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LP
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SPITTLE 147LP
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Reissue, originally released in 1981. Photographs As Memories was the British cult band Eyeless In Gaza's debut album. A truly kaleidoscopic picture dominated by Martyn Bates's highly expressive vocals and Pete Becker's peculiar analog synth lines in a jungle of electric guitars, plastic organs, soprano saxophones, percussion, violin, stylophone, and tapes. An album which comes as a vivid snapshot from the very dawn of the '80s.
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4CD BOX
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CRCDMBOX 014CD
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"Produced with the approval and involvement of the band, and spread across four CDs presented in a hard clamshell case, this set captures Eyeless In Gaza's first four albums, along with a band-compiled set of non-album essentials and oddities and sleeve notes by Martyn Bates."
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2LP
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SPITTLE 106LP
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Spittle Records present a reissue of Eyeless In Gaza's Caught In Flux, originally released in 1981. Inspired by a weird mixture between Aldous Huxley's visionary work and some biblical myths, Eyeless In Gaza, (formed in 1980) are one of the most original and creative bands emerging from the early '80s British post-punk scene. An intimate duo line-up featuring Martyn Bates (vocals, guitar, organ) and Peter Becker (drums, bass, synth). Caught In Flux originally released in 1981 on Cherry Red and reissued here in its original format LP+12" is their second album. The result of a one-take studio session with no overdubs. A perfectly balanced combination of various elements arising from post-punk, art rock, ambient music, and psychedelia. This was an important step towards a form of music where all these influences were organically integrated into a highly purified sound experience.
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CD
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CDMRED 145CD
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"Here's an original review back in 1981, for this their second album: 'With animated gestures of disdain Eyeless In Gaza can answer detractors who dismissed their debut LP, Photographs As Memories, as a precious exercise in the art of self-indulgence. Caught In Flux, the band's second offering of the year, is a measure of progress, and though there's still room for growth some mark of maturity has undoubtedly been forged. Caught In Flux a package which includes an additional 'free' 12" Eyeless sampler, The Eyes Of Beautiful Losers is a piercing, poison jab into the blood-stream of rock music's lazy limbs. Radical but clear, Eyeless set the examples for others to follow by eradicating standard rock structures and starting out from now tangents. Accessible experimentalists whose work roughly moulds fresh shapes of things to come, they don't seek to advance or change rock. They seek to destroy it completely. Their alternative is to present frail labyrinth of subtle sound, a strange menagerie of modern mood music that holds melody, has poise and a lot of style. All of which is enhanced by Martyn Bates' distinctive vocals which are as versatile as they are uniquely employed. Whether crooning along to some reflective ballad or spitting out some punchy polemic, Bates' alluring voice is an awesome focus of attention. But Caught In Flux is most specifically an introspective LP, a thoughtful compilation of new songs and sound patterns, skilfully patched together and performed. It's meditative music for active minds, an exciting vision of a brave new whirl. Eyeless... but not blind!'"
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CD
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CDMRED 166CD
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"Here's an original review back in 1981, for this their first album for Cherry Red: 'The days of the garage groups are gone. The bands of today are being born in bedrooms and the latest in the increasing line of DIY knob-doodling duos are Eyeless In Gaza from Leamington Spa. Much in the mood of Orchestral Manoeuvres, Martyn Bates and Pete Becker take more risks, talk more dirty and act more arty than the Liverboys but you shouldn't let that put you off. Although Photographs As Memories is an awkward album that initially sounds irritating and samey, like a rough assortment of improvisations over very similar backing tracks, further listening reaps rewards, revealing a record made up more of experimental fragments than actual bona-fide songs. Starting and finishing somewhat arbitrarily, each individual track attempts, with varying degrees of success, to define a different mood, ranging from the malice and menace of "Keepsake" and the boisterous bubblegum bop of "No Noise" to the weird and worrying "In Your Painting" -- a sort of "Weaver's Answer" for the Eighties. Predominantly featuring scratchy, freely-scuttling guitar over basic drumbeats, and atmospheric keyboards and occasionally augmented by unnecessary and incongruous Beefheartean sax, Eyeless's real strengths and weaknesses lie in their overblown vocals which, while inhibiting literal understanding, instill the proceedings with crucial emotion. A cross between unbridled passion and stylish effect, the voice is by turns crudely convincing and theatrically histrionic, resulting in an album that simultaneously soothes as it unnerves. Photographs constantly strives for something special, very seldom fully succeeds but even its many pitfalls and failures make for an interesting, invigorating listen.'"
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CD
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SR 263CD
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Eyeless in Gaza is UK-based post-punk duo Martyn Bates and Peter Becker and Plague Of Years collects some of their most riveting work from 1981-2005. This CD deals with two sides of the group. First is its deeply lyrical vein, with summits like "See Red" and "Lights of April," tracks that have almost never been included on "best-of" projects, despite the fact that they represent some of the most moving songs these musicians ever wrote. This collection also explores the group's more adventurous side through a number of instrumental pieces. This aspect of their output is little known and often neglected, even though it was there from their very beginnings. These two combining currents, where experimentation precedes lyricism (and the other way around), turn this album into a truly new way of (re)discovering Eyeless in Gaza. This unique architecture creates the impression that each side strengthens the other one's presence. Probably for the first time ever, the 21 tracks so redistributed provide the band with irrefutable arguments toward its rebirth. Yes, Eyeless in Gaza is one of the most underrated groups -- with this release, and the forthcoming Martyn Bates collection from Sub Rosa, hopefully this will no longer be the case.
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