Blast First
Encyclopedia
Blast First is a sub label of one-time independent record label
, Mute Records
, founded in approximately 1985. It was named after a phrase taken from the first number of the radical Vorticist
journal Blast, published by Wyndham Lewis
in 1914. Lewis's "Manifesto" begins with the words "BLAST First (from politeness) ENGLAND".
to give UK
release to albums by Sonic Youth
, a US
band with which he was then working closely. It went on to specialise in music at the more extreme end of the spectrum, and featured more hardcore rock bands than the master label of its synth pop-oriented parent company. Before Mute Records was sold to the EMI group, Blast First fitted into the company's profile, which included labels such as the Fine Line and the Grey Area.
The label released a range of alternative music from The Butthole Surfers
and Labradford
through Suicide
and Sonic Youth
to The William Fairey Band's Acid Brass
collection. The latter, a departure for a label noted for its guitar based rock bands, was a covers
album of tunes such as A Guy Called Gerald
's "Voodoo Ray" and 808 State
's "Pacific," all replayed by a brass band. Blast First also organised the Disobey experimental club nights, with Russell Haswell
and Bruce Gilbert
(aka DJ Beekeeper) of the punk
band Wire
.
, Paul Smith released a number of records on a new independent sublabel, Blast First Petite. Records on this label were insufficiently commercial to be released through Mute's deal with EMI Distribution.
or have become examples of the indie/alternative genre:
(Note: Blast First was merely the UK label for these US bands, which were all primarily signed to deals with American
labels).
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
, Mute Records
Mute Records
Mute is an independent record label based in the UK. It was founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller and featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Goldfrapp, Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure and Fad Gadget.-Beginnings:...
, founded in approximately 1985. It was named after a phrase taken from the first number of the radical Vorticist
Vorticism
Vorticism, an offshoot of Cubism, was a short-lived modernist movement in British art and poetry of the early 20th century. It was based in London but international in make-up and ambition.-Origins:...
journal Blast, published by Wyndham Lewis
Wyndham Lewis
Percy Wyndham Lewis was an English painter and author . He was a co-founder of the Vorticist movement in art, and edited the literary magazine of the Vorticists, BLAST...
in 1914. Lewis's "Manifesto" begins with the words "BLAST First (from politeness) ENGLAND".
History
The label was founded by Paul SmithPaul Smith (music industry)
Paul Smith is probably best known as the founder and manager of Blast First, the British alternative record label that released artists such as Sonic Youth, the Butthole Surfers, Big Black and Dinosaur Jr. in the UK. He continued to manage the artists and work in the music industry when Blast First...
to give UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
release to albums by Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
, a US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
band with which he was then working closely. It went on to specialise in music at the more extreme end of the spectrum, and featured more hardcore rock bands than the master label of its synth pop-oriented parent company. Before Mute Records was sold to the EMI group, Blast First fitted into the company's profile, which included labels such as the Fine Line and the Grey Area.
The label released a range of alternative music from The Butthole Surfers
Butthole Surfers
Butthole Surfers is an American alternative rock band formed by Gibby Haynes and Paul Leary in San Antonio, Texas in 1981. The band has had numerous personnel changes, but its core lineup of Haynes, Leary, and drummer King Coffey has been consistent since 1983. Teresa Nervosa served as second...
and Labradford
Labradford
Labradford is a U.S. post-rock musical group from Richmond, Virginia, founded in 1991. They have released six full albums from 1993 to 2001. Though not officially disbanded, its members have since been active with separate projects.-Biography:...
through Suicide
Suicide (band)
Suicide is an American electronic protopunk musical duo, intermittently active since 1970 and composed of vocalist Alan Vega and Martin Rev on synthesizers and drum machines. They are an early synthesizer/vocal musical duo....
and Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
to The William Fairey Band's Acid Brass
Acid Brass
Acid Brass was a musical collaboration between Turner-Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller and the Williams Fairey Brass Band. The project was based on fusing the music of a traditional brass band with acid house and Detroit techno....
collection. The latter, a departure for a label noted for its guitar based rock bands, was a covers
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
album of tunes such as A Guy Called Gerald
A Guy Called Gerald
A Guy Called Gerald is the stage name for the musician, record producer and DJ Gerald Simpson ....
's "Voodoo Ray" and 808 State
808 State
808 State are a British electronic music outfit, formed in 1987 in Manchester, taking their name from the Roland TR-808 drum machine and their common state of mind...
's "Pacific," all replayed by a brass band. Blast First also organised the Disobey experimental club nights, with Russell Haswell
Russell Haswell
Russell Haswell is a multidisciplinary artist.He has exhibited conceptual and wall based visual works, video art, public sculpture, as well as audio presentations in both art gallery and concert hall contexts. Extreme Computer Music is one specialized area of activity...
and Bruce Gilbert
Bruce Gilbert
Bruce Gilbert is an English musician. One of the founding members of the influential and experimental art-punk band Wire, Gilbert branched out into electronic music, performance art, music production, and DJing during the band's extended periods of inactivity...
(aka DJ Beekeeper) of the punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band Wire
Wire (band)
Wire are an English rock band, formed in London in October 1976 by Colin Newman , Graham Lewis , Bruce Gilbert , and Robert Gotobed...
.
Blast First Petite
After the sale of Mute to EMIEMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
, Paul Smith released a number of records on a new independent sublabel, Blast First Petite. Records on this label were insufficiently commercial to be released through Mute's deal with EMI Distribution.
Artists
- A.C. TempleA.C. TempleA.C. Temple were an alternative rock band from Sheffield, England, formed in 1985. They released four albums before splitting up in 1991.-History:...
- Acid BrassAcid BrassAcid Brass was a musical collaboration between Turner-Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller and the Williams Fairey Brass Band. The project was based on fusing the music of a traditional brass band with acid house and Detroit techno....
- The Afghan WhigsThe Afghan WhigsThe Afghan Whigs were a soul-influenced American rock band from Cincinnati, Ohio. PopMatters described the band as "beyond simple genre categorization, and though lauded by the music press, never got their just due."-Band history:...
- Band of SusansBand of SusansBand of Susans was a noise rock band formed in New York City in 1986. It originally consisted of Robert Poss , Susan Stenger , Ron Spitzer , with Susan Lyall , Susan Tallman , and Alva Rogers . However, the band would undergo several permutations over the years, usually involving guitarists...
- Beme SeedBeme SeedBeme Seed was a New York based psychedelic noise rock band led by Kathleen Lynch, known for her collaboration with the Butthole Surfers. The band utilized guitar feedback and chanting to invoke a droning atmosphere in their music described as "panic inducing", and "supernatural"...
- Big BlackBig BlackBig Black was an American punk rock band from Evanston, Illinois, active from 1981 to 1987. Founded by singer and guitarist Steve Albini, the band's initial lineup also included guitarist Santiago Durango and bassist Jeff Pezzati, both of Naked Raygun...
- Big StickBig Stick (band)Big Stick are an alternative/independent band that gained much airplay with their debut release, the Drag Racing EP in 1986. It was instantly recognizable for Yanna Trance's voice repeated spoken line "In the summer I wear my tube top, and Eddie takes me to the drag strip" throughout the track...
- The Blue HumansThe Blue HumansThe Blue Humans is the name used by experimental guitarist Rudolph Grey for the improvised performances he leads with a variety of other musicians. Grey first came to notice in the late-1970s New York post punk and art scene which also produced Sonic Youth and Swans, and played in the influential...
- Caspar Brötzmann MassakerCaspar BrötzmannCaspar Brötzmann is an electric guitar player.While Brötzmann typically performs with the power trio lineup of Caspar Brötzmann Massaker , with guitar, bass guitar and drum set, he only uses rock and roll and heavy metal music as a basis for his music...
- Butthole SurfersButthole SurfersButthole Surfers is an American alternative rock band formed by Gibby Haynes and Paul Leary in San Antonio, Texas in 1981. The band has had numerous personnel changes, but its core lineup of Haynes, Leary, and drummer King Coffey has been consistent since 1983. Teresa Nervosa served as second...
- Dinosaur JrDinosaur JrDinosaur Jr. is an American alternative rock band formed in Amherst, Massachusetts in 1984. Originally called Dinosaur, prior to legal issues that forced the group to change their name, the band disbanded in 1997 until reuniting in 2005...
- FM Einheit & Caspar BrötzmannCaspar BrötzmannCaspar Brötzmann is an electric guitar player.While Brötzmann typically performs with the power trio lineup of Caspar Brötzmann Massaker , with guitar, bass guitar and drum set, he only uses rock and roll and heavy metal music as a basis for his music...
- Erase ErrataErase ErrataErase Errata is a band from San Francisco, California. They often name experimentalists such as Captain Beefheart, The Fall, and the Minutemen as inspirations...
- FushitsushaFushitsushaFushitsusha is a Japanese rock band specialising in the psychedelic rock, space rock and noise rock genres. The band consists of electric guitarist and singer Keiji Haino, and a shifting cast of complementary musicians. The group released the majority of its material in the 1990s.-History:Haino...
- The Charles Gayle TrioCharles GayleCharles Gayle is a free jazz saxophonist, pianist, bass clarinetist, and percussionist.-Biography:Charles Gayle was born in Buffalo, New York. Some of Gayle's history is unclear. He was apparently homeless for approximately twenty years, playing saxophone on street corners and subway platforms...
- Michael GibbsMichael Gibbs (jazz composer)Michael Clement Irving Gibbs is a jazz composer, conductor, arranger and producer as well as a trombonist and keyboardist....
- H.O.D.I.C.A.
- Keiji HainoKeiji HainoKeiji Haino born May 3, 1952 in Chiba, Japan, and currently residing in Tokyo, is a Japanese musician whose work has included rock, free improvisation, noise, singer-songwriter, solo percussion, psychedelic, minimalism and drone styles...
- Head of DavidHead of DavidHead of David was a noise rock/stoner band of the late 1980s that featured vocalist Stephen R. Burroughs and ex-Napalm Death member Justin Broadrick ....
- HovercraftHovercraft (band)Hovercraft was an instrumental experimental rock group that formed in Seattle, Washington in 1993. It was co-founded by its core duo of guitarist/samplist/tape looper Ryan Shinn, and bassist Beth Liebling. Liebling and Shinn would use the pseudonyms "Sadie 7" and "Campbell 2000", respectively,...
- HTRKHTRKHTRK is an Australian band formed in 2003.-Biography:Originating in Melbourne and based in London since 2007, HTRK started playing in 2003 when guitarist Nigel Yang and bassist Sean Stewart invited vocalist Jonnine Standish to create music inspired by Lynchian imagery, protopunk and post...
- KaitOKaitOKaitO was an English indie rock band from Norwich, formed in 1996. Their music consisted of loud, pop-punk melodies combined with a unique mix of guitar effects...
- Richard H. KirkRichard H. KirkRichard H. Kirk is an English musician specialising in electronic music since the 1970s.-Background:Richard H. Kirk first came to prominence in the 1970s as a member of the seminal industrial band Cabaret Voltaire...
- LabradfordLabradfordLabradford is a U.S. post-rock musical group from Richmond, Virginia, founded in 1991. They have released six full albums from 1993 to 2001. Though not officially disbanded, its members have since been active with separate projects.-Biography:...
- LiarsLiars (band)Liars is a three-piece band formed in 2000 consisting of Angus Andrew , Aaron Hemphill , and Julian Gross...
- LunachicksLunachicksLunachicks were an all-women punk rock band from New York City. The band formed in 1987 and has been on hiatus since 2000. Their music was described as "a frenzied mix of punk, metal, pop and rock". The band claimed influences including The Ramones, Kiss, and the MC5.- Biography :Theo Kogan, Gina...
- The Mekons
- Mother GooseMother GooseThe familiar figure of Mother Goose is an imaginary author of a collection of fairy tales and nursery rhymes which are often published as Mother Goose Rhymes. As a character, she appears in one "nursery rhyme". A Christmas pantomime called Mother Goose is often performed in the United Kingdom...
- Phill NiblockPhill NiblockPhill Niblock is a composer, filmmaker, videographer, and director of Experimental Intermedia, a foundation for avant-garde music based in New York with a parallel branch in Ghent, Belgium.-Biography:...
- Pan SonicPan sonicPan Sonic was a Finnish experimental electronic music duo consisting of Mika Vainio and Ilpo Väisänen.-Music:...
- The RaincoatsThe RaincoatsThe Raincoats are a British post-punk band. Ana da Silva and Gina Birch formed the group in 1977 while they were students at Hornsey College of Art, London, England.-Career:...
- Sonic YouthSonic YouthSonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
- Ciccone YouthCiccone YouthCiccone Youth is an experimental band which was formed in 1986. It is a side project of Sonic Youth members Steve Shelley, Kim Gordon, Lee Ranaldo, and Thurston Moore, with Minutemen/fIREHOSE member Mike Watt....
- Lee RanaldoLee RanaldoLee M. Ranaldo is an American singer, guitarist, writer, record producer, and visual artist, best known as a co-founder of the alternative rock band Sonic Youth...
- Ciccone Youth
- StretchheadsStretchheadsStretchheads were a punk band from Erskine, Scotland active between 1987 and 1991, releasing two albums in that period.-History:The band was formed in 1987 by Andy Maconald , P6 , with the line-up completed by Mofungo Diggs and Richie Dempsey...
- SuicideSuicide (band)Suicide is an American electronic protopunk musical duo, intermittently active since 1970 and composed of vocalist Alan Vega and Martin Rev on synthesizers and drum machines. They are an early synthesizer/vocal musical duo....
- Sun RaSun RaSun Ra was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions and performances. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama...
- Jimi TenorJimi TenorJimi Tenor is a Finnish musician. His name is a combination of the first name of his youth idol Jimmy Osmond and the tenor saxophone. His band Jimi Tenor & His Shamans published its first album in 1988, Jimi's first solo album appeared in 1994. "Take Me Baby" became his first hit in 1994...
- Ed Tomney
- 2KThe KLFThe KLF were one of the seminal bands of the British acid house movement during the late 1980s and early 1990s....
- UtUt (band)Ut originated from New York City's downtown No Wave scene in December 1978. The inheritors of the fertile collision between rock, free jazz and the avant garde that first manifested itself in the Velvet Underground, Ut soon became a serious force within the New York music scene.- History :Ut's...
Compilation series
- Sonic Mook ExperimentSonic Mook ExperimentThe Sonic Mook Experiment is a music enterprise overseen by Sean McLusky which encompasses a club night and several albums.The club claims that "like many great clubs in that it was about good music, drugs, scoop live performances, attractive fashionable people and quirky fad-inspiring outfits".The...
- The Devil's Jukebox (Nothing Short Of Total War) - deleted limited edition box set; 3000 UK copies and 1500 US copies were made.
Noted albums
Albums on Blast First that have either reached the UK Albums ChartUK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
or have become examples of the indie/alternative genre:
- Big Black - Songs About FuckingSongs About FuckingSongs About Fucking is the second and final album by the noise rock band Big Black. It placed 54th on Pitchfork Media's 'Top 100 Albums of the 1980s'. Included are covers of Kraftwerk's "The Model" and Cheap Trick's "He's a Whore".-Production:...
(1987) (BFFP 019) - Sonic Youth - Daydream NationDaydream NationDaydream Nation is the fifth studio album by the American alternative rock band Sonic Youth. It was released in October 1988 by Enigma Records in the United States, and by Blast First in the United Kingdom....
2xLP (1988) (BFFP 034) - Afghan Whigs - GentlemenGentlemen (album)Gentlemen is the fourth studio album by the alternative rock band The Afghan Whigs. It was released in 1993 on Elektra Records in America and Blast First in England and was produced by Greg Dulli.-Track listing:...
(1993) (BFFP 089) - Butthole Surfers - Locust Abortion TechnicianLocust Abortion TechnicianLocust Abortion Technician is the third full-length studio album by American experimental punk band the Butthole Surfers, released in March 1987...
(1987) (BFFP 023)
(Note: Blast First was merely the UK label for these US bands, which were all primarily signed to deals with American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
labels).