tapetopia - GDR Undergroundtapes 1980-1990

28/07/2024

Interview zu "Tanz den Kommunismus" und zu tapetopia.
Dank an Michael Nicolai von Radio frn, für das konzentrierte und nachdenkliche Gespräch.
https://www.freie-radios.net/129585
https://www.verbrecherverlag.de/shop/tanz-den-kommunismus/

"Bands, Widerborstinnen und musikalischen Störenfrieden des letzten Jahrzehnts der DDR"
Radio FSK interviewte Henryk Gericke zu seinem Buch „Tanz den Kommunismus. Punkrock DDR 1980 bis 1989".
Zum Gespräch: https://www.freie-radios.net/129585
Zum Buch: https://www.verbrecherverlag.de/shop/tanz-den-kommunismus/

07/07/2024

Highly recommended!

July 12, courtyard festival at Schreinerstraße 47, Berlin/ Friedrichshain

06:00 pm start
06:30 pm ROSA BETON
08:00 pm PLANLOS X
10:00 pm Djs Speiche & Henryk (punk, goth, wave)

tapetopia will be present with tapes & vinyl!

THX to Speiche!

Foto: Planlos X, 2024 by Christiane Eisler

03/06/2024

Tanz den Kommunismus - Rezension im OX Fanzine

„Mehr als ein reines Geschichtswerk.“
Im OxFanzine lobt Triebi Instabil das Buch „Tanz den Kommunismus. Punkrock DDR 1980 bis 1989" von Henryk Gericke.
Zum Buch: https://www.verbrecherverlag.de/shop/tanz-den-kommunismus/

01/05/2024

Tomorrow ROSA BETON at URBAN SPREE Berlin. If you can, you should see the show. There are only a few bands that shine with their old material and have reinvented themselves at the same time - the new songs by RB are terrific!
See the text by Robert Mießner/ taz.

Rosa Beton - Demo '83 (tapetopia 014)

Ein Tape von Rosa Beton kursierte 1983 im Ost-Berliner Underground. Der als „Demo 83“ restaurierte Punk-Stoff aus der DDR kommt nun live nach Berlin.

21/04/2024

out now!
NONTOXIC – Intoxication
East Berlin 1989
tt 021, [a+w mc/lp056]
tape 100 copies, vinyl 500 copies
https://aufnahmeundwiedergabe.bandcamp.com/album/intoxication
www.tapetopia.de

(english / german)

The East Berlin dark wave band Nontoxic was initially known as Mildernde Umstände. In 1988 the state-run artists’ agency issued an ultimatum: Name change, or no more gigs! The band continued as Nontoxic, in a squatted practice room right by the Berlin Mitte police station, which some goths had also been “introduced” to. Nontoxic gigged a lot, sharing the stage with bands such as Zorn, Herbst In Peking or the Fellini Prostitutes.

Joggy Müller of Die Vision (also Mahlsdorfer Wohnstuben Orchester and L'Ambassadeur des Ombres) organised a recording session at the studio of Jan Wanschura, also of Die Vision. There is no trace of these recordings today. In 1989, Nontoxic played at the East Berlin HdjT. “Intoxication” is based on a recording of this show. In 1990, the members of Nontoxic went on to play with bands such as Torpedo Mahlsdorf, Iron Henning, Edge of Silence and Calyx of Rose.

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Die Ostberliner Darkwaveband Nontoxic war zunächst unter dem Namen Mildernde Umstände bekannt. 1988 stellte die „Konzert- und Gastspieldirektion“ ein schriftliches Ultimatum; Namensänderung, sonst Spielverbot! Die Band machte als Nontoxic weiter, in einem besetzten Proberaum, unmittelbar neben dem Polizeirevier Berlin-Mitte, auf das auch mal Gruftianer „zugeführt“ wurden. Nontoxic war live sehr präsent und spielte mit Bands wie Zorn, Herbst In Peking oder den Fellini Prostitutes.

Joggy Müller von Die Vision (auch Mahlsdorfer Wohnstuben Orchester und L'Ambassadeur des Ombres) lancierte Aufnahmen im Studio Jan Wanschuras, ebenfalls Die Vision. Die Aufnahmen sind heute verschollen. 1989 spielte Nontoxic im Ostberliner HdjT. „Intoxication“ basiert auf einem Mitschnitt des Konzertes. 1990 verteilten sich die Musiker von Nontoxic auf Torpedo Mahlsdorf, Iron Henning, Edge of Silence und Calyx of Rose.

14/04/2024

out now!

A.F. MOEBIUS – Alle Aufnahmen
B-Side of HEINZ & FRANZ tape (Karl-Marx-Stadt 1988)
tt 018, [a+w mc/lp053]
tape 100 copies, vinyl 500 copies
https://aufnahmeundwiedergabe.bandcamp.com/album/eine-auswahl
www.tapetopia.de

(english / german)

Frank Bretschneider was active in the subcultural environment of Karl-Marx-Stadt. In the early 1980s, he published the independent graphics edition “A Drei”, then went on to set the tone with cult formation AG Geige.

Under the alias A.F. Moebius, Bretschneider’s “Eine Auswahl” (“A selection”) was a distillate of creative periods from 1985 to '87. The B-side “Eine Auswahl” complemented the “Alle Aufnahmen” (“All recordings”) tape by Heinz & Franz, a project that would close the circuit of acoustics and electronics. “Eine Auswahl” was based on work with the KORG M-20; Bretschneider also worked with tape loops. Material used included fragments, musical phrases, AMIGA radio play records or randomly targeted radio snippets.

The split tape by Heinz & Franz and A.F. Moebius was released in 1988 on Bretschneider’s underground label klangFarBe in an edition of about 50 copies. Between 1985 and '89, eight tape productions appeared on klangFarBe.

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Frank Bretschneider war im subkulturellen Umfeld Karl-Marx-Stadts aktiv. Anfang der 80er Jahre gab er die unabhängige Grafikeditionen „A Drei“ heraus, danach war er tonangebend bei der Kultformation AG Geige.

Unter dem Alias A.F. Moebius destilierte Bretschneider „Eine Auswahl“ aus Schaffensphasen zwischen 1985 und '87. „Eine Auswahl“ komplettierte als B-Seite das Tape „Alle Aufnahmen“ von Heinz & Franz, einem Projekt, das den Schaltkreis von Akustik und Elektronik schloss. „Eine Auswahl“ basiert auf der Arbeit mit dem KORG M-20, darüberhinaus arbeitete Bretschneider mit Tape-Loops. Vorlagen boten Fragmente, Musikphrasen, AMIGA-Hörspielplatten oder willkürlich angepeilte Radioschnipsel.

Das Split-Tape von Heinz & Franz und A.F. Moebius veröffentlichte Bretschneider 1988 auf seinem Underground-Label klangFarBe in etwa 50 Kopien. Auf klangFarBe erschienen von 1985 bis '89 acht Tape-Produktionen.

07/04/2024

Dear friends,

I received some catalogs from Robert & Ronald Lippok for their great Ornament & Verbrechen exhibition in September last year. A generous donation from the brothers to support my work on the tapetopia edition:

Catalog German/English, 80 pages, texts by Robert Mießner, Christoph Tannert and others, richly illustrated.

19 euros + 2,50 shipping. Please get in touch if you are interested.
https://tapetopia.de/

05/04/2024

out today:
two new releases in the tapetopia - GDR Undergroundtapes series

tt 018 / [a+w lp053] A.F. MOEBIUS - Eine Auswahl LP
tt 021 / [a+w lp056] NONTOXIC - Intoxication LP

both are available on limited color vinyl (100 copies), on limited black vinyl (400 copies) and as a limited tape (100 copies). www.aufnahmeundwiedergabe.bandcamp.com

out today: two new releases in the tapetopia - GDR Undergroundtapes 1980-1990 series

[a+w lp053] A.F. Moebius - Eine Auswahl LP

[a+w lp056] Nontoxic - Intoxication LP

both are available on limited color vinyl (100 copies), on limited black vinyl (400 copies) and as a limited tape (100 copies)

www.aufnahmeundwiedergabe.bandcamp.com

23/03/2024

Von heute an im Buchhandel:
TANZ DEN KOMMUNISMUS - PUNKROCK DDR 1980-1989
https://www.verbrecherverlag.de/shop/tanz-den-kommunismus/

17/03/2024

A few weeks ago, a record by the KUNSTKOPF project was released, which once again evokes the work of our friend Taymur Streng († 2022). Taymur founded the project in 1995 together with Manfred Machlitt and Dirk Specht, later joined by Patrick Laschet.

Kunstkopf: 7 Stücke 1998
in memoriam Taymur Streng

The open spaces in East Berlin that emerged for a handful of years in the 1990s, after the fall of the Berlin wall, have shown to be a fertile ground for musical and artistic experimentators to develop their play and showcase their findings, and to work together in ways that would have been impossible anywhere else. In retrospect, the reductionist brand of improvisation that has become known as Echtzeitmusik (real-time music) seems to overshadow other achievements, thus in hindsight it now is time to resurrect groups and artists that have worked at the non-classifiable fringes of what was already a sub-cultural scene. ...

For more informations:
https://www.edition-telemark.de/938.03.html
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taymur_Streng

10/03/2024

tapetopia
GDR Undergroundtapes - 1980-1990
review and preview of 2019-2024
https://tapetopia.de/

04/03/2024

25/25 : This record has also made me who I am, even though it doesn't exist yet! It will be released in fall 2024. Here tapetopia #025:

P*k Duzfuß – „Lovesongs At A Distance“
tapetopia 025, aufnahme + wiedergabe
[a+w lp...], LP/MC/DL-2024

A project by Jörg Beilfuß (drummer of Expander des Fortschritts, Tom Terror & das Beil and teurer denn je) from 1989. With lyrics by Mario Persch (Expander des Progress).

https://tapetopia.de/

03/03/2024

24/25 : This record has also made me who I am, even though it doesn't exist yet! It will be released in fall 2024. Here tapetopia #024:

fett – „Beutezug“
tapetopia 024, aufnahme + wiedergabe
[a+w lp...], LP/MC/DL-2024
..

https://tapetopia.de/

02/03/2024

23/25 : This record has also made me who I am, even though it doesn't exist yet! It will be released in fall 2024. Here tapetopia #023 in cooperation with Iron Curtain Radio/Major Label:

PLANLOS – „Smog & Ruß“
tapetopia 023, aufnahme + wiedergabe
[a+w lp058], LP/MC/DL-2024

The songs of Planlos are classics of GDR punk rock. Their lyrics were politically explicit and steeped in an oppressive poetry. Hardly any other band embodied the charisma of the East Berlin punks to such a degree. The band only ever played illegal shows. In 1983, Planlos had a highly secret gig with the Toten Hosen. The end of Planlos resulted mainly from the constant surveillance and call-ups to the National People’s Army, a recurrent item of the Stasi’s defensive magic when the smashing of punk bands was on its agenda.

In 2022, Planlos returned to the stage with singer Pankow and guitar player Micha Kobs. Maik Reichenbach, bass player of legendary Leipzig punk band L’Attentat, was part of the new line-up. After 40 years, Planlos will now finally be honoured with their first record. The original recordings will be released together with re-recorded versions.

https://tapetopia.de/

01/03/2024

22/25 : This record has also made me who I am, even though it doesn't exist yet! It will be released in fall 2024. Here tapetopia #022:

L’AMBASSADEUR DES OMBRES – „Star of Evil“
tapetopia 022, aufnahme + wiedergabe
[a+w lp0??], LP/MC/DL-2024

…

https://tapetopia.de/

29/02/2024

21/25 : This record has also made me who I am, even though it doesn't exist yet! It will be released in fall 2024. Here tapetopia #021:

NONTOXIC – „Intoxication“
tapetopia 021, aufnahme + wiedergabe
[a+w lp056], LP/MC/DL-2024

The East Berlin dark wave band Nontoxic was initially known as Mildernde Umstände. In 1988 the state-run artists’ agency issued an ultimatum: Name change, or no more gigs! The band continued as Nontoxic, in a squatted practice room right by the Berlin Mitte police station, which some goths had also been “introduced” to. Nontoxic gigged a lot, sharing the stage with bands such as Zorn, Herbst In Peking or the Fellini Prostitutes.

Joggy Müller of Die Vision (also Mahlsdorfer Wohnstuben Orchester and L'Ambassadeur des Ombres) organised a recording session at the studio of Jan Wanschura, also of Die Vision. There is no trace of these recordings today. In 1989, Nontoxic played at the East Berlin HdjT. “Intoxication” is based on a recording of this show. In 1990, the members of Nontoxic went on to play with bands such as Torpedo Mahlsdorf, Iron Henning, Edge of Silence and Calyx of Rose.

https://tapetopia.de/

28/02/2024

20/20 : This record has also made me who I am, even though it doesn't exist yet! It will be released in fall 2024. Here tapetopia #020:

NEUNTAGE ALT - „Waif“
tapetopia 020, aufnahme + wiedergabe
[a+w lp055], LP/MC/DL-2023
..

https://tapetopia.de/

27/02/2024

19/20 : This record has also made me who I am, even though it doesn't exist yet! It will be released in fall 2024. Here tapetopia #019:

AUFRUHR ZUR LIEBE – “3 x 3 = Nein”
tapetopia 019, aufnahme + wiedergabe
[a+w lp054], LP/MC/DL-2024

Starting in 1983, Aufruhr zur Liebe consisted of musicians from bands such as Rosa Extra, Feeling B, Antifaschistischer Schutzwall (later Planlos) or Ornament & Verbrechen. The band’s sound and lyrics contextualized the reality of the GDR and left behind idiosyncratic signatures: melodic arcs of failure merged into an alloy of post punk, art rock, T. Rex, Virgin Prunes, industrials shamanism, and a refusal to conform – monotonously dark, a destructive trip across mined terrain.

Aufruhr zur Liebe disbanded in 1986 due to a departure for the west, and its successor project Electro Artist was likewise ended by emigration from the GDR. After the fall of the wall, Aufruhr zur Liebe gave rise to the bands Fleischmann and Tarwater, which became successful beyond German borders.

The compilation “3 x 3 = Nein” comprises songs from the tapes “Irish Folk & Andere Schlechtigkeiten” and “Halt mich steil”, which were distributed around 1985 in an edition of 30 to 50 copies.

https://tapetopia.de/

26/02/2024

18/20 : This record has also made me who I am, even though it doesn't exist yet! It will be released on 4 April. Here tapetopia #018:

A.F. MOEBIUS – „Eine Auswahl“
tapetopia 018, aufnahme + wiedergabe
[a+w lp053], LP/MC/DL-2023

Frank Bretschneider was active in the subcultural environment of Karl-Marx-Stadt. In the early 1980s, he published the independent graphics edition “A Drei”, then went on to set the tone with cult formation AG Geige.

Under the alias A.F. Moebius, Bretschneider’s “Eine Auswahl” (“A selection”) was a distillate of creative periods from 1985 to '87. The B-side “Eine Auswahl” complemented the “Alle Aufnahmen” (“All recordings”) tape by Heinz & Franz, a project that would close the circuit of acoustics and electronics. “Eine Auswahl” was based on work with the KORG M-20; Bretschneider also worked with tape loops. Material used included fragments, musical phrases, AMIGA radio play records or randomly targeted radio snippets.

The split tape by Heinz & Franz and A.F. Moebius was released in 1988 on Bretschneider’s underground label klangFarBe in an edition of about 50 copies. Between 1985 and '89, eight tape productions appeared on klangFarBe.

https://tapetopia.de/

25/02/2024

16/20 : I was nominated by myself to post twenty records that made me who I am. One record every day, twenty days in a row. Includes explanation and cover. And every day I will ask my person to do the same, because strangely enough the posts correspond exactly to the catalog numbers from tapetopia #001 to #020. Here tapetopia #016:

HAPPY STRAPS – „Pleasures 1985-1986“
tapetopia 016, aufnahme + wiedergabe
[a+w lp051], LP/MC/DL-2023

The sun rose in the East also ideologically, which explains why the GDR was dark at its core. “We live in paradise. But we don’t know it.” sang the Happy Straps, evoking that limbo of a reactionary socialism masquerading as progressive. The Happy Straps were a typical underground growth, deeply rooted in East Berlin’s alternative scene. A state “playing permit”, for which “classification” would have been required, was never attempted. The band’s stylistics did not fit the ideologically targeted programme. Their dark sound, remained alien to Ostrock.

In 1985/86 one by one all members of the Happy Straps left the GDR for the West. “Pleasures 1985-1986” is made up of a compilation of the tapes “What a Pleasure” and “Last Pleasure”. Both tapes originally appeared in an edition of about 50 copies each.

https://aufnahmeundwiedergabe.bandcamp.com/album/pleasures-1985-86

24/02/2024

15/20 : I was nominated by myself to post twenty records that made me who I am. One record every day, twenty days in a row. Includes explanation and cover. And every day I will ask my person to do the same, because strangely enough the posts correspond exactly to the catalog numbers from tapetopia #001 to #020. Here tapetopia #015:

L’AMBASSADEUR DES OMBRES – Strike Me If I Shriek
tapetopia 015, aufnahme + wiedergabe
[a+w lp048], LP/DL-2022/23

The name L’Ambassadeur des Ombres goes back to the French science fiction comic “Valérian et Laureline”. The Ambassadors of the Shadows combined pop appeal and experimentation as the soundtrack to the zero hour of their generation in the GDR’s waning days. The music was made in a children’s room, but the edifice of ideas was a demolition site.

L’Ambassadeur des Ombres existed as a hybrid of the wave bands Die Vision and Neuntage. The open ensemble’s family tree can however be traced back to buried DIY projects such as the Mahlsdorfer Wohnstuben Orchester, Zerstörte Umwelt and dark-wave protagonists Fellini Prostitutes or Nontoxic.

In the short time of their existence in 1988/89, L’Ambassadeur des Ombres did not give a single concert. The tape “Strike Me If I Shriek” was circulated among friends and musicians only as an on-request work report – it’s a long overdue discovery.

https://aufnahmeundwiedergabe.bandcamp.com/album/strike-me-if-i-shriek

23/02/2024

14/20 : I was nominated by myself to post twenty records that made me who I am. One record every day, twenty days in a row. Includes explanation and cover. And every day I will ask my person to do the same, because strangely enough the posts correspond exactly to the catalog numbers from tapetopia #001 to #020. Here tapetopia #014:

ROSA BETON – Demo 83
tapetopia 014, aufnahme + wiedergabe
[a+w LP047], LP/DL-2022

In 1983, a tape with the rather factual title “Rosa Beton – Demo 83” was circulated among friends from the East Berlin punk scene. Belonging to the enlightened type of German punk, Rosa Beton got by without genre-typical slogans – the band’s songs seemed downright sentient in East Berlin’s staccato sound system. Rosa Beton never performed in public, a planned concert was prevented either by the goddesses of fate or by the Stasi. Existing for only a brief underground season, the band eventually faded into the no-man’s land between punk and post-punk.

Along with Planlos, Rosa Extra, Betonromantik or Sendeschluß, Rosa Beton belonged to the same first generation of East Berlin punk bands that today casts a woefully short shadow when the media spotlight is directed at punk rock in the GDR. Having remained in the second string until today, Rosa Beton was among the first guard of punk rock Made in GDR.

https://aufnahmeundwiedergabe.bandcamp.com/album/demo-83

22/02/2024

12/20 : I was nominated by myself to post twenty records that made me who I am. One record every day, twenty days in a row. Includes explanation and cover. And every day I will ask my person to do the same, because strangely enough the posts correspond exactly to the catalog numbers from tapetopia #001 to #020. Here tapetopia #012:

MAHLSDORFER-WOHNSTUBEN-ORCHESTER - MWO 1987 - 1988
tapetopia 012, aufnahme + wiedergabe
[a+w lp046], LP/DL-2022/23

The name Mahlsdorfer Wohnstuben Orchester was a rather benign code name for marginal music from a peripheral district of East Berlin. The project also functioned as a reservoir for bands including Neuntage (tt 006), Die Vision or L'ambassadeur des ombres (tt 015). The present MWO compilation for tapetopia was distilled from the tapes “Nightfever In Mahlsdorf” (1987), “TOt" (1988), “Abgrund” (1988) and “Window” (1989). All four tapes had remained unreleased and copies were made only when friends asked.

If the band had been active at the same time not behind but in front of the Iron Curtain, they would likely have been able to release records and their songs would hold a place in the canon of the West German subculture. This contains a whole bunch of maybes of course, since the Mahlsdorfer Wohnstuben Orchester burgeoned in the shadows of the wall. Now, more than 30 years later, it is celebrating its debut.

https://aufnahmeundwiedergabe.bandcamp.com/album/m-w-o-1987-1989

21/02/2024

11/20 : I was nominated by myself to post twenty records that made me who I am. One record every day, twenty days in a row. Includes explanation and cover. And every day I will ask my person to do the same, because strangely enough the posts correspond exactly to the catalog numbers from tapetopia #001 to #020. Here tapetopia #011:

TROPENKOLLER - "Tropenkoller 86 - 88"
tapetopia 011, aufnahme + wiedergabe
[a+w lp045], LP/DL-2022/23

Karl-Marx-Stadt (now Chemnitz) was one of the GDR’s subcultural hubs in the late 1970s and 80s. The industrial city in Saxony produced an impressively wide informal cultural programme beyond state structures. Bands such as Die Gehirne, Knut Baltz Formation, Die Arroganten Sorben, Kartoffelschälmaschine, AG Geige or the projects of cassette label klangFarBe created a complex artistic environment, in which Tropenkoller ran its spiritual exercises from 1986 to 1989. The “introverted experiment” remained distinct yet was exemplary of a Karl-Marx-Stadt sound that considered dissonance a non-ideological form of harmonics.

A first and only tape appeared in 1988. The extravagant packaging illustrated the edition’s exclusive nature; no more than twenty-five copies were released by Tropenkoller into the limited coterie of its open circle.

https://aufnahmeundwiedergabe.bandcamp.com/album/tropenkoller-86-88

20/02/2024

10/20 : I was nominated by myself to post twenty records that made me who I am. One record every day, twenty days in a row. Includes explanation and cover. And every day I will ask my person to do the same, because strangely enough the posts correspond exactly to the catalog numbers from tapetopia #001 to #020. Here tapetopia #010:

FO 32 EXTRA HART ARBEITENDES RASTERMATERIAL FÜR KONTAKT - s/t
tapetopia 010, aufnahme + wiedergabe
[a+w lp044], LP/DL-2022/23

FO 32 extra hart arbeitendes rastermaterial für kontakt did not emerge from the usual underground milieu – their setting was the base of the 4th Flotilla of the GDR People’s Navy! The propaganda unit PrK 18 had among its recruits some who turned the logistics for agitation against the intentions of the system. Inside a barracks, but under the state radar, the paramilitary music corps FO 32 boarded an NVA studio and recorded industrial tracks and dark ambient. The experimental military band gave an illegal concert; they had previously been heard on the radio programme “Parocktikum”, a pirate gig from the ranks of the People’s Navy on GDR radio.

In 1989, a first FO-32 tape was shared among just a few friends. Shortly after, an abridged mix of material was released on the illegal Trash Tape label in an edition of no more than one hundred copies. The vinyl version on tapetopia is based on the original tape.

https://aufnahmeundwiedergabe.bandcamp.com/album/fo32-extra-hart-arbeitendes-rastermaterial-f-r-kontakt

19/02/2024

09/20 : I was nominated by myself to post twenty records that made me who I am. One record every day, twenty days in a row. Includes explanation and cover. And every day I will ask my person to do the same, because strangely enough the posts correspond exactly to the catalog numbers from tapetopia #001 to #020. Here tapetopia #009:

HEINZ & FRANZ – „Alle Aufnahmen“
tapetopia 009, aufnahme + wiedergabe
[a+w lp043], LP/DL-2022/23

Heinz & Franz was a home recording project by Heinz Havemeister and Frank Bretschneider. The recordings took place in 1987 and ’88 in the DIY studio “Sonnenklang” in Karl-Marx-Stadt (now Chemnitz), always at night. The mixing desk was self-built. 50 copies of the tape were released on Bretschneider’s label klangFarBe.

Heinz Havemeister was a guitarist with the Bolschewistische Kurkapelle and co-editor of the art samizdat “LIANE”. Frank Bretschneider is considered an electronic pioneer of the GDR underground scene. He worked in a range of projects, including with the legendary band AG Geige. In 1995, Bretschneider co-founded the Rastermusic label, which cooperated with musician Carsten Nicolai’s noton label. Both labels merged in 1999 to form Raster-Noton, an influential label for experimental music in Germany. Bretschneider’s work has appeared on labels such as Mille Plateaux, Quatermass or Staalplaat.

https://aufnahmeundwiedergabe.bandcamp.com/album/alle-aufnahmen

18/02/2024

08/20 : I was nominated by myself to post twenty records that made me who I am. One record every day, twenty days in a row. Includes explanation and cover. And every day I will ask my person to do the same, because strangely enough the posts correspond exactly to the catalog numbers from tapetopia #001 to #020. Here tapetopia #008:

DER EXPANDER DES FORTSCHRITTS - „URKNALL・HORDE・MENSCH“
tapetopia 008, aufnahme + wiedergabe
[a+w lp039], LP/DL-2022

Der Expander des Fortschritts was founded in 1986. The “risk group” described itself as
“pop musique concrète” or “abstract pop”. Der Expander des Fortschritts relied on
disharmony and ruptures, which resulted in radio plays in a song format; the GDR as a
real-socialist satire provided its material. Even the band’s name was a cultural
appropriation of the superstructure by the substructure: “progress” was a fetishized word
in the GDR, factory sports clubs would add it to their name, solidarity concerts would use it
as a motto.

The title “Urknall · Horde · Mensch” resulted from an Expander-typical
translation of “Weltall, Erde, Mensch”, a compendium ceremoniously presented to each
initiator on the occasion of their socialist youth initiation. In 1988, the band released the
tape album on their own label Irrmenschkassette, a big bang in a tiny edition.

https://aufnahmeundwiedergabe.bandcamp.com/album/urknall-horde-mensch

17/02/2024

07/20 : I was nominated by myself to post twenty records that made me who I am. One record every day, twenty days in a row. Includes explanation and cover. And every day I will ask my person to do the same, because strangely enough the posts correspond exactly to the catalog numbers from tapetopia #001 to #020. Here tapetopia #007:

CORP CRUID I - s/t
tapetopia 007, aufnahme + wiedergabe
[a+w lp038], LP/DL-2022

Corp Cruid I was the only release of the planned tape series BleiBeil. The tracks were recorded over a longer period of time in 1988 – and in changing constellations that corresponded to the line-up of the East Berlin underground band Ornament & Verbrechen. 30 copies were circulated exclusively among friends. Concerts were not part of the plan, also due to the band’s rejection of a playing permit; there was no interest in being tolerated by the cultural apparatus, which treated projects like Corp Cruid with contempt or even hostility.

Even before the GDR collapsed, in November 1989, almost half of the Ornament & Verbrechen musicians had left the country. Ensembles as remote from the state as Corp Cruid sounded like a faint scratch on the Wall of Sound of a hysterical system. The tape survived on a master tape and on a few copies; today the GDR is only its background noise.

https://aufnahmeundwiedergabe.bandcamp.com/album/corp-cruid-i

11/04/2021

tapetopia - voice of dystopia
Herewith announces its future collaboration with aufnahme + wiedergabe, thanks to Philipp Strobel. www.aufnahmeundwiedergabe.de

From June on, as of number 004 of the vinyl series, the following GDR underground tapes will be published, in editions of 500 copies each:
NEU ROT (Leipzig 1988), THE LOCAL MOON (East Berlin 1987), Neuntage (East Berlin 1988), Corp Cruid (Ornament & Verbrechen, East Berlin 1988), Der Expander des Fortschritts (East Berlin 1988) and so on. Here is a preview from #004 to #008.

07/04/2021

The first three numbers of the tapetopia series were released by Berlin label play loud: playloud.org.
# 001 / Ornament & Verbrechen – "Rotmaul Tape" (so called) (Ostberlin 1988)
# 002 / Die Gehirne – Ihre größten Erfolge 1983-1985 (Karl-Marx-Stadt 1986)
# 003 / Klick & Aus – AIDS delikat (Ostberlin 1984)