Alterations

Alterations are a four-piece musical group comprising David Toop, Peter Cusack, Terry Day & Steve Beresford. Initially active from 1977 to 1986 the group released three albums and performed widely across the UK and mainland Europe.

This quartet of key thinkers and pioneers in music and visual arts have played many concerts, festivals and clubs. They recorded the albums Alterations (1978), Up Your Sleeve (1980), My Favourite Animals (1984)

The group, which reformed in 2015 for a performance at Café OTO in London, play free improvised music with an emphasis on unusual combinations of musical styles and genre-plundering humour that breaks the perceived rules and articulated theories associated with free improvisation.

Some of the sounds which drift and clash on their recordings include a police siren, a slowly building punk rock groove, overdriven guitar assaulted with a drill, piano, euphoniums, smatterings of flute, toy instruments and unravelling sound collages.

Their music can be tough going, but this collective’s irreverent deconstruction and healthy tomfoolery is also a challenging thrill.

Some of the sounds which drift and clash on their recordings include a police siren, a slowly building punk rock groove, overdriven guitar assaulted with a drill, piano, Euphoniums, smatterings of flute, toy instruments and unravelling sound collages.

Their music can be tough going, but this collective’s irreverent deconstruction and healthy tomfoolery is also a challenging thrill.