ESCAPE-ISM IS THE GROUP
RATED Z IS THE RECORD.
9 SONGS OF SMASH ‘EM UP BENEATH THE UNDERGROUND
“ILLEGIBLE MUSIC” FROM THE “CASSETTE DECK THAT CRIED,”
AKA ESCAPE-ISM.
LISTEN IN /TO THE DIN / OF THE FORBIDDEN
THE SOUND OF SIN / SMELL, TOUCH, TASTE / THEY TRIED TO ERASE
OBSCURE & INFAMOUS / BENEATH CONTEMPT
ILLEGIBLE / UNINTELLIGABLE / INCONGRUOUS
DON’T LISTEN / DON’T LOOK / COVER YOUR EARS
NO ONE IS ALLOWED TO SEE OR HEAR
IT’S RATED Z
RECORDED AT CLUB BLASÉ IN LOS ANGELES BY ESCAPE-ISM & LIFE LIKE STUDIO IN ANN ARBOR, MI BY FRED THOMAS
RELEASED ON RADICAL ELITE RECORDS & IN EUROPE ON MONO-TONE RECORDS.
IMPORTANT NOTE FROM ESCAPE-ISM: THIS LATEST RECORD, CALLED “RATED Z,” BY THE FOUND SOUND DREAM DRAMA GROUP —“ESCAPE-ISM”— IS ALSO THE FINAL ROCK ‘N’ ROLL RECORD.
ROCK ‘N’ ROLL, THE RITUAL BASED SUBCULTURE FOUNDED ON SUBTERRANEAN-ISM, REINVENTION OF SELF, POLITICAL PARADOX, POETIC OBFUSCATION, AND SIN-SATIONAL SPECTACLE HAS NO PLACE IN THE NEW DIGITAL WORLD OF CORPORATE CONFORMITY & CONTROL.
THEREFORE, THIS RECORD — “RATED Z” BY ESCAPE-ISM — WHICH FEATURES NOTES, TONES, & SOUNDS THAT ARE NO LONGER ALLOWED, WILL BE THE LAST ROCK N ROLL RECORD, AS PER THE NEW RATING SYSTEM (SEE BELOW).
IT’S THE LAST GASP OF POETIC PERVERSITY. RATED Z — WHAT NO ONE IS ALLOWED TO FEEL, HEAR, THINK, OR SEE. GET IT WHILE YOU CAN.
RATED G ….. GENERAL AUDIENCES
RATED PG ….PARENTAL GUIDANCE SUGGESTED
RATED R …. RESTRICTED
RATED X …. ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY
RATED Z … NO ONE IS ALLOWED TO SEE
RATED Z is a declaration of a new underground, distinct from the tedious drivel of self-satisfied corporate indie rock. RATED Z continues Escape-ism's commitment to minimalism, impertinence, and the search for new modes of communication with those fellow travellers who are loath to fall in line with the latest thing. The song "Rated Z" declares Escape-ism's commitment to absolute obscurity, while "Rocker's Delight" outlines a hang out scenario for the fringe elements who rally to Escape-ism as the last gasp of poetry & playfulness in an oppressive landscape of artless algorithm rock. "Teenage Surrealism PT I & II" delineates a dialogue with a dream, and "Whatever People Say That I Am" is a soon to be theme song for those who can't be numbered, named, and filed away.
Escape-ism has relentlessly toured the world over the last five years and has recently made a feature film "The Lost Record" (based on the last Escape-ism disc, also titled "The Lost Record"). The Lost Record film has been playing cinema arthouses over the last months in Europe, sometimes in tandem with live Escape-ism performances, and has been selected as a feature film by several Festivals (FAME Film Festival in France and L.U.F.F.; Lausanne Underground Film Festival, among others ). It also played in Venice during the recent festival there and at Rome's Museum of Contemporary Art. A US release is breathlessly anticipated.
The record "Rated Z" will be accompanied by an underground analogue video--TV show also called Rated Z, featuring several spoken, music, and dance pieces, directed by Telefantasy Studios. Plans for the premiere of this TV show are in discussion but it will be telecast to announce the record. The television show will feature videos for the songs "Rated Z" and "Whatever People Say That I Am."
The record is the latest release from Radical Elite Records, the imprint responsible for the underground newsprint broadsheet "The Cellophane Flag" which recently released Escape-ism's "The Silent Record," a long playing silent record which sold out almost immediately.