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so yesterday i came across a video by a slovenian music/art group called Laibach (which is the german name for the capital of slovenia, ljubljana). this somehow involved ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jigglykat and the song "the final countdown" by europe). then i looked up more of their stuff and read about them a bit. they're industrial, and they use art and symbols from artists like malevich and heartfield, but i'm really interested in the way they reappropriate work by other musicians. they take songs (or entire albums) and make covers of them, sometimes changing the lyrics, sometimes leaving the lyrics completely alone but letting their own sound (industrial, militaristic) change the tone and intent of the original.
i was struck by how much rammstein has lifted from their work and aesthetic, while remaining commercial and popular (they have the malevich cross, which is laibach's symbol, in their name -- replacing the "t" in "rammstein"). i saw this quote from them on wikipedia: "Laibach does not believe in originality... Therefore, Rammstein could not 'steal' much from us. They simply let themselves get inspired by our work, which is absolutely a legitimate process. We are glad that they made it. In a way, they have proven once again that a good 'copy' can make more money on the market than the 'original.'" they did a cover of rammstein's song "ohne dich", and changed the lyrics "without you i cannot exist" to "without me you cannot exist".
anyway, i have been listening to them while i've been writing since yesterday, and want to post a couple of the videos i especially liked. so here we go:
( more industrial slovenian under the cut )
they started in 1980 and are still working today. by the way, a lot of these videos are a bit weird and there is some militaristic/fascist imagery, which the uneducated could mistake for support of fascism. they have said, "We are fascists as much as Hitler was a painter", which is a more ambiguous statement than some of their leftist supporters have ackowledged, but looking at as much of their work as i've seen, at least, it's quite impossible to conclude that they themselves are fascists, as much as using the imagery to turn the notions upside-down a bit and explore the territory of symbolism and politics.
anyway, just enjoying myself a little as i write.
jigglykat and the song "the final countdown" by europe). then i looked up more of their stuff and read about them a bit. they're industrial, and they use art and symbols from artists like malevich and heartfield, but i'm really interested in the way they reappropriate work by other musicians. they take songs (or entire albums) and make covers of them, sometimes changing the lyrics, sometimes leaving the lyrics completely alone but letting their own sound (industrial, militaristic) change the tone and intent of the original. i was struck by how much rammstein has lifted from their work and aesthetic, while remaining commercial and popular (they have the malevich cross, which is laibach's symbol, in their name -- replacing the "t" in "rammstein"). i saw this quote from them on wikipedia: "Laibach does not believe in originality... Therefore, Rammstein could not 'steal' much from us. They simply let themselves get inspired by our work, which is absolutely a legitimate process. We are glad that they made it. In a way, they have proven once again that a good 'copy' can make more money on the market than the 'original.'" they did a cover of rammstein's song "ohne dich", and changed the lyrics "without you i cannot exist" to "without me you cannot exist".
anyway, i have been listening to them while i've been writing since yesterday, and want to post a couple of the videos i especially liked. so here we go:
( more industrial slovenian under the cut )
they started in 1980 and are still working today. by the way, a lot of these videos are a bit weird and there is some militaristic/fascist imagery, which the uneducated could mistake for support of fascism. they have said, "We are fascists as much as Hitler was a painter", which is a more ambiguous statement than some of their leftist supporters have ackowledged, but looking at as much of their work as i've seen, at least, it's quite impossible to conclude that they themselves are fascists, as much as using the imagery to turn the notions upside-down a bit and explore the territory of symbolism and politics.
anyway, just enjoying myself a little as i write.
