Steroid Maximus
Encyclopedia
Steroid Maximus is an instrumental
side project of J.G. Thirlwell. Thirlwell is best known for his main band, Foetus
. Steroid Maximus contains elements of jazz
, big band
, avant-garde
, soundtrack
and exotica
styles.
, J.G. Thirlwell felt that too many instrumental songs were making their way onto Foetus albums. Thirlwell's future work was split between two distinct entities: songs with lead vocals were released under the Foetus moniker, and instrumental works were released as Steroid Maximus.
The official debut of Steroid Maximus came in 1990 with the release of the single "Volgarity" on a flexi disc
compilation. The following year saw the release of the ¡Quilombo! LP, Steroid Maximus' first album written by Thirlwell with guest performances by Lucy Hamilton
, Hahn Rowe
, Away
, and Raymond Watts.
Steroid Maximus' second album, Gondwanaland, was released in 1992. In addition to further collaboration with Raymond Watts on 6 of the 14 tracks, Thirlwell wrote, recorded and produced the second effort with astonishing results. Gondwanaland also contained the "Volgarity" single and a cover
of Raymond Scott
's "Powerhouse
"—a favorite soundtrack of many classic Looney Tunes
shorts—which was originally released by Thirlwell under his Garage Monsters moniker.
Ipecac
label in 2002. Steroid Maximus made its live debut in Los Angeles in 2003, facilitated by a commission from UCLA. Thirlwell rearranged the music for an 18-piece orchestra, with string and brass section. This included trumpeter Steven Bernstein, with whom he had worked with on the Foetus album Gash. Conducted by Thirlwell, the ensemble contained such luminaries as Nels Cline
, DJ Bonebrake
and Bruce Fowler
. He has since performed with French and Austrian versions of this ensemble, and in 2005 extended the repertoire to add a set of Foetus material for the Donaufestival
.
Thirlwell has continued and expanded his Steroid Maximus stylings in his scoring work for the cartoon The Venture Bros.
. The album is Ectopic Entertainment #ECT ENTS 003. It is the second Steroid Maximus album of instrumental soundtrack music to an imaginary film. Ira Robbins of Trouser Press
called the music "stunning in its mischievous diversion of traditional concepts", describing the music as "Wagnerian orchestration, exotic ethnic elements, blaring big-band swing, continental drift and found-sound constructions".
Reviews:
. The album is Ectopic Entertainment #ECT ENTS 023.
unless noted.
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
side project of J.G. Thirlwell. Thirlwell is best known for his main band, Foetus
Foetus (band)
Foetus is the primary musical outlet of industrial music pioneer J. G. Thirlwell. Until 1995 the band underwent various name changes, all including the word foetus. Monikers adopted at different times include Foetus Under Glass, You've Got Foetus On Your Breath and Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel...
. Steroid Maximus contains elements of 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...
, big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
, avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
, soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
and exotica
Exotica
Exotica is a musical genre, named after the 1957 Martin Denny album of the same title, popular during the 1950s to mid-1960s, typically with the suburban set who came of age during World War II. The musical colloquialism, exotica, means tropical ersatz: the non-native, pseudo experience of Oceania...
styles.
History
Following the recording of Foetus Interruptus' ThawThaw (album)
Thaw is a Foetus Interruptus album released by Self Immolation/Some Bizarre in September 1988 and also released by Rough Trade in the same year. In 1995, Thaw was given a U.S. rerelease by Thirsty Ear....
, J.G. Thirlwell felt that too many instrumental songs were making their way onto Foetus albums. Thirlwell's future work was split between two distinct entities: songs with lead vocals were released under the Foetus moniker, and instrumental works were released as Steroid Maximus.
The official debut of Steroid Maximus came in 1990 with the release of the single "Volgarity" on a flexi disc
Flexi disc
The flexi disc is a phonograph record made of a thin, flexible vinyl sheet with a molded-in spiral stylus groove, and is designed to be playable on a normal phonograph turntable...
compilation. The following year saw the release of the ¡Quilombo! LP, Steroid Maximus' first album written by Thirlwell with guest performances by Lucy Hamilton
Lucy Hamilton
Lucy Hamilton was a member of the No Wave band Mars. She also played piano and bass clarinet on the Lydia Lunch album The Drowning of Lucy Hamilton.-References:...
, Hahn Rowe
Hahn Rowe
Hahn Rowe is an internationally renowned violinist, guitarist, composer, and record producer involved in a wide-range of projects. Originally a violinist and guitarist with New York City dream-poppers Hugo Largo, Rowe became a session player in the New York scene.As a musician, he has played on...
, Away
Michel Langevin
Michel "Away" Langevin is a founding member and drummer for the Canadian heavy metal band Voivod. He has been a constant member of the band since its formation in 1982...
, and Raymond Watts.
Steroid Maximus' second album, Gondwanaland, was released in 1992. In addition to further collaboration with Raymond Watts on 6 of the 14 tracks, Thirlwell wrote, recorded and produced the second effort with astonishing results. Gondwanaland also contained the "Volgarity" single and a cover
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Raymond Scott
Raymond Scott
Raymond Scott was an American composer, band leader, pianist, engineer, recording studio maverick, and electronic instrument inventor....
's "Powerhouse
Powerhouse (song)
Powerhouse is a instrumental musical composition by Raymond Scott, probably best known today as the iconic "assembly line" music in animated cartoons released by Warner Brothers.-History:...
"—a favorite soundtrack of many classic Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
shorts—which was originally released by Thirlwell under his Garage Monsters moniker.
Recent
After a decade-long hiatus, Thirlwell revived his Steroid Maximus project in 2001 (without Watts). Ectopia was recorded and released as the third album for Mike Patton'sMike Patton
Michael Allan "Mike" Patton is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and actor, best known as the lead singer of the metal/experimental rock band Faith No More. He has also sung for Mr...
Ipecac
Ipecac Recordings
Ipecac Recordings is an independent record label based in California. It was founded on April 1, 1999 by Greg Werckman and Mike Patton Ipecac Recordings is an independent record label based in California. It was founded on April 1, 1999 by Greg Werckman (ex-label manager of Alternative Tentacles,...
label in 2002. Steroid Maximus made its live debut in Los Angeles in 2003, facilitated by a commission from UCLA. Thirlwell rearranged the music for an 18-piece orchestra, with string and brass section. This included trumpeter Steven Bernstein, with whom he had worked with on the Foetus album Gash. Conducted by Thirlwell, the ensemble contained such luminaries as Nels Cline
Nels Cline
Nels Cline is an American guitarist and composer, currently the lead guitarist of alternative rock band Wilco. David Carr of the New York Times describes Cline as "one of the best guitarists in any genre."-Career:...
, DJ Bonebrake
DJ Bonebrake
Donald J. "DJ" Bonebrake is an American musician from California who first emerged as the drummer of the punk rock band Eyes...
and Bruce Fowler
Bruce Fowler
Bruce Lambourne Fowler is a prominent American trombone player and composer. He notably played trombone on many Frank Zappa records, as well as with Captain Beefheart, and in the Fowler Brothers Band...
. He has since performed with French and Austrian versions of this ensemble, and in 2005 extended the repertoire to add a set of Foetus material for the Donaufestival
Donaufestival
The Donaufestival is an annual festival of music and performance that takes place each April in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. In the early years of the festival, two towns were used as locations - Krems and Korneuburg...
.
Thirlwell has continued and expanded his Steroid Maximus stylings in his scoring work for the cartoon The Venture Bros.
The Venture Bros.
The Venture Bros. is an American animated television series that premiered on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim on February 16, 2003. The series mixes action and comedy together while it chronicles the adventures of the Venture family: well-meaning but incompetent teenagers Hank and Dean Venture; their...
Gondwanaland
Gondwanaland was released in 1992 by Big Cat RecordsBig Cat Records
Big Cat Records is a UK record label. It launched around 1990 and originally specialized in industrial and noise-rock releases. Operated a US office in NYC for a few years. Purchased by V2 Records in 1996, at which point their roster became much more diverse in style...
. The album is Ectopic Entertainment #ECT ENTS 003. It is the second Steroid Maximus album of instrumental soundtrack music to an imaginary film. Ira Robbins of Trouser Press
Trouser Press
Trouser Press was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow Who fan Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" ...
called the music "stunning in its mischievous diversion of traditional concepts", describing the music as "Wagnerian orchestration, exotic ethnic elements, blaring big-band swing, continental drift and found-sound constructions".
Reviews:
- College Music JournalCollege Music JournalCollege Music Journal, commonly known as CMJ, is a music events/publishing company which hosts an annual festival in New York City, the CMJ Music Marathon, as well as a weekly magazine of and for the music industry and college radio stations in the United States and Canada. It publishes top 30...
text at foetus.org - Sputnik Music review
Track listing
- "¡Quilombo!" (J. G. ThirlwellJ. G. ThirlwellJames George Thirlwell , aka Clint Ruin, aka Frank Want, aka Foetus, is an Australian vocalist, composer and record producer...
/ Raymond Watts) – 4:22 - "Radio Raheem" (Thirlwell / Watts) – 3:25
- "First Movement: The Trojan Hearse" (Thirlwell / Watts) – 2:38
- "Second Movement: The Auctioneer of Souls" (Thirlwell / Watts) – 4:36
- "Third Movement: Crawling Goliath" (Thirlwell / Watts) – 3:42
- "Fourth Movement: Erupture" (Thirlwell / Watts) – 3:13
- "Life in the Greenhouse Effect" (Thirlwell / Lucy HamiltonLucy HamiltonLucy Hamilton was a member of the No Wave band Mars. She also played piano and bass clarinet on the Lydia Lunch album The Drowning of Lucy Hamilton.-References:...
) – 5:52 - "I Will Love You Always (Wild Irish Rose)" (Thirlwell / Don Flemming) – 6:14
- "Cross Double Cross" (Thirlwell / Mark Cunningham) – 4:08
- "Destino Matar" (Thirlwell / AwayMichel LangevinMichel "Away" Langevin is a founding member and drummer for the Canadian heavy metal band Voivod. He has been a constant member of the band since its formation in 1982...
) – 3:32 - "Volgarity" (Thirlwell) – 2:36
- "Öl (Kwik-Lube)" (Thirlwell / Roli MosimannRoli MosimannRoli Mosimann is a drummer, electronic musician and record producer who has worked in genres ranging from industrial to pop. Originally from Switzerland, Mosimann first came to attention with the New York City no wave band Swans and later collaborated with Foetus leader J. G...
) – 1:56 - "Powerhouse!Powerhouse (song)Powerhouse is a instrumental musical composition by Raymond Scott, probably best known today as the iconic "assembly line" music in animated cartoons released by Warner Brothers.-History:...
" (Raymond ScottRaymond ScottRaymond Scott was an American composer, band leader, pianist, engineer, recording studio maverick, and electronic instrument inventor....
) – 4:06 - "Homeo" (Thirlwell / Away) – 2:34
- Tracks 3–6 are collectively titled "The Bowel of Beelzebub: A Symphony in Four Movements."
- "¡Quilombo!" and "Life in the Greenhouse Effect" are taken from ¡Quilombo!.
- "Powerhouse!" originally released in 1990 by Thirlwell's Garage Monsters project.
Personnel and production
- J. G. ThirlwellJ. G. ThirlwellJames George Thirlwell , aka Clint Ruin, aka Frank Want, aka Foetus, is an Australian vocalist, composer and record producer...
– Performance, production, arrangements, engineering, mixing - Raymond Watts – Featured (1–6)
- Lucy HamiltonLucy HamiltonLucy Hamilton was a member of the No Wave band Mars. She also played piano and bass clarinet on the Lydia Lunch album The Drowning of Lucy Hamilton.-References:...
– Featured (7) - Don Flemming – Featured (8)
- Mark Cunningham – Featured (9)
- AwayMichel LangevinMichel "Away" Langevin is a founding member and drummer for the Canadian heavy metal band Voivod. He has been a constant member of the band since its formation in 1982...
– Featured (10, 14) - Roli MosimannRoli MosimannRoli Mosimann is a drummer, electronic musician and record producer who has worked in genres ranging from industrial to pop. Originally from Switzerland, Mosimann first came to attention with the New York City no wave band Swans and later collaborated with Foetus leader J. G...
– Featured (12) - The Pizz and Buttstain – Featured (13)
- Lin Culbertson – FluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
(1) - Hahn RoweHahn RoweHahn Rowe is an internationally renowned violinist, guitarist, composer, and record producer involved in a wide-range of projects. Originally a violinist and guitarist with New York City dream-poppers Hugo Largo, Rowe became a session player in the New York scene.As a musician, he has played on...
– ViolinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
(9)
Ectopia
Ectopia was released in 2002 by Ipecac RecordingsIpecac Recordings
Ipecac Recordings is an independent record label based in California. It was founded on April 1, 1999 by Greg Werckman and Mike Patton Ipecac Recordings is an independent record label based in California. It was founded on April 1, 1999 by Greg Werckman (ex-label manager of Alternative Tentacles,...
. The album is Ectopic Entertainment #ECT ENTS 023.
Track listing
All songs by J. G. ThirlwellJ. G. Thirlwell
James George Thirlwell , aka Clint Ruin, aka Frank Want, aka Foetus, is an Australian vocalist, composer and record producer...
unless noted.
- "The Trembler" – 5:23
- "Seventy Cops" – 4:50
- "L'espion Qui A Pleure" – 4:16
- "Naught" (Thirlwell / Jim Coleman) – 4:52
- "Chain Reaction" – 4:11
- "Bad Day in Greenpoint" (Thirlwell / Brian EmrichBrian EmrichBrian Emrich is a sound designer, composer, and musician. His sound design credits include the films π, Requiem for a Dream, One Hour Photo and Phone Booth. He records music under the moniker Psilonaut, and has collaborated with Foetus and Congo Norvell.-External links:* at Internet Movie Database...
) – 4:17 - "Aclectasis" – 4:18
- "Tarmac a Gris Gris" – 3:56
- "'Pusher' Jones" – 3:49
- "Wm" – 3:02
- "Chaiste" – 6:49
- "Enzymes" – 2:33
- The flute throughout "The Trembler" is actually a sample from the Jethro Tull song "My God".
- The bizarre sounding chants occurring a little after the halfway mark of "Aclectasis" is a sample of the soundtrack for "One Step Beyond", which was covered by the band Fantômas on their album The Director's Cut. Fantômas's vocalist, Mike Patton, is one of the two founders of Ipecac Recordings. Both The Director's Cut and Ectopia were released on this label.
Personnel and Production
- J. G. ThirlwellJ. G. ThirlwellJames George Thirlwell , aka Clint Ruin, aka Frank Want, aka Foetus, is an Australian vocalist, composer and record producer...
– Performance, production, engineering, sleeve design - Brian EmrichBrian EmrichBrian Emrich is a sound designer, composer, and musician. His sound design credits include the films π, Requiem for a Dream, One Hour Photo and Phone Booth. He records music under the moniker Psilonaut, and has collaborated with Foetus and Congo Norvell.-External links:* at Internet Movie Database...
– Additional sounds (6) - Jim Coleman – Additional sounds (4)
- Christian GibbsC. GibbsC. Gibbs is an American singer and songwriter originally from San Diego, California, now based in Brooklyn, NY...
– 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...
(3) - Steve Bernstein – TrumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
(2, 8, 9) - John Golden – Mastering
External links
- Official Foetus/J. G. Thirlwell Page
- Steroid Maximus webpage at Ipecac RecordingsIpecac RecordingsIpecac Recordings is an independent record label based in California. It was founded on April 1, 1999 by Greg Werckman and Mike Patton Ipecac Recordings is an independent record label based in California. It was founded on April 1, 1999 by Greg Werckman (ex-label manager of Alternative Tentacles,...
website. - Discogs