| Aural Guerrilla | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1988 | |||
| Recorded | Mar 1–7, 1988 | |||
| Studio | Studio Suite 16, Rochdale, England | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 40:15 | |||
| Label | Ex Records Homestead Records | |||
| Producer | Jon Langford | |||
| The Ex chronology | ||||
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Aural Guerrilla is the 1988 studio album by Dutch anarchist post-punk band The Ex, co-released by American indie label Homestead Records.
Wanting a different sound, The Ex recorded Aural Guerrilla in Rochdale, England instead of their home studio in the Netherlands, and returned to work with The Mekons' Jon Langford who had previously produced the band's 1983 album, Tumult . As inspiration for the album, the band would retire to Langford's house in Leeds after each day of recording and rewatch a videocassette of televised vaudeville routines performed by Spike Jones and his City Slickers from the 1950s. [1]
The Ex completed 10 songs, nine originals, plus a cover of Peter Hammill's "A Motorbike in Afrika" from his 1978 album The Future Now .
The song Evolution(?) features allusions to the Chumbawamba song Liberation from the Revolution EP
Aural Guerrilla was released in 1988 on the band's own Ex Records in Europe [2] and in the United States on indie rock label Homestead Records [3] making it The Ex's first studio album to be widely distributed in the North America. The album's central cover image is that of a gorilla yawning, suggesting the homonymous pun with the album's title, "oral gorilla."
As with The Ex's previous album, Too Many Cowboys, the band packed the record sleeve with inserts, a set of four giant double-sided posters designed by eight different graphic artists. [1] Another large poster contained the record's lyrics and included a reduction of the album’s cover art formatted to the size of an audio cassette accompanied by a note encouraging fans to duplicate and distribute it because “home-taping saves money." [2]
Aural Guerrilla was re-issued on CD in 1993 by Ex Records in the Netherlands [4] and by Fist Puppet [5] in the U.S. The Greek label Di Di Music also reissued the album on vinyl. [6]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [7] |
| Sputnikmusic |  [8] |
| Tom Hull | B+ [9] |
Trouser Press was highly positive of the album, calling it "an evocative and tightly crimped knot about a variety of righteous causes. A bracing blast of barbed wire guitar delivered at reasonable speed with clear (but passionate) vocals, Aural Guerrilla is one of the Ex's best; potent highlights include the pro-animal ecology of "Evolution (?)," the anti-rock-star venom of "Meanwhile at McDonna's" and "Welcome to the Asylum," an attack on Holland's shoddy treatment of refugees." [10] An unattributed review of the album on the band's official website calls it "[p]owerful, strong punk, with a bit of an industrial edge, and as always, inspiring lyrics." [11]
The Ex is an underground band from the Netherlands, started in 1979 at the height of the original punk explosion as a Dutch punk band. The Ex originated from the squatting movement in Amsterdam and Wormer, and was inspired by bands like The Fall and The Mekons. Although initially known as an anarcho-punk band associated with the Dutch post-punk ultra scene, over the decades The Ex's sound has gradually developed into its current form of highly intricate, experimental punk/post-punk/no wave-inspired work. This sound includes a combination of diverse genres and styles, such as noise, folk, world music, free jazz, and crossovers between these genres. Other examples of branching out stylistically include the improvised double album Instant and a release under the moniker Ex Orkest, a 20 piece big band assembled for performances at Holland Festival. "One reason we are hard to describe is that we never had an education at music school, and in that sense we are not influenced by any traditional playing," explained Katherina Bornefeld, drummer for The Ex since 1984. The Ex's lyrics consist of straightforward statements about politics and abuses in society. The band enjoys international acclaim for this socially critical message, as well as for the energetic, rhythmic, atonal guitar playing, and for the furious vocals of singer G.W. Sok, who was replaced in recent years by Arnold de Boer of the duo Zea. The Ex have released over 20 full-length albums.
Joggers and Smoggers is a double album by punk artists The Ex, released in 1989 as a double vinyl record album, and issued as a double CD in 1992. It is the first of the Ex's albums to feature extensive use of improvisation and instruments outside of the standard guitar/bass/drums arrangement of punk rock, as well as great numbers of international guest musicians, most notably New York's Sonic Youth, Glasgow's Dog Faced Hermans, Amsterdam's Instant Composers Pool, as well as numerous folk musicians from a variety of European and Middle Eastern traditions. The album marked a turning point in The Ex's artistry, foreshadowing many collaborations and delvings into avant-garde, experimental, improvisational, folk and world music that the band would mix with their abrasive trademark post-punk sound in the 20 years to come.
Live Skull is a post-punk/experimental rock band from New York City, formed in 1982.
Disturbing Domestic Peace was the debut album from Dutch anarchist band The Ex.
And the Weathermen Shrug Their Shoulders is the second of two albums by Dutch punk band The Ex in collaboration with avant-garde cellist Tom Cora. Cora was acknowledged in the credits of earlier album Joggers and Smoggers but didn't actually appear on an Ex album until a recording session in 1990 which led to Scrabbling at the Lock as well as And the Weathermen Shrug Their Shoulders.
Dizzy Spells is an album by Dutch post-punk band The Ex. It is the band's 11th studio album and 18th overall, and was produced by Steve Albini who had also produced its predecessor. Dizzy Spells was also The Ex's final studio album to feature bass guitarist Luc who would end up leaving the band after being a member for 20 years.
Tumult is the third album by Dutch anarchist punk rock band The Ex, originally released in 1983. It was produced by Jon Langford of The Mekons and Dolf Planteijdt.
History is What's Happening is the second album of songs by Dutch punk rock band The Ex, originally released in 1982.
Pokkeherrie is a 1985 album by The Ex, originally released on vinyl only on the Pokabilly label. The original release included an eleven-page booklet containing lyrics & artwork and a double sided poster. It was reissued on compact disc in 1995 on Ex Records. The album comprises a collection of songs the group had performed on an anti-military tour. The title of the album is a Dutch word that means something like "so much noise" or "awful noise". It is the first of the Ex's albums to feature Katrin on drums, cementing the band's core lineup that would last for nearly two decades.
Scrabbling at the Lock is the first of two albums by Dutch punk band The Ex in collaboration with avant-garde cellist Tom Cora. It is also the first of The Ex's studio albums to feature the work of then Dog Faced Hermans guitarist Andy Moor, who has remained in the band ever since.
Mudbird Shivers is an album by Dutch punk/experimental band The Ex. The album prominently features vocals by guest musician Han Buhrs, who also plays a number of different instruments on the recording. It was released the same year as The Ex's entirely instrumental improv album Instant.
Too Many Cowboys is the second double-album Dutch anarchist punk band The Ex. Released in 1987, it mixes live and studio recordings and marks the band's beginning of a collaboration with British anarchist group Chumbawamba.
Instant is a double compact disc by the Dutch experimental post-punk band The Ex. The band recorded the album in conjunction with many guest musicians, notably members of Holland's Instant Composers Pool (ICP) for whom the album is partially named, the other part being that the Dutch term for "free improvisation" literally translates to "instant composition."
Hands Up! You're Free is an album by Dutch anarcho-punk band The Ex compiling the group's three different Peel sessions recorded for BBC Radio 1 during the 1980s. The Ex released the collection on their own label, Ex Records, first on vinyl in June 1988, then on CD in 2003.
Catch My Shoe is an album by Dutch anarchist band The Ex. It is the band's first record after the departure of their original vocalist G.W. Sok and features Arnold de Boer, from the band Zea, on vocals, guitar and keyboard. It is also the band's first album recorded without a bass player, and has The Ex's two other guitarists trading off duties on lower pitched six-string baritone guitars. Two songs contain overdubbed brass lines recorded by Sicilian jazz trumpeter Roy Paci.
Blueprints for a Blackout is the fourth album by Dutch post-punk band The Ex, originally released in 1984. It was the first of The Ex's albums to feature Luc playing bass guitar and he would remain as the band's bass player for 20 years. The album also featured many guest musicians, a notable trend in The Ex's discography that would provide musical elements unique to each of their albums.
6 is a collection of six singles by Dutch musical group The Ex. The singles were available in record shops and also through a subscription with a new one being issued every two months throughout 1991. Each of the singles explored different facets of The Ex's musical relationships and interests, featuring collaborations with an array of musicians and other artists. The 6 singles were not released on The Ex's CD collection, Singles. Period. The Vinyl Years 1980–1990 as they comprised an album to be collected and stored in a single box. The band announced plans to reissue the collection on CD in 2010, but have yet to do so.
G.W. Sok is a Dutch singer, best known for his 30-year career as the frontman of the Ex. G.W. Sok left the Ex in 2008 to focus on a solo career and collaboration projects with other musicians, participation in theatre performances and spoken word performances. Apart from his musical career he is also active as a writer and a graphic designer.
1936, The Spanish Revolution is an album of songs and archival photographs related to the Spanish Civil War, recorded and assembled by Dutch anarchist punk band The Ex. The band released it in 1986, the 50th anniversary of the Spanish Revolution, on their own label as a square 7" (17.5 cm) soft-cover book with two 45 rpm records. A 5" (12.5 cm) hardcover edition was republished by AK press in 1997, replacing the records with a pair of 3" CDs.
The Ex are a Dutch music group from Amsterdam founded in 1979. In their four decades as a band, they have moved from playing anarcho punk to post punk, jazz, folk and African music. They have collaborated on records with fellow indie musicians Chumbawamba, Dog Faced Hermans, Tortoise and Sonic Youth, improvisers like Tom Cora and the Instant Composers Pool, and toured with African musicians Konono Nº1 and Getatchew Mekurya.
