View of the GDR from below: underground Honecker

The forty -second release of the program "Music at Free" as its main topic chooses what is no longer there: Eastern Germany fell apart 25 years ago, and from the work of its socialist labor people there were only memories. Rock Critic Artemy Troitsky conducts a tour of the exposition of German underground vintage. These worthy people tried to live freely in a non -free country.

I will not tell you what the GDR is, how this GDR arose, especially how it ceased to exist at the end of 1989 - absolutely inglorious, but very fun and noisy. And we will talk about the fact that despite the entire ideological clamp there (and in the GDR, it must be said that ideological work was very seriously delivered), there was still rock underground. I recently released the album, called Ende Vom Lied: East German Underground Sound 1979–1990 ; Translated means "End of the song: East German underground music 1979–1990". And now we will get acquainted with several songs written and recorded in the GDR in the same years.

One of the first-perhaps the first-the Gader punk rock band was called D Er Schwarze Kanal , "Black Channel". These are musicians from Leipzig, they recorded the only album, which is called Leipzig. There is a song about Mikhail Gorbachev, there is a song about Nikolai Chausheyku, but they were recorded much later, in the late 1980s, and we will listen to one of their very early songs, the late 70s, called Spiel Mit , "Game with ...".

The next group I like is called der demokratische konsum - as I understand it, "democratic consumption". The group is already from Berlin (East, of course); She existed from 1983 to 1986, headed Hike Reder , vocalist, and guitarist Deo Bushkovsky . We listen to the song Sturm IM Gepäck , "Storm in the package." Good name; In a meaningful attitude, underground roles from the GDR did not fit into the ideology of "disciplined socialism" named after Erich Honecker .

Another group from Berlin-it was identified as an art punk, called this group Zwitschermaschine , literally a "chirping machine". This is an exquisite trio, led by a vocal girl named Cornelia Shlyaime , lasted four years, from 1979 to 1983, and released one album during this time-of course, Samizdatovsky-"Type of the GDR from below." We will listen to you with you just from there, called GEH übern Fluß , "Bridge over the River." By the way, in Berlin, now united, there is a well -known avant -garde gallery, which is also called Zwitschermaschine .

Now another group from Leipzig is called PFFT ... This sound combination denotes different feelings, but, in principle, it is such an inarticulate sound, meaning approximately “wow” or, say, “well, it's all nonsense”. Nothing about this group is not known-nothing, but they are presented in the collection of a mocking entry, where the song of the Gader Official Rock Group called CITY (official rock bands there, like VIA in the USSR, was taken as a basis- Karat and Pudis , for example, even in the Secular Union, they were trained, carriers Socialist rocks, and the Okhalniks from PFFT ... they took a good song of the City group and mocked it, and they called this composition Prenzelking.

The Ornament & Verbrechen , "Ornament and Crime", unlike PFFT, worked for more than a year. In the nineties, an ensemble called to Rococo Rot arose in the united Germany, and this group gained worldwide fame. Two participants performed at Ornament & Verbrechen , later they became the founders of To Rococo Rot - the Robert Brothers and Roland Lippok . Ornament & Verbrechen managed to release only one album, it was released in 1990, immediately after the reunification of Germany, called on Eyes . From this album, I chose the composition of Keilter Schwaß , the “wedge weakens”, a song that, despite its laconicism, was very popular in recent days. Ornament & Verbrechen , on this record made in 1989, complemented Die Bolschewistische Kurkapelle , which play on wind instruments there.

We will complete the acquaintance with the Gader undergrand of a group of a group called Der Expander des FortSchritts , "Expande of Progress". The group is also known, it lasted from 1986 to 1990, and this group had some attitude to Bernd Yestram , who lit up-much later-in the world-famous German English-language group Tarwater . The leaders of the "expander of progress" - Uwe Baumgarter , vocals, keyboards, and Mario Persh , the author of the texts and the guitarist. Here is a 1990 entry, it is called Fremdgehen Durchs Land .

Not all groups of the "end of the song" ended with complete oblivion; Some of these talented musicians had the future in the United Germany, which is both pleasant and fair.

Playlist of the program "Music at Free" (release 42):

1. Pascala ylabaka y fauna (Chile). El Perdon, LP Rey Loj

2. Pascala ylabaka y fauna (Chile). Caminito Viejo, LP Rey Loj

3. Sundowners (UK). Ritual, LP Cut the Master

4. Gnoomes (Russia). CASCAIS, LP TSCHAK!

5. Olivier Alary (France). Yangtze, LP Fiction/Nonfiction

6. Fendika (Ethiopia). Maleda, LP Birabiro

7. Der Schwarze Kanal (DDR). Spiel MIT, LP Ende Vom Lied: East German Underground Sound 1979–19990

8. Der demokratische konsum (DDR). Sturm in Gepäk, LP Ende Vom Lied: East German Underground Sound 1979–1990

9. Zwitschermachine (DDR). GEH übern Fluss, LP Ende Vom Lied: East German Underground Sound 1979–1990

10. Pffft ... (DDR). Perenzelking, LP Ende Vom Lied: East German Underground Sound 1979–19990

11. Ornament & Verbrechen (DDR). Keilter Schwass, LP Ende Vom Lied: East German Underground Sound 1979–1990

12. Der Expander des FortSchritts (DDR). Fremdgehen Durchs Land, LP Ende Vom Lied: East German Underground Sound 1979–1990

13. Ani Cordero (Puerto Rico). Alma Vieja, LP Querido Mundo

14. Dunggen (Sweden). Kalifen, LP HAXON

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  Artemy Troitsky

  Musical critic, author and leading podcast and radio program "Music at" Freedom ".

  Musicatliberty@gmail.com