Brise-Glace
Encyclopedia
Brise-Glace was a 1990s instrumental avant-rock "supergroup
" composed of Jim O'Rourke
(guitar, organ, tape and "razor blade"), Darin Gray
(bass guitar), Dylan Posa (guitar), and Thymme Jones
(drums).
Formed in 1993, the mostly Chicago-based band had recorded and toured sporadically in various configurations until 1997. Brise-Glace used guitar improvisation, white noise, and found sounds to create a brooding and almost minimal, eerie musical sound.
. Posa (then of Chicago's avant-jazz perennials the Flying Luttenbachers) and Jones were drafted soon afterwords.
The group had recorded and released the five-song, 50-minute When In Vanitas... on Skin Graft Records
in 1994. The recording was engineered by Steve Albini
, and has guest appearances by Henry Kaiser
on guitar, Gene Coleman on bass clarinet, Christoph Heemann
on tape and David Grubbs
on organ. Brise-Glace's recording aesthetic was partly inspired by iconic German group Can
: they would improvise live in the recording studio, then O'Rourke would extensively edit the recording tapes; thus his "razor blade" credit. A brief snippet of one of the album's tracks "Neither Yield Nor Reap" was used in a 2000 Saturday Night Live short about Neil Armstrong.
The band also recorded a 1994 7" titled In Sisters All and Felony/Angels on Installment Plan, and their cover of "Angus Dei Aus Licht" was released on Skin Graft's AC/DC tribute series Sides 1-4 in 1996. Their track "Likeness" appeared on 1997's Camp Skin Graft: Now Wave (!) Compilation.
had taken part of in the 1990s. Besides his work as a producer, solo artist and filmmaker, he had also played in the The Bells, Gastr Del Sol
, Illusion of Safety, Yona-Kit
, and Sonic Youth
.
Bassist Darin Gray
is a veteran of St. Louis band Dazzling Killmen
, as well as You Fantastic!, and Yona-Kit
. Guitarist Dylan Posa has played with The Flying Luttenbachers
and Cheer-Accident
. Drummer Thymme Jones
has played with Cheer-Accident
, You Fantastic!, and Yona-Kit
.
Supergroup (music)
In the late 1960s, the term supergroup was coined to describe "a rock music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups"....
" composed of Jim O'Rourke
Jim O'Rourke (musician)
Jim O'Rourke is an Irish-American musician and record producer. He was long associated with the Chicago experimental and improv scene...
(guitar, organ, tape and "razor blade"), Darin Gray
Darin Gray
Darin Gray is an American musician and composer based in Edwardsville, Illinois. He is best known for playing bass in St. Louis' Dazzling Killmen, and with Jim O'Rourke in Brise-Glace and on O'Rourke's solo albums....
(bass guitar), Dylan Posa (guitar), and Thymme Jones
Thymme Jones
Thymme ' Jones is the drummer for the Chicago, Illinois-based band Cheer-Accident. Jones frequently appears on the local Public-access television cable TV program Cool Clown Ground...
(drums).
Formed in 1993, the mostly Chicago-based band had recorded and toured sporadically in various configurations until 1997. Brise-Glace used guitar improvisation, white noise, and found sounds to create a brooding and almost minimal, eerie musical sound.
History
Brise-Glace formed shortly after O'Rourke and Gray met at a concert of Gray's group Dazzling KillmenDazzling Killmen
Dazzling Killmen was a math rock band from the St. Louis, Missouri area. The band combining a punk-inspired noisy ruckus with jazzy Sun Ra-type intelligence and complex arrangements.-Biography:...
. Posa (then of Chicago's avant-jazz perennials the Flying Luttenbachers) and Jones were drafted soon afterwords.
The group had recorded and released the five-song, 50-minute When In Vanitas... on Skin Graft Records
Skin Graft Records
Skin Graft Records is an independent record label specializing in No Wave and noise rock music, originally based in Chicago, Illinois...
in 1994. The recording was engineered by Steve Albini
Steve Albini
Steven Frank Albini is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman, and Flour, and is currently a member of Shellac...
, and has guest appearances by Henry Kaiser
Henry Kaiser (musician)
Henry Kaiser is an American guitarist and composer.Recording and performing prolifically in many styles of music, Kaiser is a fixture on the San Francisco Bay Area music scene. He is considered a member of the "first generation" of American free improvisers.-Biography:His grandfather was the...
on guitar, Gene Coleman on bass clarinet, Christoph Heemann
Christoph Heemann
Christoph Heemann , is a German musician.Heemann has recorded under his own name, with the tape music group H.N.A.S., and with many collaborators in alternative rock, soundtrack production and visual arts....
on tape and David Grubbs
David Grubbs
David Grubbs , guitarist, pianist, and vocalist, was a founding member of Squirrel Bait, Bastro, and Gastr del Sol. He has also played in Codeine, The Red Krayola, Bitch Magnet and The Wingdale Community Singers....
on organ. Brise-Glace's recording aesthetic was partly inspired by iconic German group Can
Can (band)
Can was an experimental rock band formed in Cologne, West Germany in 1968. Later labeled as one of the first "krautrock" groups, they transcended mainstream influences and incorporated strong minimalist and world music elements into their often psychedelic music.Can constructed their music largely...
: they would improvise live in the recording studio, then O'Rourke would extensively edit the recording tapes; thus his "razor blade" credit. A brief snippet of one of the album's tracks "Neither Yield Nor Reap" was used in a 2000 Saturday Night Live short about Neil Armstrong.
The band also recorded a 1994 7" titled In Sisters All and Felony/Angels on Installment Plan, and their cover of "Angus Dei Aus Licht" was released on Skin Graft's AC/DC tribute series Sides 1-4 in 1996. Their track "Likeness" appeared on 1997's Camp Skin Graft: Now Wave (!) Compilation.
Related projects
Brise-Glace was among the many projects of which Jim O'RourkeJim O'Rourke (musician)
Jim O'Rourke is an Irish-American musician and record producer. He was long associated with the Chicago experimental and improv scene...
had taken part of in the 1990s. Besides his work as a producer, solo artist and filmmaker, he had also played in the The Bells, Gastr Del Sol
Gastr del Sol
Gastr del Sol was a Chicago band consisting, for most of their career, of David Grubbs and Jim O'Rourke. Between 1993 and 1998 they put out seven albums ranging in genre from post-rock to musique concrète....
, Illusion of Safety, Yona-Kit
Yona-Kit
Yona-Kit was a math rock quartet active in 1994.A U.S.-Japanese collaboration, the group consisted of KK Null , Jim O'Rourke , Darin Gray , and Thymme Jones . All but Null were contemporaneously members of the group Brise-Glace.Yona-Kit released one album, Yona-Kit on Skin Graft Records...
, 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...
.
Bassist Darin Gray
Darin Gray
Darin Gray is an American musician and composer based in Edwardsville, Illinois. He is best known for playing bass in St. Louis' Dazzling Killmen, and with Jim O'Rourke in Brise-Glace and on O'Rourke's solo albums....
is a veteran of St. Louis band Dazzling Killmen
Dazzling Killmen
Dazzling Killmen was a math rock band from the St. Louis, Missouri area. The band combining a punk-inspired noisy ruckus with jazzy Sun Ra-type intelligence and complex arrangements.-Biography:...
, as well as You Fantastic!, and Yona-Kit
Yona-Kit
Yona-Kit was a math rock quartet active in 1994.A U.S.-Japanese collaboration, the group consisted of KK Null , Jim O'Rourke , Darin Gray , and Thymme Jones . All but Null were contemporaneously members of the group Brise-Glace.Yona-Kit released one album, Yona-Kit on Skin Graft Records...
. Guitarist Dylan Posa has played with The Flying Luttenbachers
The Flying Luttenbachers
The Flying Luttenbachers were an instrumental unit led by multi-instrumentalist / composer / producer Weasel Walter. The Luttenbachers have created a large body of work focusing on an agenda of musical extremity and dissonance...
and Cheer-Accident
Cheer-Accident
Cheer-Accident is an American indie rock ensemble headed by Thymme Jones. Jones took the name of the band from a Hallmark Cards shopping display, and first formed the group in 1981 with singer Jim Drummond and drummer Mike Greenlees.-Biography:...
. Drummer Thymme Jones
Thymme Jones
Thymme ' Jones is the drummer for the Chicago, Illinois-based band Cheer-Accident. Jones frequently appears on the local Public-access television cable TV program Cool Clown Ground...
has played with Cheer-Accident
Cheer-Accident
Cheer-Accident is an American indie rock ensemble headed by Thymme Jones. Jones took the name of the band from a Hallmark Cards shopping display, and first formed the group in 1981 with singer Jim Drummond and drummer Mike Greenlees.-Biography:...
, You Fantastic!, and Yona-Kit
Yona-Kit
Yona-Kit was a math rock quartet active in 1994.A U.S.-Japanese collaboration, the group consisted of KK Null , Jim O'Rourke , Darin Gray , and Thymme Jones . All but Null were contemporaneously members of the group Brise-Glace.Yona-Kit released one album, Yona-Kit on Skin Graft Records...
.
Tracks on V/A compilations
- Sides 1-4 (1995, Skin Graft/Gasoline Boost)
- Likeness (Camp Skin Graft: Now Wave (!) Compilation, 1997)