Geography Lesson

A brief profile of Tian An Men 89 Records

Chances are, you’ve never heard of this label, the bands on it, or most of the countries they come from. Kyrgyzstan, Kabardino-Bulkaria, Reunion Island…even if you know the names, I bet you couldn’t find ’em on a map! But if you aren’t afraid to challenge your definition of what punk is, the stuff put out on TAM89 is absolutely unbelievable, and I’d urge every last one of you to try at least one of their releases.

The following is lifted straight from their website, where I suggest you go immediately after reading.

Tian An Men 89 Records was created in 1993 in the purpose of releasing punk music from parts of the world where, due to financial reasons, civil wars, or lack of record factories, there is no possibility for the bands to release their music on vinyl.

We got the whole idea after extensive travelling and meeting great bands in various corners of the world. Our idea of punk is to accept that exist different definitions of it in different places. Punk is universal and transcends cultures. It is definitely not a sterile, narrow style, monopolized by Westerners, as some would like to believe.

We release limited editions 7″ vinyl EP’s (500 copies) (and 12″LPs too now) coz it seems that’s been enough so far for the worldwide underground punk network which is usually more into the latest MTV cloned punk stars. We don’t care coz we know WHY we do this and that’s certainly not for the money! 20% of each release pressed is sent to the bands as their share, so that records are also distributed in the country of origin. Our records (and books!) are not distributed through the commercial circuit. DIY network only. Tian An Men 89 is non-profit and fueled by passion and friendship only!

Tian An Men 89 believes individual positive actions and international solidarity can make a change towards a fairer and more beautiful world.

So what are you waiting for?

OP’s opinion: @@@@@