Consolidated is an American radical activist music group, formed in 1988 and best known in the early 1990s as an alternative dance/ industrial music band. Between 1989 and 1994, their instrumental style evolved from industrial, to hip-hop, to hard rock and funk with mixtures of live instruments and electronic instruments. They were distinguished by left-leaning political activism and politically radical lyrics, as well as their innovative sonic collages which blended industrial and hip-hop styles. Their music often focused on vegetarianism,

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their Utilitarianism, utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding s ...

, fighting

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonis ...

and homophobia, the unity of oppression,

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

, the dangers of

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...

, and the evils of

American nationalism American nationalism, is a form of civic, ethnic, cultural or economic influences * * * * * * * found in the United States. Essentially, it indicates the aspects that characterize and distinguish the United States as an autonomous political ...

. Although often criticized as having strident and confrontational lyrics, Consolidated tempered the intensity of their songs with many instances of self-deprecating humor. They admitted to their own struggles with addressing complex social issues within the constraining structures of

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former descri ...

, an artistic form they referred to as "a neutralized medium," but explained that they did so because they felt that it might be their only chance to reach a mass audience with progressive messages of social justice. Their signature song, "Consolidated", contained the mission statement "Consolidated is not even a consumer product... yet. This is no rock and roll band. It is a unique creative vision of a small isolated group of individuals. A team that's skilled and dedicated. Searching for the knowledge that will enable them to improve the quality of their lives and the lives of those around them."

History

The band was formed in the early part of 1988 in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

after each of the founding members had grown dissatisfied with other music projects they had been involved in. Consolidated's original line-up consisted of Adam Sherburne (guitar and vocals, previously lead singer of

Until December Until December was a San Francisco, California, San Francisco-based rock band active in the early to late 1980s. The band released four 12" singles in 1985 on 415 Records / CBS. A self-titled album Until December was released in 1986 by 415 Recor ...

Mark Pistel Mark Pistel is a producer, engineer, programmer, remixer and songwriter who has been working in the electronic music scene since 1988. Pistel works out of a San Francisco recording studio called Room 5. Pistel was a founding member of the band ...

(samples, sequencers and keyboards/synths), and

Philip Steir Philip Steir is an American drummer, remixer, composer and record producer. Life and career As a drummer, he played in the critically acclaimed band Consolidated he co-founded, which was signed to Nettwerk Records and later London Records. Co ...

(drums). In 1990 they released their debut album ''

The Myth of Rock ''The Myth of Rock'' is the first full-length album by industrial/ hip hop artists Consolidated, released in 1990. The album peaked at #24 on the CMJ Radio Top 150 while the album track "Dysfunctional Relationship" posted at #24 on the CMJ Ra ...

'', and toured North America with

Meat Beat Manifesto Meat Beat Manifesto, often shortened as Meat Beat, Manifesto or MBM, is an electronic music group originally consisting of Jack Dangers and Jonny Stephens that was formed in 1987 in Swindon, United Kingdom. The band, fronted by Dangers (the only ...

the following year. Consolidated's subsequent line-ups have consisted of Adam Sherburne, Todd Bryerton (drums), Michael Dunn (bass), and Kevin Carnes (drums) with some mixing and engineering by Mark Pistel. After 1994, the original line-up went their separate ways. Since that time, the project has been mainly under the direction of Adam Sherburne, with peripheral involvement by Mark Pistel (primarily mixing and engineering the albums). Following the split of the original line-up, Consolidated has continued to evolve musically through styles reminiscent of West Coast hip-hop, R&B, rock, and jazz similar to

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...

's early 1970s experimentation. Initially known for their strident, lyric-heavy albums, their most recent recordings have been almost entirely instrumental improvisations. Co-founders Mark Pistel (programming/vocals) and Philip Steir (programming/vocals) continued to do many remix projects after leaving the band. Mark Pistel made one album under the name Pistel, and has also played with the live/touring incarnation of

as well as a group called Electronic Dub Collective. He is currently co-producing and touring with

Hercules and Love Affair Hercules and Love Affair is a dance music project created by American DJ, singer, composer, musician and producer Andy Butler in 2004. Consisting of a rotating cast of performers and musicians, the band work within the genres of house music, dis ...

. Philip Steir co-owns a recording studio called Toast. Drummer Todd Bryerton of the band's later line-up performs with

Kneel Cohn Kneel Cohn (born January 12, 1976) in The Bronx, New York is the primary songwriter, lead singer and guitarist for Warshow Angels, and The Dead Stars On Hollywood, known for the songs "Prozac Smile" and "Flaunt it Like This". He has performed w ...

in the NYC post-glam band

The Dead Stars on Hollywood The Dead Stars on Hollywood were an American rock band based in New York City, that incorporated elements of glam, new wave and goth into their alternative rock sound. The group's name was inspired by the "cinematic" imagery of the glory days of o ...

Live performances

In each of their live performances, Consolidated included a period of time in which microphones were passed among audience members, who could then discuss, rebut, argue or elaborate upon the topics of Consolidated's songs in a process they dubbed "inter-active democracy." Consolidated devised these interactions as a way to subvert the typically passive experience of watching a band perform, empowering the audience members to respond and articulate their own opinions on issues addressed in the song lyrics or even the nature of the performance itself. Consolidated recorded many of these interactions and sampled excerpts of them to be included on their albums. In some cases, these samples were arranged and featured as short interludes between songs, while in other cases they were worked into the sonic collages of the songs themselves (e.g., "Crusading Rap Guys" on the 1991 LP '' Friendly Fa$cism''.) Consolidated's live performances featured video montages that were either projected onto large screens, or featured on multiple television sets positioned along the perimeter of the stage. The video footage included their promotional music video clips for their singles, as well as video art composed of found footage which corresponded to the lyrical topics of specific songs (e.g., myths of male sexuality, sexist depictions of women in mass media, and the inhumane treatment of animals in laboratories and slaughterhouses). Local, regional and national activist groups were invited by Consolidated to set up tables and information kiosks at their shows while they were on tour.

Discography

An entry on a previous version of Consolidated's official website noted that all their albums have combined to sell over 500,000 copies. * ''

¡Consolidated! Consolidated is an American radical activist music group, formed in 1988 and best known in the early 1990s as an alternative dance/industrial music band. Between 1989 and 1994, their instrumental style evolved from industrial, to hip-hop, to hard ...

'' EP (Zoth Ommog , Muzic Research , Nettwerk, 1989) * ''

'' (Nettwerk , I.R.S., 1990) - #24 CMJ Radio Top 150 * ''Dysfunctional'' EP (Nettwerk , I.R.S., 1990) * ''This Is a Collective'' EP (Nettwerk , I.R.S., 1990) * '' Friendly Fa$cism'' (Nettwerk , I.R.S., 1991) * ''Brutal Equation'' EP (Nettwerk , I.R.S., 1991) * ''Unity of Oppression'' EP (Nettwerk , I.R.S., 1991) * ''This Is Fascism'' EP (Nettwerk , I.R.S., 1991) * '' Play More Music'' (Nettwerk , I.R.S., 1992) * ''Tool and Die'' EP (Nettwerk , I.R.S., 1992) * ''You Suck / Crackhouse'' EP (Nettwerk , I.R.S., 1992) * '' Warning: Explicit Lyrics'' EP (Nettwerk , I.R.S., 1993) * '' Business of Punishment'' (

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

/ Polygram, 1994) – #28 CMJ Radio Top 150 – #53 UK Albums * '' Butyric Acid'' 12" (

/ Polygram, 1994) * '' Dropped'' (

G7 Welcoming Committee G7 Welcoming Committee Records was a Canadian independent record label based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The label mostly released material by artists and speakers with a radical left-wing point of view. History G7 Welcoming Committee Records was f ...

, 1997) * ''Tikkun (Survivor Demos)'' (Orchard Records, 1999) * '' The End of Meaning'' (Consolidated Artists, 2000) * ''Free Music or Stockpiled Death'' (2003) * ''Free Music! Stop America!'' (2005) * ''Fock Songs: Music from the Fockumentary "Free Music! Stop America!"'' EP (2007) * ''2012: The End of Times, The End of Bands'' - as Ha! Ha! Assclown! (2012) * ''The Sound of How People Could Be to Each Other'' - as Free Music! Stop America! (2012) * ''We're Already There'' (2021)

References

External links

Consolidated on G7 Welcoming Committee Records
{{DEFAULTSORT:Consolidated (Band) American dance music groups G7 Welcoming Committee Records artists Musical groups established in 1988 Musical advocacy groups Political music groups Zoth Ommog Records artists