Zoviet France: Classic or Dud?

makes me appreciate popul vuhl more too...

MOHNOMISHE, JUST AN ILLUSION, VIENNA, WHAT IS NOT TRUE? and THE DECRIMINALISATION OF COUNTRY MUSIC all blow my mind on a regular basis.

the first 3 rapoon cds are great too although i feel they lost their way a little after that

As for solo stuff, I like some of Mark Spybey's stuff (although I don't know if he really counts as a member...). The Propeller CD (the one with the scrap metal sleeve) and Dead Voices On Air's Shap are great.

where can these be found? all i have is mp3s

Wow, all of these were in print just a few years ago but it seems the CHARRM label that was rereleasing them has disappeared. So I guess its just used for now.

oh and there's a stomping track called "cad goddeu" literally stomping - the rhythm is like sped-up godzilla steps. i don't know what it's from. "eostre"? i don't trust these tags.

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Zoviet+France

I think Collusion is their best album, even though its not a real album. All the tracks are strong, and it covers styles from their whole career. And its still in print.

decriminalisation of country music - c/d?

C

Decriminalisation of country music is fantastic!

I dunno, it's soooo front loaded - nothing approaches the awesome peak of Something Spooked the Horses. It's the only track which really takes on the country music conceit, and I wish they'd carried it forward more. I do like the other tracks but after that dominating slide guitar they all seem kind of hollow.

Decriminalisation of Country Music is pretty damned classic, but I'd agree that it's a bit front-loaded.

Album reminds me of when I lived in Chicago and would walk around in the winter down by the lake.

DoCM is classic classic classic

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.

Châsse 3

<3 <3 <3

Most beautiful and integrated package so far, no oddball 7"s or blank sides, just eight gorgeous double albums

I had not actually caught up with 7.10.12 or Tables Are Turning so I am enjoying those a lot

unreleased 2LP "A Long Walk" is good as well

lots and lots of perfectly executed lock grooves this time around

yeah the fact that they had done a Motorhead cover was an interesting discovery.

lol wait what? I missed that somehow

Bomber, it's on the Third Collusion album that mops up various tracks originally released on singles, compilations etc.

Somebody on Discogs has uploaded pictures of this release which have me salivating. Way out of my price range unfortunately but looks magnificent

Bomber, it's on the Third Collusion album that mops up various tracks originally released on singles, compilations etc.

my brain is exploding that they covered it, though listening now on YT and of course they "cover" it as only ZF could.

waiting for this still, but very, very happy that "The Decriminalisation Of Country Music - Themes For Tramway" is finally on vinyl. i was at the live performance they did of it in Glasgow.

i was hoping they would include "Patina Pooling" in this box so i could offload my copy as it is flaking bits of rust all over the place.

xp the albums are being released as individual 2LP standalone as well, 24 euros + shipping via VOD website

Their podcast, "A Duck in a Tree," is worth a listen.

absolutely

lotta cool stuff on their Soundcloud as well

I loved Popular Soviet Songs and Youth Music from 1985, and the 2004 cd edition was fantastic, bound between two round gray felt pieces cut from black market Red Army caps, and held together with a Soviet military pin

lotta cool stuff on their Soundcloud as well

Yes, including a 2018 live recording from Kyiv which they've made available free but are requesting donations for Ukraine disaster relief.

this is blowing my mind still, from the Rapoon thread:

Some of the late 80's - early 90's ZF records were Robin Storey solo with other members just contributing artwork... A Flock of Rotations, Assault and Mirage, Shouting at the Ground, Just an Illusion and Shadow, Thief of the Sun, at the very least.

really? is this confirmed anywhere? so ben ponton only contributed artwork to these???

― stirmonster, Wednesday, March 16, 2022 5:25 PM (six days ago) bookmarkflaglink

Info was on the now-dead unofficial ZF website which had detailed music/production/artwork credits for the whole discography.

― atonar, Thursday, March 17, 2022 5:40 AM (five days ago) bookmarkflaglink

Found it on archive.org:

https://web.archive.org/web/20120320095815/http://www.the-edge.ws/zoviet/disc.html

― atonar, Thursday, March 17, 2022 5:45 AM (five days ago) bookmarkflaglink

Had also heard this at the time from the person who ran DOVe who released 'Shadow...' - arguments around credit and attribution were largely the cause of the fracturing of the group. In any case you can hear the pretty sharp change in sound from 1992 on.

― atonar, Thursday, March 17, 2022 5:50 AM (five days ago) bookmarkflaglink

thanks for the link - fascinating!

93's What Is Not True is one of my very favourite ZF releases but it's undeniable that it is a radical change of sound.

― stirmonster, Thursday, March 17, 2022 6:13 AM (five days ago)

Storey talks a bit more about it in this interview:

https://web.archive.org/web/20010218131126/http://www.pretentious.net/Rapoon/articles/tdr.htm

lol what

I will prob never hear these, but it's a cool idea

via their FB:

Our first NFT (non-fungible tape)
By speeding them up by a factor of several hundred and using extreme audio compression, we've discovered that the entirety of our unreleased recordings will fit onto this 3-minute loop cassette. This will be made available as a one-off exclusive release of its own that will be sold in a private auction tomorrow. The cassette will come with details on the the speed factor used and an explanation of how to decompress the audio. Once sold, these recordings will never be made available again.
To register your interest in participating in the auction, please add your name as a comment on this post.

dude, check the date

ahahaha got me

CD reissues of the three Châsse box sets coming later this year

hoping VOD releases these as standalone discs as well, although that seems unlikely.

just getting into them now, lol. didn't have the money in the late 90s to blind buy/ forgot about them/missed them online somehow. listening to Mohnomishe (1983) for the 3rd time in a row , sounds really good.timeless quality.

Just listened to What Is Not True (found among a few hundred CDs an unknown neighbour dumped on a lawn across the street, including several dozen more rare ambient and experimental CDs) and it’s pretty fantastic and reminds me why I love ZF

wow! and yeah that's a great one

CD reissues of the Chasse box sets are coming next year, btw

oops I see I said that four months ago

What Is Not True is one of my favourites. The use of the Radio 4 UK shipping forecast is just incredible (i guess maybe more for anyone who grew up hearing it in the UK). Forth, Tyne, Dogger.....

ahhh I never knew what that was saying!!! tyvm

As also referenced in "Mercy" by Wire.

shipping forecast also features on last track on ashtray navigations' "four raga moods". i think if you were making music with radio in the uk it's pretty inevitable you'd end up using the shipping forecast

Listening to What is Not True now = so fucking good

I pushed the button on the monster 34CD box set. Three small and beautiful wooden boxes housing the CDs, inside a big wooden box. The craftsmanship is extraordinary, well worth the money I'd say.

I did as well, one of the more extravagant music purchases I’ve made

Just arrived today

nice, I stuck with my vinyl sets but I sure would love a YSI of the bonus tape ;)

lol

animal_laminate Oct 3, 2019
It's a damned shame that this box doesn't include facsimiles of all the original release materials e.g. roofing felt, tissue, hessian, ceramic, feathers and so on; but it is very hard to see how that would have been possible. As it is, this box is awesome, a fully realized concept with a feeling of rightness. Given what it consists of materially, together with the quality of the remasters and pressings, the release price was a bargain, too. This is a classic box set. I own quite a few box sets but this has to be my all-time favourite.

zoviet-france Oct 12, 2019

We can send you a bigger piece of coal if you like.

new album!

https://www.xevarion.org/zf2026

I’m seeing them tomorrow night!

How dare you (not take us all with)

I got to see them in July and it was fab #braggin'

Live set from Cafe OTO a couple days ago: https://archive.org/details/ZF_2026-02-26

If you're listening to that ^ you could load this picture up and.. idk project it on the wall or something

https://i.postimg.cc/L5q3NWsy/IMG-4993.jpg

anyone heard the new album?

https://www.discogs.com/release/36873691-zovietfrance-The-Gate-Is-Open

It sounded pretty great to me on the first listen. Need to revisit soon:

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

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)