Alan Vega - Martin Rev - Suicide - 5 Films by Marc Hurtado

Product Description

Alan Vega and Martin Rev are two of the greatest artists on the New York music scene. In solo or with Suicide, they were pioneers of electro and punk. This box set presents the entirety of 5 unreleased films. It is accompanied by a 32-page booklet, including texts by Marc Hurtado and Alexandre Breton (France Culture) as well as 16 paintings by Sebastien Vitre.

Review

...What is beyond dispute is that Vega has left an imperishable body of work, both as a solo artist and as half of the confrontational electronic band Suicide, which he formed with Martin Rev (real name Reverby) in the early 1970s. Initially they dabbled with free jazz, inspired by John Coltrane and Albert Ayler, then worked with the guitarist Paul Liebgott and later with Mari Reverby, Martin's wife, on percussion, but by 1972 Suicide had become a Vega/Rev duo.

...Suicide officially disbanded in the early 80s, but Vega and Rev staged intermittent comeback tours where they were greeted with affection rather than horror or outrage (''The kids today, they've seen it all already,'' Vega observed). Vega suffered a stroke in 2012, but was still able to perform well on stage. He believed that the essence of his art was simplicity. ''I think that the simpler you get, the more direct you get, and part of that energy you feel is because of the simplicity,'' he explained in 1988.

He is survived by Liz and Dante.

Alan Vega (Boruch Alan Bermowitz), artist, musician and composer, born 23 June 1938; died 16 July 2016

Obituary by Adam Sweeting --The Guardian