Brise-Glace (French for " ice-breaker", as in the type of boat) was a 1990s instrumental

avant-rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments with the basic elements of the genre. Artists aim to liberate and innovate, with ...

" supergroup" composed of Jim O'Rourke (guitar, organ, tape and "razor blade"), Darin Gray (bass guitar), Dylan Posa (guitar), and

Thymme Jones Thymme (pronounced ''Tim'') Jones (born 1962) is the drummer for the Chicago, Illinois-based band Cheer-Accident. Jones frequently appears on the local public-access television cable TV program ''Cool Clown Ground''. He has appeared on a number ...

(drums). Formed in 1993, the mostly Chicago-based band had recorded and toured sporadically in various configurations until 1997. Brise-Glace used guitar improvisation, white noise, and

found sound Found objects are sometimes used in music, often to add unusual percussive elements to a work. Their use in such contexts is as old as music itself, as the original invention of musical instruments almost certainly developed from the sounds of nat ...

s to create a brooding and almost minimal, eerie musical sound.

History

Brise-Glace formed shortly after O'Rourke and Gray met at a concert of Gray's group Dazzling Killmen. Posa (then of Chicago's avant-jazz perennials the Flying Luttenbachers) and Jones were drafted soon afterwards. The group had recorded and released the five-song, 50-minute ''When in Vanitas...'' on

Skin Graft Records Skin Graft Records (officially capitalized SKiN GRAFT Records) is an independent record label specializing in no wave and noise rock, originally based in Chicago, Illinois. The label is largely responsible for spawning "now wave" genre, an update ...

in 1994. The recording was engineered by

Steve Albini Steve Albini (pronounced ; born July 22, 1962) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal ...

, and has guest appearances by Henry Kaiser on guitar, Gene Coleman on bass clarinet, Christoph Heemann on tape and

David Grubbs David Grubbs (born September 21, 1967) is an American composer, guitarist, pianist, and vocalist. He was a founding member of Squirrel Bait, Bastro, and Gastr del Sol. He has also played in Codeine, The Red Krayola, Bitch Magnet and The Wingd ...

on organ. Brise-Glace's recording aesthetic was partly inspired by iconic German group Can: they would improvise live in the recording studio, then O'Rourke would extensively edit the recording tapes; thus his "razor blade" credit. Shortwave radio noise,

field recording Field recording is the term used for an audio recording produced outside a recording studio, and the term applies to recordings of both natural and human-produced sounds. It also applies to sound recordings like electromagnetic fields or vibra ...

s and other tape effects were also integrated into the final mix. A brief snippet of one of the album's tracks "Neither Yield Nor Reap" was used in a 2000 Saturday Night Live short about Neil Armstrong.Skin Graft News
/ref> The band also recorded a 1994 7" titled ''In Sisters All and Felony/Angels on Installment Plan,'' and their cover of "Angus Dei Aus Licht" was released on Skin Graft's AC/DC tribute series ''Sides 1-4'' in 1996. Their track "Likeness" appeared on 1997's ''Camp Skin Graft: Now Wave (!) Compilation''.

Related projects

Yona-Kit was active simultaneously and closely related, with Japanese guitarist KK Null replacing Posa and steering the group towards a more aggressive sound but still with an experimental edge. Brise-Glace was among the many projects of which Jim O'Rourke had taken part of in the 1990s. Besides his work as a producer, solo artist and filmmaker, he had also played in The Bells,

Gastr Del Sol Gastr del Sol (derived from a combination of the name of a race horse (Gato del Sol) and David Grubbs' previous band Bastro) was an American, Chicago-based band, consisting for most of their career, of David Grubbs and Jim O'Rourke. Between 19 ...

, Illusion of Safety, Yona-Kit, and Sonic Youth. Bassist Darin Gray is a veteran of St. Louis band Dazzling Killmen, as well as You Fantastic!, and Yona-Kit. Guitarist Dylan Posa has played with

The Flying Luttenbachers The Flying Luttenbachers is an American instrumental unit led by multi-instrumentalist/ composer/ improviser/ producer Weasel Walter. The Flying Luttenbachers have created a body of work focused on musical extremity and dissonance. Over the cou ...

and Cheer-Accident. Drummer

has played with Cheer-Accident, You Fantastic!, and Yona-Kit.

Discography

Albums

* ''When in Vanitas…'' (1994, Skin Graft)

Singles

* ''In Sisters All and Felony'' (7" 1994, Skin Graft)

Tracks on V/A compilations

* ''Sides 1-4'' (1995, Skin Graft/Gasoline Boost) * ''Likeness'' (Camp Skin Graft: Now Wave (!) Compilation, 1997)

References

External links

*
Brise-Glace Band Page at Skin Graft
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brise-Glace Rock music groups from Illinois American experimental rock groups Musical groups from Chicago