Matrix Music Arhiv (MMA) are proud to announce a re-release of the highly sought-after album ‘Resistance’ by the seminal Yugoslavian electronic rock band Borghesia, originally released in 1989 on Play It Again Sam/PIAS (Europe), Wax Trax (USA) and Jugoton (former Yugoslavia).
The carefully remastered album includes an exclusive bonus live album ‘Dal Vivo a El Paso’, recorded in December 1988 at their gig in Torino (Italy) during one of their European tours. The recording features very different, raw and at times ‘dubbed up’ versions of their early tracks such as ‘Naked, Uniformed, Dead’, Am I? and Him (On). The historical recording perfectly captures the atmosphere and energy of their live appearances at the time.
Borghesia (Italian for ‘bourgeoisie’), who were formed in Ljubljana (Slovenia) in 1982, had always considered its art to be far broader than just sonic. Borghesia’s transgressive, transdisciplinary alloy of film expression, distinctively physical performative practices, usage of new technology and conveniently abrasive EBM musical production hasn’t only been ground-breaking in terms of the holistic, visual/sonic presence of an art collective, but had a rather decisive influence on the general aesthetics of the immensely important Yugoslav subcultural landscape of the 1980s. Borghesia was one of the first bands from the East of the Iron Curtain who used the VHS video medium to distribute their art and was also one of few projects from socialist Yugoslavia to successfully penetrate the curtain itself, reaching international audiences. A series of their releases in the fruitful period between the years 1987 and 1991, including the Resistance album itself, was released by the legendary Belgian label Play it Again Sam (PIAS). The band dissolved in the mid-1990s and then continued their work in 2014.
st stages of socialist Yugoslavia, and in the last sighs of the original Borghesia line-up, the album’s sole sonic character anticipated the oncoming atrocities of the civil wars in the region.
Borghesia’s genius lies in their understanding that the relentless, mechanical EBM beat was the sound of the State – and by hijacking it, turning the system’s own rhythm against itself they created the most powerful form of sonic insurgency.
And since history repeats itself while the little man learns slowly, the re-release of ‘Resistance’ comes at the right time. The dark clouds of violence are already looming over Europe, they’ve never really left the Middle East, and the levers of power and capital ever so louder, not even covertly at all incite: war, war, war! In these times the only appropriate answer is: revolt, rebel, Resistance!

Tracks ‘Resistance’ (LP1):
A1 Theme One (Resistance Mix)
A2 Message
A3 If
A4 Konflikt (Conflict)
A5 October A6 Rumours
B1 Young Prisoners
B2 Discipline B3 Mali Čovek (The Little Man)
B4 PIAS B5 Police Hour
B6 More Resistance

Tracks ‘Dal Vivo a El Paso’ (LP2):
A1 Hunters (Lovci)
A2 Am I?
A3 Sentenced To Death (Na smrtno kazen)
A4 Who Turned Off the Light? (Kdo je ugasnil luč?)
A5 Him (On)
B1 Naked Lunch (Pasto nudo)
B2 So Young (Tako mladi)
B3 Rugged City (Ogolelo mesto)
B4 Mud (Blato)
B5 Naked, Uniformed, Dead (Goli, uniformirani, mrtvi)