Dec 19, 2018

RhoDeo 1850 Aetix

Hello, the Swiss haven't been seen to impact the global music scene, there's Yello and nothing much after that, they are simply a very comfortable nation but then we can't all be servants of the rich. The early eighties it looked more would be coming when today's artists appeared on the scene. In 83 it was all over, the girlgroup collapsed under it's female power (almost the norm-sorry girls) and the somewhat pretentious artpunk band collapsed under the weight of their freak hit (ironically not even an icebear wants to be an icebear these days).


Today's artists are a Swiss post-punk band active from 1978 to 1983, initially known as Kleenex. The band "made some of the best, most adventurous, most exhilarating, and most critically derided music" of the punk rock era......N'Joy

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During the punk rock era of the late '70s, there were three bands comprising women who made some of the best, most adventurous, most exhilarating, and most critically derided music of the time. Two were the English bands the Slits and the Raincoats, and the third band, from Switzerland, was LiLiPUT. Fans of all three bands will argue ad infinitum as to who was the better. But one thing is for certain: LiLiPUT was an amazing band that recorded amazing music, and comparing what they accomplished to that of another band is a useless intellectual exercise. Besides, it detracts from valuable listening time.

Formed in Zurich in 1978 by guitarist Marlene Marder and bassist/vocalist Klaudia Schiff, they began with the name Kleenex until the threat of a lawsuit by corporate giant Kimberly-Clark (who had copyrighted the name Kleenex) forced them to become LiLiPUT in 1980. Recording for the great English indie label Rough Trade, the then-Kleenex produced jumpy, aggressive, clamorous punk-noise that featured Marder's scratchy, semi-melodic guitar and Schiff's yelping vocals. Not punk rock in the fast, loud, economical sense, LiLiPUT were forging a different kind of punk, one that was gleefully anarchic, avant-garde, unrestrained, and suffused with a giddy, almost palpable sense of joy. Listening to this music, one gets the sense that there was a near-rapturous enjoyment that went into these recordings. Their tenure at Rough Trade was short, as was their interest in exploring career options beyond Europe.

By 1982, when they released their first LP, they seemed perfectly happy remaining in Switzerland, running the band as part of numerous other artistic projects (painting, writing, etc.) they pursued. By the end of 1983, LiLiPUT had disbanded, and the music they had recorded quickly achieved legendary, but mostly unheard, status. As for the band, they seemed destined to be relegated to the status of feminist-inspired punk rock footnote. All of this changed in 1993, when the Swiss label Off Course released a double-disc, 46-track compilation of the entire recorded output of Kleenex/LiLiPUT. The result was one of the great reissues of the decade. Unfortunately, it went out of print shortly after its release, but Kill Rock Stars released it again in early 2001, making it more accessible than before. The exuberance and excitement of LiLiPUT's breathtaking music could be enjoyed once again, and a band that was almost forgotten returned with some of the most artful, contemporary, truly alternative music to be recorded under the genre identifier of punk rock. Also, fans of riot grrrl rock take note: this was a tremendously influential band. Although they eschewed extreme confrontation, there is a compelling sense of self that imbues this music and lit the way for a new generation of female musicians.

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Switzerland's Off Course label was the first to issue this infamous double-disc set in 1993, which contains the entire recorded outputs of Kleenex and the following Liliput. It went out of print shortly after release, and since it was on a small label to begin with, not many were able to obtain it before its collector value shot through the roof. With the gradual, steady rise of female-dominated bands in the '80s and '90s who followed their path, this compilation became a holy grail. Thanks to some goading from journalist Jason Gross and involvement from the Kill Rock Stars label (who are paying a musical debt here), Kleenex and Liliput constant Marlene Marder saw to it that the compilation became available again. Aside from the two Liliput LPs (1982's Liliput and 1983's weaker Some Songs), the compilation includes four singles, one EP, and another LP's worth of intermittent outtakes and unreleased material. The Rough Trade singles differ greatly from one another, each holding a high level of quality. The unreleased material doesn't match the hot singles or great first LP, but it's enough to qualify as gravy. As to whether or not these recordings were worthy of hundreds of dollars, that can only be judged by those who paid such a sum. What's collected here certainly belongs in the same realm as the other great, pioneering, female-dominated bands of the time. Liliput were one of the finest in their field, male or female. From their punkier singles as Kleenex to their more avant-garde developments as Liliput, this compilation offers over two solid hours of great music that hasn't depreciated at all. In light of all the bands they've inspired, this stuff probably sounds even better than it did when it was first issued.



 Liliput ‎- Liliput (flac  453mb)

01 Nighttoad 3:04
02 Madness 3:02
03 Krimi 1:37
04 1978 1:01
05 Beri-Beri 2:04
06 Ain't You 3:02
07 Hedi's Head 2:10
08 Nice 2:26
09 You 3:16
10 Ü 2:30
11 Split 2:00
12 Die Matrosen 3:55
13 Hitch-hike 2:40
14 DC-10 3:28
15 Thumblerdoll 2:51
16 Igel 1:44
17 Türk 2:50
18 Tisko 1:50
19 Wig-Wam 3:00
20 Eisiger Wind 3:25
21 When The Cat's Away 2:17
22 I Had A Dream 3:10
23 Turn The Table 4:32
24 Dolly Dollar 3:09

Liliput ‎- Liliput  (ogg   160mb)

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Liliput ‎- Liliput 2 (flac  461mb)

01 Do You Mind My Dream 3:57
02 In A Mess 3:49
03 Birdy 2:57
04 Feel Like Snakes Twisting Through The Fog 2:41
05 Tschik-mo 3:36
06 Outburst 4:00
07 Umamm 2:23
08 Might Is Right 2:29
09 Like Or Lump It 2:30
10 Ichor 2:39
11 Tong Tong 2:58
12 The Jatz 3:15
13 You Did It 3:36
14 Ring-a-ding-dong 4:18
15 A Silver Key Can Open An Iron Lock Somewhere 3:37
16 Your's Is Mine 3:09
17 Blue Is All In Rush 3:47
18 Terrified 3:38
19 Étoile 3:18
20 On Streets Without Names 3:09
21 Boatsong 3:58
22 His Head All Red 2:03

Liliput ‎- Liliput 2  (ogg   178mb)

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Who does not know him, the song "Eisbär" by Grauzone, which became a hit in the wake of the Neue Deutsche Welle, but ultimately became a curse for the Swiss band.  Grauzone actually came out of punk and had little to do with the commercial direction of the NDW, but were instrumentalized and appropriated, much as at the same time the Fehlfarben with their song "Es Geht Voran".  Of course, such misunderstandings were not good for the band structure of Fehlfarben or Grauzone and so they parted after three singles and one LP.  Therefore Grauzone remained in the memory of the majority an "On Hit Wonder" and only really interested listeners knew about the experimental as well as its time innovative sound research of the band.  Their mixture of super-8 movie projections, tape loops, clang-cold guitar riffs, new wave bass, monotonous drum beats and simple synthesizer melodies with the ambiguous German-language lyrics was not easy to put into a drawer then and unfortunately outlasted  In 1998, under the title "The Sunrise Tapes" first appeared a review of the band, which united all the recordings of Grauzone on a cd, but also contained some errors.  Fastforward to 2010 and finally, the Swiss label Mital-U took over the oeuvre and reworked it appealingly in the form of a double cd.  The already known material has been remastered and added to previously unpublished recordings.  When listening, you are really pleasantly surprised how fresh sounds the now already about 35 years old sound and more than puzzled, why that was then classified in the NDW, where the whole thing rather an affinity to Punk, Minimal, Wave and Industrial  having.  In total, 21 tracks are included here and reveal songs like "space", "Moscow" or "angry glass" right minimal pearls that could provide even today for full dance floors in the indie clubs.  Even the really lumpy "Eisbär" suddenly sounds really fat and dark wavy when listening again and in the end it always sounded like that, you just did not notice it that way.  One snide  the omission of the track "Schlachtet!" Is more than annoying!  The artist sometimes distances himself from his "youthful sins" is nothing new in itself and even if the text should not be politically correct today, but just this song belongs to such a factory edition.  So if you do not want to give up this punky hit with blatant text, well it's been added here as a bonus



Grauzone - 1980 - 82 (flac  458mb)

01 Eisbaer 4:46
02 Raum 3:57
03 Moskau 4:05
04 Ein Tanz Mit Dem Tod 2:11
05 Ich Lieb Sie 3:17
06 Film 1 3:07
07 Film 2 3:34
08 Hinter Den Bergen 2:26
09 Maikäfer Flieg 3:56
10 Marmelade Und Himbeereis 3:17
11 Wütendes Glas 3:19
12 Kälte Kriecht 3:17
13 Kunstgewerbe 1:05
14 Der Weg Zu Zweit 3:21
15 In Der Nacht 4:54
16 Tanzbär 1:15
17 Träume Mit Mir 3:59
18 Ich Und Du 3:36
19 Wütendes Glas (12"-Version) 3:20
20 Polar Bear 4:14
21 Plastikherz (Live) 3:18
bonus
22 Schlachtet ! 3:21

Grauzone - 1980 - 82   (ogg  174mb)

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5 comments:

  1. I know you said "global impact", but if I may respectfully submit the following : Double, Patrick Moraz, Brainticket, Bruno Spoerri, Dieter Moebius (born there), Thomas Fehlmann (also born there), half of current girl duo Boy, Andreas Vollenweider.

    So it's not a total wasteland. :)

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  2. Many thanks for Grauzone! Love them for Film 2, an uber classic. Would you mind posting The Sunrise Tapes compilation in it's entirety?

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  3. The Liliputs production is absolutely unique. A gorgeous creativity plus non-traditional approach to music writing. A small addition to the list: Bigeneric /M.Repetto,The Young Gods, Celtic Frost, DJ Bobo...

    Tnanx for posting this!

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  4. hello, i knew that i would receive comments on the lack of swiss artists and i admit i totally forgot the Young Gods and didn't reckon on swiss passport holders operating in foreign countries or under the moniker of a foreign band as for dj bobo hmmm and i don't post metal music here (Celtic Frost), still for an affluent country it has a very small footprint in the music scene.

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  5. There appears to be a fair number of past and present Swiss composers...

    For instance, see :

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Swiss_classical_composers

    Different strokes & all that jazz...

    ReplyDelete