Matthew Bower

Matthew Bower is a British musician of Rock , credit since the beginning of the Années 1980. Its very vast work, as well as an artist solo as in groupware, can be classified in the independent Rock and oscillates between Punk rock'n'roll and experimental Musique or bruitist.

Skullflower

Skullflower was born from the meeting of Bower with Stefan Jaworzyn and Stuart Dennison towards 1982. Contrary to the majority of their immediate contemporaries of the industrial Underground London, they used traditional instruments of rock'n'roll such of the guitars and synthés batteries rather than of the magnetic bands, etc the formation was not rigid, and of the members other groups of the time such Whitehouse and Coil contributed regularly. The group is often quoted like influences major Justin Broadrick of Godflesh and, indeed, this last published later two albums of Skullflower on its HeadDirt label. Jaworzyn left the group when the bass player Anthony DiFranco and the guitarist Russell Smith (former member of Terminal Cheesecake ) joined it. The style moved away more and more from any form of identifiable rock'n'roll with albums such as Obsidian Shaking Codex and Transformer . The departure of DiFranco caused a new instability in the group, whose activities ceased towards 1997, prosecuting Bower of other activities.

Total

Bower left approximately a dozen albums under the name of Total , mainly between 1993 and 2000, on labels such as Majora, VHF, American Tapes (directed by John Olson of Wolf Eyes), Self Misuses and Freek, like on the compilation of Virgin Isolationism. At the beginning, it was about a music less typically Rock, more posed often than the brutal music of Skullflower, and which points out certain work of Merzbow.

Other projects

Skullflower officially suspended and Total finished, Bower began a project named Sunroof! in which it was implied more, and which occasionally included Richard Youngs, Neil Campbell, John Godbert, Phil Todd and other friends. More melody and with more keyboard than on its preceding work, the albums are appeared at VHF, Giardia and its label Rural Electrification Project. In complement, he also worked with Vibracathedral Orchestra on various occasions and left two albums with Richard Youngs. More recently it took part in Hototogisu , at the beginning a solo project which was then extended to a permanent duet with Marcia Bassett of Double Leopards, and which carried out turned nombreusese and enregistements. Skullflower was also ressuscity, with other participants like Mark Burns, Neil Campbell, Michael Flower and Colin Potter (of Nurse With Wound), and produced new recordings. Although it recorded the last title of Skullflower, Tribulation , only, in the recent concerts was carried out by a duet of Bower and Lee Stokoe (which records in solo as a Culver ). It also started a new project Mirag , with a EP left on the label Campbell Kneale, Battlecruiser and a LP on Rural Project Electrification. The very vast discography of free drone - visceral rock'n'roll of Bower is one of most formidable in its kind and was regarded in 2005 by The Wire (number 259) as an basic element of the scene Post-punk independent British of the the Eighties and 90.

External bonds

nonofficial Site of Skullflower (in English) - excellent discography for all the projects but seems more not to be up to date
Hototogisu website
VHF Records - many extracts samples of Bower and dependant projects are available
Matthew Bower at Discogs

Source

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