The political revolt of punk was succeeded by the aesthetic adventure of post-punk. During the Cold War, dark wave, gothic and industrial also had their equivalents under the unlucky star of the GDR.
The title “United States Of Melancholia” refers to a shadowland behind the perpetually rising facade of construction and to a nationally ingrained melancholy that, in the GDR, seemed to well up from deeper strata beneath an officially prescribed cheer-fulness. Therefore, United States of Melancholia shifts its focus to little-known bands and projects that preferred to stay out of the light in the socialist model state-not least because, for them, the sun set in the East.
The compilation is conceived as a triptych, bringing together different soundscapes within the same genre. Part I reflects the transition from punk to the emancipation from punk rock. Part II compiles songs rooted in a classic understanding of new wave. Finally, part III offers darkly tinged electronic and semi-acoustic tracks.
United States Of Melancholia is a joint release by Iron Curtain Radio and the tapetopia series. The ICR and the tapetopia series release Eastern Bloc sounds from the 1980s. tapetopia focuses on cassette editions from the GDR, using original layouts and track lists that were never released on vinyl or CD, but were often regarded as cult classics within subcultural circles and viewed with suspicion by official circles. ICR also turns its attention to the so-called “actually existing socialist” brother countries with Variations On, presenting updated versions. Out now on aufnahme + Wiedergabe.
Purchase Cassette: VA – United States of Melancholia Part I Post Punk GDR 1982-1990
Joyful Union Cassette Resource 