Eyeless In Gaza
Eyeless In Gazaはイギリスのヨークシャー出身のポストパンク/ニューウェーブ音楽の２人組。1980年に結成され、1987年に活動休止する。その後、メンバーのMartyn Batesはソロで作品をリリースしている。初期の音楽スタイルはインダストリアルファンクで難解な暗い雰囲気が漂いまくってましたがアルバム「Rust Red September(1983)」の頃から、美しいアコースティックな音に変化する。私がEyeless In Gazaの音楽と初めて触れたのは、Cherry Redレコードからリリースされた、レベールのプロモーション用のレコード「Pillows & Prayers(1982)」である。そこに収録された彼らの曲「No Noise」は圧倒的な個性で当時高校2年の私は、衝撃を受けたのですが、「No Noise」の前に収められていた曲がFeltの「My Face Is On Fire」で、さらに、後に収められていた曲がThe Passageの「Xoyo」でこの３曲どれもやばかった。
Becker, a laboratory technician, had played in a covers band before buying and experimenting with a Wasp synthesizer (he released a solo cassette-album in June 1980 and a second a year later). Bates, a hospital worker, had previously been in a very early lineup of the unclassifiable Coventry-based band Reluctant Stereotypes, and also released a cassette of experimental electronic music in January 1980. Shortly afterwards they met (interestingly after having both been turned down for membership in Nuneaton’s other famous band, Bron Area) and together they formed Eyeless in Gaza, both contributing vocals and several instruments. The band name is a reference to the novel Eyeless in Gaza by Aldous Huxley (which in turn was influenced by John Milton’s Samson Agonistes). Bates has said he chose the name “for the sound of it…. I was reading the Huxley book when I met Pete…. It sounded perfectly nice.” But Bates has also acknowledged an allusion to the “biblical myth” of Samson, saying, “I feel attracted by religion. I feel that people don’t pay enough attention to the spiritual side of their life; it is a very interesting side of the human psychism and it fascinates me.” (Interview in Les Inrockuptibles, number 14, 1988)
After a self-released single, Kodak Ghosts Run Amok, they signed to Cherry Red Records, releasing debut album Photographs as Memories in February 1981. The duo became known for their unconventional instrumentation and arrangements, and for Bates passionate vocals, which at times were howled, whispered, or stammered. Although both members had day jobs they were very productive. Their second album, Caught in Flux, included a bonus five track EP and at the end of 1981 they had completed their third, Pale Hands I Loved So Well, which subsequently was released by the Norwegian label Uniton. In 1981 they also released two singles, Invisibility and Others. After two further albums for Cherry Red, Drumming the Beating Heart (1982) and Rust Red September (1983), they added Aztec Camera drummer Dave Ruffy for the more pop-oriented single “Welcome Now” (1985), recruiting former Sinatras/In Embrace drummer Joby Palmer for the next album, Back from the Rains. They toured with Depeche Mode in 1986.
The group then went on hiatus after Becker married and temporarily relocated to Spain, with Bates (who had also gotten married by this point, to longtime girlfriend and occasional band collaborator Elizabeth S.) concentrating on solo work. They reunited in 1990 to collaborate with Anne Clark on her album The Law Is an Anagram of Wealth. In 1991 Bates formed Hungry I with former Primitives drummer Steve Dullahan.
They returned in 1993 (with Elizabeth S. as a full-time member) for the Fabulous Library album and have sporadically released records since, as both a duo and trio. Bates also recorded between 1994 and 1998 with M.J. Harris (Napalm Death/Scorn) under the name Drift, and in the early 2000s with keyboardist Alan Trench in Twelve Thousand Days. He has also continued to release solo material. In 2012, Martyn Bates and Peter Becker appeared on “Right North”, the eleventh album, a double digipack, of the international collective 48 Cameras.