Jettisoundz

About

In the UK’s shadowy labyrinth of experimental sound and vision, Jettisoundz emerged as a sculptor of the VHS landscape from 1984 to 1990. The label's catalog, a fusion of the visceral and the visual, danced along the liminal edges of underground aesthetics. Jettisoundz didn’t just document; it conjured a world where the raw and the refined coexisted in a fractal embrace. The label’s affinity for the VHS format was not mere preference—it was a deliberate act of rebellion, a tactile medium chosen for its ability to warp, degrade, and ultimately enhance the viewing experience. Psychic TV’s repeated presence in the catalog, with releases like "Maple Syrup" and "8 Transmission 8," echoes the label’s commitment to process-driven audio-visual experimentation. Throbbing Gristle’s "Mission of Dead Souls" and the collaborative "Time Zones" with Derek Jarman reveal an interdisciplinary approach that blurred the lines between music, film, and performance art. Kenneth Anger’s "Fireworks" (1986) further cements Jettisoundz’s role as an archival beacon for avant-garde cinema. Survival Research Laboratories’ "Maimed Artists" (1984) stands as a testament to the label’s embrace of the extreme and the confrontational, capturing the chaotic energy of mechanized performance art. Meanwhile, punk stalwarts like UK Subs and One Way System found a visual voice through the label, their live performances immortalized in magnetic tape. Jettisoundz’s significance lies not in its commercial reach but in its ability to capture and project the zeitgeist of an era defined by creative subversion. Each release is an artifact, a piece of a broader narrative where sound and vision converge to challenge, provoke, and inspire.