Author: Claus Müller

Producer and cameraman Steff Bossert writes:

"My idea for this tape was to make the creation of music a sensory experience by giving viewers an insight into record production. I was there the whole time during production. We wired Reverend Beat-Man, Milan Sick, cellist Salma Flügel, the producer, and the sound engineer with wireless microphones and recorded their dialogues during the record production. At the same time, I filmed and took photos. We mixed the audio recordings with the tracks for the album and with the acoustic versions of the tracks during an extra day in the studio to create a 65-minute “making-of soundtrack.” Together with the photos in the booklet, the aim is to create images, a film, in the viewer's mind. The idea is to enable people to understand how the album DEATH CROSSED THE STREET was created."

The result: production discussions in Swiss German and English, the tuning of instruments, and preparations for the songs. Discussions, nuances, practice sequences, and playing the songs in different variations. The finished songs were cleverly integrated so that listeners can imagine being there live during the production.

Reverend Beat-Man has been active as a singer, guitarist, and drummer since the 1980s. He calls his music blues trash, but listeners shouldn't expect classic blues. The term is meant to convey the spontaneity of the music's development. Together with Milan Slick, they always get straight to the point. Salma Flügel can also be heard on the cello on two tracks. The title DEATH CROSSED THE STREET says it all. The music is loud and wants to be heard loud. The lyrics are unconventional and sometimes raw. As far as F-words and religious themes are concerned, consumers should not be sensitive.

The Swiss Zurich Tages-Anzeiger writes about Reverend Beat-Man & Milan Slick in the context of the track I Found Out:

"The result could only be a dark album: rock ‘n’ roll psycho Reverend Beat-Man and the new style icon of the Swiss underground, Milan Slick, met during the pandemic to score a vampire film. Later, they organized a dance party to celebrate the end of humanity. Their joint album now celebrates something that rarely reaches us anymore: the pure joy of excess and collapse."

For some, this music may embody doom, for others it may be protest, for others still it may be an attitude to life, and for others it may simply be noise. How many unconventional ideas lie slumbering within us that we have always wanted to let out? I admire Reverend Beat-Man & Milan Slick for having the courage to do so. The album provides a magnificent counterpoint to the mainstream. Steff Bossert's comment:

“And that's also what I wanted to achieve with this tape release: in the age of streaming and streamlined passive music consumption, to make the most edgy release possible of this music that has fallen out of time!”

The listener is offered the opportunity to join the musicians. If this succeeds, then this extravagant album is an experiment, a journey. For me, it's like open brain surgery... and you get a wild implant! I am sucked in, part of the action, thrilled, and I strongly recommend buying this tape before the 75-copy edition is sold out.

Steff Bossert continues:

"The album is a tribute to Alain Croubalian, a musician from western Switzerland who died far too young and was a member of the band Dead Brothers. The recordings on this tape are digital, but everything else is handmade. I create tape copies with a high-quality 1:1 converter on my Studer A80. Reverend Beat-Man did the graphics himself, and Milan Slick screen-printed the covers. My partner, graphic designer Michelle Weber, designed the booklet, and Beat-Man's brother printed the booklets. It's a real family affair."

For the fair price of EUR 238.00, you get a generous package: 65 minutes of running time at 7.5 ips. Of this, 34 minutes are pure album tracks and 31 minutes are the making-of. The production is sonically balanced and offers excellent sound quality. The handcrafted screen printing is noticeable and impressive. The master tape copy comes with an elaborately designed 16-page booklet. Feinwerktechnik Allgäu supplies the high-quality reel. The limited edition of 75 copies is numbered and autographed. The version with the production talk and the acoustic versions of the songs is only available as an audio tape copy, not as an LP, cassette, or digital download. Steff Bossert is working on a film about the production, which will be released at the end of 2026.

Translated from German with DeepL.com (free version)