ZONE dates from about 1983-86, and was a product of the Lower Manhattan music scene, a creative cauldron, spurred by cheap rents and a high concentration of artists of every type, in the wake of post-punk, noise, and no-wave downtown musical movements. The band, not fitting easily into any of those categories, was a brainchild of composer, RAIN WORTHINGTON. Her meticulously crafted solo Casio keyboard compositions (w/cheesy ping pong rhythm backing) absolutely demanded an audience ... and a band. Following a helpful tip ("I got a guy for you.") by mutual friend, Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth), Rain began collaborating with bassist, MITCH MCNEIL (Kammermusik, Seeing The Elephant, Alewife) to develop her pieces into duets. Encouraged by what they were hearing, they continued to finesse the line up. DAVID HUMPHREY (sax) was added to lend the arrangements vital melodic lines and virtuosic explosions. With their first performance looming, drummer LESLIE X was added to the group, and the quartet debuted at InRoads Gallery in Soho, April of '83.
The line up continued to evolve, as bands of that ilk are inclined to do. LANG PHIPPS replaced Leslie X. CHARLES COMPO replaced David Humphrey. MARK WORTHY came aboard to play guitar, while MUSTAFA AHMED brought his congas into the group. The shows began piling up: 8BC, CBGB's, Mudd Club, Danceteria, Peppermint Lounge, Pyramid Club, just to name a few. Lang left the band. Mustafa moved sideways to sit in the traps throne, while SUSAN SMITH COMPO came aboard to do some spot vocals for special occasions.
With almost three years under their collective belts, the inevitable push and pull of other projects, new collaborations, and unexplored horizons ended Zone. All went on to do interesting work in other settings ... to say the least!
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The racket avant-rock/noise group White Suns make is queasy and challenging, but with a taut sense of dynamics and composition. Bandcamp New & Notable Jan 19, 2021
This is synth minimalism of the “Warm Leatherette” variety, with plinking analog electronics and wry, disaffected vocals. Bandcamp New & Notable May 20, 2019