Cindytalk

C I N D Y T A L K Live at the 12 Bar London 30th June 2008 by Hydragenic



Cindytalk was formed in 1982 by Gordon Sharp (Vocals) and David Clancy (Guitar, Keyboards) from the ashes of Edinburgh based punk/new wave band The Freeze.The
Freeze (1976-1982) released two 7inch singles,recorded two John Peel sessions and
played extensively around the UK supporting many big name bands of the time.
After re-locating to London in 1982,Cindytalk began to work towards their debut album Camouflage Heart,with a newer,darker and more fractured sound that drew much from post-punk and early european industrial music.In 1983 Sharp and Clancy were joined by John Byrne who proved to be a crucial component in Cindytalk's deliberately disintegrating sound.Also in 1983 Sharp recorded a John Peel session with fellow Scots Cocteau Twins which led to a meeting with 4ad supremo Ivo Watts-Russell who invited him to appear on This Mortal Coil's 1983 debut EP "16 Days/Gathering Dust".He was also one of 3 featured singers on the debut This Mortal Coil album "It'll End In Tears" (1984), contributing vocals to Kangaroo (which was released as a single and became an instant indie hit), Fond Affections & A Single Wish. Simultaneous to that release,Camouflage Heart also appeared to some critical acclaim in the UK music press.
Shortly after Camouflage Heart David Clancy left the band and was replaced by brother/sister team Alex and Debbie Wright.The collossal "In This World" was recorded over the next 3 years . two albums of the same name released simultaneously,featuring cover art by Kathy Patterson.The first of the albums,a broken and noisy affair,the second,an album of creaky ambience featuring Sharps improvised piano experiments.In This World also featured an uncredited collaboration with post-punk feminist writer Kathy Acker (Janey's Love).
During this period Cindytalk had begun working in tandem with performance artist and
film maker Ivan Unwin,providing sound for some of his short pieces.This led Cindytalk
to score Unwins' "Eclipse:An Amateur Enthusiasts Guide to Virus Deployment",the record of which was released on Midnight Music in 1990 under the title "The Wind Is Strong.",the album,following on from the second of the "In This World" albums,was based on piano improvisations and abstract/concrete experiments.At the time Sharp described
it as "Ambi-dustrial" fusing his love of the early ambient releases on the EG label
with the above-mentioned European Industrial music.Sharp was joined on this release by Ivan Unwin and long standing co-producer/engineer David Ros who became a more active member of the band at this time.Matt Kinnison and drummer/percussionist extraordinaire,Paul Middleton also provided sounds and ideas to this mix.
"Secrets and Falling",a 4-track e.p. culled from the "Wappinschaw" sessions was released in 1991.At this point the band had become more of a collective,drawing on musicians from the current line-up as well as the past,John Byrne returned and was joined by Kevin Rich and Daryl Moore (Soul Static Sound).Midnight Music folded in 1992 and this prevented the recently completed album "Wappinschaw" from being released until early 1995 (on Sharp's own label Touched,distributed through World Serpent).Wappinschaw Features a collaboration with Scottish artist and writer Alasdair Gray,who reads from his acclaimed novel "Lanark" (Wheesht).By 1993 Cindytalk had gone through more changes and were preparing to play live for the first time. Sharp, Middleton and Ros were joined by Paul Jones, Andie Brown, Mark Stephenson and Simon Carmichael to record and release 1994's "Muster"/"Prince Of Lies" 7inch (Touched/World Serpent.) An electronic side-project, Bambule, was started in 1994 by Sharp and Carmichael, inspired by underground techno parties such as Dead By Dawn and VFM. Carmichael left the band on the eve of Cindytalk's extensive US tour (1996) and by the time the first Bambule record was ready Carmichael had taken control of the project and it's connection to Cindytalk had receded. London's Praxis label released the 8-track vinyl double-pack (originally titled "Songs From The Motherbomb" ) as Cunning Meets Bambule (Praxis 19). Bambule followed this up in 2000 with a 4-track 12inch called "Vertical Invasion" (Praxis 29) which featured Sharp alongside new Cindytalk cohort Richie Young, Tymothi Loving and Dale Lloyd & Stuart Arentzen from Seattle band Lucid (both Sharp and Young would also collaborate with Lucid's alter-ego After The Flood on tracks for the ATF2 release.) The Vertical Invasion 12inch also,included two remixes by Welsh electronic wizards Somatic Responses (as Photon Emissions).
By this time Sharp had moved to the U.S. and had become involved with various techno collectives (Ele_mental in Columbus,Ohio and Candlelight - with dj Deadly Buda - in Los Angeles), whilst in LA Sharp co-founded the Darkmatter Soundsystem with dj/producers Monotek,Baseck,Diskore & others,helping to bring "extreme electronics and splintered beats" to California and beyond.Realising that his involvement in soundsystem culture took him away from Cindytalk,Sharp got down to recording new music which resulted in 2003's 7" release Transgender Warrior / Guts Of London which saw Cindytalk move into even more abstract areas,taking a closer look at the rhythms,tones and melodies of noise.Sharp relocated to Japan in 2004 and has been working on various projects,including the forthcoming Cindytalk album "The Crackle Of My Soul" a work of noise-poetry which attempts to put the experiment at the centre of the idea,leaving any melodies to be found shimmering around the edges.In the Summer of 2005 Cindytalk were invited to use tracks from "The Crackle Of My Soul" as musical score for the UK independent film "Madrigal" (Rabblewise Films).In summer 2006 and again based in London, Cindytalk
began to work towards new musical possibilities.However, the death of long-time Cindytalk friend and collaborator Matt Kinnison forced the band to stop, think and regroup.And in 2008 with an all new line-up featuring Gordon Sharp (Cinder) on Voice and Electronics; Paul Middleton - Drums & Percussion ; Shrill - Electronics; Gary Jeff, Bass and Percussion; Daniel Knowler, Guitar & David Ros, Sound Engineer, Cindytalk began playing live again for the first time since 1996. Indiana (U.S.) based label Bluesanct released a Cindytalk 10" called "Silver Shoals Of Light" (written by Sharp/Kinnison) as part of their 10 year anniversary limited edition ART SINGLES club.The November 2009 release of "The Crackle Of My Soul" saw Cindytalk become a part of the Vienna based Editions Mego family. "Crackle" was followed up by the February 2010 release of a split vinyl 10". Cindytalk's "Five Mountains Of Fire" was coupled with Robert Hampson's sublime "Antarctica Ends Here".August 2010 will see the release of our second Editions Mego album "Up Here In The Clouds", soon after that Editions Mego will release a combined "Crackle" and "Clouds" double vinyl pack.A third eMego album "Hold Everything Dear" is being finished for release in 2011.Cindytalk are currently playing live, please contact us at touchedraw@gmail.com if you would like to book us.