still have a bit of a deaf spot with them... in fact I reviewed the Macro Dub Infection CD Johnny starts with so must have played it many a time, and that Coil track made no impression on me then...
grown to dig 'em more in recent years, but of all their stuff this is still the one that shivers my marrow
Coil-talk reminded me tangentially that the highlight for me at Incubate 2012 was the Chris & Cosey set: a sort of greatest hits revue, a bit like what I imagine seeing Sweet Exorcist in their prime would have been like (if they'd actually played live): slamming yet eerie, sensual and dark, techno but veined with industrial (the famous Tutti cornet came out to play, great reverby gashes of sound from a headless guitar)
this YouTube (shot from someone's phone no doubt) doesn't capture it really
this one is slightly better
Incubate was full of industrial stuff, much of it from Legacy Artists
Nurse With Wound (disappointing, a real flat souffle, a porridge of chuntering Meat Beat Manifesto type breakbeats that seemed to go on for hours + aimless scratching from the Man Himself - who's belatedly discovered turntablizm, it seems - + recited text from a black lady up front -- apparently at some NwW gigs, they actually have an MC!)
There was a rather touching documentary film shown about Genesis Breyer P-Orridge and his late lady love...
Not industrial exactly but industrial-tinged / industrial-and-Goth influenced were Raime, who were brilliant. The texture-play of their sound really comes out when played through a big system, and superb use of cinematic projections (mostly Tarkovsky I think)
Raime at Incubate was a live set, all their own music; this below is a DJ set at Boiler Room and talking of industrial one of the first things they play is Cabaret Voltaire...
Another Incubate highlight was not industrial but it is Mugwump-related - Maria and the Mirrors. Despite, or perhaps because of technical difficulties that kept bringing the set to a halt and had the band almost tearing their hair out, it was terrifically tense and exciting. "Not industrial at all"-- well, the combination of pounding manual rhythm and sampled/electronic sound-smear did occasionally make me think of The Young Gods and of Cop Shoot Cop, who sometimes get loosely lumped in 'industrial' ...
Saw Laibach for the first time in 24 years at Incubate 2012 in Tilburg (and they've come a long way since those days, when their stage props consisted of a set of antlers; they've picked up some hi-tech tricks from their buddies-in-bombast Rammstein). And I found myself oscillating between "what a load of cobblers" and "imposingly preposterous".
What tipped me finally into the pro camp was when they wheeled out this cover version, which so drastically undoes the original artist's phrasing that it was only when the chorus came in that I realised who the victim was.
Another highlight was their version of "Warm Leatherette" --a nice tribute to Mute man Daniel Miller, who has been endlessly supportive to them as to his other artists.
They played some things from their soundtrack to Iron Sky, which sounds a bit like the missing link between Propaganda circa "Mabuse" and a shite-y Eighties-era James Bond score
Monday, July 16, 2012
following
their Monumental Retro-Avant-Garde show at the Tate, Laibach continue
in the retro-repro zone with new compilation-not-compilation Reproduction Prohibited
from the press release
Opening
with their interpretation of Mute’s first release, The Normal’s Warm
Leatherette (here translated as Warme Lederhaut, Laibach premiered the
track at the Short Circuit presents Mute festival, Roundhouse in May 2011), the
tracklisting demonstrates Laibach’s unique take on the cover version.
From
the sublime, Laibach’s interpretation on The Beatles Across The Universe
would melt even the toughest of hearts, to their bombastic cover of Europe’s Final
Countdown, this is a window into Laibach’s own view of pop music, and to
the humour that permeates their work.
Reproduction
Prohibited features two tracks from Volk
(2006), Laibach’s album of reinterpretations of national anthems which uncovers
the violence and the pop intrinsic in the national anthem, surely the ultimate
pop song. Here Germania reinterprets Das Lied der Deutschen,
originally written in 1797 and used after World War I as the national anthem of
the German Empire at the time of the Weimar Republic, while Anglia uses
John Bull’s God Save The Queen as its inspiration.
Mama
Leone, perhaps not familiar to many in
its original version, sold over 20 million copies when it itself was covered by
Bino in the late 70s. B Maschina, written and performed by popular
Slovenian rock group Siddharta, who asked Laibach to remix or
remake their song, was originally released on 2003’s WAT. An additionally
remixed versionis also featured in the
soundtrack to IRON SKY (directed by Timo Vuorensola), a dark science fiction comedy about Nazis invading earth in
2018, after escaping to the Dark Side of the Moon in 1945.
Pop
references itself when Laibach take on Juno Reactor’s God Is God, which
was itself influenced by Laibach’s cover of Austrian group Opus’ Live Is Life,
included here in English ‘symphonic’ version (titled Opus Dei), and in
German version, translated as Leben Heisst Leben. Laibach’s version of God is God was also released
before Juno Reactor’s released their own, so many people still believe that
Laibach’s version is the original one and Juno’s version a cover.
Elsewhere
on the album, Laibach tackle The Beatles and Queen. Taken from Laibach’s album Let
It Be, Across The Universe and Get Back both feature, and
Queen’s hit song One Vision is here translated into a German Geburt Einer
Nation (The Birth of the Nation). The choice of a language, title as
well as the genre of interpretation here all reveal themselves as powerful
instruments!
Bruderschaft, written by Laibach is included here as a double twist
cover. Laibach were invited to cover a Kraftwerk song for a compilation. But
instead doing a straight Kraftwerk cover, the band decided to rearrange
Laibach’s own - original - song from 83’, known as Brat Moj (Brother of Mine)
in German, with the carefully reconstructed Kraftwerkian sounds.
The
CD cover art of the ‘An Introduction To…Laibach’, titled ‘REPRODUCTION
PROHIBITED’ was painted by member(s) of the group in 1981 as the
interpretation of the famous Rene Magritte’s work, ‘Not to be Reproduced’,
from 1937.
The
mirror, a fragile and sometimes distorted reflection of reality, was of great
interest to Magritte, as it is to Laibach. When viewing one of his
images, or when listening to Laibach’s covers, there is a sense that a content,
placed within a frame/the context, might, by a twist of perception, be seen as
a reflection in the mirror, a perception that suddenly turns the space of the
picture/song inside-out.
By
quoting and interpreting this significant work by Magritte, Laibach offer a
clear tool, if not a perfect key, how to solve the riddle of understanding
their method, their philosophy and their humour in cover versions, as we hear
them on this album.
REPRODUCTION
PROHIBITED TRACKLISTING
WARME LEDERHAUT – cover of The
Normal’s Warm Leatherette
BALLAD OF A THIN MAN – cover of Bob
Dylan
GERMANIA – Version of German
national anthem, from the album Volk
ANGLIA – Version of British national
anthem, from the album Volk
MAMA
LEONE – originally recorded by schlager legend Drafi Deutscher, made famous by
Bino
B MASHINA – remixed version featured
on Iron Sky OST, written by Tomi Meglic (Siddharta)
BRUDERSCHAFT
– Laibach composition, from Trans Slovenia Express Vol. 2
GOD IS GOD – by Juno Reactor,
originally inspired by Life Is Life, from Jesus Christ Superstars
FINAL COUNTDOWN – classic Laibach
cover, originally recorded by Europe
ALLE GEGEN ALLE – originally
recorded by labelmates DAF
ACROSS THE UNIVERSE –
originally recorded by The Beatles
GET BACK – originally recorded by
The Beatles
LEBEN HEISST LEBEN – cover of Opus’
Live Is Life, from Opus Dei
GEBURT EINER NATION – cover of
Queen’s One Vision, from Opus Dei 1987
OPUS
DEI – cover of Opus’ Live is Life
“The
cover version can be seen as a cynical populist tactic by artists lacking in
originality, a gesture of contempt or as a respectful example of good taste and
seriousness. Laibach's open rejection of originality makes the first view
irrelevant and the new originals are too ambivalent to be either entirely
contemptuous or totally respectful. A Laibachised song is sometimes more
kitsch, sometimes more serious and sometimes more emotional than the “old
original” it is based on. Laibachisation re- and de-animates a song, reviving
it for long enough to dispatch it again.”
– Alexei Monroe, author of Interrogation Machine: Laibach and NSK, from the
Reproduction Prohibited sleevenotes
Friday, May 18, 2012
Monumental Retro-Avant-Garde
Laibach's "reconstruction of a show from 1983" at the Tate
from the Mute webpage:
"Laibach present a unique show at the prestigious Tate Modern Turbine
Hall on 14 April 2012, with an overview of their history, from 1980 to
the future, with music from the forthcoming Iron Sky soundtrack.
"The 1st part of the concert will be focusing on their works between
1980 – 1983, recreating moments from the historical shows like the
notorious Music Biennial Zagreb 83 concert which led to ban Laibach from
the ex-Yugolsavia, leading to the Occupied Europe tour 83′, ending with
a reminder of their first London show.
"The 2nd part will relate to Laibach between 1983 – 87, with music from the Laibach, Nova Akropola and Opus Dei albums.
"The 3rd part will be associated with their IRON SKY film soundtrack,
with tracks composed for the movie and music from the film teasers while
the 4th part will deal with the WAT album and newer works."
