Tape Trading Today
Lustfaust’s musical legacy may not yet be as well recognized as it deserves, but the way they, and a host of other pioneers embraced tape trading and a DIY approach to recording and distribution is clearly alive and well in the contemporary music underground.
The defining era for DIY music would be the American hardcore punk scene in the 80s. Bands shared tapes and demos through the network, leading to a healthy cross fertilization of influences and styles. Additionally a country-wide support network enabled touring, recording and distribution with little need for mainstream patronage.
A number of highly influential bands rose up from this network including, but by no means limited to: Sonic Youth, Minutemen, Big Black, Black Flag, Swans and Dinosaur Jr.
It is also of note that parts of this ’scene’ also interacted with the art world. Raymond Pettibon began his career doing album covers for Black Flack and other members of the SST roster. Sonic Youth have used the work of Gerhard Richter, Mike Kelly, William S Burroughs, Richard Prince and the afore mentioned Pettibon.
Times have changed and tapes, for the most part (recently a number of cassette labels have broken cover particularly within the noise scene), have been replaced with CR-R and digital download. A complicated picture emerges of declining music sales, the revival of live music and, of course, MySpace, but for the last decade a healthy sub-current of musicians have embraced their limitations and consistantly released limited runs of handmade musical talismans. As much art objects as musical documents.
It is worth noting some of these artists who employ similar free form approaches to both music and packaging first seen in bands like Lustfaust towards the end of the 70s - Vibracathedral Orchestra, Magik Markers, The ‘A’ Band, Sunburned Hand of the Man, Skullflower, Richard Youngs, Jessica Rylan/Can’t and Birds of Delay to name but a few.
For the latest collaborative release with Schneider TM, Lustfaust have returned to their fans for a series of 47 handmade editions featured on this site and in Haunch Of Venison’s new Berlin space throughout September.
