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Colourbox - Music of the band (1982-1987) [Wolfgang Tillmans compilation]
Colourbox: 'Music of the band (1982-1987) [Wolfgang Tillmans compilation]'
24th March 2017

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Colourbox - Music of the band (1982-1987) [Wolfgang Tillmans compilation]

Music of the band (1982-1987) has been compiled by Wolfgang Tillmans as a celebration of Colourbox, released to coincide with the contemporary artist’s first major exhibition at the Tate Modern in London.

The 16 tracks were originally selected to be played on loop at a conceptual playback listening space at Tillmans’ Berlin gallery, Between Bridges, in 2014, where lyrics and samples were pasted on the walls and where copies of the v23-designed records sat alongside original session ½” and ¼” tape reels, seeking to provide a unique environment for the audience to immerse themselves in the band’s modest but potent legacy. A limited number of CDs featuring those exhibition tracks were made available at this 2014 exhibition.

Both Colourbox and the Playback Room will now form part of Tillman’s exhibition in London (running from until June 11th 2017), and this gatefold 2xLP edition of the compilation will be available, exclusively through the Tate shops and via the 4AD online store. This version features a new variation of Tillmans-designed CD sleeve, a previously unreleased photograph series of his that features his prized Canon Colour Laser Copier, ripped apart and dismantled after a decade of service; “80ies technology has influenced me a lot. When I won the Turner Prize I bought this copier with the money. Ten years later it was no longer repairable and I made this 'deconstruction' of it."

Previously speaking of the band, Wolfgang said, "Brothers Martyn and Steven Young together with Ian Robbins, Lorita Grahame and Debian Curry were pioneers of experimental pop music. They created an eclectic sound drawing from reggae and soul influences, beat-box driven hip-hop rhythms, blue-eyed soul, as well as a fusion of far-ranging influences spanning from classic R&B, to dub and industrial. Using montages of analogue magnetic tape pieces and experimenting with tape machines, Colourbox were at the fore-front of sampling, which in its digital form would become ubiquitous in the course of the 1980's. The band worked in a seeming contrast of pure artistic research in the studio and an anti-intellectual stance towards the outside world.”

Sadly between the initial exhibition in 2014 and this, Steven Young has passed away. This release is also being pressed as a tribute to him and the wonderful music he helped bring to the World.