Autonervous / Jessie Evans

Coming Soon

For more: http://www.myspace.com/jessieevansmusic

Discography...

Subtonix "Trophy" 7"
No Love 2001

Subtonix "Rich Boys" 7"
Vida Loca 2002

Subtonix/Glass Candy split 7"
Troubleman Unlimited 2002

Subtonix "Tarantism" LP/CD
Troubleman unlimited 2002

Troubleman Mix Tape
Troubleman Unlimited 2001

Troubleman Sampler
Troubleman Unlimited 2003

Knives Cassette Ep
2002

The Vanishing "In the Bat Haus" Ep/CD
Cochon Records 2002

The Vanishing/Lost Sounds split 7"
Cochon Records 2003

GSL/skyscraper mag comp
Goldstandardlabs 2003

The Vanishing "Songs for Psychotic Children" LP/CD
Gold Standard Labs 2003

Naked Kiss of Death Split 7"
Release the Bats 2004

The Vanishing/The Phantom Limbs split 7"
Hungry Eye 2003

The Vanishing/Sixteens split 12"/CD
Gold Standard Labs 2003

The Vanishing/Von Iva split 12"
Princehouse Records 2004

Nostalgia del Buio
Cochon Records 2004

Witches of the West compilation
This Starcraft 2004

Vanishing "Still Lifes are Failing" LP/CD
Gold Standard Labs and Fatal-Recordings 2005

Autonervous/Zonetech split cassette EP

Autonervous "Fetalities" 12" EP
Duchess Archive 2004

Berlin Insane II Compilation (rmx of "Lovesick")
Pale Music 2005

Glass Candy 5 song EP
Spring 2004

Glass Candy "Life After Sundown" 12 Single/EP Troubleman Unlimited 2005

Hanin Elias "Future Noir" Remix of "Idle Eyes"
Invisible Recordings 2005

"Possibly the best concert of the year."

- Paris

"Street theatre and grand opera at the same time."

– Richard Fantina, East Village Eye - NYC

"Symbiotic and Erotic"

- Amsterdam

In 2005, the Vanishing's singer/sax player Jessie Evans moved to Berlin. Then, like a personal ad from God in an alternate universe, she met Bettina Koster, singer/sax player from the pioneering, John Peel-beloved post-punk band Malaria!. A year later, the two are the (what else?) vox/sax duo Autonervous, with a self-titled debut album out June 6 on Cochon Records (the label Evans co-runs)
Autonervous mixes two undergrounds, Berlin 1980 (Koster) and San Francisco 2000 (Evans). There's an Amanda Lear cover ("Gold"), a German-language reworking of the Vanishing's "Still Lifes" ("Still Kaltes") and, natürlich, lyrics about love 'n chains.
A TBA track from the above will be included on Girl Monster, the upcoming compilation from Chicks on Speed's Alex Murray-Leslie. The collection will have over 60 rollerskate jams from female post-punk/electroclashers. Sweet Jesus.

-Pitchfork Media, July 2006

"With Bettina Köster and Jessie Evans two outstanding personalities have been looking for and found each other. Both singers and saxophone players, they complement each other like Ying and Yang. During the whole set, every sound, every move was perfect. Where Jessie seems vulnerable, Bettina is forceful, while Bettina pulls her hair, Jessie pulls the seam of her dress, natural and unchoreographed. Musically on the highest level of No-no-no Dance, they spawn their own cult and I assume that also in the future they will move on the other side of packaged taste."

– Oliver S, DorfDisco - Berlin

Interview in G L U magazine.

http://www.glumagazine.com

"The latest deal from Jessie Evans (The Vanishing) and Bettina Köster of Malaria! fame. The EP I recieved had a gorgeous ambience, bringing to mind the early Winston Tong or a more mature Malaria; soft, distant saxaphones melded into minimal synths, with Bettina's husky captivating voclas often at the forefront. The live experience, however, is a wild, shimmying extravaganza, a deranged cabaret experience. For anyone who misses (or missed) the early years of minimal, this is the band for you. "

– Lakini Malich, Drop Dead Magazine - New York

Musically, the album is a portrait of diversity in sounds and styles, instruments and grooves, blurring the lines between punk rock, new wave, jazz and dance. And yet this genre-bending duo does not for one second lose their way on some politically correct crusade to avoid program pigeonholing. Perhaps that clarity of musical vision is the result of the fact that Köster and Evans take on the albums entire responsibilities for the instruments heard. Credits for drums are by Evans, with guitar by Köster, and then bass, synthesizer, vocals, and saxophone by Köster and Evans both.
Yes that’s right, both play sax and as they do when sharing vocal responsibilities this dynamic duo is constantly weaving sultry and sexy verses and poetically correct lyrics. At times Jessie is decisively playful and firmly feminine while Bettina whispers breathy enunciations of deceptive incantations. Together they seem to revel in their ability to effortlessly take turns leading a lyrical dance with the listener, cutting in on each other through the distortion, depths and decay of this richly produced strong and sure affair.
What stands to mention last is the overall solid musical credibility evident here and a fish netted feeling of sincere punk sensibilities amplified by a blood red lipstick punctuation mark. This aint no flavor of the month electroclashing chicks on speed, these are some authentic street smarts sounds so, listen up kids, you just might learn something.

-By Teep, Moodmat June 25 2006

Who or what is Autonervous? A new project put together by Jessie Evans, formerly of The Vanishing, it appears. There's no band - all of a sudden we're in the cabaret zone, with a costumes-and-poses performance acted out to a backing track groove. Jessie's partner in crime for this project is Bettina Köster, ex-of Malaria, and the two of them strut and swagger around the stage, toting saxophones like AK47s and almost literally throwing their personalities out into the crowd. Surprisingly, the assembled audience of punks, goths, and deathrockers takes to the show with great good humour. I'd assumed that the distinct absence of anything remotely related to rock 'n' roll would've counted against Autonervous at this event, but not so. The combination of sax-squawks and bump 'n' grind rhythms, the assertive, confident demeanour of the performers on stage, and the feeling of Berlin-underground dissolution which the Autonervous experience instantly conjures up, all combine to create a show that works. I'll bet Andi Sex Gang, connessieur of cabaret decadence that he is, would've loved it. At the end, Bettina signs off with a cheery 'Thanks - that was fun!' 'No it wasn't!' contradicts Jessie, immediately contrary and mock-peevish. But I think they both had a good time - and, somewhat unexpectedly, so did the audience.

-Nemesis, NYC 2005

After the demise of The Vanishing, Jessie Evans decided to team up with Bettina Koster (ex-Malaria!). The result is Autonervous. This self-titled debut is a mix of all kinds of styles: pop, new wave, rocksteady, trip-hop, krautrock, latin, disco, deathrock, film and free jazz. It turns it into something peculiar. Bettina's low, sensual vocals and Jessie's pliant voice supplement and enrich each other very well, despite (or maybe because of) the major differences. Rhythm is an integral part of the album, strange cadence breaks add to the jazzy touches the album has. The synths don't have much melody, they are mostly the servant of the percussion or the vocals. The other instruments (bass, sax) meander through all of this, following a deviant path. "Anchors aweigh" is a dark dance track, together with "Gold" and "Sax new age" the most accessible song on the album. "Don't wait" features lovely unisono vocals, the bass creates his own vibe. It flows over in "Still kaltes", which is based upon The Vanishing's "Still lifes". This re-written version has a sultry undertone. The Amanda Lear cover "Gold" isn't an odd choice, Bettina and Jessie turn it into a song they could have written themselves. It fits in with the rest of the album perfectly. On "Hello lovers" Jessie takes the lead, she curles her voice around the slow, relaxing flow. "Sax new age" has already reached the playlist of some parties, it has the most gloomy atmosphere of the album and is beckoningly attractive. The unpolished repetitive synths of "Easter bunny" suddenly make way for a Brazilian-like melody at one point. Such unusual transitions are one of the things that bring about the daring nature of Autonervous. The lyrics on "Why shiver" are one of reflection: "What if Elvis hadn't picked up the guitar? What if James Dean hadn't crashed his car?" And what if Bettina and Jessie hadn't decided to form Autonervous? In that case the world would not have been able to listen to this very distinct record. It's certainly not a catchy or an easy album, it needs some time to sink in. But when you've discovered it's elegance, you'll find it to be rewarding.

- Gothtronic, Amsterdam

Mit nur einigen wenigen Konzerten konnten AUTONERVOUS einiges an Aufsehen erregen. Kein Wunder, haben sich hier doch zwei Frauen zusammengetan, die jede für sich schon einiges geleistet hat, was Einträge ins große Buch der Musikgeschichte angeht. Dabei sind die Gegensätze eigentlich ziemlich groß... Bettina Köster war Anfang der 80er Jahre aus der Berliner Musikszene heraus mit Malaria! weltweit erfolgreich und musikalisch Weg weisend. Bis heute gehört Malaria! zu den wichtigsten deutschen Bands der letzten 30 Jahre. Die US-Amerikanerin Jessie Evans konnte rund 20 Jahre später vor allem mit ihrer eigenwilligen Band The Vanishing in der Gothic-/Wave-Szene auf sich aufmerksam machen. In Berlin lernten die beiden Damen sich kennen und begannen zusammen Musik zu machen. Als AUTONERVOUS liegt nun ihr erstes gemeinsames Album vor und das entzieht sich eigentlich jeder Kategorisierung, weil es etwas ganz Besonderes ist. Die beiden Musikerinnen haben es ziemlich perfekt geschafft, ihre musikalischen Wurzeln zu kombinieren und dazu noch aus allen möglichen anderen Musikrichtungen Einflüsse zu integrieren. Das dabei nicht ein unhomogenes Album mit einzelnen Songs entstanden ist, sondern eine atmosphärisch dichte, sehr spannende Platte, ist die wahre Kunst. Zwischen Wave, Avantgarde und Eingängigkeit klingen die einzelnen Songs manchmal etwas nach Malaria! und dann doch wieder ganz anders. Man würfle Siouxsie Sioux, Marlene Dietrich, Hildegard Knef, Nina Hagen, Lene Lovic, Malaria! und The Vanishing zusammen, verrühre das Ganze ordentlich und heraus kommt AUTONERVOUS mit einem ganz eigenen Sound. Aufgrund der musikalischen Vergangenheit von Evans und Köster wird natürlich eine relativ breite Hörerschaft vom Punk bis zum „After Work Club“-Besucher angesprochen, aber die beeindruckende Leistung der Damen ist, dass alle diese Hörer mit diesem Album klarkommen werden. Eine sehr gute, zurückhaltende Produktion tut das Übrige, was aber nicht heißt, dass nicht der ein oder andere Track sowohl in Underground-Clubs, als auch in angesagten Szene-Club für Bewegung sorgen könnte. Ich bin wirklich fasziniert von diesem Album, auf dem keinerlei Ausfälle zu finden sind und bin sicher, dass es in meinen Jahres-Top 5 in 2006 sein wird. (A.P.)

- Back Again, Germany