwork for most of Contrastate's releases were created specifically for the group by the artists Ben Hughes and Stone. Their artwork, often surreal, gave the releases a recognisable identity, which was far removed from the usual artwork and packaging within the experimental genre. Both artists were in effect Contrastate's fourth and fifth members. The sixth studio album was entitled “Todesmelodie”. Part inspired by the book “The Mysteries of Algiers” written by Robert Irwin, the 1965 Pontecorvo film “The Battle of Algiers, and part by events in the Middle East. This release turned out to be Contrastate's final full length release.” Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.