Category: news-test-dept

The final pieces for the Hardback book set are now all in place. We will begin shipping the boxes towards the end of next week after assembling the whole package at facebook.com/ForteMusicDistribution in Monmouth.

This has been a long journey but all you patient, wonderful people who have waited so long will get a beautiful package through the post soon. We will also be supplying an authentication certificate which will be mailed to you separately and have special messages for those who have bought the set. Thanks for waiting and here (below) is an image of the poster that ships with the box. The second poster will ship separately with the authentication certificate.

Cheers All, Pete @ PC-Press

Uwe Shütte from Aston university has written this piece about the book in the Times Higher Education magazine: THES TD Uwe Shutte review

Uwe Schütte, reader in German at Aston University, is reading Test Dept’s Total State Machine (PC-Press, 2015). “Test Dept were one of the most radical British bands. Their extreme industrial sound fused sonic experiments with political activism, notably during the miners’ strike of 1984-85. In bringing together art, theatre, music and politics, they produced monumental events that assaulted all the senses. This richly illustrated book details a vigorous body of work that has lost none of its relevance.”

Test Dept are touring the film DS30 in conjunction with the Av Festival and PC-Press. Here is a description of the film and tour:

Marking 30 years since the 1984–85 miners’ strike, DS30 is a political collage of sound and image. Commissioned by AV Festival in 2014, the film was originally presented within the monumental lines of Dunston Staiths, a structure built on the River Tyne in 1893 to ship coal from the Durham coalfields to the world. During 2015, AV Festival is touring the film to selected cinemas in the North of England and Scotland.

 Featuring footage of mining communities together with material from Test Dept’s own archive related to the strike, DS30 reflects on the group’s nationwide Fuel to Fight Tour in support of the miners. The DS30 Tour also celebrates the new publication Total State Machine, a unique historical document and visual representation of Test Dept.

 ‘It’s one of the most emotionally draining and inspiring pieces of political art or music I’ve ever witnessed’ (The Quietus)

For full details of dates and timings see http://www.testdeptds30.co.uk 

RADIO BLACK FOREST +VIVID PRESENT: AN EVENING WITH TEST DEPT. OFFICIAL AFTERPARTY FOR THE LAUNCH OF THE PC PRESS BOOK ‘TOTAL STATE MACHINE’

RADIO BLACK FOREST +VIVID PRESENT: AN EVENING WITH TEST DEPT.

OFFICIAL AFTERPARTY FOR THE LAUNCH OF THE PC PRESS BOOK ‘TOTAL STATE MACHINE’

FEAT. DJ SETS, INSTALLATIONS AND LIVE FOOTAGE OF TD ACTIONS AND CONCERTS

DJ SETS FROM:

TEST DEPT.
STEPHEN MALLINDER (WRANGLER/CABARET VOLTAIRE)
ALEXEI MONORE (CODEX EUROPA)
ANDY BLACK FOREST

£5 ENTRY 7:00PM – 11:00PM

Test Dept; the authentic industrialists, sonic material handlers, utilisers and recyclers of society’s debris have re-emerged to engage with the current cultural and political climate, exploring new ways of expression in a strategic programme of actions and releases.

The symposium on May 28th at Aston University where academics, contributors to the book and other interested parties discuss the influence and impact of the group will be followed by an after party at Vivid. This is to celebrate Test Dept’s return to the public sphere.

The return is realised in the form of the book – Total State Machine – published by PC-Press www.pc-press.co.uk; which is an account of the history, work and actions of the group up until their recent DS30 show at Dunstan Staithes. This was commissioned by AV Festival to remember the miners’ strike of 1984/85. We will also celebrate the release of the 12” vinyl single; Tested Product for Record Store Day and the re-release of Shoulder To Shoulder; their album with the striking South Wales miners choir from 1984 which will be rereleased on 1st May on red vinyl.

For the evening their will be DJ sets from Test Dept themselves, Alexei Monroe of SZ Berlin and editor at PC-Press and a mystery guest to be revealed nearer to the date.Test Dept will line the walls with art manifestos and statements from their historical archives and show footage of live performances and actions from some of their historic performances.

There will be a stall selling the book, Cd’s and vinyl and some Test Dept wearables.
£5 ENTRY 7:00PM – 11:00PM

Here is the Press Release from Aston University for the event. The event is free but you need to register by contacting Dr Uwe Schütte via u.schutte@aston.ac.uk

The influential radical music group The Test Dept will launch a career retrospective anthology at Aston University next month.

The book, Total State Machine, will reflect on the impact and importance of the band that formed in 1981 and made stridently political and socially conscious music until they disbanded in 1997.

It will feature a series of reflections and evaluations by experts and aficionados of Test Dept, including Dr Stephen Mallinder, lead singer of seminal art-pop group, Cabaret Voltaire. As well as manifestos, excerpts from tour diaries and many previously unknown stories and documents, the book also contains hundreds of photos and pieces of artwork from the band’s archives.

Test Dept were well known for their involvement in various political causes, particularly their support for the miner’s strike of 1984 during which they collaborated and went on tour with the South Wales Striking Miners Choir. The band are also seen as a pioneering industrial music act, using ‘found’ materials such as factory equipment and everyday objects as unconventional instruments to produce a uniquely jagged, metallic sound.

Many of the contributors to Total State Machine will speak at the launch event on 28 May, which will be opened by Aston academic and resident pop music expert, Dr Uwe Schütte. The event will be capped by a Q&A session with Test Dept founders Paul Jamrozy and Graham Cunnington.

Dr Schütte, who convened the first ever academic conference on Kraftwerk earlier this year, said: “It is a real honour to host the launch of Total State Machine. Growing up in Germany, I became aware of the Test Dept for their reputation as political radicals on the left wing of industrial music. I am really looking forward to hearing more about them and reacquainting myself with their work beyond music again.”

Test Dept’s impact on a variety of musical genres is well noted. Throughout the course of their career, they experimented with and influenced house music, break beat, industrial music, synth punk and electronic body music.

Dr Peter Webb, co-founder of PCP Press who will publish Total State Machine, said: “Test Dept were a massive formative influence on me. I was attracted to them by their independent spirit and the way they used sound and force to make deeply emotive music. I have always felt that their influence and importance was unwritten in the archive of popular culture. This book redresses that balance and presents a document that examines their work as well as representing it.”

For more information and to attend the launch of Total State Machine at Aston University on 28 May from 1pm, contact Dr Uwe Schütte via u.schutte@aston.ac.uk

There will be the first in a series of events launching the book ‘Total State Machine’ at the Ritzy Cinema, Brixton, London on the 23rd April from 6.30pm. A screening of the film DS30 about the 2014 commissioned work reflecting on Test Dept’s ‘Fuel to Fight’ tour with the South Wales striking Miners choir in 1984/85 will begin at 6.30pm. The screening will be accompanied by some archive film of Test Dept throughout their career. A Q and A will follow with three key members of the group: Graham Cunnington, Angus Farquhar and Paul Jamrozy accompanied by Robin Rimbaud aka Scanner who contributed to the book. Following this there will be a book signing with the group and PC-Press and then an after party featuring a Shelley Parker DJ set and a Scanner live reworking of Test Dept material – this will be a unique new performance. The book will be available for the first time at the event and then will get a public release on the PC-Press website. For tickets follow the link below:

DS30 Film and Book Launch 23rd April Ritzy Cinema Brixton