CUNEIFORM RECORDS

NO SAFETY
Zeena Parkins • Chris Cochrane • Ann Rupel • Tim Spelios • Doug Seidel

"No Safety only released three albums during their half dozen years as one of the most vibrant bands in the maelstrom of Downtown experimentalism.

There’s an ambiguity to the anger in No Safety’s songs, an uncertainty that makes the songs all the more salient, and makes the sentiments still relevant today. It sometimes feels as if No Safety would be writing protest songs if they could only figure out where to start. There’s just too much to deal with." - Kurt Gottschalk

SPILL

RUNE 3351

Zeena Parkins - keyboards, electric harp, accordion, vocals
Chris Cochrane - guitars, sampler, vocals
Ann Rupel - bass, vocals
Tim Spelios - drums, percussion
Doug Seidel - guitars

Spill was recorded from January 1991 - 1992, released in 1992 at Water Music in Hoboken NJ by Jon Rosenberg, Jon Siket and additional recording by Hahn Rowe
Produced by No Safety and David Weinstein
Digital Editing and Mastering by Alex Noyes at Studio Pass
Remastered by Kato Hideki Winter 2021

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LIVE AT THE KNITTING FACTORY

RUNE 3352

"'Live at the Knitting Factory' shows that the New York-based quintet has turned to recognizable pop styles for inspiration. Blending free improvisation with funk, it attains an enviable equilibrium.

The guitarist Chris Cochrane is smitten with back beats. On "Ms. Quoted" he reclaims an old rap by the Clash and connects it with a rhythm-and-blues phrase from Soul II Soul. The groove momentarily smoothens No Safety's rhythmic turbulence, as does the relatively conventional blues riff that drives "Eight Year Old With an Uzi."

Even the craggy instrumentals by the harpist Zeena Parkins have been polished. Fragments are grouped together, ultimately creating continuity. In under three minutes, "F Is for Fake" moves through five passages; primal thuds, kaleidoscopic sounds and laughing voices stand shoulder to shoulder.

The ominous tone that drifts through the 17 works isn't unusual for No Safety; the group has long been fascinated by the way modern dilemmas -- from sexism to urban deterioration -- are addressed in society. In the past, Mr. Cochrane has sung of how AIDS is robbing the world, and his ardor can be daunting. "I'm disappearing/ Hold me, hold me," he pleads in "Lonely," as a cloudy guitar squall lays a shroud over Tim Spelios's crackling snare drum." - The New York Times, April 3, 1994, by Jim MacNie

Ann Rupel - bass, vocals
Chris Cochrane - guitar, tape, tambourine, vocals
Zeena Parkins - harp, sampler, eggs, vocals
Doug Seidel - guitar
Tim Spelios - traps

Produce by No Safety and John Siket
Recorded live at the Knitting Factory July 5, 12, 13, 1993
Original recordings remastered by Kato Hideki, 2021

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LIVE IN ITALY 1994

RUNE 3353

"This is so exciting from start to finish. I saw No Safety live in New York in ’88. They were amazing then, hot sound, like a unique, contrary voice in a scene that could take the concept of ‘cool’ a little too seriously. This recording is several years later, they are on tour in Europe, everything is up a notch, about to explode. I remember that European tour vibe, this catches it 100%." - Charles Hayward

"The newly uncovered recording is from the band’s last tour, and in fact the last show the rhythm section of Rupel and Spelios played with them. Rupel returned to career and family life. Cochrane focused his energies on social work while continuing to compose and play music. Parkins has been the most musically active; projects with the likes of Fred Frith, Elliott Sharp, John Zorn and countless others, recording and touring with Björk and leading her own bands have made her an international name in unusual and experimental music. But No Safety disappeared without the heralding it deserved. Now, for a momentary flash, they’re back." – Kurt Gottschalk

Chris Cochrane - guitar, vocals
Kato Hideki - guitar, vocals
Zeena Parkins - electric harp, keys, vocals
Ann Rupel - bass, vocals
Tim Spelios - drums, vocals

Recorded live at Vorax/Ottomat
Alte Montecchio VI (Italy) 1994
Live sound mixed by Scott Anthony
Recording edited by Zeena Parkins and Chris Cochrane.
Remixed and mastered by Kato Hideki

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MEDIA

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