LEBENSREFORM »Retor«-T-Shirt

A group of friends is about to print a version of LEBENSREFORM's »Retor«-Design.

The shirts are heavy (approx. 180 gr.), grey and either from Gildan or Fruit of The Loom.

Sizes available should be from S to XXL, printing is about to start in June, 2016 a.D.

The price will be a cool 10€ deal with postage paid in Germany. For mailing to other countries

 or special detailed questions you should directly contact Dennis Schmie (https://www.facebook.com/dennis.sch.10) via a Facebook-Message.

LEBENSREFORM officially supports but does not handle the dirty detailed deals...

Leni

True Hardcore, PT.II

Post Mortem

"before the Jahrhundertwende, some of us and our friends played (in) these bands. 

It's part of us, it made us what we are, still denying the past, ignoring the future! Hardcore"

http://www.audiolith.net/de/blog/35-audiolith-blog/900-bratze-highlight-berlin-music-week-linsay-lebensrefom-loxiran

AL141 
Lebensreform - Discographie
http://bit.ly/QntiR8    iTunes
http://amzn.to/UpsLCA Amazon
http://goo.gl/jpJoi Saturn
http://t.co/3HgdKJhG Musicload

http://soundcloud.com/audiolith/lebensreform-song-for-whoever




AL140
Linsay - Staatsfeind (Completest Recordings Ever)
http://bit.ly/NfJKa2    iTunes
http://amzn.to/R2Nkps Amazon

http://soundcloud.com/audiolith/linsay-carousel




AL142 
Loxiran - Loxibang (Discography)
http://bit.ly/U087Xv    iTunes
http://amzn.to/UpsDCZ Amazon

http://soundcloud.com/audiolith/loxiran-blinde-trampel

Dubious Bands

Before I was casted by the LEBENSREFORM-dudes, I had acquired some time in a handful of other projects that could be called "music bands" more or less. Very early on, it was very much more a teenage approach to drinking and partying - it was just hanging around with guys and tried banging drums (could not even beat an Oi!-kid of, let's say, 9 years). At least, somebody of the infamous DOSENMONTAG was involved.

I skipped the whole thing for many years, and tried to fail again on totally different territory, i.e. Hamburg. By 1994, I guess, I got together with two hanseatic buddies I don't know nothing about these days, and an old almost-hometown friend and by then co-writer for ZAP-Fanzine and VISIONS also (besides being a journalist in East-Germany): Dietmar Stork. The musical approach must have been something like a crossbreed of INFEST and PRIMUS - but I don't recall a thing of that part. That band, HALZZ, practised like 150m away from the Borstelmannsweg-thing in which LEBENSREFORM, LINSAY, LOXIRAN and TOMTE would reside. The only public appearance was a text-excerpt in HORIZONS-fanzine #2. For those who follow some of my works, you might recognise something.

The most promising effort of having another "real" band was another Hamburg-project with a JUST WENT BLACK-nucleus (by than more famous of being FIRE AT WILL) and veganhardcore.de-contribution. We were called SEBGHA, and had almost as much drummers as we had songs. Both shared the the habit of being not too steady. But the whole thing really made us proud and who knows what might see the face of earth one day. I have been told, that there is something still hiding somewhere - caught in space and time.

A homemade ZERO MENTALITY video - "Too Late"

These were Coptic Times...

Further info: https://www.facebook.com/zeromentalityrulesok

My friends in ZERO MENTALITY are a powerful unit with talented musicians allthrough their existence. There was alot of fuzz about them, when they started out, and I was lucky to get introduced early on by my friend Dominik Stammen - and joined their ranks soon afterwards.

This video shows them in their early installment, which remains to many the ultimate for all the Hardcore reasons. If you'll ask me, I'll rather go for the »Invite your soul«-days, but I am for sure also a sucker for alot of stuff from the demo or the first album.

One day, I decided to compose myelf a little HC-Videoclip DVD and was very eager to include ZERO MENTALITY. There was no official video of them by that time, so I took one of my favorite early songs and stole some footage that was floating around the net. If anyone out there feels responsible for doing it and feels he/she should be mentioned, just drop me a line.

"Too late" is a very straight out HC-song, and the action in the video should make clear that in those days moshing it up was a main task for the Z.M.-audience. Many familiar faces and moves are depicted here. Really likable - just like the lyrics by the infamous André Hoppe, that also breath alot of classic HC-vibe.

As far as my editing skills go: C'moooon - it was just for personal reasons. There are some minor errors in there, even including mispelling, oops.
The video does not have any clearance by any party involved, therefore (and because of it's amateur-character) I shy away from putting it on YouTube or Vimeo. But if you want to see it, there you go:

ZERO MENTALITY - Too late

QUEERFISH - Capri Bar 7" & Bonus-Song

In the 1990s, it was a pretty common habit to listen to some of those great emotional records and rockin' stuff that was also part of a community that grew to be not it anymore. Does it make sense? If not, screw you...

That kinda attitude depicted, could be also indicative of my friends in Bremen-based Rock/Hardcore-outfit QUEERFISH. They made a pretty big success in their heydays to a community that also would pretty much ditch them for being one of the first 1990s act who strived to become professional - guess what, somehow peeps were right, and it did not work out. But before that, the infamous QF were a guaranteed funhouse - on stage, and at the party that seemed to be the rest of their life. At least, that's how I like to remember them - staying at their houses, traveling with them, hanging out at bars with, getting wasted, talking, partying - having fun.

Most of them are still into music these days - there is HOME OF THE LAME, there is DER HUND MARIE, and some other stuff. Drummer Philipp Styra is also notoriously known for working at the booking agency "Creative Talent". And he also made a deal with me in 1997. We worked together on their "Capri Bar"-7". The final release.
Read how that came about: "We recorded these two songs with Dirk Kusche to have something new out before we went on tour with TEXAS IS THE REASON. We have played these songs for a long time and they were supposed to be on our 2nd album - which then was recorded but never came out because we split up... Since our label Semaphore wasn't really interested to release a 7" we have asked our friend Gonzo to release the record on his label Horizons... Gonzo has been an old friend of ours and we were happy that the songs were released... At that time no one knew that this was our final release....
We called the 7" Capri Bar, which was kinda our living room and THE hang out. Hanno (RIP) the owner was a great friend of ours..."


Here is the offer:
QUEERFISH - Capri Bar 7" w/Artwork (ZIP)

01 Better Off.mp3
02 What's wrong.mp3


Now, be prepared  for a special gift - 
an unreleased song:
This is what has to be told from the Styra-Hauptquartier:
"Neues 9 is the last song we ever wrote and is from the recording session with Swen Meyer. We actually recorded a whole new album..."
Neues 9.mp3

I hope, you have/had as much fun with QUEERFISH as I did...

The Label

Horizons was a label... I did tapes and even one record (kind of - you will see in abit). There were some recordings that never saw the light of day...

It all started out in the early 1990s. I released three live-tapes of friends' bands. Two of 'em, 7 INCH BOOTS and INTRICATE, had studio tracks, that weren't released by then. As for 7 INCH BOOTS, they later would be available on their posthumous second 7". With INTRICATE, I still have to manage to get a grasp on the recording and layout. The third in this era was Swiss band WORNOUT. All three releases were a noble cause, because after expenses paid all money did go to the then well-known "Bundesverband der Tierbefreier" (an animal-liberation group). Of course, that was not a helluva money...

The label got revitalised in the LEBENSREFORM-days to promote some off-label stuff. The first recording we did was not an official HORIZONS-release, but I got it under my wings anyhow. It was more of an attempt to legitimize a real band story. Somehow I was of the impression, that a band "has to do" a Demo. But even more somehow, I knew that recording will be a record pretty soon. Nevertheless, I did some tapes and mostly handed them out at a Fanzine-fair at Neuss. And I made sure, Markus Haas of Per Koro would get one... and so the story goes. It had the song "Was!?" extra to the "Licht, Luft, Leben"-tracks, which later would be used for tape-compilations.
An official release, and Horizons #04, was the "Punkin'" tape. This was a pre-recording of the "Retor" material, which we wanted to get a grasp on ourselves. We used a friends help with his 8-track equipment. For further details, jump over to the Discogs entry.

THIRST was a mystery. You can see above, it is advertised as "lo-fi doom" - but what the hell is that anyway? To get an idea, you might think of a remixed and torn to pieces version of the unnamed last track on "Retor". Maybe some day, you will be able to understand...

Also unreleased are the later two tapes. I would especially recommend you do some research on DREI AMIGOS. It features LEBENSREFORM-early adopter Torsten Hempelt. Maybe I can get him to comment on this with some more knowledge...

What is missing in this ad (run in HORIZONS-zine as well as others, plus flyered out on occassions) is the later record that was flying under the my flag. Some might remember, some might know from recent publications - some might just wait until I can bring it up here (I am afraid, that's also a legal thing, but screw that... I will!)

You guessed it, the following month should hopefully see a digital transformation of some of HORIZONS-labels' legacy...

HORIZONS-Fanzine #6 - never happened

My fanzine was a real 1990s story - totally coming from an Emo-kinda angle and just concentrating on almost MYSELF. First issue was born from the pain of a lost relationship, and written mostly during the flights back & forth California. I did include some photos I shot there also: of FUGAZI for example. You see, very 1990s...

The woman depicted here is
Mrs. Cleaver (no pun intended).
I was kinda into the whole
Black Power Movement
back in those days

I would adress a crude mixture of personal articles, bad poems, reviews and bands I like. Some things, it became kinda famous for - among them was a quizzy page that always saw the same people winning. But even that was totally how I wanted it to be.
There were some scene-reports, some shaping of the "Northcore"-movement, LEBENSREFORM included (yeah - I said it was about MY STUFF), and even some art.
It saw guest contributions from people that were, are or would be in LEBENSREFORM, LUZIFER'S MOB, "Intro", "Vengeance", "Stern", "de:bug", VEGAS, and by Dania...

This blog will be host to all published issues, in a C.V.-approved chronological order. From [ LEI ]'s last official statement, touching the Neneh Cherry-side of things, and slowly approaching the very first real Emo-shit (even handwritten).

Issue Number 6 never saw the light of day - I just started preparing it. As you can guess from the picture: it was meant to be a rerun of interviews and already published articles. So, yeah, basically this blog is #6 3.5...

P.S.: I guess there is only one more entry of "what is going to be in this blog" - so you'll finally will be able to just enjoy what is. But hey, "that's me"...

LEBENSREFORM - Self Edge (HEAD FIRST-cover)

The first one is a pretty obvious choice, and does break the "rules" i have stated in the initial posting.
This song was recorded at the infamous Kuschelrock-studios in 1997 with Dirk Kusche, and features the lineup of me, Christian Wruck, Dennis Becker and Mark Wehrmann.
It was supposed to be on a compilation that Thomas Tröger (of LOXIRAN/CHISPA) was going to put out - god knows what happened to that. As you can see, it's not only the music that got reinterpreteted here, but also did I not spent much time in a layout.

LEBENSREFORM - Self Edge (by HEAD FIRST)