THANK YOU
We at NON TOXIQUE LOST (NTL) would like to thank you for buying our albums. And we would also like to remind you that not everyone is lucky enough to enjoy our music. War and poverty still rage on. And torture... They are ultimate crimes against humanity.
to buy a 'Non Toxique Lost' cd, please drop a note to:
seawanton(at)nontoxiquelost(dot)de
never heard of Non Toxique Lost?
"...In July 1917, another poison, mustard gas was introduced. It was developed from a substance, dichlorodiethylsulphide, code-named LOST, which is an acronym of it's German inventors, Lommel and Steinkopf. The gas was used as aerosols or sprays in order to contaminate the war zone and thus poison those present. Unlike the rest, mustard gas can penetrate clothing, leather and rubber goods rapidly, and attacks the skin as well as the mucous membrane, thus affecting the whole body..."
(taken from: "Toxic chemicals used in wars" by Dzulkifli Abdul Razak)
new CD is out now !!
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title: 'Live at the Berlin ATONAL 2 Festival, 1983'
a live recording featuring their complete performance that night. check out the video on Youtube which will whet your appetite.
line up: Achim Wollscheid (guitar & tapes), Steffen Schütze (violin & tubes), Sea Wanton (synthesizer & vocals)
9 songs, recorded amongst the audience at the so-called 'Pankehallen' (Berlin), and 5 more songs, directly recorded from the main audio mixer at this location.
The festival (dec 1983) featured other musicians and bands such as
Z'EV, CA LINGO LINE, HEAD RESONANCE, C.I.F., HIDETO SAZAKIS DISCO TUNES, LENINGRAD SANDWICH, GROENVIRKE, LA LOORA, LUCRATE MILK, PSYCHIC TV, S.Y.P.H., FRIEDER BUTZMANN, MANNAMASCHINE, TEMPLE OF PSYCHIC YOUTH / ZOS KIA, ROTHSCHILD ARMAMENT FORMATION, DIDAKTISCHE EINHEIT, AKUSITKTANZTHEATER,
LORENZ LORENZ, HEINO & THEO
...........................forthcoming: "England ihren Feinden schenken" (cd)
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Non Toxique Lost
liner notes by T. Pargmann and C. Ressel
In the beginning of the 80s, the band NON TOXIQUE LOST (short name: NTL) was founded in Mainz, Germany. The eponym for this project was taken from the term "mustard gas", a chemical weapon, which had been invented by the german scientists named "Lommel" and "Steinkopf" during World War I under the acronym of "LOST" . Though the band's name refers to the "unperilous" character of this music, in the end NON TOXIQUE LOST also acted as a means for a fight, the very fight against the deadlocked patterns of the culture of music of that time. Formed by members of some local "Punk"-bands, founded bei Sea Wanton and A. Wollscheid (aka S.B.O.T.H.I.). Later on, S. Schütze joined to play bass, violin and special (electronic) effects and P. Prieur, called "POGO", did the vocals. Although NTL often has been labelled as part of the "NDW" (= "Neue deutsche Welle") and sometimes even influences of "Jazz music" have been (wrongly) mentioned, the band saw its position in the first instance in the context of an "industrial movement". When NTL was founded in 1982, its uncompromising musical approach was significantly inspired by pioneers of the "Industrial Music" like Throbbing Gristle,
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listen & watch the 'Something Came Over Me' song by Throbbing Gristel on Youtube (click on GPO's image)
....Genesis P-Orridge (Throbbing Gristle, live at the 'Städel', Frankfurt, 1980).............................
SPK and Whitehouse. Out of these influences, NON TOXIQUE LOST developed its sound as a trance-esque cocoon of clashing sounds of walls, pulsating synthethizers and angry vocals, which draws the listener into an emotional maelstrom, leading from fear, pain and desperation to rage and unlimited aggression. From time to time very static and pushed on by brute rhythms, NTL's music is uncompromisingly tough and this is exactly why it can be considered as an anomaly of that Germany of the early 80s. Similarities are seen more with bands like PACIFIC 231 (from France) or ESPLENDOR GEOMETRICO (from Spain). In essence, there are two important ideas crossing the band's whole oeuvre: the processing of the "everyday life" experience, interweaved with an explicit political attitude. A large impact came from J. Stender, who had been a member of P.D., then. His talent, to create german lyrics on "everday life" "on the run", conveying the "concrete" and "direct" contents, had been a adequate stylistic device to handle the facts of a "grey german reality" of those days. But in contrary to P.D. and P16.D4, NON TOXIQUE LOST objected to being classified into the "art" genre. Indeed, there were some references to the current "art"-movements, but the music was not to be "avantgarde", even if some external observers could get this impression. But NTL combined its conceptions about music with the idea to be creative using existing objects and to, aside from instruments, also use unconventional sound sources - this is another example for the realisation of the "concrete" and "everyday life". At the same time, the music has been the radical expression of an oppositional attitude. With NTL, Sea Wanton (the singer)
...Sea Wanton...(at the GEMINOX-festival)...........................................
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realized his intention to found a band, which dealt with the social and political boredom of its reality in a challenging way. NTL did not only intend to distance itself from the reception of music, in general, but it provoked a concrete hassle with those crusted forms of understanding music and the culture of the youth. The band was permanently confronted by an environment which was deeply into the "Rock-music" culture of the 70s, public places like pubs and youth-centres were dominated by the "Hippies" and "drug-abuse" cosiness. For a project like NON TOXIQUE LOST that meant a struggle for "free-spaces", not hostility, but also the neccessity to become accepted as something new. To a certain extent, as an idea of the "Punk"-movement, the philosophy of NTL aimed at provocation and the radical realisation of its own ideas. Accordingly, the turning away from the established mechanismn of the "music-business" did not only affect the musical style, but also the production and merchandising of the sound storage medium. It was logic for NTL to select the compact-cassette as a medium for its music. This was "the" medium, which allowed the musicians as opposed to anything else, to keep in control over their musical and creative work and a direct merchandising, without being forced to take part in the profit-orientated "machinery" of the "music-business". In 1982, the first recordings were published on the "d.i.y."(=do it yourself) founded "cassettes only" label called "CAN CAN", which were to be followed by ca. 30 further releases.
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....the cover of NTL's first compact-cassette
(created by A. Wollscheid)
Inspite of this high grade of productivity, encompassing mostly the studio- and "live" material of NTL, but also some cassette-compilations featuring some "international industrial" bands, NTL and "CAN CAN" remained a creative "action-area", which was not perceived as a "full time job" or even as the "meaning of life". For a first vinyl release, a strictly limited edition, you had to wait for some years. The songs on the lp-album, called "Wanton", released in 1986, a selection of material, which had been published earlier on compact-cassette, expresses something like a "subtile" toughness (on a long range), which drills slowly in your auditory canal and the band herself accurately characterises it as "industrial muzak". As opposed to the high output on sound-medium there were only rare chances to experience the band on stage. Only a few events like those in Mainz and Trier (Germany), at the "Recloose Festival" in London, in Amsterdam, at the "Geminox-Festival" in Frankfurt (Germany) or at the "Berlin Atonal 2 Festival" took place.
....A. Wollscheid (at the ATONAL2 festival)............................................
Even though the performance at the "Berlin Atonal 2 Festival" got an especially good reputation and positive feedbacks with those "friends" of "abstract music", NTL remained true to itself and did not devise any ambitions to change its strategies of merchandising. The band was more interested in the construction of a national and international community of producers and listeners of "abstract" and "experimental" music. There was a little network(ing) in the Mainz, Wiesbaden and Franfurt - area (Germany), e.g., in the atmosphere of the "Selektion" label (with groups like P16.D4 and S.B.O.T.H.I.), resulting in friendly contacts and sometimes personal cooperations within the music processes (including some sessions and live-performances). More contacts were established with "Graf Haufen" (Berlin) and soon reached out to "cassettes only" labels, based in France, the U.K. and Italy. Besides his membership with NTL, Sea Wanton had started publishing a fanzine called "Handbook of Fun" in 1983,
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which intended to be a medium for subversive communication. The fanzine had been a means to distribute words and artworks ("collages"), which pointed out the protest against the established structures of the societies and understanding of "art" or crusted "music-cultures", and thereby it can be interpreted as a printed form of "the same", which was also articulated by NTL's music. Furthermore the "Handbook of Fun" constituted a forum for experimental music, distributing contact-addresses (with different "cassettes-only" labels or juicy record-shops), thus being part of an international network of the "industrial scene of the 80s". NTL came up against those established patterns of their environment with a radical "musical" denial, even though expressed in a distinct (german) language, only very few could understand. You could say, that this pull-esque, rhythmical toughness of some tracks, which meanwhile is an essential part with numerous "industrial bands", appeared some years "too early". The fact, that this music caused more embarassing to irritating reactions by most listeners, plus the consequent policy of publications and the responsibility for the "subversive underground", are (presumably) the cause for being known by the "in-crowd", until now. Even though or exactly because the "hearing customs" have changed in these last decades, the music of NTL has kept hold of its attraction as a "pioneer" achievement of the so-called "rhythmical Industrial". Since some years, Sea Wanton, accompanied by new companions,
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.....the cover of the CD (title: "/bin/med/usa", year of release: 2005, label: Dossier ).....
is again active as NON TOXIQUE LOST. While now using contemporary sound sources like samplers and computers, it is (as always) bound to the idea of electronic toughness and a political attitude and, thus, creating its own musical cosmos. Parallel to this, a selection of early tape-recordings has been re-released on vinyl and gives a fine overview on the complete works of the band. More information and a complete list of the publications can be found on the band's site:www.nontoxiquelost.de
Non Toxique Lost
review by Andrea Ferraris (on the CD '/bin/med/usa')
all copyrights: Chain D.L.K.
Never heard of a band called Non Toxique Lost? If you're into industrial music you should, they put out their first record during the eighties, then 20 compact cassettes, 3 lps and a couple of cds. "/bin/med/usa" cuts it short showing these three "guys" from Ger-money are not newjacks: industrial music in the way it was meant to be...but not just that. The deutsche style you can hear while listening the "early" (not so early) Einstuerzende Neubauten is evident, but as you can read in the few lines they left at the beginning of their website: "style is irrelevant". Obsessive patterns "industrial-style", old-fashioned-drum machines, analogue synth, filters and guitars, the vocals is both martial (...deutsche speakers' emphasis, how could we live without it!!) and visceral up to the different song, I think if you're into this style of music well you'll love it 'cause it's sexy or violent as it should be. Musicwise Non Toxique Lost moves from "industrial-psychic-warfare" to "fetish-electronica" (hey they're on the same label of Front Line Assembly should I add something more?), a flavor of "eighties" and let's say it looks like they'd like to play with the listeners' secret fears. Also the recording somehow sounds old-fashioned and don't come to easy conclusions, when I say "old-fashioned" I don't mean the Berlin combo is completely "surpassed", I just mean it all sounds "retrò"
and in a good way, at last on this release. "Dark landscapes and modern obsessions" if you love things like these and the way the industrial-electronica used them, I'm sure you're ready for Non Toxique Lost.
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blow in to find thrilling 'music'? by (among others):
25 Men, Alien Sex Fiend, Altronics Artworks, Andrew Lagowski, A.W.E.L., Butthole Surfers, Chrome, Clair Obscur, Closedunruh, Controlled Bleeding, D.A.F., Dilemma, Dirk Ivens, Einstürzende Neubauten, Electric Prunes, Esplendor Geometrico, Etant Donnes, Faust, FM Einheit (ex-Einstürzende Neubauten), Gerechtigkeitsliga, GX Jupitter-Larson (the Haters), Haunted Henschel, Haunting Lodge,
Hettpenger, Hula, Im Namen des Volkes (Matthias Schuster), Jammin' Unit, Jeremy Bible, Job Karma, KifeLadder, Leech Woman, Limbopunsch, M.A.O.,
Mark Eins (Din A Testbild), Mark Reeder (ex-Die Unbekannten), Mutter, Neue Weltumfassende Resistance, Pacific 231, Paul A. Browse (ex-Clock DVA), Pop Group, Psychic TV (PTV3), Radio Harlekins, Ramleh, Rafael Flores (Comando Bruno), Revolting Cocks, Robert Görl (ex-D.A.F.), Ruelgo (Le Syndicat), S.A.D.W. (Sprung aus den Wolken), Sauer Kreuz Feuer, Savage Republic, Section 25, SKULLP, S.P.K., Sudden Infant, Survival Unit, S.Y.P.H., Tanith, Test Department, Throbbing Gristle, Ullip (ex-S.Y.P.H.), White Noise, Whitehouse, Wire, Wolfgang Müller (ex-Die Tödliche Doris), Z'EV
(Myspace-site created by Sea Wanton
Berlin, july 2007, last update: oct 2007)
