Independent Project Records to Release Unreleased Archival Material From Savage Republic & Bruce Licher

Independent Project Records (IPR) confirmed today the release of two titles in late Summer, the previously unreleased archival concert, Savage Republic - Africa Corps Live at the Whisky A Go Go 30th December 1981 and an expanded edition of Bruce Licher's self-titled experimental guitar project Exploratorium.

Both albums will be released on compact disc and via digital services on September 16; a vinyl version of the two releases will follow. Each will feature the iconic hand-letterpress printed die cut packaging by label founder Bruce Licher. Full track listing and further details will be announced shortly.

This soon-to-be-released Savage Republic/Africa Corps live album comes on the heels of the expanded Real Gone Music reissue of Tragic Figures. In their review of this 40th anniversary version of Savage Republic's debut The Vinyl Guide recently wrote that "one of the more undersung (if not necessarily criminally overlooked) bands of the era is Savage Republic of Los Angeles, one of the few US outfits that can legitimately be described as post-punk in orientation".

The upcoming IPR archival release Savage Republic - Africa Corps Live at The Whisky A Go Go 30th December 1981 fiercely catapults listeners in front of one of L.A.'s most iconic stages, back when a young band of UCLA students (Bruce Licher, Mark Erskine, Philip Drucker and Jeff Long), by then still called Africa Corps, was starting to make its way in the punk underground. The board recording original tape has now been remastered by Warren DeFever (His Name Is Alive) and unearths a most cathartic performance.

Africa Corps had only been playing together for about eight months when this was recorded - in different hands this amalgamation of punk, industrial, art rock, psychedelia, Eastern sounds, avant-garde, no wave, surf and minimalism would have eventually proved contrived, pretentious, or at least confusing. But as the loud Whisky crowd - regulars mixing with friends, art school students mixing with tough punks - seems to suggest, with Savage Republic it worked, as if by magic. And as if by magic, it still does.

Originally released in 2006 as a mini-CDr in a limited edition of 300 signed and numbered copies, Exploratorium's immersive selection of solo recordings by Savage Republic, Scenic and Independent Project Records founder Bruce Licher finally gets the expanded reissue treatment. The three original tracks are now accompanied by a fourth instrumental that ventures into atmospheric electronic territory. It's a mesmerizing blend of ambient and post-rock, noisy shoegaze and pastoral melodic structures, droning avant-garde and soundtracks at their most sparse and yearning.

Additional IPR releases will be announced shortly and will feature both remastered and expanded IPR classics (and in some cases bring long out-of-print titles back in print) as well as new music that fits the IPR aesthetic both musically and in design. By utilizing IPR's iconic hand-letterpress printed artwork created at Independent Project Press, the label will carry on with the design aesthetic that began in 1980 and has become the label's hallmark.

Founded in 1980 by musician and artist Bruce Licher, Independent Project Records has created more than sixty releases since its inception. IPR and its sister entity Independent Project Press are known for their instantly recognizable hand-printed record covers for bands including Camper Van Beethoven, For Against, Polvo, R.E.M., Savage Republic, Silversun Pickups, Stereolab and more.

Aside from creating all artwork on his vintage two-ton hand-fed letterpress, Licher was nominated for a Grammy Award for his design work on the IPR released debut album from For Against. In 2020, the label was relaunched by both Licher and Jeffrey Clark with new and archival releases with distribution from Darla Records. It is based in Bishop, California, at the base of the Eastern Sierra Mountains.