Karl Blake (born 1956 in

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, Southeast England, southeast England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers River Thames, Thames and River Kennet, Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 mot ...

, England) is a

vocalist 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 without ...

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

and

multi-instrumentalist A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments at a professional level of proficiency. Also known as doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and more efficient employment of musicians, where ...

. Most of his own music can be described as progressive-

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

and sometimes

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of ...

Musical career

Blake is most noted, in addition to his solo work, for his work with Lemon Kittens,

Danielle Dax Danielle Dax (born 23 September 1958) is an English experimental musician and producer most active from the late-1970s to the mid-1990s. Early life She was born Danielle Gardner, in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. Dax's first performance on ...

Shock Headed Peters Shock Headed Peters were a British post-punk band, formed in 1982. The band took their name from the 19th-century German's children book ''Der Struwwelpeter'' ("Shockheaded Peter") by Heinrich Hoffmann. History In 1982, Karl Blake formed Sho ...

Sol Invictus Sol Invictus (, "Unconquered Sun"), sometimes simply known as Helios, was long considered to be the official sun god of the later Roman Empire. In recent years, however, the scholarly community has become divided on Sol between traditionalists a ...

Current 93 Current 93 are an English experimental music group, working since the early 1980s in folk-based musical forms. The band was founded in 1982 by David Tibet, who has been Current 93's only constant member. Background Tibet has been the only const ...

, Left Hand Right Hand, Seven Pines and Gaë Bolg and the Church of Fand. Other past projects include

Alternative TV Alternative TV (sometimes known as ATV) are an English band formed in London in 1977. Author Steve Taylor writes: "Alternative TV pioneered reggae rhythms in punk and then moved on to redefine the musical rules". History Alternative TV were fo ...

, The Underneath, Evil Twin, British Racing Green and various other solo and session work. He began playing and self-recording in 1973/4, and his first band to have a commercially released record, Lemon Kittens,Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 230-231 was formed by Blake and Gary Thatcher on 5 April 1978. It went through numerous line-up changes before it again became a two-piece group consisting of Blake and Danielle Dax, with the addition of others for live performance (the group only played around 22 concerts during their entire existence). Between 1979 and 1981, Lemon Kittens released two albums as well as two EPs, described by

Simon Reynolds Simon Reynolds (born 19 June 1963) is an English music journalist and author who began his professional career on the staff of ''Melody Maker'' in the mid-1980s. He has since gone on to freelance and publish a number of full-length books on music ...

as "aggressively absurdist records".Reynolds, Simon (2005) ''Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984'', Faber & Faber, , p. 209 Cassette-only Lemon Kittens recordings were made under the name Gland Shrouds in 1980. Blake also released solo cassettes, including ''Tank Death'' and ''The New Pollution''. In 1982 he formed Shock Headed Peters with Ashley Wales, eventually adding Dave Knight, then Mark Rowlatt and Clive Glover . In 1986 he started The Underneath, a solo project, releasing an EP and an album featuring various guests. Shock Headed Peters disbanded in October 1987 before reforming in 1990, again with founder-members Blake and Knight. In 1987, weeks after Shock Headed Peters' first disbanding, Evil Twin and British Racing Green were formed. Evil Twin was Karl Blake and David Mellor, with the addition of guest vocalist Amy Rodenberg. They recorded one album, ''The Black Spot'', between 1987 and 1991. Both groups are dormant since the early 1990s. Blake toured extensively and recorded with Left Hand Right Hand from 1988 through until 2004. In 2005 Blake split ways with Sol Invictus, the group he had long been associated with through studio recordings and live appearances, and denounced both the group and the

neofolk Neofolk, also known as apocalyptic folk, is a form of experimental music blending elements of folk and industrial music, which emerged in punk rock circles in the 1980s. Neofolk may either be solely acoustic or combine acoustic folk instrumenta ...

genre for, in his view,

right wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authori ...

leanings. At present, Blake plays (live only) for Gaë Bolg and the Church of Fand and also for Seven Pines. The instrumental track ''Zoé'' on the Seven Pines CD ''Le Cri'' (2006) was in fact written and performed by Blake on the spot and, unknown to him, orchestrated and released by the leader of Gaë Bolg, Eric Roger. It is one of the last recorded pieces by Blake to be released to date.

Discography

As composer/songwriter

Solo work

*''Tank Death'' (cassette, 1977-9), Daark Inc. *''The New Pollution'' (1977-9), Darrk Inc. *''The Prehensile Tales'' (Compilation) (1983), Normal Records *''Mandibles: Thirty Pieces of Silver'' (cassette, 1992), Tak Tak Tak *''Paper-Thin Religion: Solo Archives 1977-1981'' (1993?), Pro-Evil Pro-Devil *''Mandibles: En Route to Toothless'' (1995) Swordex Hieroglyph Proper *''ON: The World and Everything in it'' (Compilation, contributing track) (CD, 1996)

Gland Shrouds

*''Staff in Confidence/Toyshop Universal'' (1980), Daark Inc. *''Animal Dance'' (1980), Daark Inc. *''Your Animals'' (1980), Daark Inc. *''Everyone Wants to Win'' (1980), Daark Inc. *''Fortune Cheats'' (1980), Detrimental History Sound Series *''A Telescope in the Sky'' (1980), Detrimental History Sound Series

Homunculus

*''Morgue Dreams'' (1979), Detrimental History Sound Series

Lemon Kittens

*''Spoonfed and Writhing'' (EP, 1979), Step Forward *'' We Buy a Hammer for Daddy'' (LP, 1980), United Dairies *''Cake Beast'' (EP, 1980), United Dairies *''(Those who bite the hand that feeds them sooner or later must meet) The Big Dentist'' (LP, 1981), Illuminated

Shock Headed Peters

*''I, Bloodbrother Be'' (EP and single, 1984), el *''The Kissing of Gods'' (EP and single, 1985), el *''Not Born Beautiful'' (LP, 1985), el *''Life Extinguisher'' (EP, 1986), Beach Culture *''Fear Engine'' (LP, 1987), Produkt Korps *''Several Headed Enemy'' (CD, 1992), Cyclops Prod *''Fear Engine II - Almost As If It Had Never Happened'' (CD, 1993), Cyclops Prod *''Tendercide'' (CD, 1996), Cyclops Prod *''Not alone'' (Compilation, contributing track) (2006)

The Underneath

*''The Imp of the Perverse'' (EP, 1986), el *''Lunatic Dawn of the Dismantler'' (LP, and CD in Japan only, 1987), el

Evil Twin

*''The Black Spot'' (CD, 1992), Livesey *''The Lamp of the Invisible Light'' (Compilation, contributing track) (1992)

Collaborations as session and live musician

With Sol Invictus/Tony Wakeford

*''In the Jaws of the Serpent'' (Live album) (LP, 1989) *''

Lex Talionis "An eye for an eye" ( hbo, עַיִן תַּחַת עַיִן, ) is a commandment found in the Book of Exodus 21:23–27 expressing the principle of reciprocal justice measure for measure. The principle exists also in Babylonian law. In Roman c ...

'' (1989) *''Nurse With Wound · Sol Invictus · Current 93'' (Split 12", 1989) *''Trees in Winter'' (1990) *''The Killing Tide'' (1990) *''See the Dove Fall'' (7", 1990) *''King & Queen '' (CD, 1992) *'' In the Rain'' (CD, 1995) *''Cupid & Death'' (Tony Wakeford solo album) (CD, 1995) *'' The Blade'' (1997) *''In Europa'' (Radio live session album) (CD, 1998) *''In a Garden Green'' (CD, 1999) *''The Hill of Crosses'' (2000) *''Brugge'' (Live album) (CD, 2001) *''Thrones'' (2002) *'' The Devil's Steed'' (CD, 2005)

With Current 93

*'' Thunder Perfect Mind'' (1992) *''Hitler as Kalki'' (Live album) (CD, 1993) *''All Dolled Up Like Christ'' (Live album) (CD, 1999) *''Cats Drunk on Copper'' (Live album) (CD, 2001)

With Left Hand Right Hand

*''Humdrum'' (1990) *''Legs Akimbo'' (CD, 1992) *''Rise and Fall'' (7", 1994) *''In Mufti'' (CD, 1995)

Various

: ''Jesus Egg That Wept'' (1984) * Chrystal Belle Scrodd (Diana Rogerson): ''The Inevitable Chrystal Belle Scrodd Record '' (1985) * Nurse With Wound: ''The Sylvie and Babs Hi-Fi Companion'' (1985) *

In The Nursery In the Nursery are an English neoclassical dark wave and martial industrial band, characterized by their cinematic sound. The duo has provided soundtracks to a variety of TV programmes and films, and is known for its rescoring of silent film ...

: ''Anatomy of a Poet'' (CD, 1994) *Andrew King: ''The Bitter Harvest'' (CD, 1998) *Joolie Wood: ''Tales of Colour and White'' (Maxi CD, 2006) * Simon Finn: ''Accidental Life'' (CD, 2007) *

Andrew Liles Andrew Liles (born 11 March 1969) is a British sound artist and multi-instrumentalist. He has a vast output of recordings that he has released since the mid-1980s, covering a variety of styles as experimental music, dark ambient music, progr ...

: ''Ouarda (The Subtle Art of Phyllorhodomancy)'' (2008)

References

External links

Karl Blake's MySpace page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blake, Karl Living people English experimental musicians English multi-instrumentalists 1956 births Sol Invictus (band) members