d a f Produkt der Deutsch-Amerikanischen Freundschaft (180g vinyl LP, £16.50)

The debut by Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft was a feat of musical pioneering. Later to find global fame as a duo, DAF's 1979 line-up of Robert Gorl, Wolfgang Spelmans, Kurt Dahlke (Pyrolator) and Michael Kemner created what was quite possibly the worlds first noise-rock album. Radical, brutish, instrumental. * Originally released in 1979 on Warning Records (later Ata Tak) * Reissue in digipak with liner notes, rare photos and memorabilia. True DAF connoisseurs will, of course, be aware of the early phase of the Dusseldorf-Wuppertal combo. But most fans of the subsequently world famous duo may well be taken aback when confronted with their debut album: forceful synth bass sounds, snappy rhythms, Gabi Delgado and leather all conspicuously absent. In their place, pure instrumental, unstructured noise-rock, played by long-haired and moustachioed types! A band can barely have undergone a more extreme metamorphosis. Gabi Delgado joined the band before the band discarded the name of YOU and christened themselves Deutsch- Amerikanische Freundschaft. A tape machine and two microphones were set up in Wolfgang Spelmans living room and ten days of unbounded improvisation ensued. And thus it was completed, Produkt der Deutsch- Amerikanischen Freundschaft ; 22 tracks, ranging from 19 seconds to three minutes in length. The influence of Can is clearly audible. Considering the fact that other prominent noise-rock bands such as Chrome, Flipper or even Sonic Youth recorded similar music at a much later date, this 'product of Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaf¨ should certainly be recognized as a pioneering work. Possibly even the first noise-rock album.