“Zoviet France began 20 years ago as an anonymous collective of musicians who embraced the DIY attitudes of Punk and Situationism, yet found inspiration in Terry Riley’s tape mechanisms, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry’s schizoid dub production, and the wonders of non-Western instruments (tablas, bouzoukis, Tibetan bowls, Egyptian reeds, etc.). While each of their albums hold very distinct aesthetics, the basic ZF sound is a eerie cyclical drone built from a interlocking network of tape loops with dubbed intrusions of the aforementioned ethnic instruments. One of the subtle ties between all of the Zoviet France records is the process of recycling material, in which a handful of discreet sound elements repeat throughout the album within a broad spectrum of recognizability. For an album like Hessian it would be the surreal chant “OK, Boys!” and for Feedback it would be the distant whir of a sputtering drum machine. The Decriminalization of Country Music is one of the more obvious examples of Zoviet France’s recycling process, as they had been commissioned by the Tramway Gallery in Glasgow, Scotland to re-interpret the sounds of the gallery’s extensive redevelopment from a desolate warehouse to a workable exhibition hall. While ZF utilizes various construction site sounds and the resonant properties of the room itself, the dominate theme for Decriminalization is the sound of a languorous slide guitar, making comparisons to Ry Cooder inevitable. At the beginning of the record, Zoviet France boldly introduces the haunting guitar sounds against quiet static loops and rich drone synthesis. Yet as the album progresses, the guitar’s presence becomes more diffuse, with only a few fragments of muffled twangs hovering amidst the post-industrial ambiance by the end of the album. The Decriminalization of Country Music stands as Zoviet France’s most minimal piece to date, and like all of their records is an amazing, if not required listening experience.” – Aquarius Records
Zoviet France
The Decriminalization Of Country Music
MediaFire Download Link
Tracklist:
01. Something Spooked The Horses
02. Electron Gate
03. Stainless
04. Pyroclastic Flow
05. Dust And Scratches
06. Duct Tape
07. Purline
08. Spiiltek
09. Light Abrasion
“In a rare interview in the mid ’80s, Ben Ponton explained that Zoviet France would record hours of material and then sort it out at a later date. This brings us to Music For A Spaghetti Western, which dates back to 1986, one of the most prolific periods for Zoviet France. Given the amount of material that they had finished during that time, it’s not surprising that a couple of things never got completed, such as Music For A Spaghetti Western. With many of the ZF recordings being splattered collections of short fragments anyway, the shards of hypnotic loops that comprise the ZF Spaghetti Western make sense in the greater context of the band. As on those aforementioned albums, ZF explore the imagined ceremonial music for nonexistent cultures bringing chiming strings, hand percussion, breathy flutes, and extended vocalizations to a dark kaleidoscope of tape loop machinations and multiple delay pedals. If this sounds similar to the work of Finland’s Avarus or Kemialliset Ystavat, Zoviet France does share some of those aesthetics, expect for the undeniable fact that ZF are maybe even better at it. With almost their entire catalogue in limbo, any new recordings are a reason to rejoice, and recordings as beguiling as these are certainly most welcome indeed.” – Aquarius Records
Zoviet France
Music For A Spaghetti Western
MediaFire Download Link
Tracklist:
01. Scene 1
02. Scene 2
03. Scene 3
04. Scene 4
