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Swell Maps were a British experimental rock group of the 1970s from Birmingham.Influenced by the disparate likes of T-rex and the German progressive outfit Can, they created a new soundscape thatwould beheavily minedby others in the post-punk era. Despite existing in various forms since 1972, Swell Maps onlyreally came togetheras a musical entity after thebirth of British punk rock.Consisting of brothers Epic Soundtracks (real name Kevin Godfrey) and Nikki Sudden (real name Nicholas Godfrey) twoSolihullbasedteenagers, plus Richard Earl, David Barrington, John Cockrill and Jowe Head, the band c ...read more
Swell Maps were a British experimental rock group of the 1970s from Birmingham.Influenced by the disparate likes of T-rex and the German progressive outfit Can, they created a new soundscape thatwould beheavily minedby others in the post-punk era. Despite existing in various forms since 1972, Swell Maps onlyreally came togetheras a musical entity after thebirth of British punk rock.Consisting of brothers Epic Soundtracks (real name Kevin Godfrey) and Nikki Sudden (real name Nicholas Godfrey) twoSolihullbasedteenagers, plus Richard Earl, David Barrington, John Cockrill and Jowe Head, the band cut the singleāPlayRead AboutSeymourā as their debutin 1977, soon after the brothers left Solihull School (also home ofSpizzenergi). It is widely consideredone of the classic punk era singles.Epicās drumming mixed with Nikkiās uniquemelodies crafted over the assorted threads castby the six musicians set the band apart from theothers. Afterrecording their first John Peel session Swell Maps went into WMRSstudio to record their first album A Trip ToMarineville, whichwas released in 1979. With hard rocking punk numbers like āh.s.artā interspersed by ambientinstrumentals and other experimental interludeslike āGunboatsā, the album marked the band outas innovative non-musicians. The album went #1 on the new Independent chart.The band cut one more album, The Swell Maps in āJane From Occupied Europeā, in 1980, which pushed further intopost-punkterritory. Theydisplayed their ingenuity for creating everything from industrial surf instrumentals like theopener āRobot Factoryāto perverse ballads likeāCake Shop Girlā. Even while they were falling apart during thesesessions they were pushing themusical boundaries beyond what punkoriginally had to offer. They sought to releasemuch of their early forays in lo-fiexperimenation in the compilation, whatever happens nextā¦,before splitting up.Since their split the legend of the Swell Maps has grown, through their influence on the C86 bands, lo-fi, and otherpioneers likeSonic Youthand Pavement. Individual members of the band (especially Nikki Sudden, Epic Soundtracksand Jowe Head) went onto solo careers. Thebandās catalogue has recently been remastered and reissued and furtherdips into their archives can beexpected. An EP of especially zanytracks was released under the name of the PhonesSportsman Band in 1980. After an intervalof over 25 years away from music, the PhonesSportsman Band has nowreformed in January 2008.Epic Soundtracks died of unknown causes at the age of 37 in 1997 and Nikki Sudden died in March 2006. « hide |
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