THE SPECIALIST
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Senza Decoro: Liebe +Anarchia In Switzerland/1980–1990 STRUT
Mehmet Aslan: crate-digger extraordinaire
ROBBIE CAMPBELL,ELISABETHGAUDIN
Lilliput: Zurich art-punks
8/10
Underground nuggets from the Swiss post-punk scene
HOW did the post-punk explosion play out in Switzerland? Not aquestion that’s necessarily troubled many rock historians –everyone’s heard of Yello, at least –but one that piqued the interest of the Swiss-Turkish, Berlin-based DJ and producer Mehmet Aslan, who would come across intriguing underground nuggets from the country of his birth as he scoured blogs and the digger circuit around Europe. In much the same way as he’s salvaged obscure cuts from his Turkish heritage and edited them for the dancefloor, with Senza Decoro: Liebe +Anarchia in Switzerland, Aslan manages to present avivid portrait of ahaphazard scene fuelled not only by the rise of DIY synth and experimental music but also the chaotic energy of apolitical youth uprising that led to rioting in Zurich, Lausanne, Basel and other cities in the name of art and social equality. In May 1980, for example, a street battle in Zurich between young demonstrators and police, known as the Opernhauskrawalle –Opera House riots –is widely considered to mark the rebirth of the country’s alternative youth movement and aspirit of genuine reinvention –hence the “anarchy” in the title.