Suicide

Tonight I want to draw attention to music that touched me a lot lately: No Wave. Actually the so called godfathers of this „non“-movement: Suicide. Besides the super-coolish name, the first song I got to hear was „Dance“, a tune lets me shake immediately putting it on my record player. Martin Rev, one half of the duo, created these totally hypnotic and driving beats on a broken drum-machine that was used for bar mitzvahs earlier while Alan Vega sang and talked on it. His vocal style referred to Rockabilly and method acting.
Suicide's irregular concerts frequently ended in a mess and were abandoned very fast; their texts often dealt with The American Dream and its brokenness which during the 70s would often hit an audience with little understanding. Nevertheless they had a concept that brought them the status of an art-band and inspired leaders of No Wave, probably the most radical scene ever, such as Lydia Lunch, who got literally adopted by Rev, and James Chance.
With their debut LP 1977 Rev and Vega led New York's underground scene out of the blind alley of punk with all its conservatism in music production.
Although Suicide nowadays is regarded as an inspiration of bands like DNA, Mars, James Chance & The Contortions etc. they were much straighter and more stringent compared to the total chaos a few years later.


The following two dancing-musts both occur on „Second Album“ from 1980.

Suicide - Harlem

Suicide - Dance



And don't miss the chance of watching insanity:

Der Räuber Und Der Prinz

Kosmonautenschule is proud to present the Düsseldorf-Berlin collaboration Der Räuber Und Der Prinz consisting of Sebastian Lee Philipp from Noblesse Oblige and Ralf Beck from Unit 4. We first heard Der Elektrische Reiter in 2007 when it was played on beats in space and now, short-time before they're finally releasing their 12", we felt like posting something about this coolish instant-classic. With their analog way of producing they're sounding so much more timely and outstanding compared to many other current releases.
Here we have a short interview with the newest act on Amontillado records:

Hello!
How did this collaboration come about?

Ralf: We met at the Salon des Amateurs in Düsseldorf. Sebastian did a Gig with Noblesse Oblige and later we talked about the possibility of a N.O. Remix for Musiccargo.
So somehow we ended up doing a studio recording session, taping Sebastian on a broken 3 String electric guitar.

Sebastian: Yes, our mutual friend Mr. Tolouse Low Trax introduced us and when I saw all the equipment in Ralf’s studio I was eager to play around with it.


Does this DAF quote with your name have any deeper sense? Or is it just random?

Ralf: Sebastian dropped the name all of a sudden while hanging out at the RIO club in Berlin.
We are both fans of DAF, you could say random.

Sebastian: It was a spontaneous decision. There's the Düsseldorf reference of course. I recently met Robert Görl and told him about the project and he seemed happy about this little tribute in our name.


What about “The Electric Horseman”? We first thought of Joachim Witt until we found out it is a film.

Ralf: Yes it is a film. But it does not relate to this movie. We just like everything that relates to horse riding in general i think.

Sebastian: I didn’t realise there was a film called The Electric Horseman! The title came from Ralf’s twisted mind.


Where did you record?

Ralf: We record/recorded at the Uhrwald Orange and Sebastian’s Studio in London/Berlin.


You produced your music only with analogue equipment. What kind of advantages do you see going this way?

Ralf: More time for playing music, not programming music.

Sebastian: Like preparing a nice home cooked meal rather than a microwave dinner. You can taste the love in it.


In how far do you think that such an “old-fashioned” way of producing can still lead to a modern sound?

Ralf: Well, the word "modern" is an oldschool relic itself. I think Kasimir Malewitsch´s "Sieg über die Sonne" will give here some brief answers. Today’s average music production uses the development of music progression of the last 30 or 40000 years. So everything is quite oldschool. The most oldschool thing ever is a singing voice. The age of an instrument will say nothing about its quality of sound it can reproduce. Imagine the invention of the wheel or eating bread, it’s so oldschool. Retro fashion has always been on demand. The American Capitol, it’s a Greek temple. So to say, a well balanced combination of temporarily forgotten and recent clichés will do the job.

Seb: When music contains “soul” it becomes timeless.


How would you describe your style, influences etc?

Ralf:
Style: Analog.
Influence: A pair of my parents Acoustic Research A3-3a speakers along with a collaboration with Karl Bartos, Lothar Manteufel and Emil Schult for the "Electric Music" project and my friends’ record collections.

Sebastian: Ralf introduced me to some great music I hadn’t heard before like Indoor Life or Geile Tiere. I sent him some soundtracks I was really obsessed with like Stuart Staple’s score of the Claire Denis film L’Intrus or Michael Bundt’s The Brain of Oskar Panizza.
So I think we influence each other with our music knowledge which we obviously incorporate in our own music.

Are there things you can let out as DRUDP which you’re not able to as UNIT 4 or NOBLESSE OBLIGE?

Ralf: Of course, together we create a different mood. But it’s not made of the need to do so.
It’s just natural.

Sebastian: The music comes out of these moments that develop in a very natural way.

Sebastian, you know both: creating music, playing gigs, spinning records in Berlin AND in Düsseldorf. Do you see any differences?

Sebastian: Of course there are a few differences because there’s a lot more access to music and bands in Berlin nightlife, whereas in Düsseldorf there is only one good club. So when I think about the Düsseldorf scene I really mean only the SDA which through its programmation and music policy has become a place for people to discover music if they want to, which I think is a rarer thing to happen in Berlin nightlife for instance.

When do you release your 12”?

16th of June in selected record stores. A list of stores is available soon at
www.amontillado-music.com or www.myspace.com/amontilladomusic.
There will also be a release party on June 14th at the Salon des Amateurs Düsseldorf.
The B-Side track "Torpedovogel" is featured in the upcoming New York "K48 mix" artzine.

And afterwards: Any plans for the future of this project?

We are working on a new 12" and would like to have a finished album soon.




Check out Der Elektrische Reiter, Torpedovogel and Stripped Reiter on myspace.com/derräuberundderprinz
and don't miss the release-party on 14.07. at Salon Des Amateurs!

Unfinished stuff

To allude yesterday's comment I want to show you this:

For the first time the arrangement of Why me was released in 1982 on X Records titled No Human. It came out simultaneously with the more known Explorer. Both records were results of the cooperation between Tony Carey and Peter Hauke who produced it.
Carey said :"Explorer and one called No Human were just ... some guy raping my archives. I didn't even know about two of the releases. It's all unfinished stuff."

Adoring the version of No Human I feel like the mentioned guy must have been a clairvoyant who saved the unfinished stuff before the Planet P-rape one year later on Geffen Records.
Nevertheless, another example shows how the ingenious duo in fact was able to finish their stuff: the track No. 8 was used for the Hai Samurai 12" release under Carey's alias Yellow Power in 1982 which was re-released on the Dirty Space Disco compilation last year.


Explorer - No. 8


Sad story:
Last week we found a original No Human for incredible 7 Euro on the internet. After an affirmation on the part of the seller the next day he wrote that he didn't have it anymore. Probably found out about his crazy offer...

What remains...at the end of the week (XXII)

No Human - Why Me (incomplete)
Cevin Spacey doesn't get how Tony Carey could dare singing on that.

Nina Simone - Ain't Got No (I Got Life)
Captain Clark ain't got no shoes.