Tag: No Wave

Alan Vega, 1938-2016

On July 17, 2016

Few bands fused dream and nightmare as succinctly, brutally and, yes, elegantly as Suicide, the stripped-down synth duo widely considered pioneers of No Wave and punk. (The band used the term “punk music” to describe their sound on a flyer for a 1970 gig at OK Harris gallery; it marked the first known use of “punk” to describe a burgeoning creative movement.)

Alan Vega, the band’s singer, died peacefully in his sleep yesterday. He was 78.

1970 flyer for Suicide show at OK Harris Gallery, NYC.

Punk music by Suicide: Flyer or 1970 show at OK Harris Gallery. Via From the Archives.

Thierry Müller’s Cold Wave Guises: Ilitch + Ruth

By andrea

On May 15, 2016

In Reviews

Note: This piece first appeared in Byron Coley’s excellent quarterly publication, Bull Tongue Review. Reprinted with permission.

Ilitch, 10 Suicides (SCOPA LP, 1980; Superior Viaduct LP, 2015)
Ruth, Polaroïd/Roman/Photo (1985)

You may know Thierry Müller from the infamous NWW (Nurse with Wound) List (1980), but his most well-known works do not appear under his own name.

Ilitch, Ruth, Crash, Arcane — none are “groups,” per se, but pseudonymous guises that allow Müller to experiment with previously uncharted genres or points-of-view.