Eriek Van Havere is one of my all time heroes of the underground, he has been releasing high quality products for years and years. Originally distributing and acquiring unusual bands through the mail art scene. I came into contact with him around 1988 when he kindly put several tracks of mine onto his compilation cassettes. In 1989 he asked me to do a whole tape of my own stuff which he released in 1989. This cassette album was titled ‘Extraction’ – it is still the best thing I have produced – it never sold as many copies as my later releases like ‘You Have The Power’, which was distributed by Microsoft but it was written at a time when I was a a ‘creative high’.
I was invited by him to perform at a mail art / radio show / art exhibition in 1990 and had the pleasure of his company for a few days. He is a kind man but is convinced he is not an Artist. I’m sorry to inform him that he is an Artist – the attention to detail he takes over his releases is ART. EE Tapes (Belgium) is one of the best quality independent labels out there. Anyway I like him a lot simply because he likes the work of Clifford T. Ward……
I can recommend visiting his labels webpage it is crammed with audio delights!
The extract below is taken from my favourite online resource: The Living Archive of Underground Music, written by Don Campau
Did you have a philosophy or a particular sound you were trying to advocate on EE Tapes?
How did you decide on the artists for the first few tapes?
No particular philosophy except maybe promoting the artists whose sounds I liked?
As to compilations I’ve always worked by personal invitation. “Send me a dark imaginary soundtrack of your inner mind” I used for the long-running Notre-Dame series (13 volumes). Maybe this phrase set the tone for the darker electronic sound? But I did rock releases too, like Viktimized Karcass, Na Und or Dull Schicksal. Most full tapes came by invitation too as far as I can remember…..
“Extraction” proves conclusively that they are no mere flash in the pan,with ‘songs’ that sting in the face,& playing that flays the senses raw. I clearly prefer This Window to any other current state of the artmixers that are presently popular. Read More…
This article was scrambled together by This Window