A-Z of Skin Graft Records – Brise-Glace

Brise-Glace (French for “ice-breaker”) was a short-lived supergroup that was active in the early to mid 90s. It included Daryn Gray from Dazzling Killmen, Dylan Posa from Cheer-Accident, Jim O’Rourke from Sonic Youth and Thymme Jones from Illusion Of Safety, who were also assisted by the likes of Henry Kaiser, Gene Coleman and David Grubbs.
They started out by touring with Mount Shasta in 1994 (during one of the show, members of MS proceeded to unplug Brise-Glace amplifiers after hearing the same riff repeated over and over again) and eventually recorded “Sister All And Felony / Angles On Installment Plan” single, followed by their first and (only) full-length –  1994 “When In Vanitas”, which was engineered by Steve Albini.  In their review of the album Alternative Press proclaimed that “”…This is the sound of boundaries stretching, genres mutating, originality struggling from the womb of creativity….this is edge-of-your-seat/consciousness music…”.
Brice-Glase went on tour in 1994 in order to support the album and contributed their track “Angus Dei Aus Licht” to a 1995 4-way tribute to AC-DC. They toured extensively throughout mid 90s and shared the stage with the likes of US Maple, Flying Luttenbachers and Colossamite. During their live shows, the band consisted primarily of Gray and O’Rourke with a rotating line-up of guests, such as Azita Youssefi (Scissor Girls) and Kevin Drumm.
The band toured/performed well into 1997 and contributed few more tracks to various compilations and although they never formally broke up, eventually they disappeared due to band members being busy with various side projects and production duties. Dylan Posa and Thymme Jones later played together in Cheer-Accident, who also recorded a number of albums for Skin Graft. Posa was also a member of Animal Law, which also included members of various experimental/noise bands – Blake Edwards (Vertonen), Geoff Guy, Jason Soliday (Coeurl, Gunshop) and Mark Solotroff from Bloodyminded / Intrinsic Action.
Fun Facts:
A fragment of their track “Neither Yield, Nor Reap” was used in a documentary about Louis Armstrong (Wikipedia)
Band Members:
Darin Gray (Dazzling Killmen, Grand Ulena, On Fillmore, Yona-Kit, You Fantastic!)
Dylan Posa (Animal Law, Cheer-Accident, Flying Luttenbachers)
Jim O’Rourke (Diskaholics Anonymous Trio, Gastr Del Sol, Illusion Of Safety, Indicate, Loose Fur, Mimir, Original Silence, Red Krayola, Sonic Youth, Yona-Kit)
Thymme Jones (Cheer-Accident, Illusion Of Safety, Yona-Kit, You Fantastic!)
Discography:
In Sisters And All Felony / Angels On Installment Plan 7″ (Skin Graft, 1994)
When In Vanitas… CD (Skin Graft, 1994)
Sides 1-4 (With Shellac, Big’n and US Maple) 2×7″ (Skin Graft / Gasoline Boost, 1995)
Compilation Tracks:
“Neither Yield, Nor Reap” on Monsters, Robots & Bug Men – A User’s Guide To The Rock Hinterland (Virgin, 1996)
“Likeness” on Camp Skin Graft: Now Wave (!) Compilation (Skin Graft, 1997)
MP3: Neither Yield, Nor Reap