Youth in Mourning

Philip Johnson was one of many young artists likely liberated by the possibilities afforded by significant shifts in late ‘70s culture – punk and post-punk; DIY culture; industrial and noise; access to consumer electronics and cassette duplication. Most of Johnson’s releases were small-run cassettes, but Youth In Mourning was appeared on vinyl in 1982. It’s a scabrous set for urgent yet subliminal electronics, working away at intensely focused pulses and high-tension drones; there are also vocal sideswipes at ‘alternative music’ culture (a rant against the NME’s “C81” compilation), and the fever dream visions of “The Karate Kicking Girl of New Invention.”