Boyd Rice

One of the most controversial figures in American underground culture, Boyd Rice first came to prominence in the late ‘70s creating experimental noise under the moniker Non. While early recordings such as THE BLACK ALBUM (1978) were lumped into the burgeoning industrial scene, they were nevertheless distinguished by a unique, for the time, application of playback technology--incorporating tape loop and locked-groove turntable manipulations of recordings by bubblegum pop artists like Lesley Gore and Peggy March. In the ‘80s, Rice branched into numerous musical avenues including collaborations with dark folk artists Current 93 and Death In June, lounge music spoofs (his album MUSIC, MARTINIS AND MISANTHROPHY), and poppy psychedelia (Spell, a project with Strawberry Switchblade’s Rose McDowell). By the ‘90s, Rice’s association with Social Darwinist think-tank Abraxas Foundation, and flirtations with fascism and Satanism, cemented his increasingly nefarious repute within underground music--a reputation that could be deemed unreliable due to Rice’s well-documented activities as a prankster.