front 242 - Sacrifice
To be honest, I don't really know (or simply remember) why I took interest into electronic music. It would probably start with quite early fascination with artists like Jean Michel Jarre, Mike Oldfield, Vangelis or even our own Marek Biliński. That slowly led me to discover Kraftwerk and suddenly, apart from searching for anything goth I found myself reading a lot about techno. Which for the younger generation will need a word of explanation. In those ancient times it was a musical style that was still in its infancy and not all of it was just a mindless dance club beat. On the fringes emerged artists like Belgian front 242. Tyranny For You was their first album I came in contact with and from that first whiff of synthesizer space with that deep beat cutting through it, I was blown away. It was such a completely new music for me, such an unexpected sound... a whole new world of discovery was opening for me just then. Even today, I think this is still my favourite front 242 album, not just from the Nineties.
De Press - 3 Potocki
Here's something you don't see every day. A new wave band, singing a traditional tune in a strong dialect from Polish highlands was always a bit of an oddity. And if I also add that this band has been voted the most important group in the history of... Norwegian rock music, things can only get curiouser and curiouser. As it happens, De Press was formed by a Polish immigrant Andrzej Dziubek Nebb in the early Eighties in Oslo with Dziubek never renouncing his Polish background and continuing to sing in Polish. 3 Potocki (Three streams) comes from an album with the same title, which contained some more popular and energetic tracks but as much as I like the linked one, the nostalgic and lyrical feel of 3 Potocki wins with me hands down. It also tells in a very restrained but powerful way the story of Janosik, an outlaw very prominent for Slovak and southern Polish folklore. It is, in fact, surprisingly poignant and beautiful song for a rock band. De Press is by far one of the most understated Polish bands, even if we have to share them with Norway :) Chapeau bas!
SHORTCUTS:
1990s Tracklist
Part One - 1990
Part Three - 1992
Part Four - 1993
Part Five - 1994
Part Six - 1995
Part Seven - 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999
I remember listening to a front 242 tape years ago and I always liked their take on industrial music and techno. Animal Cage was the track that stood out for me but I was pretty young at the time. After hearing this, I think I'll be revisiting them...seems I've missed out. Nice choice.
ReplyDeleteDe Press's track has that immediate hangover from the 80s thing going on. Here it's a good thing, like Gun Club's Pastoral Hide & Seek. Nice melody and I didn't realise Norway would sneak themselves in for a second time on this blog!
No complaints for '91! I can't complain that either of them are obvious! Damn!