*** SWELL MAPS *** LIVE at Kaasee Rotterdam 1979 *** video

*** Rotterdam - Kaasee - 1979 Swell Maps & Scritti Politti *** organised & filmed by Backstreet Records (Peter Graute)- (video courtesy of Backstreet Records) from www.televisionpersonalities.co.uk Swell Maps have their origins in Solihull 1972, when teenage brothers Nikki Sudden (guitar/vocals) and Epic Soundtracks (drums/piano) began making music, shortly joined by schoolfriends Jowe Head (bass/vocals) and David Barrington (guitar). Hours of home recordings were captured on basic equipment, with the band augmented by new members Richard Earl and John 'Golden' Cockrill. It wasn't until 1977 and the punk era that Swell Maps recorded and released their first 'proper' record. Swell Maps were not a 'punk' band in the respect that the term 'punk' is widely (mis)used, but they certainly espoused the DIY spirit of the age. They combined elements of garage rock, 'Krautrock', the avant-garde and what would later be termed 'ambient' music; they released four singles and two albums before splitting during a tour of Italy in April 1980. Posthumous releases were compiled from outtakes and home recordings. They are cited as an influence by some of the "art-noise" bands of the Eighties and Nineties, such as Sonic Youth, and by lo-fi outfits like Pavement. Epic Soundtracks died of unknown causes at the age of 37 in 1997 and Nikki Sudden died at the age of 49 in March 2006 www.epicsoundtracks.com www.nikkisudden.com