Zoviet France: Classic or Dud?

There is another thread somewhere where I debate a bit with Mark Spybey concerning the merits of post-Storey Zoviet France. I could swear I read some interview ages ago where there was a reference to the band members having made some sort of lifetime pact to never break up or do solo stuff, which obviously didn't last and might be my imagination. I think later ZF work like Digilogue and DoCM and (ESPECIALLY) Mort Aux Vaches are really high quality, if a bit different in focus than the earlier classics. Less "ethnic music made by aliens" type stuff and more drone-bliss is just fine with me.

decriminalisation of country music - c/d?

this was commissioned for the opening of a big arts space in glasgow called the tramway. they then performed an interpretation of it at the opening. it was wonderful.

They will do a live performance again, opening for Lustmord http://incubate.org/2011/artist/72/Zoviet+France

Live performances these days are rare but not unheard of, they played in London earlier this year. I say "they" but aside from Ben I have no idea who is in the line-up these days or even if it's more or less his solo project.

The string of albums from 1987 (A flock of Roations, Loh Land, Assault and Mirage) is one hell of a run. I cannot get enough of that stuff.

don't forget Gesture Signal Threat! Misfits/Loony Tunes always seemed a little less amazing to me though.

going through youtubes of the early albums I hadn't heard (I'd heard Garista, Gris, Oestre) and... this band sure was good

pretty much everything they did after the Hessian/burlap record is essential imo. sucks that all of it is OOP and insanely expensive.

only heard DoCM but a great album.

How the fuck did I miss that Zoviet France has been podcasting. For awhile too!
http://zovietfrance.podbean.com

tremendous show in SF on Saturday. maybe just rationalizing, but sorta glad that I'm not familiar with their recorded output, had no expectations going in. i was surprised by the hi-def sound palette (think I heard a peaceful forest at one point), less surprised by the droning overlay of dooooom.

their record output (the stuff i know anyway) covers a pretty broad sound palette tbf

I was at that show and "tremendous" was not the adjective I would use to describe my experience

shouting @ the ground

what'd you think of it sarahell?

i missed the openers btw, just caught last hour of ZF's set.

I am a pretty big fan, and I thought the set was outstanding. They could put it out without an edit. Doesn't sound like the 80's, but still has that aesthetic of muddying the line between acoustic sounds you can't quite identify and electronics.

Two nord racks, effects, field recording playback, and a table of tiny flutes / harps / noisemakers next to a microphone. Obviously totally improvised, but fantastic pacing with great builds & shifts & turning of corners. Great to get to see which sounds were being mixed, and which generated live, after years of listening to records where you often did not have a clue what was going on.

who's in the z.f. lineup this month

Discogs lists Ponton and a Mr. Mark Warren as the current memebrs

I wish I could have seen this

Genuinely upset that I missed this.

If it makes you feel any better ... a friend of mine had a ticket and completely missed the show because he figured "oh, doors at 8, headliners won't go on until 10 at the earliest ... " nope.

Discogs lists Ponton and a Mr. Mark Warren as the current memebrs

in that case not really zoviet france imo

u think that w/o Robin Storey it isn't ZF? this band has basically been Ponton & accomplices since the mid-90's.

Guys in 85 or 86 I had a ZF cassette release that came in a kind of rectangular porcelain jug and included a dirty seagull feather. I can't remember what it was called, anyone know?

ew

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popular_Soviet_Songs_and_Youth_Music

dammit xp

http://www.discogs.com/zoviet-france-Popular-Soviet-Songs-And-Youth-Music/release/100568

"Feathers collected from the shores of the Irish Sea, the most radioactive area of seawater on Earth."

i think that wd be it, i've never owned a proper copy, fucken great record tho

it really is, I have a 3CD reissue on Staalplaat

Yeah that's it. I chose to be skeptical abt the feather's provenance at the time

Things I wish I still owned chapter 9064

the reissue has a great package, brown felt with a soviet-era pin. It looks like it's still available from staalplaat

u think that w/o Robin Storey it isn't ZF? this band has basically been Ponton & accomplices since the mid-90's.

feel like the sound changed at that point from classic zf to ponton solo project. decriminalization of country music was good but can't bother with the rest of it

Mort Aux Vaches and especially Digilogue are favorites of mine, but I see yr point

these days all they put out is like 50-copy 8" lathe cut editions

feel like the sound changed at that point from classic zf to ponton solo project. decriminalization of country music was good but can't bother with the rest of it

I do hear what you're saying about the mid-90's run, it wasn't bad but zf went from full spectrum anything-can-happen-next music to solid ambient, precisely at the moment in history where there was so much ambient music coming out that you just needed a break. I thought it was interesting that after they had their first strong well-received post-classic-lineup album decriminalization, instead of flooring it they mostly stopped releasing CDs. Ben said they've been busy the last 10-15 years doing scores for dance performance, and choosing not to put those out. in any case this duo has been stable / playing for almost 20 years and I didn't think that concert embarrassed anyone by being called a zf show.

must admit though, last few days, loaded up my phone with gris / mohnomishe / garista. even on my phone, that music shouldn't exist

what's a good place to start with these guys?

shouting @ the ground

― evangelos (am0n), Monday, September 15, 2014 12:58 PM

ripe for a Vinyl on Demand box set of the 80s run

i don't think it will happen. former members don't want it. i tried to reissue mohnomishe and that was the reason i was given why it wasn't possible.

bummer! some of the most sui generis psychedelic music i've ever heard.

xp: yeah Ponton and Storey are not really on speaking terms or so I've heard

really wish these folks could come to terms on some reissues, it's such a shame that all of the old stuff is $100 or more for like a single CD.

also, has anyone heard this new-ish release?

https://www.discogs.com/zovietfrance-The-Tables-Are-Turning/master/625120

I haven't heard it, but I like the description on the Soleilmoon website: "Somewhere in the rainy, misty forests of the Pacific Northwest of America, three ladies have the unlikely task of sewing together the packaging for a new album by :zoviet*france:"

really wish these folks could come to terms on some reissues, it's such a shame that all of the old stuff is $100 or more for like a single CD.

discussed on the Vinyl On Demand thread, but putting here as well:

https://www.vod-records.com/-1-432-652.htm

(reissues of everything up to the Misfits/Flock/Gesture/Assault releases)

norsch is awful

it's not really very good, agreed, I feel the same way about "Hessian"/Untitled/burlap

props to brimstead for predicting this box set five years ago

"... the sheaves are gone" (xp)

...and I’m broke right now too! Oh well

I usually enjoy ZF tracks more in a mix with other stuff, but I do enjoy them

ooh thanks

it is great, and seems like no digital downloads available anywhere (and I do mean anywhere)

listened to this today and really liked it. parts of it had "Welcome to the Machine" vibes

I scraped YT for a full album rip but yeah, it is disappointing to not be able to buy a higher quality digital copy. One gets used to it though when collecting this area of music

2nd time through and this is incredible

really wish they did Bandcamp!

sawdust can you scrape this one too while you are at it? TYIA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcG_icxWaZ8

maybe sort of stupid but i kind of appreciate, in some small way, that their release strategies necessitate these novel networks of distribution popping up like people ripping the vinyl and uploading it to youtube. i'm not saying i love that so many of their releases are limited edition records that then become scarce collector commodities, but there is something interesting about the listeners taking up the burden and finding non-conventional ways of getting the music out there. maybe that's cool or maybe at the end of the day it's just pretentious idk

no I agree, their focus is on physical media and that's fair

(sawdust I already ripped the link above, but thanks again for the other one)