Attrition (band)

Attrition are an electronic music band, formed in Coventry, England in 1980 by Martin Bowes and Julia Niblock. Influenced by punk's do-it-yourself aesthetic, Attrition appeared on compilation cassettes featuring contemporaries such as Portion Control, Konstruktivits, Chris and Cosey, Legendary Pink Dots, Nurse With Wound, Metamorphosis et al.

Their early post-punk stylings soon gave way to a distinctive electro-acoustic sound. Fact|date=February 2007 This was based on Martin's deep growl, Julia's fretless bass work and breathy sub-operatic vocals, and a backline of electronic instrumentation, comprising analogue synthesizers (including a Korg Mono/Poly and Korg MS20), sequencer (Roland MC-202), drum machine (Roland TR-808), and various effects units.

"At first, there wasn't the same sort of scene and we were in more of an 'industrial' thing. There was nothing like the clubs you get now, it was actually quite difficult to play anywhere that would appreciate you. It's a lot easier now, it's not just Goth, it's a mix - Darkwave or whatever. That's gotten stronger, so that has helped, but really, we were there before it was built."cite web
url=http://sortedmagazine.com/archive/magazine/sordid/attrition.htm
publisher=Sorted magAZine
title=Composing noises
date=1999]

History

In 1979, Martin started a xeroxed fanzine called "Alternative Sounds", to document the Coventry music scene (including such notables as The Specials and Furious Apples). The fanzine ran for 18 issues until 1981, and culminated in a vinyl compilation, "Sent from Coventry" (on Cherry Red records) and a brief appearance on the BBC's "Something Else" programme. During this time, Martin met Julia at a local gig and Attrition was formed; the initial line-up included Martin's brother Chris on guitar, who left in 1981 to join the army, and Julia's brother Ashley Niblock (who would become another mainstay) on synthesizer.

Two early home recordings, "Fear" and "Devoid", were issued in 1982 as a flex-disc given away with the "Adventures in Reality" fanzine run by Alan Rider (later of Stress and Dance Naked), who would provide the band's visuals for live shows. Two experimental electronic soundtracks ("Crawling" and "Dead of Night") were released as the "Death House" cassette (later reissued on vinyl by Hamster Records as "This Death House"). Also in 1982, Gary Levermore included an Attrition track ("The Visitor") on the first volume of his "Rising from the Red Sands" series of compilation tapes, beginning a long running association with Gary and his Third Mind label (formerly Tone Death).

In 1983, Attrition received their first exposure in the national music press through a review by Dave Henderson in his "Wild Planet" column in "Sounds", which led to their "Dreamsleep" track appearing on Henderson's compilation "The Elephant Table Album", the band's first vinyl appearance. A postal collaboration with Seattle-based improvisational collective Audio Leter led to the "Action and Reaction" cassette release for Adventures in Reality. Attrition's first London concert followed, with a supporting slot from Coil. Attrition are as active today as ever - regularly releasing new material and touring the world. Martin also currently teaches music at City College in coventry.

Discography

(selected; a full discography can be obtained from the official website — see links below)

Albums

* (1982) "Death House"
* (1983) "Action and Reaction"
* (1984) "The Attrition of Reason"
* (1985) "Smiling, at The Hypogonder Club"
* (1986) "In the Realm of the Hungry Ghosts" (a compilation of remixed early material)
* (1988) "At the Fiftieth Gate"
* (1991) "A Tricky Business"
* (1993) "The Hidden Agenda"
* (1995) "Ephemera"
* (1996) "3 Arms and a Dead Cert"
* (1997) "Etude" (early works performed by a chamber orchestra)
* (1999) "The Jeopardy Maze"
* (2000) "Heretic Angels Live"
* (2000) "The Hand that Feeds"
* (2001) "Keepsakes And Reflections"
* (2004) "Dante's Kitchen"
* (2006) "Tearing Arms from Deities" (25 year anniversary collection of rare, remastered and remixed material)
* (2006) "Something Stirs - the beginning (1981 - 83)"
* (2008) "All mine enemys whispers - The story of Mary Ann Cotton"

References

External links

* [http://www.attrition.co.uk/ Official Website]
* [http://www.silbermedia.com/qrd/archives/ATTRQR2.html Attrition interview (april 1995) in QRD]
* [http://www.silbermedia.com/qrd/archives/attrqr12.html Attrition interview (october 1997) in QRD]
* [http://www.silbermedia.com/qrd/archives/19attr.html Attrition interview (october 2000) in QRD]
* [http://www.silbermedia.com/qrd/archives/27attrition.html Attrition interview (july 2004) in QRD]
* [http://www.silbermedia.com/qrd/archives/33martinbowes.html Martin Bowes of Attrition (May 2007)interview on fatherhood in QRD]
* [http://www.silbermedia.com/qrd/archives/34attrition.html Attrition Interview (October 2007) in QRD]