| Laibach | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Slovenia |
| Genre(s) | Electronic dance Experimental music Industrial music Martial music Neo-classical |
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Label(s) | Mute |
| Associated acts |
300.000 V.K. |
| Website | http://www.laibach.nsk.si/ |
| Members | |
| Milan Fras Ivan Novak Dejan Knez Ervin Markošek |
|
Laibach is a Slovenian experimental music group, strongly associated with industrial, martial, and neo-classical. Laibach formed June 1 1980 in Trbovlje, Slovenia. Laibach represents the music wing of the Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK) art collective, of which it was a founding member in 1984. The name "Laibach" is the German name for Slovenia's capital city, Ljubljana.
Controversy
Laibach has frequently been accused of both far left and far right political stances due to their use of uniforms and totalitarian-style aesthetics and also due to the Wagnerian influence found in some of their music, notably the thunder in "Sympathy for the Devil (Time for a Change)" and releases such as Macbeth. They were also accused of being members of the neonationalism movement which reincarnates modern ideas of nationalism. Laibach always denied this strongly. Milan Fras, vocalist, is quoted as saying "We are fascists as much as Hitler was a painter" when confronted with such accusations.[1]
Laibach is notorious for rarely stepping out of character. Some releases feature
artwork by the
Richard Wolfson wrote of the group:
Laibach's method is extremely simple, effective and horribly open to misinterpretation. First of all, they absorb the mannerisms of the enemy, adopting all the seductive trappings and symbols of state power, and then they exaggerate everything to the edge of parody... Next they turn their focus to highly charged issues — the West's fear of immigrants from Eastern Europe, the power games of the EU, the analogies between Western democracy and totalitarianism. [Wolfson, 2003]
Cover songs
Laibach is also known for their cover versions, which are often used to subvert the original message or intention of the song - most notable being their cover version of the song "Life is Life" on the album Opus Dei, which completely changes the meaning of the original song ("Live is Life") from the original writers' (Opus, an Austrian arena rock band) intentions. Whereas the original is a feel-good reggae anthem, Laibach's subversive interpretation twists the melody into a sinister, rolling military march. The refrain is at one instance translated into German, giving an eerie example of the sensitivity of its lyrics to context.
Other notable covers include the entirety of the Beatles album Let It Be (with the exception of the title track) and their album Sympathy for the Devil which deconstructs the Rolling Stones song of the same name with seven different covers of the song. Opus Dei (itself titled apparently in reference to their cover of Opus's reggae anthem "Live is Life") features a cover of Queen's "One Vision" with the lyrics translated into German under the title Geburt einer Nation, starkly revealing the ambiguity of lines like "One race one hope/One real decision". In NATO, they also memorably rework Europe's glam metal anthem "The Final Countdown" as a Wagnerian disco epic.
Laibach recently covered the song Ohne Dich by Rammstein in a significantly altered version. It features male and female vocals (supplied by Laibach's Milan Fras and Mina Špiler from the band Melodrom), as opposed to the solo male vocals in the Rammstein version. The orchestral sound of the original has been supplemented, and in some sections replaced, by a more electronic element.
Aesthetics
Although primarily a musical group, Laibach has sometimes worked in other media. In their early years, especially before the founding of NSK, Laibach produced several works of visual art. Probably the most historically important[citation needed] was MB 84 Memorandum (1984) an image of a black cross that served as a way to advertise Laibach's appearances during a period in the 1980s when the government of Yugoslavia banned the name "Laibach".[2]
Slovene singer and radio announcer Anja Rupel has performed with the group.
Influence
Martial music
Some early material by Laibach and later neoclassical releases by the band—such as the Macbeth release—were influential on certain artists within the martial music genre.
Rammstein
The popular German musical group Rammstein has acknowledged influence by both the aesthetic approach and some Laibach material. When members of Laibach were asked by an interviewer about Rammstein "stealing" from them, they responded that "Laibach does not believe in originality… Therefore, Rammstein could not 'steal' much from us. They simply let themselves get inspired by our work, which is absolutely a legitimate process. We are glad that they made it. In a way, they have proven once again that a good 'copy' can make more money on the market than the 'original.' Anyhow, today we share the territory: Rammstein seem to be a kind of Laibach for adolescents and Laibach are Rammstein for 'grown-ups.'" [3]. Laibach would later provide a remix for the single release of Ohne dich by Rammstein.
Re-releases
Out on July 9 2007 via Laibach's own label NSK are 4 releases by the Laibach side-projects 300.000 VK and Rotor. From the electronic project Rotor featuring Mina Spiller (Melodrom/Laibach) comes "Phonophobia" and "Rotorsphere" which both combine 'modern technology effects, live-experimentations, DJ-compatible rhythms and techno-industrial mayhem' as they call it. Next is 300.000 VK with two reissues, "Hard Drive : Bill Gates" and "Paracelsus", the first holding mostly hard and fast drum'n'bass techno. "Paracelsus" from its side has been out of print for several years since its original release on 31 October 1994.[4]
Documentaries
Laibach has been the subject of several documentaries:
- Laibach: Pobeda Pod Suncem {Laibach: Victory Under the Sun} (1988) [1] - Directed by Goran Gajic
- Laibach: A Film From Slovenia (1995) - Directed by Daniel Landin and Chris Bohn
- Prerokbe Ognja {Predictions of Fire} (1996) [2] - Directed by Michael Benson
Members
Laibach’s history started in 1978 when Dejan Knez founded the band Salte Morale. After that, in 1979 Knez formed the very first Laibach (note that the official founding date is in the year 1980!). It is believed that in the first Laibach the members were only Dejan Knez and Miran Mohar. Later, Tomaz Hostnik joined the band as singer and spokesman. In the first period Laibach were a quintet, but soon after that they declared that Laibach has only four members – ‘Vier Personen’. Sometimes those four members of the band were signed with their pseudonyms: Dachauer, Keller, Saliger and Eber. In the mid and late ‘80s, those four full time members were Dejan Knez, Milan Fras, Ervin Markošek and Ivan Novak. From time to time, some other persons, such as Nikola Sekulović, famous bass player from the Demolition Group, replaced Markošek. During the late ‘90s Markošek and Knez became drug addicts, and Markošek left the band. Despite that he appears on the press photos for WAT. After WAT tour Knez also left the band. Now, the oldest member is Milan Fras, because Novak joined the band later than Fras.
Current
- Milan Fras, vocals
- Ivan Novak, lights, projector, spokesperson
- Mina Spiler, vocals, synth
- Janež Gabrič, drums
- Luka Jamnik, synth
- Primož Hladnik, synth
- Eva Breznikar, vocals, percussion
- Nataša Regovec, vocals, percussion
- Damjan Bizilj, synth
Previous
- Tomaž Hostnik, singer (committed suicide)
- Dejan Knez, keyboards, electronics, drums. Knez left Laibach after the album WAT.
- Roman Decman, drums
- Nikola Sekulović, bass
- Matej Mršnik, guitar
- Dragoslav Draža Radojković, drums
- Miran Mohar
- Ervin Markošek, drums, keyboards, electronics. Markošek stepped down from Laibach in 1989 and was back by the next album Kapital.
- Dare Hocevar, bass
- Borut Kržišnik, guitar
- Oto Rimele, guitar
- Andrej Lupinc
Selected discography
- Laibach (ŠKUC/Ropot, 1985),
- Rekapitulacija 1980-1984 (1985),
- Neu Konservatiw (1985),
- Nova Akropola (Cherry Red, 1985),
- The Occupied Europe Tour 1985 (1986),
- Opus Dei (Mute Records, 1987),
- Slovenska Akropola (1987),
- Krst Pod Triglavom-Baptism (1987),
- Let It Be (Mute Records, 1988),
- Sympathy for the Devil (Mute Records, 1988),
- Macbeth (Mute Records, 1990),
- Kapital (Mute Records, 1992),
- Ljubljana-Zagreb-Beograd, (The Grey Area/Mute Records, 1993),
- NATO (Mute Records, 1994),
- The Occupied Europe NATO Tour 1994-1995 (The Grey Area/Mute Records, 1996),
- Jesus Christ Superstars (The Grey Area/Mute Records, 1996),
- Malci Belic, December 21, 1984 (The Grey Area/Mute Records, 1997),
- The John Peel Sessions (Strangefruit, 2002),
- WAT (Mute Records, 2003),
- Anthems (Mute Records, 2004, compilation),
- Volk (Mute Records, 2006),
- Volk Tour London CC Club (Live Here Now, 2007).
Side projects
- 300.000 V.K., Dejan Knez experimental electronic music side project
- Germania, side project, Laibach, Iztok Turk and Anja Rupel
- Kraftbach
- 600.000 V.K., responsible for the music for the Noordung theatre productions
- Sturm und Klang
References
- ^ a b VH1.com Laibach Biography. Retrieved on 2007-04-22.
- ^ ARTMargins - Winifred M. Griffin: Review of Laibach and Irwin. Retrieved on 2007-04-22.
- ^ Interview: Laibach. Retrieved on 2007-04-22.
- ^ 4 Laibach side-project releases
- Richard Wolfson, "Warriors of weirdness", The Daily Telegraph, 4 September 2003.
- Alexei Monroe, "Interrogation Machine - Laibach and NSK", MIT Press, Sep 2005. Foreword by Slavoj Žižek.
- Joel Veitch, "Fear the kittens".
External links
Official
- Official Site
- The NSKSTATE - The official website of the NSK.
- Official video for Slovania (from Volk)
Unofficial
- The Unofficial Laibach Site
- The Unofficial Virtual Embassy of The NSK State & LAIBACH in Russia
- Laibach Reviews,Links,Covers,Pictures,Video Clips, etc
- Interview @ Legends
- Laibachkunst includes images of early visual artworks by Laibach and also pieces by fellow NSK members Irwin.
- Laibach at MusicBrainz
- Laibach at Discogs
- Divided States of America at the Internet Movie Database - a documentary shot during the U.S. leg of the WAT tour
| Pop and rock music of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia |
| Music of Yugoslavia - SFR Yugoslav pop and rock scene - Yugoslav Band Aid (YU Rock Misija) - Yugoslavia in the Eurovision Song Contest |
| Record labels |
| Jugoton - PGP RTB - Suzy Records - Diskoton - ZKP RTLJ |
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