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Laibach


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Some time ago I was given the chance of attending a special lecture on Lublana - a very picturesque, fabulously scenic place, by no means related to any military tendencies. Laibach (Lublana in German), a band, which emerged from the need of expressing its objections against the overwhelming intellectual, as well as artistic, narcosis of the time, one of the legendary founders of slovenian Neukunstgruppe, constitutes an absolute negation and contratiction of that folksy picture of Lublana, showing more severe, nonconformistic, germanized verison of the capital of Slovenia, expressing tiself by means of audacious declarations, complimented by subliminally raw sound. However convincingly the band's message turns out on their studio album, this sensation is intensified beyond the limit during their concerts, mainly due to the abbudance of means of artistic expression, original visualisations included. This year, on the second occasion, this time at Kwadrat in Krakow, I had an opportunity of attending an extraordinary, audio-visual spectacle, where par excellence exalted form of artistic expression was flawlessly oscillating among subdued agression, subtlety and the in-between states.

Undecently prolonging time of the anticipation, that peculiar moment of suspension between the reality and the opening dimension of sonic pleasures, was suddenly interrupted by Mina Špiler, who appeared onstage accompanied by a cacaphony of sounds, holding a megaphone in one hand and shouting a number of commands through it; then a master of the ceremony, Milan Fras, came onstage, only to be welcomed by a booming holler of a group of his followers, united into one entity under the influence of his ponderous, yet mesmerizing manner. After the theatrical entrance of the dramatic personae, a proper performance commenced: in the first part of it, the band treated the audiance to the new arrengements of their old tracks. "Boji" introduced the gathered to the uncanny atmosphere of the early works of Laibach, perfectly marking the beginning of the show. A rudimentary atmosphere of a strictly industrial way of playing, was continued by "Mi kujemo bodocnost" - a track, in which an amalgamation of a slightly muted melody with a truly dramatic pitch of Mina Špiler, literally set the band on a pedestal of the High Art. Both "Smrt za smrt" and "Brat Moj" proved that the band is still in good condition, as far as the live shows are concerned, concuring to a gradual intensfication of the audiance's state of subdued exaltation. The next rack, "Krvava Gruda - plodna Zemlja", stunned with its rhythm, which was complemented by the emotional vocal of Milan Fras. The splendid first part of the concert was ithed by such classics as "Drzava", "Nova Akropola" or "Slovenska Zena". The second part consisted of a few tracks, commonly perceived as 'popular'. "Tanz mit Laibach", the undeniable king amongst the hits of Laibach, was choosen for an exquisitely dynamic indicator of this part of the performance, liberating all supllies of energy of the audiance. Next in line, "Du Bist Unser", with its sultrily pulsating beat, constituted a certain kind of exorcism performed on the spectators, who had been earlier possesed by sonicly disturbing "Alle Gegen Alle". The vibrating sound of "Hell:Symmetry" once again proved that Laibach of today is still at its prime in terms of the music; standard "Das Spiel Ist" finally marked the official part of the concert. While the five of musicians dissapeared from the stage, the Polish audiance, not exactly appeased audio-visually, set about yeeling in order to make the band quench their thirsts with yet another helping of the raw sounds. As an encore, Laibach treated us to its luxuries: "America", "Anglia", "francia", topping the spectacle off with inseparable bows, leaving everybody in the state of enjoyable inertia.

At thier concert in Krakow, the Slovenian band once again proved that the word "Laibach" may be equated with the permorming arts of the highest level: pathos, perfectly planned and well-thought behavior of the actors-musicians and excellently balanced emotional side of the performance are inseparable elements characteristic of the 'Laibach' art; the art which has been setting an exemple for a great number of other bands, as well as shaping the aesthetic senses of each and every lover ot this Slovenian phenomenon for years.
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Translator: murd
Add date: 2011-01-07 / Live reports


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