Bourbonese Qualk were an

experimental music Experimental music is a general label for any music or music genre that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions. Experimental compositional practice is defined broadly by exploratory sensibilities radically opposed to, and questioning of, ...

group which existed from 1980 to 2003. The group were participants in the early 80s industrial & experimental music tape scene. Writing for

CMJ CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events, online media company and a distributor of up and coming music CDs, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music ...

, Martin Aston characterized Bourbonese Qualk as "post-punk, avant funk" along the lines of 23 Skidoo,

A Certain Ratio A Certain Ratio (abbreviated as ACR) are an English post-punk band formed in Greater Manchester in 1977 by Peter Terrell (guitar), Simon Topping (vocals, trumpet), Jez Kerr (bass guitar, vocals), Martin Moscrop (trumpet, guitar) and Donald Johns ...

, 400 Blows and early Cabaret Voltaire. They're also known for their political activism, formed in the crucible of 1980s Britain amid such influences as the UK miners' strike, the

Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...

Thatcherism Thatcherism is a form of British conservative ideology named after Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher that relates to not just her political platform and particular policies but also her personal character a ...

monetarism Monetarism is a school of thought in monetary economics that emphasizes the role of policy-makers in controlling the amount of money in circulation. It gained prominence in the 1970s, but was mostly abandoned as a direct guidance to monetar ...

, local government

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

squatting Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there wer ...

anti-capitalism Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. Anti-capitalists seek to combat the worst effects of capitalism and to eventually replace capitalism with an alternati ...

anti-fascism Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

, and

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

. Their work was often ambiguous and directly critical of power-politics of any color, often irritating members of the traditional organized left. In 1984 Bourbonese Qualk occupied a large empty building - The Ambulance Station - on the Old Kent Road in South London, which they turned into a base for their activities, a cooperative space for artists, musicians, and writers, and a center for radical political activism -- specifically as a coordinating center for the

Stop the City Stop the City demonstrations of 1983 and 1984 were billed as a 'Carnival Against War, Oppression and Destruction', in other words protests against the military-financial complex. These demonstrations can be seen as the forerunner of the anti-glo ...

anti-capitalist protests of 1984.

Discography

* Laughing Afternoon LP (Recloose Organization 1983) * Hope LP (Recloose Organization 1984) * The Spike LP (Dossier 1985) * Preparing For Power LP (Recloose Organization 1986) * Bourbonese Qualk LP (New International Recordings 1987) * My Government is My Soul LP/CD (Fünfundvierzig 1990) * Bo'Qu LP (New International Recordings 1990) * Kneejerk Reaction EP (Praxis 1992) * Qual EP (Praxis 1992) * UnPop CD (Total F.I. 1993) * Feeding the Hungry Ghost CD (Fünfundvierzig 1994) * Autonomia CD (Praxis 1994) * On Uncertainty (2000) * Moscow (2002) * Lies (2015)

References

External links

Official archive of Bourbonese Qualk

Crab's blog
British industrial music groups Musical groups established in 1980 Musical groups disestablished in 2003 Cassette culture 1970s–1990s Experimental musical groups British political music groups {{UK-band-stub