The Motor Totemist Guild was an American avant-rock ensemble formed by composer and multi-instrumentalist James Grigsby and poet-vocalist Christine Clements. They issued the 1984–86 albums Infra Dig and Contact With Veils, plus the live Klang cassette, on the self-operated Rotary Totem label. Their 1988 collaboration with the 5uu’s produced Elements and spawned the merged group […]
U Totem was an American avant-rock supergroup formed by members of the 5uu’s and the Motor Totemist Guild. They made the 1990 Cuneiform disc U Totem, followed in 1994 by Strange Attractors. Members: Dave Kerman (drums, percussion), James Grigsby (guitar, bass), Emily Hay (flute, piccolo, vocals), Sanjay Kumar (keyboards, piano, sitar), Eric Johnson (bassoon, soprano […]
The 5uu’s were an American avant-rock band behind the 1986 album Bel Marduk & Tiamat on U:r Records, followed by three albums through 1997 on RēR. On their 1988 release Elements, they teamed with the Motor Totemist Guild. The two parties merged as U Totem, which made two ambitious CDs on Cuneiform, the 5uu’s home […]
