Bourbonese Qualk

Laughing Afternoon

Recloose Records LOOSE004 33rpm 12" vinyl LP 1983 (UK)

Tracklist
A1     God With Us   
A2     Idiot Pain   
A3     Barcelona Telephone Exchange   
A4     Freefall   
A5     Blood Orange Bargain Day   
A6     Behind Closed Doors   
B1     Qualk Street   
B2     To Hell With The Consequences   
B3     Building Jerusalem   
B4     Feast Of Trumpets   
B5     Virgin Ears, Virgin Eyes   
B6     Spanner In The Works   
B7     Mystery Dance   

Drums - Steven Tanza
Electronics, Guitar - Simon Crab
Voice - Julian Gilbert

Produced by Bourbonese Qualk.
Recorded at Recloose studios s.london 1983.
Following very brief snippets of found sounds, Laughing Afternoon begins in earnest. The rhythmically relentless God With Us is masterful (the uniforms of German soldiers of both the First and Second World Wars were inscribed with the words “Gott Mit Uns” – helmets in the former, belts in the latter). It seems to consist of real and electronic drums, plus also some carefully timed delays – applied to both vocals and various other parts of the mix. No mean feat in pre-digital days of recording and sound engineering! Especially in the context of what I assume were relatively cheap recordings such as these. Although Laughing Afternoon doesn’t sound cheap, and has lost none of its power even on the comparatively low quality mp3 files made available on the band’s website. Subsequent tracks become gradually more abstract, incorporating along the way some saxophone (Idiot Pain), roughly bowed violin (Barcelona Telephone Exchange) and washes of droned guitar noise on Freefall.  The general effect is abrasive without being overly oppressive, and - to my ears at least - just the right side of discordant. More ambitious efforts such as Qualk Street work well too – although the synchronisation of the echo effects could possibly have benefited from a little more accuracy. These days, matching effects with tempos is of course extremely easy – especially where beats per minute are constant and readily known. Just click on a menu and an icon and – bam – trance-inducing trails all across the mix. Back then though it was a matter of hoping the drummer had nailed it, then futzing with some expensive piece of gear like a Roland Space Echo (which allowed for relatively fine adjustments of delay length and repeat rate, etc.). Expensive! You basically had to be Pink Floyd. I digress – other points to note on Laughing Afternoon are details such as those to be found at the end of Qualk Street, where a snippet of “world” music can be heard. Didgeridoo, perhaps? I wish I was more familiar with such sounds. At any rate, a “world” sort of vibe would be detectible on later albums (e.g. Unpop). Marks are also awarded for intriguing little fragments of manipulated sound such as Feast of Trumpets - a sixteen second burst of motor noise concluded with an insectile buzzing. And did I mention the almost alarmingly competent jazz guitar of Spanner in the Works?? Yes - yes I did actually. You just weren't paying attention. Perhaps because you'd become distracted by the fact that I'd managed to get so far through a Bourbenese Qualk review without using the term "industrial" or mentioning the band whose name rhymes with blobbing whistle. And - like this review - it is on those sorts of notes that Laughing Afternoon closes, courtesy of Mystery Dance.
  LP is Near Mint condition, in a Good to Very Good sleeve.  Comes with  paper inner sleeve and plastic protector.
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