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A Love Letter To Copenhagan 1986

by Taperecorder

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timothyd4y An 11-minute adventure led by Taperecorder? I'm in!
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1.

about

Written in 2010 and given as a Christmas gift to my girlfriend (now wife). She has been encouraging me to release it for years. So, here it is!

Looking back, I think I wanted to enter back into the world of songs I made inspired by a memorable visit to Copenhagen. A few weeks after leaving Denmark, I wrote Ryesgade 58 and Jagtvej 69, both of which ended up on my Boombox EP, released in 2008.

I was able to spend some time in that wonderful city after a UK tour back in the spring of 2008. I happened to arrive on the eve of May Day, which that year fell on a Thursday. So essentially, there was a big five day party that had just begun. I was with some people who spent equal parts of the long weekend drinking big bottles of beer, listening to live music and dancing, and engaging in politics, activism, and organizing. During my stay I noticed the number 69 painted in various spots all around the city. At first I assumed it was just some silly tag, but after seeing so many of them I asked my pals about it. They told me about the Ungdomshuset (Youth House) and the fierce street battles that ensued the previous spring when the city council sold the building to a right wing Christian group who planned to demolish it. For 25 years, the ‘Youth House’ at Jagtvej 69 had served as a refuge for self-governing groups of young people. You could go see live music, learn about politics or just hang out and drink coffee with friends. Now it was slated to be torn down.

They told me about another battle which had taken place back in September of 1986 that involved a squat that politicians and real estate agents wanted to clear. Earlier that summer, Copenhagen police had been attacking and clearing various buildings that people had fixed, cleaned up and moved into. The people at Ryesgade 58 knew it was just a matter of time, so they spent the summer preparing. In mid-September, the squatters planned a rally in support of their building a few miles away and essentially tricked the police into thinking they would be at that rally. Instead, they fortified their building with barbed wire, trenches, and walls. They turned the area into a no-cop zone and, with the help of sympathetic Danish people, managed to hold off the police for nine days. When the heavily armed police finally managed to break through, they found a tunnel that the squatters had used to escape. The building was empty except for a final manifesto.

This suite, which can be described as an elaboration/remix/reimagination of the Boombox EP, was chiefly meant to be a tribute to Jagtvej 69 and Ryesgade 58, but also contains its own story told from a nostalgic mind looking back on a very lovely, very rowdy, and a very sleepless visit to a faerietale city.

credits

released September 11, 2022

Written and produced by Marc Francis.

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Taperecorder Montreal, Québec

With his ramshackle, bargain basement, DIY approach to technology, Taperecorder's roots are deep in house, with nods to the punk aesthetic, early rave culture, and indie rock. Marc Francis cheekily infuses his signature squelchy beats with found sounds, acoustic doodlings, touches of glitch, and a naughty tale or two. ... more

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