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Kim Cascone's dealings with experimental sound tape traders brought him into contact with the flourishing Sydney, Australia scene. It was here that he found the Pelican
Daughters. The third Silent Records CD release was Fishbones and Wishbones by the Pelican Daughters in 1991. Interestingly, listening to this release, one can hear the seeds of "mid-90's ambient
which was still a few years away. I want to add something of a personal nature here and state that the Pelican Daughters’ contribution to the famous Silent Records compilation ‘50 Years of Sunshine” (a track
titled The Bicycle Ride) is my favorite track on a double CD release that includes 22 outstanding tracks from 22 amazing artists.
Their first release for Silent was a hybrid of industrial dance, psychedelia,
ethnic musics, and ambient noise. A quote from Pelican Daughters member Andy Rantzen explains a lot, "The goal of good music is always the same: to deny the existence of moral stricture and insist on the
primacy of the most basic human feelings and fantasies." Their follow-up full-length release Bliss in 1994 (also on Silent Records) had a much more "ambient feel" and incorporated ambient dub
and trance which was the flavor of the day in the mid-90's. BAM Magazine had this to say of Bliss, "This is definitely thinking person's ambient, extremely profitable for those willing to put forth the
effort."
The Pelican Daughters consisted of a number of members including Andy Rantzen, Justin Brandis, Anthony Maher, Bryce Cannon, James Fergus, Andrew Holmes, Miriam Williamson Paul Mac, Ben, Williams
and more. Two constants are Andy Rantzen and Justin Brandis who were kind enough to answer my request for an interview (see below).
Although Andy Rantzen is known for the material he produced for the
Pelican Daughters, he is, arguably, better known for the work he did with pop star Paul Mac (Paul McDermott) for the successful Australian dance band Itch-E and Scratch-E. Paul had been working with the
ambient group The Lab when he met Andy Rantzen and they started Itch-E & Scratch-E as a joke but found success in the techno-rave dance scene. Itch-E and Scratch-E managed to release a series of successful
singles as well as three full-lengths.
As if these things weren't enough, Andy co-founded the "Cheap nasty vehicle for Sydney electro and electro rock" Espressowerk, which became a "soap box
for Rantzen's trenchant yet poorly thought out views on virtually everything." Reading through these posts, I have not only laughed out loud many times, but have also walked away with some very useful
insight. Andy has also written for net magazine Overload and has released music on a variety of labels including Silent Records, Creative Vibes, Generator, Lacerba, Underwater, Halcyon Recordings, Deviant and
Second Nature/Volition.
Other Pelican Daughters members continue to perform and record music, namely Justin Brandis (as Joshua), Anthony Maher (as Sheriff Lindo and the Loop Orchestra), Miriam Williamson (as
Princess Universe).
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Pelican Daughters Discography
Full-Lengths:
Pelican Daughters - Fishbones and Wishbones, Silent Records, 1991
Pelican Daughters - Bliss, Silent Records, 1994
Tracks on other CDs:
Pelican Daughters - "The Bicycle Ride" on 50 Years of Sunshine comp., Silent Records, 1993
Pelican Daughters -
"Aurascape" on From Here to Tranquility 2, Silent Records, 1993
Pelican Daughters - "Javadub" on From Here to Tranquility 5, Silent Records, 1996
Pelican Daughters - "The
Last Resort" on Oscillations comp, Halcyon Recordings, 1998
Andy Rantzen Discography
Full-Lengths:
Pelican Daughters - Fishbones and Wishbones, Silent Records, 1991
Itch-E & Scratch-E - Itch-E Kitch-E Koo, Second Nature/Volition, 1993
Pelican Daughters - Bliss, Silent Records, 1994
Trancendental Anarchists - Cluster Zone, Silent Records, 1994
Itch-E & Scratch-E - Itch_E & Scratch-E and Friends, Second Nature/Volition, 1996
Boo Boo and Mace - Sublimely Pointless, Prozaac/Shock, 1998
Itch-E & Scratch-E - It Is What It Isn't, Cv, 2001
Tracks on other CDs:
Itch-E & Scratch-E - "Transit" on High - A Dance Compilation, Volition, 1992
Pelican Daughters - "The Bicycle Ride" on 50 Years of Sunshine comp., Silent Records, 1993
Pelican Daughters - "Aurascape" on From Here to Tranquility 2, Silent Records, 1993
Itch-E & Scratch-E - "Bouncing Chamber" on Itch-E & Scratch-E & Friends
12", Volition, 1994
Event Horizon (2) - "Under The City" on Itch-E & Scratch-E & Friends 12", Volition, 1994
Pelican Daughters - "Javadub" on From Here to Tranquility 5, Silent Records, 1996
Sheriff Lindo & Boo Boo - "Flagon Fulla Dub" on Jaunt, Clan Analogue, 1996
Boo Boo &
Mace - "Digital Rubber" on Trance Pacific Express, Deviant Records, 1997
Pelican Daughters - "The Last Resort" on Oscillations comp, Halcyon Recordings, 1998
Andy Rantzen - "The Plaza At Night" on 03:00am Eternal, Lacerba, 1998
General Electrik meets Andy Rantzen - "Leather Lover" on Solid Gold - Cognition Four, Clan Analogue, 2001
Itch-E & Scratch-E (DUPLICATE) - "Everybody Get On The Floor" on Solid Gold - Cognition Four, Clan Analogue, 2001
Andy Rantzen & Jacek Spruch - "The Beginning Of Time" on
Underwater Music Sampler, Underwater Music, 2003
Andy Rantzen - "Time Stood Still" on Underwater Music Sampler, Underwater Music, 2003
Singles:
Itch-E & Scratch-E - Irritable CD EP, Volition/Second Nature, 1992
Itch-E & Scratch-E - Interference 12", Pandephonium, 1994
Itch_E & Scratch_E - Sweetness and Light CD single, Volition, 1995
Itch-E & Scratch-E - Howling Dog / To The Islands 12", Volition, 1995
Boo Boo and Mace - Flowers in the Sky CD EP, ?, 1997
Boo Boo, Mace 'n' Nutcase - Gotta Move On CD single, ?, 1997
Boo Boo & Mace - 7 Days CD single, Prozaac Recordings, 1998
Boo Boo & Mace - Heartstrings CD single, Prozaac Recordings, 1998
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Special silentrecords.net interview with
Andy Rantzen & Justin Brandis of Pelican Daughters
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How did you meet Kim Cascone and get involved with Silent Records?
Justin Brandis: Andy, I think this is one for you...
Andy Rantzen: The ex-girlfriend of our drummer Bryce Cannon was a friend of his and happened to play him a cassette of ours while she was in California. He liked it.
Briefly describe the "ambient" scene during the times you were putting out material for Silent.
Justin: Small... tribal... incestuous
yet insular... very lo fi, due to the outrageous prices for decent equipmentback then. Making the inventive best out of what you could afford.
Andy”: I remember it as being very industrial, but with dub influences.
How has it changed?
Justin: Since the mid nineties
& the advent of the chill out room & trance, every DJ & his drum machine has had a bash at being 'ambient'. It's harder now to be noticed among all the 'quiet' crowd.
Pelican Daughters would probably sound just as out of place today as it did back then though...
Andy: It went through a blissful phase with the English post-ecstasy comedown
phase, and for a while it was very popular. Now it’s underground again, and I’m not even sure if ‘Ambient’ is really the right word any more. We never thought of our music as ambient,
incidentally. We called it weird shit’, a phrase we learned from Severed Heads.
Is there any unreleased material from the Silent period?
Justin: Oh God, there's bound to be... I remember a lot of late night sessions.
Andy: There is heaps of it. There were many night sessions, before,
during, and after the Silent releases. We also released some material in Sydney under the name Magical Thinking, so there’s that stuff too. Plus there’s the hours of material from
before Silent. Some of it was released on cassetee on Sydney label CCP in about 1987.
What is your favorite Silent release?
Justin:
The first few compilations that I have copies of still get a spin every now & then.
Andy: We heard very little of what the other artists were doing. Kim kept us up to date with his
own material however, and I was always very interested in his “ambient chaos’ music. Also, of course, we liked fellow Australians Trancendental Anarchists, whom we put in touch with Silent.
Silent released their record “Cluster Zone”.
Any plans on re-releasing the Silent material?
Justin: Only if the distribution deal made it worthwhile...
Andy: No offers, no plans, but if any come up we'll let you know.
What are you up to now?
Justin: jazz cabaret, King
Crimson/Eno influenced material, pop/blues/jazz songwriting, electronic atmospheric gothpop with Joshua
www.joshua.co.il
Andy: Apart from continuing to write weird shit, which
never gets released, I write lots of techno and electro for various labels around the world, far too much to list here, but try a google search on my name or start from the Espressowerk
blog site:
www.espressowerk.blospot.com
Apart from Justin and me, there were always other, floating members or friends who got involved. Of these, Anthony Maher, has written and
released dub as Sheriff Lindo and as a member of The Loop Orchestra; James Fergus became a jewellery designer; Bryce Cannon and Andrew Holmes are out of touch these days; Miriam Williamson
continued with her tribal dub act Wrong Kind of Stone Age until they broke up, and is planning a new EP of new material as Princess Universe which I’m helping produce; and Paul Mac, who
helped mix some of our Silent tracks, worked with me in an early rave/techno outfit, Itch-e and Scratch-e, who had some success in Australia. The first Itch-e and Scratch-e EP, “Irritable”,
and our best known track, “Sweetness and Light”, were reworkings of sundry Pelican Daughters tracks with Paul adding his magic touch. Nowadays, he's a bona fide pop star here in
Australia.
Is there anything you would like to add?
Justin:Yes... about another two albums worth of material...
Andy: Yes, I agree. Two more albums.
Please include links to any sites you would like included on the site.
Justin: www.joshua.co.il
Andy: www.espressowerk.blospot.com
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