How well do you know the 1980s/1990s Polish industrial scene? Not very well, I'll bet. The Polish label
Impulsy Stetoskopu set out to educate people with their series of reissues under the heading
The Archive of Polish Industrial Music. In 2009, the label kicked off their series with this set of 3 CDRs in a metal tin with posters and other documentary information inside. As far as I can tell, there are no other available recordings by
Szelest Spadajacych Papierkow.
You thought Sheffield was grim in 1981? No-Wave-era New York City was dicey? The Eastern Bloc probably had those better-known breeding-grounds for industrial culture beat. Rather than a coy art-school pose or nihilist fashion show, references to the Third Reich in Cold War Poland was genuinely provocative. Recorded after martial law was lifted, during the country's years of strikes, economic uncertainty, Solidarity, and violence, this music (and the rest in the
Archive... series) is a reflection of truly underground, possibly dangerous, art-making.
There isn't much other evidence of these bands ever having existed. There was hardly a cassette-network reaching out to trade tapes and appear on international compilations, and Rough Trade never visited Krakow to sign young bands up for singles to be played on John Peel's show, or sand off their rough edges to make them palatable for dance clubs.
Impulsy Stetoskopu did an admirable job of hunting down primitive live recordings and demo cassettes that likely never made it out of Poland while these bands existed. Naturally, since this was released in an edition of only 120 copies that are well sold out by now, it's time to broaden the audience a little bit more.
disc 1 - The Anti–Third Reich’n’Roll Part 1
disc 2 - The Anti–Third Reich’n’Roll Part 2
disc 3 - Plac Wymiany Pozytywnej
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