Hangedup was an

experimental 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 ...

duo from

Montreal, Quebec Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Canada, featuring Genevieve Heistek on

Viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

and Eric Craven on

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

and

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

. They combined viola with strong percussion, sometimes using self-made instruments, to create intense experimental

Post-rock Post-rock is a subgenre of experimental rock that emphasizes Texture (music), texture, atmosphere, and non-traditional song structures over conventional rock techniques. Post-rock artists often combine rock instrumentation and rock stylings wit ...

music.

History

Heistek and Craven performed with the band Sackville. Heistek was also part of The Mile End Ladies String Auxiliary,

Set Fire to Flames Set Fire to Flames was a Canadian instrumental music ensemble consisting of 13 musicians from Montreal, Quebec.

, HṚṢṬA, and Land of Kush. Craven was associated with Shortwave, HṚṢṬA, and formerly Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band. In 1999 they came together to form Hangedup, and were signed in Montréal by Sackville's label, Constellation Records. Their first album, self-titled, was recorded at

Hotel2Tango The Hotel2Tango (sometimes referred to as Thee Mighty Hotel2Tango and abbreviated H2T) is a 24-track Analog recording, analogue recording studio situated in the Mile End, Montreal, Mile End district of Montreal, Quebec. The current facility is th ...

studios and released in 2001. In 2002, they released ''Kicker in Tow''. ''Clatter for Control'' came out in 2005. In 2012, Constellation released ''Musique Fragile 02'', a limited-edition boxed set of three vinyl LPs: one each from the bands Kanada 70 and Pacha, and ''Transit of Venus'', a six-track collaborative album by Hangedup and

Tony Conrad Anthony Schmalz Conrad (March 7, 1940 – April 9, 2016) was an American video artist, experimental filmmaker, musician, composer, sound artist, teacher, and writer. Active in a variety of media since the early 1960s, he was a pioneer of both ...

. Hangedup performed all over the world. In 2003, it played Barcelona's Primavera Sound Festival. In October 2005, Hangedup joined

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter, author, and photographer. Her 1975 debut album '' Horses'' made her an influential member of the New York City-based punk rock movement. Smith has fu ...

and

Guy Picciotto Guy Picciotto ( ; born September 17, 1965) is an American songwriter, musician, and record producer from Washington, D.C. He is best known as the guitarist and co-lead vocalist in Fugazi and as lead vocalist of Rites of Spring. Career Rites ...

onstage at

Jem Cohen Jem Alan Cohen (born 1962) is an Afghans, Afghan-born United States, American filmmaker based in New York City. Cohen is especially known for his observational portraits of urban landscapes, blending of media formats (16 mm film, sixteen-millimet ...

's Fusebox festival in

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

. In December 2010, the duo appeared at England's

All Tomorrow's Parties "All Tomorrow's Parties" is a song by the Velvet Underground and Nico, written by Lou Reed and released as the band's debut single in 1966. The song is from their 1967 debut studio album, ''The Velvet Underground & Nico''. Inspiration for the so ...

Butlin's Minehead Butlins Resort Minehead is a holiday camp operated by Butlins, located in Minehead in Somerset, England. It opened in 1962 and remains in use today. It was known as Butlin's Minehead until 1987, and as Somerwest World from then until 1999, when ...

. Also in 2012, Hangedup was featured in ''And We Made the Room Shine'', a film by François Clos and Thomas Lallier about Constellation Records. The film was presented at the 2012

Vienna International Film Festival The Vienna International Film Festival, or Viennale, is a film festival taking place every October since 1960 in Vienna, Austria. The average number of visitors is about 75,000. Traditional cinema venues are ''Gartenbaukino'', ''Urania'', ''Met ...

Discography

* '' Hangedup'' (2001, Constellation Records) * '' Kicker In Tow'' (2002, Constellation Records) * '' Clatter For Control'' (2005, Constellation Records) * ''Transit Of Venus - With Tony Conrad'' (2012, Constellation Records)

External links

Constellation Records Artist Page

References

{{Authority control Canadian post-rock groups Musical groups from Montreal Constellation Records (Canada) artists