8. WipersYouth Of America

This was one of my first choices and an album that really connects to me as a teenager. I don’t know how well-known they are. I had a very big tape archive but, maybe one year after the Wall fell, it was stolen, and among these tapes, I had music by bands like Throbbing Gristle and early Laibach. I forget a lot of them now, but Wipers were in there too. I had forgotten about them until the year after it was stolen and so went back to this album then and it captured a certain energy from the early ’80s for me. It’s slightly political and it again captures a certain spirit that I miss today. This is less professional and managed and that’s what I prefer. If I take an early Einstürzende Neubauten or Throbbing Gristle record, too, it may not be on such a high level musically, but this music feels more vital and interesting to me and that’s how I feel about this Wipers record too.