Recoil (band)
| Recoil | |
|---|---|
| Origin | London, England |
| Genres | Electronica, avant-garde, trip hop, synthpop, downtempo, breakbeat-techno |
| Years active | 1986–present |
| Labels |
Mute Records Sire Records Reprise/Warner Bros. Records |
| Website | recoil |
| Members | Alan Wilder |
Recoil is a musical project created by former Depeche Mode member Alan Wilder. Essentially a solo venture, Recoil began whilst Wilder was still in Depeche Mode as an outlet for his experimental, less pop-oriented compositions. Once he announced his departure from the group in 1995, Recoil was transformed from a small side-project into Wilder's primary musical enterprise.
Recoil began in 1986, when Daniel Miller (record producer and founder of Mute Records) heard some of Alan Wilder's demo recordings, which he had made on a 4-track cassette machine. These recordings were substantially different from anything Depeche Mode had released — whilst they were still created using synthesizers and sampling, they featured little of Depeche Mode's catchy pop songwriting, instead opting for an experimental, John Cage-esque style. Due to the primitive and decidedly uncommercial nature of these pieces, Wilder and the record label decided to release the album inconspicuously, naming it 1 + 2. It eventually came out in mid-1986, not long after the release of Depeche Mode's well-received Black Celebration.
In January 1988, during the middle of Depeche Mode's hugely successful "Tour for the Masses", Mute released the second Recoil album — Hydrology. This followed in a similar vein to the previous Recoil record, consisting of entirely instrumental, synthesized landscapes. Unfortunately, due to Wilder's busy touring schedule, he was unable to effectively promote the record.
Recoil's first single was from his third album Bloodline, a cover of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band's "Faith Healer", with Douglas McCarthy from Nitzer Ebb on vocals. McCarthy would later reappear for two songs on the next album, Unsound Methods, including the single "Stalker". 1997's Unsound Methods was the first release after Wilder's decision to leave Depeche Mode. The fifth album, Liquid was released in 2000.
...
Wikipedia