The Golden Palominos

The Golden Palominos were an American musical group headed by drummer, producer, arranger, and composer Anton Fier, first formed in 1981.

Aside from Fier, the Palominos membership fluctuated, with only bassist Bill Laswell and guitarist Nicky Skopelitis appearing on every album through 1996.

"[1] The group first featured Fier, singer-guitarist Arto Lindsay, saxophonist John Zorn, bass guitarist Bill Laswell and violinist/guitarist Fred Frith.

Their self-titled debut album was released on New York's Celluloid Records in 1983, and featured guest appearances by bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma, guitarist Nicky Skopelitis, percussionist David Moss, turntablist M.E.

Visions of Excess also marked the debut of singer Syd Straw, whose songwriting and vocals were featured prominently, as well as on the group's next album.

Blast of Silence (Axed My Baby for a Nickel) was released the following year, continuing in much the same vein as Visions of Excess and with appearances by many of the same personnel.

Syd Straw had moved on and was no longer in the band, with most of the vocals now handled by Amanda Kramer, formerly of the dance music group Information Society.

Guests included Hüsker Dü's Bob Mould (who formed the band Sugar the following year), Richard Thompson, and Michael Stipe.

This Is How It Feels, released on Restless Records in 1993, continued the ambient sound of Drunk with Passion, but also incorporated elements of club and trance music.

However, the song "Little Suicides", from Pure showed the same sparse sound, production, and strong yet quiet vocals (albeit less electronic) that influenced Carson's solo work.

This record had a deathly, industrial sound, with the line-up consisting only of Fier, multi-instrumentalist Knox Chandler (who before joining the Palominos, was also in a band with Lori Carson), Nicky Skopelitis, and poet Nicole Blackman.

The album's opener is a brutal, spoken-word track, "Victim", which details a woman's thoughts as she is abducted and eventually murdered by her kidnapper.

Initial reviews of the album were positive[5][6] with Jambands stating the "...resulting music is raw and lovely and real as hell."