Condo by Peter Gordon & Love Of Life Orchestra

"The brilliant Foom label focus in again on rare material from no-wave troupe, Love of Life Orchestra helmed by East Village avant-gardist, Peter Gordon. Following on from the previously unreleased gem ‘Winter/Summer’ issue of 2016 (featuring Love of Life Orchestra’s David Van Tieghem) this expanded issue of ‘Condo’ assembles tracks from a rare 12” release of 1982 including three other unreleased tracks from sessions of that time. Commendable archival sleuthing from a label that casts a net wide enough to release material from the likes of Bruno Pronsato, Mica Levi, Oliver Coates to the likes of other no-wave artists such as Rhys Chatham and Peter Zummo — an essential purchase to any fans of the post-punk/art rock/disco-not-disco scene of the early '80s" – DJ Mag ***9.5/10*** (Issue 575)

'An entrancing, hypnotic, motorik masterpiece... one of the most riveting wisps of music I heard all year.'
#7 in Cian Ó'Cíobháin's Top 10 for 2017.
http://nialler9.com/top-10-tracks-of-2017-cian-o-ciobhain/

P R E S S R E L E A S E

"Condo" (the title song) is a little-known gem from Peter Gordon's catalog, pairing David Van Tieghem's motorik drum programming and found percussion with the transparent and vibrato-free vocals of Rebecca Armstrong.

Prior to them working together, Nik Colk Void (of Factory Floor) wrote to Gordon that: "(Condo) completely catches my personality and when I feel disillusioned or need comfort, I always put it on, and it makes me feel good and strong." Their correspondence culminated in the Peter Gordon & Factory Floor collaboration, Beachcombing.

The EP is comprised of a remastered version of the title track, "Condo" (which originally appeared on 1981's Casino EP), along with 3 previously unreleased tracks from the same 1981 sessions. "Neighbors" uses “Condo” as its foundation, with Peter Gordon's solo on top; “Candy Store” sees the full band iteration of the Love of Life Of Orchestra, including Rebecca Armstrong on vocals, Fred Maher on guitar and Bill Laswell on bass; "East Village" relies only on synthesizers and electronic percussion, with a chorale layered upon a deep groove. The EP closer, "Condominium," is a nod to those DJs who would play the title track at a slower tempo. The EP’s titles are a comment on the gentrification of NYC’s East Village, which began in the early 1980’s and continues to this day, driving out low-income residents, including artists, writers and musicians, such as Gordon, Van Tieghem and Armstrong.

[Background: In 1981, Peter Gordon joined up with video artists Kit Fitzgerald and John Sanborn to form Antarctica, a label devoted to releasing new video music work. The Bologna-based Expanded Records label released the CASINO EP (on which Condo originally appeared) with the Antarctica imprimatur, in 1982. Gordon and Van Tieghem returned to Aquarius Studios in Geneva in (where they had recorded Peter Gordon & Love Of Life Orchestra's Geneva album the year before). Some of the tracks from the Geneva II sessions appear on the Antarctica videos, NEW MUSIC FROM ANTARCTICA LP and CASINO. The Antarctica label was unable to sustain itself, however, which left a few tracks from the Geneva II sessions unreleased until now.]