Day: February 11, 2011
CCCANDY – Lonesome Berlin LP [AV!007]
Lonesome Berlin is the long time coming first LP from this German guy solo project CCCANDY. After the debut 7’’ on Eat! and the tape on Neue Strassen, we now have a proper full-length featuring twelve dark minimal synth pop songs. This is the sounds of the old Europe during the Eighties, when the Berlin Wall was still real: cold and catchy at once, minimal yet groovy. Greyscale bedroom electronics.
Nagamatzu – Sacred Islands Of The Mad [DE009]
Dark Entries is honored to present the highly limited second cassette by British duo Nagamatzu for the first time ever on vinyl. “Sacred Islands of the Mad” is a collection of eleven tracks recorded between December 1984 and March 1986. agamatzu began in 1982 after messing around with old tape machines and drum boxes, making numerous contributions to international compilations and erratically releasing their own cassettes. Their name comes from a character in JG Ballard’s “Atrocity Exhibition” and their music reflects his influence and incorporates carefully chosen samples from the Challenger shuttle disaster, Gregorian chants and films including “Dawn of the Dead” and “The Omen.” All the songs were recorded onto a Ferrograph reel to reel in a small room at their parent’s house and some of the backing rhythms and sequencers were recorded first onto cassette and then the band played along live. Nagamatzu’s instrumentals combine stuttering bass, guitar bursts and funeral keyboards draped over a dragging drum machine beat, calling to mind Clock DVA, Cabaret Voltaire and early New Order or Cocteau Twins. “Sacred Islands of the Mad” is a complex, textured tapestry of sound full of dark electronics, fresh harmonies and danceable rhythms.
The Neon Judgement – Early Tapes [DE007]
Dark Entries has dug deep into the early days of the Belgian cassette scene to release two tapes by The Neon Judgment in the form of one vinyl LP for the first time ever! These pioneers of underground electronic music hail from the small town of Leuven near Brussels, Belgium and gave birth to the New Beat and EBM scenes worldwide in 1981/2 with the release of their first two cassettes–neatly compiled here as “Early Tapes”. Arriving just in time to celebrate the Neon Judgment’s 30th anniversary, “Early Tapes” showcases the band’s brash and seedy lyrics, with raw synth stabs and repetitive drum machine beats adding to this rhythmic discourse. The result is a combination of lo-fi technology and emotional sincerity to create a sound both warm yet alienating that has stood the test of time and 30 years later, still evokes the same magic.
The Exaltics – Irresistible [TRAJECTORY1008]
The Exaltics are back with a new album on Last Known Trajectory. Short, sharp, electro styles in the form of ‘Irresistible’ and ‘Calculate’ devised to strike the target head-on, while the brooding, soulful, even graceful, techno gloom of ‘Relentless’ warns of impending doom. Dark times… dark vibes.
The Hipodrome Of Music 