Let's start the new year with another special cassette by the Dutch anarchist, free-form home-taping group Dust And The Minds. The band hailed from the surroundings of the small village of Egmond-Binnen and was created by the brothers Fred and John
Valkering who were accompanied by a lot of different other musicians.
The Valkering brothers established their cassette label Egmondse Klank Opsessie (Egmond sound obsession/on session) to release their different musical disguises like Dust And The Minds, Comrades Creating,
Hafre as well as solo works. During the 80's they released dozens of
cassettes of which many were beautifully created and released with DIY
booklets, drawings, posters, unusual packages etc.
Prosperó Año Nuevo (PAN) is an extensive release with over two hours of pure DIY no-wave, post-punk and anarcho-punk sounds that was released for the new year of 1986. Apparently it's a mix between Dust and The Minds and a band with a slightly different line-up called Brenray. The cassettes were housed in a larger book-like case with information on the recording dates and line-up etc.
The output on the Egmondse Klank Opsessie has been vast and mind-blowingly authentic and home-made. The entire surroundings of Egmond and the smaller towns and villages in the province of North-Holland were always a very important fertile soil for (anarcho)punk in The Netherlands. Places like Wormerveer, Koog aan de Zaan, Heiloo, Castricum and their surroundings are some of the birthplaces of the typical Dutch punk sound that incorporates detuned improvisation and noise elements. This in contrast to the usually more structured sound of HC punk or the classic three-chord punk songs.
Some wonderful DIY sounds from 80's Holland. There is a lot more to say about all of this, but it's better to just give this a listen.
I guess it's time for another very special cassette by Dutch anarchist, free-form home-taping group Dust And The Minds. The band from the surroundings of the small village of Egmond-Binnen was created by the brothers Fred and John
Valkering who were accompanied by a lot of different other musicians.
The Valkering brothers established their cassette label Egmondse Klank Opsessie (Egmond sound obsession/on session) to release their different musical disguises like Dust And The Minds, Comrades Creating, Hafre as well as solo works. During the 80's they released dozens of cassettes of which many were beautifully created and released with DIY booklets, drawings, posters, unusual packages etc.
The music on the Egmondse Klank Opsessie label was truly authentic and true to itself, even within the Dutch home-taping and punk circuits of the time. Within the wider region there were many punk groups active in their own space but not all villages were naturally connected and not everyone was pushing punk into more abstract forms. The punk influence however seemed an important starting point from which further experimentation and free-music forms were explored by some of the groups. Dust And The Minds clearly combined all those different elements.
Mind Blow is quite an exceptional album that was released as a pack of tobacco, including a pre-rolled
cigarette, dust-and-the-minds rolling papers, a DIY booklet and ofcourse the cassette. Having heard different
albums by the band, Mind Blow is probably one of the most
elaborate and complete ones they did. It combines dark post-punk songs, free
impro no-wave tunes as well as dub sounds brought with an uncompromising energy to play music. It has a sound that might
be a bit reminiscent of early Cabaret Voltaire, perhaps Bourbonese Qualk or even Bauhaus (you know the stuff from the time), yet there's this natural will to create present in the music that gives a real animated feel. I feel that everything they did is deserving some revaluation and appreciation. Who knows if we can make something happen eventually...
I intended to index the tape, but sometimes the tracks flow into each other, so I decided that it's better to hear it as an ongoing cassette without cuts. More Dust And The Minds in a previous blogpost and perhaps more to come in the future.
Graveyards are made for the living to remember the lifes of the death A rotting place of poisened bodies Dangerous as pesticide where can I go when I'm dead and gone Throw me in the sea, the fish you eat will burn your guts burn me, the smoke will torture your skin I'm a nuclear soul Eternity at last.
Earth's Epitaph were an anarcho new wave and post-punk group from the surroundings of the city of Cwmbran in the South of Wales created by Chris, Ray and Jayne. Earth's Epitaph recorded two
'official' demo's of which "Release" is their first one. They also
contributed some songs to a couple of compilations during the
mid-eighties. You can find their second release in a previous blogpost.
The music of Earth's Epitaph seems to have a rather conventional new-wave sound at first, but
is definitely rooted in the same political UK anarcho punk spirit of
bands like Crass, The Apostles or Omega Tribe.
The songs are dealing with environmentalism, animal rights, anti-fascism and anti-militarism. The music sounds a bit like
the Young Marble Giants if they would have incorporated the political spirit of an anarcho-punk band like Poison Girls
Since the music of Earth's Epitaph was released as a demo cassette it has quite some strong white noise on the surface of the recording. Nevertheless the combination of inventive minimalist rhythm box driven song-writing, simple casio keyboard melodies and socially engaged lyrics created a little pearl of Welsh post-punk music from the 80's that has its lo-fi charm. Innocent anarcho-wave music with a serious combatant message. The sweet sound of resistance.
The following information has been
extracted from the Alternative Toronto website and the BlackDotMuseum blog and
partially recombined:
The C.I.A. Tape was recorded live at
the Fallout Shelter and Ildiko's, and features poetry and musical performances
by Dick Lucas (of Subhumans), Mecca Normal, Nick Toczek, Rhythm Activism
and Mourning Sickness.
The Fallout Shelter recordings are the Toronto postscript to the Black
Wedge tour on September 5, 1987.
The Fallout Shelter was a "nuclear free" performance space and coffee
house run by the peace organization A.C.T. for Disarmament on Harbord Street.
The Black Wedge was a tour of activist resistance culture organized by Jean
Smith of the band Mecca Normal, which set out to "spread the word of how
to combine poetry, music and politics and have a fun time doing it.” As Smith
comments about the Black Wedge tour in his essay "Take Something You Care
About and Make It Your Life":
“One step easier than punk! The Black Wedge is out to spread the word of how to
combine poetry, music and politics and have a fun time doing it. Hardcore poems
and shredding guitars, radical voices crushing sexism, militarism, poverty and
conformity. The Black Wedge wants to set wild hearts and imaginations free, to
release a riot of emotion–opening up a new arena for activist resistance
culture.”
At the beginning of 1986, Mecca Normal released their first LP on their own
label, Smarten Up! Records. Soon thereafter, they flew to Montreal and hooked
up with Rhythm Activism; another music duo dealing with social
issues with a strong anti-authoritarian perspective. While the four stood around in
the basement of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation building waiting to go live on air from coast to coast, they listened in on the segment prior to their timeslot–England’s Red Wedge was being featured. The Red Wedge was formed in the late 80's to support
the Labour Party, they presented political ideas within a musical
context and showcased musicians that encouraged people to vote Labour. The Black
Wedge however, that came into existence that same night, would encourage people to reclaim
their voices, to speak out against oppression rather than rely on electoral
politics as a means to solve social problems. Answers were looked for elsewhere than existing politics and against the establishment.
During the Black Wedge tour, through their lyrics or in between songs, the bands covered topics like sexism, disenfranchised citizens, poverty as well as other social issues which can be heard throughout the various songs of The C.I.A. Tape. A song like “Are you hungry
Joe?” for example, includes a dialogue between Joe and someone that stands between him
and the bag of groceries at a food bank, forcing Joe to argue why he needs food...
All tracks on The C.I.A. Tape were recorded live in Toronto. The tape was eventually published
by Bluurg Tapes with the editing done in June '88 at T.A.S.C. Master Studios,
Trinity & All Saint's College, in Leeds England.
"This tape is dedicated to all exceptionally oppressed people, but
particularly to those whose entire lifestyle is being destroyed... Romany,
Amerindian, Aborigine, and all other proud tribal people whose culture won't
readily bow down before the all-consuming gods of western 'civilization,'
social 'progress' and cash-culture.”
The original information for both Jean Smith’s essay and The C.I.A. Tape information
can be retrieved from: https://www.alternativetoronto.ca/archive/items/show/500 https://blackdotmuseum.wordpress.com/the-black-wedge-1986/
- Juan Vacas
This blogpost is a collaborative effort. Many thanks to: Juan Vacas (curation and assembling of text),Jon "Dietsociety" Kruithof and acab_in_1985 (SLSK) (providing rips and doing archival work). Editor: Bence.
Industrial Asylum is a punk and post-punk compilation that was released in The Netherlands in 1983. It mostly (if not only) contains obscure English bands. I actually doubt that there is a Dutch band on here. It displays one of those characteristics of punk compilations which is to focus on a particular country, region or city and gather the various punk forces from that one place. Here some obscure groups from England were gathered to be heard by a Dutch punk audience. But aside from this cassette being released in Holland, I think most of these tracks are (and were) also quite hard to find and to hear in Britain so the release has an importance in itself.
The compilation gathers some nice post-punk and power-pop tunes, some anarcho-punk poetry, but also experimental sounds. The poems of Andy T moniker of punk poet Andrew Thorley are a returning theme on the cassette, he also released a great EP on Crass Records which he recorded in collaboration with Penny Rimbaud during the early 80's. The Manchester band Outer Edge kicks off this compilation with an energetic tune. They were also compiled on the legendary Manchester post-punk compilation Unzipping The Abstract from 1980, but aside from that I never heard other material by them. Wigan based band The System seems to be an anarcho punk group that's a bit more known. They were resurrected in the past years. The band Sons Of Earth play a weird cover of The Doors' Hello I Love You entitled 'The End'. For the rest I don't know much about the bands on here.
Some of the interesting tunes are played by bands like Untermensch, Giraffe In Flames and Oracle. Maybe someone has more information on these bands or has more recorded material. In any case this is another rare compilation of English punk and post-punk bands and is transmitting some strong musical energy here and there. The recordings are somewhat lo-fi in quality, but I think that only strengthens the punk nature.
Earth's Epitaph were an anarcho new wave and post-punk group from the surroundings of the city of Cwmbran in the South of Wales created by Chris, Ray and Jayne. The band was formed inspired by bands like Crass and Siouxsie And The Banshees to which the members had been listening for years before starting their own band. Earth's Epitaph recorded two 'official' demo's of which Child's Play is their second one. They also contributed some songs to a couple of compilations during the mid-eighties.
The music of Earth's Epitaph has a more conventional new-wave sound, but is definitely rooted in the same political UK anarcho punk spirit of bands like Crass, The Apostles or Omega Tribe. Songs are criticizing the English government, injustices of society and politics driven by themes of environmentalism, animal rights, anti-apartheid and anti-fascism. The songs are somewhat reminiscent of the Young Marble Giants or of Dutch new wave band Qua Dance I posted a long time ago.
Child's Play was issued with a DIY fanzine on their music, political standpoints, vegetarian and vegan cooking recipes and interviews with other Welsh wave and post-punk bands from in and around the scene like The Enid, The Housemartins and Balaam And The Angel. Ofcourse I included scans of the fanzine to the file below.
Earth's Epitaph is another band that cared to involve their malcontentedness with social inequality, capitalism and environment in their music, based on the basic punk principle that starting a band doesn't take much. I might upload their first demo cassette in the future.
