Release date 16 September 1993



Malka first gained prominence as a founder member and bassist of Minimal Compact the
Israeli/Dutch group based in Amsterdam and Brussels in the '80s. They released several
recordings on Brussels based label Crammed Discs and toured extensively throughout continental
Europe during that time, gaining a loyal following. The group disbanded in 1989 with guitarists
Rami Fortis and Berry Sakharov returning to Israel to pursue solo careers, Malka and singer Samy
Birnbach stayed on in Brussels with drummer Max Franken returing to his native Amsterdam.
During the second half of the eighties Malka married Wire member Colin Newman, the couple met
while Newman was producing Minimal's "Raging Souls" recording, and worked with him on his
two Crammed albums (Commercial Suicide & It Seems). Having cemented a working relationship
to complement their marriage the couple set about setting up their own studio, initially for demos
and pre-production (Newman's "It Seems" album was started off there). The birth of their first
child prompted a move somewhere a bit bigger thus the studio gained it's own space and projects
began to have a life in it. Born from the ashes of Minimal Compact the first project to come forth
was Oracle, a collaboration by the pair with Samy Birnbach (DJ Morpheus). The release of it's
debut LP "Tree" by Swim in October 1994 saw the culmination of 5 years R+D during which the
project developed a unique "genre-busting" sound and identity.

It was always reckoned that Malka should do a "solo" album and some encouragement was
forthcoming from companies in her native Israel. However it was quickly realised that the "local"
market mentality would be too constraining so the album was realised in their own studio using
an aesthetic the pair felt more comfortable with. In late '93 following a re-location to London and
the foundation of the Swim record label the album "Rosh Ballata" ( literally "concrete head") was
released to some critical acclaim both in the UK, continental Europe and in the USA. A domestic
Israeli release was secured (through Sony affiliate NMC) but Swim scored their first triumph by
outselling it (not bad for an album in Hebrew!!)