In 1988, the legendary freakwave outfit Ornament & Verbrechen handed out some 20 to 30 copies of their “Rotmaul-Tape“ to friends. The band, formed by the Lippok brothers, emerged from the first East Berlin punk group Rosa Extra and the avant-wave project Fünf Wochen im Ballon. From the moment of O&V’s inception, the band was the wellspring for many acts that would subsequently branch off as tributaries and streams in the East Berlin underground music community. Bands like Aufruhr zur Liebe and projects like Corp Cruid, The Local Moon and Bleibeil originated in the environment or from the collaboration with a band that functioned like an open house in the closed institution GDR. By 1995 To Rococo Rot and Tarwater had formed from this tried-and-tested framework, pursuing the template without copying it. After the GDR infarction in 1989, the project Ornament & Verbrechen continued to glow, sparking new ideas and flaring up again today.
