Nihilist Spasm Band
Encyclopedia
The Nihilist Spasm Band is a London, Ontario
-based noise band
. The band was formed in 1965 by Hugh McIntyre, John Clement, John Boyle, Bill Exley, Murray Favro
, Archie Leitch, Art Pratten, and Greg Curnoe
. Leitch has since retired, Curnoe was killed in a bicycle accident in 1992, and McIntyre died of heart failure in 2004. The band members are mostly local artists.
The term "spasm band
" refers to a band that uses homemade instruments. Indeed, most of the NSB's instruments are modifications of other instruments, or wholly invented by the members. In addition to the homemade instruments, members are encouraged to improvise. The range of the improvisation is such that instruments are not tuned to each other, tempos and time signatures are not imposed, and the members push the ranges of their instrumentation by engaging in constant innovation.
London, Ontario
London is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, situated along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 352,395, and the metropolitan area has a population of 457,720, according to the 2006 Canadian census; the metro population in 2009 was estimated at 489,274. The city...
-based noise band
Noise music
Noise music is a term used to describe varieties of avant-garde music and sound art that may use elements such as cacophony, dissonance, atonality, noise, indeterminacy, and repetition in their realization. Noise music can feature distortion, various types of acoustically or electronically...
. The band was formed in 1965 by Hugh McIntyre, John Clement, John Boyle, Bill Exley, Murray Favro
Murray Favro
Murray Favro is a Canadian sculptor who lives in London, Ontario. Favro has designed many guitars. As a member of the Nihilist Spasm Band, he concentrates has occasional forays in percussion. He is represented by the Christopher Cutts Gallery in Toronto....
, Archie Leitch, Art Pratten, and Greg Curnoe
Greg Curnoe
Greg Curnoe was a Canadian painter known for his concentration on subjects associated with regionalism and London, Ontario. He became known for work similar to the pop art genre, which continued to parallel his later work....
. Leitch has since retired, Curnoe was killed in a bicycle accident in 1992, and McIntyre died of heart failure in 2004. The band members are mostly local artists.
The term "spasm band
Spasm band
A spasm band is a musical group that plays a variety of Dixieland, trad jazz, jug band, or skiffle music.The first spasm bands were formed on the streets of New Orleans in the late nineteenth century...
" refers to a band that uses homemade instruments. Indeed, most of the NSB's instruments are modifications of other instruments, or wholly invented by the members. In addition to the homemade instruments, members are encouraged to improvise. The range of the improvisation is such that instruments are not tuned to each other, tempos and time signatures are not imposed, and the members push the ranges of their instrumentation by engaging in constant innovation.
Discography
- The Sweetest Country This Side of Heaven (vinyl single, 1967; reissued on CD, 1996), Arts Canada
- No Record (vinyl LP, 1968; reissued on CD, 1996; reissued on vinyl, 2000), Allied Record Corporation
- Vol. 2 (vinyl LP, 1979; reissued on CD, 1996), Music Gallery Editions
- 1984 (audiocassette, 1984; reissued on CD, 1999), Chimik Communications
- ¬x~x=x (vinyl lp, 1985; reissued on CD, 1996), United DairiesSteven StapletonSteven Peter Stapleton is a British musician and the only constant member of experimental improv outfit Nurse with Wound...
Records - What About Me (CD, 1992), Alchemy RecordsAlchemy Records (Japan)Alchemy Records is a record label based in Osaka, Japan, specializing in noise / experimental music and psychedelic rock. It is run by Jojo Hiroshige of the noise group Hijokaidan. Alchemy has released albums by Hijokaidan, Balzac, Hanatarash, Masonna, Incapacitants, Borbetomagus, and Merzbow,...
- Live in Japan (CD, 1997), Alchemy Records
- Every Monday Night (CD, 1999), Alchemy Records
- No Borders with Joe McPhee (2xCD, 2001), Non Musica Rex
- NSB Live at Western Front (CD, 2006), NSB
- No Nihilist Spasm Band in Mulhouse (vinyl LP, 2007), Les Mondes Mental
- No Borders to No Borders with Reynols (CD, 2007), Disques HushushDisques HushushDisques Hushush Inc. is an independent record label created by Dimitri della Faille in Montreal , Canada in 1998...
- Live In Geneve, Switzerland October 2006 with Fossils (cassette, 2007), Wintage Records & Tapes
- theBESTweCANdo (best-of compilation) (CD, 2008), NSB
Appears on
- No Music Box — No Music Festival 1998 (6-CD box set, 1998), Entartete Kunst Recordings
- no99 — No Music Festival 1999 (5-CD box set, 1999), Entartete Kunst Recordings
- No Nothing — No Music Festival (6-CD box set, 2000), Non Musica Rex
Members
- John Clement – guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - John Boyle – kazooKazooThe kazoo is a wind instrument which adds a "buzzing" timbral quality to a player's voice when the player vocalizes into it. The kazoo is a type of mirliton, which is a membranophone, a device which modifies the sound of a person's voice by way of a vibrating membrane."Kazoo" was the name given by...
, thumb pianoThumb pianoThe thumb piano is an African musical instrument, a type of plucked idiophone common throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.-Description:Each note of a kalimba, mbira, etc. is a separate idiophone, and in orchestral terms, the instrument as a whole belongs in the bar percussion family...
, drums - Bill Exley – vocals, cooking pot
- Murray FavroMurray FavroMurray Favro is a Canadian sculptor who lives in London, Ontario. Favro has designed many guitars. As a member of the Nihilist Spasm Band, he concentrates has occasional forays in percussion. He is represented by the Christopher Cutts Gallery in Toronto....
– guitar - Art Pratten – "pratt-a-various," water-pipe
Guest Performers
- Aya Onishi – drums, kazoo, "constant guest performer" since 1999
- Mark Favro - Casio keyboard
- Galen Curnoe - guitar
Previous members
- Tim Glasgow – guitar and drums (1998–2006)
- Hugh McIntyre – bass guitar (1965–2004)
- Archie Leitch – slide clarinet (1965–?)
- Greg CurnoeGreg CurnoeGreg Curnoe was a Canadian painter known for his concentration on subjects associated with regionalism and London, Ontario. He became known for work similar to the pop art genre, which continued to parallel his later work....
– kazoo, drums (1965–92)
External links
- 20centsMUSIC — Record label of the Nihilist Spasm Band
- Official Nihilist Spasm Band website
- [ Nihilist Spasm Band allmusic entry]
- Canuckistan Music review of No Record