don't you forget about me

here's another favorite discovery from the college years. Bill Ding were from chicago and like many indie bands from that area, the group seemed quite interested in meshing hints of soul and spirit of free jazz into their lo-fi industrial sounds. to some ears the bands may have had too much going on at once, seemingly going in any direction and experiementing with any convention that suited them. songs that would start off sounding like standard indierock fare would deconstruct into knob-tweaking, dischordant vibraphones and cellos and ambient noise. aside a rotation of multi-instrumentists, Bill Ding was primarily guitarist Dan Snazelle and frontman John Hughes III, founder of the Hefty label the band calls home, who more recently records under the solo project Slicker...and who, yes is the son of the movie director. the pair released a pair of albums and an ep that showcased hughes interest in more electric sounds. they never played live. it sorta makes sense as it's easy to wonder if the often non-linear recordings were ever meant to be recreated.

Bill Ding "Straight to the Head"