CD reissue The Grey Area of Mute Records 1992 with bonus track
"At the core of the group was the idea of madness-as-truth and schizophrenic-as-seer. Founder Graeme Revell drew inspiration from his experiences as a nurse in an Australian mental hospital and his parallel studies of Art Brut, anti-psychiatry (Foucault, Guattari, etc), and poststructuralist theory. At various points in the group’s career SPK has stood for Surgical Penis Klinik, System Planning Korporation, SoliPsiK, and SePpuKU, but in the beginning it came from Socialistisches Patienten Kollektiv: a bunch of German loony-bin inmates who emulated the Baader-Meinhof and started their own terrorist group, rallying to the slogan ‘Kill Kill Kill For Inner Peace and Mental Health’. Along with the interest in un-sane states of consciousness, another crucial influence was Revell’s precocious reading (long before it was translated into English) of Jacques Attali’s seminal treatise Noise. As you might expect, SPK’s discography encompasses a fair amount of banging and screaming, augmented with guitar feedback and tortured synths. Hard going at first (Information Overload Unit, 1980), it gets progressively more listenable and interesting across Leichenschrei (1982), Dekompositions (1983) and Auto-Da-Fe (1983) as elements of structure, atmosphere, and even electro-influenced danceability creep in. SPK then pulled their own conform-to-deform move, signing to a major label and attempting a metal-bashing/electropop crossover sound on 1983’s risible Metal Dance and Machine Age Voodoo (1984)".
(Simon Reynolds, Rip It Up and Start Again)
"SPK are never ones to be bound by expectation or formula. Their history is littered with fleeting glimpses of drastic environments and inquisitive moves. Their moves have fluctuated from the inpenetrable, discordant Leichenzchrei of 1981 to the cohesive, industrial dance power of 1984's Machine Age Voodoo. And now, not content to wallow in the praise and scepticism of transient souls, they move in their own sweet time to more challenging roles. Zamia Lehmanni (Songs of Byzantine Flowers) is a world away from the pop impregnated force of Machine Age Voodoo. Its overall spirit is bathed in a classical mysticism conjured from the sounds and instruments of New Guinea and Indonesia. These textural pieces are occasionally accompanied by choral chants that add a haunting air. Their restraint belies an inner strenght that sends shivers down your vulnerability. SPK make music of conviction. They aren't in the business of parody. They immerse themselves fully in their new guise, and what emerges is a mutated slant on ancient values as the true spirit of the Orient finds itself accommodating Western idiosyncracies and glimpses of their industrial past appear to form a majestic panorama. SPK have developed an image that makes it easy for people to dismiss them as indulgent antagonists, but it's only through their exploratory ventures that those less brave have followed a smoother ride. For those who endeavour to seek out SPK and persevere, the rewards can be satisfying and durable. Zamia Lehmanni is rich in colour and imagery. It'll sooth the aches and pains of perverted realism and leave you cleansed and fresh".
(Kevin Murphy, Sounds)
ENJOY
In Flagrante Delicto
5 comments:
Tracklist:
01 Invocation
02 Palms Crossed In Sorrow
03 Romanz In Moll
04 In the Dying Moments
05 In Flagrante Delicto
06 Alocasia Metallica
07 Necropolis
08 The Garden of Earthly Delights
09 The Doctrine of Eternal Ice (bonus)
I really love this album. Such an improvement over their early radical LPs and the electropop stuff. Graeme Revell's last moment of true genius before selling out to Hollywood.
I love your blog.
Thank you for this, I'd never heard of SPK before and it's quite a surprise!
I never understand these "selling out" comments about artist such as this writer here who once admired but now apparently scorns Graeme Revell's more current work compared to his album Zamia Lehmani.
Why the dig? An artist chooses his own path, and if he produces brilliant work and goes out on a limb or takes a risk that is admirable and even necessary for creative survival. A comment such as this serves only as proof that there are people who think artists should live in a ghetto, frozen in time with no change of getting out, because, god forbid, the outside world may change their perceptions of the human condition, worse yet, they may get it in their head that they can actually monetize their skill!
So the net result of a comment such as this is that it only puts an unfavorable spotlight on the writer. It's like throwing a boomerang in anger and having it get stuck in the back of your head.
Rene Hofstede NYC
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