Biographie: Started by John Zorn (of many, many things, most notably Naked City ), Mick Harris (of Scorn , Napalm Death ), and Bill Laswell (of Praxis , Material, Tabla Beat Science , etc.) in 1991, PainKiller is an extreme mix of free jazz, hardcore, dub, and noise. The group quickly recorded two EP's, Guts of a Virgin (1991) and Buried Secrets (1992) which were released on Earache Records . In 1993 Toy's Factory Records released PainKiller's Rituals: Live in Japan, a live recording from their 1991 tour of Japan. A double CD titled Execution Ground was released on Subharmonic in 1994 which featured PainKiller experimenting with extended songs as well as Ambient remixes. In 1997 John Zorn's record label, Tzadik , released The Collected Studio Works, which contained the first two EP's and Execution Ground along with Marianne, previously available on the rare Japanese CD Koroshi NoBlues by Makigami Koichi , as well as Live in Osaka, a live performance from 1994 in Osaka, Japan parts of which had been released on a re-issue of Execution Ground in 1995. Tzadik also released Talisman: Live in Nagoya in 2002, which features an incredible +30 minute track. A slightly different PainKiller played two nights (four sets) during Zorn's 50th Birthday Celebration in 2003; their final set was released by Tzadik (2005) in the 50th Birthday Celebration Series. It's the 12th Volume.
Discographie:
Guts of a Virgin
1991, Earache Records
John Zorn, alto sax, voice; Bill Laswell, bass; Mick Harris, drums, voice
Recorded and mixed by Oz Fritz, mastered by Howie Weinberg
Buried Secrets
1992, Earache Records
John Zorn, alto sax, voice; Bill Laswell, bass; Mick Harris, drums, voice
- special guests on Buried Secrets and The Toll: Justin Broadrick, guitar, drum machine, voice; G. C. Green, bass
Recorded and mixed by Oz Fritz, mastered by Howie Weinberg
Rituals: Live in Japan
1993, Toy's Factory Records
John Zorn, alto sax, voice; Bill Laswell, bass; Mick Harris, drums, voice
- special guest on Vapors of Phlegm and Blood, Tetrgrammaton, Cat's Cradle, Demonic Possession, and Tokyo Lucky Hole: Haino Keiji, guitar, voice
Recorded live on 26 September 1991 by Makito Takashi, mastered by Howie Weinberg
Execution Ground
1994, Subharmonic Records (2 CD's)
John Zorn, alto sax, voice; Bill Laswell, bass; Mick Harris, drums, voice
Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Oz Fritz
The Collected Works
1997, Tzadik Recordings (4 CD's)
Disk 0: Gut's of a Virgin, Buried Secrets, Marianne
- special guests on Buried Secrets and The Toll: Justin Broadrick, guitar, drum machine, voice; G. C. Green, bass
- special guests on Marianne: Haino Keiji, guitar; Makigami Koichi, voice
Disk 1: Execution Ground
Disk 2: Execution Ground (Ambient)
Disk 3: Live in Osaka
- special guest on Bodkyithangga and Black Bile/Yellow Bile/Blue Bile/Crimson Bile/Ivory Bile: Yamatsuka EYE
PainKiller: John Zorn, alto sax, voice; Bill Laswell, bass; Mick Harris, drums, voice
Recorded and mixed by Oz Fritz and mastered by Oz Fritz, Howie Weinberg, Allen Tucker, and Scott Hull
Talisman: Live in Nagoya
2002, Tzadik Recordings
John Zorn, alto sax, voice; Bill Laswell, bass; Mick Harris, drums, voice
Recorded live by Oz Fritz, mastered by Scott Hull
50th Birthday Series: Volume 12
2005, Tzadik Recordings
John Zorn, alto sax, voice; Bill Laswell, bass; Hamid Drake, drums; and special guest Mike Patton, voice
Recorded and mixed by Daniel Goldaracena, mastered by Scott Hull
Links and Photos:
A pretty lengthy PainKiller show history.
Read what Mick Harris had to say about his time with PainKiller.
Tzadik Recordings
Earache Records
The Stone
Tonic
Mick Harris
A John Zorn fan site.
Bill Laswell's label, Axiom .
Check Downtown Music Gallery for rare and hard to find music.
Lots of photographs from various downtown, New York venues.
Clips from PainKiller's performance can be found at YouTube.com .
As well as plent of other related performances.
Zorn, Yoshida, and Laswell
Drake, Patton, and Laswell
@ Tonic (5 September 2003)
Yoshida, Zorn, and Laswell
PainKiller vs. Method of Defience
@ Tonic (1 January 2006) Sorry folks, but this is just a fan site!
