Massacre (experimental band)

For other uses, see Massacre (disambiguation).

Massacre
L-R: Fred Frith, Charles Hayward, Bill Laswell
L-R: Fred Frith, Charles Hayward, Bill Laswell
Background information
OriginNew York City, U.S.
GenresAvant-rock, experimental, free improvisation, punk jazz
Years active1980–1981
1998–2008
LabelsCelluloid, Tzadik
Past membersFred Frith
Bill Laswell
Fred Maher
Charles Hayward

Massacre was founded in 1980 in New York City by guitarist Fred Frith, bassist Bill Laswell and drummer Fred Maher as an improvising and experimental rock band.[1] They performed live for just over a year and recorded a studio album, Killing Time (1981). Frith and Laswell reformed Massacre in 1998 with drummer Charles Hayward, and released four more albums, Funny Valentine (1998), Meltdown (2001), Lonely Heart (2007) and Love Me Tender (2013). The last three albums were recorded live, the first in London, and the others at European festivals between 1999 and 2008.[1]

The BBC described Massacre as "an unholy union of The Shadows, Captain Beefheart, Derek Bailey and Funkadelic".[2]

  1. ^ a b Layne, Joslyn. "Massacre". AllMusic. Retrieved May 12, 2008.
  2. ^ Marsh, Peter. "Brushed up reissue of an avant punk classic from 1981". BBC. Retrieved November 7, 2012.