Ex Orkest, holland festival (2000)

The Ex is an anarchist band from the Netherlands. They formed in 1979 at the height of the original punk explosion and have released more than twenty full length albums since.

The band's music has undergone significant evolution over the years, beginning as a simple lo-fi anarcho-punk band. They debuted with a single titled "Stupid Americans" on the Utregpunx vinyl 7" compilation released by Rock Against records in Rotterdam. The release of their first 7" All Corpses Smell the Same came shortly thereafter in 1980. Through the decades they gradually developed into their current form of highly intricate, experimental punk/post-punk/no wave-inspired work. Breaking from the relatively narrow confines of punk rock, The Ex has incorporated a wide array of influences, often from non-Western and non-rock sources. Some include Hungarian and Turkish folk songs, and more recently music from Ethiopia, Congo and Eritrea (whose independence song is covered by The Ex on Turn). Other examples of branching out stylistically include the improvised double album Instant and a release under the moniker Ex Orkest, a 20 piece big band assembled for performances at Holland Festival.

The band has had successful collaborations with many disparate artists, including UK anarchist band Chumbawamba (sometimes using the name Antidote), the Dog Faced Hermans (one former member of that band, Andy Moor, is currently part of the The Ex), and with the late avant-garde cellist Tom Cora in the early 1990s, resulting in the album Scrabbling At the Lock in 1991 and the follow-up And the Weathermen Shrug Their Shoulders in 1993. They have also collaborated with members of Sonic Youth, Dutch improvisers ICP, and released a collaborative EP with America's Tortoise.

Bass guitar player Luc left the band in 2003, replaced by double bassist Rozemarie. In 2005 Rozemarie left the band.

The Ex is the subject of the documentary film Building a Broken Mousetrap (2006), directed by Jem Cohen. [wikipedia]