‘Programm 4′ is their fourth album. Mixed and auto-produced by Mark Eins near the Wall in West/Berlin in 1983, the album was rejected at the time by Innovative Communication, considered too much synth/punk/techno’, while the new label managers were looking more into new age stuff. In fact Schulze eventually sold the label in 1983, which started to release a plethora of acts loosely grouped around the NAM genre.
Early pioneers of the German New Wave music scene, Din A Testbild were formed in 1978 by Mark Eins and Gudrun Gut. Din A Testbild played a significant role in defining the avant-garde music of Berlin. Legendary is their partecipation at the Festival Genialer Dilletanten” in 1981. ‘Programm 3’ is their third album. Mixed and auto-produced by Mark Eins with help of Ziggy Schöning, it was released on Klaus Schulze’s record label Innovative Communication in 1983.
The name DETOBEAT. derives from the home cities of all parties involved in this project: DE/nver (Todd Nickolas), TO/ronto (Linus Booth and Chris Macintyre), BE/rlin (Gene Kouzouka) and AT/hens (Lurid Music). Their debut release features a reworked female vocal version of Ciffs by Marie Davidson, an assaulting techno rework from her Essaie Pas partner Pierre Guerineau, a psychedelic guitar excursion from Khidja, as well as the first ever remix commissioned from legendary greek electronic composer Lena Platonos.
Eleven Pond formed in 1986, released one epic postpunk/synth pop/darkwave LP titled ‘Bas Relief’ then records songs for a second LP titled ‘Assemblage’ and the experimental noise project ‘Space Trio’. The band breaks up shortly after due to differences in taste, all the 16 track master tapes are shelved. 22 years later the song Watching Trees is rediscovered in Brooklyn NY and club DJ’s in the minimal synth scene play Watching Trees. Dark Entries Records reissues ‘Bas Relief’, the original hand silkscreened vinyl LP becomes a $900 collectors item, invitations for the band to play shows appear on Facebook … in 2010 Jeff Gallea reforms Eleven Pond and starts recording and performing. They release a cover of the “Seasons Are Sitting on Chairs” from Arvid Tuba and a few great songs like “Just Be Happy”. As we love the insane modernity of these two songs we decided to release them on Prego and asked Dmitry Distant to remix this happiness anthem. All songs are remastered for vinyl by Isolator, housed in a jacket designed by Anda Masq & Rodeo Basilic.
Early 20th century. Barbarism on an industrial scale. After the final shots had rung out Europe was left a husk, a shell to be rebuilt. And she did rebuild. Slowly, but surely, normality returned. Different zones. Different ideologies. One Europe. Yet not everyone was happy. Within this struggling continent there were those who saw the hand of authoritarianism at the wheel, past criminals ruling and lands being led back to dictatorship. The solution: the sub machine gun. From Reason to Ritual is Rude 66´s most ambitious album to date. Amsterdam´s premier electronic musician maps the rise and fall of terrorism over two slabs of wax. Gruesome naivety, one that led to countless deaths, is given an electro beat on the first record, “Reason.” Warbling wave vocals from Ruud’s wife Shaunna tell a bitter tale of paranoia and looming violence. That violence is truly realised on the second record “Ritual.” Beats rain like shards of broken glass, constricted acid and echo as the enemy closes in for the final hollow defeat. An album that takes you from manifesto to death march.
The next release on Zone is from electro and techno duo Mikron with a great remix from The Exaltics. The brilliantly gurgling and steely ‘Ulterior’ kicks things off with sheet metal hits, slithering bass and buffed-up synth sounds that make you jerk your body. It’s direct stuff for the dancefloor, and so is ‘Vanguard’. Though less quick and in your face than the opening track, it still has the sort of crisp groove that has real impact. A distant cosmos of howling winds and thundering rumbles add weight to the whole thing and really finishes it in style. ‘Foresight’ is even more haunting and spooky. Chilly metal pads spiral in the background, lurching drums and hits bring the groove and the mood overall is truly unsettling. It’s devastating stuff that gets completed with Clone and Shipwrec artist The Exaltics’ take on Ulterior’. The German has fun layering in Drexcyia style, ripped-up synths and crisp hits. It’s macho and post apocalyptic and is as inviting as it is austere.
Detroit Chicago crossover housetracks originally released on Terry “Housemaster” Baldwin’s Future Sound Records in 1988. Now remastered on Clone Classic Cuts with a fierce Gerd edit.
Absolute Italian gold from 1990. Peeping right over into the house canyon while retaining all of Italo’s sophistication, Ricky Montanari’s Key Tronics Ensemble was a driving force in the sound during the early 90s. “House Of Calypso” was their debut, and it came with finessed, emotional key-stroking hook that lifts relentlessly. The remix version features a dizzying solo on the peak, the softhouse version is a little more spacious and lighter in the drums. For most, though, it’s straight to the Paradise version – an out-and-out Balearic anthem that’s still enraptures 27 years later. Its first repress in 10 years, this is long overdue.
Phat grooving bass line driven power house tracks by Fells Point following his debut release on Clone Royal Oak from summer 2016.
Chapter three for the Italian deeper label Cosmic Rhythm, A very emotional trip by Spiritual Emphasi.
Having already unleashed a considerable amount of collaborative magic with the ”Planetary Funk: 22 Light Years” series of remix EPs, Luke Slater has now upped the ante with six full sides’ worth of material,all of them injecting the spirit of classic P.A.S. into new sonic organisms. Behind the controls: Marcel Fengler, Function, Psyk,Octave One, Kamikaze Space Programme, Lucy, Slam and Steve Bicknell.
Aiken’s much anticipated return to Chronicle. The Spanish artist has been spending years honing his craft, focusing on sharp, distinct sounds that create a pure sense of kinetic energy. The title track of the EP bolsters a erce disarray of carefully (de)constructed atonal synthwork and a rhythm section that is set to detonate. It is then followed by “Axial”, a track that stays as true to modular miscalculations as it does to stripped down techno, combining both in a subliminal cessation of sanity. However Aiken isn’t done there. He continues with “Magnetism”, which throws a brick in the glass of conventionality with its earth-shaking layers of textured momentum. Phased pads then wash over “Soul Drama”, bringing the entire experience to an emotionally laced denouement.
CGI Records is presenting the new EP from Oakland-via-Bermuda based artist Russell E.L. Butler. I’m Dropping Out Of Life are 4 cuts of essentialist dance music that can provide an ecstatic escape from the drudges of professional life for all who so rightly seek it. Nice and versatile techno-electro tracks with as stand out tracks the melodic killer tune a2 and the deep floating b2 track!. I’m Dropping Out Of Life are 4 cuts of essentialist dance music that can provide an ecstatic escape from the drudges of professional life for all who so rightly seek it according Russel E.L. Butler
Amsterdam based artist Dollkraut (Pascal Pinkert) is back with his sophomore LP on Dischi Autunno – new label founded by Jennifer Cardini and Noura Labbani. “Holy Ghost People” sees Dollkraut delve deeper into his recognizable lo-fi and organic sound, inspired by old movie soundtracks, creating gritty atmospheres mixed with the purest of melodies. Album opens with instant hit “Bonnie Said”, where Pascal’s vocals magically merge with the darkest of bass lines. “Valium” continues the journey, increasing the tempo but confirming the feeling of being in a lost sci-fi movie soundtrack. On “Oblivian”, the rhythm slows down again, allowing us to dive even more in this twisted yet candid universe.
Silvia is the name of a Neue Deutsche Welle (NDW ”New German Wave”) project created Tommi Stumpff and Silvia Nemanic. The pair met in Düsseldorf in the late 1970s and started dating when Tommi was the singer of punk band Der KFC. Silvia was absolutely inexperienced in musical things, she said, “I’ve played the recorder.” Tommi rented Klangwerkstatt studio for a few days in January 1982 to record his an album with his bandmate Ferdinand Mackenthun aka Käpt’n Nuss of Der KFC, but finished earlier than expected. With one extra day that was already paid for, they quickly wrote some more songs and recorded them. All they needed was a singer, so they asked Silvia. Simply titled “Silvia”, the record was released in mid-1982 on cult label Schallmauer Records, which had released many German punk, NDW, and New Wave records in the 80’s. Tommi and Käpt’n Nuss played all instruments and wrote the lyrics. Since Silvia had a very deep voice, Tommi slightly pitched up her vocals to sound higher on the recordings. The album displays Tommi’s transition from punk rock to cold electronics, EBM and eventually Techno. Tommi’s instrument set up was a Sequential Circuits Pro One and Moog Prodigy controlled by a Fricke sequencer and a Korg SQ-10 Analog Sequencer. Silvia urges the listener to save themselves and says “No miracle will happen You die tomorrow, young and guilty” evoking the urban Zeitgeist of the Cold War. All songs have been remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. Housed in the original jacket featuring a full color of Silvia on the front with hand drawn magenta type. Each copy includes a replica insert of the original lyrics sheet in German and a postcard featuring a black and white photo of Tommi and Silvia. Sadly Silvia passed away in 2003 and this reissue is dedicated to her.
Das Ding, the dutch wave savant, arrives on Pinkman with four works of full bodied synth sorrow. Freezing rain pelts rusting machinery, a barren land of decay stretches out onto dancefloors. Rasping rhythms and lumbering bass buttress bitter chords and grinding notes that compel bodies to move. And within the dereliction, behind the dilapidation and rot, burns a purity of expression that is emblematic of Danny Bosten’s consistent quality.
The musical output by Amsterdam trio S.M. Nurse — generated in just three years of activity, 1980 to 1983 — is truly amazing by its volume and quality. The “That’s the Body” EP is their third release on Domestica; a selection of previously unknown tracks and unreleased versions on 12” format. “That’s the Body” (1983) and “On And Off” (1983) are first-ever releases. On side B, there’s new versions of “Mort Automatique” (1981) and “Frutta”(1982), previously found on the now expensive “30th Anniversary: 1980-1983” album, released by Domestica in 2013.
Spring is in the air and Matteo Pepe, aka Uabos, is taking away that winter chill with four tracks of house warmth and machine funk. Acid bars float on crisp claps for the uplifting “Mystic Force”. The Italian keeps the floor stoked with the sample strewn grooves of “Copacabana” before the synths take over with the lush chords of “City Woods”.“Karmic Souls” closes, meandering notes bend and shimmer on clean percussion for an exotic climax to an EP of ambitious analogue delights.
Time to welcome an international champion of all things cosmic to Wrong Era, Slow Motion’s international facing sister label. With releases on Clone and Viexlexx to name but two, Mr Pauli is one of the disco underground’s favourite tastemakers and he doesn’t disappoint with four slamming tracks of sublime synthesized funk.
Edits from a hole in the ground, a hole with unreasonable echoes, insane delays… A side extends a french library musician called yannick’s crowning disco masterpiece, whilst the B suspends and rewiggles the mysterious vera’s bridge..
The Hipodrome Of Music 