Big City Orchestra Explained

Big City Orchestra
Origin:	Los Angeles, USA
Genre:	Experimental noise
Years Active:	1979–present
Label:	several hundred
Website:	www.ubuibi.org

Big City Orchestra is a long-running art/anti-art group based generally in California. They have an ever rotating cast of musician and nonmusician members. They were formed in 1979 as the house band for a network of artist residences in the South Bay area of Los Angeles.

Releases

Almost comedically prolific, BCO sailed through the cassette culture movement of the 1980s and 1990s with about 130 hour-long releases on over 100 labels.

Other work has included four video collections, five 7″ singles, one 8″ single, one 10″ single, 10+ compact discs, well over 40 CD-Rs, and more than 300 compilation appearances.

A partial list of releases

• Baobab (Cass) Biotope Art Organization
• Bretagne (Cass, C60) Nihilistic Recordings
• Fresh Prezzies - Exclusive Tracks for Radio and Friends (CDr) ubuibi
• Gaiement (Cass) Le Réseau
• Mind Bent and Fancy Free (Cass) - Industrial Therapy Unit
• My Life in the Bush of Kate (Cass) - UBUIBI Ralph
• Pandora Flutter Tongue (Cass) - Ecto Tapes
• Planet of Giants (Cass) - Peuleschille Tapes
• Progressive Composition (Cass) - ZNS Tapes
• Rites of Wrong (Cass) - UBUIBI
• Seeds of Doom (Cass) - BloedvlagProdukt
• Sound Choice Cassette Culture Selection (Cass) Sound Choice
• Telegraphe (Cass) - New Flesh Tapes
• Untitled (Cass) - Kadef
• Verstimmt (Cass) - Ecto Tapes
• We Like Noize Too (Cass) - UBUIBI
• Tryst Ubiubi 1982^[1]
• Massacre of The Innocents (Cass, C90) - Sound Of Pig 1985
• Bob Hope's Fruit Loop Special (Cass, C60) - Audiofile Tapes 1986
• Edge of Destruction (Cass) - Swinging Axe Productions 1986
• Gateway of Fruit Loops (Cass) - The Subelectrick Institute 1986
• Massacre Again (Cass) - Tonspur Tapes 1986
• Parade of Idiots (Cass) - Bog-Art 1986
• Arc of Infinity (Cass) - Harsh Reality Music 1987
• Fury from the Deep (Cass) - Markus Schwill 1987
• Hand of Fear (Cass) - Calypso Now 1987
• Mile After Mile (Cass, C60) - Sound Of Pig 1987
• Mind of Evil (Cass) - The Subelectrick Institute 1987
• Myth Makers (Cass) - Nihilistic Recordings 1987
• Trail of Destruction (Cass, C60) - S.J. Organisation 1987
• A Good Time to Start Something New (Cass) - Epitapes 1988
• Absence Sharpens, Presents Strengthens (Cass) - GGE Records 1988
• Animal Religion (Cass) - Ralph Records 1988
• Everyman Is a Volume (Cass, C60) - Korm Plastics 1988
• In the Near Future (Cass) - Freedom In A Vacuum 1988
• Long Term Stimulation (Cass, Ltd) - SSS Productions 1988
• Magnetic Personality (Cass) - IEP 1988
• Web of Fear (Cass, C60) - S.J. Organisation 1988
• Aime-Morot (Cass) - Harsh Reality Music 1989
• Annual 1988 (Cass) - UBUIBI 1989
• Childhood Remembrances (Cass) - Seiten Sprung Aufnahmen 1989
• Headache Remedy (Cass) - Ecto Tapes 1989
• Oblivion Realized (Cass) - Minus Habens Records 1989
• Painfull Audio Enema (Cass) - Lowlife Audio 1989
• The Man of Steal (Cass, C60) - Audiofile Tapes 1989
• Bell, Book and Candle (Cass) - Tears Compilations 1990
• Prattling Box (Cass) - Tragic Figures 1990
• Resurrection Men (Cass) - Seiten Sprung Aufnahmen 1990
• Sounders ; A Herd Of (Cass) - Industrial Therapy Unit 1990
• Tallywags (Cass) - Exo Product 1990
• Annual 1990 (Cass) - UBUIBI 1991
• The Four Cassettes of the Apocalypse (CD) - Subelectrick Institute 1991
• Beatlerape (CD) - Realization Recordings 1993
• Greatest Hits and Test Tones (CD) - Pogus Productions 1993
• Schall & Rauch (Cass) - Tonspur Tapes 1993
• So Much Dancing Then Nothing (Cass) - Old Europa Cafe 1993
• A Child's Garden of Noise (7", Ltd) - Drone Records 1994
• So Much Nearer Than Ubiquitous (Cass) - UBUIBI 1994
• Tryst 7 (Cass) - UBUIBI 1994 With the Legendary Pink Dots
• Grass b/w Grass (7") - Sick Muse Records 1995
• The Consumer (CD) - Commercial Failure 1995
• Tryst 8 (2xCass, Ltd) - UBUIBI 1995
• Anguilliform (Cass, Ltd, C60) - EE Tapes 1996
• Instructions for Use (CD) - Pure (US) 1996
• Aime-Morot (Cass) - HalTapes 1997
• And When We Get Homme, We Find Someone Else's Male (Cass)- FDR Tapes 1997
• And When We Wake Up, There Is Sheep in Our Eyes (Cass) - Doomsday Transmissions 1997
• Arc of Infinity (Cass) - HalTapes 1997
• Eek! (Cass, C60) - EE Tapes 1997
• Split Single (7") - Aquese Recordings 1997
• Untitled (Cass, Single, Ltd) - Doomsday Transmissions 1997
• When We Wake Up... (CDr) - HalTapes 1997
• Virus Radio Vol. I (Cass) - Mutant Cactus Recordings 1998
• Don't Let Him Touch You (Cass, Album, C60) - BLACK ORCHID Productions 1999
• Everyman Is a Volume (CDr) - Korm Plastics 1999
• Arc of Infinity (CDr) - Harsh Reality Music 2000
• Block Cedar Oakandstraw: Would (CDr) - Blade Records 2001
• Eurotour 2001 (CDr) - UBUIBI 2001
• New Beat for Baby (CD, Album) - Negative Foundation 2002
• Scarab (CDr) - EE Tapes 2002
• Can't We Just Have Sex Instead? (File, MP3) - Brokenwave 2003
• In a Persian Market (CDr) - Verato Project 2003
• Moisture (CDr) - Reduktive Musiken 2003
• Trixxy Pixxy (File, MP3) - Comfort Stand Recordings 2004
• Airre (CDr) - Entr'acte 2005
• Big City Orchestra (File, MP3) - Beta:Sound 2005
• Boom Crash Crash (File, MP3) - Comfort Stand Recordings 2005
• Kismet (File, MP3) - Umbrella Noize Collective 2005
• Progressive Composition (File, MP3) - ZNS Tapes 2005
• Things Fall Down (File, MP3) - Lostfrog 2005
• Azimuth (File, MP3) - Umbrella Noize Collective 2006
• Dada Is Dead, Long Live Dada (CDr, Album) - UBUIBI 2006
• Does Art For... (CDr) - Roil Noise Offensive 2006
• DoUBle the TroUBle (File, MP3) - Umbrella Noize Collective 2006
• Love Film Greats (CDr) - Roil Noise Offensive 2006
• Red Dog 9 (CDr, Album, Ltd) - UBUIBI 2006
• Signals and Code (File, MP3) - Umbrella Noize Collective 2006
• Drone Gnomes (10", Ltd, Mar) - Substantia Innominata 2007

Notes and References

1. News: Hample . Henry . Big City Orchestra . Santa Cruz Sentinel . Records . 10 December 1982 . Santa Cruz, California . 22.