din a testbild: programm 4

Early pioneers of the German New Wave music scene, Din A Testbild were formed in 1978 by Mark Eins and Gudrun Gut (former member of Einstürzende Neubauten, Mania D. and Malaria!). Din A Testbild played a significant role in defining the avant-garde music of Berlin. Their participation at the Festival Genialer Dilletanten in 1981 is legendary. Programm 4 is their fourth album. Mixed and auto-produced by Mark Eins near the wall in West Berlin in 1983, the album was rejected at the time by Innovative Communication, considered be too "synth/punk/techno" by the new label managers who were looking more into new age stuff. In fact, Schulze eventually sold the label in 1983, which started to release a plethora of acts loosely grouped around the NAM genre. The album was engineered by Manuel Göttsching (a long-time friend of Mark Eins) and remained under the ice for more than 30 years until Mannequin Records head Alessandro Adriani got in touch with Mark Eins and convinced him to show him the unreleased album. Recorded with basically the same setup of the previously released number 3 of the series, Programm 4 goes even further and faster, pushing the TR-808 and the arpeggios to the limit. Imagine a sort of Clara Mondshine on speed. Looking to Europe widely in that period, similitudes can be found to Portion Control and Neon Judgement. Original reel-to-reel master tapes imported and processed by Frieder Butzmann. Mastered by Rude 66. Edition of 500.