Hafler Trio  

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The Hafler Trio is a conceptual and sound art collaborative between Andrew M. McKenzie, the only permanent member, and guest musicians. The project has seen the release of numerous albums and CDs in experimental musical styles ranging from electronica, cut-up, ambient, environmental soundscape, musique concrete, electro-acoustic, and audio-montage as cinema for the ears from 1986 to present, each of which utilise graphic design and text for contextual juxtaposition with the recordings, as well as having a diverse but concrete philosophical and sometimes quasi-religious framework to place them in.

Despite the name, The Hafler Trio is essentially the work of one man, Andrew M. McKenzie, born in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in 1963. McKenzie released his first 7" single at the age of 14, having formed a punk rock group named Flesh.

There have been numerous members and collaborators alongside Andrew M. McKenzie, including Cabaret Voltaire co-founder Chris Watson, Dr. Edward Moolenbeek, Adi Newton of Clock DVA, Z'ev, Fluxus artist Willem de Ridder, David Tibet (of Current 93), Genesis P-Orridge, Annie Sprinkle, Jónsi Birgisson (of Sigur Rós), Michael Gira (of Swans and Angels of Light), Chloe Vevrier, Erla Þórarinsdóttir, Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, and John Lacey of COUM Transmissions, among many others.

In addition to the 6-part retrospective set released by The Grey Area of Mute Records titled The Golden Hammer (including many early LPs and EPs such as The Sea Org, Bang: An Open Letter, Three Ways of Saying Two, All That Rises Must Converge, 7 Hours Sleep, A Thirsty Fish and more), CD releases include: INTOUTOF, A Bag of Cats, Mastery of Money, How to Reform Mankind, with several notable stand-out collaborations: 12 Ecomomical Stories by Peter Greenaway (note purposeful misspelling), Murray Fontana Orchestra (collaboration with Nurse with Wound), Snuff (with Willem De Ridder); Soundtrack to Brion Gysin's 'Dreamachine' (which included detailed historical documentation and instructions for use), a substantial 2-part collaboration with Autechre, and most recently a three part collaboration with Jonsi Birgisson of Sigur Rós.

Plucking Feathers From A Bald Frog, a collection of Andrew McKenzie's texts from 1978 to 1991 was published by Psychic Release Cerebrum & Press, Stockholm in 1991, and the following year his film treatment in 31 scenes titled Just Because A Cat Has Her Kittens in the Oven Doesn't Make them Biscuits was published in Ratio 3/TransMediators (Brighton, UK: Temple Press Limited, 1992) which also includes texts by Z'EV and Genesis P-Orridge of Psychic TV.

Selected list of works

• “BANG!” - an Open Letter (1984, re-issued 1993)
• Soundtrack to “Alternation, Perception & Resistance” - a Comprehension Exercise (1985)
• Seven Hours Sleep (1985)
• Hotondo Kiki Torenai (1985)
• The Sea Org (1986)
• Brain Song (1986)
• A Thirsty Fish (1987)
• INTOUTOF (1988)
• Ignotum per Ignotius (1989)
• Dislocation (1990)
• A Bag of Cats (1990)
• Redintegrate 1, 2 & 3 (1991)
• Kill The King (1991)
• The Hafler Trio Play The Hafler Trio (1991)
• The Hafler Trio Play The Hafler Trio Play The Hafler Trio (1991)
• Masturbatorium (1991)
• Mastery of Money (1992)
• FUCK (1992)
• Seven Hours Sleep (re-issue, 1993)
• Four Ways Of Saying Five (1993)
• A Thirsty Fish (re-issue, 1993)
• How To Reform Mankind (1994)
• Negentropy (1994)
• One Dozen Ecomomical Stories by Peter Greenaway (1994)
• Walk Gently Through the Gates of Joy (1995)
• #1: various methods of attaining immortality | #2: three different kinds of seed (1996)
• Infidelity to Reason (1996)
• The Day I Married The World (1996)
• Right Here Where You Are Sitting Now (1996)
• An Utterance of the Supreme Ventriloquist (1996)
• WHO SEES GOES ON (1996-8)
• Hljóðmynd (2000)
• Mein (2000, unreleased; bootleg available)
• Cleave: 9 Great Openings [Trilogy In Three Parts, Part The First] (2002)
• La Chanson Dada (2002)
• Whistling About Chickens (2002)
• No Man Put Asunder: 7 Fruitful and Seamless Unions [Trilogy In Three Parts, Part The Second] (2003)
• No More Twain, Of One Flesh: 11 Unequivocal Obsecrations [Trilogy In Three Parts, Part The Third] (2003)
• the moment when we blow the flour from our tongues (2003)
• A Small Child Dreams Of Voiding The Plague (2003)
• The Birds Must Be Eliminated (2003)
• The man who tried to disappear (2003)
• A house waiting for its master (2003)
• Wolf Sheep Cabbage #1 - evidence pertaining to the destroyer (2003)
• Wolf Sheep Cabbage #2 - evidence pertaining to the creator (2003)
• kisses with both hands from gods little toy (2003)
• how to slice a loaf of bread (2003)
• (with Autechre) æ³o & h³æ (2003)
• NORMALLY. being by that entity formally known as THE HAFLER TRIO (2003)
• anything that someone else tells you is not good enough (2004)
• how to slice a loaf of bread (lengthwise) (2004)
• the concentrated recapturing of thought (2004)
• scissors cut arrow (2004)
• WHERE ARE YOU? the partial results of an investigation by THE HAFLER TRIO (2004)
• I never knew that’s who you thought you were (2004)
• The Nearness of Doings That be Things (live on Resonance 104.4FM) (2004)
• only the hand that erases can write the true thing (2004)
• EXACTLY AS I SAY. a rapid learning method devised partly by THE HAFLER TRIO (with Jonsi Birgisson) (2004)
• The Water Has No Hair To Hold On To (2004)
• Á ég að halda áfram? (2005)
• Being a firefighter isn’t just about squirting water (2005)
• EXACTLY AS I DO. the revised handbook of essential practice by THE HAFLER * TRIO (with Jonsi Birgisson) (2005)
• (with Autechre) æo³ & ³hæ (2005)
• If Take, Then Take—Tricks, Half-tricks and Real Phenomena (2005)
• Wolf Sheep Cabbage #3 - evidence pertaining to the preserver (2005)
• EXACTLY AS I AM - the complete course in speaking for all occasions by THE HAFLER TRIO (with Jonsi Birgisson) (2005)
• Colin Potter & The Hafler Trio "A Pressed On Sandwich" (2006) Nextera