The Los Angeles Free Music Society (LAFMS) is a loose underground collective of experimental avant-rock artist-musicians formed in 1973. Described as a "lightning rod for art-damage, weird-music lovers everywhere," LAFMS was formed by Chip Chapman, Joe Potts, Rick Potts and Tom Recchion. In addition to performing in various configurations, LAFMS produced records, organized concerts, and produced a magazine titled ''Light Bulb.'' Members of the collective performed as Le Forte Four,

Airway The respiratory tract is the subdivision of the respiratory system involved with the process of conducting air to the alveoli for the purposes of gas exchange in mammals. The respiratory tract is lined with respiratory epithelium as respiratory ...

Smegma Smegma (from Ancient Greek ) is shed skin cells, skin oils, and moisture that occurs in male and female mammalian genitalia. In males, smegma collects under the foreskin; in females, it collects around the clitoris and in the folds of the lab ...

, Monique Experience, Foundation Boo, Extended Organ, and The Doo-Dooettes. Their influence can be seen in the DIY culture and "isolationist" experimentalists like

Caroliner Rainbow Caroliner is a music group formed in San Francisco in 1983. Described by critics as "industrial-bluegrass," the group uses instruments from bluegrass and rock traditions, as well as homemade electronics and other modified instruments. In their liv ...

Sun City Girls Sun City Girls was an American experimental rock band formed in 1979 in Phoenix, Arizona. From 1981, the group consisted of Alan Bishop (bass guitar, vocals), his brother Richard Bishop (guitar, piano, vocals), and Charles Gocher (drums, voca ...

, and The

Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 (often shorted to 'Thinking Fellers' or 'TFUL282') were an American indie rock band, which was formed in 1986 in San Francisco, California though half of its members are from Iowa. Their albums combine lo-fi noi ...

, as well as Japanese

noise Noise is sound, chiefly unwanted, unintentional, or harmful sound considered unpleasant, loud, or disruptive to mental or hearing faculties. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrat ...

projects like

Hanatarash Hanatarashi (), meaning "sniveler" or "snot-nosed" in Japanese, was a noise band created by later Boredoms frontman Yamantaka Eye in Osaka, Japan in 1983. The other core member during the early years was later Zeni Geva drummer and Boredoms co-fo ...

Hijokaidan is a Japanese noise and free improvisation group with a revolving lineup that has ranged from two members to as many as fourteen in its early days. The group is the project of guitarist , its one constant member, who is head and owner of the O ...

, and

Incapacitants are a Japanese noise music group formed in 1981. Initially a solo project of Toshiji Mikawa, Fumio Kosakai joined upon the project's relocation to Tokyo. The duo's stated aim is to produce "pure" noise, uninfluenced by musical ideas or even huma ...

. A ten-CD retrospective titled ''The Lowest Form of Music'', comprising 1970s recordings made under the LAFMS banner, was released by the Cortical Foundation and

RRRecords RRRecords is a record label and used- and new-record shop based in Lowell, Massachusetts. RRRecords was the first American record label to publish underground "noise music" in the early 1980s as well as publishing the first American vinyl by Mer ...

in 1996. An artist's edition of 350 copies was made that contained an 11th disc. The LAFMS was the focus of a three-day weekend festival in Vauxhall, London at the Beaconsfield Gallery, October 22–24, 2010, that included performances, talks, workshops, films/videos, installations and artworks. LAFMS groups that performed over the weekend included

, John Duncan, Extended Organ (with David Toop sitting in), Tom Recchion, Le Forte Four, The Tenses, and Dinosaurs With Horns, with special guest performances by

Morphogenesis Morphogenesis (from the Greek ''morphê'' shape and ''genesis'' creation, literally "the generation of form") is the biological process that causes a cell, tissue or organism to develop its shape. It is one of three fundamental aspects of deve ...

, Mark Durgan with Spoils & Relics, Raionbashi & Kutzkelina, and Bill Kouligas + Joseph Hammer. David Toop and Edwin Pouncey (aka Savage Pencil) lead panel discussions and Rick Potts and Vetza lead workshops. In 2012 The Box, a downtown Los Angeles art gallery, ran a six-week exhibition celebrating the 40th anniversary of the LAFMS. Entitled "Beneath the Valley of the Lowest Form of Music: The Los Angeles Free Music Society '1972-2012,'" the exhibit showcased nearly 40 years of LAFMS artwork, self-made musical instruments, recordings, ephemera, film/video, and installations, and included a schedule of live performances and artist's talks.

East of Borneo ''East of Borneo'' is a 1931 American Pre-Code adventure film directed by George Melford, co-written by Edwin H. Knopf and Dale Van Every, starring Rose Hobart, Charles Bickford, Georges Renavent, Lupita Tovar, and Noble Johnson, and released ...

published an anthology of ''Light Bulb'' edited by LAFMS founding member Chip Chapman in 2013. In August 2021, the label Vinyl On Demand released a 13 LP boxed set of material limited to 500 copies plus 99 "friends editions." The collection was produced, art directed and designed by LAMFS member Tom Recchion.

References

External links

Official LAFMS site

The Box's LAFMS exhibition page
{{Authority control American noise rock music groups Music of Los Angeles Organizations based in Los Angeles