Introducing… les Disques De La Mort

Music

"Music that we love, Music that we hate. As long as it does not fit. Ever. This is the House of no style. Randomness as attitude. Cross-pollenisation.

You will know its a record from us at first sight but you shall not know what it will sound like."
Les Disques De La Mort.

We're rather big fans of Mr Ivan Smagghe around these parts… you might have noticed… so it was with some excitement that news reached us that he'd set up his own label LES DISQUES DE LA MORTE. What also excited us was that the very first release was by the excellent Margot. To top it all off there was an Erol remix on the flip… well! We had to have a chat with Ivan to find out all about the label…

Introducing LDdlm

Ivan, what are the key principles behind Les Disques De La Mort?

The key principle is no principle. Putting musical rules on yourselves from the start is initiating a slow death. We have called it "the style of no style", "extreme randomness" (see our site www.lesdisquesdelamort.org). It only means that we love a lot of different music, so why limit ourselves to one genre? That is also why we try and shatter things with the remixers we pick, we do not want a 12" with tracks that sound all the same and we do not want our 12" to all sound alike. makes sense?

Apart from that very basic ethos? Well, the website will try to concentrate all the "beams of communication" and will include rants, art, strange playlists etc. Ah, yes, actually, "WORK IN PROGRESS AND ORGANIZED LACK OF PLAN" is a good principle. Boring: for now, only vinyl. No digital. Get your copies while you can.

Where do you find the music for the label? Does it come flooding in or do you actively seek out producers you admire?

Both. One of our key artist (LDDLM 002), Manfredas, he just gave me a few tracks on a USB key and I was blown away. We also dig hard, there will be reissues (003 is a 12" of Israeli cold wave rarities, a pretty unchartered territory but I have friends in tel Aviv who are pretty good at hunting things). And friends of course, like Erol or Zongamin who is on 002.

Erol Alkans on remix duty for the first release, thats a good start! How did that come about?

Erol is just the nicest person you'll ever meet. I suppose we've known each other for a while now and he also goes with the 'no format' rule. And he was a Margot fan.

How did the name for the label come about? Is there a big focus on death in your life?

It has become a running gag this ("Is there a big focus on death in your life" hahaha, I'm keeping that). Actually, there is a bit of a pun in French. LDDLM means "Death Discs" as you'd think but also "killer records" (as in "super great records").

The video on your website seems to hold a fascination for injecting the flesh – anything particular behind this imagery?

Ransom Note seems to be the perfect place to announce that I inject on a daily basis a mixture of pure meth and very strong china white, yes. Apart from that, it is taken from a movie I love and from the video for WALDORF which will be out at the end of the month.

Who or what has been the most influential person/thing during your musical career?

My cats? I don't know really Actually, movies and books in a general. At the moment? my girlfriend who also makes music as C.AR. I know you wanted me to say Weatherall he was in a way but where is the point in letting him know?

What role do you think anger and rage have in music? Do they help create better tracks?

Do they? Probably pain makes good songs, we all know that. I am not sure average ableton Joe feeds from rage, or may be when he can not emulate the last trend in snares.

How important is it for us to appreciate our musical heritage? Should we be building on what's gone before or heading in an entirely new direction?

I know geniuses who make music without any reference, and other geniuses who almost solely function "in rapport". What kills me (not for real) is when a set of reference (hmmmm, let me find an example, ah yes: 'nineties classic deep house') becomes the sole point of reference. To each his own really I really do not like the word "heritage" though, it sounds like we are walking in a museum and we are not allowed to touch anything You can tweak anything, nothing is untouchable if you do it "right" (whatever that means).

If you could have released any record from history on the label, what would it be? Would you make any creative changes?

Young Marble Giants-Colossal Youth amongst a 1000 others…

You've described the label with the phrase 'randomness as attitude', what does this mean?

Spin the wheel, expect the unexpected (including corny tag lines)

What's next for the label? Are there big plans for 2014?

We are quite keen on small plans. May be some kind of weird "continental balearic weirdness" mixed cd courtesy of myself + friends.

Is there anything we might have missed that youd like to discuss?

Yes, LES DISQUES DE LA MORT is spelled without an E. (Ciaran, pay attention at the back there! Ed.)

Margo's Waldorf with a rather fine Erol remix is released on very limited vinyl very shortly. Be quick tho!

BUY: roughtrade.com

On the world wide web (that's what they call it these days I believe):

LDdlm facebook

margot records facebook

ivansmagghe facebook

Youtube channel

Playlist action… ?

Yes, money, money. Nut not always loot. Men such as Wassel in those days were paid as promotion men, and, as recalcitrant disc jockeys and others discovered

the hard way, they were quite effective as such. But promotion also encompassed a wider and gentler, albeit often sub rosa, range of duties, not restricted to the milieu of the small, mongrel, record companies. There was a time when Columbia, one of the biggest and most established record companies called in an outside promotion man to trail a young man who, in his twenties, was among Columbias most successful pop singers. Trailing him was a sort of undercover form of public-relation insurance.

I ask wassel exactly what he means.

You know. Make sure he steered clear of the wrong people, wrong places.

I still dont understand.

you know

I dont know. Was the singer consorting with the Mob?

I get a look that seems to say: Im talking about wrong people, wrong places.

They wanted to make sure nobody get caught with a dick in his mouth.

-Nick Tosches, Save the LAst dance For Satan, 2010.