PRICE:
$17.00
IN STOCK
ARTIST
TITLE
La Freiheit des Geistes
FORMAT
CD

LABEL
CATALOG #
BB 166CD BB 166CD
GENRE
RELEASE DATE
4/29/2014

In 1981 Tom Dokoupil and Walter Dahn, two young and wild protagonists of the German underground, got together to create a new music project entitled Die Partei. Using his Siluetes 61 alias, Dokoupil was already known as something of a musical eccentric and as a member of The Wirtschaftswunder. Walter Dahn, a star pupil of Joseph Beuys, collaborated with Dokoupil's brother Georg in the Mülheimer Freiheit art group, and played music in the Cologne scene which emerged around Can. A chance meeting between Dokoupil and Dahn led to their teaming up. They met in Dokoupil's Studio 61, The Wirtschaftswunder's workplace. Die Partei was christened a few sessions later and a plan made to create a concept album according to strict rules: they would record on a single weekend, the music would be instrumental, electronic and danceable, sprinkled with a few film quotes. Dokoupil and Dahn knew exactly the moods they sought to conjure up with their tracks. They only allowed themselves the use of certain instruments and adhered to a duality of contrasts: good/evil, beautiful/ugly (in terms of sound), fast/slow, rightist/leftist politics (with reference to the artwork). The last piece of the puzzle was an album title: La Freiheit des Geistes (trans. "The Freedom of the Spirit"). And here's what Sounds magazine wrote about the album in January 1982: "La Freiheit des Geistes is quite an accomplishment. Dokoupil and Dahn have succeeded in making a cheerful, relaxed dance record without resorting to funk or DAF. Warm sounds abound, mechanically swift rhythm machines barely register, sparse guitar, bursts of trumpet and saxophone. Topped with little melodies, as simple as they are memorable, not dissimilar to Yello."