Mort Aux Vaches

Mort Aux Vaches is a critically-acclaimed sublabel of Staalplaat, launched circa 1994 as a joint venture with a Dutch national broadcasting corporation, VPRO, and featuring a series of live recordings commissioned by VPRO Radio 5 for a now-discontinued daily culture program, "De Avonden" (The Evenings), and more recently, "Zeldzaam.Dwars." Most of the sessions were recorded during the VPRO broadcast; however, Mort Aux Vaches also featured some pre-recorded concerts and shows. The label released CD albums in limited editions of 500-1000 copies in custom trifold packaging (with a copper split-nail holding the disc in the center), often made of unusual materials: foam, plastic, copper foil, PVC vinyl, sandpaper; some editions were hand-numbered. The only exception was Ryoji Ikeda's 224613 clear vinyl 12" reissue in 2002. The same year, Staalplaat also released the sole 2xCD edition in the series, a Raster-Noton "showcase" featuring three different live shows from Carsten Nicolai, Olaf Bender and Frank Bretschneider. Between 1994 and 2011, Mort Aux Vaches produced over 60 albums by prominent and distinguished experimental, ambient, and noise artists, including Merzbow (Japan), Muslimgauze (UK), :zoviet*france: (UK), John Duncan (USA/Japan), Stilluppsteypa (Iceland), Ultra Milkmaids (France), Aube (Japan), CoH (Sweden), Oren Ambarchi (Australia), Kevin Drumm (US), and Tim Hecker (US/Canada), gaining a solid reputation and cult following; having a Mort Aux Vaches release became a career milestone and an unofficial "award" for underground musicians. Dan Burke's project Illusion Of Safety is the only artist that appeared in the Mort Aux Vaches series twice, with albums released in 1996 and '99. One of the early editions, Scanner's '96 236325 CD, was canceled at the demand of the artist due to an unauthorized hidden bonus track. Staalplaat had to destroy most of the original pressing, to the label's great dismay. In 2005, Goodiepal's Mort Aux Vaches stirred controversy after the artist self-released several "official bootlegs" of the album concurrently with Staalplaat's CD, all with varying contents. The release carried contradicting liner notes in English and Danish, crediting the material to different live shows (neither was accurate). Subsequently, Kristian Vester expropriated 'Mort Aux Vaches' brand for a long-running series of releases, lectures and events known as 'Mort Aux Vaches Ekstra Extra' (MAVEE), completely unrelated to Staalplaat. Some artists that had VPRO radio commissions never appeared on Staalplaat and released the sessions on their own, like Sol Invictus with '98 313243 CD on Tursa label in the UK or Frankie Sparo with 433211 CD EP, recorded at VPRO 'De Avonden' in January 2001 and released by Canadian label Constellation. The sublabel's name "Mort Aux Vaches" (translates as 'Death to Cows' in English) is a common French insult to police and uniform officers, originating in the 1870s. During the Franco-Prussian War, German troops had guard posts with "WACHE" (meaning 'GUARDS') signs on occupied territories. Disgruntled French people began shouting "mort aux vaches" to offend the enemy, switching the German word 'wache' for a French homonym 'vaches' (cows), i.e., "death to cows" instead of "guards." It's an equivalent to similar derogatory phrases in other languages: "Death to Pigs" or A.C.A.B (All Cops Are Bastards) in English, "CHWDP / HWDP" (Chuj w dupę policji, or "Fuck police in the ass") in Polish, and С.Л.О.Н. (Смерть Легавым От Ножа, meaning "Death to cops by the knife") in Russian. Since 2020, most Mort Aux Vaches editions have been reissued in digital format via Bandcamp.