Mushroom

Alias:

Gender: Male

Country: Netherlands

Description: One of the many ad-hoc artistic incarnations of Marcel HARLAAR, a Dutch poet and composer associated with the industrial avant-garde of rock music genre, also known as DISMAL SWAMP and the owner of the OX-XO/ TAPES cassette label. He was most successful with FLEXIBLE RESPONSE, a principally solo project of his started in 1980, to which he invited other artists to assist him in pursuing his artistic objectives. Early on it was Ron BIJLSMA, later Rik SPAARGAREN (with whom HARLAAR also formed the BACCILLE duo), and, to a lesser extent, Sjoerd MEULEMAN, among others. Varied in terms of sound and arrangement, his works relied on looped collages made up of organic antimusical textures, radio static, processed metallic sounds, and dissonant feedback of traditional instru- ments. The instruments he employed included a wide range of electronic of electronic devices and self-made installations: reel-to-reel tape recor- ders, guitars, synthesizers, broken double bass, steel strings, and copper sheets and containers. Through his music he seemed to express emotions related to the fear of an apocalyptic end of the world and total military conflicts. Although he never officially terminated his artistic career, he has hardly been active from 1988 onwards. He came back with two CD-R releases in 2004 but quit soon afterwards again. Discography: as FLEXIBLE RESPONSE The Punk Process (OX-XO Tapes 1981) tape as FLEXIBLE RESPONSE Rethoric (OX-XO Tapes 1982) tape as FLEXIBLE RESPONSE Vortex (OX-XO Tapes 1982) tape as FLEXIBLE RESPONSE Guerin Et Medicin (OX-XO Tapes 1982) tape as FLEXIBLE RESPONSE Reclamation Treatment (OX-XO Tapes 1982) tape as FLEXIBLE RESPONSE Irrelevant Disobedience (OX-XO Tapes 1982) tape Lucid Interval (OX-XO Tapes 1983) tape as FLEXIBLE RESPONSE split with BACCILLE Immanent (OX-XO Tapes 1984) tape as FLEXIBLE RESPONSE Resilient Identity (OX-XO Tapes 1984) tape as FLEXIBLE RESPONSE Hitch (OX-XO Tapes 1985) tape as FLEXIBLE RESPONSE Permutation (OX-XO Tapes 1986) tape as FLEXIBLE RESPONSE The Bone’s Dog (OX-XO Tapes 1987) tape as FLEXIBLE RESPONSE Ambiguity Of Ideals (OX-XO Tapes 1987) tape as DISMAL SWAMP Parts Of You (OX-XO Tapes 1988) tape