Alice Cohen

Alice Cohen
Origin Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Genres Indie rock, Experimental pop
Years active 1978–present
Labels Chrysalis Records (1979)
Atlantic Records (1980)
Mercury Records (1984−1986)
Dutch East (1993)
Roadrunner Records (1994)
Lungcast (1994)
Evil Teen Records (1996)
Spare Me Records (2001)
Zilcho (2001)
BMG (2001)
Olde English Spelling Bee (2009)
Crinoline (2008)
Website www.myspace.com/alicecohen www.vimeo.com/alicecohen

Alice Cohen (former stage name "Alice Desoto") is a New York City based American singer, songwriter and fine artist.

The Vels

Cohen is best known for her years as the primary songwriter and lead singer of The Vels, the Philadelphia band she co-created in the early 1980s. They were signed in 1984 to the Mercury label under which they released two albums. They had one minor hit ("Look My Way") and a successful MTV music video.

The Vels toured the U.S. in 1986, opening for The Psychedelic Furs.

Musical History

In 1980, Alice Cohen wrote Karen Young's Atlantic Records disco track "Deetour",[1] recently re-released on Horse Meat Disco [2]

After The Vels dissolved in 1987, Cohen's work changed direction and she became active in the indie/underground and touring scene. Cohen's best-known venture in this period was the band Die Monster Die. DMD released two albums: 1992's Chrome Molly, on Dutch East, and 1994's Withdrawal Method on Roadrunner Records.[3] The band broke up soon after. (N.B. that in 1995, another band called Die Monster Die was founded in Utah; this band is unrelated to the band Cohen was in.[4])

In 1996, Cohen sang a track (on camera) in the Martin Scorsese-produced movie Grace of My Heart (1996), directed by Allison Anders.

In recent years, Cohen has performed frequently as a solo act, as well as collaborating with a number of groups including LYDSOD, Long Lost, Raw Thrills, [5]Castles, and Espadrille.[6]

With the release of Cohen's solo records, she became active in video and animation, creating music videos to accompany her own releases,[7][8] as well as composing soundtracks for other animations and video projects.

Visual Arts

Cohen's collages and paintings have appeared in galleries in New York City, San Francisco and elsewhere.

In 2008, Cohen began to produce animated music videos for artists such as Ducktails,[9] Coasting,[10] Broken Deer,[11] and Greatest Hits,[12] using found imagery and objects in traditional cut-out & stop-motion animation style.

Other video/animation work includes "Single Sentence Animations" for the literary journal Electric Literature [13] as well as gallery and installation work.

In 2010, Cohen had her first solo exhibition of visual works including video, collage, and installation, which took place at Live With Animals gallery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.[14][15]

Cohen's animations have screened in Anthology Film Archives in New York and in festivals worldwide in Copenhagen, New Delhi, Bombai, Greece, and more.

Discography

Solo Releases

With "The Vels" (Mercury Records)

With "Die Monster Die" (Dutch East/Roadrunner Records)

With "Helivator" (Lungcast)

With "Espadrille" (Spare Me Records)

Appearing on

Filmography

Music Videos

Art Videos

Other Commissioned Work

References

  1. ↑ Karen Young - Deetour
  2. ↑ 'Deetour' article in The Vine
  3. ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/artist/die-monster-die-mn0000220204/discography
  4. ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/artist/die-monster-die-mn0000220204
  5. ↑ gunktvrecords.bandcamp.com
  6. ↑ allmusic ((( Swimmeret > Overview )))
  7. ↑ Alice Cohen "Memories of Glaciers"
  8. ↑ Alice Cohen "Black Pepper"
  9. ↑ Ducktails music video
  10. ↑ Coasting music video
  11. ↑ Broken Deer music video
  12. ↑ Greatest Hits music video
  13. ↑ Electric Literature media
  14. ↑ Alice Cohen at Live With Animals
  15. ↑ Live With Animals in Art Forum

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, March 22, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.