Trabant

Numbered + handmade in a first edition of 300 copies only: 180gr vinyl in Kraft sleeve silkscreen printed, containing Xerox-printed booklet with words by STANLEY SCHTINTER and JACOB MIKANOWSKI, and new English translations by GEORGE SZIRTES alongside the original Hungarian lyrics by MIHÁLY VIG and JÁNOS VETÖ (second edition of 300 same as but offset sleeve)

The cult band’s cult band: TRABANT were formed in Hungary in 1980. The closest the group ever came to producing a record was in the form of a promotional 7” vinyl for a film in which the core members starred. At the centre of an anti-authoritarian—that is literally outlawed—underground music scene in Hungary, this film soundtrack represented an opportunity to distribute their music without acquiring the recording and distribution license demanded by the censorious Communist regime.

TRABANT measured their own success through independence and fun, as a circle of artists recording a significant body of work with rudimentary recording equipment and instruments (much of which was purchased in a toy store), always behind closed doors. The band had an ever-changing line-up formed around co-founders GÁBOR LUKIN, MARIETTA MÉHES, JÁNOS VETÖ, and MIHÁLY VÍG (also of Balaton; soundtrack composer for BÉLA TARR). TRABANT shared some of these recordings through a clandestine cassette tape network, but resisted releasing an album… until now.

This vinyl release represents the first collection of music by TRABANT, compiling some of their best known and loved songs, newly transferred and gently restored from the original tapes (note: no overdubs, no changes, just gentle restoration thank-you-very-much), in a package with extensive photographic documentation of the band by JÁNOS VETÖ, and new English translations of the song lyrics by GEORGE SZIRTES.