Thomas Girke - Elektronik Musik -1983- (Cassette, Togi Music), Germany

 Merry Christmas to all friends and followers of the blog!

Is that an image of the Brooklyn Bridge with the Twin Towers in New York? Can't really figure out the angle of the photo though. Ofcourse those towers were already there decades before they got used to scam us into the new millennium. But whether this image is a correct depiction of the skyline is quite unclear. Actually it doesn't really matter. All we care for is that those UFO's high up there in the sky were real! The rest is basically constructed around them. Skyscrapers, UFO's, modern metropoles: some key signs of the future in one depiction. Needless to say that within such a vision Thomas Girke from West-Berlin created a wonderful and futuristic soundtrack.

Elektronik Musik is a piece of Berlin School analog electronics on the synth-pop and minimal synth side of the spectrum. Analog arpeggiators, keyboard melodies, electronic syncopations and drum computer rhythms take us on a neon-light disco journey across the elektronik sky by way of China Town into synthetic dreams in time and space.

Quick get on board of the UFO! I heard those aliens have a space dancefloor and they are spinning some Italo disco records. Might have heard some Patrick Cowley and Stratis up there in the sky. Is that Magic Fly by Space now?! Abandon earth!

Get it HERE

Viktimized Karcass - Skinned Alive -1987- (Cassette, Sound Of Pig - SOP 86), US

 

Viktimized Karcass was an experimental underground band from Memphis, Tennessee that was strongly embedded in the cassette culture of the 80's. The band consisted of Chris Phinney (founder of the Harsh Reality cassette label), Michael Thomas Jackson, Richard Martin, Robert Henson and Roger Moneymaker. The music consists of psychedelic jams, electronic experimentation, tape-loops and other improvised sounds. Most of the members were also involved in solo projects and contributed immensely to the shaping of the cassette culture of home-tapers. Viktimized Karcass released many cassettes on a variety of international cassette labels. 

Skinned Alive was released through Sound Of Pig, a pivotal cassette culture label from New York that was created by Al Margolis (aka If, Bwana). There are some far out space rock jams on here. It reminds me a bit of Smersh or Sponge. Wonderful stuff.

Kindly donated by The Y Create Archive

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Various Artists - Καθαρος - Emanation: Treasure The Fertile Soil In This Barren Land, And Receive -1986- (Cassette, Katharos Foundation), Netherlands

 

The Katharos Foundation was a collective of audio-visual artists and musicians from Tilburg, The Netherlands, established in February 1986. They used performative, conceptual and multi-media aspects in their work which incorporated transgressive elements. There were different musical guises of which a notable one was the industrial Sluagh Ghairm. That band would later turn into the tribal techno act Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia which would gain both domestic and international fame. Some band members were apparently part of Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth.

During the phase of the Katharos Foundation exhibitions and concerts took place a.o. alongside bands like Étant Donnés, Coup de Grace and Zombies Under Stress. The Katharos Foundation also functioned as an imprint releasing a number of cassette compilations during their short existence. All in all they can be viewed as another group of industrial culture representatives in The Netherlands.

Καθαρος - Emanation: Treasure The Fertile Soil In This Barren Land, And Receive is a compilation that brings together the different acts under the Katharos umbrella. It displays industrial electronics, home recordings, live recordings and performance sounds. It came with a large booklet with artwork which unfortunately is not included here.

 Kindly donated by The Y Create Archive

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Naomi N'Uru - Wurm -1989- (LP, Überschall Records), Germany

 

Naomi N'Uru was a project by Caroline Frerichs and Rasmi Nithokar from the Northern German town of Bremerhaven. They released a couple of cassettes as well as this record and a CD. They also recorded under the name Cosmic Dance Society which I highly recommend to check out. 

The music on Wurm consists of late EBM style music with lots of cut-ups, sampling and strange transitions. Occasionally it becomes a little more melodic gothic wave-like, but maintains its EBM core. Ofcourse iconic bands like Front 242 or Front Line Assembly come to mind, but it mostly fits that 80's into the 90's transition phase on the still more industrial side of the electronic music spectrum.

The record was hand-numbered and quite a fragile pressing. My copy was a bit warped unfortunately so the sound quality isn't the greatest throughout. 

Get it HERE

Regicide Bureau #12 - A Rose Of Beds, In The Cross Of The Sign -1988- (Cassette, Regicide Bureau), US

 

Regicide Bureau was a home-taping project and label from Overland, Saint Louis, Missouri created by Thomas Sutter. By himself and together with other befriended musicians Sutter released numerous cassettes throughout the 80's and 90's. The majority of those cassettes were never for sale and could only be obtained by exchanging cassettes. The Regicide Bureau was an important force and institution within the global home-taping cassette culture which created an autonomous music infrastructure far away from the commercial music industry. Associated acts that included Tom Sutter were a.o. Next Radio, Drive!Hesaid, Regimental Anguish and Berlin Diary (with the Berlin based musician M. Finnkrieg during Sutter's time residing in Berlin).

A Rose Of Beds, In The Cross Of The Sign (nice word scramble) is a bit different than most Regicide Bureau tapes I've heard because it doesn't display the characteristic alchemical sound of electronics, synthesizers, vocals and tape collage. Instead the recording consists of four improvised pieces of electric guitar loops played by Tom Sutter technically assisted by Dave Schuey. The sound is rather minimalistic, lo-fi and hypnotic.

I just found out you can listen and download the latest 2022 release by Regicide Bureau over here on the Nostalgie De La Boue label. Tom Sutter honestly did some remarkable music over the past decades and still goes strong.

Lastly, I think some more uneasy listening and darker stuff is coming to the blog towards the end of the year because that happens to be in the pipeline at the moment. Perhaps it suits the times we are facing.

Get it HERE

Kindly donated by The Y Create Archive

Gnot - Encyclopedia Galactica -1994- (Cassette, Self-Released), Netherlands

 

OCCII Amsterdam 30th Anniversary celebration post!

OCCII (Onafhankelijk Cultureel Centrum In It) is one of Amsterdam's last standing autonomous cultural venues that revolves around the elements of inclusivity, DIY action and a wide variety of live music as well as political and social activities. Besides local indie bands, jazz or world music it's also a home for free improvisation, psychedelic electronics, noise, punk and much more. OCCII emerged from the Amsterdam squatting scene of the 80's and later gained a legal status. It slowly but surely established itself as one of the true free spaces for music heads in town built on community principles.

Thanks to its many volunteers, it has a consistent weekly program of music, children's activities, workshops and talks. Throughout the last 30 years OCCII as a venue has gained a cult status among many international underground musicians that came to play. Simultaneously it has built a broad audience that reaches far beyond Amsterdam. To celebrate the 30th anniversary today, the 14th of September 2022, it's time to share a live recording from the early days of the venue. Moreover, there are not many recordings from that early period, so if someone happens to have any other material from that time feel free to get in touch.

Gnot was an Amsterdam based ever-changing free improvisation and noise rock collective founded by Arjan van Sorge that was active throughout the 90's. During their live performances they also added a few theatrical and dance elements. Encyclopedia Galactica is a live recording of Gnot at OCCII Amsterdam that took place on September the 30th, 1994. On this occassion the band consisted of Arjan van Sorge (Drums), Bram Hessels (Guitar), Peter Verzijl (Guitar), Joe Williamson (Bass) and Pisti Benecz (synthesizer).

The concert was improvised and later divided into individual tracks with different titles and released privately on cassette in limited quantities. It's a little relic from the 90's underground scene of Amsterdam when free improvisation had its connection with the local squatting scene and different artist communes as well as autonomous (pirate) radio stations while the soil was being laid down for local underground venues like OCCII. Some other impro-noise acts from around those days were the Amsterdam based ex-Yugo acts of a.o. Gone Bald and De Reizende Verkoper and ofcourse the many ofshoot acts of the late great The Ex.

Long live the OCCII! 

This post is dedicated to everyone that has played a part at OCCII over the last 30 years.

Check out OCCII Amsterdam today.

From the collection Allard Pierson/NPI

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Seemen - Woozy! -1991- (Cassette, Self-Released), US

 

Originally from Austin, Texas, Seemen is the collaborative effort of Kal Spelletich and some forty odd art drop outs and extreme technology inventors who enjoy building extreme machines and robots that they allow their audience to operate. 

Since the late 80's and 90's Spelletich has been doing performances with Seemen and the notorious Survival Research Laboratories. Through the extremes of technology, the building of giant metal robots, pyrotechnics and other inventive dangerous constructions many incredible installations have graced both festivals and urban wastelands. Simultaneously the musical output connected to that has been an important element. Inevitably the clinging of metal, fire and flames and other robotic mechanisms create sounds, Seemen also made some really special cassettes that were circulating in the home-taping culture.

Within that late 80's and early 90's realm quite some urban area's were not as gentrified as they are today thus able to provide some space for these greater machine endeavours. The art and its surroundings played an important role on each other. Not only because of the artistic nature, but also because the artists would sometimes work on these giant living sculptures and robots for months. Therefore many of the artists started to become part of the surrounding communities and meet people who, in their turn, would help on some of the projects and vice versa. For example during their time in Amsterdam a collective like Survival Research Laboratories helped barricading some squats showing support during their eviction. A performance art group like the Mutoid Waste Company in England started to engage with the free party rave scene. Eventually they even established their own village called Mutonia in Italy. These are just some examples, but there are many more stories. In the new millenium this type of art has moved to festivals because the neo-liberal globalized urban environment leaves less and less space to be engaged with.

Woozy! was a self-released cassette by Seemen from 1991. From the cover:

The Seemen don't want to be your traditional Rock-n-Roll band which follows traditional formats. The idea being to produce something creative and innovative. Traditions are made to be broken and broken they are. There is no reason to repeat history! To repeat yourself when you have mastered something means it's time to move on to something more challenging. The future of music isn't guitar solos and drum machines but the sound of a vacuum cleaner or a child laughing. If music is to progress it needs to go beyond The Format (percussion/rhythm/solo/vocal). The forbearers of THE NEW WILL not be the Euro-X-Dance Beat Generation but the intelligensia who are willing and ABLE to grow beyond what Chuck Berry accomplished 30 years ago.

Kindly donated by The Y Create Archive

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