Assemblage 23 is an

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

act from the United States, currently based in

Woonsocket, Rhode Island Woonsocket ( ), is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 43,240 at the 2020 census, making it the sixth largest city in the state. Being Rhode Island's northernmost city, Woonsocket lies directly south of ...

. It was founded in 1988 by

Tom Shear Tom Shear is an American musician and music producer, and is the sole member of the electronic act Assemblage 23. He was born on November 12, 1971 in State College, Pennsylvania, where he lived until he was about age six. After that, he live ...

who writes the music and lyrics and does the recording himself. Live performances are supported by Paul Seegers on keyboards and Mike Jenney on drums.

History

1980s–1990s (pre–Assemblage 23)

Prior to starting Assemblage 23, Shear experimented with music under the name Man on a Stage, beginning in the early 1980s. Most of Shear's music at this point was instrumental, as he lacked the confidence to sing; the quality of the music itself was highly questionable by his own admission. Shear eventually began to add vocals to his music; at the same time, Shear was also playing bass in a live band called the Advocates. Assemblage 23 was officially born in 1988, after Shear experienced the industrial

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...

played by an opening DJ for

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). Depech ...

. The style of this genre deeply impressed Shear; he believed he had finally found the sort of sound he wanted for his music. Even so, the project was more of a hobby for Shear at this point; it took until 1998 for Assemblage 23 to gather enough positive acclaim to attract the attention of record labels.

Late 1990s – early 2000

Shear signed a deal in 1999 with the Canadian label Gashed! for a full-length album (''Contempt'', released in November 1999). ''Contempt'' ranked #42 on the DAC Top Albums of 2000 chart in Germany. A second album, ''Failure'', followed in March 2001 and was released by Gashed in North America and Accession Records in Europe. A single from ''Failure'', "Disappoint", was released on Accession in October 2001 and ranked #42 on the DAC Top Singles chart for 2001. The song dealt with Shear's sense of loss after his father's suicide on October 28, 1999, and features a sample from the film

In the Line of Fire ''In the Line of Fire'' is a 1993 American political action thriller film directed by Wolfgang Petersen and starring Clint Eastwood, John Malkovich and Rene Russo. Written by Jeff Maguire, the film is about a disillusioned and obsessed former C ...

. After falling out with Gashed Records following ''Failure'', Shear signed with US label

Metropolis Records Metropolis Records is a record label founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pen ...

(US) later in 2001; Metropolis re-released ''Contempt'' and ''Failure'' in November. A remix release, ''Addendum'', was also released in November only on Accession. By this point, Assemblage 23 had become fairly popular within the EBM genre and closely catalogued alongside the "futurepop" genre, which Shear himself characterized — possibly tongue-in-cheek — as "mostly people who can't sing, over 90s-era trance patches." The third album, ''Defiance'', was released in October 2002 on Metropolis and Accession, preceded by the single "Document", in September of that year. Assemblage 23 released a fourth album, ''Storm'', in October 2004 with singles "Let the Wind Erase Me" in August and "Ground" in November. "Ground" spent eight weeks on the DAC Singles chart peaking at #2.

Mid 2000 – present

In March 2007, Assemblage 23 released a new single, "Binary", which debuted at No. 21 on the Billboard US singles chart, preceding the album ''Meta'', released in April 2007. Also in 2007 saw the release of "Early Rare & Unreleased" which is a collection of 14 Assemblage 23 tracks taken from the years 1988–1998. In 2009, "Early Rare & Unreleased Volume Two" was released. Assemblage 23 performed at Montreal's Kinetik Festival in May 2009. In September 2009, Assemblage 23 released the single "Spark," followed by its sixth studio album ''Compass.'' On June 12, 2012, Assemblage 23 released the album "Bruise." The album "Endure" was released on August 28, 2016, and, in October 2016, Assemblage 23 began a nationwide tour in support of the album. The latest album, "Mourn", was released on September 11, 2020.

Band members

* Tom Shear -

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or witho ...

, programming * Paul Seegers - keyboards * Mike Jenney -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

Discography

Demo cassette

*''Demo, Fall 1998'' – (CS demo) 1998 – no label

Studio albums

*''

Contempt Contempt is a pattern of attitudes and behaviour, often towards an individual or a group, but sometimes towards an ideology, which has the characteristics of disgust and anger. The word originated in 1393 in Old French contempt, contemps, ...

'' – (CD album) 1999 – Gashed! • (CD album) 2000 – Accession Records • (CD album) 2001 – Metropolis *''

Failure Failure is the state or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, and may be viewed as the opposite of success. The criteria for failure depends on context, and may be relative to a particular observer or belief system. One ...

'' – (CD album) 2001 – Gashed!, Metropolis, Accession Records *'' Defiance'' – (CD album) 2002 – Metropolis, Accession Records • (CD album) 2005 – Irond *''

Storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstorm), ...

'' – (CD album) 2004 – Metropolis, Accession Records • (CD) 2005 – Irond *''

Meta Meta (from the Greek μετά, '' meta'', meaning "after" or "beyond") is a prefix meaning "more comprehensive" or "transcending". In modern nomenclature, ''meta''- can also serve as a prefix meaning self-referential, as a field of study or ende ...

'' – (CD album) 2007 – Metropolis, Accession Records, Irond *''

Compass A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with ...

'' – (CD album) Oct. 2009 – Metropolis, Accession Records, Irond *''

Bruise A bruise, also known as a contusion, is a type of hematoma of tissue, the most common cause being capillaries damaged by trauma, causing localized bleeding that extravasates into the surrounding interstitial tissues. Most bruises occur clo ...

'' – (CD album) June 2012 – Metropolis, Accession Records, Irond *'' Endure'' – (CD album) 2016 – Metropolis *'' Mourn'' - (CD album) 2020 - Metropolis

Remix albums, EPs

*''

Addendum An addendum or appendix, in general, is an addition required to be made to a document by its author subsequent to its printing or publication. It comes from the gerundive , plural , "that which is to be added," from (, compare with memorandum ...

'' – (CD) 2001 – Accession Records

Early, Rare, and Unreleased collections

*''Early, Rare & Unreleased 1988–1998'' – (CD, Ltd. Edition) 2007 – 23db *''Early, Rare & Unreleased: Volume Two'' – (CD, Ltd. Edition) 2009 – 23db

Singles

*"Disappoint" – (CD, Maxi) 2001 – Accession Records *"Document" – (CD Maxi) 2002 – Accession Records *" Let the Wind Erase Me" – (CD Maxi) 2004 – Metropolis, Accession Records *"Ground"– (CD Maxi) 2004 – Metropolis, Accession Records *"

Binary Binary may refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * Binary number, a representation of numbers using only two digits (0 and 1) * Binary function, a function that takes two arguments * Binary operation, a mathematical operation that ta ...

" – (CD Maxi) 2007 – Metropolis, Accession Records *"Spark" – (CD Maxi) Sept. 2009 – Metropolis, Accession Records

References

External links

Official Website

Official MySpace

Human.Not.Machine Official Forum

Metropolis Records

Accession Records

Unofficial Releases, Remixes and Compilations
{{DEFAULTSORT:Assemblage 23 American industrial music groups American synth-pop groups American electronic body music groups American musical trios Electronic music groups from Rhode Island Musical groups from Rhode Island Musical groups from Seattle Metropolis Records artists Musical groups established in 1988