fusetron PLASTIC PEOPLE OF THE UNIVERSE, THE, Magical Nights

Munster

PLASTIC PEOPLE OF THE UNIVERSE, THE - Magical Nights

"Munster Records presents the most complete anthology of the legendary Czech band The Plastic People Of The Universe. PPUS was formed in autumn 1968 in Prague by teenagers and former school-mates bass guitarist Milan Mejla" Hlavsa and guitarist Jir_ɬ_ "Premek" Stevich. They teamed up with vocalist and clarinetist Michal Jernek and drummer Pavel "Eman" Zeman. Their increasing popularity attracted attention from Ivan Martin Jirous, until then the artistic mastermind of the legendary Primitives Group. He secured them a professional license and equipment from a state-owned agency. Eventually, another ex- Primitives, Josef Jan_ɬ_cek, joined on guitar (later he switched to keyboards). Since the invasion of the Warsaw Pact armies in August 1968, the Czechoslovakian Communist regime was continuously tightening the reins on most segments of the society, and particularly on the West-influenced youth culture. By 1970, the PPU had lost their agency support and the state-owned instruments. Jernek and Stevich quit, replaced by guitarist and violinist Ji?_ɬ_ Kabes and the Canadian vocalist Paul Wilson. In 1973, Hlavsa, Jan_ɬ_cek and Kabes were joined by saxophonist Vratislav Brabenec. As an experienced jazz musician, Brabenec caused a further major shift in the groups orientation, from relatively straight progressive rock towards more experimental music forms. They also ditched the English lyrics in favor of original Czech poems, supplied at that time by the underground philosopher and poet Egon Bondy. During the winter of 1974-75, the PPU clandestinely recorded their first "album" on archaic equipment in the unheated rooms of the Houska castle. Parts of it were released in France as Egon Bondys Happy Hearts Club Banned LP in 1978. In 1976, dozens of members from the underground community were arrested by the secret police, including the PPU musicians, and several of them were put on trial. Brabenec and Jirous were sentenced to eight and 18 months in prison. That trial was the impetus for playwright V_ɬ°clav Havel and other intellectuals to publish the Charter 77 document in January 1977. Despite all the hurdles, the PPU kept on writing new material, which they occasionally performed and recorded at Havels private farm. The persecutions by the secret police continued, and in 1982, Brabenec was forced to emigrate. Although the PPU home-recorded several albums through the 1980s, after 1981 they did not play before an audience until their break-up in 1988. After the Velvet Revolution of 1989, the PPU briefly reappeared in 1992 for a few gigs, featuring the original founding members. In 1997, after being asked by V_ɬ°clav Havel (then Czech president) to perform at the 20th anniversary of Charter 77 at the Prague Castle, the classic 1978-1982 line-up eventually decided to reunite. And despite Hlavsas premature death in 2001, they continue touring successfully to the present day. 3LP package features 31 tracks recorded between 1969 and 1985 by this influential and revolutionary experimental band. Includes printed inner sleeves with notes by expert Luk_ɬ° Machata, with rare photos of the band." - Munster.

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After nearly a decade of false starts, multiple game plans veering off the rails, and a handful of shattered hopes and/or dreams, the odyssey is finally complete—the new Fusetron site is here.

This is the first phase of a multipart rollout that will span the next few months: the currently browsable stock includes miscellaneous new releases from the past 8+ months (we have a lot of catching up to do), plus approximately a third of our backstock. Note that we’ve reduced/slashed prices on many titles and will continue to do so in order to make room for new stock. We’ll also be expanding / tweaking / improving / debugging the site itself (for example, we still have work to do on the automated international postage system, not to mention the inevitable inventory discrepancies that come with transferring an ancient and massive database to a new system).

Over the next few months, as we take inventory, clean house, and delve into our storage, we will be uploading thousands of additional items, gradually, on a near-daily basis. This will include the majority of the LPs, as well as many titles, in all formats, once thought long-gone. Many currently “sold out” items are likely to resurface.

Finally, once our general backstock is up (probably in the next two or three months) we’ll begin making our extensive stockpile of rarities available online for the first time: tons of random out-of-print titles, "deadstock," warehouse finds, secondhand collectibles, etc., accumulated over the past few decades.

Frequent/returning customers will be getting early access to these items. Details to follow on how this will work (a priority mailing list? a 'frequent flyer'-like program?), but it will not be based on dollars spent. We want to reward those who consistently support us, especially in the discogs marketplace era (to those who show up trying to poach five copies of a one-off rarity, and nothing else, ever… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ).

So—we suggest you take some time to dig through the site—even we’ve been surprised by what’s been turning up, and there’s much more to come.
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