Sunday, January 23, 2011

Peter Christopherson, British musician (Coil, Throbbing Gristle) and graphic artist died he was , 55

Peter Christopherson,  a.k.a. Sleazy  was a musician, video director and designer, and former member of the influential British design agency Hipgnosis died he was , 55.
He was one of the original members of the Industrial Records band, Throbbing Gristle. After Throbbing Gristle he participated in the foundation of Psychic TV along with Geoffrey Rushton, aka John Balance. After his short time in Psychic TV, Christopherson formed Coil along with Balance, which lasted just under 23 years, until Balance died of a fall in their Weston-Super-Mare home. Christopherson participated in the reuniting of Throbbing Gristle and he composed an album for his solo endeavour The Threshold HouseBoys Choir.

(27 February 1955 – 25 November 2010[1])

Biography

Prior to his musical career, Peter Christopherson was a commercial artist, designer, and photographer. Notably, he was one of the three partners of the album cover design group Hipgnosis, which was responsible for many notable album covers of the 1970s. Christopherson remained involved with commercial art through his later musical career as a director of music videos and television commercials.
Born in Leeds, Christopherson was a founding member of Throbbing Gristle who are credited with creating the industrial music genre before disbanding in 1981. Throbbing Gristle members Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti formed their own group while Peter Christopherson and TG's other member Genesis P-Orridge formed Psychic TV along with other musicians. John Balance met Christopherson as a Throbbing Gristle fan and the two became partners. Christopherson worked on the first two Psychic TV albums, Force The Hand Of Chance and Dreams Less Sweet, joined by Balance on the second one. The two performed live several times with Psychic TV then formed their own project, Coil. Along with Chris Carter, Christopherson has personally documented on his MySpace blog (with photographic evidence) of having played a custom-made (for him) keyboard-triggered sampler before the first sampler (Fairlight) was available in UK. While not the first sampler, this was a major step towards the use of samplers in live performance, as noted by Christopherson himself.
Despite Christopherson's long and extensive history as a musical artist, he only released two tracks under the name Peter Christopherson. The first, "In My Head A Crystal Sphere Of Heavy Fluid", appeared on the compilation Foxtrot, a benefit album for former partner John Balance's rehabilitation from alcohol addiction while the second, "All Possible Numbers", appeared eleven years later on Autumn Blood (Constructions).
In 2005, Christopherson relocated from England to Bangkok, Thailand and undertook the project The Threshold HouseBoy's Choir. He also released the final Coil CDs: The Ape Of Naples, The Remote Viewer, Black Antlers, The New Backwards, and reissued Musick To Play In The Dark Vol. 1 and Musick To Play In The Dark Vol. 2, which were formerly being manufactured in England.
2005 also marked the reuniting of Throbbing Gristle for a few concerts. Throbbing Gristle announced a new album Part Two. The group announced several additional concerts in 2007 to promote the album.
In 2007 Christopherson released the debut album of his solo effort The Threshold HouseBoys Choir. The album, Form Grows Rampant, is broken down into five "parts" or songs, and includes a DVD of the album set to video of Thai rituals in Krabi. He was a guest and jury head of the 2007 Melbourne Underground Film Festival.[2]
In 2008 Christopherson and Ivan Pavlov (aka COH) started a new project called Soisong. The band officially premiered in Tokyo on 9 March 2008 and later toured Europe with several shows, having self-released their debut EP. In April of the same year Christopherson and Pavlov, alongside David Tibet, Othon Mataragas and Ernesto Tomasini, performed a live soundtrack for Derek Jarman's The Angelic Conversation in Turin, Italy.[3]
Christopherson died in his sleep on November 25, 2010.[4]

Discography

Further information: Coil discography and Throbbing Gristle discography

Solo as Peter Christopherson

  • "In My Head A Crystal Sphere Of Heavy Fluid" on Foxtrot (1998)
  • "All Possible Numbers" on Autumn Blood (Constructions) (2009)

Solo as The Threshold HouseBoys Choir

With SoiSong

  • Soijin-No-Hi Octagonal CDEP / free download EP from www.soisong.com from March (2008)
  • xAj3z Octagonal CD housed in fold out custom sleeve with colour inlay (2009)

With Psychic TV

Other contributions

Date of release Song title Released on Group name released under Musical role
1980 "First/Last" Something For Nobody Monte Cazazza featuring (technical supervision)
1982
Seven Songs 23 Skidoo featuring (production)
1992 "First/Last" The Worst Of Monte Cazazza Monte Cazazza featuring (technical supervision)
1993 "The Apocalyptic Folk In The Nodding God Unveiled" The Nodding Folk performer
1996 "Videodrones; Questions" Lost Highway soundtrack Trent Reznor production
1996 "Driver Down" Lost Highway Soundtrack Trent Reznor production
2000 "Silence Is Golden" Vox Tinnitus CoH vocals
2001 "My Angel (Director's Cut)" Love Uncut CoH vocals
August 6, 2001
The Michel Publicity Window E.P. Thighpaulsandra album artwork design
2002 "Autumn" Seasons CoH uses field recordings by Christopherson
2005 "Unhealthy Red" A Nature Of Nonsense Aural Rage written by
2008 "I'm In Black Out" The Zsigmondy Experience Sion Orgon uses field recordings and vocals by Christopherson

Filmography

Music video as director
Television commercials as director
  • AA Insurance - 2 commercials (1991)[5]
  • Best Magazine (1988)[5]
  • Coca-Cola - "Tall Cool One" feat. Robert Plant (1988)[5]
  • Phil Collins & Richard Branson (1989)[5]
  • Gilette (1987)[5]
  • Konica (1987)[5]
  • Max Factor - "Le Jardin" feat. Jane Seymour (1983)[5]
  • McDonald's - "Space" (1987), "Submarine" (1987)[5]
  • Miller Lite (1989)[5]
  • NEC (1988)[5]
  • Nissan - "Ali Baba" (1988), "Snow Queen" (1988), "Cinderella" (1988)[5]
  • Pan-Am - "Ready" (1986), "Club" (1987), "Leisure" (1987)[5]
  • Prima Magazine (1988)[5]
  • Toshiba - "Idea" (1988)[5]

Album artwork credits

This from Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson himself: "I worked as a free-lance photographer and contributor, then promoted to an assistant to Hipgnosis before becoming a partner, and continued to act also after I officially left the organization. So my contributions range from attempted but rejected artwork or design work, to partial contribution in either/both as an assistant, to being fully responsible for all design and artwork, such as the Peter Gabriel LPs. What you wish to document is up to you."

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