Electronic Sound Magazine Issue 88 Retour à l'édition précédente

There aren’t many bands like Laibach. Or maybe that should be any. Trying to explain who they are and what they do is quite the challenge, but that’s the task we’ve set ourselves for this month’s cover feature. Formed at the start of the 1980s in a Slovenian mining town in what was then Yugoslavia, the band arrived as part of wider art movement, Neue Slowenische Kunst, which they co-founded against a backdrop of massive upheaval in the region. The NSK collective featured several different factions. Alongside Laibach, who were the music wing of the movement, there was a theatre group, an audio-visual unit, a team of graphic designers, a team of filmmakers, and even a philosopher or two (working under the banner of the Department of Pure and Applied Philosophy).

The various arms of NSK addressed ideas of culture and national identity in Slovenia at a time when bloody and brutal ethnic conflicts were tearing the former Yugoslavia apart. This is all clearly weighty stuff, but Laibach have always tackled issues with such fearless invention, not to mention plenty of good humour, that it’s hard not to marvel at their incredible body of work. Ed Sheeran singing “I’m in love with the shape of you” this is not. And if you’re wondering why frontman Milan Fras is holding an owl on the opening spread of the feature, well, we have no idea whatsoever. It’s Laibach, innit?

We have a dazzling array of synthy goodness as this month’s supporting cast. Hannah Peel talks about her fascinating new project with Paraorchestra and Tears For Fears reflect on their first album in nearly 20 years. Nik Colk Void, Loraine James and Kavinsky are our other main interviews, while our always jam-packed reviews section kicks off with Plastikman’s reworking of his classic ‘Consumed’ album with Chilly Gonzales at the piano. We’ve got a busy front section too, including Betty Boo and Sonic Boom, plus a great story about a new short film about Andrew Weatherall.