Bowery Electric
Encyclopedia
Bowery Electric was an American
indie
band formed in New York's
East Village
in 1992 by Lawrence Chandler
and Martha Schwendener.
and seminal members of the post-rock
movement, the duo earned critical acclaim for experimentation across genres and mixing elements of ambient
, drone
, electronic
and experimental
music with '70's soul soundtracks
, disco
, dub
and hip hop
. They were one of the first American bands to perform with a laptop
, mixer
and sampler
on stage alongside bass, drums and guitars.
, Pauline Oliveros
, at The Juilliard School and Goldsmiths College
and is a composer
and sound artist living in London. Appearances as a performer have been rare but he has played with Experimental Audio Research (E.A.R.)
, "a loose affiliation of non-resident sound makers including from time to time Sonic Boom
(Spacemen 3
, Spectrum
), Kevin Shields
(My Bloody Valentine) and Eddie Prévost
(AMM
)." He has produced remixes as Metrotech for bands including Calla
Mercova and Tristeza
.
A recent BBC Radio 6 music show linked him romantically with Donna Matthews
of Britpop
band Elastica
.
Schwendener has recorded as Echostar. In 2003, she released the downtempo
album Sola for Shadow Records
, a sub-label of Instinct Records
.
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
indie
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
band formed in New York's
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
East Village
East Village, Manhattan
The East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...
in 1992 by Lawrence Chandler
Lawrence Chandler
Lawrence Chandler is an American-born musician, composer and sound artist living in London. He studied with La Monte Young, Pauline Oliveros, at The Juilliard School and Goldsmiths College. He was a founder member of Bowery Electric and has worked for Philip Glass.-References:...
and Martha Schwendener.
Music
Bowery Electric's music defies easy classification. Part of the initial wave of American shoegazersShoegazing
Shoegazing is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged from the United Kingdom in the late 1980s. It lasted there until the mid 1990s, with a critical zenith reached in 1990 and 1991...
and seminal members of the post-rock
Post-rock
Post-rock is a subgenre of rock music characterized by the influence and use of instruments commonly associated with rock, but using rhythms and "guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures" not traditionally found in rock...
movement, the duo earned critical acclaim for experimentation across genres and mixing elements of ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
, drone
Drone music
Drone music is a minimalist musical style that emphasizes the use of sustained or repeated sounds, notes, or tone-clusters – called drones. It is typically characterized by lengthy audio programs with relatively slight harmonic variations throughout each piece compared to other musics...
, electronic
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
and experimental
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
music with '70's soul soundtracks
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
, disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
, dub
Dub music
Dub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...
and hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
. They were one of the first American bands to perform with a laptop
Laptop
A laptop, also called a notebook, is a personal computer for mobile use. A laptop integrates most of the typical components of a desktop computer, including a display, a keyboard, a pointing device and speakers into a single unit...
, mixer
Mixing console
In professional audio, a mixing console, or audio mixer, also called a sound board, mixing desk, or mixer is an electronic device for combining , routing, and changing the level, timbre and/or dynamics of audio signals. A mixer can mix analog or digital signals, depending on the type of mixer...
and sampler
Sampler (musical instrument)
A sampler is an electronic musical instrument similar in some respects to a synthesizer but, instead of generating sounds, it uses recordings of sounds that are loaded or recorded into it by the user and then played back by means of a keyboard, sequencer or other triggering device to perform or...
on stage alongside bass, drums and guitars.
Current status
Chandler has studied with La Monte YoungLa Monte Young
La Monte Thornton Young is an American avant-garde composer, musician, and artist.Young is generally recognized as the first minimalist composer. His works have been included among the most important and radical post-World War II avant-garde, experimental, and contemporary music. Young is...
, Pauline Oliveros
Pauline Oliveros
Pauline Oliveros is an American accordionist and composer who is a central figure in the development of post-war electronic art music....
, at The Juilliard School and Goldsmiths College
Goldsmiths College
Goldsmiths, University of London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom which specialises in the arts, humanities and social sciences, and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It was founded in 1891 as Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute...
and is a composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and sound artist living in London. Appearances as a performer have been rare but he has played with Experimental Audio Research (E.A.R.)
EAR (band)
Experimental Audio Research is a group formed around Peter Kember , formerly of Spacemen 3. To quote from the liner notes of the first E.A.R. full-length release, Mesmerised, "E.A.R. is a loose affiliation of non-resident "sound makers" including from time to time Sonic Boom , Kevin Martin , Kevin...
, "a loose affiliation of non-resident sound makers including from time to time Sonic Boom
Peter Kember
Peter Kember is a British musician and producer, more usually known as Sonic Boom, and was a founding member of alternative rock band Spacemen 3....
(Spacemen 3
Spacemen 3
Spacemen 3 were an English alternative rock band, formed in 1982 in Rugby, Warwickshire by Peter Kember and Jason Pierce. Their music was "colorfully mind-altering, but not in the sense of the acid rock of the '60s; instead, the band developed its own minimalistic psychedelia"...
, Spectrum
Spectrum
A spectrum is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary infinitely within a continuum. The word saw its first scientific use within the field of optics to describe the rainbow of colors in visible light when separated using a prism; it has since been applied by...
), Kevin Shields
Kevin Shields
Kevin Patrick Shields is an American-born, Irish vocalist, guitarist, and producer of alternative rock band My Bloody Valentine....
(My Bloody Valentine) and Eddie Prévost
Eddie Prévost
Edwin Prévost is an English drummer and percussionist.Prévost began as a jazz drummer before branching out into entirely improvised music. He was a co-founder of the group AMM, and remains its only constant member...
(AMM
AMM (group)
AMM are an important British free improvisation group, founded in London, England in 1965.AMM have never been well known to the general public, but have been incredibly influential on the field of improvised music...
)." He has produced remixes as Metrotech for bands including Calla
Calla (band)
Calla is an indie rock band formed in North Texas in 1997. The band has been based in Brooklyn, New York for most of its existence. They have been on hiatus since 2007, after touring to support their album Strength In Numbers.-Band members:...
Mercova and Tristeza
Tristeza
Tristeza is a post-rock band from San Diego, California. The band has performed in 19 countries.Tristeza is a California-based band, with most members currently living in Oakland, CA....
.
A recent BBC Radio 6 music show linked him romantically with Donna Matthews
Donna Matthews
Donna Matthews was the lead guitarist of the Britpop band, Elastica.Matthews left Elastica in 1999. In May 2004, Matthews' new band, Klang, released their debut album, No Sound is Heard...
of Britpop
Britpop
Britpop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom. Britpop emerged from the British independent music scene of the early 1990s and was characterised by bands influenced by British guitar pop music of the 1960s and 1970s...
band Elastica
Elastica
Elastica were an English alternative rock band that played punk rock-influenced music. They were best known for their 1995 album Elastica, which produced singles that charted in the US and the UK.-History:...
.
Schwendener has recorded as Echostar. In 2003, she released the downtempo
Downtempo
Downtempo is a laid-back electronic music style similar to ambient music, but usually with a beat or groove unlike the beatless forms of Ambient music. The beat is sometimes made from loops that have a hypnotic feeling...
album Sola for Shadow Records
Shadow Records
Shadow Records was launched in 1995 as an Instinct Records sub-label to focus on the more organic side of the underground electronic music scene...
, a sub-label of Instinct Records
Instinct Records
Instinct Records is a New York City electronic-music record label that first gained prominence in 1990. It is best-known for releasing much of Moby's early work. The label has several sublabels, which include Evolver, Instinct Ambient, Kickin Records USA, Liquid Music, Shadow Records, and Sonic...
.
Albums
- 1995: Bowery Electric (KrankyKranky RecordsKranky is an independent record label, located in Chicago, Illinois. It was started in 1993 by Bruce Adams and Joel Leoschke.The bands it houses are noted for combining experimental and often electronic influences with elements of more traditional rock structures, and many of the artists on Kranky...
) - 1996: Beat (Kranky / Beggars BanquetBeggars Banquet RecordsBeggars Banquet is an English independent record label that began as a chain of record shops owned by Martin Mills and Nick Austin, and is part of the Beggars Group of labels...
) - 1997: Vertigo (Beggars Banquet)
- 2000: Lushlife (Beggars Banquet)
Singles
- 1997: Fear of Flying / Beat / Without Stopping (Beggars Banquet)
- 1997: Black Light / Coming Down / Empty Words (Beggars Banquet)
- 1997: Blow Up / Electrosleep (Happy Go Lucky)
- 2000: Floating World / Lushlife (Beggars Banquet)
- 2000: Freedom Fighter / Soul City (Beggars Banquet)
Compilations
- 1996: Monsters, Robots and Bug Men (Virgin RecordsVirgin RecordsVirgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
) - 1996: The New Atlantis (Space Age Recordings)
- 1997: Deepwater Black (Koch RecordsKoch RecordsE1 Music , the primary subsidiary of E1 Entertainment LP, is the largest independent record label in the United States. It is also distributed by the Universal Music Group in Europe under the name E1 Universal...
) - 1998: After the Flood 2 (ae)
- 1998: A Tribute To Spacemen 3 (Rocket Girl)
- 1998: kompilation (Southern RecordsSouthern RecordsSouthern Records is an independent record label closely associated with Crass Records, Corpus Christi Records and Dischord Records. It is based in London and previously had offices in Chicago , Le Havre and Berlin .Southern was originally a recording studio owned and operated by John Loder...
) - 1998: Hekla's Selection (ReckankreuzungsklankewerkzeugeKeith Fullerton WhitmanKeith Fullerton Whitman is an American electronic musician who has recorded albums influenced by many genres, including ambient music, drill and bass, and krautrock. He records and performs using many aliases, of which the most familiar is Hrvatski...
) - 2001: Dark City Nights (Mascara)
- 2000: Chillout Basscapes 2 (Zoomshot)
- 2000: Musikexpress 40 (Musikexpress)
- 2001: Im:pulse Chill & Lounge Grooves (Indigo)
- 2002: Brain In The Wire (Brainwashed Recordings)
Videography
- 1996: "Fear of Flying" (Director, Ed Feldman)
- 2000: "Freedom Fighter" (Director, Tomaz Baltzi)