Music Leeds Us

 

At the start of the week, I flew to Leeds for a few days to take part in this year’s BlogCon 26 meet-up. As always, I had a wonderful time spending those days with the brilliant bloggers Alyson, Cee, Ernie, The Swede, John and their partners. Among other things, we visited an exhibition on the evolution of the music scene in Leeds, which inspired me to post a short round-up on the subject.

It’s rather unusual to start with Soft Cell, who have carved out their own musical niche with their synth-pop.

Gang Of Four are a fixture on the Leeds music scene with their politically charged new wave funk.

Leeds would be a much poorer place without the magnificent Mekons, and few bands have struck such an impressive balance between new wave and country.

The goth scene is represented by the Sisters of Mercy.

I saw for myself last year that The Wedding Present are still relevant and brilliant today.

Utah Saints represent electronic dance music with their blend of rock and synths. 

I’d completely forgotten that Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, with their dark wave sound, are also from Leeds.

The Kaiser Chiefs were at their peak at the start of the new century.

Post-punk is represented by Delta 5, who appeared briefly in the late 1970s and, sadly, disappeared again all too soon.

Female Post-Punk Bands

 

In addition of Sunday's post about Wet Leg, Echorich named in his comment a few a few all female bands that hit the scene back in 1979, the year everything in music was possible (and fantastic). In many countries girls formed their bands and made records. Some of them were just on the fringes for a couple of month, others became influences for other bands that appeared years later. This made me listening to those bands that were still in my mind but I forgot listening to them during the last years. This should be a short appreciation for what they did for music more than 40 years ago.

The Raincoats were a London post-punk band formed by Gina Birch and Ana da Silva when they saw The Slits live in the late 70's. Later The Slits ex-drummer Palmolive joined the band for their first self titled album. Their sound was mostly dissonant but stunning because of their energy and fun playing their instruments. 

Leeds gave us not only Gang of Four and The Mekons, also Delta 5 were formed there. A band that also absorbed funk into their unique sound. Mind Your Own Business is their legacy and still a song that sounds fresh like in the days it was released.

Kleenex/Lilliput were a band from Zurich, Switzerland that are typical for European female punk. Trashy and with unconventional lyrics (in German and in English as well) they created an unique sound that impressed John Peel for a session. 

Disco Not Disco

In the early 80's New York was the melting pot where a different kind of disco music could grow. It was the hottest music beyond punk and new wave in these days. Sadly a lot of people missed this fantastic sound because only a few DJ's got the intuition of this kind of music and the dance floors weren't ready for them. It was called by the press as No Wave or dance punk but it was essential  club music with it's roots in funk, dub, reggae, Afrobeat and punk. Most songs were based on a floor of a great bass guitar with a straight rhythm and danceable. A few years ago a compilation was released with songs from this time and genre and named Disco Not Disco. A few days ago another compilation was released and also filled with gems from these days. If you listen to the songs they made decades before you can imagine where many DJ's went to school.

Liquid Liquid - Cavern
Shrieback - My Spin (Is A Bassline)
Delta 5 - Mind Your Own Business