Towering Inferno (band)
Towering Inferno | |
---|---|
Origin | England |
Genres | Experimental, industrial, electronic, modern classical |
Years active | 1985–1999 |
Labels | TI, Island |
Past members | Richard Wolfson Andy Saunders |
Towering Inferno was an English experimental music duo of Richard Wolfson and Andy Saunders, notable for their sole album Kaddish, which reflected on The Holocaust.[1] Kaddish was released on their own TI Records in 1993, and then globally by Island Records in 1995.[2][3] Wolfson and Saunders composed the music, and Hungarian performance poet Endre Szkárosi contributed the lyrics.[4]
Towering Inferno performed Kaddish in a number of cities between 1994 and 1999, including Vienna, Berlin, Warsaw, Budapest, Moscow and Melbourne.[2][3][4] A London performance of the work in 1995 was broadcast live on BBC Radio 3.[2] The Daily Telegraph said that Towering Inferno was "one of the most original and provocative performance-art bands of the 1990s", and described Kaddish as "a shocking and unforgettable piece".[5]
In 1997, they contributed a cover of "
Wolfson died in February 2005, but Saunders, with Chris Cutler, Jah Wobble, Bob Drake, Dave Kerman, Glyn Perrin, Greg Skerman and others, began working on a second Towering Inferno album that had been started before Wolfson's death.[6] The Himmel project began at a 2010 memorial concert for Wolfson, based around Saunders' compositions. A 22:50 piece entitled "HIMMEL", recorded at a 2014 concert with Saunders, Cutler and others, was released on Cutler's CC 100 in Japan in 2015, which was later incorporated into his Compositions and Collaborations 1972-2022 boxset (2023).[7]
Discography
- Kaddish (1993, CD, Island Records)[8][9]
References
- ^ Unterberger, Richie. "Towering Inferno". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
- ^ a b c Jones, Peter. "Towering Inferno: Recording Kaddish". Sound on Sound. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
- ^ a b Hutchins, Al (September 2007). "The Fire Sermon". Mojo. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
- ^ ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
- ^ "Richard Wolfson". The Daily Telegraph. 10 February 2005. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
- ^ "Richard Wolfson Obituary". The Times. 16 February 2005. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
- ^ Compositions and Collaborations 1972-2022 liner notes, by Chris Cutler, 2023, ReR Megacorp, Thornton Heath, Surrey, UK
- ^ Unterberger, Richie. "Kaddish". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
- ^ "Kaddish". Discogs. Retrieved 28 December 2011.