Eyeless In Gaza is the post-punk, New Wave musical duo of Martyn Bates and Peter Becker, based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England (better known as the birthplace of George Eliot). They have described their music as "veer[ing] crazily from filmic ambiance to rock and pop, industrial funk to avant-folk styles." Formed in 1980, the group went into hiatus in 1987 as Martyn Bates pursued a number of solo projects and collaborations, reemerging in 1993.

The name is a reference to the novel of the same name by Aldous Huxley. Bates has said he chose the name "for the sound of it.... I was reading the Huxley book when I met Pete.... It sounded perfectly nice." But Bates has also acknowledged an allusion to the "biblical myth" of Samson, saying, "I feel attracted by religion. I feel that people don’t pay enough attention to the spiritual side of their life; it is a very interesting side of the human psychism and it fascinates me." (Interview in Les Inrockuptibles, number 14, 1988)

Discography

Albums

• Photographs as Memories , 1981 (CD reissue includes 7 bonus tracks from early singles)
• Caught in Flux, 1981 (original LP included bonus 5 track 12", "The Eyes Of Beautiful Losers", also included on CD reissue)
• Pale Hands I Loved So Well, 1982
• Drumming the Beating Heart, 1982 (CD issue (1996) also includes Pale Hands I Loved So Well)
• Rust Red September, 1983 (CD issue (1994) includes 6 bonus tracks)
• Back From the Rains, 1986 (CD issue (1989) includes 4 bonus tracks)
• Kodak Ghosts Run Amok-–Chronological Singles, etc., 1980-86, 1987 (compilation)
• Transience Blues, 1989 (compilation)
• Orange Ice & Wax Crayons, 1992 (unreleased material)
• Voice; The Best of Eyeless in Gaza, 1993 (compilation from Cherry Red years)
• Fabulous Library, 1993
• Saw You in Reminding Pictures, 1994
• Bitter Apples, 1995
• All Under the Leaves, the Leaves of Life, 1996
• Song of the Beautiful Wanton, 2000
• Sixth Sense-–The Singles Collection, 2002 (compilation)
• Home Produce--Country Bizarre, 2003 (w/ Lol Coxhill)
• No Noise-–The Very Best of Eyeless In Gaza, 2005 (compilation)
• Summer Salt & Subway Sun, 2006

EPs

• Kodak Ghosts Run Amok , 1980
• Invisibility, 1981
• Others, 1981
• For Edward (etc.), 1982 (cassette w/ Lol Coxhill)
• New Risen, 1983
• Sun Bursts In, 1984
• Welcome Now, 1985
• Kiss the Rains Goodbye, 1986
• Streets I Ran, 1995 (5 track companion release to "Saw You In Reminding Pictures")

Singles

• "Veil Like Calm," 1982
• "New Risen," 1983
• "Sun Bursts In," 1984

Videos

• Street Lamps n' Snow, 1994 (1982 concert in Le Havre)
• Saw You in Reminding Pictures, DVD 2005 (reissue of above video plus original promo videos for "Veil Like Calm" and "New Risen" and six tracks recorded live on the Isle Of Wight, 2004)

Sources

Eyeless in Gaza; official website

All Music Guide: Eyeless in Gaza