THE HISTORY OF IVO WATTS-RUSSELL & 4AD RECORDS

In the summer of 1999, just a few months before 4AD's 20th anniversary, Andy Zax sat down with 4AD founder Ivo Watts-Russell to discuss the history of 4AD. (NOTE: This interview was conducted for the now defunct Atomic Pop music site)

Before 4AD

Born in Northamptonshire in 1954, Ivo Watts-Russell spent his boyhood listening to the cutting-edge sounds served up on the radio by John Peel. Wanting to be around music,17-year-old Ivo moved to London in 1972 and began working in a series of record shops. While working at a shop in Ealing, he became friends with Steve Webbon, a customer who shared his appreciation for the music of Gram Parsons. When Ivo was promoted to manager, he hired Steve as his assistant.

Ivo returned to London in 1975 after a trip to Morocco. Looking for work, he sought out Steve, who had just opened the second store in the fledgling Beggars Banquet chain. The Beggars Banquet stores sold both new and used records--at the time, a radical concept. Steve told Ivo that a third store was about to open in Ealing; at his suggestion Ivo went to see Martin Mills, Beggars Banquet's co-founder (with Nick Austin), who offered him a job.

By 1979, Beggars Banquet had expanded from a chain of shops (by now there were five) to a successful independent record label that had tasted early success with such acts as Tubeway Army and the Lurkers. Ivo was now overseeing all of the shops. He was based out of the Beggars offices in Hogarth Road, located upstairs from the flagship Earls Court store which was being run by fellow music enthusiast Peter Kent. Bands looking for deals with the label would drop their tapes off at the shop downstairs, which meant that Ivo and Peter were often the first to hear them and make recommendations to Martin Mills and Nick Austin about prospective signings. Ivo and Peter became particularly enthused by a demo tape from a band called Modern English, who they urged Mills and Austin to sign.

Mills and Austin eventually suggested giving Ivo and Peter some money to start their own independent label; if anything took off, they could switch it to the Beggars label for distribution. Ivo and Peter readily agreed and proceeded to line up the initial releases for their new venture with the £2000 investment. After lengthy discussions, the label was christened (at Peter's suggestion) Axis.

[As it happened, Ivo had already made a decision to try and put a record out. One of punk's lasting legacies had been the proliferation of d.i.y. indie labels, and Ivo had become intrigued by the possibilities. What would it entail, he wondered, to go about actually releasing a record? He'd become acquainted with engineer John Madden (years later, Madden wound up working with The Wolfgang Press) who had been recording some late-night sessions with friend Martin Atkins. Atkins would go on to play with PiL and Pigface, but at this point he was going by the name Brian Brain. Atkins wanted to release a Brian Brain single and Ivo offered to do it himself. Forty-eight hours later, Mills and Austin (who knew nothing of this) offered financial support. The Brian Brain single never happened, but it brought Ivo from the point of thinking about putting out records to actually having an opportunity to do so in the space of a few weeks.]

Peter and Ivo had been greatly affected by some of the prevailing indie labels of the day--like Fast, Factory and Postcard--all of which were companies that seemed to have as much of an identity as the artists whose records they released. In keeping with that approach, they decided that Axis should debut with four simultaneously released singles.

At the time, it seemed prudent to work with a one-stop company who'd take the lacquers and the films for the singles and press up a finished product. The somewhat unappealing look and sound of what came back--bad vinyl, dodgy sound quality (no test pressings had been made), low-grade paper used for the sleeves, crooked printing on the labels--provided an early lesson in quality control. Still, by the first week of 1980, Ivo and Peter had the records in hand and were prepared to bring them to the world.

Almost at once, they ran into a problem. They'd sent a press release to the British trade publication Music Week announcing the debut of Axis. They swiftly received a phone call from a more established music company--previously unknown to them--who were also called Axis. While granting Ivo and Peter premission to sell off their first batch of singles, the prior Axis insisted that Ivo and Peter find a new name immediately. The solution to the problem came from a promotional flyer that Ivo and Peter had printed up to call attention to the new releases. The flyer's designer had added a bit of typography which played on both the new year and the idea of progress:

"1980 FORWARD.
1980 FWD
1984 AD
4AD"

Quickly scrambling for a new name (the old one had been arrived at only after lengthy deliberation) one of the two partners (Ivo can't remember which of them it was) glanced at the flyer and suggested "4AD." The other agreed, and with that split-second decision, 4AD was born.


1980

The Axis singles served largely as an education in how to put out a record. Three of the four discs quickly faded from view: The Fast Set's "Junction One" (AXIS 1), an avant-synth record a la "Being Boiled"-era Human League (David Knight, the group's only member, went on to work with the Shock-Headed Peters and Danielle Dax); Bearz's odd slab of pop-psychedelia,"She's My Girl" (AXIS 2) and Shox's Depeche Mode-esque"No Turning Back" (AXIS 4). It was Bauhaus's "Dark Entries " (AXIS 3, later AD 3) that would have the greatest impact.

Ivo and Peter first met Bauhaus when the group came to meet with Beggars Banquet shortly after the release of their first single,"Bela Lugosi's Dead," on the Small Wonder label. By the time"Dark Entries " was released, the group's dark, theatrical sound was beginning to make an impression on British audiences. The single sold out quickly and was repressed, thereby becoming the first record to actually bear the label"4AD." By year's end, it was followed by two further singles--"Terror Couple Kill Colonel" (AD 7) and"Telegram Sam" (AD 17)--as well as 4AD's first album-length release, In The Flat Field (AD 13).

While the Axis singles had served an important research and development function, the arrival of the label's next act provided Ivo with something more important: a reason for continuing. Returning to the shop one afternoon to find five people about to play Peter their demo tape, Ivo was immediately struck by the music of Rema-Rema:"it was the first point I knew that we were actually doing something serious." Wheel In The Roses (AD 5), the group's lone EP, served as a manifesto of sorts: 4AD's aim as a label should be to release records of the same high quality.

Modern English were one of the bands that Ivo and Peter had originally approached Martin Mills about in 1979. After a self-released 45 ("Drowning Man") they made their 4AD debut with the"Swans On Glass " single (AD 6) which was followed later in the year by"Gathering Dust" (AD 15). Twenty years later,"Gathering Dust" remains a crucial release in 4AD's history for reasons that have nothing to do with the (admittedly excellent) music it contains. When the original art director proved unable to provide the sleeve art, Peter called a friend who recommended a young graphic designer named Vaughan Oliver. A strange coincidence ensued: Modern English had printed up some t-shirts which utilized a Diane Arbus photograph of two people watching television, while Vaughan had the same image in his design portfolio. Result: Vaughan landed the job and began a relationship with 4AD that continues to this day.

In Camera came to Ivo and Peter's attention when they opened a show for Bauhaus. Displaying a spiky PiL-influenced sound on their first single"Final Achievement" (AD 8)--the first 4AD release engineered by John Fryer--the group's sound had matured considerably by the time of their IV Songs EP (AD 19) at the end of the year.

Ivo had long been a fan of Wire, a hugely innovative and highly influential post-punk band, which by 1980 was in the process of fragmenting into several separate recording units. Wire's Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis met Ivo at a Bauhaus show and offered him some of the new material they'd been working on. The initial results were two fascinating records of droning electronic experiments: an EP, Like This For Ages (AD 9), released under the name Cupol, and a full-length album 3R4 (AD 16) credited simply to B.C. Gilbert/G. Lewis.

Gilbert and Lewis also wound up producing "Controversial Subject" (AD 10) the debut single by The The. Although in later years The The would become simply an alias for the solo work of Matt Johnson, at this early stage, The The were an actual four-piece band, led by a still teenage Johnson.

The Presage(s) EP (AD 11), was a 7-track collection of songs by artists that either Ivo or Peter had taken an interest in. Of the six artists featured, only Modern English went on to release another record on 4AD; nothing further was heard from CVO, Psychotik Tanks, Last Dance, Spasmodic Caress or the hapless Red Atkins (a 65-year old man whose warblings Peter Kent found amusing).

Ivo first saw The Birthday Party opening for D.A.F. at London's Moonlight Club."People hated them," he recalls. Fascinated by the band's performance and Mick Harvey's Farfisa organ (an unusual choice of instrument in synth-happy 1980) he went backstage and discovered that the group had recently recorded a version of his favorite song from the set--"The Friend Catcher"--and were looking for someone to release it. It became their first single for 4AD (AD 12).

Rema-Rema had split up, but ex-members Gary Asquith, Mick Allen and Mark Cox carried on, forming Mass with the addition of Danny Briottet. Their first single"You And I" (AD 14) was a stately progression on from the primal intensity of Rema-Rema, but it's quiet psychedelia was no less compelling.

Powered by the angelic vocals of Cyrus Bruton, Dance Chapter were initially seen by Peter Kent as a band who might be capable of filling the void left by the death of Joy Division's Ian Curtis. Though there was little musical similarity between the two bands, Dance Chapter's first single"Anonymity" (AD 18) was an impressively tense piece of work.

At the conclusion of 1980, having released 19 records, Ivo and Peter Kent decided to go their separate ways. Peter would leave to start another Beggars-funded label, Situation Two, while Ivo would remain as 4AD's sole proprietor. At the same time, Ivo took the opportunity to redefine 4AD's mission: rather than acting as a testing ground for Beggars Banquet, he wanted 4AD to stand on its own. Bauhaus departed for Beggars--the first and last 4AD act to follow the initial plan of "graduating" to the bigger label. Henceforth, 4AD would be its own entity.


1981

1981 began with three one-off releases. Sort Sol were a dark-tinged Danish band who'd already released a European album on Polygram. "Marble Station" (AD 101) and its flipside "Misguided" were Ivo's two favorite tracks from the album, which he asked to put out as a single. The record's most enduring contribution to 4AD's history can be found on its sleeve, which features the first work for the label by photographer Nigel Grierson, soon to team up with Vaughan Oliver under the name 23 Envelope.

Sheffield's The Past Seven Days' "Raindance" (AD 102) was a dramatic six-minute slab of guitar-driven anthemic drama that should have been the start of an interesting career. Sadly, though the band left 4AD to sign with the then-hot Dindisc label (home to OMD and Martha & The Muffins), they never released another record.

My Captains, from Oxford, were a band that Ivo had seen live, liked, and asked to make a record. The four-song 7-inch EP that resulted (AD 103) quickly faded from view and has become one of 4AD's more sought-after obscurities.

The first three evanescent singles of 1981 were quickly followed two debut albums of lasting merit. The Birthday Party returned with their first proper LP, Prayers On Fire (AD 104). Showcasing such classics of the band's repertoire as "King Ink," "Nick The Stripper" and "Zoo-Music Girl" it was a scorching document of Nick Cave & Co. in peak form. The band had begun to attract a fanatical following; the subsequent single "Release The Bats" topped the UK independent charts. As the group's popularity surged, 4AD finished the year by issuing their early single "Mr. Clarinet" (AD 114) for the first time in Britain.

Modern English expanded on the promise of their singles with Mesh & Lace (AD 105), a memorably atmospheric album that helped re-position guitar-rock's role in the wake of Joy Division, PiL and Wire. It also sported the first official 23 Envelope sleeve credit, thus ushering in an artistic collaboration that would help to provide 4AD with a recognizable visual identity. Modern English finished off the year with the single "Smiles And Laughter" (AD 110).

The Gilbert/Lewis duo returned with one final 4AD single, the chaotic tone-poem "Ends With The Sea" (AD 106). At the same time, Ivo had become acquainted with another ex-Wire member, Colin Newman. Budget constraints had kept Ivo from being able to fund Newman's first solo album, A-Z (released by Beggars Banquet), but when Newman came to Ivo with an idea for an instrumental album to be recorded on a shoestring, Ivo agreed. Provisionally Entitled The Singing Fish (AD 108) was the result.

Following the previous year's single, Mass returned with their final release, Labour Of Love (AD 107). The group subsequently split into halves, with Gary Asquith and Danny Briottet going on to form Renegade Soundwave. Mick Allen and Mark Cox remained with 4AD for their new project, The Wolfgang Press.

An important addition to the 4AD roster was Dif Juz, an all-instrumental quartet whose evocative compositions--sometimes ambient, sometimes angular--proved quietly mesmerizing while paving the way for a host of so-called "post-rock" bands that emerged 15 years later. They released two EPs in 1981: Huremics (AD 109) and Vibrating Air (AD 116).

One of the more unusual early 4AD artifacts was a one-off single which teamed David Jay (a.k.a. David J) of Bauhaus with René Halkett, an 81-year old painter/writer who had been a member of the original Bauhaus in the 1920's. "Nothing" (AD 112) featured Halkett's recited words over Jay's music.

After The The's initial 4AD single the previous year, Matt Johnson took the group to Some Bizarre, for whom he recorded "Cold Spell Ahead." Johnson and Ivo had remained friendly, and when Johnson told Ivo he wanted to make an album under his own name for 4AD, Ivo was quick to agree. The album, Burning Blue Soul (AD 113)--an unusual and compelling work which mixed extensive studio experimentation with Johnson's evocative voice--gave Ivo his first chance to enter a studio in the role of co-producer. Although it was originally released as a "Matt Johnson" record, when it came time to reissue the album on CD in the early 90's, Johnson insisted that it be retroactively credited to The The.

Dance Chapter followed "Anonymity" with a four-song EP, Chapter II (AD 115), after which they parted company with 4AD. The EP deserves a footnote in musical history largely because of a fateful incident that occurred while it was being made. While driving back to London following a difficult session at Spaceward Studios in Cambridge (a favored location for many early 4AD recordings, largely because it was cheap), Ivo popped in a demo tape from a new band called the Cocteau Twins.

The year ended with Nature Mortes - Still Lives (AD 117), a Japan-only compilation of previously released tracks from the past two years. Just 500 copies of the album were imported back into the UK, making the album an instant collector's item.


1982

After 1981's inexpensive instrumental album Provisionally Entitled The Singing Fish, Ivo managed to come up with the funds for a proper Colin Newman album. Unlike its predecessor, Not To (CAD 201) was a full-fledged album of songs that featured contributions from fellow Wire-members Robert Gotobed and Graham Lewis. It was followed later in the year by a 7-inch single coupling "We Means We Starts" (AD 209) with an alternate version of Not To's title track.

The Birthday Party's first release of 1982 was a split EP with the seminal American No Wave figure Lydia Lunch (JAD 202). Both halves of the record were recorded live at London's The Venue, which provided valuable exposure for many of the label's acts via a series of "4AD nights" during this period. The Birthday Party's side, Drunk On The Pope's Blood, was, as its subtitle promised, "16 minutes of sheer hell": an astonishing document of the band at its most chaotically brilliant. Lunch's side, The Agony Is The Ecstasy, captures a lengthy, semi-improvised performance featuring backing from Siouxsie & The Banshees' Steven Severin.

A further collaboration between the two camps was issued later in the year: a Rowland S. Howard/Lydia Lunch single that coupled a wonderfully sinister version of the Nancy Sinatra/Lee Hazlewood classic "Some Velvet Morning" (BAD 210) with the evocative late-night original, "I Fell In Love With A Ghost."

The major Birthday Party release of 1982 was Junkyard (CAD 207), which would turn out to be their final full-length album. Emblazoned with an original cover illustration by famed "Ratfink" cartoonist Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, it captured the band at new levels of ferocity on tracks like "Dead Joe" and "Big-Jesus-Trash-Can." More sedate moments (relatively speaking) like "She's Hit" and "6" Gold Blade" were perhaps even more disturbing in their merciless depictions of violence and rage.

With Bauhaus still a going concern in 1982, guitarist Daniel Ash's first collaboration with Glenn Campling, the four-song EP "Tones On Tail" (BAD 203) began as a side project. When Bauhaus split the following year, Ash elevated Tones On Tail to full-time status, releasing a series of singles and an album on Situation Two and Beggars Banquet, before reuniting with fellow Bauhaus members David J and Kevin Haskins as Love & Rockets.

The Happy Family were the earliest vehicle for the cerebral songs of Edinburgh university drop-out Nicholas Currie, later to find his true vocation as a post-Brel, post-Gainsbourg "tender pervert" called Momus. Ivo's attention had been attracted by a demo featuring ex-Josef K guitarist Malcolm Ross. A three-song single, "Puritans" (AD 204)--which owed a rather large sonic debt to both Josef K and Orange Juice--was followed by an ambitious, complex concept album, The Man On Your Street (CAD 214). It was intended as a sort of Brechtian musical, but 4AD lacked the budget to supply the horns and orchestrations needed to flesh out the songs.

By 1982, In Camera had fallen apart. The Fin EP (BAD 205) was their epitaph: a Peel session from December, 1980 which Ivo licensed from the BBC. Easily the band's strongest release, it featured the monolithic 12-minute epic "Fatal Day." Guitarist Andrew Grey remained affiliated with 4AD, joining the Wolfgang Press in 1984.

Modern English returned with their second album, After The Snow (CAD 206). The album was produced by Hugh Jones (his recent work on Echo & The Bunnymen's Heaven Up Here had been much admired), who played an important role in shaping the songs and exposing the band's latent abilities as pop craftsmen. Two singles were extracted from the album: "Life In The Gladhouse" (BAD 208) and the classic "I Melt With You" (BAD 212). Although the group's U.K. profile remained low, Sire Records licensed the record for the United States, where "I Melt With You" enjoyed massive success in clubs and on modern rock radio, and was featured in the movie Valley Girl.

Without a doubt, 4AD's major new arrival in 1982 was the Cocteau Twins. Robin Guthrie and Elizabeth Fraser (bassist Will Heggie completed the lineup at this point) had given Ivo a demo while they were in London following the Birthday Party around on tour. Ivo first played it while driving back from a Dance Chapter session in Cambridge; the tape was poorly recorded, but he was immediately struck by the sound of Robin's guitar. That he had also stumbled upon one of the most remarkable vocalists of the decade didn't become clear until he invited the group down to London to record a single at Blackwing studios with John Fryer. Upon hearing the results--and Liz Fraser's vocals--he immediately invited the group to record a full-length release (the two tracks from the initial session--"Speak No Evil" and "Perhaps Some Other Aeon"--remained unreleased for several years). The album Garlands (CAD 211) and the Lullabies EP (BAD 213) which followed shortly afterwards immediately found favor with the BBC's ever-influential John Peel, who invited the group to record a session for his show. The radio exposure, coupled with a string of live dates supporting the Birthday Party, quickly established an audience for the band.

The year ended with the debut single from Colourbox, a duo composed of brothers Martyn and Steven ("Scab") Young, whom Ivo had met through Ray Conroy--brother of Modern English's Mick Conroy--who was managing them. Their first single (BAD 215) featured two inviting pieces of danceable pop featuring vocals by Debian Curry--the aggressive synth-grooves of "Breakdown" on the A side, and the dreamy, dub-inflected "Tarantula" on the B. But Colourbox were never willing to stand still; within a few months, they had re-recorded "Breakdown" and remixed "Tarantula." It was the prelude to a series of stunningly inventive releases that managed to anticipate musical developments that would still be considered "cutting edge" fifteen years later. [Beck, Tricky and Bjork, among many others, are among those who owe Colourbox a debt of gratitude.]


1983

1983 proved to be an auspicious year for 4AD, with several key releases and a move to new offices in Alma Road, Wandsworth. In addition, Ivo was able to hire 4AD's first two employees: Vaughan Oliver--whose intended duties included moving boxes of records around in addition to designing their sleeves-- and Deborah Edgely, who began as Ivo's assistant, and quickly assumed the responsibility for 4AD's press coverage.

The Birthday Party's The Bad Seed EP (BAD 301) proved to be their final recordings for 4AD. Ivo had underwritten the group's trip to Berlin to record, but 4AD was still a very small operation; the financial burdens of supporting the group's further efforts proved too great. The Birthday Party departed, amicably, for Daniel Miller's Mute label, recording one final EP, Mutiny, before dissolving. Later in 1983, Ivo issued The Friend Catcher EP (BAD 307) which collected most of the tracks from the "Release The Bats," "Mr. Clarinet" and "The Friend Catcher" 7-inches.

Along the same archival lines as The Friend Catcher EP, Bauhaus's 4AD EP (BAD 312) brought together half a dozen tracks drawn from the group's first three singles.

Hamburg, Germany's Xmal Deutschland impressed Ivo with an "incredibly raw" demo tape whose live power was never completely captured in the studio. Nevertheless, the spiky intensity of the four-woman, one-man band proved compelling enough on their debut album Fetisch (CAD 302) and two subsequent singles--a different version of the album's lead-off track "Qual" (BAD 305) and a re-recorded and extended version of Xmal's pre-4AD debut "Incubus Succubus II" (BAD 311)--to capture the attention of John Peel and a substantial UK audience. Live performance proved to be the band's real strength: Ivo recalls a particularly memorable show from this period where Xmal, opening for the Cocteau Twins at one of The Venue's 4AD showcases, won over a crowd of aloof scenesters in a matter of moments.

For the Cocteau Twins, 1983 was a year of frantic activity, beginning with the Peppermint Pig EP (BAD 303). Ably produced by Alan Rankine of The Associates, the experience left Robin Guthrie convinced that the group no longer required an outside hand to achieve their aims in the recording studio. Peppermint Pig was also the last Cocteau Twins record to feature bassist Will Heggie. After a grueling 50-date tour with Orchestral Maneouvres In The Dark, he was ousted from the band and Robin and Elizabeth recorded the Head Over Heels (CAD 313) album and its companion piece--the Sunburst And Snowblind EP (BAD 314)--as a duo. A massive leap forward from anything they had done before, Head Over Heels marked an artistic coming-of-age for the Cocteau Twins. John Peel was impressed enough to mark its release by playing both sides of the album in their entirety on successive evenings.

Swiftly developing a taste for the possibilities of the studio, Colourbox re-recorded "Breakdown" (BAD 215) from scratch. The new version of "Breakdown" (BAD 304) proved sufficiently potent to stir up interest from A&M Records in America, who licensed the single for the United States, then promptly did nothing with it. Inspired by mix tapes of early New York hip-hop DJs, Martyn Young had begun to explore the possibilities of tape manipulation and remixing. His approach to cutting up sound was meticulous, often using 30 or 40 tape splices to create yield just five seconds of music (no samplers were involved). An excellent illustration of the approach is the fact that the four-song Colourbox EP (BAD 315) that appeared at the end of the year had been painstakingly edited down from over eight hours of mixes.

The Wolfgang Press was a new project from Mark Cox and Michael Allen, formerly of Mass and Rema-Rema, which made its debut with The Burden Of Mules (CAD 308). Ivo remained genuinely interested in the creative chemistry between Mark and Mick, and the album provided the first glimpses of the powerfully original sound that would begin to flower on subsequent releases. Contributing to the album were members of Dif Juz and In Camera, one of whom--Andrew Grey--would officially join The Wolfgang Press the following year.

Throughout 1983, Modern English were still tasting success in America in the wake of "I Melt With You." While the Gathering Dust EP (BAD 306) collected various non-LP single sides, and the remix of "Someone's Calling" (BAD 309) was largely intended for American ears, the group had still had little impact in the UK and Europe. After seeing the band play at the Ritz in New York, Ivo thought he might have a solution. The band had encored with powerful back-to-back versions of two of their earliest songs: "16 Days" and "Gathering Dust." Ivo suggested to the group that they re-record the songs in the manner of the live set.

After Modern English decided against the idea, Ivo remained sufficiently intrigued by its possibilities that he decided to go ahead and do it himself. He hired a Linn drum, enlisted Elizabeth Fraser from the Cocteau Twins and Gordon Sharp from Cindytalk as vocalists, and persuaded Mick Conroy and Gary McDowell of Modern English to provide bass and guitar. The resulting reworking of "16 Days/Gathering Dust" became the A-side of the first This Mortal Coil release (BAD 310). When it came time to think about a B-side, Ivo decided to record a version of one of his all-time favorite songs: Tim Buckley's "Song To The Siren." The original plan was for Liz Fraser to sing it a capella, but the guitar part that Robin Guthrie had laid down on tape for her to use as a guide wound up becoming an integral part of the final version. The resulting B-side became one of 4AD's most beloved releases; eventually issued as the A-side of a 7-inch single (AD 310), it spent several months hovering in the British Top 100.

For Ivo, "Song To The Siren" marked a turning point, a realization that This Mortal Coil was more than just the idea of covering a few Modern English songs. The accomplishment of "Song To The Siren"--successfully pairing a song of great personal import with a singer whose work was equally meaningful--became the reason for wanting to do more.


1984

Modern English began the year with a new single, "Chapter 12" (BAD 401) which preceded the release of their final 4AD album, Ricochet Days (CAD 402). With producer Hugh Jones taking an increasingly active role in sculpting the band's music, the result was one of the most underrated albums of the era, coupling an almost Beatlesque sense of melody to the band's increasingly polished sound.

Colourbox's 1984 output consisted of a pair of singles, both featuring vocals by Lorita Grahame. The first was the inadvertent by-product of Ivo loaning Martyn Young his collection of reggae records. Colourbox's cover of U-Roy's "Say You" (BAD 403) was the result. A few months later the super-charged electro-funk of "Punch" (BAD 406) found the group genre-hopping with ease. Both singles deserved to be hits, but 4AD lacked the resources to promote them onto the radio and the charts.

1984's major addition to the roster was Dead Can Dance, who would evolve into one of 4AD's flagship acts. Though the seeds of their later work were present on both their self-titled debut album (CAD 404) and the Garden Of The Arcane Delights (BAD 408), Dead Can Dance during this period were still nominally a dark, post-Joy Division rock & roll band, albeit one with an eccentric lineup (guitar/bass/drums/yang t'chin) and the widely contrasting vocal styles of Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry.

The Cocteau Twins lineup stabilized for good with the arrival of bassist Simon Raymonde (formerly of Drowning Craze, and the son of noted arranger Ivor Raymonde). The first new offering of 1984 was the "Pearly Dewdrops' Drops" single (AD 405) and its expanded EP version, The Spangle Maker (BAD 405). One of their finest records, it nearly became a major hit (the group declined to appear on Top Of The Pops to promote it). Later in the year, the group released its third album, Treasure (CAD 412), a critical and commercial success. [One accidental legacy of the album haunts Ivo to this day. Instead of conventional song titles, Liz Fraser had given all of Treasure's songs proper names: "Amelia," "Persephone," etc. The album's first track, christened "Ivo," features Liz singing the refrain "Peep-Bo" (the song's original title) in a manner that caused many listeners to assume that she was singing "Ivo." Result: Ivo still occasionally contends with people who think his name is pronounced "ee-vo." (For the record: it's "eye-vo.")]

Xmal Deutschland returned with their second and last album for the label. Tocsin (CAD 407) coupled a more refined and textured approach than previous efforts, along with a more straightforward rock sound. The group parted ways with 4AD in the months following its release, and subsequently signed to Phonogram.

The Wolfgang Press returned with the first of a trilogy of EPs produced by Robin Guthrie. With Andrew Grey completing the lineup, Scarecrow (BAD 409) marked the group's first steps into the kind of hypnotic avant-funk they'd perfect in the coming years. Featuring musical contributions from Colourbox and guitar from Robin Guthrie, the EP's highlight was a twisted version of Aretha Franklin's "Respect" featuring backing vocals by Liz Fraser.

By late 1984, Ivo had completed work on the first This Mortal Coil album. Working closely with engineer/co-producer John Fryer at Blackwing Studios, Ivo invited a sizeable contingent of players into the studio to work on a selection of songs by the likes of Alex Chilton, Roy Harper, Rema-Rema and Colin Newman (the already-issued "Song To The Siren" was also included on the album). Lisa Gerrard contributed two compositions; several more were written in the studio (Ivo remains particularly proud of "Fyt," the first piece of music he ever wrote). Many of the contributors were 4AD artists--members of the Cocteau Twins, Colourbox, The Wolfgang Press, Modern English and Xmal Deutschland participated - but there were important performances by outsiders as well: Gordon Sharp of Cindytalk and Howard Devoto (Magazine) each contributed vocals, while Martin McCarrick (Marc Almond, Siouxsie & The Banshees) and Gini Ball provided the string parts. The single "Kangaroo" (AD 410) was issued just prior to the album It'll End In Tears (CAD 411). The striking cover photographs of model Pallas Citroen were originally intended for Modern English's Ricochet Days, but the group rejected them.

1985

The result of a burst of recording around New Years' Day, the Cocteau Twins ushered in 1985 with the release of the four-song Aikea-Guinea EP (BAD 501). Shortly thereafter, the group set up their own 16-track studio in an apartment that was being rented by William Orbit (best known today as the producer of Madonna's Ray Of Light, the Cocteaus met Orbit through Colourbox, who were then doing a lot of recording at his studio, Guerrilla). Their first batch of new recordings yielded eight new songs. The material lacked the feel of an album, so the decision was made to release it as two separate EP's--Tiny Dynamine (BAD 510) and Echoes In A Shallow Bay (BAD 511)-which came out two weeks apart. The Pink Opaque (CAD 513) was a compilation album put together for Relativity Records in America. Relativity had access to CD manufacturing facilities and The Pink Opaque thus became the first 4AD title to be issued in the new format. Assembled by Robin Guthrie, it featured selections from most of their previous releases, as well as the rare "Millemillenery."

With Water (BAD 502) and Sweatbox (BAD 506), The Wolfgang Press completed the trilogy of EP's they'd begun with Robin Guthrie in 1984. At year's end, all three EP's were compiled together on a single album and reissued as The Legendary Wolfgang Press And Other Tall Stories (CAD 514).

Xymox were an Amsterdam-based group who had attracted Ivo's attention with a mini-album, Subsequent Pleasures. Attracted by the band's melodic strength, courtesy of a trio of songwriters--Pieter Nooten, Ronny Moorings and Anke Wolbert--who'd clearly learned a few lessons from their Cure and New Order records, Ivo flew them directly to Scotland, where he co-produced their first album Clan Of Xymox (CAD 503) [Confusingly, although "Clan Of Xymox" was the album title, the group subsequently adopted it as their name.] Released as a 12-inch single, "A Day" (BAD 504) featured Ivo and John Fryer's bizarre, envelope-pushing nine-minute remix of the album's lead track.

Dif Juz returned to 4AD (they'd released an EP on the Red Flame label in 1983) with Extractions (CAD 505), their first full-length album. Produced by Robin Guthrie, the album shows the band's sound expanding to incorporate Ritchie Thomas's saxophone and their first-ever vocal track, courtesy of Liz Fraser on "Love Insane."

Later that year, Dif Juz became involved with Jamaican dub innovator Lee "Scratch" Perry, serving as his backing band for a series of shows, and eventually attempting to make a record together. The five tracks that were recorded (including a nine-minute version of "The Mighty Quinn") never quite gelled, despite Robin Guthrie's attempts to mix them, and the project remains unreleased.

Colourbox's newest single, "The Moon Is Blue" (BAD 507), was another radio-ready classic that--despite 4AD's valiant efforts--went largely unheard. By now, Martyn Young had completed work on the first, self-titled Colourbox album (CAD 508), only to realize that it contained three previously released singles ("The Moon Is Blue," "Punch" and "Say You"). To compensate fans, he spliced together a bonus album (MAD 509) of radical remixes, unreleased tracks and B-sides which was included with the first 10,000 copies of Colourbox.

Dead Can Dance returned late in the year with their second album, Spleen And Ideal (CAD 512). Co-produced with John Rivers (Felt), it was also the first Dead Can Dance release to exploit fully the possibilities of the recording studio. No longer a four-piece band but simply a duo of Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard, Dead Can Dance's sound had expanded dramatically, incorporating strings and brass as well as musical influences from outside both the Western Hemisphere and the 20th Century.


1986

Richenel's "L'Esclave Endormi" (BAD 601) was originally issued on the Belgian Megadisc label. Ivo heard the song, was struck by Richenel's voice and licensed the track to 4AD. Richenel's original recording served as the B-side while an Ivo/John Fryer remix, designed to give his voice as much space as possible, was used as the A-side. Ivo subsequently met Richenel and invited him to sing on This Mortal Coil's Filigree & Shadow album. He became the featured vocalist on covers of Quicksilver Messenger Service's "Firebrothers" and Tim Buckley's "I Must Have Been Blind."

The first Cocteau Twins release of 1986 was an unusual one. Victorialand (CAD 602) was an entirely acoustic album made by Robin Guthrie and Liz Fraser as a duo. The unusual frequency range of the album mix necessitated the unusual step of mastering the record to play at 45 r.p.m. The sonic challenges continued later in the year with gorgeous density of the "Love's Easy Tears" single (BAD 610) on which both Simon Raymonde and electricity returned with a vengeance. The group's final project in 1986 came about as the result of a proposed documentary series for Britain's Channel 4 which was to pair rock and jazz musicians. It was suggested that the Cocteau team up with pianist Harold Budd, a collaboration that resulted in The Moon And The Melodies (BAD 611), which was credited to Budd / Fraser / Guthrie / Raymonde.

The preceding summer, Ivo had undertaken his first and only non-4AD production job, working with ex-Bauhaus vocalist Peter Murphy on his album Should The World Fail To Fall Apart. While in the studio, Murphy played Ivo an unlabeled tape of a Bulgarian women's choir that he'd been given by an acquaintance. Ivo found himself stunned by the power of the singing, and embarked upon a frantic quest to learn the identity of the album and acquire a copy of it. It transpired that the album in question was entitled Le Mystere Des Voix Bulgares [The Mystery Of The Bulgarian Voices], and that it consisted of field recordings made over a 15-year period by archivist Marcel Cellier. Ivo decided to license the recordings from Cellier and issue them on 4AD (CAD 603). The resulting release proved massively popular and highly influential.

Colourbox returned with not one, but two new singles, both of which were released on the same day. "Baby I Love You So" (BAD 604) was a brilliantly sculpted reggae-pop gem, while the sly mock-pomposity of "The Official Colourbox World Cup Theme" (BAD 605) actually came very close to being selected as Britain's World Cup theme that year. Sadly, apart from a track on the following year's Lonely Is An Eyesore anthology, these were the last recordings Colourbox ever released.

While The Burden Of Mules had been assembled over a lengthy span of time, The Wolfgang Press's second album Standing Up Straight (CAD 606) was the group's first experience with making an album during a specific period. It was also the first Wolfgang Press album to feature Andrew Grey, who had joined the preceding year. The group was still honing their increasingly compelling mixture of angular rhythms and Cave-like theatrics, but the album had many highlights, including the climactic "I Am The Crime," which featured Elizabeth Fraser and strings from Martin McCarrick and Gini Ball.

Ivo was stuck in traffic on his way to the office one day when he popped in a demo tape by a band from Rhode Island. By the time he reached the office, he'd played it three times. The band was Throwing Muses--frontwomen Kristin Hersh and Tanya Donnelly and the phenomenally inventive rhythm section of Leslie Langston and David Narcizo--and they became 4AD's first American signing. Ivo sent producer Gil Norton (Echo & The Bunnymen's Ocean Rain) to the States to record an album just prior to the birth of Kristin's first child. Throwing Muses (CAD 607) was immediately hailed as one of the major debut albums of the 80's; it's naive power remains as compelling as ever.

Ivo began work on the second This Mortal Coil album shortly after It'll End In Tears was released. Filigree & Shadow (DAD 609)--the title is taken from a song by '60s band Fever Tree--was intended from the start as a double album, and Ivo spent a considerable amount of time structuring the music so that it would have the right flow. Begun at Palladium in Scotland with Martin McCarrick and Palladium's proprietor Jon Turner, it was finished with John Fryer at Blackwing. As before, Ivo drew upon a large talent pool of musicians--Simon Raymonde made important contributions, as did members of Colourbox, Dif Juz and the Wolfgang Press--but this time the bulk of the vocalists came from outside of 4AD's orbit. The selection of cover versions on the album included material by Tim Buckley, Gene Clark, Tom Rapp, Judy Collins and Colin Newman. Prior to the release of the album, a limited edition 10-inch single (BAD 608) was issued coupling striking interpretations of Van Morrison's "Come Here My Love" and Talking Heads' "Drugs." Model Pallas Citroen became the cover star once again after actress Maria Schnieder rebuffed Ivo's overtures. [Trivia factoid for trainspotters: although his name is misspelled in the credits, Les McKeown of the Bay City Rollers--a friend of Palladium's Jon Turner-- is part of the choir on "Strength Of Strings"]

Dif Juz's Out Of The Trees (MAD 612) was a mini-album combining all of the tracks from their first EP Huremics with a re-recorded, re-mixed version of the follow-up EP Vibrating Air.

Xymox, who were now officially referring to themselves as Clan Of Xymox, returned with their second album. Recorded with John Fryer, Medusa (CAD 613) was an album of dark, atmospheric songs punctuated by occasional bursts of psychedelic electro-pop.


1987

Throwing Muses visited the UK for the first time at the end of 1986 to play a few live dates. They also found time to go back into the studio with Gil Norton and record the EP Chains Changed (BAD 701), issued in early 1987. ("Fish," their contribution to Lonely Is An Eyesore was also recorded during these sessions). Later in the year, they released a mini-LP, The Fat Skier (MAD 706), which coupled six new songs with a lengthy re-working of "Soul Soldier" from the first album.

The Wolfgang Press had returned to the studio following the release of Standing Up Straight and emerged with a new EP, Big Sex (BAD 702). Although the group's music was continuing to evolve (the EP showed a pronounced Talking Heads influence), they were still struggling to find an audience.

Lonely Is An Eyesore (CAD 703) was an all-encompassing 4AD showcase that had been in the works for a year and a half by the time it was issued in mid-87. Ivo had invited each of the artists on the label to contribute a new song (Dead Can Dance also contributed a second track, a remix of an ancient demo) for which Nigel Grierson would then direct a video (the Throwing Muses and Xymox clips wound up being shot by outside hands). The result was a gorgeously packaged snapshot of 4AD's roster of the period, featuring a number of classic tracks from the bands involved. The most extravagant package of all was a limited edition (of 100) art object: a Vaughan Oliver-designed wooden box that held a deluxe gatefold LP, a cassette, a CD, a home video and two specially-commissioned etchings. The Victoria & Albert Museum acquired one for their permanent collection.

A.R. Kane, a duo of Alex Ayuli and Rudi Tambala, had previously released an EP on the One Little Indian label before landing briefly 4AD. Among the first bands of the era to explore the intersection between harsh noise and dreamlike beauty, their EP Lollita (BAD 704) was produced by Robin Guthrie.

While the EP was being finished, Alex and Rudi mentioned to Ivo that they were interested in working with producer Adrian Sherwood. Ivo's suggestion that they work with Colourbox instead, resulted in the biggest single in 4AD's history. The sessions with Colourbox were hardly a full-fledged collaboration. Of the two pieces completed, one, "Antina," was an A.R. Kane track with drum programming by Colourbox's Steve Young. The other, "Pump Up The Volume," was a propulsive Martyn Young track constructed largely of samples, including one of A.R. Kane's guitars. Released under the alias M/A/R/R/S--an acronym for the participants: Martyn, Alex, Rudi, Russell (an associate A.R. Kane member who doesn't actually appear on either side of the record) and Steve--"Pump Up The Volume" (BAD 707) exploded onto the charts, hitting No. 1 in spite of legal action by producers Stock, Aitken and Waterman (Martyn Young had sampled a bit of their hit "Roadblock"). The single became a global hit, while its cut-and-paste sample collage technique proved enormously influential in dance and hip-hop circles.

Dead Can Dance's third album, Within The Realm Of A Dying Sun (CAD 705), was their finest offering to date. Split into two distinct halves, with Brendan Perry's increasingly Scott Walker-ish vocals on Side One, and Lisa Gerrard's regal glossolalia streaming across Side Two, its ambitious grandeur was a harbinger of things to come. More than either of its predecessors, it was this album that sowed the seeds of Dead Can Dance's worldwide following (a good thing, as no one in the UK seemed to take much interest).

Ivo had admired a demo tape sent to him by Brighton's Frazier Chorus and sent the group into the recording studio with Gil Norton. Although "Sloppy Heart" (BAD 708) was a delightful piece of flute-driven pastoral pop, it was their only 4AD release. The group signed to Virgin shortly afterwards.

On a trip to the United States to see Throwing Muses, Ken Goes, the band's manager, handed Ivo a tape of a local band that Muses drummer David Narcizo thought he might be interested in. Ivo subsequently listened to their demos on his Walkman while striding around New York City. He liked what he heard, but was uncertain about the band's punk-rock ferocity, which had little in common with the acts he'd been working with for the past several years. It took 4AD's Deborah Edgely to set him straight. Don't be stupid, she told him, they're brilliant. Thus it was that The Pixies became 4AD recording artists. Seven tracks from the band's demos were released as the mini-album Come On Pilgrim (MAD 709). The response to the band in Britain was immediate and explosive, with the press and John Peel quickly won over, and the public not far behind.

By late 1987, Pieter Nooten had left Xymox, but Ivo continued to be intrigued by the tapes Pieter would send him. He suggested a team-up with guitarist/producer Michael Brook, who had been working with Brian Eno as well as recording for Eno's Opal label. The result was a quiet album of fragile songs and dreamlike soundscapes entitled Sleeps With The Fishes (CAD 710).

Xymox (who had dropped the "Clan Of" again) finished off 4AD's 1987 with the unabashedly poppy "Blind Hearts" (BAD 711), which was produced by Peter Walsh (Simple Minds, Scott Walker). They signed to Polygram the following year and have continued making music into the late 90's.

Although not, strictly speaking, a canonical 4AD release, the label's Japanese licensee issued a compilation, 12-inch (CY-2085) which collected five of the year's EP's--by Throwing Muses, The Wolfgang Press, A.R. Kane, M/A/R/R/S and Frazier Chorus--on one CD.


1988

4AD's first release of 1988 was a second volume of Les Mysteres Des Voix Bulgares (CAD 801) featuring a further 18 performances drawn from Marcel Cellier's archive of field recordings.

Throwing Muses second album House Tornado (CAD 802) marked the group's continuing refinement as Kristin Hersh's fiercely original songwriting talents became steadily more pronounced. They embarked on a now-legendary tour of the UK and Europe with the Pixies which found both bands in peak live form (A few Muses performances from this tour sneaked out the following year on B-sides).

The Pixies, meanwhile, had also released their second album, the epochal Surfer Rosa (CAD 803), produced for maximum raw sonic impact by Big Black's Steve Albini and recorded in a mere 13 days. Later that spring, the band entered the studio with Gil Norton to re-record two Surfer Rosa songs for an EP--"Gigantic" (the first song to spotlight the talents of Kim Deal) and "River Euphrates." Also recorded during these sessions was a version of "Here Comes Your Man" which remains unreleased. The two studio tracks were coupled with live versions of "Vamos" and "In Heaven" (from David Lynch's film Eraserhead ) and issued as the Gigantic EP (BAD 805).

The Wolfgang Press's "King Of Soul" (BAD 804) served as an early preview of the group's third album, Bird Wood Cage (CAD 810), released at the end of the year. Recorded with up-and-coming producer Flood (whose credits at the time included Depeche Mode and Nick Cave) it was the band's most powerful statement yet, by turns seductive and menacing. Tracks such as Kansas (released as a single the following year) began to attract audiences in Britain, as well as in the States, where the album had been licensed by Rough Trade. Subsequent tours with both Nick Cave and the Pixies (Black Francis would join them onstage each night for an encore of "Rema-Rema") also helped to raise their profile.

4AD's sole addition to the roster in 1988 was Ultra Vivid Scene, an alias for New Yorker Kurt Ralske, a one-man band with dozens of incredible songs that successfully melded the Velvet Underground, Suicide and '60s pop-psychedelia. "She Screamed" (BAD 806) (backed with a Hank Williams cover and Ralske's lost classic "Hit By A Truck") was his debut single, followed shortly by a self-titled album (CAD 809).

Blue Bell Knoll (CAD 807) was the first full-band Cocteau Twins album since Treasure, nearly four years previously. A further refinement of the Cocteaus' sound, it was also the first 4AD album since Modern English's Ricochet Days to be issued by a major label in America (Capitol Records). Trivia fact: Blue Bell Knoll is the only 4AD album to have been released on DAT.

By now, Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard had evolved a pattern for their activities as Dead Can Dance. Brendan had moved to Ireland, where he subsequently built his own studio, while Lisa was spending several months a year back home in Australia. They'd reunite to make recordings and perform a few shows, then separate to write new material. The Serpent's Egg (CAD 808) included some of their finest work (Lisa's majestic vocals on the opening "The Host Of Seraphim" and Brendan's orchestrated balladry on the closing "Ullyses" are but two of the standouts here). Although John Rivers--who'd co-produced group's two preceding releases--worked on several tracks, all future Dead Can Dance recordings would be entirely self-produced.


1989

Throwing Muses' third album Hunkpapa (CAD 901), produced by Gary Smith, opted for a brighter, punchier sound than previous releases. One of the standout tracks, Kristin Hersh's "Dizzy"--perhaps the first Throwing Muses song to which the phrase "amazingly catchy" could be fairly applied--was issued not long afterwards in a variety of formats (including a "self-opening" 10-inch whose gatefold cover was too stiff to lie flat) backed by powerful live versions of "Mania" and "Downtown" drawn from the previous year's UK tour (BAD 903).

With The Wolfgang Press still touring aggressively in support of Bird Wood Cage, two further singles were issued during 1989. "Kansas" (BAD 902)--featuring a re-modeled version from the album, was the closest the group had yet come to a hit. A similar re-invention of "Raintime" (BAD 907), despite a great video, wasn't able to keep the momentum going.

The Pixies returned with a classic album in Doolittle (CAD 905), produced by Gil Norton, sequenced by Ivo and packaged with an elaborate lyrics book featuring Simon Larbalestier's disquieting photographs. The album was bookended by singles featuring two of its strongest songs. "Monkey Gone To Heaven" (BAD 904) was a tour de force which placed the band's incendiary power against a churning string section to remarkable effect. "Here Comes Your Man" (BAD 909) had been among the songs on the band's original demo tape and had long been earmarked as a possible single. 4AD licensed the album to Elektra in the United States, where the band was developing a rabid following.

In a similar vein to The Wolfgang Press's efforts that year, Kurt Ralske released a new Ultra Vivid Scene single featuring a newly recorded version of "Mercy Seat" (BAD 906) from the debut album. Later in the year, a promotional single, "Something To Eat" (BAD 908)--one of the very few promo-only 4AD releases ever to be assigned a regular catalog number--featured two demos from Kurt's work-in-progress. [As it turned out, "Something To Eat" never made it onto any other UVS release.]

With Ultra Vivid Scene the only signing in over a year, Ivo had begun to actively seek out new talent. As fate would have it, interesting demo tapes from two new bands reached Ivo within a few days of one another. By an improbable coincidence, both bands also happened to be sharing the same bill at the Falcon in Camden a few days later. Ivo attended, and wound up signing both of them shortly thereafter. The Pale Saints were a trio from Leeds, part of a new generation of British bands drawing inspiration from the work of the Jesus & Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine. Ivo sent them into the studio with Gil Norton and John Fryer; the result was the three-song EP Barging Into the Presence Of God (BAD 910).

4AD's other new group, Lush, were a London quartet fronted by songwriter/vocalists Miki Berenyi and Emma Anderson. Although they were drawing on much the same influences as the Pale Saints, their sound had yet to gel completely. But the three tracks they recorded in a two-day studio session with John Fryer had a compelling rawness to them; Fryer taped three more songs with them, and the results made up their debut mini-album Scar (JAD 911)

1990

4AD began the Nineties--and its tenth anniversary year--with the release of a unique Vaughan Oliver-designed calendar (XAD 0001). The label's first musical release of the new decade was The Comforts Of Madness (CAD 0002), the John Fryer/Gil Norton-produced debut album from the Pale Saints. Later in the year, the group returned with a new EP, Half Life (BAD 0015), which saw the band expanding to a quartet with the addition of Meriel Barham. (A Japan-only release, Mrs. Dolphin (COCY-7096), collected Half Life and the previous year's Barging Into The Presence Of God EP on one CD).

Lush recorded their second EP, Mad Love (BAD 0003), with Robin Guthrie, which documented the rapid sonic progress the band had made in only a few months time. The evolution continued on Sweetness And Light, three songs produced by Tim Friese-Greene (Talk Talk). The band subsequently signed a U.S. deal with Reprise and at the end of the year released Gala (CAD 0017), a compilation of all three of the group's EPs (plus a bonus Abba cover) intended to introduce them to American audiences.

As Kurt Ralske prepared to record the second Ultra Vivid Scene album, Ivo suggested he team up with producer Hugh Jones. The result was Joy 1967-1990 (CAD 0005), a veritable encyclopedia of pop possibility that highlighted Ralske's knack for couching lyrical misanthropy in supremely catchy hook-laden songs. The album spawned two singles: "Staring At The Sun" (BAD 0004) and "Special One," (BAD 0016) a duet with Kim Deal (a wonderful video for the song features Kurt and Kim crooning the song like Sonny & Cher).

Speaking of Kim Deal, 1990 found her stepping beyond the confines of the Pixies for the first time with her own group, The Breeders. Recorded with Steve Albini (the Pixies' Surfer Rosa) and a lineup consisting of Throwing Muses' Tanya Donelly, Josephine Wiggs of The Perfect Disaster and Slint's Britt Walford, Pod (CAD 0006) featured a visceral set of Kim's own songs and a fractured cover of "Happiness Is A Warm Gun."

Dead Can Dance's Aion (CAD 0007) was the natural culmination of Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry's growing interest in non-contemporary music. Unquestionably the Dead Can Dance album which owes the least to the 20th Century (or the 19th, 18th and 17th centuries, for that matter), the music beneath its Hieronymous Bosch sleeve was shot through with ancient mystery and profound beauty. A subsequent tour of Europe, and, for the first time, the United States, helped to consolidate a steadily growing audience.

Some months previously, Ivo had received a cassette in the mail from basement auteur Warren Defever of Livonia, Michigan. It bore the hand-scrawled label: "His Name Is Alive - I Had Sex With God" Over the next few months, two more versions of the tape showed up, each loaded with strange variations on the material from previous efforts. Intrigued by the music, Ivo offered to try mixing it. He went into the studio with John Fryer and began playing around with it. Warren liked the results, and the finished product became His Name Is Alive's first album, Livonia (CAD 0008).

The Pixies followed Doolittle with another Gil Norton-produced effort, Bossanova (CAD 0010). Although it proved a difficult record to make, the resulting album contains its fair share of classic material. It was bookended by two singles--the anthemic "Velouria" (BAD 0009) and "Dig For Fire" (BAD 0014), the latter accompanied by a phenomenally expensive (and little seen) live video clip which found the band commandeering both a biker gang and a Dutch football stadium for its own nefarious purposes.

Previewed with the single "Iceblink Luck" (BAD 0011), Heaven Or Las Vegas (CAD 0012) was The Cocteau Twins' final album for 4AD, but it proved to be an extraordinary farewell: an album of great warmth and romance featuring the most open and unguarded vocals Liz Fraser had ever committed to tape. Ivo ranks it as his own favorite Cocteau Twins record and considers it among the best things 4AD has ever released.


1991

Bassist Leslie Langston had left Throwing Muses prior to the recording of their fourth album, The Real Ramona (CAD 1002). Produced by Dennis Herring (Camper Van Beethoven), it featured some of Kristin Hersh's most powerful songs, including the indelible "Counting Backwards" (BAD 1001) which gave them their first significant US radio exposure. Tanya Donnelly's "Not Too Soon" (BAD 1015) became the album's second single. Not long afterwards, she departed the group, re-emerging the following year with her new band, Belly.

The Wolfgang Press returned from a long period of studio hibernation with the propulsive "Time" (BAD 1003). They followed it a few months later with a radio-friendly cover of Randy Newman's "Mama Told Me Not To Come" (BAD 1007) before unveiling Queer (CAD 1011), their finest album to date. Drawing inspiration from De La Soul's Three Feet High And Rising, the Wolfgangs (and producer Drostan Madden) fashioned an endlessly listenable crazy-quilt built from samples, found sounds and the best batch of songs they'd ever written. Two distinct versions of Queer exist: In order to get the album released in the United States the following year, the group were forced to remove and/or re-record many of the album's more recognizable samples; the U.S. edition also includes three additional tracks, including "A Girl Like You."

Spirea X was a vehicle for the '60s pop-art visions of ex-Primal Scream member Jim Beattie. Two EP's appeared earlier in the year--Chlorine Dream (BAD 1004), whose lead track managed to reinvent the sound of the Byrds for the 1990's, and Speed Reaction (BAD 1006), a fiendishly catchy melding of harmonies and the Who--prior to a full-length album, Fireblade Skies (CAD 1017), in the autumn. He left 4AD shortly thereafter, and has subsequently been making records as Adventures In Stereo.

Ivo had been working on new This Mortal Coil material on and off since the release of Filigree & Shadow four years earlier. A musical reflection of a turbulent period in his life, Blood (DAD 1005) was always intended to be the final installment in the TMC trilogy. Recorded with many of the same personnel as the previous album--John Fryer, Jon Turner Martin McCarrick all played significant roles in shaping the music--Blood also included vocals from such TMC newcomers as Caroline Crawley (Shelleyan Orphan), Heidi Berry, Kim Deal and Tanya Donelly. Cover versions this time out included songs by Chris Bell, Syd Barrett, Rain Parade, Rodney Crowell and Mary Margaret O'Hara, while Ivo's own lyrics graced several of the album's originals.

The Pixies previewed their work-in progress with the Planet Of Sound EP (BAD 1008), which included a bizarre cover of the Yardbirds' "Evil Hearted You" sung in Spanish. The ferocious fourth and final album Trompe Le Monde (CAD 1014) saw the band out in a blaze of glory. The Pixies dissolved after an string of opening dates on U2's Zoo TV tour and a series of European dates which found the band playing to enormous audiences. Their demise came at just the moment that a new group of bands, on whom the Pixies had been a seminal influence, were finding a vast new audience.

The Pale Saints, who were touring with the Pixies, checked in with a new EP, Flesh Balloon (BAD 1009). It featured a dreamy version of Nancy Sinatra's "Kinky Love," that was released--with a wishful eye toward the charts--as a separate 7-inch single (AD 1009).

Dead Can Dance's A Passage In Time (CAD 1010) was a compilation album intended as the group's first American release (via Rykodisc). Assembled by Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard, it brought together fourteen songs from their previous four albums, as well as a pair of newly recorded tracks.

Ivo first encountered Heidi Berry when he saw her opening for Lush. Seemingly a performer out of time, her voice and songs recalled an earlier generation of visionary artists such as Sandy Denny and Nick Drake. Her relationship with Creation Records (for whom she had made an album and an EP) had recently ended, and Ivo invited her to record for 4AD. He introduced her to producer Peter Walsh (Ivo liked his work on Scott Walker's Climate Of Hunter), with whom she recorded Love (CAD 1012).

Ivo played much the same role in His Name Is Alive's second album, Home Is In Your Head (CAD 1013), as he had on Livonia. Beginning with a pile of tapes sent to him by Warren Defever, he proceeded to edit and mix the material--sometimes making songs out of fragments, at other times pulling songs into their component parts. The resulting 23-track album is a surrealist collage of intangible feelings that flows organically from start to finish.

The first fruits of Lush's sessions with Robin Guthrie for their first full-length album emerged late in 1991. The Black Spring EP included two songs from the following year's Spooky along with a cover of Beach Boy Dennis Wilson's "Fallin' In Love."

At year's end, a 10-CD boxed set, simply entitled Cocteau Twins (CT BOX 1), collected all nine of the group's 4AD EP's, along with a tenth disc of rarities and unreleased tracks.


1992

1992 was a year of changes for 4AD, the most important of which was the signing of a distribution deal with Warner Brothers Records in the United States. Rather than license individual acts to different labels in the States, as had been the case in recent years, the deal was designed to give 4AD the continuity and label identity that it had everywhere else in the world. The small U.S. 4AD office that had been in New York City was closed, and 4AD's U.S. operations moved to Los Angeles under the direction of Robin Hurley (Ivo moved to California a few years later). To celebrate the Warner Bros. deal, 4AD issued an elaborate promotional package called Lilliput, which featured two CDs--the first highlighting notable previous releases, the second providing an overview of the label's current roster--housed in an illustrated hard cover book.

Lush's much-anticipated first album, Spooky (CAD 2002) proved to be a worldwide success. The group, now coming into its own as players and songwriters, worked once again with Robin Guthrie, who'd produced the Mad Love EP. The For Love EP (BAD 2001), released in front of the album, backed the title track with three non-album tracks, including a cover of Wire's "Outdoor Miner."

The Breeders returned to action--now joined by Kim Deal's twin sister Kelley--with the four-song Safari EP (BAD 2003). Produced by Laika's Guy Fixsen, it featured three new Kim Deal originals and a version of "So Sad About Us" by The Who.

The Pale Saints continued the collaboration with producer Hugh Jones that had begun on Flesh Balloon with their second album, In Ribbons (CAD 2004), which was probably their finest effort. The initial quantities of the album included an unusual 7-inch single featuring two of the group's songs--"A Thousand Stars Burst Open" and "A Revelation"--performed by the Tintwhistle Brass Band. The album's powerful lead-off track, "Throwing Back The Apple" was issued as a single (BAD 2008). The album title hinted at internal tensions that only manifested themselves a few months later when co-frontman Ian Masters decided to quit the band.

Warren Defever returned with a new five-song His Name Is Alive EP, The Dirt Eaters (BAD 2005). In addition to spotlighting Defever's gift for conjuring up spectral melodies, the record also spotlighted his eccentric taste in cover versions: the EP's central track was a thoroughly Defeverized version of Ritchie Blackmore's "Man On The Silver Mountain."

Following the triumph of Queer, and continuing on a creative roll, The Wolfgang Press unleashed a new single "A Girl Like You" (BAD (2006) that nearly became a hit. Proof of the tune's enduring quality: Tom Jones recorded his own version of the song the following year, and wound up performing it onstage with the group at a memorable 1994 show at the Troubadour in Los Angeles.

Michael Brook--inventor of the "infinite guitar" and a noted producer--had been acquainted with Ivo for several years (his first 4AD appearance had been on Sleeps With The Fishes, a 1987 collaboration with Xymox's Pieter Nooten). Cobalt Blue (CAD 2007) was a quietly stunning collection of instrumental pieces, featuring contributions from Roger Eno, Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. At a press launch for the album held at the London Aquarium, Brook played a rare live solo set, which was ultimately issued as Live At the Aquarium (TAD 2011), the first in 4AD's short-lived series of limited-edition "Temporary Releases."

After leaving Throwing Muses, Tanya Donelly formed her own group, Belly (the name was chosen because it was one of her favorite words), with former Muses bassist Fred Abong and drummer Chris Gorman. Their first release was the Slow Dust EP (BAD 2009), which was released in the summer. With an album ready for release in the new year, "Gepetto" (BAD 2018), produced by Gil Norton, was issued as a single (a limited edition with a remix and different tracks was issued the following year as BADD 2018) and provided a preview of things to come.

Swallow were a duo of instrumentalist Mike Mason and vocalist Louise Trehy whose music juggled elements of My Bloody Valentine, the Cocteau Twins and Curve. They released one proper album, Blow (CAD 2010), as well as Blowback (TAD 2015), a Temporary Release--done with Stereolab producer Paul Tipler--featuring remixed, largely instrumental reworkings of most of the album's tracks.

Throwing Muses--temporarily reduced to duo Kristin Hersh and David Narcizo--returned with their first post-Tanya Donelly album, Red Heaven (CAD 2013). Recorded as a trio with briefly-returning bassist Leslie Langston, the album was a long-awaited showcase for Kristin's guitar pyrotechnics. Joined on tour by new bassist Bernard Georges, a recording drawn from two shows at London's Grand Theatre was issued as The Curse (TAD 2019), another Temporary Release. A pair of Firepile EPs (BAD 2012 and BADD 2012) featured seven non-album tracks among them, including covers of songs by the Velvet Underground, Jimi Hendrix and the Volcano Suns, as well as an Ivo/John Fryer remix of "Firepile." Finally, the initial copies of Red Heaven featured a bonus Kristin Hersh solo acoustic album, Live At Maxwells, Hoboken (KH1).

Ivo first heard San Francisco's Red House Painters--a vehicle for songwriter/frontman Mark Kozelek's acute slow-motion chronicles of emotional distress--via a cassette given to him by journalist Martin Aston (Aston, in turn, had been given it by Mark Eitzel of American Music Club). Hugely impressed by the 90 minutes of music on the tape (the only previous band who'd ever presented Ivo with such a vast quantity of demo material had been Dif Juz) he flew to San Francisco to meet them. Ivo believed that the demos deserved to see the light of day, and the result was the debut album Down Colorful Hill (CAD 2014).

In the midst of a great deal of present-day activity, 4AD addressed its past with a long-overdue 20-track retrospective of The Birthday Party, the ironically titled Hits (CAD 2016).

Kurt Ralske's third Ultra Vivid Scene album, Rev (CAD 2017), was a far different creature than the carefully-honed three-minute songcraft of its two predecessors. Recording as part of a three-piece rock band, Ralske kicked out the jams on a series of lengthy tracks dominated by his searing guitar leads. Despite what seemed like a promising new direction, Rev proved to be the final Ultra Vivid Scene album. Ralske subsequently concentrated on production, before returning with a new project, Cathars, in 1999.

As an adjunct to the label's other activities in 1992, Ivo also started the 4AD spin-off imprint Guernica, designed to provide a low-key platform for a series of records that he enjoyed. Guernica's first year included three releases: a British version of Unrest's Imperial f.f.r.r. (GU 1), a prelude to the band's signing to 4AD the following year; Leaves Me Blind (GU2), an album by Australian shoegazers Underground Lovers; and the debut album from Amsterdam's Bettie Serveert, Palomine (GU 3).

Finally, Vaughan Oliver ushered in the new year with his Anatomy Calendar 1993 (2020). Although its oblique design made it virtually useless for any conventional time-keeping purpose (not to mention its perverse inclusion of a nonexistent 13th month called "Jack"), it nevertheless served as a lovely art object.


1993

4AD's major event as a label in 1993 was a five-night festival at London's ICA. The 13 Year Itch featured live performances from the bulk of the label's artists, including the first-ever solo performance by Dead Can Dance's Brendan Perry. In addition, a limited edition CD, sold only at the shows, featured 13 exclusive tracks from the participants. (Good luck finding a copy)

Belly's first album Star (CAD 3002) proved a major hit in the United States (although it was released by Sire, not 4AD) when the single "Feed The Tree" (BAD 3001) became a major MTV and radio hit.

Ultra Vivid Scene's final release was the Blood And Thunder EP (BAD 3003), featuring a single remix of the title song (drastically shortened from it's ten-and-a-half minute running time on the Rev album) and three other tracks, including a superb reading of John Cale's obscure "Winter Song."

Charles Thompson, who'd fronted the Pixies under the nom du rock Black Francis, inverted his alias and launched his solo career as Frank Black. His self-titled debut (CAD 3004), produced with Eric Drew Feldman (Pere Ubu, Captain Beefheart), successfully traded the Pixies' chaotic blasts for a far more structured Bowie-esque pop sensibility. Frank's cover of Brian Wilson's "Hang On To Your Ego" (BAD 3005) was the album's single.

This Mortal Coil's legacy was collected in a four-CD boxed set, 1983-1991 (45135), a U.S.-only limited edition containing the three original TMC albums, plus a fourth disc featuring 21 original versions of songs that TMC had covered.

Mouth By Mouth (CAD 3006), the third His Name Is Alive album, was actually composed of pieces of two separate albums that Warren Defever had recorded: one was a His Name Is Alive set, the other was a collection of songs by The Dirt Eaters, one of Warren's near-infinite array of other projects. Splicing together the best bits into a single unit resulted in a richly diverse--and decidedly more song-oriented--work.

Ivo had reissued Imperial f.f.r.r. by Washington D.C.'s chameleonic Unrest on Guernica the previous year. They made their 4AD debut with the Isabel Bishop EP (BAD 3007), a collection of singles and excerpts from work in progress. The full-length album that followed, Perfect Teeth (CAD 3012) was a fascinating catalog of the band's musical obsessions: early 80's British indie rock and 60's easy listening records. The sunny pop single "Cath Carroll"--an ode to the ex-NME journalist, frontwoman of C86-ers Miaow and Perfect Teeth cover star--was also issued in expanded form on an EP (BAD 3015) which paired it with the relentless droning brilliance of the 33-minute-long "Hydro."

Dead Can Dance's Into The Labyrinth (CAD 3013)--a beguiling album which found them retreating slightly from the medievalist stance they'd taken on Aion--sold 350,000 copies in the U.S. on the strength of Brendan Perry's "The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove," which became an unlikely hit on modern rock radio.

With dozens of Mark Kozelek's songs at their disposal, Red House Painters emerged from the studio with two full albums; somewhat confusingly, both were titled Red House Painters. The first of these (CAD 3008, generally referred to as the "roller coaster" album, after its cover image) was a 70-minute masterpiece of eloquent sadness. The second (CAD 3016, the "bridge" album) was a shorter and edgier work which included two cover versions that frequently made their way into the group's live set lists: Simon & Garfunkel's "I Am A Rock" and "The Star-Spangled Banner."

Heidi Berry's self-titled second album for the label (CAD 3009) was a wonderfully fragile collection of late-night beauty. It was recorded with producer Hugh Jones, who assisted with the elaborate arrangements, including a full symphony orchestra on "Little Fox." Pentangle bassist Danny Thompson, who'd worked with many of Heidi's inspirations--Tim Buckley, Sandy Denny, Nick Drake--also made important contributions. The single "The Moon And The Sun" accompanied the album's release.

Kim Deal returned to the studio with The Breeders and emerged with one of the greatest singles of the '90s. "Cannonball" (BAD 3011), with its insistent riff and infectious energy, took America by storm. The album that followed, Last Splash (CAD 3014) was no less a success; it was an engaging, powerful record on which Kim's talents truly came into their own. A further single, "Divine Hammer," was released at year's end (BAD 3017).

1993 also saw three releases on the Guernica imprint. Formerly known as Earwig, Insides created ambient electronic pop as Steve Reich might have conceived it on the very wonderful Euphoria (GU 4; it also came out in the U.S. as a regular 4AD release). Spoonfed Hybrid (GU 5) was a new project from former Pale Saint Ian Masters, while L.A.'s That Dog (GU 6) so excited Ivo that he briefly offered to manage them.


1994

The preceding year's 13 Year Itch festival in London spawned an American equivalent in 1994. All Virgos Are Mad was a multi-night 4AD extravaganza staged in Los Angeles at the Troubadour and McCabe's Guitar Shop in late September-early October. A limited edition CD was issued for these shows as well (45789; it was also briefly available in shops).

Ivo states in no uncertain terms that Kristin Hersh's first solo album, Hips And Makers (CAD 4002; a limited edition CD digipak was available as CADD 4002)), is "one of the best records we've ever put out." Produced by Lenny Kaye, and featuring only Kristin's voice, her acoustic guitar and an occasional cello, the album is a breathtaking collection, by turns ravishingly beautiful and frighteningly cathartic. It's single, the hypnotic "Your Ghost," (BAD 4001) was a duet with R.E.M.' s Michael Stipe. The Strings EP (BAD 4006), found Kristin re-recording four of the Hips And Makers songs with a six-piece string section.

Like Kristin Hersh or Mark Kozelek, Lisa Germano was a fiercely original singer/songwriter whose music fearlessly explored the darkest corners of her psyche. Ivo first encountered her when she was signed to Capitol Records in the United States. Her 4AD debut, the limited edition Inconsiderate Bitch EP (TAD 4003)--featuring several Ivo/John Fryer mixes of songs from her album Happiness--had been intended as a one-off. When Lisa's deal with Capitol crumbled, Ivo leapt into the breach, signing her to 4AD and issuing a revised version of Happiness (CAD 4005).

Later in the year, she issued a second album, Geek The Girl (CAD 4017). One of the most harrowing albums of the 90's, it can take its place proudly on the "devastating masterpiece" shelf alongside the likes of Big Star's Third or Lou Reed's Berlin. Incredibly, most of the songs on the album were actually recorded as home demos, before it was decided that the material was perfect as it was.

Mark Kozelek's nearly unrecognizable slowed-down arrangement of Ace Frehley's "Shock Me" was among the most memorable of the odd array of classic rock cover versions Red House Painters were in the habit of performing live. It was immortalized for posterity on the Shock Me EP (BAD 4004), coupling two versions of the song with two Kozelek originals.

Ivo had first taken note of vocalist Joanne Loughman and guitarist/violinist Hugh O'Carrol--the nucleus of The Glee Club-- when he heard their previous band, the Swinging Swine, on a Nick Drake tribute album and was impressed by Joanne's voice. The Glee Club's music ranged from folky lullabies to more straightforward electric rock songs. The Setanta label issued the group's album Mine (45496) in the UK, while 4AD released it only in the United States.

Frank Black's final album for 4AD was Teenager Of The Year (CAD 4009), a sprawling 22-song double album that continued to explore the territory mapped out by his debut. While initially hard to take in, the album nevertheless contained some very fine work, including the single "Headache" (BAD 4007).

Lush's second album found the band in sharp form, toughened up by their experiences on the previous year's Lollapalooza tour. Split (CAD 4011), as its title implied, explored the dichotomies in the band's music, finding them equally adept at concise, pop-oriented material like "Hypocrite" (BAD 4008, the album's first single) as well as lengthy epics like "Never Never" and "Desire Lines" (BAD 4010, single #2).

To coincide with their Lollapalooza '94 appearances, The Breeders issued Head To Toe (BADD 4012), a limited edition 10-inch vinyl EP. Produced by Dinosaur Jr.'s J Mascis, it included covers of songs by Guided By Voices and Sebadoh.

Following Ian Masters' departure, the Pale Saints added bassist/vocalist Colleen Browne to the lineup and recorded what was to become their final album, Slow Buildings (CAD 4014), with Hugh Jones. Ivo had heard a piece of music by a band called Persian Rugs, which he suggested might be interesting for the band to record. The group rewrote the song and added lyrics, resulting in the single "Fine Friend." (BAD 4013).

Dead Can Dance's Toward The Within (CAD 4015) was an attempt to document the group's uncanny live performances. Recorded and filmed in late 1993 at Santa Monica's venerable Mayfair Theatre--which was largely destroyed by an earthquake less than two months afterward--the album featured mostly new material and included several Brendan Perry songs first debuted during his 13 Year Itch performance earlier in the year.

Throwing Muses previewed their upcoming University album--out the following year--with the new single "Bright Yellow Gun" (BAD 4018).

1994 also saw the final Guernica release: Insides' incredible Clear Skin (TU7)--a single hypnotic track that evolved gradually over its 38-minute span into a minimalist symphony of interlocking patterns
1995

The Wolfgang Press began the year with the release of Funky Little Demons (CAD 4016), a further refinement of Queer's sonic advances that showcased an increased fascination with swampy blues and '60s soul. The down-and-dirty single "Going South" (BAD 5001) featured an array of interesting mixes by the likes of Michael Brook, Jah Wobble and Apollo 440. Their subsequent departure from 4AD marked the departure of the label's longest-serving artists (as members of Mass and In Camera, all three members had been making records for 4AD since 1980).

Throwing Muses University (CAD 5002; a deluxe limited edition was available as CADD 5002) had actually been recorded well over a year prior to its release, having been held up to allow space for Kristin Hersh's solo album. Recorded at Daniel Lanois' studio in New Orleans, it was one of the group's hardest-edged efforts, with "Bright Yellow Gun," released as a single the preceding year, picking up a solid amount of radio play.

Belly travelled to the legendary Compass Point studios in the Bahamas to record their second album, King (CAD 5004; a limited-edition, with the CD housed in a hard cover book, was issued as CADD 5004), with celebrated producer Glyn Johns (Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, The Who). The result was a polished, tightly-coiled set of Tanya Donnelly songs that included such powerful singles as "Now They'll Sleep" (BAD 5003) and "Seal My Fate" (BAD 5007).

The fourth Red House Painters album in less than three years, and their last for 4AD, Ocean Beach (CAD 5005) was a quietly devastating record that confirmed Mark Kozelek's status as one of the finest songwriters to emerge in the '90s. Many of Kozelek's songs were now expanding to epic length, as exemplified by the graceful 9-minute ebb-and-flow of the concluding "Drop." (A double-10-inch-vinyl edition of the album (DADD 5005) also included a cover of "Long Distance Runaround" by Yes).

As a founding member of both the Dream Syndicate and Opal, Kendra Smith had participated in some of the most influential recordings of the '80s. After a lovely solo EP in the early '90s, she'd vanished into the woods of Northern California, living in a small cabin without electricity. Ivo, a longtime fan, was able to persuade the reclusive Smith to record for 4AD. Five Ways of Disappearing (CAD 5006) was a highly individual slab of modern psychedelia, which climaxed with a stunning performance of Richard Fariña's "Bold Marauder." After two public appearances to support the record--a show in New York and an in-store performance at a Hollywood record store--she returned to the forest and hasn't been heard from on record since.

Ivo was also a fan of Jenny Toomey, frontwoman of Tsunami and co-founder of the Simple Machines label. He invited her to make a solo album for 4AD, and the result was Liquorice's Listening Cap (CAD 5008), a lovely, low-key record, produced by His Name Is Alive's Warren Defever, that felt like a fresh update on the singer/songwriter albums of the 1970's.

During a hiatus from Dead Can Dance, Lisa Gerrard recorded her first solo album, The Mirror Pool (CAD 5009). A lushly orchestrated mixture of Western classical music, medieval chants and Middle Eastern influences, it featured some of her most radiant vocal work.

Using country music as a springboard, San Francisco's Tarnation explored harrowing emotional terrain on Gentle Creatures (CAD 5010), their first record for 4AD. Frontwoman Paula Frazer' s stark vocals split the difference between Patsy Cline and Leonard Cohen, while the band's plaintive twangs and rumbles imbued the music with an ever-escalating sense of unease.

After the demise of Unrest, band members Mark Robinson and Bridget Cross formed Air Miami, whose lone album me, me, me (CAD 5011) presented a brighter, shinier, giddier take on Unrest's brand of cryptic humor and post-everything pop music. The Fuck You, Tiger EP (BAD 5014) backed me, me, me's punky "I Hate Milk" with a trio of non-album tracks.

Northern Ireland's Scheer made their label debut with the release of the five-song Schism EP (BAD 5012), which showcased their unlikely combination of Audrey Gallagher's plaintive vocals with the band's sledgehammer riff-rock aggression.

Sherri Hood--who had been 4AD's first American employee back in the '80s before moving on to artist management--sent Ivo a tape of demos by Slowdive's Neil Halstead and Rachel Goswell. Ivo was stunned by the quality of the music--a hazy swell of male/female harmonies and Halstead's languid acoustic melodies--and insisted that it deserved to be heard just as it was. The result was the first Mojave 3 album, Ask Me Tomorrow (CAD 5013), most of which consists of the demo as Ivo heard it (a few more songs--such as the breathtaking "Mercy"--were recorded later).

After the massive success of The Breeders' Last Splash, Kim Deal deliberately chose to scale things back a bit when she returned to the studio. The result was Pacer (CAD 5016), released under the alias The Amps, a blast of scruffy punk rock featuring Kim bashing out 12 new tunes in just over half an hour. One of the album's standout tracks, "Tipp City," (BAD 5015) was also issued as a single.

Kristin Hersh saw 1995 out with a limited edition holiday EP, The Holy Single (TAD 5017), featuring covers of Alex Chilton's "Jesus Christ," the Carter Family's "Can The Circle Be Unbroken," the traditional "Amazing Grace" and "Sinkhole," written by her father (the latter song had been featured on Throwing Muses' original demo tape ten years previously; it was later included on the Muses compilation In A Doghouse).


1996

1996 saw a successful 4AD package tour barnstorming across the United States. Cryptically dubbed Shaving The Pavement, it teamed Lush, Mojave 3 and Scheer for a string of 25 shows.

Lush blazed into 1996 with Lovelife (CAD 6004), their last and most successful album. Drawing inspiration from the then-current Britpop scene--exemplified on the album by "Ciao!," a Nancy & Lee-style duet between Miki Berenyi and Pulp's Jarvis Cocker, Lovelife was by far the catchiest and most song-oriented record of the group's career. The album spawned a trio of exemplary singles--"Single Girl" (BAD 6001), "Ladykillers" (BAD 6002) and "500 (Shake Baby Shake)" (BAD 6009)--all of which were Top 25 hits in the UK. The album proved a success with American audiences, as well; the band played to sold-out crowds while topping the bill on the Shaving The Pavement tour. Tragically, what should have been Lush's finest year thus far ended in tragedy when drummer Chris Acland committed suicide in October. Unwilling to continue after the loss of their friend, Lush chose to split up.

Scheer released their debut album Infliction (CAD 6006), matching one of Vaughan Oliver's most in-your-face sleeve designs with equally forceful music. Two singles from the album were also issued: "Shéa" (BAD 6003) and "Wish You Were Dead"(BAD 6005).

His Name Is Alive made a triumphant return with Stars On ESP (CAD 6010), a wildly eclectic avant-pop record that found Warren Defever drawing inspiration from such diverse influences as Phil Spector, the echo and reverb of early reggae and ska, Woody Guthrie, '60s cult label ESP (hence the album title) and a series of forgotten albums by actor David McCallum. The album's centerpiece was the jaw-dropping single "Universal Frequencies" (BAD 6007)--which was nothing less than Defever's successful attempt to reinvent the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations." As an appropriately Spectorian touch, Defever created a special mono mix of Stars On ESP, available only on vinyl.

Throwing Muses released their final album, Limbo (CAD 6014), which saw them out in peak form. Perhaps their most fully-realized work, it perfectly captured the electric side of Kristin Hersh's music, while proving yet again that the latter-day Muses lineup ranked as one of the great rock trios of the decade. Two singles were extracted from the album: "Shark" (BAD 6016) and "Ruthie's Knocking" (TAD 6017), a limited edition one-song 7-inch with an etching on the B-side.

Although it wasn't intended as such, Dead Can Dance's Spiritchaser (CAD 6008) also proved to be the group's recorded swan song. Their most rhythmically-driven work, it brought elements of African, Caribbean and Australian aboriginal music into the mix. Filled with long, mantric tracks that spiral ecstatically towards completion, Spiritchaser's material truly came to life in the summer of '96 on their extraordinary final tour. Dead Can Dance split up in late 1998 during the recording of what would have been their ninth album.

Heidi Berry's Miracle (CAD 6011) was her third (and sadly, last) album for 4AD. An exquisitely folky collection of new songs (and a Jesse Colin Young cover) given life by Heidi's voice and the masterful production of Hugh Jones, the album possesses the same timeless quality of all of her work.

Lisa Germano's follow-up to Geek The Girl was the somewhat lighter-in-tone Excerpts From A Love Circus (CAD 6012), a mesmerizing cycle of dysfunctional relationship songs punctuated by occasional contributions from Lisa's cats. It was followed by the "Small Heads" single (BAD 6019), which also featured the supremely ironic "Fun, Fun For Everyone."

An important new addition to the 4AD roster was Iceland's Gus Gus, a nine-person multi-media collective from Reykjavik whose beguiling post-trip hop sound was augmented with startling video clips and a carnival-styled live show. Their first release was the Polyesterday EP (BAD 6013), an appetizer before the release of their debut album the following year.

Since moving to California, Ivo had become a fan of The Paladins, a hard-charging roots-rock band who'd been one of the West Coast's most dependably great live attractions for close to twenty years. After a particularly memorable show at the House Of Blues on New Year's Eve 1995, he approached the band about the prospect of cutting a live album for 4AD. The ferocious Million Mile Club (CAD 6015) was the result.

Having dissolved Belly, Tanya Donelly embarked upon a solo career. She released an EP, Sliding & Diving (BAD 6018), prior to her debut album the next year.


1997

Tarnation returned with a new album, Mirador (CAD 7004), which found the group's subversive country sound moving in a more bluesy, Nick Cave-esque direction. "There's Someone" (TAD 7000) previewed one of the album's key tracks on a limited edition 7-inch. "You'll Understand" (BAD 7001; a limited double 7-inch was issued as ADD 7001) matched two of Mirador's songs with a pair of non-album tracks.

Gus Gus's debut album Polydistortion (CAD 7005) ably demonstrated that Iceland had more than Bjork to contribute to the global music scene. Mixing sinuous electronic grooves with a perverse pop sensibility, Gus Gus caused a stir in clubs around the world with tracks like "Believe" (a two-part single: BAD 7002 came with non-album tracks while BADD 7002 featured a slew of remixes).

Michael Brook's first 4AD release in five years was his soundtrack to actor Kevin Spacey's directorial debut, Albino Alligator (CAD 7003). A set of disquieting music perfectly appropriate to the film's portrayal of raw nerves and bungled plans. Brook's sound palette veered from swampy blues-rock to modal keyboard ostinatos á la Philip Glass. The album's most unusual moment was a slow motion duet between R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe and peerless jazz vocalist Jimmy Scott on the standard "Ill Wind," featuring Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers on bass.

Scheer issued "Demon," (BAD 7006), a final single drawn from the Infliction album.

Having been an integral part of Throwing Muses, The Breeders and Belly during more than a decade on the 4AD roster, Tanya Donelly's debut as a solo artist was long overdue. Lovesongs For Underdogs (CAD 7008) was an album of quirky, evocative tunes in a variety of musical settings unified by the force of Tanya's personality. It featured the singles "Pretty Deep" (a 7-inch and two CD's--AD 7007, BAD 7007 and BADD 7007--all featured different B-sides) and "The Bright Light" (another multi-B-side phenomenon: AD 7012, BAD 7012, BADD 7012).

As an epilogue, of sorts, to the Stars On ESP project, Warren Defever issued Nice Day, a limited edition EP (JAD 7009) featuring six new songs.

Issued to commemorate the tenth anniversary of The Pixies' first release, Death To The Pixies (DAD 7011) assembled 17 of the band's greatest moments. Two deluxe editions--one a boxed set of four 10-inch vinyl records (DADD 7011), the other a slipcased double-CD set (DADD 7011CD)--added a complete live concert recording from 1990. The 10-inch vinyl set also included a pair of previously unreleased demos, which also showed up on a few super-limited copies of the 2CD set; these can only be identified by the initials "GT" (for "Golden Ticket") on the matrix numbers of the CD's themselves.

Released as a single just prior just before Death To The Pixies hit the racks, "Debaser" was issued as a single with a variety of choice unreleased material on its various formats: three Dutch radio session tracks on BAD 7010, three live tracks from a Chicago broadcast on BADD 7010, and a demo of the otherwise unissed "Number Thirteen Baby" on the 7-inch AD7011.

The soundtrack to an American independent film that wound up going straight to video, Joyride (46825) featured a variety of tracks culled from numerous 4AD releases over the years (two non-4AD tracks came courtesy of the German label Recycle Or Die).


1998

1998 began with the release of Anakin (TAD 8001), a limited edition sampler, compiled and sequenced by Ivo, intended to provide a preview of the year's release schedule. It included several otherwise unavailable demos, as well as tracks from albums that never saw the light of day.

The first era of Gus Gus concluded with a new two-part single of "Polyesterday" (BAD 8002 and BADD 8002) featuring remixes by such cutting-edge sound manipulators as Carl Craig, Amon Tobin and DJ Vadim. Meanwhile, the group were back in the studio crafting their second album, to be released the following year.

Strange Angels (CAD 8003) was Kristin Hersh's first effort following the demise of Throwing Muses. An acoustic effort in the vein of Hips And Makers, it was co-produced by acclaimed singer/songwriter Joe Henry. A limited edition tour single, "Like You" (TAD 8005), featured a pair of live songs as well as the title track. Later in the year, Kristin issued 4AD's first-ever mail-order-only release, an album of doom-laden traditional folksongs entitled Murder, Misery and then Goodnight (4ADM1).

On a related note, the 2CD anthology In A Doghouse (DAD 607) collected the first Throwing Muses album, the long-unavailable Chains Changed EP, the group's previously unreleased 1985 demo tape and five songs from 1983 that had finally been committed to tape 13 years later.

Lisa Gerrard stepped outside the confines of Dead Can Dance for a second time on Duality (CAD 8004), recorded with Pieter Bourke, who'd toured and recorded with Dead Can Dance over the past several years. A more accessible album than The Mirror Pool, it placed the emphasis squarely upon Lisa's uncanny singing abilities, while "Human Game" featured one of her rare English-language vocal performances.

Rich Holtzman, of 4AD's Los Angeles office, was the first person at the label to discover the music of Washington D.C.'s Eric Hilton and Rob Garza, better known as Thievery Corporation. One of the most fascinating exponents of the worldwide electronica explosion, the duo's music was an open-minded fusion of dub reggae, drum-and-bass and Brazilian music, as depicted on Sounds From The Thievery Hi-Fi (CAD 8006). "38:45" (BAD 8007) was a 12-inch vinyl single featuring extended versions of a track from the album, while the non-album single, "Lebanese Blonde" (BAD 8017), was issued later in the year.

Seven years after the release of the final This Mortal Coil album, Ivo unveiled his much-anticipated new project, The Hope Blister. ...smile's ok (CAD 8008) was a haunting album composed entirely of cover versions, including songs by Brian Eno, John Cale, Neil Halstead of Mojave 3, David Sylvian and Heidi Berry. Unlike This Mortal Coil, it was recorded with only a small group of musicians: the spectral vocals of Louise Rutkowski (who'd contributed to the second and third TMC albums) were backed only by bassist Laurence O'Keefe (Dark Star, Levitation), a string quartet led by Audrey Riley, and, on two tracks, Dif Juz's Ritchie Thomas. The less-is-more approach yielded an album whose emotional power lay in its sparseness.

Having by now trained his listeners to always expect the unexpected, Warren Defever returned with a new His Name Is Alive album. Ft. Lake (CAD 8009) was an unexpected move, even by Defever's unpredictable standards. Teaming for the first time with an outside producer--Steve King, who'd worked with Funkadelic and Aretha Franklin--Defever managed to incorporate screaming rock & roll, cheesy electronics, gospel (courtesy of new co-vocalist Lovetta Pippen) and miscellaneous funkiness into something that was still immediately recognizable as His Name Is Alive. The "Can't Always Be Loved" CD single (BAD 8015) contains the utterly essential 17-minute version of "Wish I Had A Wishing Ring," featuring some truly over-the-top guitar heroics.

Cuba--a duo of Christopher Andrews and former Chapterhouse drummer Ashley Bates--made their 4AD debut with a trio of singles--"Urban Light" (BAD 8010), "Cross The Line" (BAD 8012) and "Havana" (BAD 8019)--which introduced their sample-crazed, genre-blurring mixture of club culture and rock energy.

The Pixies' Pixies At The BBC (GAD 8013) was precisely what it sounded like--a compilation of 15 of the band's BBC radio sessions recorded between 1988 and 1991.

Lisa Germano's Slide (CAD 8014), her final recording for 4AD, was another outstanding set of of musical dispatches from places most songwriters wouldn't dare to tread. An intriguing mixture of Lisa's home recordings and studio sessions featuring such all-star players as Jerry Scheff (Elvis Presley), Pete Thomas (Elvis Costello) and Joe Gore (Tom Waits), it was produced by Tchad Blake (Latin Playboys).

Mojave 3 followed up Ask Me Tomorrow with the equally impressive Out Of Tune (CAD 8018), which surrounded Neil Halstead's warm, golden-hued songs with a rich variety of musical settings. The results recalled the organic simplicity of The Band or early Neil Young. Two singles were released, each with excellent non-album tracks--"Who Do You Love?" (BAD 8011) and "Some Kinda Angel" (BAD 8016).


1999

4AD's second mail-order-only release, The Hope Blister's Underarms (4ADM2), was Ivo's instrumental companion piece to ...smile's ok. Created during the ...smile's ok sessions, Underarms was a set of ultra-minimalist drone-scapes with a vast, cavernous sound and an austere beauty.

Gus Gus made their return with "Ladyshave," a classic pop single (BAD 9001, BADD 9001). The much-anticipated This Is Normal (CAD 9006) proved a dizzying cocktail of sometimes danceable, sometimes dreamlike songs. Further singles included the electro-funky "Starlovers" (BAD 9004, BADD 9004) and the mutant house groove of "VIP" (BAD 9017, BADD 9017).

Warren Defever summed up the first seven years of His Name Is Alive recordings with the release of Always Stay Sweet (CAD 9002), a 21-track greatest-hits-album-from-a-parallel-universe that served as a perfect point-of-entry for those still uninitiated into the band's unique sound-world. For the benefit of the already-addicted, the previously unreleased "Underwater" was also included.

Cuba began the year with another single "Black Island/White Shadow" (BAD 9003) before finally making their album debut with Leap Of Faith (CAD 9014), a provocative showcase for the group's post-Primal Scream, post-big beat brand of widescreen sound, featuring vocals from Shara Nelson, Mojave 3's Rachel Goswell and rapper Mau. A revised, post-album single of "Black Island" (BAD 9016) added a remix by Groove Armada.

The Birthday Party's Live 1981-82 (CAD 9005) was, quite literally, a blast from the past. Assembled from shows in London, Bremen and Athens, it's an unflinching document of the unstoppable juggernaut that Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Rowland S. Howard, Tracy Pew and Phill Calvert were able to conjure onstage. Included were three of the four songs from the long out-of-print Drunk On The Pope's Blood EP, as well as a climactic rendition of the Stooges' "Funhouse" featuring Jim "Foetus" Thirlwell on saxophone.

After the acoustic splendor of her three previous solo records, Kristin Hersh's Sky Motel (CAD 9008) was her first set of electric music since the demise of Throwing Muses. Recorded in New Orleans (at the same studio where the Muses had made University) with producer Trina Shoemaker (Sheryl Crow), Kristin played virtually all the sounds on the record (except for a few drum tracks) by herself. The single "Echo" (BAD 9007) featured covers of Nirvana and the Beatles as B-sides.

Former Throwing Muse David Narcizo--one of the most original rock drummers of recent decades--made his solo debut under the name Lakuna. Castle Of Crime (GAD 9010) was a kaleidoscopic album built from a dizzying array of samples and loops all held together by Narcizo's forceful rhythms. It was accompanied by a limited edition 12-inch single (TAD 9009) featuring two mixes of "So Happy."

Red House Painters' Retrospective (DAD 9011), a two-CD anthology, provided a detailed look at the band's 4AD recordings. Disc 1--compiled and sequenced by Ivo--assembled 13 of the finest songs from their back catalogue, while Disc 2 brought together a selection of unreleased demos, outtakes, radio performaces and live tracks (including two previously unheard pieces).

Following the breakup of Dead Can Dance, Brendan Perry finally unleashed the solo album he'd been promising since his epochal set at London's ICA in 1993. Eye Of The Hunter (CAD 9015) proved more than equal to expectations. An album of sweeping drama and private emotion in the vein of visionary loners like Tim Buckley and Scott Walker, its eight tracks glided on layers of quiet instrumentation and Perry's immense vocal presence. It was timeless music, in every sense of the word.

conducted by Andy Zax. tagged from The Perfect Antidote. reproduced by ct.uk