Vazz

During the the '80s, Glasgow's post-punk duo Vazz crafted an ethereal sound that foreshadowed dream pop. Featuring multi-instrumentalist Hugh Small and vocalist Anna Howson, Vazz debuted with the 1982 cassette-only release Whisper Not, a seven-track demo that they recorded at the Hellfire Club. Though it was intended for release by the Belgian imprint Operation Twillight as part of the compilation Antelopes & Alligators, it never came to pass, and only 100 copies of the cassette were made. Two years later, the duo's song "Silver" appeared on the compilation Dreams and Desires (which also featured songs by the Cocteau Twins and Wolfgang Press) from the Glasgow label Pleasantly Surprised. Over the next few years Vazz issued a string of releases on Cathexis, including the 1986 mini-album Your Lungs and Your Tongues. In 2011, six of Whisper Not's tracks were released on vinyl by Forced Nostalgia, with the seventh track and a previously unreleased song arriving as a digital single in 2012. The following year, Forced Nostalgia gathered all of Vazz's songs on the compilation Chronoillogical. Small continued making music, releasing electronic instrumentals as Reluctant Participant in the 2010s. © Heather Phares /TiVo