:: BIOGRAPHY ::
Martin Lloyd's diary - before I forget!
1 April 2007 A busy few months ahead, with a studio to re-organise, trips to Jena, near Leipzig, (for the Weird Science "A Sky Full of Stitches" party) and New York (hopefully to include a visit to see Veronica Vasicka at East Village Radio), also preparations for our fourth Oppenheimer Analysis gig since reforming (Neon Welt, Bochum, on 5 October). We are very keen to record "Washington" following its first appearance in our set at Sint-Niklaas. There is so little time for music and keeping in touch with friends. The Easter break will be a time for frantic activity. With the family away in Europe for a chess tournament, I will welcome these few days off work to clear my backlog of mail and studio chores, ready to start a new recording and archiving schedule.
21 April 2007 Mark Warner and I completed the 1100 mile round trip to visit DJ Mike Klein and DJ Jana's Weird Science event "A Sky Full of Stitches" at the Cafe Wagner, in Wagnergasse, Jena, Eastern Germany. On our way through Germany we visited DJ Plastikmann and his wife Tanja at their home in Gelsenkirchen. It was great to meet the three bands, Solitude FX (Marc Schaffer, Orpheo and Annett) and A.W.O.L. (Frank and Thorsten) from Germany, also Sista Mannen Pa Jorden - The Last Man on Earth - (Eddie Bengtsson and Plasteroid) from Sweden. There was such a high level of enthusiasm, commitment and originality - we left with the conviction that the future (and the past!) of both electronic music and analogue synthesis is safe and in good hands. Martin Kleefeld of Minimal Elektronik and his friend Marco clearly shared our optimistic response!
22 April 2007 Veronica Vasicka played the 1980 Analysis demo "Gravity Dance", recorded with David Rome of Drinking Electricity, on her Minimal-Electronik Plus show on East Village Radio. Her shows are available as downloads for several weeks after their broadcast in Manhattan every Sunday evening from 2200-2400 (New York time).
27 April 2007 Attended Gilbert and George's major exhibition at the Tate Modern. I had seen them peform their Singing Sculptures piece at the Lyceum in 1969, miming to "Underneath the Arches". Their early autobiographical work suggests possible strong aesthetic, sartorial and postural influences on the subsequent 70s and 80s waves of electronic and minimal musicians and artists. Their hilarious dance to Bend It, in the 1981 World of Gilbert and George film, resonates with the poses of Kraftwerk and the later hordes of robotic mime artists.
28 April 2007 To Andy's birthday party with my wife Angie. We began to discuss our ideas for our next recording session and our 5 October show at Neon-Welt, Zwischenfall, Bochum.
29 April 2007 I am currently working on a large number of side-projects which will hopefully see the light of day on vinyl 12" EP, cd-r and cd during the next few years. These include "The Obsessive Image", "The Final Programme", "Analogue Computer", "Electroencephalics", "New Mexico", "Tatra T87", "Jurong East", "Lady Rachel", "Radio Quiet Zone" and "Shanghai London" (synth-pop), "The Holy Places", "Solitary Space", "Tedium of Reality", "Neural Empires", "City without People" and "Animal Deity" (minimal electronic), "Seriality", "Auto-Electric", "Artificial Culture" and "The Rule of Three" (synth-techno), "Nightland", "Beneath the Staircase" and "Concordance" (dark goth), "Life of Electrons", "Beyond the Tattoo", "Climate of Fear" (industrial), "Torn Nation" (punk metal), "Human Computer" and "Harmonika Electronika" (cyborg dance), "Isle of Dreamers" (prog psychedelia) and "Transubjective Vibrations" and "Transference" (new-age trance). A book of one-line poems, "New Moral Ideas", is also under preparation. Our discography page will soon include details of three cd-r's documenting my collaborations with David Rome between 1979 and 1981 during the development of the Survival label ("The Pleasure Cycle"), the group of songs recorded with Paul Ashley prior to the formation of Oppenheimer Analysis ("The Analysis EP") and my early 80s solo work ("Future Europe"). In addition there are several reels of 7" tape recorded prior to 1979 and some post-1985 pieces which have yet to be indexed and encoded.
1 May 2007 Received an unexpected email from Dave Rome! He is involved in discussions concerning the inclusion of "Surface Tension" in a forthcoming German electro compilation. This was the A-side of our Analysis 7" single, released in 1981 as SUR003.
3 May 2007 DJ Echo Frau played my solo 1981 Analysis track "Science Fiction Man" on her Radio Stranger show. Her shows are available to download for several weeks following their broadcast in Nancy every second Wednesday from 2000-2100 (French time).
4 May 2007 Received a DVD from Frank Hentschke containing the footage of his band AWOL and the Swedish duo Sista Mannen Pa Jorden from last month's party at the Cafe Wagner, Jena. This confirms my optimistic assessment of the current minimal electronic scene and its future potential.
5 May 2007 News from DJ Plastikmann (aka Mike Wehmeier) that he has a new homepage at http://frequent-waves.blogspot.com/, from which his "Frequent Waves" show can now be downloaded following its broadcast every Monday evening on EBM Radio from 2000-2200 (German time).
6 May 2007 Veronicka Vasicka played "Science" (from the NLW "Hamburg Hit News 2006" compilation LP) on her Minimal-Electronik Plus show on East Village Radio.
12 May 2007 Andy's lyrics to the chorus of Devil's Dancers are featured as a double page spread in Uniqlo Paper No.2, the Spring/Summer edition of Uniqlo's fashion and ideas magazine. This is available on the internet and as a free giveaway at Uniqlo's clothes outlets around the world. Spent the evening in the studio with Andy, and completed the recording of "Washington".
16 June 2007 Attended the outdoor gig by the Feeling, supported by Ghosts, at Delamere Forest, Cheshire. Luckily the rain just held off, and the large mixed crowd of several thousand gave the bands a great reception - the melodic, harmonic and dynamic songs of both bands sounded like a new beginning for Pop/Soft Rock, and the show felt as I would imagine an early Beatles' performance. The stripped down stage and the crowd-pleasing easy communication of the Feeling's lead singer was reminiscent of the great days of pop and the Beach Boys. The girls loved every minute, and my daughter was thrilled to be given the Feeling's set-list sheet by their roadie as their equipment was taken down.
4 July 2007 My DJ playlist at New York's Wierd club (thanks to Pieter, Glenn and Veronica for making this possible, and for the steep learning curve!):
1st set.
John Foxx – This City
Space – Robots
Trans-X – Living on Video
Landscape – Einstein a GoGo
Trio - Da Da Da (German version)
2nd set.
Frank Chickens – We Are Ninja
Leisure Process – Love Cascade
Oppenheimer Analysis – Washington
Telex – We are all getting old
Vicious Pink – My Private Tokyo
Second Decay – I Hate Berlin
3rd set
Electronic Ensemble – It Happened Then
Martin Lloyd – L’Amant Electronique
Vivabeat – Man from China
Science – Tokyo
Fallout Club – Dream Soldiers
Giorgio Moroder - E=MC2
Ronny – To Have and Have Not
July 2007 To Club 57 Braunschweig for Hertzinfarkt, Absent Without Leave plus
6 October 2007 Guest DJ at Zwischenfall, Bochum. Live bands were Dr Doomsday and his Nuclear Wisemen, Absent Without Leave
November 2007 To Human League supported by Cassette Elektrik at Hammersmith Odeon, with Frank and Diana
March 2008 To Zwischenfall, Bochum prior to travelling to Koln (Martin Kleefeld), DJ Mike, Frankfurt Muzikmesse, Nurenburg, Neon Effect, Wagner's opera house, returning via Luxembourg.
12 June 2008 The Oppenheimer Analysis studio has now been officially named "Los Alamos Studio". Our private releases will continue to be issued by our label "Los Alamos Records".
13 June 2008 To Gatwick for the arrival of our friends Frank and Thorsten of AWOL (absent-without-leave.de) and Diana of Hertzinfarkt. We will be meeting Mark and Paul of Sudeten Creche tomorrow, and attending the Yazoo concert at Brighton Centre the following evening.
September 2008 OA show at Zwischenfall, Bochum, supported by Hertzinfarkt and AWOL. Jonteknik unable to travel due to channel tunnel fire. Last-minute ferry booking.
27 September 2008 OA performed at Synthetic with Cosmic Intent, Looptron and Digitalis
8 October 2008 OA performed at Brave Exhibitions, supported by Jonteknik
27 November 2008 Hertzinfarkt play at Synthetic, with Hannah Sanders, Katja von Kassel and Vista. Afterwards to Blitz Christmas Party with Steve Strange and Rusty Egan.
