The Science Group were an

avant-rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments with the basic elements of the genre. Artists aim to liberate and innovate, wit ...

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

founded in France in 1997 by English drummer

Chris Cutler Chris Cutler (born 4 January 1947) is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of other bands, including Art Bears, N ...

from

Henry Cow Henry Cow were an English experimental rock group, founded at the University of Cambridge in 1968 by multi-instrumentalists Fred Frith and Tim Hodgkinson. Henry Cow's personnel fluctuated over their decade together, but drummer Chris Cutler, b ...

and Yugoslav contemporary classical composer and keyboardist Stevan Tickmayer. They released ''A Mere Coincidence'', an album of songs on

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

related topics in 1999, and an instrumental album, ''Spoors'' in 2003. The Science Group were seen by some as an "avant-prog nerd's dream band". Their music was principally

but also covered a variety of other genres including

avant-garde jazz Avant-garde jazz (also known as avant-jazz, experimental jazz, or "new thing") is a style of music and improvisation that combines avant-garde art music and composition with jazz. It originated in the early 1950s and developed through the late 1 ...

, contemporary classical,

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

ambient Ambient or ambiance or ambience may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Ambiancé'', an unreleased experimental film * ''Ambient'' (novel), a novel by Jack Womack Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgr ...

and

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductors * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic c ...

History

Chris Cutler met Stevan Tickmayer in 1981 in

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; #Name, see below for other names) is the List of cities in Serbia, second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pannoni ...

in the former

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

while touring with

Geoff Leigh Geoff Leigh (born 5 October 1945) is an English jazz and progressive rock musician, playing primarily soprano saxophone and flute. He was a member of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow and founded several bands himself, including Red Balu ...

's band,

Black Sheep In the English language, black sheep is an idiom that describes a member of a group who is different from the rest, especially a family member who does not fit in. The term stems from sheep whose fleece is colored black rather than the more comm ...

. Cutler came into contact with Tickmayer again in the early 1990s when Cutler's

Recommended Records Recommended Records (RēR) is a British independent record label and distribution network founded by Chris Cutler with Nick Hobbs in March 1978. RēR features largely "Rock in Opposition" and related music, but it also distributes selected musi ...

label in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

began importing and distributing some of Tickmayer's albums. In 1991 Tickmayer moved to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and invited Cutler to work with him on the music for various choreographic productions. In 1996 Cutler suggested to Tickmayer that they make a song record using "science" texts Cutler had been developing since 1992. Cutler remarked later in a 1999 interview: Songs by Cutler on

related topics had previously been recorded by

Art Bears Art Bears were an England, English avant-rock Musical ensemble, group formed during the disassembly of Henry Cow in 1978 by three of its members, Chris Cutler (percussion, texts), Fred Frith (guitar, bass guitar, violin, keyboards) and Dagmar Kr ...

and

News from Babel News from Babel were an English avant-rock group founded in 1983 by Chris Cutler, Lindsay Cooper, Zeena Parkins and Dagmar Krause. They made two studio albums with several guest musicians (including Robert Wyatt) and disbanded in 1986. ...

, but this was to be his first album devoted exclusively with this subject matter. Using Cutler's texts, Tickmayer composed the music for a suite of songs that became the Science Group's first album, ''A Mere Coincidence''. Tickmayer and Cutler began recording the album in May 1997 at Studio Midi Pyrenees in Caudeval, France. They invited

Fred Frith Jeremy Webster "Fred" Frith (born 17 February 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser. Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as a founding member of the English avant-rock group Henry ...

(ex-

) to join them and he added guitars to the mix. Then the

ADAT Alesis Digital Audio Tape, commonly referred to as ADAT, is a magnetic tape format used for the Sound recording and reproduction, recording of eight digital audio tracks onto the same S-VHS tape used by consumer VCRs, and the basis of a serie ...

s recorded so far and a

score SCORE may refer to: *SCORE (software), a music scorewriter program * SCORE (television), a weekend sports service of the defunct Financial News Network *SCORE! Educational Centers *SCORE International, an offroad racing organization *Sarawak Corrido ...

were sent to Claudio Puntin in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

who added bassclarinet. After the tapes were returned to the studio in France,

Amy Denio Amy Denio (born June 9, 1961) is a Seattle-based multi-instrumental composer of soundtracks for modern dance, film and theater, as well as a songwriter and music improviser. Her inspirations include world music, and is mainly known as a vocali ...

(from

Tone Dogs Tone Dogs was an avant-prog group founded in 1987 by bassist Fred Chalenor and vocalist/saxophonist Amy Denio, who comprised the nucleus of the band. Drummer Matt Cameron, known for his work in the alternative rock group Soundgarden, was recrui ...

) joined them and sang the texts. Bob Drake (from

Thinking Plague Thinking Plague is an American avant-garde progressive rock group founded in 1982 by guitarist/composer Mike Johnson and bass guitarist/drummer Bob Drake. Based in Denver, Colorado, the band has been active off and on since 1982, taking on a ...

) handled all the mixing and also added bass guitar, singing and overdubbed guitars and percussion. The whole process continued on and off until January 1999 when the production work was completed. ''A Mere Coincidence'' was released later in 1999 on Cutler's Recommended Records label, with the Science Group being billed as Cutler (texts), Tickmayer (music), Drake (production), plus Frith, Puntin and Denio. The group remained dormant until 2002 when they reassembled as a quartet of Cutler, Tickmayer, Drake and

Mike Johnson James Michael Johnson (born January 30, 1972) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the List of speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 56th speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2023. A member ...

(from Thinking Plague) to record their second album, ''Spoors''. It comprised four suites of purely instrumental pieces composed by Tickmayer and was released in 2003, also on Recommended Records. The Science Group never performed live, although they were invited to play at the annual

Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville The Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville () is an annual international music festival held in Victoriaville, Quebec that showcases contemporary music. The festival is known for its small scale (usually no more than 20 perfo ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, which they had to turn down due to other commitments by some of the group members.

Name

The Science Group took their name from the subject matter of Chris Cutler's song texts that were used on their first album. The texts focused on science related topics, including

theoretical physics Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain, and predict List of natural phenomena, natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental p ...

cosmology Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe, the cosmos. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', with the meaning of "a speaking of the wo ...

and

genetic engineering Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of Genetic engineering techniques, technologies used to change the genet ...

. Their second album was purely instrumental, but the group retained their name for this album.

Members

– drums, electronics, texts * Stevan Tickmayer – keyboards, samples, piano, prepared piano, piano strings, electric organ, violin, electric guitar, double bass, Hungarian zither, music * Bob Drake – bass guitar, guitar, percussion, vocals, production *

– guitars * Claudio Puntin – clarinet, bass clarinet *

– vocals *

– guitars

Discography

Albums

*''A Mere Coincidence'' (1999, CD,

, UK) *''Spoors'' (2003, CD, Recommended Records, UK)

Footnotes

External links

*
Compositions for The Science Group
''Stevan Tickmayer home page''.

''Chris Cutler home page''.

''Chris Cutler home page''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Science Group, The French jazz ensembles French experimental rock groups French experimental music groups Musical groups established in 1997 Musical groups disestablished in 2003 Chris Cutler