Zoviet France

Zoviet France (also known as :$OVIET:FRANCE:, Soviet France, :Zoviet-France: and latterly usually written as :zoviet*france:) are a music group from Newcastle upon Tyne in north east England. While often dissonant and made of industrial textures, their music also falls into the ambient music category. Formed in 1980, and remaining largely anonymous,^[1] the group has had a number of members; presently it consists of co-founder Ben Ponton and Mark Warren. Former members included Neil Ramshaw, Peter Jensen, Robin Storey (who now records as Rapoon), Lisa Hale, Paolo Di Paolo, Mark Spybey (who now records as Dead Voices on Air) and Andy Eardley. In 2005 Storey, Spybey and Eardley formed a new group, Reformed Faction.

:zoviet*france:
:zoviet*france: at Norbergfestival, Norberg, Sweden, 2011. Left to right: Mark Warren, Ben Ponton
Background information
Origin	Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Genres	Dark ambient post-industrial industrial ambient
Years active	1980–present
Labels	Charrm Red Rhino Records Staalplaat DOVentertainment Soleilmoon Mute Records
Spinoffs	Reformed Faction, Rapoon, Dead Voices on Air
Members	Ben Ponton Mark Warren
Past members	Andy Eardley Lisa Hale Mark Spybey Paolo Di Paolo Peter Jensen Robin Storey

The band participated in the early-eighties underground tape scene. The packaging of their releases was often unconventional, involving materials such as hessian, tar paper and aluminium foil.^[2]

Zoviet France also provided the music for the 2015 movie Savageland, a mockumentary that depicts the aftermath of a massacre on a US-Mexico border town that leaves every citizen dead except for an amateur photographer who is accused of committing it.

Discography

Year	Title	Label
1982	Garista	Self-released
1982	[untitled]	Red Rhino Records
1983	Norsch	Red Rhino Records
1983	Mohnomishe	Red Rhino Records
1984	Eostre	Red Rhino Records
1985	Popular Soviet Songs and Youth Music	Red Rhino Records/Singing Ringing
1985	Gris	No Man's Land
1986	Misfits, Loony Tunes and Squalid Criminals	Red Rhino Records
1986	Gesture Signal Threat	Red Rhino Records
1987	A Flock of Rotations	Red Rhino Records
1987	Assault and Mirage	Red Rhino Records
1987	Loh Land	Staalplaat
1988	Shouting at the Ground	Red Rhino Records
1990	Look Into Me	Charrm
1990	Just an Illusion	Staalplaat
1991	Shadow, Thief of the Sun	DOVentertainment
1991	Vienna 1990	Charrm
1992	Collusion	Mute Records
1993	What Is Not True	Charrm
1996	Digilogue	Soleilmoon
1996	in.version	Charrm
1998	Mort Aux Vaches: Feedback	Staalplaat
2000	The Decriminalisation of Country Music	Tramway
2003	utdrag	amino
2008	shteirlel	King Worldwide via alt.vinyl
2012	7.10.12	alt.vinyl
2013	The Tables Are Turning	Soleilmoon

Notable performances

• 9 and 10 November 1990: two performances as part of the 'Ohrenschrauben' festival at Szene Wien, Austria. Later released on Vienna 1990 CD in 1991.
• 29 March 1993: The Leadmill, Sheffield. Later released as track 3 on What Is Not True CD in 1993.
• 30 March 1993: The Old Vic, Nottingham. Later released as tracks 1 & 2 on What Is Not True CD in 1993.
• 26 March 1996: Urban Aboriginals XI, Ballhaus, Berlin. Later released on in.version CD in 1996.
• August 1996: Live studio recording by VPRO radio in Amsterdam. Later released on Mort Aux Vaches: Feedback CD in 1998.
• 29 February 2008: European premiere performance of John Cage's Variations VII with Atau Tanaka and Matt Wand, AV Festival, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, UK.^[3][4]
• 29 December 2018: Live in-cinema performance in the Newcastle premiere of Savageland at Star and Shadow Cinema, Newcastle, which Zoviet France provided audio for. Accompanied by one of the movies directors, Simon Herbert.^[5]
• 7 October 2022: two performances at the Hall in the Barbican Centre in London opening for Autechre. Due to high demand for tickets both groups played twice that night in two separate shows.^[6]

See also

• List of ambient music artists