Edition of 300 copies. Official reissue of this experimental industrial electronic classic originally released by Discos Esplendor Geométrico in 1987. "After 41 years you should know De Fabriek means The Factory, a name not chosen because of a love for Andy Warhol or the UK label of the same name (which hardly existed at the time De Fabriek started), but because of what a factory represents; there are workers, creating a small portion of the final product. In the early days these workers were a bunch of friends whom knew each other from the city of Zwolle, and as such they recorded their first LP ‘Schafttijdsamba’ at home in 1980. After that the group splintered and expanded, odd as it may sounds. The original core went each own way and De Fabriek sought outside help. This was a time of independent cassette culture, home production of music, corresponding and mail art and so it happened membership, co-workers in De Fabriek lingo, were fanatical home tapers around the world, with a director at the helmet in Zwolle, albeit not a director not in the capitalist sense of the word, but someone directing the sound. Listening to the cassettes received, deciding upon order and layering of various sounds. Some of the releases from De Fabriek were recorded at home still, but for record releases they now used studios. For ‘Made In Spain’ De Fabriek headed out to Nijmegen, Studio De Tempel, and home of Mekanik Kommando. But workers and a director is not enough for a factory, it also needs machines, and machines were plenty around in De Tempel. Following a decision on what goes where along with what other received contribution, and then mixed together, using the vast amounts of effects racks available in this studio, which put their fingerprint on this record. ‘Made In Spain’ was first released by Discos Esplendor Geometrico and is a expansion of an earlier release ‘Mont Cantis’, slightly the same yet significantly different and exploring the industrial sound a bit further, taking cues no doubt from the music of Esplendor Geometrico, taking matters a bit further and deeper, to stay within the theme of old mines in the German Ruhr area that runs through these ten pieces, this is a record that at that time saw De Fabriek fully connecting to the industrial scene without forgetting their earlier post-punk and krautrock roots; there is a line from the Ruhr area to Spain via the highly minimalist rhythm approach. ‘Made In Spain’ is a wild ride, almost like that scene from Indiana Jones & The Temple Doom, the Mine Car Chase. You feel the speed, the railway lines cracking, and the carts trembling and shaking, you feel the heat, the mayhem that you can also find in a foundry. Yet unlike so many other industrialists back in the day, De Fabriek always remains to have some melody to be part of their music. It is not the noise for the sake of noise. This is somehow a very pleasant factory."
Frans De Waard Sept 2018