PART ONE (1980-1984) PART TWO (1985-1989) NEXT > PART FOUR (1995-1999) 4AD Tribute 1990 4AD began the Nineties--and its tenth anniversary year--with the release of a unique Vaughan Oliver-designed calendar (XAD 0001). The label's first musical release of the new decade was The Comforts Of Madness (CAD 0002), the John Fryer/Gil Norton-produced debut album from the Pale Saints. Later in the year, the group returned with a new EP, Half Life (BAD 0015), which saw the band expanding to a quartet with the addition of Meriel Barham. (A Japan-only release, Mrs. Dolphin (COCY-7096), collected Half Life and the previous year's Barging Into The Presence Of God EP on one CD). Lush recorded their second EP, Mad Love (BAD 0003), with Robin Guthrie, which documented the rapid sonic progress the band had made in only a few months time. The evolution continued on Sweetness And Light, three songs produced by Tim Friese-Greene (Talk Talk). The band subsequently signed a U.S. deal with Reprise and at the end of the year released Gala (CAD 0017), a compilation of all three of the group's EPs (plus a bonus Abba cover) intended to introduce them to American audiences. As Kurt Ralske prepared to record the second Ultra Vivid Scene album, Ivo suggested he team up with producer Hugh Jones. The result was Joy 1967-1990 (CAD 0005), a veritable encyclopedia of pop possibility that highlighted Ralske's knack for couching lyrical misanthropy in supremely catchy hook-laden songs. The album spawned two singles: "Staring At The Sun" (BAD 0004) and "Special One," (BAD 0016) a duet with Kim Deal (a wonderful video for the song features Kurt and Kim crooning the song like Sonny & Cher). Speaking of Kim Deal, 1990 found her stepping beyond the confines of the Pixies for the first time with her own group, The Breeders. Recorded with Steve Albini (the Pixies' Surfer Rosa) and a lineup consisting of Throwing Muses' Tanya Donelly, Josephine Wiggs of The Perfect Disaster and Slint's Britt Walford, Pod (CAD 0006) featured a visceral set of Kim's own songs and a fractured cover of "Happiness Is A Warm Gun." Dead Can Dance's Aion (CAD 0007) was the natural culmination of Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry's growing interest in non-contemporary music. Unquestionably the Dead Can Dance album which owes the least to the 20th Century (or the 19th, 18th and 17th centuries, for that matter), the music beneath its Hieronymous Bosch sleeve was shot through with ancient mystery and profound beauty. A subsequent tour of Europe, and, for the first time, the United States, helped to consolidate a steadily growing audience. Some months previously, Ivo had received a cassette in the mail from basement auteur Warren Defever of Livonia, Michigan. It bore the hand-scrawled label: "His Name Is Alive - I Had Sex With God" Over the next few months, two more versions of the tape showed up, each loaded with strange variations on the material from previous efforts. Intrigued by the music, Ivo offered to try mixing it. He went into the studio with John Fryer and began playing around with it. Warren liked the results, and the finished product became His Name Is Alive's first album, Livonia (CAD 0008). The Pixies followed Doolittle with another Gil Norton-produced effort, Bossanova (CAD 0010). Although it proved a difficult record to make, the resulting album contains its fair share of classic material. It was bookended by two singles--the anthemic "Velouria" (BAD 0009) and "Dig For Fire" (BAD 0014), the latter accompanied by a phenomenally expensive (and little seen) live video clip which found the band commandeering both a biker gang and a Dutch football stadium for its own nefarious purposes. Previewed with the single "Iceblink Luck" (BAD 0011), Heaven Or Las Vegas (CAD 0012) was The Cocteau Twins' final album for 4AD, but it proved to be an extraordinary farewell: an album of great warmth and romance featuring the most open and unguarded vocals Liz Fraser had ever committed to tape. Ivo ranks it as his own favorite Cocteau Twins record and considers it among the best things 4AD has ever released. 1991 Bassist Leslie Langston had left Throwing Muses prior to the recording of their fourth album, The Real Ramona (CAD 1002). Produced by Dennis Herring (Camper Van Beethoven), it featured some of Kristin Hersh's most powerful songs, including the indelible "Counting Backwards" (BAD 1001) which gave them their first significant US radio exposure. Tanya Donnelly's "Not Too Soon" (BAD 1015) became the album's second single. Not long afterwards, she departed the group, re-emerging the following year with her new band, Belly. The Wolfgang Press returned from a long period of studio hibernation with the propulsive "Time" (BAD 1003). They followed it a few months later with a radio-friendly cover of Randy Newman's "Mama Told Me Not To Come" (BAD 1007) before unveiling Queer (CAD 1011), their finest album to date. Drawing inspiration from De La Soul's Three Feet High And Rising, the Wolfgangs (and producer Drostan Madden) fashioned an endlessly listenable crazy-quilt built from samples, found sounds and the best batch of songs they'd ever written. Two distinct versions of Queer exist: In order to get the album released in the United States the following year, the group were forced to remove and/or re-record many of the album's more recognizable samples; the U.S. edition also includes three additional tracks, including "A Girl Like You." Spirea X was a vehicle for the '60s pop-art visions of ex-Primal Scream member Jim Beattie. Two EP's appeared earlier in the year--Chlorine Dream (BAD 1004), whose lead track managed to reinvent the sound of the Byrds for the 1990's, and Speed Reaction (BAD 1006), a fiendishly catchy melding of harmonies and the Who--prior to a full-length album, Fireblade Skies (CAD 1017), in the autumn. He left 4AD shortly thereafter, and has subsequently been making records as Adventures In Stereo. Ivo had been working on new This Mortal Coil material on and off since the release of Filigree & Shadow four years earlier. A musical reflection of a turbulent period in his life, Blood (DAD 1005) was always intended to be the final installment in the TMC trilogy. Recorded with many of the same personnel as the previous album--John Fryer, Jon Turner Martin McCarrick all played significant roles in shaping the music--Blood also included vocals from such TMC newcomers as Caroline Crawley (Shelleyan Orphan), Heidi Berry, Kim Deal and Tanya Donelly. Cover versions this time out included songs by Chris Bell, Syd Barrett, Rain Parade, Rodney Crowell and Mary Margaret O'Hara, while Ivo's own lyrics graced several of the album's originals. The Pixies previewed their work-in progress with the Planet Of Sound EP (BAD 1008), which included a bizarre cover of the Yardbirds' "Evil Hearted You" sung in Spanish. The ferocious fourth and final album Trompe Le Monde (CAD 1014) saw the band out in a blaze of glory. The Pixies dissolved after an string of opening dates on U2's Zoo TV tour and a series of European dates which found the band playing to enormous audiences. Their demise came at just the moment that a new group of bands, on whom the Pixies had been a seminal influence, were finding a vast new audience. The Pale Saints, who were touring with the Pixies, checked in with a new EP, Flesh Balloon (BAD 1009). It featured a dreamy version of Nancy Sinatra's "Kinky Love," that was released--with a wishful eye toward the charts--as a separate 7-inch single (AD 1009). Dead Can Dance's A Passage In Time (CAD 1010) was a compilation album intended as the group's first American release (via Rykodisc). Assembled by Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard, it brought together fourteen songs from their previous four albums, as well as a pair of newly recorded tracks. Ivo first encountered Heidi Berry when he saw her opening for Lush. Seemingly a performer out of time, her voice and songs recalled an earlier generation of visionary artists such as Sandy Denny and Nick Drake. Her relationship with Creation Records (for whom she had made an album and an EP) had recently ended, and Ivo invited her to record for 4AD. He introduced her to producer Peter Walsh (Ivo liked his work on Scott Walker's Climate Of Hunter), with whom she recorded Love (CAD 1012). Ivo played much the same role in His Name Is Alive's second album, Home Is In Your Head (CAD 1013), as he had on Livonia. Beginning with a pile of tapes sent to him by Warren Defever, he proceeded to edit and mix the material--sometimes making songs out of fragments, at other times pulling songs into their component parts. The resulting 23-track album is a surrealist collage of intangible feelings that flows organically from start to finish. The first fruits of Lush's sessions with Robin Guthrie for their first full-length album emerged late in 1991. The Black Spring EP included two songs from the following year's Spooky along with a cover of Beach Boy Dennis Wilson's "Fallin' In Love." At year's end, a 10-CD boxed set, simply entitled Cocteau Twins (CT BOX 1), collected all nine of the group's 4AD EP's, along with a tenth disc of rarities and unreleased tracks. 1992 1992 was a year of changes for 4AD, the most important of which was the signing of a distribution deal with Warner Brothers Records in the United States. Rather than license individual acts to different labels in the States, as had been the case in recent years, the deal was designed to give 4AD the continuity and label identity that it had everywhere else in the world. The small U.S. 4AD office that had been in New York City was closed, and 4AD's U.S. operations moved to Los Angeles under the direction of Robin Hurley (Ivo moved to California a few years later). To celebrate the Warner Bros. deal, 4AD issued an elaborate promotional package called Lilliput, which featured two CDs--the first highlighting notable previous releases, the second providing an overview of the label's current roster--housed in an illustrated hard cover book. Lush's much-anticipated first album, Spooky (CAD 2002) proved to be a worldwide success. The group, now coming into its own as players and songwriters, worked once again with Robin Guthrie, who'd produced the Mad Love EP. The For Love EP (BAD 2001), released in front of the album, backed the title track with three non-album tracks, including a cover of Wire's "Outdoor Miner." The Breeders returned to action--now joined by Kim Deal's twin sister Kelley--with the four-song Safari EP (BAD 2003). Produced by Laika's Guy Fixsen, it featured three new Kim Deal originals and a version of "So Sad About Us" by The Who. The Pale Saints continued the collaboration with producer Hugh Jones that had begun on Flesh Balloon with their second album, In Ribbons (CAD 2004), which was probably their finest effort. The initial quantities of the album included an unusual 7-inch single featuring two of the group's songs--"A Thousand Stars Burst Open" and "A Revelation"--performed by the Tintwhistle Brass Band. The album's powerful lead-off track, "Throwing Back The Apple" was issued as a single (BAD 2008). The album title hinted at internal tensions that only manifested themselves a few months later when co-frontman Ian Masters decided to quit the band. Warren Defever returned with a new five-song His Name Is Alive EP, The Dirt Eaters (BAD 2005). In addition to spotlighting Defever's gift for conjuring up spectral melodies, the record also spotlighted his eccentric taste in cover versions: the EP's central track was a thoroughly Defeverized version of Ritchie Blackmore's "Man On The Silver Mountain." Following the triumph of Queer, and continuing on a creative roll, The Wolfgang Press unleashed a new single "A Girl Like You" (BAD (2006) that nearly became a hit. Proof of the tune's enduring quality: Tom Jones recorded his own version of the song the following year, and wound up performing it onstage with the group at a memorable 1994 show at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. Michael Brook--inventor of the "infinite guitar" and a noted producer--had been acquainted with Ivo for several years (his first 4AD appearance had been on Sleeps With The Fishes, a 1987 collaboration with Xymox's Pieter Nooten). Cobalt Blue (CAD 2007) was a quietly stunning collection of instrumental pieces, featuring contributions from Roger Eno, Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. At a press launch for the album held at the London Aquarium, Brook played a rare live solo set, which was ultimately issued as Live At the Aquarium (TAD 2011), the first in 4AD's short-lived series of limited-edition "Temporary Releases." After leaving Throwing Muses, Tanya Donelly formed her own group, Belly (the name was chosen because it was one of her favorite words), with former Muses bassist Fred Abong and drummer Chris Gorman. Their first release was the Slow Dust EP (BAD 2009), which was released in the summer. With an album ready for release in the new year, "Gepetto" (BAD 2018), produced by Gil Norton, was issued as a single (a limited edition with a remix and different tracks was issued the following year as BADD 2018) and provided a preview of things to come. Swallow were a duo of instrumentalist Mike Mason and vocalist Louise Trehy whose music juggled elements of My Bloody Valentine, the Cocteau Twins and Curve. They released one proper album, Blow (CAD 2010), as well as Blowback (TAD 2015), a Temporary Release--done with Stereolab producer Paul Tipler--featuring remixed, largely instrumental reworkings of most of the album's tracks. Throwing Muses--temporarily reduced to duo Kristin Hersh and David Narcizo--returned with their first post-Tanya Donelly album, Red Heaven (CAD 2013). Recorded as a trio with briefly-returning bassist Leslie Langston, the album was a long-awaited showcase for Kristin's guitar pyrotechnics. Joined on tour by new bassist Bernard Georges, a recording drawn from two shows at London's Grand Theatre was issued as The Curse (TAD 2019), another Temporary Release. A pair of Firepile EPs (BAD 2012 and BADD 2012) featured seven non-album tracks among them, including covers of songs by the Velvet Underground, Jimi Hendrix and the Volcano Suns, as well as an Ivo/John Fryer remix of "Firepile." Finally, the initial copies of Red Heaven featured a bonus Kristin Hersh solo acoustic album, Live At Maxwells, Hoboken (KH1). Ivo first heard San Francisco's Red House Painters--a vehicle for songwriter/frontman Mark Kozelek's acute slow-motion chronicles of emotional distress--via a cassette given to him by journalist Martin Aston (Aston, in turn, had been given it by Mark Eitzel of American Music Club). Hugely impressed by the 90 minutes of music on the tape (the only previous band who'd ever presented Ivo with such a vast quantity of demo material had been Dif Juz) he flew to San Francisco to meet them. Ivo believed that the demos deserved to see the light of day, and the result was the debut album Down Colorful Hill (CAD 2014). In the midst of a great deal of present-day activity, 4AD addressed its past with a long-overdue 20-track retrospective of The Birthday Party, the ironically titled Hits (CAD 2016). Kurt Ralske's third Ultra Vivid Scene album, Rev (CAD 2017), was a far different creature than the carefully-honed three-minute songcraft of its two predecessors. Recording as part of a three-piece rock band, Ralske kicked out the jams on a series of lengthy tracks dominated by his searing guitar leads. Despite what seemed like a promising new direction, Rev proved to be the final Ultra Vivid Scene album. Ralske subsequently concentrated on production, before returning with a new project, Cathars, in 1999. As an adjunct to the label's other activities in 1992, Ivo also started the 4AD spin-off imprint Guernica, designed to provide a low-key platform for a series of records that he enjoyed. Guernica's first year included three releases: a British version of Unrest's Imperial f.f.r.r. (GU 1), a prelude to the band's signing to 4AD the following year; Leaves Me Blind (GU2), an album by Australian shoegazers Underground Lovers; and the debut album from Amsterdam's Bettie Serveert, Palomine (GU 3). Finally, Vaughan Oliver ushered in the new year with his Anatomy Calendar 1993 (2020). Although its oblique design made it virtually useless for any conventional time-keeping purpose (not to mention its perverse inclusion of a nonexistent 13th month called "Jack"), it nevertheless served as a lovely art object. 1993 4AD's major event as a label in 1993 was a five-night festival at London's ICA. The 13 Year Itch featured live performances from the bulk of the label's artists, including the first-ever solo performance by Dead Can Dance's Brendan Perry. In addition, a limited edition CD, sold only at the shows, featured 13 exclusive tracks from the participants. (Good luck finding a copy) Belly's first album Star (CAD 3002) proved a major hit in the United States (although it was released by Sire, not 4AD) when the single "Feed The Tree" (BAD 3001) became a major MTV and radio hit. Ultra Vivid Scene's final release was the Blood And Thunder EP (BAD 3003), featuring a single remix of the title song (drastically shortened from it's ten-and-a-half minute running time on the Rev album) and three other tracks, including a superb reading of John Cale's obscure "Winter Song." Charles Thompson, who'd fronted the Pixies under the nom du rock Black Francis, inverted his alias and launched his solo career as Frank Black. His self-titled debut (CAD 3004), produced with Eric Drew Feldman (Pere Ubu, Captain Beefheart), successfully traded the Pixies' chaotic blasts for a far more structured Bowie-esque pop sensibility. Frank's cover of Brian Wilson's "Hang On To Your Ego" (BAD 3005) was the album's single. This Mortal Coil's legacy was collected in a four-CD boxed set, 1983-1991 (45135), a U.S.-only limited edition containing the three original TMC albums, plus a fourth disc featuring 21 original versions of songs that TMC had covered. Mouth By Mouth (CAD 3006), the third His Name Is Alive album, was actually composed of pieces of two separate albums that Warren Defever had recorded: one was a His Name Is Alive set, the other was a collection of songs by The Dirt Eaters, one of Warren's near-infinite array of other projects. Splicing together the best bits into a single unit resulted in a richly diverse--and decidedly more song-oriented--work. Ivo had reissued Imperial f.f.r.r. by Washington D.C.'s chameleonic Unrest on Guernica the previous year. They made their 4AD debut with the Isabel Bishop EP (BAD 3007), a collection of singles and excerpts from work in progress. The full-length album that followed, Perfect Teeth (CAD 3012) was a fascinating catalog of the band's musical obsessions: early 80's British indie rock and 60's easy listening records. The sunny pop single "Cath Carroll"--an ode to the ex-NME journalist, frontwoman of C86-ers Miaow and Perfect Teeth cover star--was also issued in expanded form on an EP (BAD 3015) which paired it with the relentless droning brilliance of the 33-minute-long "Hydro." Dead Can Dance's Into The Labyrinth (CAD 3013)--a beguiling album which found them retreating slightly from the medievalist stance they'd taken on Aion--sold 350,000 copies in the U.S. on the strength of Brendan Perry's "The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove," which became an unlikely hit on modern rock radio. With dozens of Mark Kozelek's songs at their disposal, Red House Painters emerged from the studio with two full albums; somewhat confusingly, both were titled Red House Painters. The first of these (CAD 3008, generally referred to as the "roller coaster" album, after its cover image) was a 70-minute masterpiece of eloquent sadness. The second (CAD 3016, the "bridge" album) was a shorter and edgier work which included two cover versions that frequently made their way into the group's live set lists: Simon & Garfunkel's "I Am A Rock" and "The Star-Spangled Banner." Heidi Berry's self-titled second album for the label (CAD 3009) was a wonderfully fragile collection of late-night beauty. It was recorded with producer Hugh Jones, who assisted with the elaborate arrangements, including a full symphony orchestra on "Little Fox." Pentangle bassist Danny Thompson, who'd worked with many of Heidi's inspirations--Tim Buckley, Sandy Denny, Nick Drake--also made important contributions. The single "The Moon And The Sun" accompanied the album's release. Kim Deal returned to the studio with The Breeders and emerged with one of the greatest singles of the '90s. "Cannonball" (BAD 3011), with its insistent riff and infectious energy, took America by storm. The album that followed, Last Splash (CAD 3014) was no less a success; it was an engaging, powerful record on which Kim's talents truly came into their own. A further single, "Divine Hammer," was released at year's end (BAD 3017). 1993 also saw three releases on the Guernica imprint. Formerly known as Earwig, Insides created ambient electronic pop as Steve Reich might have conceived it on the very wonderful Euphoria (GU 4; it also came out in the U.S. as a regular 4AD release). Spoonfed Hybrid (GU 5) was a new project from former Pale Saint Ian Masters, while L.A.'s That Dog (GU 6) so excited Ivo that he briefly offered to manage them. 1994 The preceding year's 13 Year Itch festival in London spawned an American equivalent in 1994. All Virgos Are Mad was a multi-night 4AD extravaganza staged in Los Angeles at the Troubadour and McCabe's Guitar Shop in late September-early October. A limited edition CD was issued for these shows as well (45789; it was also briefly available in shops). Ivo states in no uncertain terms that Kristin Hersh's first solo album, Hips And Makers (CAD 4002; a limited edition CD digipak was available as CADD 4002)), is "one of the best records we've ever put out." Produced by Lenny Kaye, and featuring only Kristin's voice, her acoustic guitar and an occasional cello, the album is a breathtaking collection, by turns ravishingly beautiful and frighteningly cathartic. It's single, the hypnotic "Your Ghost," (BAD 4001) was a duet with R.E.M.' s Michael Stipe. The Strings EP (BAD 4006), found Kristin re-recording four of the Hips And Makers songs with a six-piece string section. Like Kristin Hersh or Mark Kozelek, Lisa Germano was a fiercely original singer/songwriter whose music fearlessly explored the darkest corners of her psyche. Ivo first encountered her when she was signed to Capitol Records in the United States. Her 4AD debut, the limited edition Inconsiderate Bitch EP (TAD 4003)--featuring several Ivo/John Fryer mixes of songs from her album Happiness--had been intended as a one-off. When Lisa's deal with Capitol crumbled, Ivo leapt into the breach, signing her to 4AD and issuing a revised version of Happiness (CAD 4005). Later in the year, she issued a second album, Geek The Girl (CAD 4017). One of the most harrowing albums of the 90's, it can take its place proudly on the "devastating masterpiece" shelf alongside the likes of Big Star's Third or Lou Reed's Berlin. Incredibly, most of the songs on the album were actually recorded as home demos, before it was decided that the material was perfect as it was. Mark Kozelek's nearly unrecognizable slowed-down arrangement of Ace Frehley's "Shock Me" was among the most memorable of the odd array of classic rock cover versions Red House Painters were in the habit of performing live. It was immortalized for posterity on the Shock Me EP (BAD 4004), coupling two versions of the song with two Kozelek originals. Ivo had first taken note of vocalist Joanne Loughman and guitarist/violinist Hugh O'Carrol--the nucleus of The Glee Club-- when he heard their previous band, the Swinging Swine, on a Nick Drake tribute album and was impressed by Joanne's voice. The Glee Club's music ranged from folky lullabies to more straightforward electric rock songs. The Setanta label issued the group's album Mine (45496) in the UK, while 4AD released it only in the United States. Frank Black's final album for 4AD was Teenager Of The Year (CAD 4009), a sprawling 22-song double album that continued to explore the territory mapped out by his debut. While initially hard to take in, the album nevertheless contained some very fine work, including the single "Headache" (BAD 4007). Lush's second album found the band in sharp form, toughened up by their experiences on the previous year's Lollapalooza tour. Split (CAD 4011), as its title implied, explored the dichotomies in the band's music, finding them equally adept at concise, pop-oriented material like "Hypocrite" (BAD 4008, the album's first single) as well as lengthy epics like "Never Never" and "Desire Lines" (BAD 4010, single #2). To coincide with their Lollapalooza '94 appearances, The Breeders issued Head To Toe (BADD 4012), a limited edition 10-inch vinyl EP. Produced by Dinosaur Jr.'s J Mascis, it included covers of songs by Guided By Voices and Sebadoh. Following Ian Masters' departure, the Pale Saints added bassist/vocalist Colleen Browne to the lineup and recorded what was to become their final album, Slow Buildings (CAD 4014), with Hugh Jones. Ivo had heard a piece of music by a band called Persian Rugs, which he suggested might be interesting for the band to record. The group rewrote the song and added lyrics, resulting in the single "Fine Friend." (BAD 4013). Dead Can Dance's Toward The Within (CAD 4015) was an attempt to document the group's uncanny live performances. Recorded and filmed in late 1993 at Santa Monica's venerable Mayfair Theatre--which was largely destroyed by an earthquake less than two months afterward--the album featured mostly new material and included several Brendan Perry songs first debuted during his 13 Year Itch performance earlier in the year. Throwing Muses previewed their upcoming University album--out the following year--with the new single "Bright Yellow Gun" (BAD 4018). 1994 also saw the final Guernica release: Insides' incredible Clear Skin (TU7)--a single hypnotic track that evolved gradually over its 38-minute span into a minimalist symphony of interlocking patterns. PART ONE (1980-1984) PART TWO (1985-1989) NEXT > PART FOUR (1995-1999) 4AD Tribute