[in memoriam] Ari Up of the Slits, 1962-2010

Published Oct 21 2010, 03:27 PM by Daniel Brockman

The first wave of capital-P punk that hit the British Isles from 1976 and on was mostly composed of reformed pub rockers (The Clash) and glam rockers (Sex Pistols) -- young people who had a tutelage of barre chords and 4/4 chops to hang their newly aggressive ‘tude on when they assaulted the genteel and unaware public in the infamous year when two sevens clashed.

For young Ariane Forster, however, being a mere 14 at the so-called ground zero of brit-punk meant being in the middle of something stronger than a mere musical shift -- it was always, for the erstwhile Ari Up, a completely real revolution with music as a soundtrack. Footage of the early Slits in action reveals a band declaring war on everything, even the concept of music itself. If this meant getting labeled as inept, as a band that couldn’t play their instruments, so be it: for Ari and The Slits, their art was constantly about destroying and creating, destroying and creating.

Ari passed away early yesterday morning of “a serious illness” (as described by the website of John Lydon, former Sex Pistols vocalist and Forster’s later-in-life stepfather) and at 48, she left this world far earlier than one would expect for a musician who was always always always bursting with life.

Perhaps the flame burned twice as bright with Ari Up: her restlessness, musically, was tangible and boundless, whether with her genre-shattering work with the mercurial Slits, or her post-Slits reggae work with Adrian Sherwood’s New Age Steppers and her solo outings. Even in later years she exhibited an outrageously youthful exuberance, but perhaps said energy is the natural result of having turned the musical world on its head with one of rock’s greatest and most ground-breaking lp’s (1979’s Cut) when she was a mere 16 years old.

The last few years saw the revival by Up of The Slits, with a new album, Trapped Animal, released just last year. It makes her passing all the more of a loss, at least for those who were able to savor her particularly anarchic artistic bent. In her typically bizarre fashion, she had a video she created from that album, for the track “Lazy Slam,” which was only to be released at the event of her passing. Here it is for your perusal and enjoyment:

Filed Under: the Slits

The Slits

The Slits were formed in 1976 in London, England. The original female members were Ari Up (Ariana Foster), with Viv Albertine and Tessa Politt replacing...

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Filed Under: the Slits

Boston Phoenix
[in memoriam] Ari Up of the Slits, 1962-2010
Published 10/21/2010 by Daniel Brockman
The first wave of capital-P punk that hit the British Isles from 1976 and on was mostly composed of reformed pub rockers (The Clash) and...

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