Magnetband: Experimenteller Elektronik-Underground DDR 1984-1989
collects several tracks from obscure cassettes produced in Germany during the years leading up to the collapse of the Berlin Wall. The selections skew toward experimental post-punk created with drum machines, tape loops, and other electronics, and often contain jarring edits, fractured rhythms, and eerie, distorted vocals. While the state of political and social unrest inevitably informs these recordings, they aren't entirely full of rage or confusion. Many of them are actually quite playful and surrealist, mutating elements of disco, reggae, and even blues. Several of these tracks were recorded by musicians who later achieved fame for their subsequent ventures.
Frank Bretschneider
, co-founder of glitch/techno label
Raster-Noton
, appears no less than four times on this compilation, and one piece was co-written by
Ronald
and
Robert Lippok
, both later of
To Rococo Rot
. Perhaps most surprisingly, the amusing, somewhat loungey "Er Hat's Geschafft" by
Magdalene Keibel Combo
turns out to be the work of
Christian Lorenz
Paul Landers
, who would both join industrial metal stars
Rammstein
in 1994. The album's most alarming, aggressive track is "Die Kuh," a noisy synth-punk tune by
Der Demokratische Konsum
. The most avant-garde piece here is
Robert Linke
's "Musik zum Weltuntergang," a buzzing nine-minute drone that's much closer to
Asmus Tietchens
than
Pyrolator
.
Magnetband
is a fascinating, eye-opening release documenting expressions of creative freedom during an oppressive era. Highly recommended for fans of early
Felix Kubin
,
Der Plan
Diseno Corbusier
, and other bizarre minimal wave visionaries from the 1980s. ~ Paul Simpson