Celebrating
its 40th anniversary this month is the sophomore LP from Bourbese
Qualk, Hope, which was released in September of 1984. Bourbonese Qualk
began in Southport (UK) in 1979 when Simon Crab and his brother Ted
began working together to create experimental music. By the recording
of Hope, the band were a trio consisting of Simon Crab: Instruments and
electronics, Julian Gilbert: Voice and electronics and Steven Tanza:
Drums. Although they get lumped in as part of the second wave of the UK
"industrial" scene, their style was diverse enough that the fit into
that box was always misleading, though their style could come close to
early Cabaret Voltaire in terms of their penchant for funky grooves
combined with strange noises.
Like
their punk counterpart, CRASS, they were highly politically active and,
by the time of recording this album, had squatted a large abandoned
building, The Ambulance Station, converting it into a studio and
communal artist space. Working independently, they released their
albums on their own label imprint, Recloose Organisation. Though Hope
was their second vinyl LP, the group were also extremely active in the
cassette tape exchange culture, where they released a number of cassette
only titles. Hope saw the group expanding its musical palette to
incorporate a wider variety of styles and instruments.
During
the 1980s the group were quite visible as they were often contributors
to numerous compilation releases of the time. That's where I first
encountered them, on releases like The Elephant Table. They fell into
neglect after their peak in the mid 1980s, though they continued to
release albums sporadically up to 2003, mostly with Simon Crab as the
principal contributor. I'd nearly forgotten about the group through the
1990s and early 2000s, but found myself rediscovering them at the
beginning of the new millennium. Their entire catalogue was initially
archived on their website and available for free for many years, but a
reissue campaign in recent years has helped revive interest in the band
as their albums can now be purchased via Bandcamp.
