The APF Brigade

The APF Brigade were an anarcho-punk duo from Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The group was founded by Andi Export (later Xport) and Jon Hindle in the early 1980s.

Genre

They were members of the cassette culture scene, and released a number of independently produced tapes promoting an anarchist message. Every copy of their first release, Live Brigade, was individually recorded live in Hindle's garage, making each a unique artifact, in the tradition of Mail Art. They released no recordings on vinyl, except for the song "Anarchist Attack" on the Crass released Bullshit Detector Volume 1 compilation LP (1980).

The group's name was an abbreviation of The Animal/Anarchy, Peace & Freedom Brigade.

Xport later worked with The Peace & Freedom Band, with other alternative and indie musicians including Andy Bruce, Paul Rance, and Andrew Savage. Although this group was notable for its disorderly style and musical experimentation, Xport's musical and songwriting skills brought some order to the group.

Xport continued to produce solo albums on cassette using the name Man's Hate, with an emphasis on promoting his humanitarian, environmental, and animal welfare concerns. He also produced the International Sound Communication series of compilation tapes, which featured a diverse range of music from various countries, including early recordings by Blyth Power and Chumbawamba.

Some of Xport's earlier music has been made available for downloading (see below).

Discography

(all releases were cassette only apart from "Anarchist Attack")

• "Anarchist Attack" (on Bullshit Detector volume one compilation LP)
• Live Brigade (each copy was individually recorded)
• Anarchist Antidote
• Sick Society
• The Earth Soaked It Up (Jon Hindle's poems set to an acoustic background)
• God the Tape (the title was a pun on Crass' album Christ The Album)

External links

• Andy Xport on MySpace