In the beginning there was concrete. And the concrete was grey. Not only, but also in the Fritz Heckert area in Karl-Marx-Stadt, which was called Chemnitz again. As sung by Trettmann, who was drawn away for this reason, among others, "up and away, not another season".
Many seasons later, when it was time to launch a pop-cultural contribution in the Capital of Culture year with reference to the former Fritz Heckert area as part of the "Fritz 51" project under the umbrella of the Institut für Ostmoderne e.V., Trettmann's cool, melancholy concrete hit was the starting point for a broader vision of "concrete pop". As a collection of songs or pieces with a concrete reference, reinterpreted in cover versions, remixes, dubs or edits, across styles and genres: punk, post-punk, dub, indie rock, EBM electroclash, house, drum'n'bass, noise'n'poetry ... - united by the material sung about or otherwise thematised. Which often serves as a symbol of cold social framing, but can also be addressed differently. At least presumably ironically. A compilation with acts from Chemnitz, Leipzig, Berlin, Frankfurt/Main, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Wittichenau, Katowice (PL), Tokyo (JP), Washington DC (USA), the Finnish forests or the Brazilian Volta Redonda. Released as a double LP on a major label and curated by Leipzig subculture networker Alexander Pehlemann (Zonic - Kulturelle Randstandsblicke & Involvierungsmomente/ Edition Iron Curtain Radio).
The record release party, which also celebrates the vernissage of the "Fritz 51" exhibition "Sicht-Beton", will feature three outstanding acts who have each contributed "concrete pop" works in their own different ways.
Das Kinnfrom Frankfurt/Main, whose album "Ruinenkampf", released earlier this year on Hamburg's trusted label Bureau B, caused a sensation with its dystopian electro-post-punk, is featured in a crisp, banging remix by L.F.T., who took on the Das Kinn track "Sichtbeton". Selected before it became the modified title of the exhibition, but now all the more fitting and can therefore also be viewed as a concrete record in the exhibition.
Felix Kubin, Hamburg master of late Dadaist post-punk electronics with original roots in the Ur-NDW and grandiose entertainer (as well as radio play maker, label operator and capable of academically serious sound production), on the other hand, throws in the lyrical concrete rage a la Rolf-Dieter Brinkmann and will cast a spell live in his usual noisy and charming manner. Which also means: tending towards the dancefloor.
Finally, Pisse, the (post-)punk formation from Lusatia, who will be dynamically mixing up the evening, will be there in derivations. On the one hand, one half of Pisse, as JPGR&R, interprets the Cottbus wave classic "P 2" by WK13, first released in 1988 on the AMIGA cloverleaf LP "die anderen bands" and dedicated to an omnipresent Plattenbau type from the GDR. On the other hand, large parts of Pisse intonate the original hit "Grauer Beton" as Musik Express. Which closes the concrete circle.
