Last Few Days [Special]
Last Few Days [Special]
To many the band Last Few Days is just a complete mystery or simply some group who toured with Laibach then promptly disappeared soon afterwards. This is not particularly surprising for a band that consciously left little mark during their existence. They were a band that deliberately avoided releasing their material and kept a limit on their live performances, they also had a very low profile though it was increased briefly after the Laibach collaborations. Most people attending their concerts had little very idea who they were, simply enticed along by the ambiguous posters or simply a night out. The concerts themselves bizarrely lasting all through the night (with a mixture of music and movies), still going at 7AM and not quite easiest sort music to be listening to either. They made heavy use of megaphones, guitars often played with broken bottles, drum unrelenting and brutal, delivering rather harsh and bewildering but occasionally rhythmic apocalyptic music. Thriving off confusion and curiosity while delivering unconventional or extreme and brutal sounds with visual accompaniment, attempting to drive the listeners psychological state to the abyss.
The total 3D experience on all senses effect is virtually impossible to recreate on record and may be one factor in the reasons to limit the material released. Undoubtedly this barrage had a powerful effect whether it was quite what they planned; the overall technique is reminiscent to Laibach's stage performances. It is likely that Laibach had observed and subsequently took on board, modifying to a higher degree the total immersion of the senses, breaking down resistance and allowing submission to indoctrination. Laibach also brought in the LFD idea of using a megaphone into parts of their early live performances; there are also strong arguments that LFD were influential in the music of Laibach around this period. Though both groups were essentially different, they shared a number of similarities such as their militant clothing, shaved heads, distinctive motifs (LFD's emblem - a stylized Black Sun, taken from the Book of Revelation "... and the sun shall become as black as sackcloth of hair..."). Collaboration began in 1983; contact was probably made via LFD's appearance at the Final Academy, Laibach invited LFD along with 23 Skidoo whose members usually assisted LFD to Yugoslavia. While there, they jointly released the cassette album Laibach/Last Few Days and performed at Zagreb's Music Biennial festival before being interrupted at 5am by the police bringing the show to an end. During their time in Ljubljana they helped Laibach with their planned first album as guest musicians although this album was dropped after Laibach's infamous TV appearance that year the material did eventually became the bulk of Rekapitulacija, it also formed their first 12" released in 1984 by a Belgian label.
LFD returned later that year to begin their European tour with Laibach, however both Yugoslavian concerts were cancelled and the tour began in Vienna and continued through a number of countries on both sides of the iron curtain. Reports of the Warsaw concert made it back to the UK music press, one of the earliest to mention Laibach in the UK. LFD recorded over 100 hours of material from this tour and trimmed it down to fit on their only LP Pure Spirit and Saliva. The record was released in 1986 although Daniel Landin was against releasing the record and left soon after to concentrate on film work. It was not long before Daniel was working with Laibach again, directing the promotional video for Drzava. He directed the videos for Geburt Einer Nation and Life is Life, was also involved with the Laibach film Bravo. The band continued for a couple years after Daniel left before ceasing to exist. Keir Fraser moved to Italy and continued his interest in music with a band called Phosphorus. 23 Skidoo continues with an intermittent existence, releasing the occasional project and had recently been performing live. Fritz Haaman now produces music as Hashashan.
The three main members of LFD were Daniel Landin (aka D. Styme), Si Joyce (aka Si Gross) and Keir Wahid (aka K. Warhead & K. Fraser). They were regularly helped out by Fritz Haaman (aka Fritz Catlin) who also performed with Laibach during the joint tour, and occasionally by Sam Mills, both members of 23 Skidoo.
[Releted links]
[Video]
[Discography]
Laibach/Last Few Days (tape, Galerija ŠKUC Izdaja, 1983)
Last Few Days - So The Last Shall Be The First and First Last For Many Be Called But Few Chosen (tape, Staatape OOB, 1984)
Last Few Days - Too Much Is Not Enough (12", Touch, 1986),
Last Few Days - Pure Spirit And Saliva (LP, Dead Man's Curve, 1986)
source:
433rpm.blogspot.com //sickness-abounds.blogspot.com
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