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When it comes to the international
underground music scene, well, I've been at it (on and off) for over 25
years. This is the guy who introduced me to it. And there he is, still
living and breathing the subterranean air. After a musical career spanning
more than three decades, the singer / songwriter side of his persona is
taking a well earned sabbatical, his time instead being dedicated to his
ongoing passion... to explore strange new music, to seek out new bands and
artistes, to boldly go where no DJ has gone before! He was already doing
Lord Litter's Tapedepartment Radioshows when we first made contact, circa
1991, and sharing the music he discovers with the world seems to be at the
heart of everything. Like myself, he is a huge believer in the
counterculture we both inhabit, and a vociferous opponent of those that
seek to make everything a marketable commodity and control it. Don't look
for him on Facebook, he's not there. Personally, I find that a shame, but
I understand his reasons. There's a lot of things Facebook do that I'm
deeply uncomfortable with too, and at times, particularly when it gets
caught shame-faced about something or the other, I feel a little guilty
that my usage of it can be seen in itself as an endorsement. But it
is such a useful tool in spreading the word and getting the music (and
elsewhere) out there. I do wish there was an equally widespread
alternative that treated its users with considerably more respect, so it's
'better the devil you know' for now. But Litter, he doesn't compromise
(quote: "A longer chapter would be necessary to explain why I avoid ALL
connections to the so called 'social media' level of the internet. Don't
look for me there."), one of the many things I really admire the man for.
1. Lord Litter's Magic Music Box - a German language show that he describes as 'having a definite socio-cultural flavour'. 2. Lord Litter's Magic Music Box International - English language, more the far reaching underground entertainment broadcast, and... 3. Lord Litter's Radio On Show - the more experimental end.
He's keen to keep to the spirit of the cassette culture days of yore, playing the bands and artistes that he likes and finds of interest, not necessarily those that are perceived (or hyped) to be popular. I think it makes for a very interesting listen, you honestly never know quite what you're gonna get. But a word of warning to those submitting material with airplay in mind; he takes no more kindly to a URL accompanied by "listen to us" than I do. Old school, we are, old school we shall stay. Talk to us like humans, we will respond in kind, try and palm us off with stone cold promo packs, you probably won't get an answer. "Physical releases it must be," he says, "simply to shut off the endless stream of digitalism." Sometimes it feels like he and I are sat on a beach, trying to command the tide to advance no further, but humour us, it matters to us, okay? Thanks. LINKS: http://www.Radio-On-Berlin.com https://archive.org/details/@lord_litter Should you ever have a month or two to spare, there's pushing 400 radioshows on the Internet Archive now (last link)!
Berlin - July 2018: with Generations Unlimited, including the legendary General Ken on the left there, Crystal Penalosa on the right |
When it came to putting together our United
World Underground Collection, he was genuinely thrilled to be included on
it and has been a great help in spreading the word, not least being via a
special edition of his Music Box International on the release weekend.
Broadcast on Friday 13th October 2017 (no, we're not superstitious), in
the 40 minutes and 38 seconds of the hour dedicated to our 25th
anniversary megacomp, there were tracks from Toshiyuki Hiraoka, The
Flowers Of Romance, New Zero God, Sister Sinister, Trespassers W, Jaws Of
The Flying Carpet, X Ray Pop, Eye and Magic Moments At Twilight Time. I've
edited the relevant segments and put them here for your listening
pleasure, enjoy muchly... Here are also some other broadcast extracts from shows he presented including UWU Collection and related stuff on, originally included on the Free Music Page; LORD LITTER'S MAGIC MUSIC BOX (in German) ► 2017-10: featuring X Ray Pop and Rotton Kidz (7:13) ► 2017-11: featuring Elza and Galactic Lilah Et L'Orchestre-Fantôme (6:42) LORD LITTER'S MAGIC MUSIC BOX INTERNATIONAL (in English) ► 2017-38: featuring New Zero God with Irene Tiniakou (5:55) ► 2017-39: featuring X Ray Pop (3:34) ► 2017-40: featuring Glass and Rotton Kidz (9:18) ► 2017-44: featuring Elza, Galactic Lilah Et L'Orchestre-Fantôme and At Twilight Time (14:01)0 "I recently started writing again." He says. Well, I kinda knew that because he rather extensively interviewed me for Hal McGee's Electronic Cottage webzine not long ago. He used to write quite a lot back in the day, Tapedepartment Newsletters et al, happily telling you of what decidedly cool things he had discovered of late. It's great to see that the enthusiasm hasn't ultimately waned. Hal's bringing Electronic Cottage back has certainly presented him with a great opportunity to start waxing lyrical once more, a serious community project in which Hal is trying hard to involve many underground activists. I gather he's quite busy with it because he's not the easiest to get updates from, but luckily, there is something of a mission statement on the home page that explains what it's all about;
ELECTRONIC COTTAGE is an international community where independent artists, musicians, writers and freethinkers can meet and share ideas, sounds, visual art, photos, zines, videos, reviews, news and info, opinions, tech and gear articles, and much more, all in the spirit of two-way communication. EC draws inspiration from the Cassette Culture Revolution of the 1980s, 90s and beyond; Mail Art, Small Press and Zines, Dada, Fluxus, Punk Rock, Hacking, Circuit Bending, Anarchy, and Noise. EC values inclusion, democracy, experimentation, independence and freedom of thought and expression, open-minded exchange, and Community. He's also writing for Mike Pougounas' Tribe4mian's Weblog, which I covered a few pages back, recently interviewing Katie Anne Mitchell, a really quite exceptional folk singer and storyteller, well worth checking out. LINKS: https://www.electroniccottage.org/lord-litter/mick-magics-united-world-underground S T O P P R E S S A fine collaboration is in the air. Probably re-inspired by the recently published Japanese book on the East German underground of the 80's and early 90's, Lord Litter and former Das Freie Orchester bandmate, Didier Leboz, are working together again. If you've heard some of the stuff they produced last time around, like on the 'DFO Archiv' selection on the UWU Collection, you'll know why that is something worth being just that little bit excited about. Makes me want to shout Shmirtzgurrubbutz! ;-) |
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