Small German label fires off “Racist Friend”

There’s not much to see on the website of record label We Rock Like Crazy. There’s just a list of past albums, all of which are sold out, and a small declaration from sometime in 2012:

“This baby is dead. WRLC is over.”

The small label based in Essen, Germany, released a number of electropop records in the early 2010s. They have since ceased updating their website and Facebook page.

But a musician from Minneapolis, MN, tells us they might be back in the scene after their apparent 5-year pause – at least for one last hooray.

“Apparently they’re doing one last release after looking at the ‘state of the world’ these days,” writes the US musician, Monkey Warhol.

Despite We Rock Like Crazy’s dramatic exit from the music industry, the label is temporarily coming out of retirement to release an electronic wake-up call: the album “Racist Friend.”

The compilation, which as of yet has no official release date, features musicians from Germany and all over the world. They’ve been brought together under an anti-fascist and anti-racist theme.

Monkey Warhol will be one of the musicians featured on the album. Warhol’s style features samples from American prison songs of the early 20th century, combined with poppy electronic beats reminiscent of a video game soundtrack. The style, says Warhol, allows for a wide range of influences and emotion while preserving the anonymity of the artist.

Currently, Monkey Warhol has two EPs available on Bandcamp. The song “I Be So Glad” from EP1 will be released on “Racist Friend” sometime soon.

“Racist Friend” features a variety of genres and artists, some more political than others. From hip-hop samples by Dutch artist Drvg Cvltvre, to the eerie vintage electronic sound of The Rorschach Garden (“Unfriending All My Fascist Friends”), the collaboration provides a dose of musical diversity.

For more on the artists listed in this article, check out the links below.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/258438603″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/213955687″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]

The Rorschach Garden on FB

Information about a release date for “Racist Friend” should be available soon on We Rock Like Crazy’s website.

By Kate Tyndall

*Kate is an American who has lived and worked in Germany for over a year. She studied Linguistics and works at the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig.

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