| History Is What's Happening | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | March 1982 | |||
| Recorded | at Joke's Koeienverhuurbedrijf in Schellingwoude, NL | |||
| Genre | Anarcho-punk | |||
| Length | 31:25 | |||
| Label | More DPM (Dirt Per Minute) Reissued on CD by Ex Records | |||
| Producer | Dolf Planteydt | |||
| The Ex chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| Tom Hull | A− [2] |
History is What's Happening is the second album Dutch punk rock band The Ex, originally released in 1982.
Released two year's after the band's first album, History is What's Happening comprises studio recording of songs that The Ex had been playing live throughout 1981, supplemented by material developed in the studio. [3]
The album's 20 songs cover such topics as Dutch domestic policy ("Six of One and a Half Dozen of the Other"), the squatter movement ("Barricades"), increased mechanization within the workplace ("Machinery"), government interference ("Watch-Dogs"), and media's influence over politics ("Who Pays"). As with the previous album, The Ex included an 24-page illustrated lyric booklet and large poster within the album jacket. [4]
The group recorded the songs in the spray paint room of the factory owned by the guitarist's uncle in Zaandam, later adding vocals and overdubs at Dolf Planteijdt's Koeienverhuur ("Cow Rental") Studio, completing recording in December 1981. After their success in selling all 4,500 copies of Disturbing Domestic Peace a year earlier, the band's distributor requested 10,000 copies of History is What's Happening. But by the time of its release in March 1982, The Ex's drummer had left the band, leaving them unable to gig to promote the album, leaving the band with unsold copies for the next 15 years. [5]
The album's front jacket photo features the Jewish orchestra at the concentration camp at Janowska in Poland. The musicians are seen standing playing in a circle around conductor Yacub Mund while Nazi officers converse off to the side. The SS often forced the orchestra to perform during execution proceedings and eventually executed the musicians while they were performing a piece. [6]
The album was first issued on CD, along with The Ex's entire back catalog, in 1993, and then as a digital download on Bandcamp in the 2010s. The American label Superior Viaduct announced that it would be reissuing the album in its original 12" LP format, including a 23" x 16" poster and 24-page booklet, in September 2020. [7]
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.
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.
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.
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.
Janowska concentration camp was a German Nazi concentration camp combining elements of labor, transit, and extermination camps. It was established in September 1941 on the outskirts of Lwów in what had become, after the German invasion, the General Government. The camp was named after the nearby street Janowska in Lwów of the interwar Second Polish Republic.
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.
Aural Guerrilla is the 1988 studio album by Dutch anarchist post-punk band The Ex, co-released by American indie label Homestead Records.
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."
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.
Een Rondje Holland is a live album by Ex Orkest, an orchestra made up of the Dutch post-punk band The Ex accompanied by 20 other musicians. The album features orchestral arrangements of previously released Ex songs mixed with pieces of improvised music. The tracks were recorded over a series of four performances in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium, and compiled for release on the band's own label in 2001.
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.
Dignity of Labour is the third album by Dutch anarchist punk rock band The Ex, originally released in 1983. The album was originally issued as a box set of four 7-inch records in solidarity with factory workers where there the band were residing. The tracks were compiled onto a CD album a decade later.
Tango of Death was a Jewish orchestra in the Janowska concentration camp, located on what is now the outskirts of Lviv, Ukraine.
