zoviet france - any other fans?

**battema** · 06-21-2018

These guys have been on my radar for a while although I never really took a close look until recently. Very cool dark/abstract ambient electronic stuff going back to the 80's. A bit enigmatic, which is sort of neat (and was easier to pull off back in the pre-Internet era). Some seriously cool packaging too, especially on the earlier stuff.

Scored an original copy of Popular Soviet Songs and Youth Music on cassette (the feather, parchment, etc. version), and that's been very cool. I also really enjoy their more recent album Patina Pooling with fossil aerosol mining project (comes in a rusted metal jewel case).

Been exploring some of the offshoots too, including Rapoon (my favorite thus far), Dead Voices on Air and Reformed Faction.

Gun to the head, my favorites thus far would be:

zoviet france : Popular Soviet Songs, Collusion, Patina Pooling
Rapoon : Just Say the Faith, Church Road
Reformed Faction: Reformed Faction of Soviet France

Any other fans? Curious to hear what other favorite albums folks might have. I've read lots of positive stuff about a live album called What is Not True, but so far I'm finding copies at pretty ridiculous prices sooo...not there yet

(edit: just scored a copy at a semi-reasonable I-can-live-with-it price, so there you go)

Thanks for reading!

**spacefreak** · 06-21-2018

I'm a huge fan and back at the times they were an instant auto-buy upon any release. I have all their stuff LPs + CDs up and including "What Is Not True". They begun to lose quality after that one and I lost interest (and moved on to Rapoon).

Their masterpieces for me are "Eostre", "Shouting At The Ground" and "Mohnomishe" but their entire output from 1982 - 1993 is a must have.

**battema** · 06-21-2018

Thanks! I recently scored Shouting at the Ground, and am poking around looking for a reasonable price on Mohnomishe.

I just recently came across Spyby's Propeller project on Bandcamp, thinking about giving that a listen too.

Forgot to mention Rapoon's Fires of the Borderlands, which I enjoy quite a lot too.

**spacefreak** · 06-21-2018

Originally Posted by battema

Forgot to mention Rapoon's Fires of the Borderlands, which I enjoy quite a lot too.

"The Kirghiz Light" and "The Fires of the Borderlands" are their best for me. They lost me after " Navigating by Colour" when they downsized the ethnic elements for more generic ambient soundscapes.

**battema** · 06-21-2018

Cool...will look for Kirghiz Light (not hard to find digitally).

**M Sary** · 06-21-2018

Got to see them back in the 90's here in Louisville, performing Terry Riley's "In C", alongside members of Ut Gret. Spell-binding!

**Scrotum Scissor** · 06-21-2018

Yes, I like them. I used to own that album of theirs with the metal cover, but I leant it to a then-current friend who didn't stick around. And thus I lost the damn thing.

I always thought of them as how it would have sounded if Nocturnal Emissions encountered Mnemonists/Biota. Pretty unique stuff.

**Progbear** · 06-22-2018

I spotted the metal-cover LP in the wild once a long time ago. Didn’t they have a sandpaper cover, too? I know they had wood and vellum covers out there.

**spacefreak** · 06-22-2018

Originally Posted by Progbear

I spotted the metal-cover LP in the wild once a long time ago. Didn’t they have a sandpaper cover, too? I know they had wood and vellum covers out there.

Mohnomishe was the wooden one.
Gris had a sleeve constructed from a painted section of asphalt roofing material, with a printed strip of paper wrapped around.
Norsch was the metallic in an aluminium foil sleeve.
Eostre cover was in fold-out silk paper with inner cover in printed white latex.
$oviet France was inside a painted hessian bag.
Popular Soviet Songs And Youth Music CD issue came with a round felt piece on front and the back of the set with a soviet army military pin holding the whole set together. The set contains 3 "music" CDs, with felt glued to the print side & the music from the omonymous cassette on the other side and 3 'blank" CDs with track information on the printed side plus a side long high pitched tone on the playable side. The original cassette release came packaged inside a ceramic pot, with a stick, bird feathers, a flag and an instruction sheet, telling you what to do with these elements.

The infamous sandpaper cover was the The Return Of... LP by The Durutti Column on Factory Records.

**battema** · 06-22-2018

Yeah...the cassette of Popular Soviet Songs I scored had everything but the ceramic pot included.

The exotic, more-than-just-the-album-sleeve packaging of theirs is certainly part of the appeal. Their albums really are unique statements, and I dig that.

**battema** · 06-22-2018

Anyway, you convinced me...found a used copy of Mohnomishe in VG+ condition at a not-completely-obscene price and sprang for it. YOLO, as they say...

I'm listening to the Reformed Faction "I Am the Source of Light, I Am Not a Mirror" set right now...cool, weird, almost jammy stuff. Almost, *almost* has a bit of a krautrock vibe that is kind of cool.

**no.nine** · 06-22-2018

Love them, although they're a little inconsistent. Popular Soviet Songs, for example, I found underwhelming. Too sparse and bitty as I recall. And Garista is too silly. Juvenile, even.

BUT - on to their masterstrokes (and I won't attempt to rank them, so these are in no particular order):

Shouting at the Ground
Mohnomishe (dirtier/grungier and more powerful than much of their output)
Shadow, Thief of the Sun
Just an Illusion
A Flock of Rotations
and, yes -- What Is Not True

**Buddhabreath** · 06-22-2018

Thanks fot starting this thread. What I've heard of ZF I've liked and I remember seeing the wild packaging back in the day including the wooden one. Wish I had pulled the trigger on those now.

**spacefreak** · 06-23-2018

Originally Posted by battema

I'm listening to the Reformed Faction "I Am the Source of Light, I Am Not a Mirror" set right now...cool, weird, almost jammy stuff. Almost, *almost* has a bit of a krautrock vibe that is kind of cool.

Oh, the "reformed" Zoviet France? They aren't up to the old standards, much generic electro stuff, but I agree that the 3 CD set that you mention is something different from their main body of work and the most interesting thing they ever did.

**spacefreak** · 06-23-2018

Originally Posted by no.nine

And Garista is too silly. Juvenile, even.

I agree, :Garista: is a very weak album, to the brinks of the unlistenable nowadays; the worst from their golden period.

**battema** · 06-25-2018

Picked up Kirghiz Lights from Bandcamp (both CD + digital) over the weekend, listening now. Grand stuff!

**battema** · 06-25-2018

Happy coincidence...my last two zf buys arrived today: What is Not True and Mohnomische (in the wood sleeve even!). Listening to the latter right now, and really loving it.

Looks like this thread was of minimal interest to folks here on PE overall (which is fine) so I'll let it sink from here. But I do just want to say thanks again to everyone who threw in their thoughts (especially spacefreak), it helped me pick out a few real winners and I'm very excited to spend some time absorbing all this lovely stuff

Best!
JB

**Birdy** · 06-26-2018

I have about 100 CD's from Zoviet France, Rapoon, Dead Voices and Reformed Faction.

A few favorites:

Zoviet France:

Shouting At The Ground
Vienna 1990
What Is Not True
Digilogue
In.Version

Rapoon:

To West and Blue
Downgliding
Darker By Light
Fires Of The Borderland
Raising Earthly Spirits
Easterly 6 or 7

**battema** · 07-16-2018

F*ck it, everyone else bumps threads so why not...

Birdy, thanks for the list above. I scored Vienna 1990 along with Shadow, Thief of the Sun recently, really digging both. I've not yet investigated In.Version but it has come up more than once online on other lists, so I'll have to give that a peek too. I also recently sprang for their newest one, Tables Are Turning, and rather like it.

Dead Voices didn't do much for me (at least the couple that I originally heard), but recently gave 'Michael and the Angels Fought' a go on Bandcamp and really enjoyed it...so maybe I'll check out some of his newer titles as well.

I'm currently listening to the last Reformed Faction too (the Save Our Ghosts pair).

I'm very happy to be exploring this whole sphere of bands.

**Birdy** · 07-16-2018

Originally Posted by battema

F*ck it, everyone else bumps threads so why not...

Birdy, thanks for the list above. I scored Vienna 1990 along with Shadow, Thief of the Sun recently, really digging both. I've not yet investigated In.Version but it has come up more than once online on other lists, so I'll have to give that a peek too. I also recently sprang for their newest one, Tables Are Turning, and rather like it.

Dead Voices didn't do much for me (at least the couple that I originally heard), but recently gave 'Michael and the Angels Fought' a go on Bandcamp and really enjoyed it...so maybe I'll check out some of his newer titles as well.

I'm currently listening to the last Reformed Faction too (the Save Our Ghosts pair).

I'm very happy to be exploring this whole sphere of bands.

Yeah Dead Voices would be my least favorite and Rapoon my favorite of all these.

**Birdy** · 07-16-2018

I also don't have Tables Are Turning and hadn't even noticed it. It's a huge chore to keep up with these guys.

**battema** · 07-17-2018

I like Tables, but I think I like Patina Pooling more. Oh, I also got that flexi-disc they did around the same time (Flexible Pooling, I think it was called?). That was good lo-fi fun.

Yeah...I'm really starting to enjoy Rapoon more and more. Even picked up the newer stuff (first two parts of the Mercury Rising trilogy) and think it's grand.