Eve Libertine
Encyclopedia
Eve Libertine is a British
singer.
She was one of the two female vocalists (along with Joy De Vivre
) who worked with the influential British anarcho-punk
band Crass
. Her works with the band include the controversial single "Reality Asylum", as well as performing most of the vocals on the group's third album, Penis Envy
(1981), the lyrics of which have a heavy anarcha-feminist
content.
After the dissolution of Crass in 1984, Libertine worked with her guitarist
son Nemo Jones, as well as performance artist A-Soma. She also trained as a classical singer, and has recently performed as part of Crass Agenda (renamed Last Amendment
as of 2005) along with Penny Rimbaud
, Matt Black
(of Coldcut
), Christine Tobin
, Julian Siegel
, Ingrid Laubrock
, Nabil Shaban
, Kate Shortt
and others.
Her most recent major work is the 2004 Crass Agenda recording of Penny Rimbaud's Savage Utopia. This is a jazz
and breakbeat
s based composition intended as a critique of consumerism
and post-9/11 American culture, on which she performs vocals along with A Soma and Christine Tobin
.
Libertine held her first exhibition of artwork, entitled Head On, at the 96 Gillespie gallery, Finsbury Park
, London
in September 2005 http://www.96gillespie.com/artists_profiles/jones.htm. She has designed album sleeves for releases by Christine Tobin
and Partisans. Bracketpress publications has also released a limited edition set of cards featuring Libertine's artwork in order to raise funds for Butterfield Green Community Orchard in north London.
June 2010 sees the world premiere in Brussels of Listen, Little Man! a new work by Libertine and maverick electronic artist Mark Webber. Drawing on the writings and research of Dr. Wilhelm Reich
, it is a semi-improvised performance for voice and signal generators with back projected, scrolling graphic score.
She currently lives in Stoke Newington
, north London.
On November 19th 2011 she made a guest appearance at fellow Crass band mate Steve Ignorant
's "The Last Supper" where they were also joined on stage by Penny Rimbaud
. This is the last time Crass
songs will be sang live.
(Nb, see also full Crass discography Crass#Discography)
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...
singer.
She was one of the two female vocalists (along with Joy De Vivre
Joy De Vivre
Joy De Vivre was the second female singer of the anarcho-punk band Crass. She was also one of two lead singers on the Crass album Penis Envy in 1981. She studied at Colchester Arts School, where she met Andy Palmer....
) who worked with the influential British anarcho-punk
Anarcho-punk
Anarcho-punk is punk rock that promotes anarchism. The term anarcho-punk is sometimes applied exclusively to bands that were part of the original anarcho-punk movement in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s and early 1980s...
band Crass
Crass
Crass are an English punk rock band that was formed in 1977, which promoted anarchism as a political ideology, way of living, and as a resistance movement. Crass popularised the seminal anarcho-punk movement of the punk subculture, and advocated direct action, animal rights, and environmentalism...
. Her works with the band include the controversial single "Reality Asylum", as well as performing most of the vocals on the group's third album, Penis Envy
Penis Envy (album)
Penis Envy, released in 1981, was the third LP by anarchist punk band Crass.Named as a reference to some of Freud's ideas concerning sexuality, this release marked something of a departure from the somewhat 'macho', 'hardcore punk' image that The Feeding of the 5000 and its follow up Stations of...
(1981), the lyrics of which have a heavy anarcha-feminist
Anarcha-feminism
Anarcha-feminism combines anarchism with feminism. It generally views patriarchy as a manifestation of involuntary hierarchy. Anarcha-feminists believe that the struggle against patriarchy is an essential part of class struggle, and the anarchist struggle against the state...
content.
After the dissolution of Crass in 1984, Libertine worked with her guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
son Nemo Jones, as well as performance artist A-Soma. She also trained as a classical singer, and has recently performed as part of Crass Agenda (renamed Last Amendment
Last Amendment
Last Amendment is the working title of a series of collaborations by ex-members of the anarchist punk band Crass and others...
as of 2005) along with Penny Rimbaud
Penny Rimbaud
Jeremy John Ratter , better known under his pseudonym of Penny Rimbaud, is a drummer, writer, poet, former member of performance art groups EXIT and Ceres Confusion, and co-founder of the anarchist punk band Crass with Steve Ignorant in 1977.-Biography:Rimbaud Jeremy John Ratter (born 8 June 1943,...
, Matt Black
Matt Black
Matt Black is a British DJ and one half of music duo Coldcut .As a college student, he was a member of a band called The Jazz Insects, whose first single was played by John Peel in his radio show...
(of Coldcut
Coldcut
Coldcut are an English dance music duo, comprising Matt Black and Jonathan More. Their signature style is electronic dance music, featuring cut up samples of hip hop, breaks, jazz, spoken word and various other types of music, as well as video and multimedia.-1980s:In 1986, computer programmer Matt...
), Christine Tobin
Christine Tobin
Christine Tobin is an Irish born jazz singer from Dublin who has been part of the London jazz and improvising scene since the second half of the 1980s. She has been influenced by a diverse range of singers and writers including Betty Carter, Bessie Smith, Leonard Cohen, and poets WB Yeats, Paul...
, Julian Siegel
Julian Siegel
Julian Siegel is a UK Born Jazz Saxophone and Clarinet player, writer and arranger.Siegel has toured and recorded with Greg Cohen and Joey Baron and was awarded the BBC Jazz Awards 2007 for Best Instrumentalist....
, Ingrid Laubrock
Ingrid Laubrock
Ingrid Laubrock is a German-born jazz saxophonist, who plays soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophones.She studied with Jean Toussaint, Dave Liebman and at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama....
, Nabil Shaban
Nabil Shaban
Nabil Shaban is a British actor and writer. He founded The Graeae - a theatre group which promotes performers with disabilities. He has a son named Zenyel....
, Kate Shortt
Kate Shortt (musician)
Kate Shortt is a pianist, cello player, songwriter and comedian. Since training as a professional musician at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, she has performed her cabaret style sets at the Edinburgh Fringe, as well as the Hackney Vortex Club, the King's Head Islington, Jermyn Street...
and others.
Her most recent major work is the 2004 Crass Agenda recording of Penny Rimbaud's Savage Utopia. This is a jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and breakbeat
Breakbeat
In 1992, a new style called "jungalistic hardcore" emerged, and for many ravers it was too funky to dance to. Josh Lawford of Ravescene prophesied that the breakbeat was "the death-knell of rave" because the ever changing drumbeat patterns of breakbeat music didn't allow for the same zoned out,...
s based composition intended as a critique of consumerism
Consumerism
Consumerism is a social and economic order that is based on the systematic creation and fostering of a desire to purchase goods and services in ever greater amounts. The term is often associated with criticisms of consumption starting with Thorstein Veblen...
and post-9/11 American culture, on which she performs vocals along with A Soma and Christine Tobin
Christine Tobin
Christine Tobin is an Irish born jazz singer from Dublin who has been part of the London jazz and improvising scene since the second half of the 1980s. She has been influenced by a diverse range of singers and writers including Betty Carter, Bessie Smith, Leonard Cohen, and poets WB Yeats, Paul...
.
Libertine held her first exhibition of artwork, entitled Head On, at the 96 Gillespie gallery, Finsbury Park
Finsbury Park, London
Finsbury Park is an area in north London, England which grew up around an important railway interchange at the junction of the London Boroughs of Islington, Haringey and Hackney...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in September 2005 http://www.96gillespie.com/artists_profiles/jones.htm. She has designed album sleeves for releases by Christine Tobin
Christine Tobin
Christine Tobin is an Irish born jazz singer from Dublin who has been part of the London jazz and improvising scene since the second half of the 1980s. She has been influenced by a diverse range of singers and writers including Betty Carter, Bessie Smith, Leonard Cohen, and poets WB Yeats, Paul...
and Partisans. Bracketpress publications has also released a limited edition set of cards featuring Libertine's artwork in order to raise funds for Butterfield Green Community Orchard in north London.
June 2010 sees the world premiere in Brussels of Listen, Little Man! a new work by Libertine and maverick electronic artist Mark Webber. Drawing on the writings and research of Dr. Wilhelm Reich
Wilhelm Reich
Wilhelm Reich was an Austrian-American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, known as one of the most radical figures in the history of psychiatry...
, it is a semi-improvised performance for voice and signal generators with back projected, scrolling graphic score.
She currently lives in Stoke Newington
Stoke Newington
Stoke Newington is a district in the London Borough of Hackney. It is north-east of Charing Cross.-Boundaries:In modern terms, Stoke Newington can be roughly defined by the N16 postcode area . Its southern boundary with Dalston is quite ill-defined too...
, north London.
On November 19th 2011 she made a guest appearance at fellow Crass band mate Steve Ignorant
Steve Ignorant
Steve Ignorant is a singer and artist. He co-founded the anarcho-punk band Crass with Penny Rimbaud in 1977. After Crass stopped performing in 1984, he has worked with other groups including Conflict, Schwartzeneggar, The Stratford Mercenaries, Current 93 , US punk band Thought Crime, as well as...
's "The Last Supper" where they were also joined on stage by Penny Rimbaud
Penny Rimbaud
Jeremy John Ratter , better known under his pseudonym of Penny Rimbaud, is a drummer, writer, poet, former member of performance art groups EXIT and Ceres Confusion, and co-founder of the anarchist punk band Crass with Steve Ignorant in 1977.-Biography:Rimbaud Jeremy John Ratter (born 8 June 1943,...
. This is the last time Crass
Crass
Crass are an English punk rock band that was formed in 1977, which promoted anarchism as a political ideology, way of living, and as a resistance movement. Crass popularised the seminal anarcho-punk movement of the punk subculture, and advocated direct action, animal rights, and environmentalism...
songs will be sang live.
Discography
With Crass
- "Reality Asylum" (Crass RecordsCrass RecordsCrass Records is an independent record label which was set up by the anarchist punk band Crass.-Overview and history:Prior to the formation of Crass, Penny Rimbaud and Gee Vaucher had published their creative works via their own Dial House based Exitstencil Press...
, 1979) - The Feeding of the Five Thousand (Second Sitting) (Crass Records, 1980. Libertine performs vocals on "Asylum". This track is absent from the original 1978 release of this album on Small Wonder RecordsSmall Wonder RecordsSmall Wonder Records was a UK independent record label owned and managed by Pete Stennett, that specialised in releasing records by punk rock and post-punk bands. It operated out of a record shop of the same name at 162 Hoe Street, Walthamstow, E17, east London...
due to the allegedly blasphemous content of the lyrics. It is replaced with two minutes of silence entitled "The Sound of Free Speech") - Stations of the CrassStations of the CrassStations of the Crass is the second album by Crass, released in 1979. The record, originally released as a double 12", includes live tracks from a gig recorded at the Pied Bull pub in Islington, London on August 7, 1979. The first three sides contain the studio tracks and play at 45 rpm, while the...
(Crass Records, 1979. Libertine performs vocals on "Darling" and "Demo(n)crats" as well as tracks on the live section of the album) - "Nagasaki Nightmare" (Crass Records, 1981)
- "Bloody Revolutions" (Crass Records, 1980. Joint released with the Poison GirlsPoison GirlsThe Poison Girls were an English anarcho-punk band. The female singer/guitarist, Vi Subversa, was a middle-aged mother of two at the band's inception, and wrote songs that explored sexuality and gender roles, usually from an anarchist perspective...
' "Persons Unknown") - Penis EnvyPenis Envy (album)Penis Envy, released in 1981, was the third LP by anarchist punk band Crass.Named as a reference to some of Freud's ideas concerning sexuality, this release marked something of a departure from the somewhat 'macho', 'hardcore punk' image that The Feeding of the 5000 and its follow up Stations of...
(Crass Records, 1981. Libertine performs lead vocals on all tracks apart from "Health Surface" and "Our Wedding") - Christ the Album (Crass Records, 1982. Libertine performs backing vocals as well as tracks on the live section of the album)
- "The Immortal Death" and "Don't Tell Me You Care" (Crass Records, 1982. 'B' side of the anti-Falklands WarFalklands WarThe Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
single "How Does it Feel to be the Mother of 1000 Dead?" http://www.southern.com/southern/label/CRC/09422.html) - Yes Sir, I WillYes Sir, I WillYes Sir, I Will, released by Crass in 1983 , was the band's last 'official' album. The record consists of one continuous piece of music spread over the two sides of the original vinyl release , making it the longest punk song ever recorded, although this is intercut with two brief interludes; a...
(Crass Records, 1983) - Ten Notes on a Summers Day (Crass Records, 1986)
- "The Unelected President" (2003 remix of "Major General Despair" from Christ the Album with Libertine on vocals http://www.peace-not-war.org/Music/Crass/index.html)
Post-Crass
- Acts of LoveActs of LoveActs of Love is an album of 50 poems by Penny Rimbaud of the anarchist punk band Crass, set to classical music composed and arranged by Penny Rimbaud and Paul Ellis, and performed by Steve Ignorant and Eve Libertine. Released in 1985 on Crass Records, the record was accompanied by a book of 50...
(Crass Records, 1985, 50 short poems from 1973 by Penny Rimbaud set to classical music compositions) - Last One Out Turns Off the Lights (Red Herring Records, 1989, with A-Soma)
- Skating The Side of Violence (Red Herring Records, 1992, with Nemo Jones)
- The Death of Imagination - A Musical Drama (Red Herring Records, performing work by Penny Rimbaud)
- Savage Utopia (Babel LabelBabel LabelThe Babel Label is a record label was founded in 1994 by Oliver Weindling. It primarily records and releases jazz albums from UK artists. Ongoing relationships include artists such as Billy Jenkins, Christine Tobin and Huw Warren. A close relationship has been forged with a number of musicians from...
, 2004, with Crass Agenda) - In the Beginning Was the WORD - DVD, Live Crass Agenda performance recorded at the Progress Bar, Tufnell Park, London, 18 November 2004 (Gallery gallery Productions @ Le Chaos Factory, 2006)
As guest vocalist
- Hex - Poison GirlsPoison GirlsThe Poison Girls were an English anarcho-punk band. The female singer/guitarist, Vi Subversa, was a middle-aged mother of two at the band's inception, and wrote songs that explored sexuality and gender roles, usually from an anarchist perspective...
(Crass Records, Libertine performs 'additional vocals' on "BremenBremenThe City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
Song") - Nick Nack Paddy Whack - Hit Parade (Crass Records, 1986, Libertine performs vocals on one song, "Pills and Ills")
- Merzbild Schwet - Nurse With WoundNurse with WoundNurse with Wound is the main recording name for British musician Steven Stapleton. Nurse with Wound was originally a band, formed in 1978 by Stapleton, John Fothergill and Heman Pathak...
(United Dairies, 1980, Libertine contributes 'Spoken Word Fragments' to "Dadax")