50° 51' 0" N, 5° 41' 0" E
5 track EP available on Spotify, iTunes Store, Emusic, and Bandcamp.
"In the face of the beast it is best to reply with a wry smile."
Maastricht Circle is a 5 track EP. It includes the following
songs: Speak in Riddles, You Make Me Feel Like a Smiths Song, Even Stevens,
Now You Know You Know, and a remix of Don't Eat the Sweets.
Available now in high quality formats @ themekanoset.bandcamp.com.
Spotify,
iTunes,
and Emusic.
"The Mekano Set... pall-bearers to the the aftershocks
of neo-electro-goth industrial-pop. I'm all up for more darkness this
year, especially when it comes dressed as beguilingly as these tracks."
Meatbreak's review: http://nfrblog.blogspot.com/
See also: The Book Version...
Previews and sketches available at http://soundcloud.com/mekanoset.
A limited run of numbered CD's will be also be available at gigs and
for review.
Cheers and knowing smirks to Jo Staples, Al at Elementary Recordings,
Ade B, Amber, Sahara, Rory Poppins, MsDee, Sara Proxy, Nigel B, Beth
Garfield. You sexy bastards.
Songs
written and recorded by The Mekano Set © 2010. Recorded at SchVtrn.
Mixed at Weird Shoes by Milk.
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The spirit of 1977
British infantry stationed in Berlin in 1977 were issued with a patch: a black rectangle with a slender red ring. The red ring represented an area of complete isolation, a dead zone, a point of no return.
If the Russians sent in tanks, British infantry stationed within this circle would be required to hold position for approximately twenty minutes.
Twenty minutes would be the time needed to initiate a tactical nuclear reprisal, the only response considered realistic due to the sheer numbers of Red Army infantry.
Within this nuclear strike, British and other NATO battalions would be completely annihilated, along with the civilian population of Berlin and surrounding areas. Most of central Europe would be devastated by the strike.
In this light, the term Friendly Fire seems like an aberration. Historically it is an integral part of strategic planning. But we're not dealing with accidents here. The Maastricht Circle represents a knowing sacrifice of human lives.
Military strategy starts to read like the worst kind of satire. Ritualistic. Grotesque.
In the enclosed, distant world of state sponsored militarism, words like Soldiers and Civilians are replaced with more amorphous terms such as Personnel.
This empty red circle, sewn to the sleeves of the infantry, becomes a symbol of isolation, abandonment, an inevitable nothing. A circle of blood drawn around an illogical sacrifice. As if sacrfice is ever logical. The reality of this sacrifice, this ritual, of its symbolism: there is nothing and no one of worth within it.
The circle seems more like a symbol of gallows humour rather than a badge of honour. A symbol of a suicidal position that Queen and Country assigned to their soldiers, comrades, civilians.
Did the soldiers know what was really expected of them? Did the civilians?
In war, innocent people suffer.
How can an entire nation be the enemy of another? As if the mentality and actions of one person could ever be the same as another. How can people become a commodity, a tactical sacrifice? The powers that be, playing chess with those they have ultimately been assigned to protect and serve. Or making pawns of their subjects.
An atomic explosion destroys all things, both material and energetic. Everything is thrown into chaos and confusion. Even energy is rendered useless.
Russian tanks never entered Berlin. But for those that lived within that bright red circle, there was a constant threat of total annihilation. Personnel survived. But not unchanged.
My father was one of the infantry stationed at this point of no return. It was 1977. He was 19 years old.
Lee Christien,
The Mekano Set
10/10/10
As a sampler for the forthcoming Hahaharem album, Maastricht Circle is a 5 track EP. It includes the following songs: Speak in Riddles, You Make Me Feel Like a Smiths Song, Even Stevens, Now You Know You Know, and a remix of Don't Eat the Sweets.
Available now in high quality formats @ themekanoset.bandcamp.com. Spotify, iTunes.
Previews and sketches available at http://soundcloud.com/mekanoset. A limited run of numbered CD's will be also be available at gigs and for review. Songs written and recordecd by The Mekano Set © 2010. Recorded at SchVtrn. Mixed at Weird Shoes by Milk.
Cheers and knowing smirks to Jo Staples, Al at Elementary Recordings, Ade B, Amber, Sahara, Rory Poppins, MsDee, Sara Proxy, Nigel B, Beth Garfield. You sexy bastards.
"While waiting, play a role exteriorly. Interiorly, recognize your nonentityness. You don't know anything. If you have the habit of doing things in a certain way, do them in this way. Say "Good morning" as you always say good morning. But at the same time work to keep up with the work we're doing here and then you'll be able to recognize people. At present, everyone is like you: nothing, zero." G.I. Gurdjieff.
MENU / TWITTER / FACEBOOK GROUP / PRESS / ELEMENTARY RECORDINGS PAGE /
THESIXTYONE / BLOG / LIVE DATES / BIOGRAPHY / FLICKR / MYSPACE
STORE / ITUNES / SPOTIFY
Photography © copyright Beatnik Soup
Brought to you by Elementary Recordings
