Zoviet France (also known as :$OVIET:FRANCE:, Soviet France, :Zoviet-France: and latterly usually written as :zoviet*france:) are a music group from

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is a ...

in north east

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. While often dissonant and made of industrial textures, their music also falls into the

ambient music Ambient music is a genre of music that emphasizes tone and atmosphere over traditional musical structure or rhythm. It may lack net composition, beat, or structured melody.The Ambient Century by Mark Prendergast, Bloomsbury, London, 2003. It ...

category. Formed in 1980, and remaining largely anonymous, the group has had a number of members; presently it consists of co-founder Ben Ponton and Mark Warren. Former members included Neil Ramshaw, Peter Jensen,

Robin Storey Rapoon is a musical project of Robin Storey, a former member of Zoviet France, who has released material on notable independent labels such as Staalplaat, Soleilmoon, Manifold, Beta-Lactam Ring, and Lens Records. Selected discography * '' ...

(who now records as Rapoon), Lisa Hale, Paolo Di Paolo, Mark Spybey (who now records as Dead Voices on Air) and Andy Eardley. In 2005 Storey, Spybey and Eardley formed a new group,

Reformed Faction Reformed Faction is a musical group formed in 2005 by three former members of Zoviet France: Andy Eardley, Mark Spybey and Robin Storey. The band's original name was The Reformed Faction of Soviet France. They played one concert, in Vienna on 1 ...

. The band participated in the early-eighties underground

tape scene The cassette culture (also known as the tape/cassette scene or cassette underground) refers to the practices associated with amateur production and distribution of music and sound art on compact cassette that emerged in the mid-1970s. The casset ...

. The packaging of their releases was often unconventional, involving materials such as hessian, tar paper and

aluminium foil Aluminium foil (or aluminum foil in North American English; often informally called tin foil) is aluminium prepared in thin metal leaves with a thickness less than ; thinner gauges down to are also commonly used. Standard household foil is typ ...

Discography

Notable performances

*9 and 10 November 1990: two performances as part of the 'Ohrenschrauben' festival at Szene Wien, Austria. Later released on ''Vienna 1990'' CD in 1991. *29 March 1993: The Leadmill, Sheffield. Later released as track 3 on ''What Is Not True'' CD in 1993. *30 March 1993: The Old Vic, Nottingham. Later released as tracks 1 & 2 on ''What Is Not True'' CD in 1993. *26 March 1996: Urban Aboriginals XI, Ballhaus, Berlin. Later released on ''in.version'' CD in 1996. *August 1996: Live studio recording by VPRO radio in Amsterdam. Later released on ''Mort Aux Vaches: Feedback'' CD in 1998. *29 February 2008: European premiere performance of John Cage's ''Variations VII'' with Atau Tanaka and Matt Wand,

AV Festival AV Festival is an international festival of contemporary art, film and music, based in Newcastle upon Tyne. A biennial event, the Festival is thematically curated across contemporary artistic practice and wider society. History AV Festival 2014 ...

Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art (also known simply as (the) Baltic, stylised as BALTIC) is a centre for contemporary art located on the south bank of the River Tyne in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England. It hosts a frequently changing varie ...

, Gateshead, UK.

References

External links

*
Jim's Music Pages: :zoviet*france
a fan site with discography {{Authority control Ambient music groups Musical groups from Newcastle upon Tyne Musical groups established in 1980 British experimental musical groups British industrial music groups Mute Records artists Soleilmoon artists Cassette culture 1970s–1990s

Discography

Notable performances

See also

References

External links