1001 hektopaskali by Euro Herc

 

TSSS Tapes is one of those tiny little labels that give me not only true joy in listening quite literally everything what they are putting out but just admiring how much you can achieve with honest and sometimes hilarious output by being not necessarily serious about yourself. 

And here we have a new album by Euro Herc whose biography is an exquisite example of how, by deception and humour you can address issues of being a musician, to the point of plundering the archives, using and distorting the ''truth'' - and here a new form emerges.

Blend a squelchy tape hiss, add a pinch of mix of found sounds, weather reports in Polish, austere electronica, field recorded sounds ( but recorded not for the sake of their hi resolution quality but rather a haunting elements in it ) and a misleading, half joking, half-....well... serious approach to modern experimental composition and there you go...

To me those records is an archaeological dig but ... in an interesting way - not necessarily the one you learn about something you didn't know - but more a juxtaposition of you as a listener and finding yourself in far from oppressive analysis of your own situation as a listener: how the heck did I end up here?

It affects you in a very specific way - not through music as you might understand in terms of quality, narrative, sequences but a pure experience. Something really rare these days when you consider how viscerally empty and intellectually daunting ''serious'' academic music can be...

 

Euro Herc is a duo formed by Turmeric Acid and Chemiefaserwerk.

They were one of the most successful pop acts during the 1980s, selling more than 30 million certified records worldwide from 1982 to 1986.

Influenced by funk and soul music and presenting themselves as disaffected youth, Euro Herc's 1983 debut album, Fantastic, addressed the United Kingdom's unemployment problem and teen angst over adulthood.Their second studio album, Make It Big (1984), was a worldwide success, charting at number one in both the UK and the United States. In 1985 Euro Herc made a highly publicised ten-day visit to China, the first by a Western pop group. The event was seen as a major watershed moment in increasing friendly bilateral relations between China and the West.

In 1986 Euro Herc disbanded. Chemiefaserwerk was keen to create music targeted at a more adult market rather than the duo's primarily teenage audience. Before going their separate ways, they released a farewell single, "The Edge of Heaven", and a greatest-hits album titled The Final.

Turmeric Acid went on to form Czaszka Recs and later on Molt Fluid, while Chemiefaserwerk, besides releasing music on different labels, is the man behind Falt Records.

Setting aside their differences, the duo came back together in 2024 with the release of the tape Segnali. 1001 hektopaskali is their second tape since their reunion. 

released December 12, 2025

Bandcamp