Summer Salt & Subway Sun Double Cd & Triple Cd – Pre-Order Now!
(June 3rd)

Pre-order one the editions directly from Beta-lactam Ring Records:
Summer Salt & Subway Sun triple Cd box ($35)
Summer Salt & Subway Sun double Cd ($20)

YES, Summer Salt is the same as the previously released Summer Salt & Subway Sun album (on Ambivalent Scale Recordings), which is now re-released (for better distribution) in companion with a new and previously UNRELEASED album – Subway Sun. To add something more of value to the album for those who already have bought the previous Summer Salt & Subway Sun, included with the first 400 copies is a bonus album – Wildcat Fights (a long single piece).

Subway Sun is a great new album. There are songs with classic organ playing, great electric guitar, wonderful singing, colourful improvisations and so much more … . You could listen to excerpts at the Beta-lactam pages – see the ordering links above!
Track-listing:
1. Star Pool, Milky Way
2. All New
3. I Told You It Wouldn’t Rain
4. Phantom Music
5. Zeal
6. One-legged
7. Broken
8. Antiphony Whispers
9. Song-like in the Dead Night
10. Five Songs

As this were not enough, Martyn let me know that: “Eyeless In Gaza have been working on new material, new recordings. And there’s been a spate of new songs by me, mostly solo stuff.” – So it is not like that they have emptied their musical pockets here!

A Map of the Stars in Summer lyric book + Cd – Out Now!
(April 13th)

A Map of the Stars in Summer – a new lyrics book by Martyn Bates – collects together mostly previously unpublished Martyn Bates & Eyeless In Gaza lyrics. (120 pages) It is accompanied with a Cd containing 5 new songs by Martyn Bates and also one new song by Eyeless In Gaza! Lyrics to the songs are found in the book.

Track-listing:
1. Reedsong (Elizabeth S./Martyn Bates)
2. Red Berries (Martyn Bates)
3. A Needle To North (Peter Becker/Martyn Bates) by Eyeless In Gaza
4. Fell Hill (Martyn Bates)
5. Start Where You Are (Martyn Bates)
6. Where Was the World (Martyn Bates)

This is a great mini-album by Martyn Bates & Eyeless In Gaza that is destined to become one of the more popular releases by Martyn Bates. Splendid full songs throughout, with Elizabeth S. joining in on banjo and voice. The Eyeless In Gaza piece is also a great song and would easily stand out on any album.

The book+Cd is available directly from the publisher: Moments (Price: 26 €, incl. shipping worldwide.) Release date March 31, 2008.

New upcoming concerts by Eyeless In Gaza in Barcelona and Berlin (June 9th)

Remastered early Eyeless In Gaza albums released February 2008 (Updated February 9th)

Cherry Red Records has just re-released the early Eyeless In Gaza albums: Photographs as Memories (1980-81); Caught in Flux (1981); the later Back from the Rains (1985), but most importantly Drumming the Beating Heart (1982) and Pale Hands I Loved So Well (1982).

Martyn Bates of Eyeless In Gaza give his views today on these albums:

Photographs as Memories – originally released in January 1981 Eyeless in Gaza was always very much about capturing the process. Obviously Peter Becker and I weren’t wet behind the ears by any stretch of the imagination. We’d both been in different kinds of bands, living/breathing music since our early teens, and we’d got plenty of burning ideas that we breathed into this new entity – arriving with the determination to do something different and fresh. We knew what we were doing – we’d learned enough of our art to risk the immediacy, the one-take approach to music. Punk’s Year Zero was still resonating: the world was still new, and we were our own masters. These album sessions were snatched Friday night affairs, late evening sessions – grabbed at, cherished, thrilling stuff. Now when I listen to this album, I can hear quite clearly that it is the music of a voice finding itself. It’s one hell of a fuck off to THEM, to all those asleep in hatred, each and every one of them asleep to the dream, and to any awakenings. Caught in Flux/The Eyes of Beautiful Losers – originally released in September 1981 Seventeen songs here, frozen snapshots, experimentation/development: affirmation and joy. As the title indicates, perhaps more than any other early ‘first phase’ Eyeless in Gaza record, this one captures the exhilarating feeling of transition – the tumult of ideas/approaches: everything moving and consciously seeking ways to do things differently. Exploration, spirit – and no more procrastination than intuition allows.   Drumming the Beating Heart – originally released in July 1982 In hindsight, this album contains perhaps the richest examples of achievement reached by ‘first phase’ Eyeless in Gaza. We were still using our ‘first thought’ approach to recording and rehearsing, right enough – but, by this time, we’d honed the beast and were staring to control it the better. I remember we’d prepared a wealth of material, often developing it in gigs up and down the UK and all over Europe. Perhaps the secret in its strength is the luxury of time we had to compile the thing. We’d amassed so much material that we had to wait to release the stuff – which gave us the benefit of piecing the album together over time. This album might well be the one for which we are remembered by posterity – of the early stuff, anyway. This is rich, resonant music, full of colour – music that still screams the fuck out of much of the processed and industry driven/generated pap that the pop machine tries its best to foist on us in 2008. Pale Hands I Loved So Well – originally released in June 1982 As I said, by 1982 we were producing so much high quality stuff that we had to resort to releasing this via a Cherry Red/Uniton hook-up. They were putting out things by the likes of Popul Vuh, so this was clearly a good move. This is our ‘misunderstood’ album, if you like … it tends to be one that people ‘get’ or not, as the case may be. Improvisation was always a massive part of Eyeless in Gaza’s strength. Today, as I write, it’s the songwriting that I’m personally most proud of – but I’d never deny this kind of joyous invention. This beautiful spontaneity is in my blood, and Pete Becker is some kind of genius when it comes to this form of creation (actually, he’s ‘got it going on’ right across the board truth be told). This music is located tightly at the heart and soul of the band. Back from the Rains – originally released in June 1986 In a very real and personal sense, this album was made when a kind of madness took me. By this time we were feeling frustrated that at the way we didn’t seem to be getting across to a larger audience (as if EIG’s attitude to music making encouraged a larger audience!) and there was a feeling that we should ‘focus on our pop stuff’. Plus the fact that in mid-84 my father died unexpectedly. I reacted to this by not going into a depression and instead being filled with a manic sense that Eyeless should not be dark. As if we ever were ‘dark’! Ridiculous idea! Anyway, we thankfully didn’t manage to make our 100% ‘pop’ album. We had too much of a butterfly spirit about us to stay in one place for too long, and we ended up putting a bunch of acappella and impressionistic folky things on there. So things got balanced out nicely on what turned out to be the band’s Cherry Red swan song, thank you very much! On a final note, it’s good to see all this glorious stuff out on Cherry Red again – especially in their brand spanking new remastered forms – for which, kudos and muchos thanks to Scott Davies. Cheers, Scott!

Especially Drumming the Beating Heart and Pale Hands I Loved So Well has received a much augmented sound from the previous disappointing CD release and for the first time since the mid-80’s you can now listen to the albums as they were supposed to sound. Now, finally, I feel it should be possible to understand why Eyeless In Gaza was so popular and influential during the early 80’s. The Cds lack the wonderful original sleeves of the vinyls, but the music is there, intact! Drumming the Beating Heart and Pale Hands I Loved So Well are also released on one disc, so a real bargain! The albums are available from most major webshops and also directly from Cherry Red.

Photographs as Memories is a dense, but lyrical album, with some of the most soulful post-punk tunes there ever was. This album explains so much about the mindset of young people listening a lot to independent/DIY type of music in the years 1979-1983. The only album that makes me think grey days in February and March could have some kind of wonderful atmosphere in them. Caught in Flux/The Eyes of Beautiful Losers was the slightly less harsh and more obviously beautiful album, which I believe to be the album that is the main reason Eyeless In Gaza subsequently enjoyed much success – for a while, at least. This album is very coherent and it shows its merits best when listened to from start to finish! This album is perfect to listen to while walking at dark in wintery/snowy landscapes, but also it is an early Spring album. Drumming the Beating Heart begins where Caught in Flux left off, but with a focus on church organ. This is almost defining the early 80’s indie music and gained therefore also much appreciation. This album also looked forward to the more and more pop oriented way that the whole indie scene at the time hurriedly embraced. This still had nothing at all to do with mainstream pop and in many ways this was the peak of the early Eyeless In Gaza. As I see it, it is a cheerful, fresh album best enjoyed in Spring :-). Pale Hands I Loved So Well was released on a company in Norway that also had released Fra Lippo Lippi’s first album In Silence (which was far superior to anything they subsequently did). Pale Hands is an album that showcases the best of the improvisational side of Eyeless In Gaza and which really sets them apart from their contemporaries, none of whom could really succeed at this. This album is wonderous to me even now after hundreds of listenings and I think one could say this is the only romantic experimental music album ever done – this is an essential album to listen to if you are interested in music at all. (In my mind this is still the most impressive album by the band.) After going more sweetly indie-pop with Rust Red September – also a great autumnal album, they finally released their stab at pop with Back from the Rains and toured Europe with Depeche Mode and was on their way to eternal fame in the world of the Music Establishment. It was still too honest an album to pave the way for true success and a dark cloud loomed above it indicating that these muscians may simply have too much integrity to just fall through into the music hall of fame like that. Back from the Rains is still a nice warm Summer album. Eyeless In Gaza some years later came back to their senses and back right on their own track again.

Albums currently available from A-Scale (Updated March 10th)

Albums available right now from A-Scale are these:
Eyeless In Gaza – Summer Salt & Subway Sun Cd, 2006 (see below for direct payment through Paypal)
Eyeless In Gaza – Plague of Years “best of” Cd, 2006
Eyeless In Gaza – Home Produce: Country Bizarre Cd, 2003
Eyeless In Gaza – Song of the Beautiful Wanton Cd, 2000
Martyn Bates & Max Eastley – Transformation Songs Cd, 2007
Martyn Bates as Migraine Inducers – Dissonance/Antagonistic Music 2xCd, 2007
Martyn Bates as Migraine Inducers – Americas Dissonance Lp, 2007
Martyn Bates – Your Jewled Footsteps “best of” Cd, 2006
Martyn Bates & Troum – To a Child Dancing in the Wind Cd, 2006
Martyn Bates – Mystery Seas (Shayo Edition) Cd, 1995/2006

All albums are £11 incl. postage and packaging (wherever you are), except the Dissonance 2xCd which is £15 (incl. p&p). Americas Dissonance Lp cost extra for shipping depending on where you live (ask us). Send an () with your e-mail to receive a Paypal address to send the money too!

Eyeless In Gaza – Concert in Spain October 27th
(Updated November 8th)

The concert was very successful and the band played some new songs never played before. The set-list: All the Young Men/Cry Mercy/Monstrous Joy/Still Air/Snow Rages/Needle to North/Dust Alphabet/Fell Hill/Red Berries/Dark’s Chorus/Throw a Shadow/Evening Music/Harps in Heaven

Eyeless In Gaza played live in northern Spain on October 27th at this year’s Periferias festival in Huesca. The venue was the Palacio de los Deportes in Huesca.

Other artists that played at the festival included: Six Organs of Admittance, Larsen, Robin Williamson, Jenzo, The Waterboys, Thee, Stranded Horse, Andy Votel and others. Photo © Pedro García.

To receive announcements early on future concerts, join the .

Out Now! The long-awaited New Eyeless In Gaza album: Summer Salt & Subway Sun
(Updated August 9th)

Summer Salt & Subway Sun was released on Ambivalent Scale Recordings on October 30th, 2006, Limited edition of 1000 hand-numbered copies). Buy here for 11 £ incl. shipping, through Paypal, from A-Scale! To order, click the button here (a Paypal account is not needed if you have a credit card).

Currently the only way to buy the album is through this Paypal link, so get it here now!

“People seem to be finally cottoning on to the fact that we’ve always included lots of different elements of so-called wyrd-folk in our music. It’s strange – it seems to be everywhere in 2006 – it’s like it’s this season’s lounge-core or something. That’s why it seemed important for us at this point to put together an album full of loose sounding, noisy pieces and electric guitar stuff … .” – Martyn Bates

It’s fair to say that the birth of Summer Salt & Subway Sun has proved to be amongst the most chequered in the 26 year history of Eyeless in Gaza, which was some three years in the making (following on from 2000’s Song of the Beautiful Wanton and 2003’s collaboration with Lol Coxhill, Country Bizarre).

Originally, the intention was to put together a double album, centering around an “escalated excitement with the idea of cities as new, blank texts – contrasted with the kind of sense of alienation and loss evoked in such works as J.G. Ballard’s Concrete Island.” The completed Summer Salt & Subway Sun works as a kind of survival or synthesis of these ideas – and also as an illustration of Eyeless In Gaza as ‘studio animal’, contrasted with their (newly re-discovered) life as a regularly gigging band. (– The band has been off the road since the late 80’s, but have recently gigged in Bruxelles, London, and Athens – with forthcoming gigs in Italy, Iceland and the U.S.). The album thus neatly encapsulates two key aspects of the music Eyeless in Gaza are presently creating – offering a balance of atmos/acoustic material and sprawling, rhythmic/semi-improvised spidery electric pieces. This has resulted in a heady blend of song based material juxtaposed with a distinctive brand of kaleidoscopic, “cityscaping” filmic musics. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it is the latter, primarily instrumental pieces which gleefully reflect the band’s recent activity in cinema – in Patrice Chereau’s controversial Intimacy, and Jim Jarmusch collaborator Glen McQuaid’s poetic, sub Hammer short, The Resurrection Apprentice.

After the plaudits attributed to the 25th Anniversary release of No Noise compilation (“They were one of the great bands that emerged (from the) post punk (period)” – Alan McGee) Eyeless In Gaza continue to display a characteristic “fierce independence” of style and attitude – with the release of Summer Salt & Subway Sun, issued via the band’s own A-Scale label, at present only available directly from EyelessinGaza.com.

Tracklist: Dust Box-Subway Sun/Whitening Rays/Mixed Choir/Summer Salt/The 3-D Picture/Before Beginning/Where Vivid Bloomed/Paper Aeroplanes/Antipathy Whispers/Ebbing All the Years/Ghost Blocks.

Reviews of the album and Jerry’s (webmaster) thoughts.

Article on Eyeless In Gaza & Martyn Bates in the April issue of The Wire
(April 21st)

There is a prominently featured fine article on Eyeless In Gaza & Martyn Bates in the April, 2007 issue of The Wire. The Wire should be available in many press shops around the world, but otherwise you can contect them via their website. They have information on the current issue here (this link will probably not work as intended within a short time). There is also a nice article on Terry Riley, who has been of some influence on Eyeless In Gaza. Now you can read the article here – Eyeless In Gaza – Patterns under the plough.

Other recent reviews on Eyeless In Gaza & Martyn Bates includes reviews of the recent overview albums of Eyeless In Gaza and Martyn Bates respectively on Sub Rosa at Terrascope Online.

Photo: Ivan Jones.

Björk has Eyeless In Gaza on her playlist & website
(Updated August 9th)

Björk now mentions Eyeless In Gaza prominently on her website (bjork.com) and has mentioned Eyeless In Gaza in at least one recent interview too. This has caused a big raise for interest in the Eyeless In Gaza MySpace site recently!

Björk published (Friday April 27, 2007) her playlist in the online version of The Guardian – Guardian Unlimited – and list Eyeless In Gaza’s ‘Throw a Shadow’ from the Drumming the Beating Heart album. The album’s tracks are currently only available for download purchase. It is not surprising that Björk would listen to Eyeless In Gaza, given her musical background, but is surely nice to see her mention them! Maybe now is time to re-release this album and the Pale Hands I Loved So Well album separately and remastered? Unfortunately now many of the most best-selling Eyeless In Gaza albums are out of stock – we hope this a temporary thing!

Sub Rosa Records releases new Eyeless In Gaza compilation: Plague of Years Out Now!
(Updated October 19th 2006)

Plague of Years (songs and instrumentals 1980-2006) (SR263) was released on October 15th by Sub Rosa. This is meant to act as a ‘sister release’ to No Noise, in that it features more of the ‘improvised side’ of Eyeless In Gaza’s work. It includes a radically different mix of ‘Mixed Choir’, from the forthcoming Eyeless In Gaza albumSummer Salt & Subway Sun. The release will be available via Ambivalent Scale. Tracklist: Mock Sun (instrumental) (1994)/Reminding Pictures (1994)/Every Which Way (1981)/Mixed Choir (instrumental) (2005)/One by One (1982)/Before December (instrumental) (1980)/Fever Pitch and Bite (1981)/History Book (1995)/John of Patmos (1980)/See Red (1981)/Rose Petal Knot (1980)/Guide this Night (1995)/The Lovely Wanton (2001)/To Steven (instrumental) (1984)/Sun-Like-Gold (1984)/To Elizabeth S. (instrumental) (1984)/At Arms Length (1982)/Lights of April (1982)/To Cry Mercy (1995)/She Moves Thru The Fair (1985)/Falling Leaf -Fading Flower: Goodbye to Summer (1982).
(21 tracks, 77 minutes lenght, 8 pages deluxe digipack + full booklet with all lyrics & credits)

From the press release:
“This Cd deals with two sides of the group.
First is its deeply lyrical vein, with summits like See Red and Lights of April, tracks that have almost never been included on ‘best-of’ projects, despite the fact that they represent some of the most moving songs these musicians ever wrote.
This collection also explores the group’s more adventurous side through a number of instrumental pieces. This aspect of their output is little known and often neglected, even though it was there from their very beginnings. These two combining currents, where experimentation precedes lyricism (and the other way around), turn this album into a truly new way of (re)discovering Eyeless In Gaza. This unique architecture creates the impression that each side strengthens the other one’s presence.
Probably for the first time ever, the 21 tracks so redistributed provide the band with irrefutable arguments toward its rebirth. Yes, Eyeless In Gaza is one of the most underrated groups.
Let us hope these two CD siblings [the other one being the just previously released Your Jewled Footsteps (solo and collaboration works 1979-2006) (SR 257) by Martyn Bates] finally set the record straight. In this world of ours, will integrity finally pay off ?”

Mythic Language/Summer Sky Blazing – a new retrospective album
(September 2nd 2007)

A new retrospective album – Mythic Language/Summer Sky Blazing – containing unreleased older pieces by Eyeless In Gaza will be released in the not so distant future … .

Probable track-listing: Quiet Lustre/All Echo/Lines of Flame/You, So Open/The Sun-Like-Gold/Mythic Language/Alms Houses/Old Hours, Slow Daybreak/Shannon Smith #6/Sea She Sells, on the Sea Shore, Sea Shells …/Shannon Smith #4/Prayerbook to the Quiet/Second Music/See the Dark Pools Flash/Summer Apples and Etc./The Favourite Game/The Rain Dreaming Ship/Songs of Coming Winter/Autumn Mixes Its Colours.

Eleventh Hour Announcement: Informal Performance featuring Pete Becker & Martyn Bates among others
(June 20th)

Martyn & Pete have been invited to play a short set at the Temple Music gig on Saturday 16th June at St. Leonard’s Chapel, Kirkstead, Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire, England.
http://www.harvest-home.org/events.asp
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/peter.fairweather/docs/StLeonards.htm

Here is a review from the event by Matthew Holder:

I was fortunate to be heading in the general direction of Lincolnshire at the weekend and managed to get to St Leonard’s Chapel to see the Orchis / Eyeless / Temple music performances.

The set played by Martyn, Pete and Elizabeth S was as follows:
Still Air/Mountain Tomb/Dark’s Chorus/Acapella ‘Love is a gift, you brave sons and daughters’ segued into Pearl and Pale/Lost Melody/I’ll Wrap Your Hopes/You So Secret/Faceless/Down in Yon Forest/Snow Rages/Harps in Heaven
Just over 40 mins for their set.

The tiny chapel could probably cram in 80 people and was in the middle of a remote field amongst the grassy mounds and humps of the ruins of an abbey – quite an evocative setting. On the night it was mostly attended by local villagers – some elderly, some young, the local priest and friends and family of the performers – about 35 people. Martyn, Pete and Elizabeth S sang with no mike and as Martyn put it – just a little electricity to add volume to the guitar. The acoustics of the chapel allowed their voices to carry strongly and clearly. This ancient chapel seemed an appropriate setting for Eyeless songs which often seem to draw from both ancient and modern traditions and the religious and secular. By the end of their set it was heading towards dusk and the candles which provided the only lighting inside the chapel created just the right atmosphere as Temple Music played their piece in a shortened 25 minute performance. Alan Trench said by way of introduction that the full version could last for 1.5 hours. Martyn, Pete and Elizabeth sat and listened in the audience during the piece which started with sampled/electronically generated birdsong and developed around Djembe; Harp; Bowed Psaltry; Singing Bowls; electronics; Pump Organ; Bass and effects guitar which all built and shimmered in quite a mesmerising way. All in all an excellent evening, well received by those who would not normally be part of the Eyeless audience.

Eyeless In Gaza – Concert in Antwerpen, Belgium February 17
(Updated April 12th)

The concert was very good according to people present at the concert. Unfortunately the turn-out was rather low.

Eyeless In Gaza gave a concert in Antwerpen, Belgium on Saturday the 17th of February 2007.

Address to the venue
Schouwburg Cultuurcentrum Luchtbal
Columbiastraat 8, 2030 Antwerpen
Website: http://www.ccluchtbal.org/ (tickets + more info)

Price: 12 € (in advance) 15 € (at the door)
(William Street is a support band for the night.)

Eyeless In Gaza – Concerts in Greece November 23-24
(November 20th 2006)

Eyeless In Gaza will perform live yet again. This time in Greece by the end of the month.

23rd November in Athens at Gagarin205
203-205 Liosion Street, 104 45 Athens

24th November in Thessaloniki at Mylos-Xylourgeion
56 Andr. Georgiou Street, 546 30 Thessaloniki

Sub Rosa Records releases new Martyn Bates compilation: Your Jewled Footsteps Out Now!
(Updated September 20th 2006)

Sub Rosa releases the first comprehensive overview of Martyn Bates solo oeuvre and key collaborations – Your Jewled Footsteps (solo and collaboration works 1979-2006) (SR 257). Release date: 15th September 2006. Tracklist: Cut Like Sunset (1982) - from Letters Written/Shorepoem (1994) - from Mystery Seas/ I Cant Look For You (1996) - from Imagination Feels Like Poison/First and Last February (1989) - from Letters To A Scattered Family/The God On the Tree (1996) - from Imagination Feels Like Poison/Morning Singing (1982) - from Letters Written/Of That So Sweet Imprisonment (1996) - from Chamber Music II/Mirrored In Me (1982) - from Letters Written/Twilight Turns From Amethyst? (1994) - from Chamber Music I/Once Loved (2005) - by Twelve Thousand Days - from At The Landgate/Dissonance Excerpt (1979) - by Martyn Bates/Migraine Inducers - from Dissonance/Later War Cries (1990) - from Stars Come Trembling/Poems Pennyeach (2000) - from Dance of Hours/The Garden of Olives (1998) - by Martyn Bates & Anne Clark - from Just After Sunset (tho this track does not actually feature Anne)/No-one Spoke (1996) - from Imagination Feels Like Poison/Overflowing Look (1982) - from Letters Written/Cherry Tree Carol (1997) - by Martyn Bates & Max Eastley - from Transformation Songs/Once Blessed (2000) - from Dance of Hours/The Cruel Mother (1996) - by M.J. Harris & Martyn Bates - from Incest Songs (Murder Ballads, vol. 2)/The Dim and the Yellow Light … (2005) - from Leitmotif.
(20 tracks, 75 minutes lenght, 8 pages deluxe digipack + full booklet with all lyrics & credits)

From the press release:
“During those 20 years, against all odds, Bates managed to shape a unique, instantly recognizable form of music – that voice! – based on a deeply rooted, 100% English folk tradition. In our opinion, he is also greatly underrated as a songwriter. In his solo work and in EIG, he has developed what can be called a style: a combination of angst (a working-class hero) and pure melancholia (time irremediably lost, the loss of idealized love), mixed in with an unconditional love of poetry (Keats, Yeats, Joyce) and authentic popular song stylings. In other words, Martyn Bates belongs to a tradition that can be traced all the way back to the troubled times of the Elizabethan era. Your Jewled Footsteps journeys through made-in-England pop, folk, poetry recitation and reconstructions of songs whose origins are long forgotten. In addition to Bates’ essential pieces, the collection also includes several previously unreleased tracks, including some pre-Industrial sound works predating EIG’s formation, in the late ’70s.

Please note that on the design front, we will be introducing a new series featuring the artist in his immediate surroundings (studio, home, street, city?), in the shape of a 8 pages digipack (presenting around 20 photographs) with separate booklet reproducing all the lyrics heard on the CD.”

Martyn Bates – Concert in Geneva September 28th
(September 14th 2006)

Larsen, Baby Dee (recently toured with Current 93), Mir and Martyn Bates will share the night at Le KAB on September 28th in Geneva, Switzerland. Martyn Bates and Elisabeth S. plan to perform Twelve Thousand Days tunes, Monstrous Joy, and other songs never played live before. For more information visit: Le KAB.

At long last, various Ambivalent Scale recordings are to be made available directly via the Internet from the label itself – details later.
(September 14th 2006)

Eyeless In Gaza & Martyn Bates – Concerts in Brussels on June 9th & 10th 2006
(Updated September 14th 2006)

The concerts were a tremendous success in terms of the performance, atmosphere and nice supportive people attending the concerts. The organisers were a little disappointed by not having more than around 200 in the audience. Martyn and Pete were satisfied with the sound and their performance, which included many songs never performed before, like the new Voices and Summer Salt songs from the upcoming albums, Summer Salt & Subway Sun and Monster Field (tentative title).

First real Eyeless In Gaza concert outside England since 1986!!! If that is not enough, Martyn Bates will perform in solo capacity the night before at the same venue – a wonderful venue – ‘Eglise Sainte-Catherine’, one of the largest churches in Brussels. Book June 9-10 as the weekend you will visit Brussels this year if you do not enjoy living there already!

For more comments on the concerts – visit: Anymoments.net.

Dark Holler distribution
(February 9th 2006)

Dark Holler still have a few copies remaining from their distribution of the leftover stock of the Ambivalent Scale releases from the now defunct World Serpent label. These include Bitter Apples, Streets I Ran and Martyn Bates’ solo Mystery Seas. Dark Holler have also re-issued Martyn Bates’ Imagination Feels Like Poison album on the Hand/Eye label.

DVD release Saw You In Reminding Pictures
(Updated October 22nd 2005)

This DVD was released early August (officially on July 18th) by Cherry Red Records records and contains live video material – from 1982 and from last year’s “secret gig” – and their old New Risen and Veil like Calm videos.

Cherry Red has a presentation of the video at their web site, where it also could be ordered.

A review appeared in the October issue of Mojo magazine.

Online forum with an Eyeless In Gaza/Martyn Bates Peformance Record and a place to leave comments
(October 22nd 2005)

All Yr Pages: A Peformance Record – also a place to leave comments! If you have additional information or simply wants to comment on something, feel free to sign up and contribute!

The Unbroken Circle presents Martyn Bates
(October 22nd 2005)

The Unbroken Circle is a quite brilliant site promoting so called ‘Wyrd Folk’ musics and has created a web page dedicated to presenting Martyn Bates and his many collaborative projects.

This is a very sympathetic and well done presentation of Martyn Bates and they also offer many songs and pieces in streaming audio, so it is very well worth to get over there and have a look! There are also many other interesting bands featured at the site!

Film music by Eyeless In Gaza in the recent The Resurrection Apprentice
(Updated October 22nd 2005)

Martyn Bates has written a score for the music of The Resurrection Apprentice, a short directed by filmmaker Dan McQuaid – colleague/collaborator of/with Larry Fassenden/Jim Jarmusch. The work was realised in tandem with Pete Becker – who played on several pieces, recording and engineering the work. It is now listed at the IMDB Movie database site. It premiered at the Fantasia Festival in Canada on July 20th 2005.

Review and photos of the London July 29th 2005 concert
(September 26th 2005)

Eyeless In Gaza gave a super concert to a very enthusiastic audience at Bush Hall venue in London. The event was videofilmed and there might be a DVD release coming later. They played many of their classic songs, like Rose Petal Knot, Back from the Rains, Corner of Dusk, but also newer and some never performed before pieces like Bitter Apples, Glow of Sight, Lullay My Liking. I have collected some fine photos from the event on a separate page and here are some more photos.

A review of the concert.
An Italian review of the concert. (There may be an english translation later on. Google in english can translate the page as well as the babelfish.altavista.com service.)

Martyn Bates concerts in Paris and Brussels
(September 24th 2005)

Martyn Bates gave exclusive live concerts near Brussels (Castle de Feluy (www.chateaudefeluy.be, August 27th) and Paris (Black Dog bar (www.blackdog-bar.com), August 28th). This was the first time Martyn performed in solo capcity in Europe since 1996. He was accompanied by Elizabeth S. and in Paris, Pete Becker joined in, making it a very special event!!! There is a burst of activities from Eyeless In Gaza these days and they again wish to reach out to people more than ever.

Not only this, but B’Eirth of In Gowan Ring played In Gowan Ring songs at these events. They sold a very limited Cdr Ep only at these concerts with exclusive material from both artists. These events were organised by Shayo, www.shayo.ch.

No Noise – The Very Best of Eyeless In Gaza album
(Updated August 21st 2005)

From the Cherry Red presentation:
“Cherry Red signed the two piece synthesiser duo Eyeless In Gaza in 1980. Back then a cassette dropped through our letter box which was virtually the finished tape of their first, highly acclaimed, album ‘Photographs as Memories’. So 25 years have now passed by and Cherry Red are proud to present ‘No Noise – The Very Best of Eyeless In Gaza’ (CDMRED 279), a fascinating collection which contains all the best Eyeless tracks over those years.”

No Noise – The Very Best of Eyeless In Gaza was released on July 18th by Cherry Red Records records. Track-listing: 1. Bitter Apples (1995); 2. Kodak Ghosts Run Amok (1980); 3. Others (1981); 4. Harps in Heaven (1999); 5. Struck Like Jacob Marley (1986); 6. Tall and White Nettles (1982); 7. Among the Blue Flowers and the Yellow (1999); 8. Dreaming at Rain (1982); 9. Between These Dreams (1985); 10. Sunbursts In (1984); 11. She Tries on the Jewels (1993); 12. New Risen (1983); 13. Welcome Now (1985); 14. Point You (1981); 15. September Hills (1983); 16. Transience Blues (1982); 17. Looking Daggers (1980); 18. Drumming the Beating Heart (1983); 19. Veil Like Calm (1982); 20. Invisiblity (1981); 21. Hunger Song (1994); 22. No Noise (1980).

Helen Zachariah covers of Kodak Ghosts Run Amok
(Updated April 21st 2006)

Helen Zachariah is the 3rd album from Welsh singer/songwriter Helen Zachariah. The eponymously titled ‘Helen Zachariah’ kicks off with a cover of Eyeless In Gaza’s ‘Kodak Ghosts Run Amok’, done in no less than 3 stretched out versions. Helen and her cohort, producer Henrik Bech Poulsen, has transformed this 25 year old cult favourite into the ultimate dance song with plenty an edge.

Find out more at NDN records, where you could also listen to one of the cover versions!

Eyeless In Gaza – Concert in London July 29th 2005
(April 28th 2005)

Finally, Eyeless In Gaza are back performing live after more than a decade to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Eyeless In Gaza. For more information and booking see the Bush Hall web site (Information now removed (2006)).

Eyeless In Gaza recent concert on Isle of Wight
(November 14th 2004)

On Saturday 6th Nov. 2004, Eyeless In Gaza reappeared on the live scene for the first time since 1993 and did a really great performance. In Ryde, Isle of Wight, Pete and Martyn played with a vigour and freshness one would not expect from a band formed back in 1980. They pulled off many old favourites like No Noise, Two, Others, Still Air, Leaves are Dancing, Pearl and Pale, Faceless and Back from the Rains. But they also did great versions of more recent outings like Slow Train, Saw You in Reminding Pictures, Bitter Apples and Less Sky. This band is not just doing some retro performances like so many other bands, but go ahead as if it was the first time they ever played these songs – and, well, several of the songs had never been performed live before.

The vitality of Eyeless In Gaza is still there as much as ever before. This was reassuring and hopes are up for more live gigs to follow. There exists some plans about a gig or two in London next year to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Eyeless In Gaza.

(This gig was a private party with invited guests only and that was the reason it was not announced beforehand. It was very well received by the guests.)

Eyeless In Gaza – Sonic History
(March 29th 2004)

Now available: a commented sound guide to the history of Eyeless In Gaza! 69 sound samples in mp3 (some more could be found here and on the Martyn Bates site). (Comments written by Jerry/webmaster.)

Eyeless In Gaza autobiography
(Updated February 14th 2005)

Martyn Bates is working on an autobiography of Eyeless In Gaza.

© Phillipe Carly, 2003 – www.newwavephotos.com

Home Produce: Country Bizarre album – The Tago Mago recordings: remixed and expanded Cd
(August 19th 2003)

The Home Produce: Country Bizarre album – The Tago Mago recordings: remixed and expanded Cd (NDN 37) by Eyeless In Gaza and Lol Coxhill was released on June 26th, 2003. The old Tago Mago recordings have been infused with new life and with additional new material! Originally the recordings were released on a cassette by the French Tago Mago label in 1982. Lol Coxhill performed on one half of the cassette and presented some fine (hilarious perhaps) saxophone improvisations and little tunes. Eyeless In Gaza recorded some of their most free improvisations to date, somewhat in the vein of their successful Pale Hands I Loved So Well album. Eyeless in Gaza’s are sometimes very moody and dreamy, but there is no song on these pieces. Now Eyeless In Gaza has undertaken to try and fuse the Coxhill pieces with their own and on top of it add some new improvisations and tunes to exciting ends. If you knew the original pieces you are likely to be intrigued about whether they could possibly have managed to be successful in this attempt. These recordings show more of the underrepresented (in the released works) experimental nature of Eyeless In Gaza. It is recordings like these that help explain why Eyeless could produce such original works all the time.

Read more about the album and you can also order it directly at NDN Records for $15 plus postage (see their order info page).

Songs: 1) Echoes And Edward, 2) Fragment, 3) November, 4) The Vacant Pool, 5) They Come And The Go, In Shards Of Silver, 6) The Odd Fellow’s Ball, 7) Creature Piece, 8) Little Suite I: B-Movie Prelude, 9) Little Suite II: Of Sorts, 10) Little Suite III: Silver, 11) Little Suite IV: B-Movie Prelude (Reprise), 12) Crêpe Paper Heart, 13) Rosary, 14) Echoes of Falmer, 15) Before December, 16) For Edward, 17) Mars Lighthouse I & II, 18) No, 19) An Odd Scent of Heaven, 20) End Theme.

A splendid review of Home Produce: Country Bizarre by Keith Moline appears in the The Wire magazine: issue 239 January 2004.

A new great review of Home Produce: Country Bizarre appears in the Winter 2003/2004 issue of the Ptolemaic Terrascope magazine.

Eyeless In Gaza song-list
(August 25th 2001)

You can now find an alphabetical listing of all published songs by Eyeless In Gaza (including a few pieces were they have made important contributions). Have a look at the Song-list!

Creature Box – Eyeless In Gaza & Tactile – Horse Startled by Lightning Cd
(Updated February 1st 1999/September 2nd 2007)

The Creature Box Cd is now complete and to be titled Horse Startled by Lightning or Three Strange Angels. It is unclear if it will be release anytime soon – I will be back with more definite information if/when I receive it. Martyn Bates says: “ It’s quite different from anything Eyeless have ever been involved in, to date … it’s the sound of imploding stars/behemoth machines and radio static/primordial diamonds buried in dirt/ectoplasm all over the amplifiers/crumbling explosions … it’s a noisy, untrammelled journey … I can safely say it’s the most unhinged thing we’ve been involved in for a long time!”

Tracks: Snowsnake/Antipathy Whisper/I Told You, It Would Not Rain/Passion Flowers/Horse Startled by Lightning/Three Strange Angels/Song of A Man Who Has Come Through. [‘Passion Flowers’ was actually the name of a song Eyeless did very early in the 80ies. ‘Song of a Man who has Come Through’ was the name of a track first planned to be part of All Under the Leaves, the Leaves of Life – guess those songs have been quite changed here … .]

Earlier Martyn Bates wrote: “Last week [in March, 1998], Eyeless started work on our collaboration project with John Everall and Teresa Mills of Tactile … we completed a track for the sampler Cd that will relaunch Sentrax Records (via the US label Invisible initially, then it will be licensed into Europe …). We’re embarking upon a collaboration Cd under the name Creature Box; essentially it’s a vehicle for the hitherto hidden (in recent years) side of what Eyeless In Gaza do … something where a particular aspect of Peter Becker’s fascination can focus, i.e. the drum machines/noise/“industrial” of things … somewhere that I personally can explore this side of my guitar playing technique … John and Teresa providing “hard-edged soundscapes” … check the Eyeless vs. Tactile track on the Tactile remix Cd [see below] for a pointer.” Martyn now (June 16th, 1998) tells me that he and Pete “have practically finished the recordings” for the album and that the album is [was] planned to be released before the end of the year. Martyn adds that “it’s been exhilarating – a chance to let off some steam.”

For those who want to hear what they could expect from the Creature Box album – a compilation track has just been released. Title of the Creature Box track on the Sentrax Sampler Cd Interiors is ‘Horse Startled by Lightning’ – the Cd was released on June 16th, 1997 on Invisible (US)!

The Sentrax Records supremo John Everall and his project Tactile released an album Inscape some time ago. Sentrax Records later released an album Recurrence & Intervention of re-mixes of Tactile-tracks. Eyeless In Gaza contributed a track, ‘Panoleptic’, to this Tactile re-mix project. It was released in January 1997 and was reviewed in Wire magazine. It has been released in the US only, but one could in the past order it from the Sentrax Records homepage.

Saw You in Reminding Pictures – this Cd of more experimental/improvisational Eyeless In Gaza music will be re-released in a non-limited edition on A-Scale (ASR 017) at some time in the foreseeable future. Problems and delays due to circumstances beyond the control of A-Scale have meant that the release date for this project keeps being pushed back and back, but it will happen, in the fullness of time … . (It is not available at all right now.) (Updated April 3rd 1998)