''Musics'' was a music-related magazine that was published from 1975 to 1979. In 1975 Derek Bailey,

Steve Beresford Steve Beresford (born 6 March 1950) is a British musician who graduated from the University of York He has played a variety of instruments, including piano, electronics, trumpet, euphonium, bass guitar and a wide variety of toy instruments, such ...

, Max Boucher,

Paul Burwell Paul Dean Burwell (24 April 1949 – 4 February 2007) was a British thaumaturge and percussionist, influential in the fields of free improvisation and experimental art. Born in Ruislip, he studied at Ealing Art College and in the workshops organi ...

, Jack Cooke, Peter Cusack, Hugh Davies, Mandy and Martin Davidson, Richard Leigh,

Evan Parker Evan Shaw Parker (born 5 April 1944) is a British tenor and soprano saxophone player who plays free improvisation. Recording and performing prolifically with many collaborators, Parker was a pivotal figure in the development of European free ja ...

, John Russell,

David Toop David Toop (born 5 May 1949) is an English musician, author, curator, and Emeritus Professor. From 2013 to 2021 he was professor of audio culture and improvisation at the London College of Communication. He was a regular contributor to British m ...

Philipp Wachsmann Philipp John Paul Wachsmann (born 5 August 1944) is an African avant-garde jazz/jazz fusion violinist born in Kampala, Uganda, probably better known for having founded his own group Chamberpot. He has worked with many musicians in the free jazz id ...

and

Colin Wood Colin Arthur Wood (born 15 June 1943) is a British musician engaged in the field of jazz and rock music. Wood was born in Camberwell, South East London, & was moved to Somerset in 1950. He played jazz piano while still at school. In 1962 he went ...

came together and agreed to produce a magazine. It was independently published and dedicated to the coverage of

free improvised music Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the logic or inclination of the musician(s) involved. The term can refer to both a technique (employed by any musician in any genre) and as a recognizable genre in its ...

. Its need was suggested in a conversation between Evan Parker and Mandy and Martin Davidson. The title was proposed by Paul Burwell at the first meeting in the Davidsons' house and unanimously adopted. ''Musics'', headquartered in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, has not been published since 1979. In 2016 the

Ecstatic Peace Library Ecstatic Peace Library is a British publishing company founded by Thurston Moore and visual book editor Eva Prinz in 2010. The name is derived from Ecstatic Peace!, a music label run by Thurston Moore. The company publishes mainly poetry, but also ...

published ''Musics: A British Magazine of Improvised Music & Art 1975–79'', a facsimile reprint of all issues of the magazine with a foreword by Steve Beresford, an introduction by David Toop, and afterword by

Thurston Moore Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American musician best known as a member of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label. Moo ...

. Eva Prinz and Thurston Moore hosted an exposition on the magazine and the book, covering it at the Red Gallery on Rivington Street in London in July 2017.

History and profile

''Musics'' was launched with Issue No. 1 April/May 1975 with the banner "MUSICS an impromental experivisation arts magazine". The journal was distributed in the UK and worldwide. Mandy Davidson edited the first issue. Soon afterwards she moved to the US, and it was decided there would be no permanent editor. Max Boucher was appointed production editor. The 'editorial board' moved quickly towards becoming a collective. Each collective member contributed £4 to cover the costs of the first issue, which was run off on an A3 Gestetner duplicator. Issue no.2 was pasted up and printed by offset-litho. Over time the print run was increased and all income was ploughed back. Eventually it was possible to pay the printers (Islington Community Press) to make the plates and run off the copies. However collective members continued to do all the unpaid work of editing and preparing the camera ready artwork. No editors, writers, designers, or photographers were ever paid. Limiting expenditure was only part of the financial model. From the beginning the ''Musics'' collective took the position that they would not accept paid advertising or grant aid, and the only income came from subscriptions and sales through (mostly alternative) bookshops. In addition there were associates in cities such as Bristol and Glasgow who sold copies through local outlets and at performances. In the final months there was an imminent financial crisis, but this was resolved through a successful jumble sale. The policy of financial independence was copied from

Libération ''Libération'' (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Initially positioned on the far-left of France's ...

, the French daily paper which had no paid ads. The two publications shared a vibrant pluralism, due to their freedom from the influence of advertisers or funding bodies. ''Musics'' and ''Libe'' were informally affiliated, as can be seen from occasional mutual references in archived copies. Both have a dynamic energy which radiates from the pages - in Musics perhaps almost reaching perfection. (Liberation later reverted to the standard model and it continues in name only.) ''Musics'' came out six times a year, with occasional exceptions. ''Musics'' proposed the destruction of artificial boundaries and linked jazz, the music of composers such as John Cage, and indigenous and non-European musics. It was significant in the discussion of traditional Asian instruments (Clive Bell) as paths of equal value for the performance of musics, a term that discarded the use of the word "jazz". Early issue covered audio soundscape work, reviewing performance events from a cliff-top piano hurling festival or burning pianos, trap set improvisation against a rising sea tide that drowned cymbals and floated and retuned toms, or drummer

Han Bennink Han Bennink (born 17 April 1942) is a Dutch drummer and percussionist. On occasion his recordings have featured him playing soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, trombone, violin, banjo and piano. Though perhaps best known as one of the pivotal fig ...

's inclusion of saws and power tools in his percussion set. Electronics were explored as micro-environments at a level of equality with acoustic instruments in the precursors of glitch, such as the STEIM experiments with the cracklebox or the circuit board work of Hugh Davies (1943–2005), and an attack on the possibilities of brass instruments, notably by Steve Lacy and

Lindsay Cooper Lindsay Cooper (3 March 1951 – 18 September 2013) was an English bassoon and oboe player and composer. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the ...

in her essay ''Women, Music, Feminism – notes'' in ''Musics'' #14 (October 1977) analyzed how to overcome gender roles in music. Tensions and unresolved contradictions accumulated. A small faction formed within the collective and soon un-democratically added to the artwork for the front cover of issue no.23 the words FINAL ISSUE.

Sources

{{Reflist, refs= {{cite web, url=https://www.trebuchet-magazine.com/derek-bailey-on-improvisation/, title=Derek Bailey on Improvisation, date=4 January 2019, work=Trebuchet magazine, access-date=18 March 2019, quote=Along with a number of other musicians, Bailey was a co-founder of Musics magazine in 1975. This was described as "an impromental experivisation arts magazine" and circulated through a network of like-minded record shops, arguably becoming one of the most significant jazz publications of the second half of the 1970s, and instrumental in the foundation of the London Musicians Collective. {{cite web , url = https://www.thewire.co.uk/shop/books/musics-a-british-magazine-of-improvised-music-art-1975-79 , title = MUSICS: A British Magazine Of Improvised Music & Art 1975–79 by Steve Beresford, David Toop et al. , website =The Wire , access-date = 18 March 2019 , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190709185513/https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache%3Ad5yR1DVfbw0J%3Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.thewire.co.uk%2Fnews%2F47180%2Fthurston-moore-launches-musics-1975-79+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us , archive-date = 9 July 2019 , quote = Musics, released six times a year between 1975–79, reported on sound art, field recording, free improvisation, live electronics, composition and audio culture. Originally launched in spring 1975, its first tagline said “an impromental experivisation arts magazine”. The zine featured artists including Derek Bailey, Evan Parker, John Zorn, David Toop, John Russell, The Feminist Improvising Group, Bob Cobbing, ICP, Martin Davidson, Madelaine Davidson, Annabel Nicolson, Han Bennink, Eddie Prévost, David Cunningham, Steve Beresford and others. , url-status = live {{cite web, url= https://zooandlogicaltimes.wordpress.com/2007/02/11/paul-burwell-1949-2007-a-personal-appreciation-by-dave-ellis/ , first = Dave , last = Ellis , title = PAUL BURWELL – 1949 – 2007 A personal appreciation by Dave Ellis , date =11 February 2007 , website = Zooandlogical Times , access-date =18 March 2019 {{cite web , url = https://bells.free-jazz.net/bells-part-two/bead-records/ , first = Henry , last = Kuntz , title = Peter Cusack biography , website = Free Jazz Journal , access-date =18 March 2019 , quote = In 1975 Derek Bailey, Steve Beresford, Max Boucher, Paul Burwell, Jack Cooke, Peter Cusack, Hugh Davies, Madelaine and Martin Davidson, Richard Leigh, Evan Parker, John Russell, David Toop, Philipp Wachsmann and Colin Wood formed the journal MUSICS, later described as "an impromental experivisation arts magazine"., date = 28 July 2007 {{cite web , url = http://www.john-russell.co.uk/2016/10/09/a-little-about-musics-and-the-70s-with-thurston-moore/ , first = John , last = Russell , author-link = John Russell (musician) , title = A little about Musics and the 70s with Thurston Moore , date =9 October 2016 , website = john-russell.co.uk , access-date =18 March 2019 {{cite web , url = http://www.variant.org.uk/8texts/Clive_Bell.html , first = Clive , last = Bell , title = History of the LMC , date = Summer 1999 , website = variant.org.uk , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110716100040/http://www.variant.org.uk/8texts/Clive_Bell.html , archive-date =16 July 2011 , access-date =18 March 2019 , quote = Quote1: Then, in April 1975, came Musics magazine, which Martin Davidson remembers as resulting from a phone conversation between himself, his wife Mandy and Evan Parker. The editorial board in summer 1975 was Bailey, Parker, Steve Beresford, Max Boucher, Paul Burwell, Jack Cooke, Peter Cusack, Hugh Davies, Mandy and Martin Davidson, Richard Leigh, John Russell, David Toop, Philipp Wachsmann and Colin Wood. I remember Colin Wood remarking that Musics was the first thing this crowd had found that they could all agree about. - ''Colin Wood in Musics No 4, October 1975.''
Quote2: Musics came out six times a year and ran for 23 issues. In its coverage of improvised and non-western music alongside performance art, it reflected the broad interests of a so-called 'second generation' of improvisers, and provided a convivial focus point. - ''David Toop, Resonance Vol 2, No 1, winter 1993''
Quote3: In 1980 factional struggle and good old-fashioned personal rowing resulted in several resignations from the LMC and the demise of Musics magazine. - ''Tony Wren, open letter to LMC, in December 1980 Newsletter'' {{cite web , title = Musics , url = https://ecstaticpeacelibrary.net/musics-a-british-magazine-of-improvised-music-art-1975-79/ , website =Ecstatic Peace Library , access-date =18 March 2019, date=4 April 2017 {{cite web , url = http://www.rermegacorp.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=MUSICS&Store_Code=RM , title = Musics: A British Magazine of Improvised Music and Art 1975 – 1979 , website = RER Mega Corp , access-date = 18 March 2019 , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190708205540/http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache%3ACJxCpqpk7jAJ%3Awww.rermegacorp.com%2Fmm5%2Fmerchant.mvc%3FScreen%3DPROD%26CatListingoffset%3D%26Category_Code%3D%26Product_Code%3DMUSICS%26Store_Code%3DRM%26Initial%3D%26search%3Dlindsay%2Bcooper%26searchoffset%3D%26filter_cat%3D%26PowerSearch_Begin_Only%3D%26sort%3D%26range_low%3D%26range_high%3D+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us , archive-date = 8 July 2019 , quote = This is what the people on the ground were thinking and writing about what they were doing when they were doing it. No interpretation, no revisionism. Active herein are David Toop, Steve Berseford, Annabel Nicholson, Evan Parker, Clive Bell, Derek Bailey, Hugh Davies, Lindsay Cooper, Eddie Prevost, Gavin Bryers, Tom Phillips, John Russell, David Cunningham, Peter Riley, Paul Burwell, Phil Wachsman, Frank Perry, Max Eastley and scores of others, covering improvisation, electronics, instrument modification, the music of other cultures, the worlds of John Cage, Stockhausen and Cardew, stretched notions of jazz, non-idiomatic improvisation, theory, diaries, reviews, comedy, interviews, articles on other musicians, diagrams, scores, manifestos, news, letters, drawings, photographs, listings, small ads. , url-status = live {{cite book , url = https://books.google.com/books?id=mP1cDwAAQBAJ&q=%22Musics%3A+A+British+Magazine+of+Improvised+Music+and+Art+1975%E2%80%9379%22&pg=PT302 , first = Jeff , last = Schwartz , title = Free Jazz: A Research and Information Guide , date =17 May 2018 , publisher =

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...

, isbn = 978-1138232679 , access-date = 18 March 2019 , quote = DIY typed and mimeographed magazine, with contributions from Maarten Altena, Han Bennink, Steve Beresford, Anthony Braxton, Andrea Centazzo, Martin Davidson, Barry Guy, Steve Lacy, Paul Lytton, Misha Mengelberg, Charles K. Noyes, John Oswald, Even Parker, Frank Perry, Eddie Prevost, John Russell, David Toop and Fred van Hove, among others. Many appear as both authors and subjects, there are numerous roundtables and forums, and artists frequently write letters to the editor to dispute reviews of their work. Beginning with English free improvisation, the scope widens to include free jazz and noise, while continuing to center on the post-jazz free improvisation growing out of the Company. {{cite web , url= http://www.brooklynvegan.com/thurston-moore-john-zorn-playing-rough-trade-40th-anniversary-show-in-nyc/, first = Rob , last = Sperry-Fromm , title = Thurston Moore & John Zorn playing Rough Trade 40th Anniversary show in NYC , date =1 November 2016 , website =

BrooklynVegan ''BrooklynVegan'' is an American online music magazine founded in 2004 by David Levine. The company is headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, United States and originally focused on vegan food and the music community in and around New York City, ...

, access-date = 18 March 2019 , quote = From 1975 to 1979, London improvisers published the most innovative artists and musicians of their generation in the magazine Musics. Derek Bailey, Evan Parker, John Zorn, David Toop, John Russell, The Feminist Improvising Group, Bob Cobbing, ICP, Martin Davidson, Madelaine Davidson, Annabel Nicholson, Han Bennink, Eddie Prevost, David Cunningham, Steve Beresford among many, many, many others were contributors. {{cite web , url = http://hero-magazine.com/article/103438/thurston-moore-music-zine/ , first = Robert , last = Greer , title = Thurston Moore on putting seminal 1970s zine 'Musics' back into print , date =11 July 2017 , website = hero-magazine.com , access-date = 18 March 2019 , quote = Musics celebrated the avant-garde composers and experimental musicians of the day. London’s very first zine for improvisers, it focussed around the activities of sound art, field recordings, free improvisation and live electronics in the 20th century. Drawing a line between composers such as John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen and music from indigenous cultures and free jazz, it was a super influential interdisciplinary journal published once every two months from 1975 to 1979. {{cite web , url = https://www.redgalleryldn.com/red-blog/2017/7/3/8gn8e2lo3l8krik508zu54mkcuaxim , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190708015715/https://www.redgalleryldn.com/red-blog/2017/7/3/8gn8e2lo3l8krik508zu54mkcuaxim , first = Robert , last = Greer , title = MUSICS - London's first magazine for improvisers 1975 to 1979 {{sic, EXHIB, TION, nolink=y AT THE REDGALLERY 6/7/2017 TILL 15/07/2017 , website = Red Gallery London , date = 3 July 2017 , access-date = 7 July 2019 , archive-date= 8 July 2019 , quote = Operating between 1975-79, with six issues per year, Musics was an interdisciplinary journal rooted in a true DIY ethic. The publication first launched in Spring of ‘75, with the tagline: “an impromental experivisation arts magazine” and a manifesto that proposed the destruction of artificial boundaries. The magazine linked Free Jazz, the academic ministrations of John Cage, Cornelius Cardew and K. Stockhausen, and indigenous and non-European music. Musics was also significant in the discussion of traditional Asian instruments as paths of equal value for the performance of music. {{cite book , title = MUSICS: A British Magazine of Improvised Music and Art 1975-1979 , date = 2016 , publisher =

, isbn = 978-0997285055 {{cite web , title = MUSICS No. 23 , website =Ecstatic Peace Library , url = https://ecstaticpeacelibrary.net/2017/08/26/932/#jp-carousel-211 , access-date =8 July 2019, date=26 August 2017 {{cite web, title=MUSICS No. 14, website=Ecstatic Peace Library, url=https://ecstaticpeacelibrary.net/musics-a-british-magazine-of-improvised-music-art-1975-79/#jp-carousel-430, access-date =9 July 2019, date=4 April 2017 Defunct magazines published in the United Kingdom Free improvisation Jazz magazines Magazines established in 1975 Magazines disestablished in 1979 Magazines published in London Music magazines published in the United Kingdom