Mark Derbyshire
| Biota | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Biota-Mnemonists, Mnemonists, Mnemonist Orchestra |
| Origin | Fort Collins, Colorado, United States |
| Genres | Experimental music, electroacoustic music, musique concrète, free improvisation |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Labels | Recommended Records (RēR) (1986-present), Dys (1979-1985), Bad Alchemy, Anomalous Records, No Man's Land |
| Website | biotamusic.com |
| Members | William Sharp Tom Katsimpalis Randy Yeates Larry Wilson Mark Piersel Gordon Whitlow Randy Miotke David Zekman James Gardner Charles O'Meara Kristianne Gale Steve Scholbe |
| Past members | Mark Derbyshire Amy Derbyshire Chris Cutler Susanne Lewis Andy Kredt Genevieve Heistek Rolf Goranson Steve Emmons |
Biota is an American experimental electronic music collective that has produced numerous albums since its beginnings in the late 1970s. Biota is known for its highly detailed and often radical compositional approach, which involves extensive electronic processing of traditional acoustic sound sources, often blending and coalescing folk, jazz, chamber, and rock idioms, among other music forms. In a review of their 1995 album Object Holder, David Newgarden wrote "Biota is not even remotely like any other group I can think of."
Founded in Colorado in the late 1970s, Biota's first recordings were released under the name Mnemonist Orchestra (a.k.a. Mnemonists). Produced and engineered by Mark Derbyshire and William (Bill) Sharp, Mnemonists released five albums between 1980 and 1984 on its self-produced label, Dys. Horde (1981), a seminal album of electronically processed music, garnered critical attention (including from the Recommended Records/RēR label) for its use of unconventional sound manipulation and musique concrète techniques. Shortly after the release of Gyromancy in 1984, the group split into two factions: a visual arts collective, which retained the name Mnemonists, and the musical group, Biota.
Since the mid-1980s, Biota has released numerous idiosyncratic titles, mostly on RēR. These include Rackabones (1985, Dys), Bellowing Room (1987), Tinct (1988), the Awry 10" (1988, Bad Alchemy), and Tumble (1989), a commissioned work for RēR. Almost Never (1992, RēR) features three voluminous suites for winds, strings, and processed acoustic/ethnic/antique instrumentation.
For Object Holder (1995, RēR), the group expanded to include drummer Chris Cutler (Henry Cow, News From Babel), vocalist Susanne Lewis (Hail), electric guitarist Andy Kredt, and pianist Charles O'Meara (a.k.a. C.W. Vrtacek of Forever Einstein), who later joined the group as a full-time contributor. As with Biota's other releases, visual artwork that accompanied Object Holder was provided by Mnemonists (featuring Larry Wilson, Ken DeVries, Tom Katsimpalis, Bill Ellsworth, Dana Sharp, Heidi Eversley, Dirk Vallons, Randy Yeates, Ann Stretton, E.M. Thomas, Stan Starbuck et al.). Object Holder was the first Biota album to include sung lyrics, written by Katsimpalis and Cutler.
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