AUTO1 fall 1995

luster interview

broca's area interview

anomalous records interview

reviews

 

 

ANOMALOUS RECORDS
Explained by Eric Lanzillotta

Anomalous Records was started in February 1991 with the prupose of bringing stranger music into stores across the US. Previous to this I started the label Baader-Meinhof which released the first LP by Premature Ejaculation. Using this as a bartering tool, I built up the first meager stock.

The name was changed as I felt Baader-Meinhof reflected a more narrow spectrum than I wanted to deal with. Throughout the history of Anomalous I have been helped by others, but have done the brunt of the work myself. In the first year I also worked full time, putting only my spare time into this.

In the beginning of 1992, my job became no more and I branched out into direct mail order, which has given me enough extra business to make a living out of this, however meager it may be at times. Unfortunately the amount of money coming in does not allow me to branch out much beyond distribution, although we have squeezed in a few releases.

Generally my focus here is to help get interesting and good music that might not otherwise be available to people who would enjoy it. While relying a great deal on my own tastes, I also make an effort to stock things which I may feel others would enjoy. Things that are done well, yet not reaching anyone. While I like to help people creating their own music, I also think it is my duty to not encourage mindless halfhearted repetitions of the same tired styles.

Although noise can be very easy to make, I do not feel that something being loud or chaotic or just fucked up makes it a necessarily good thing. There are quite a large number of people experimenting with noise, and I think this is good. I do not think that it is good if all of the people make "releases" of these experiments though. Creating music can be a very exciting thing to do. However, when listening, you are not taking part in the creation process, and one is more likely to concentrate on the sounds and how they affect, not what it was like effecting them.

I hear quite a large amount of noise here. A lot of it has nothing to say and lacks any kind of inspiration. While it is good for people to be able to communicate through cassettes of their music, I think a lot of hometapers leave a lot to be desired for someone who just wants to enjoy music, and not really get caught up in the politics of free communication. I would much rather encourage good music, things with real soul and drive, which are more a voice of the person creating them than the influences around them. I encourage artistic creation, but don't expect me to like it all.

I feel in the current overloading barrage of media from all sides that we encounter, it is best to assert your tastes, and not be afraid to say you don't like something, or in fact think it's the greatest thing ever. Better to make good friends than just a lot. Quality over quantity.

Quite a large amount of very good music is only being released on cassette and it can often take a bit of searching to find it. I just keep my eyes and ears open and give everything a chance. As painful as that can be sometimes.