Kiosque d’Orphee comp

Now for some music that’s even more obscure than Trabant – here is a compilation of private pressings from France 1973​-​1991. Georges Batard who took over the Kiosque d’Orphee in 1967. He was a sound engineer and used the Neumann tube engraver to create acetates from the tapes he received, before having vinyl manufactured in the local pressing plants in very small editions of between 50 and 500 copies.

In the words of Born Bad, who released the lavish 23-track triple-LP compilation Kiosque d’Orphee comp – Une épop​é​e de l’autoproduction en France last year, it was “neither a label nor a publisher, but a structure that allowed you to press your own vinyl, at a time when it was quite an adventure to get your first 45 rpm or 33 rpm album released”.

In true DIY fashion “all you had to do was send in your tapes and choose the number of copies you’d like to take home with you, so you could finally share your creations and, in a way, exist”. It was the beginning of the home recording era, with 4-track machines becoming affordable. And the creativity in their records, regardless of the era they’re from is astounding. From the moody psych of the late 70s groups to the more recent experiments – this compilation is a treat.