bourbonese qualk: 1983-1987

Mannequin Records is proud to present a compilation of one of the most important industrial bands active during the '80s in the UK. Bourbonese Qualk were an experimental music group from England, active from 1979 through 2003. They were always obsessively and uncompromisingly focused on controlling their work: they ran their own record label, recording studio, tour organization, and music venue (the notorious Ambulance Station). They refused to integrate into the commercial music racket and turned down publishing deals from major labels, stubbornly opting for total independence. They're also known for their political activism, formed in the crucible of 1980s Britain amid such influences as the UK miners' strike, The Falklands War, Thatcherism, monetarism, local government corruption, squatting, anti-capitalism, anti-fascism, and anarchism. Their work was often ambiguous and directly critical of cynical power-politics of any color, often irritating members of the traditional organized left. In 1984 Bourbonese Qualk occupied a large empty building on the Old Kent Road in South London, which they turned into a base for their activities, a cooperative space for artists, musicians, and writers, and a center for radical political activism -- specifically as a coordinating center for the Stop the City anti-capitalist riots of 1984. Throughout its existence the band had a number of different line-ups; this collection focuses on the period of 1983 through 1987, which featured the trio of Simon Crab, Julian Gilbert, and Steven Tanza. During this time the group released five albums: Laughing Afternoon (1983), Hope (1984), The Spike (1985), Preparing for Power (1986), and Bourbonese Qualk (1987), releasing all but The Spike on their own labels Recloose Organisation and New International Recordings. Most of the tracks on this collection were recorded in their studio at the Ambulance Station. The group chose never to record in a proper studio (not that they could ever afford to), working instead with their own extremely basic equipment at a time when home studios were very unusual. If Bourbonese Qualk have a legacy, it is that culture should be reclaimed, redefined, and owned by the people, wherever they are, however small, and not by the state or the market, and that culture is a vital vehicle for debate and radical change. The fight goes on. Mastered by Rude 66. Graphic design curated by Simon Crab and Alessandro Adriani.