Urban Refuse Group

Pleased to announce the latest in my series of reissues, this time going back to 1996 and the first release by Urban Refuse Group, a.k.a. U.R.G.!

Urban Refuse Group was a free improv junk instrument noise collective that was open to anyone willing to build instruments out of discarded materials and objects (refuse). Personnel varied for each performance and recording with as few as 3 or 4 players to upwards of 30. The project was prominent in the Toronto scene with numerous live performances and radio appearances. It ran from 1996 to 2000 when it morphed into the band Six Heads.

"U.R.G. 1 (Response)" was a 60-minute cassette album released in 1996 on my Disembraining Songs label. Each cassette was packaged in a resealable plastic bag and contained an info sheet about the release as well as various cassette network flyers and other bits of ephemera. Each package also included a unique piece of junk. For the digital reissue, I have cleaned up and remastered the original DAT recordings and have included several scans of various elements of the package and contents (based on my personal archive copy of the tape).

I still really enjoy listening to this album! Elements of the group's later incarnation Six Heads are evident here but U.R.G. clearly has its own playful, anarchic vibe.

The album is available on Bandcamp, just in time for Bandcamp Friday which is tomorrow, April 1st!

https://urbanrefusegroup.bandcamp.com/album/u-r-g-1-response

- W.A.Davison

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