Martin Bisi

From the producer/engineer of Sonic Youth, Swans, Bill Laswell, John Zorn, Foetus, Herbie Hancock, Afrika Bambaata, The Dresden Dolls, Serena Maneesh and many more...

Martin Bisi, performer/songwriter and prominent indie fringe record producer, returns to the realm of his personal recordings with Sirens Of The Apocalypse - 12 songs that emanated from his legendary recording lair in Brooklyn over the last seven years. Bisi has been at the forefront of studio recording since 1981, with a long discography that stretches from Iggy Pop, The Ramones and White Zombie to John Zorn, Herbie Hancock and Sonic Youth. On Sirens Of The Apocalypse, his fourth full-length solo rendering since '89, he expands four-piece rock into a mutant, experimental-pop concoction. The record is a personal document of Martin Bisi's life, times and on-going creative process: backup vocals whispered into eight-track recorders in the corners of airport terminals; guitar overdubs in crowded college youth hostels; lyrics written during breaks in other artists' sessions; and a spoken story of a crazy late-night encounter in a Brooklyn bar.

Sirens Of The Apocalypse's songs are vignettes of love, obsession and the jungle of gender interactions.The production, or anti-production, is reminiscent of Bisi's chaotic but beautiful early Sonic Youth recordings. A record of varied inflections, Sirens' tracks run the gamut from the dark cabaret feel of "Goth Chick '98" (which also has a video embedded in the CD), to the shoegaze-cum-Krishna cult feeling of "Buddhist Girl", with its instrumentaiton of electric sitar, tablas, djembes and bells. Other songs veer between moody ("Felicity Ann McGuire"), psychedelic ("Buddhist Girl", "Mary Maudlin"), poppy ("Parsippany, NJ"), indie, (title track "Sirens Of The Apocalypse") and harder rock ("Rock Mona Lisa", "My American Way").

For the band that accompanies him on the record, Bisi collaborated with Rebecca Moore (artist on John Zorn's Tzadik label, and contributor/collaborator with Richard Foreman and Jeff Buckley) to play piano and toy piano on the album's only guitar-free song, "Goth Chick '98". Drawing from his NY scene associations, Bisi forged a rhythm section who could master the complex hard rock that underpins much of the material. Bassist Christian Bongers played in Gandhi (with Page Hamilton of Helmet), Botanica, Loudspeaker and with Scottish songstress Angela McCluskey. Drummer Billy Atwell (he also plays lap steel and electric sitar) was in the arty hard rock band Shirley Temple Of Doom, and recently played in theatrical rock adaptations of Hair and Mid-Summer Night's Dream. DJ Butterface, turntablist and DJ-about-town, does the keys, turntable and generally provides an early hip-hop/remix sensibility to the music. John Keith, the current drummer for live appearances, drums on the opening/title track. Bisi sings, speaks, plays all the guitars and adds FX.

In addition to his extensive body of production work, his collaborations over the years with the likes of John Zorn, Bill Laswell and Material, and many, many others, Martin Bisi has recorded and released 6 albums and EP's of his original work since the late 80s. Contraphonic and Black Freighter Records are ecstatic to team up and bring Sirens Of The Apocalypse out to the greater good.

Photo © 2008 Tasja Keetma

Upcoming Shows

04.29.10 Detroit, MI @ Lager House
w/ Steffie & The Dirty Virgins, Minor Planet.

04.30.10 Chicago, IL @ Darkroom
w/ Fetch. KEXP presents Equalizer Chicago .

Downloads / URLs

Press Photo (72dpi)
Press Photo (300dpi)
"Drink Your Wine (video version)" (mp3)
"Mile High (Apple of my Eye)" (mp3)
"Sirens of the Apocalypse" (mp3)
"Goth Chick '98" (video)
myspace.com/theendcredits

Releases on Contraphonic

  • Available now in the ContraStore in MP3 format.
    Son of a Gun. CON 081. Released: 06.09.09
    Tracklisting: Drink Your Wine / Rise Up Cowboy / Mile High - Formaldehyde / Mile High - Apple of My Eye / Son of a Gun
  • Available now in the ContraStore in CD and MP3 format.
    Sirens of the Apocalypse. CON 075 / BFR-009-2. Released: 02.10.09
    Tracklisting: Sirens Of The Apocalypse / Mary Maudlin / Goth Chick '98 / La Vie S'enfuie / Felicity Ann McGuire / A Story (True) In Brooklyn / Rock Mona Lisa / Buddhist Girl / Parsippany, NJ / The Silver Balloon / Nadine / My American Way / Rock Musician
    A mindfuck of a solo disc that melds bizarro avant-rock, spoken word fragments (accentuated by [Bisi's] authentic New Yawk accent), and pretentious histrionics with a film noir/conceptual tapestry ... testament to Bisi's NYC scuzz-art vision of its then-decayed East Village and Soho streets. SKYSCRAPER

    Fun and unexpectedly profound. It has the loose, organic barroom vibe of early Tom Waits and the New York storytelling feel of Lou Reed circa Street Hassle BIG TAKEOVER

    Bisi's full length, Sirens Of The Apocalypse, at times suggests a manic, punky take on Leonard Cohen's husky balladry. TIME OUT NY

    Inspiring material that hits an emotional nerve not often struck ALTERNATIVE PRESS

    Martin Bisi is one of New York's brightest talents NME

    The compositions and arrangements set brash punkishness in lock step with studio experimentation. SIGNAL TO NOISE

    From the harmonic poetry of Sonic Youth's EVOL to the harrowing excess of Live Skull's Dusted to the scorched-earth metal-jazz of Last Exit's Iron Path, the music documented by Bisi at BC Studio reflects a kindred urban spirit." [..] At BC Studio, the artistic, bohemian atmosphere is palpable. A band's personality mixes with the essence of the space. BILLBOARD

    PHILADELPHIA CITY PAPER

    WASHINGTON POST EXPRESS

    LUCID PRESS