Peter Kember
Encyclopedia
Peter Kember is a British
music
ian and producer, more usually known as Sonic Boom, and was a founding member of alternative rock band Spacemen 3
.
Since the disbandment of Spacemen 3 in 1991, Kember has recorded as Spectrum and E.A.R. (Experimental Audio Research)
- the two projects have existed in parallel, and recordings under both names occasionally only feature Kember. He has occasionally performed live under both monikers, most recently in 2008-11 as Spectrum, touring as a band in America and Europe.
Kember has played and collaborated with a number of artists, including Stereolab
and Yo La Tengo
.
Kember has also colloborated with other artists as a producer. He performed production duties on MGMT
's 2010 album Congratulations
and Panda Bear
's 2011 album Tomboy
.
s, based as it was upon the Chip Taylor-penned pop hit "Can't Let Go". 1992's Soul Kiss (Glide Divine) album was split between songs and longer experimental pieces featuring drone
s and repetition, and Highs, Lows and Heavenly Blows (1994) was also mainly song-oriented. Kember has occasionally collaboarted with Jessamine
and The Silver Apples
under the Spectrum name.
Since 1996 the Spectrum name has been used for Kember's solo work, sometimes with Pete Bain from the original Spacemen 3 lineup and recording engineer/musician Alf Hardy. The music made with Bain and Hardy was often in the same vein as E.A.R., reflecting an increased interest in vintage analogue synthesizers, especially those made by EMS
. After issuing 1997's Forever Alien albumn, there were no further releases of new material under the Spectrum moniker until 2008's Indian Giver collaboration with Jim Dickinson
. He has also worked with Füxa
's Randall Nieman
.
During 2008-11, Kember toured extensively as Spectrum as a four-piece ensemble in America and Europe. This has included providing main support for the 2009 reformation tour of My Bloody Valentine, and a performance at the All Tomorrow's Parties
festival in May 2011. An EP, War Sucks, was released in 2009. A new Spectrum album has been in the offing for several years, but has been put on hold due to other recording and live commitments.
Although the first E.A.R. album to be released (Mesmerised, 1994) was Kember on his own, the initial intention of E.A.R. was to record experimental "soundscape" music with collaborators. The second album (the first to be recorded, however) was Beyond the Pale (1996, recorded 1992), which featured Kevin Shields
of My Bloody Valentine, Kevin Martin and AMM
's Eddie Prévost
. The album was remixed by German musician Thomas Köner
in 1997, and released as The Köner Experiment. Prévost also appeared on Phenomena 256 (1996) and Millennium Music (1998), both of which featured a larger group of musicians. Data Rape (1998) was recorded solely by Kember, using the technique of circuit bending
, which he continued to use on the EP Vibrations (2000) and album Continuum (2001). The latter two releases were made with assistance from Delia Derbyshire
, formerly of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop
, who also had a track named after her on the Spectrum album Forever Alien. The most recent E.A.R. release is Worn to a Shadow (2005).
, Yo La Tengo
, Britta Phillips
and Dean Wareham
, Cheval Sombre, and Pat Fish
of The Jazz Butcher.
's second album, titled Congratulations
; and, in 2011, he mixed and mastered Panda Bear's fourth album, Tomboy
.
Singles/EPs:
Compilations and special releases:
Singles/EPs:
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...
music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
ian and producer, more usually known as Sonic Boom, and was a founding member of alternative rock band 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"...
.
Since the disbandment of Spacemen 3 in 1991, Kember has recorded as Spectrum and E.A.R. (Experimental Audio Research)
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...
- the two projects have existed in parallel, and recordings under both names occasionally only feature Kember. He has occasionally performed live under both monikers, most recently in 2008-11 as Spectrum, touring as a band in America and Europe.
Kember has played and collaborated with a number of artists, including Stereolab
Stereolab
Stereolab are an alternative music band formed in 1990 in London, England. The band originally comprised songwriting team Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier , both of whom remained at the helm across many lineup changes...
and Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo, sometimes abbreviated as YLT, is an American alternative rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan , Georgia Hubley , and James McNew .Despite achieving limited mainstream success, Yo La Tengo has been called "the quintessential...
.
Kember has also colloborated with other artists as a producer. He performed production duties on MGMT
MGMT
MGMT is an American alternative rock band founded by Benjamin Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden. After the release of their first album, the members of their live band, Matthew Asti, James Richardson and Will Berman, joined the core band in the studio...
's 2010 album Congratulations
Congratulations (album)
The album received mostly positive reviews upon its release, and a 72/100 metascore at Metacritic, based upon 39 reviews. Pitchfork Media deemed the album "audacious, ambitious, and a little fried." NME got a first listen of the album and described it as a mix of "frenetic, brief psych nuggets......
and Panda Bear
Panda Bear (musician)
Noah Benjamin Lennox also known as Panda Bear, is an experimental musician and a founding member of Animal Collective.-Early life:...
's 2011 album Tomboy
Tomboy (album)
-Mixing:In an interview with NYCTaper in September 2010, Josh Dibb of Animal Collective revealed that he and fellow bandmate Dave Portner had been requested to mix the album on its completion...
.
Sonic Boom
Kember's first solo album, Spectrum, was recorded in 1989 while Spacemen 3 were still a going concern, and featured the other members of the group.Spectrum
Kember recruited new musicians for the group Spectrum in 1991. Initial Spectrum releases carried on from the sound of late-period Spacemen 3, featuring conventional songs and a regular band. First single "How You Satisfy Me" was an original composition reminiscent of 1960s garage bandGarage rock
Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name...
s, based as it was upon the Chip Taylor-penned pop hit "Can't Let Go". 1992's Soul Kiss (Glide Divine) album was split between songs and longer experimental pieces featuring drone
Drone (music)
In music, a drone is a harmonic or monophonic effect or accompaniment where a note or chord is continuously sounded throughout most or all of a piece. The word drone is also used to refer to any part of a musical instrument that is just used to produce such an effect.-A musical effect:A drone...
s and repetition, and Highs, Lows and Heavenly Blows (1994) was also mainly song-oriented. Kember has occasionally collaboarted with Jessamine
Jessamine (band)
Jessamine was a band that recorded three albums for Kranky records between 1994 and 1998 and a number of singles for other record labels. These singles were later collected by the band on a self-released compilation album....
and The Silver Apples
The Silver Apples
Silver Apples are an American psychedelic electronic music duo from New York, composed of Simeon Coxe III, who performs as Simeon, on a primitive synthesizer of his own devising , and until his death in 2005, drummer Danny Taylor. The group was active between 1967 and 1969, before reforming in the...
under the Spectrum name.
Since 1996 the Spectrum name has been used for Kember's solo work, sometimes with Pete Bain from the original Spacemen 3 lineup and recording engineer/musician Alf Hardy. The music made with Bain and Hardy was often in the same vein as E.A.R., reflecting an increased interest in vintage analogue synthesizers, especially those made by EMS
Electronic Music Studios (London) Ltd
Electronic Music Studios Ltd. is a synthesizer company formed in 1969 by Dr. Peter Zinovieff, Tristram Cary and David Cockerell....
. After issuing 1997's Forever Alien albumn, there were no further releases of new material under the Spectrum moniker until 2008's Indian Giver collaboration with Jim Dickinson
Jim Dickinson
James Luther "Jim" Dickinson was an American record producer, pianist, and singer who fronted, among others, the Memphis based band, Mudboy & The Neutrons.- Biography :...
. He has also worked with Füxa
Füxa
Füxa was a space rock duo, consisting of Detroit musicians Ryan Anderson and Randall Nieman . Füxa was created in 1994 and their music has been described as psychedelic and experimental...
's Randall Nieman
Randall Nieman
Randall Nieman is a musician and entrepreneur. In addition to being a guitarist and percussionist in several bands, he has played a variety of exotic instruments, including the theremin.Neiman departed the post-rock band Windy & Carl to form Füxa in 1995...
.
During 2008-11, Kember toured extensively as Spectrum as a four-piece ensemble in America and Europe. This has included providing main support for the 2009 reformation tour of My Bloody Valentine, and a performance at the All Tomorrow's Parties
All Tomorrow's Parties (music festival)
All Tomorrow's Parties is a music festival which takes place at Camber Sands holiday camp in East Sussex and Butlin's holiday camp in Minehead, Somerset, England....
festival in May 2011. An EP, War Sucks, was released in 2009. A new Spectrum album has been in the offing for several years, but has been put on hold due to other recording and live commitments.
E.A.R.
see main article 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...
Although the first E.A.R. album to be released (Mesmerised, 1994) was Kember on his own, the initial intention of E.A.R. was to record experimental "soundscape" music with collaborators. The second album (the first to be recorded, however) was Beyond the Pale (1996, recorded 1992), which featured Kevin Shields
Kevin Shields
Kevin Patrick Shields is an American-born, Irish vocalist, guitarist, and producer of alternative rock band My Bloody Valentine....
of My Bloody Valentine, Kevin Martin and 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...
's 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...
. The album was remixed by German musician Thomas Köner
Thomas Köner
Thomas Köner is a multimedia artist whose main interest lies in combining visual and auditory experiences. He's been noted for his use of low frequencies...
in 1997, and released as The Köner Experiment. Prévost also appeared on Phenomena 256 (1996) and Millennium Music (1998), both of which featured a larger group of musicians. Data Rape (1998) was recorded solely by Kember, using the technique of circuit bending
Circuit bending
Circuit bending is the creative customization of the circuits within electronic devices such as low voltage, battery-powered guitar effects, children's toys and small digital synthesizers to create new musical or visual instruments and sound generators....
, which he continued to use on the EP Vibrations (2000) and album Continuum (2001). The latter two releases were made with assistance from Delia Derbyshire
Delia Derbyshire
Delia Ann Derbyshire was an English musician and composer of electronic music and musique concrète. She is best known for her electronic realisation of Ron Grainer's theme music to the British science fiction television series Doctor Who and for her work with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.-Early...
, formerly of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop
BBC Radiophonic Workshop
The BBC Radiophonic Workshop, one of the sound effects units of the BBC, was created in 1958 to produce effects and new music for radio, and was closed in March 1998, although much of its traditional work had already been outsourced by 1995. It was based in the BBC's Maida Vale Studios in Delaware...
, who also had a track named after her on the Spectrum album Forever Alien. The most recent E.A.R. release is Worn to a Shadow (2005).
Other musical collaborations
Kember has also played and collaborated with StereolabStereolab
Stereolab are an alternative music band formed in 1990 in London, England. The band originally comprised songwriting team Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier , both of whom remained at the helm across many lineup changes...
, Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo, sometimes abbreviated as YLT, is an American alternative rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan , Georgia Hubley , and James McNew .Despite achieving limited mainstream success, Yo La Tengo has been called "the quintessential...
, Britta Phillips
Britta Phillips
Britta Phillips is an American musician, songwriter, actress and voice actor. She is best known as the singing voice of the title character of Jem and as one half of the duo Dean and Britta, with her husband Dean Wareham...
and Dean Wareham
Dean Wareham
Dean Wareham is an American musician, who formed the band Galaxie 500 in 1987. Born in Wellington, New Zealand, Wareham moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia, before settling in New York City in 1977. Wareham attended high school at Dalton School in New York, and then attended Harvard...
, Cheval Sombre, and Pat Fish
Pat Fish
Pat Fish is an English musician best known for his work as a member of the band The Jazz Butcher. -Early career:...
of The Jazz Butcher.
Work as a Producer
Kember produced Blair 1523's debut album, Beautiful Debris. He remixed Britta Phillips and Dean Wareham's L’Avventura album, releasing Sonic Souvenirs in 2003. In 2010, Peter Kember undertook superervisory production on MGMTMGMT
MGMT is an American alternative rock band founded by Benjamin Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden. After the release of their first album, the members of their live band, Matthew Asti, James Richardson and Will Berman, joined the core band in the studio...
's second album, titled Congratulations
Congratulations (album)
The album received mostly positive reviews upon its release, and a 72/100 metascore at Metacritic, based upon 39 reviews. Pitchfork Media deemed the album "audacious, ambitious, and a little fried." NME got a first listen of the album and described it as a mix of "frenetic, brief psych nuggets......
; and, in 2011, he mixed and mastered Panda Bear's fourth album, Tomboy
Tomboy (album)
-Mixing:In an interview with NYCTaper in September 2010, Josh Dibb of Animal Collective revealed that he and fellow bandmate Dave Portner had been requested to mix the album on its completion...
.
as Sonic Boom
Albums:- Spectrum (1990)
Singles/EPs:
- Angel (1989)
- Octaves/Tremolos (1990)
- Drone Dream (1991)
- Mechanical Man (1994)
- The Sundowner (2000)
As Spectrum
Albums:- Soul Kiss (Glide Divine) (1992)
- Highs, Lows and Heavenly Blows (1994)
- Forever Alien (1997)
- A Lake Of Teardrops [Spectrum & Silver Apples LP] (1999) (with Silver Apples)
Compilations and special releases:
- What Came Before After (1994) [compilation]
- A Lake of Teardrops (1999)
- Live Chronicles Vol. 1 (2001) [live recordings]
- Live Chronicles Vol. 2 (2001) [live recordings]
- Refractions: Thru the Rhythms of Time 1989-1997 (2004) [compilation]
- Indian Giver: Spectrum meets Cpt. Memphis (2008) [with Jim DickinsonJim DickinsonJames Luther "Jim" Dickinson was an American record producer, pianist, and singer who fronted, among others, the Memphis based band, Mudboy & The Neutrons.- Biography :...
]
Singles/EPs:
- How You Satisfy Me (1992)
- True Love Will Find You in the End (1992)
- Super Sympathy Spectrum Stocking Stuffer (1992) [split EP with The Field Trip]
- Indian Summer (1993)
- Undo the Taboo (1994)
- California Lullabye (1994)
- Songs For Owsley [EP] (1996)
- A Pox On You [Spectrum and Jessamine EP] (1996) [with Jessamine]
- Feels Like I'm Slipping Away (1997)
- Interface/Come Out to Play (1999) [split EP with Imajinery Friends]
- War Sucks [EP] (2009)
As E.A.R. (Experimental Audio Research)
Albums, etc:- Mesmerised (1994)
- Beyond the Pale (1996, recorded 1992) [with Kevin Shields]
- Phenomena 256 (1996)
- The Köner Experiment (1997)
- Millennium Music (1998)
- Data Rape (1998)
- Living Sound [E.A.R. & Jessamine] (1999)
- Pestrepeller (1999) (Limited to 1900 copies)
- Vibrations (2000)
- Continuum (2001)
- Worn to a Shadow (2005)
Packaging and formats
Spectrum and E.A.R. releases have often featured elaborate packaging, unusual formats, or limited editions. Some notable examples are:- The LPGramophone recordA gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
version of the Sonic Boom album Spectrum came with a revolving "Op artOp artOp art, also known as optical art, is a style of visual art that makes use of optical illusions."Optical art is a method of painting concerning the interaction between illusion and picture plane, between understanding and seeing." Op art works are abstract, with many of the better known pieces made...
" sleeve. 2000 copies came with a slip allowing purchasers to also buy a limited 10" coloured vinyl EP. The EP contained experimental drone recordings, with instructions to play at 16, 33, 45 or 78 r.p.mRevolutions per minuteRevolutions per minute is a measure of the frequency of a rotation. It annotates the number of full rotations completed in one minute around a fixed axis...
. - The group Spectrum's first album Soul Kiss (Glide Divine) was originally released in a transparent PVCPolyvinyl chloridePolyvinyl chloride, commonly abbreviated PVC, is a thermoplastic polymer. It is a vinyl polymer constructed of repeating vinyl groups having one hydrogen replaced by chloride. Polyvinyl chloride is the third most widely produced plastic, after polyethylene and polypropylene. PVC is widely used in...
sleeve, with a blue oil and water mixture contained within it. (these notoriously burst when being shipped to record store) The LP was pressed on transparent vinyl. - E.A.R.'s first single release was Pocket Symphony, a 5" vinyl record with cover art by Anthony Ausgang.
- E.A.R.'s "Sub Aqua / Tidal / Lunar" (1995) was an 8" vinyl release, a picture discPicture discPicture discs are gramophone records that show images on their playing surface, rather than being of plain black or coloured vinyl.-Development:...
with a locked groove at the end of the second side. - "Sputnik" (1997), a split single with Thurston MooreThurston MooreThurston Joseph Moore is an American musician best known as a singer, songwriter and guitarist of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside of Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label...
and Don FlemingDon Fleming (musician)Don Fleming is an American musician, best known for being the frontman of Velvet Monkeys, B.A.L.L., and Gumball.-Biography:...
on the other side, was pressed on glittery 7" vinyl. - Another 7" single, "Data Rape (part 9)" has a drawing by artist Savage PencilSavage PencilSavage Pencil is a comics artist, and is the nom de plume of English music journalist Edwin Pouncey.-Biography:...
scratched onto the B-side instead of music. - 1998's "Death of a Robot" is pressed on 9" clear vinyl.
External links
- Official website
- www.3ammagazine.com 2002 interview
- www.rockedition.com interview, 2011
- www.alteredzones.com interview, 2011
- SpaceAge Recordings
- (link blocked] interview with Ian Svenonius / Softfocus at ATP festival, 2010. (26mins)
- interview with Peter Kember in Spain, c. 2010 (Youtube video)
- interview with Peter Kember, c. 2010 (Youtube video)
See Also
- Spacemen 3Spacemen 3Spacemen 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
- 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...