Day: May 18, 2016

RIP Marlene Marder (Kleenex/LiliPUT)

Sad news broke last night that Marlene Marder, guitarist for Kleenex/LiliPUT, passed away on Sunday.

Originally formed as Kleenex in Zürich, Switzerland, circa 1978 the band later changed their name to LiliPUT due to legal threats. Marlene Marder was a continuous presence throughout the band’s brief history – or at least from before they learned a fifth song on guitar:

Klaudia invited me to their rehearsing room where I learned the four songs they had on guitar. I went to see the first Kleenex gig, of course. The guitarist was fed up playing four songs over and over again, but the audience went crazy and wanted to hear them all over again. So I asked him for his guitar to replace him and went on stage to join the group. The audience became even crazier, as they were witness of the establishment of the “real” Kleenex.

It’s sad to lose another great musician. If you need some LiliPUT for your collection, you can get it via Kill Rock Stars. At least listen up and celebrate her life and inspiration.

Sounds of Sputnik – Shades of the Cosmos

I’ve been on a shoegaze kick lately. It’s not intentional per se at all. Part of it is just that the shoegaze bands are showing up on my feeds. In any case, Russian artist Sounds of Sputnik (aka Roman Kalitkin) released their “New Born” lp on Monday. This is a collaboration with Ummagma. The whole album is worth a listen, but let’s start with Shades of the Cosmos. Parts of Shades of the Cosmos made me think Seam without the vocals. That works for me at least.