Critical Distribution (Praxis Newsletter 23)

We have always championed a way of self-organisation in manufacturing and distribution of records. This goes back to the very beginning of Praxis as a label. Teaming up with like-minded labels and exchanging records to locally distribute each others productions has been at the core of our idea of a meaningful distribution network, and still is. However the economic realities and the technological developments to put this idea into practice has gone through a number of mutations.
I would like to sum up these developments and show how the ìunderground sceneî, under economic pressure, has eventually contributed to its own current demise, paradoxically, as it may seem, as it was “professionalising” itself.

NoiseAngriff2 – Wednesday February 1, 2012

The second installment of NoiseAngriff will take place at Lauschangriff, Rigaer Str. 103, 10247 Berlin, starting 21h:

Dr. John Dee (noise/experimental liveset)
vinyl noises by:
fgnugn
crash 0.1
further occult investigations on noise alchemy will happen in the later hours

Plus: Stall by Praxis Records!

NoiseAngriff is a new night taking place every first and third wednesday of the month.
The first wednesday is hosted by fgnugn and Crash 0.1 with a focus on experimental noise and soundscapes, the third wednesday of the month is hosted by Tekamin and Praxis and brings you cutting edge experimental beats and breakcore.

Sub/Version 309 – Grr: The Sign Of The Elders OUT NOW

Record Fair this Saturday – 1. Friedrichshainer Plattenbörse 21.01.2012

We will be present with a stall at the record fair happening at Jugend(widerstands)museum, Rigaer Str. 9-10, 10247 Berlin, happening this saturday from 2-10pm!
Check it out and support your local vinyl dealers!

Praxis Newsletter 23 out now!

It’s been a while, but finally a new 8-page A5 sized newsletter is out on paper!
Just in time for last night’s NoiseAngriff event, it combines news about Praxis and Sub/Version, an critcal look at distribution networks and the old New Urban Noise column/chart!
So far only 100 were made for last night and saturdays Record Fair.
A copy will of course be added to mail orders, if you want more than one, let us know, we’ll print more next week.

NoiseAngriff: A new night for experimental electronics, noise and breakcore starting January 18

January 18 will mark the start of two regular nights for experimental electronic music and breakcore. Every first wednesday of the month will focus on noise, soundscapes and sonic experiments hosted by fgnugn and Crash.01, while every third wednesday will focus on breakcore and noisy experimental dance music hosted by Tekamin and Praxis Records.
Praxis will be present at both events with a stall with a selection of records from their online store. You will be able to listen to and buy records or pick up your orders if you’re in berlin and want to save postage.

The line up for the opening night:
Fobia (Seven Samurai Records)
Zombieflesheater (Hirntrust, Sonic Belligeranza)
Christoph Fringeli (Praxis, Datacide)
Tekamin (a_sound)

Where?
Lauschangriff – Rigaer Str. 103 – 10247 Berlin

When?
Lauschangriff opens at 8pm, music in the basement starts at 9 …. open end!

New Praxis Sticker

The new sticker – A6 format – only the first sign of much more to come in 2012
if you want a bunch to spread in your area – please get in touch: praxis(at)c8.com

Sub/Version 308 – Egon Frinz: The 9 Lives OUT NOW

Listen to the full version here or here, BUY the track in full quality here or here
Check out more tracks by Egon Frinz here.

The Praxis Store at Cagliostro is closing tonight!

After long deliberations we decided to close the “physical” record shop located in bar Cagliostro at Lenbachstrasse 10 in Berlin-Friedrichshain. There are a number of reasons for this. On the one hand sales are extremely low compared to online sales (which have gone up in recent months), and also the shop is acting much less as a meeting point for the scene than we had imagined.

To avoid any false rumours from starting: No, we are not going out of business, nor is Cagliostro for that matter!
We will continue with the mail order through our own online shop as well as discogs, and in fact there will be a lot more activity from the label in the coming year. I simply feel my time is better spent working on the label, Datacide, as well as my own music and writing than in the shop for which there seems to be only limited interest in Berlin.
I would still be interested in taking part in a shop project, but it would have to be a larger endeavour with a bigger group of people involved.

In the meantime regular customers can still come and pick up records, and there will be a regular record stall twice a month starting in January in conjunction with two new monthly nights of noise and breaks! More about this exciting development in another post in the next few days!

To close the shop come and have a drink with me tonight or tomorrow Dec.23 at Cagliostro, Lenbachstr. 10, 10245 Berlin. I will be there from 5pm-9pm, possibly/probably later…
And to encourage everyone to take some weight off us, and make the move easier – there will be a 20% price reduction on all stocks!

Praxis on discogs.com

Most of the readers of this blog will know the site discogs.com which is a user generated online discography and marketplace. Users can also database their collections and add records they are searching to their want lists.
Spending a boring sunday evening at the record shop/bar I decided to make some charts, going through the numbers of releases listed in discogs collections and want lists. Note that these are not the actual numbers of records pressed and/or sold, but merely what discogs users list in their collections. Roughly it seems that about 10-25% of originally pressed records are listed in collections.
The first two lists are compiling the numbers in the collections, the first combining all formats (vinyl, CD, files) in the case of releases which were released in different formats. In the second chart the different formats are split. It’s notable that all titles in this top ten are vinyl releases.
The third list are what people are listing in their want lists….

Praxis records in discogs collections:
(1) formats combined
1. Somatic Responses: Post Organic EP (Praxis 18)
2. Hecate: The Magick Of Female Ejaculation (Praxis 35 + Praxis 35CD)
3. Slaughter Politics (Praxis 21)
4. Base Force One: Welcome To Violence (Praxis 27)
5. Hecate: Hate Cats (Praxis 32)
6. ADCSomatic: Teatrodellopera EP (Praxis 41)
7. Hecate: Ascension Chamber (Praxis 40 + Praxis 40CD)
8. Low Entropy: Anarcho-Psychotic (Praxis 36)
9. Kovert: Shock Effect (Praxis 34)
10. Heist: Dystrophic (Praxis 11)

(2) formats separated
1. Somatic Responses: Post Organic EP (Praxis 18)
2. Slaughter Politics (Praxis 21)
3. Hecate: The Magick Of Female Ejaculation (Praxis 35)
4. Base Force One: Welcome To Violence (Praxis 27)
5. Hecate: Hate Cats (Praxis 32)
6. ADCSomatic: Teatrodellopera EP (Praxis 41)
7. Low Entropy: Anarcho-Psychotic (Praxis 36)
8. Kovert: Shock Effect (Praxis 34)
9. Heist: Dystrophic (Praxis 11)
10. Noface: Burnout (Praxis 6)

Most wanted:
1. Disciples of Belial: Songs of Praise (Praxis 7)
2. Disciples of Belial: Goat of Mendes (Praxis 17)
3. V/A: Dead By Dawn (Praxis 23)
4. Heist: Dystrophic (Praxis 11)
5. Somatic Responses (Praxis 18)
6. Lorenz Attractor (Praxis 13)
7. Metatron: Speed & Politics (Praxis 4)
8. DJ Jackal: Drumtrax Vol. 1 (Praxis 9)
8. Cunning vs. Bambule (Praxis 19)
10. Metatron: Seduction (Praxis 8 )

you can check out the praxis page at discogs here