The lost Rockin’ House finally gets released officially. 4 proper acid tracks from the golden age of house music. Previously only a handful of whitelabels have been floating around.
001.Features
Raw M.T. – Raw Music Theory EP [WB012]
Our new release ”Raw Music Theory EP” is the debut for the young but very talented Italian producer Raw M.T. The opening tune, ”Walkman Is Dead” does, in fact, sound a bit like dismay over a broken piece of domestic electronics. As if the original wasn’t weird enough, it is backed with L.I.E.S’ very own Greg Beato’s remix that would easily make it into one of these fashionable screwed up mixes that everyone seems to enjoy so much these days. Keeping it so lo-fi it nearly crosses the line of DJ-unfriendliness, Greg stretches the original synths, delivering something on the unexpected-yet-welcome border of trance, speed garage and powerhouse. On the flip, a more laid-back and relaxed ”Sara”, possibly dedicated to a special one, takes us all the way back to the Drexciya times.
Musumeci – Schwarze Morgen / Zusammen [MNQ042]
Mannequin Records presents one of the most rare and unknown Italian Minimal Synth bands from the 80’s. Musumeci were formed in Turin at the beginning of 1985, from an idea of Mauro M. (synthesizers – ex guitar player of Rude Pravo) and Franco G. (programming – ex noise maker of Errata-S-Corrige). The group was founded as a link and expression of various experiences, aimed, at least initially, to highlight the individual personalities of the members. The formation settles after six months of testing with the final entry of Laura G. (ex-keyboardist of Rude Pravo) and Paul C. (voice of K Position). Musumeci were playing several shows, preceded by long monologues in which find space rumorism, electrical scans, voices, screams, etc. Presented here are the two super rare demo tapes that Musumeci recorded in 1985 (“Schwarz Morgen”) and in 1986 (“Zusammen”), on their own label Zeltweg.
Tommy De Chirico – Close Your Eyes [MNQ041]
Mannequin Records is proud to present a true pearl of the Italian Minimal Synth from the 80’s. Tommy De Chirico founded the post-punk band Politburo in Turin during 1981 togheter with Maurizio Rubinetti (Sick Rose) and Massimo Aluffi (Ivan Siberia). On his own, he released the 7″ “Close Your Eyes / Flower Into The Factory”, produced and recorded at TKS Studio by the Monuments’ Mauro Tavella between 1982 and 1983 and subsequently released by Turin’s Shirak Records in 1984. Presented here are also 3 bonus demo tracks: a rare version of “Close Your Eyes”, and 2 out-takes from 1983, “Vuh-Ya” and “Tuxedo Dance”.
Hard Corps – Rarities [MW051LP]
We are pleased to announce a strictly limited edition release of rare tracks by UK legends Hard Corps. Hard Corps were true innovators of the 1980s UK synthpop scene. Hard Corps gained some notoriety for their unique and uncompromising live shows throughout the 1980s. It was the juxtaposition between their hard edged industrial sound and the fragile and enigmatic vocals of French front woman Regine Fetet that created an unusual dichotomy, lending to their strength of character as a band and thus allowing them to stand out from the rest. By 1985 Hard Corps had signed with major label giants Polydor. This enabled the band to work with a couple of their favoured and respected producers, Martin Rushent (known mostly for his exceptional work with the Human League) and Depeche Mode producer and Mute Records supremo, Daniel Miller. These sessions provided the public with just one single due to the labels non-promotion, Je Suis Passée, a sweeping arrangement of breathtaking beauty, combining pumping sequences and sheer power of emotion of Regine’s voice. The band went on a major tour with The Cure in 1985 and Depeche Mode in 1988, before finally disintegrating. As a follow up to Clean Tables Have To Be Burnt (2012), Rarities compiles the outtakes and demos that were left behind. Tracks that truly never saw the light of day.
Blancmange – Irene & Mavis [MW050]
A 10” reissue of Blancmange’s seminal debut EP Irene & Mavis. Formed in the UK by Neil Arthur and Stephen Luscombe, Blancmange recorded the six songs on Irene & Mavis in 1979 and released it as a 7” EP in 1980. Irene & Mavis, though not exactly representative of what Blancmange later went on to become, is a fascinating relic that captures the gestation period of the duo, fresh out of art school and keen to experiment. The D.I.Y. sound of the EP fits right in there with the early output of Soft Cell, the Human League, and Cabaret Voltaire; but what separates it from those like-minded releases of the time is that its even more distinctly English. The Irene & Mavis EP is simultaneously pioneering, provincial, and surreal in its down-to- earth playfulness and lack of artifice. It stands out as an important record, capturing the mundane with modern electronics and remains as an artifact representative of the band before they went on to reach pop chart success.
Featureless Ghost – Sugarcoated [CGI000]
The newly forged CGI label debuts with a 12″ release from Featureless Ghost, a Atlanta-via- Brooklyn duo hotly tipped with the online content farm after releases on the Crash Symbols and Night People labels. Describing themselves simply as ‘synths/rhythms/voices/moods’ the Featureless Ghost pairing of Matt Weiner and Elise Tippins occupy the crawl space between synth pop, wave, industrial and nascent forms of techno, which manifests itself in two intriguing original tracks in “Sugar coated” and “Cybersapien”. Kudos to CGI for the remix commissions too, with both Scott Fraser and Beau Wanzer excelling – the latter’s take on previous FG single “Flash” is a particular highlight here.
Shadowlust – Trust In Pain [LIES035]
A collaborative effort between Marquis Cooper (Svengalisghost) and Lili Schulder (51717), this project was born in the winter of 2013. What can best be described as non-stop electronic erotic cabaret, the duo played a series of improvised performances which served as a structural backbone prior to the recording of this album. Finished in merely two weeks, this 8 song double LP acts as a complete listening experience, engrossed in the down beat primitive electronics of the past whilst pushing further into the self-created anti-beat world of today. Pulsing tones, off beat drums, melancholic vocals, and overall dark vibes characterize, but do not solely define what it is to truly trust in pain.
Five Times Of Dust – Smile With The Eyes [MW048]
Minimal Wave present Smile With The Eyes: a double LP of selections of unreleased material from the prolific outsider duo Five Times Of Dust. Formed in 1980 in Bristol, Mark Phillips (MAP) and Robert Lawrence came together with a shared passion for Krautrock, Industrial Electronics and the burgeoning DIY tape scene, as well as being influence by the Dadaist movement and the works of Burroughs and Ballard. Unconventional, quirky and at times melancholic and romantic, their music acted as the perfect escape from the urban decay of early 80s Bristol and Cardiff, the two cities they travelled between on weekends to record. Although unashamedly electronic, the sound of Five Time Of Dust is far harder to pin down, perhaps in part due to their location. Both Phillips and Lawrence produced music that owed little to any scene happening in London, Manchester or Sheffield at the time. As a result, the majority of their output are perfectly formed electronic curiosities. The material on Smile With The Eyes spans recordings Lawrence and Phillips made between 1982-1986. As a follow up to The Dadacomputer, their debut cassette release as a duo which we reissued earlier this year, Smile With The Eyes remains lo-fi but is musically more complex. The recordings are catchy, curious and emotionally rich. Whereas The Dadacomputer could be compared with the early output of Robert Rental, Smile With The Eyes is a collection of works that stands all on its own.
Charles Cohen – Music For Dance And Theater [DOSER021LP]
Final part in the Charles Cohen trilogy on Morphine Records. Featuring various works made for Dance & Theatre productions between 1976 & 1988. Eleven tracks in total – lovingly spread over double LP and featuring some of the most beautiful material of the series. Another essential purchase.
In Aeternam Vale – Machine à Laver [MW049]
Minimal Wave is proud to present a third 12” single from our French favorites, In Aeternam Vale. The single features two more epic, pioneering masterpieces. Machine à Laver (Washing Machine) sounding much like its title, is 12 minutes of pure electronic hypnotica. And the flip side is a more straightforward 127 bpm 11 minute number entitled Ultrabase – which is an unashamed slab of innovative dub techno from 1990, existing completely outside of its genre. Neither of these tracks have ever been released before.
Orlando Voorn – La Cliqa [VF003]
Vital Force is proud to present the new album from the legendary producer Orlando Voorn. A hip hop fan since the 80’s, Orlando used his unique scratching skills to win the Dutch DMC DJ championship in 1986. It was clear he always had a true love for all things Hip-Hop. Orlando has also traveled the globe as a Techno DJ during which time he regularly hooked up with many talented MC’s. Voorn began to compile the music created in these sessions which started way back in 2000. The various collaborations resulted in the album La Cliqa. The album represents the best in fluid, clever lyricism and a production style which sounds fresh and contemporary while giving an unashamed nod to the hip-hop golden age of the early noughties. In his career which began almost three decades ago, Voorn has used many different aliases and produced an abundant amount of styles of music but it’s his Detroit Techno/House productions that have gained him the admiration of the electronic music scene. With the release of ‘La Cliqa’ Orlando hopes to introduce his sound to a whole new audience.
William Onyeabor – World Psychedelic Classics 5: Who is William Onyeabor [9900791]
In the early 21st century, a shadowy figure rose from the dust that settled atop forgotten record collections throughout Africa, leaving behind a trail of clues in what seemed like a wild good chase, but in October 2013, Luaka Bop will unmask a phantom: the great William Onyeabor. 13 tracks from Nigerian electro-funk originator, a mystery man of epic proportions, and an elusive master of synth & good vibes.
Eno Louis – Move [VF003]
Eno Louis gained a solid background in traditional Edo music as a student at Edo College in Benin City. He lived at Fela’s Kalakuta Republic till the army raid in 1978, when he moved to the US for a couple of years. On his return, he recorded with Edo funk powerhouse The Talents Of Benin, and quickly became a mainstay of the flourishing disco and boogie scene, in-demand as guitarist and drummer, with credits including releases by Pogo Ltd, Amas Grill, Chris Okotie, Oby Onyioha, Chris Mba, Dizzy K Falola, Harry Mosco, Pat Finn and the Super Elcados… to name just a few. The two tracks here are from Louis’ debut LP, Living In The USA.
Moon B \ Off \ ATL B – Cassette Funk EP [MOONBCASSETTE]
Definite deck only release / packaged in single style J-Card. Twenty minutes of Moon B, which is unreal really! Limited cassette!
Hieroglyphic Being – Seer Of Cosmic Visions [Free Album]
Hieroglyphic Being’s Seer Of Cosmic Visions album, of original jams and reworkings of previously released tracks, exclusive to The Wire.
Inspired by Sun Ra, Chicago based House experimentalist, noise maker and Afro-Futurist, Hieroglyphic Being aka Jamal Moss has released an ever expanding cosmos of music since the 1990s. Operating under different monikers including Africans With Mainframes (with Noleian Reusse) and Insane Black Men (IBM), Moss started out selling cassettes of his music outside Chicago nightclubs, then started up his own label, Mathematics Recordings, and sub-labels Music From Mathematics and +++.
Even though Moss started out under the wing of first wave House producers Adonis and Steve Pointdexter, he’s consistently made work on the fringes of Chicago’s electronic music scene: “I never really set out to make sounds for the club or the DJ, I make them for all ears that will listen and maybe be inspired by it for positive purposes. Or hate on it for negative purposes. Either they make me better at what I do, or go out and make it how they think it should sound. Believe me, I got a lot of haters out there letting me know how it should be done, and I have a lot of lovers of what I do modify and apply my sound. It makes it to the dance by three degrees of separation regardless.”
Crystal Maze – Enter the Maze LP [ADEPTH010]
Formed of Italian producer Ma Spaventi and Dutchman G-String aka Gijs Poortman, whose releases for the likes of M>O>S and Echovolt have provided some of Holland’s most interesting deep techno output, Crystal Maze arrive on aDepth Audio with their debut album, Enter The Maze. With only two 12? releases to their name, a full album of Crsytal Maze material is an ambitious statement from the pair, but one that sees Spaventi and Poortman continue to develop the Crystal Maze sound which has been characterised a decidedly dark edged manipulation of analogue techno. Across ten tracks the duo display a wide variety of sounds and influences; “Slow Swirl” sounds like Drexciya taken down to a lumbering, mid-tempo groove, “Indian Tape” combines rubbery, ghetto house textures with swelling deep house chords, “Mirrors Chamber” comes across like the sub aquatic dub techno of Porter Ricks, while “Dr Claw” creates a low slung, warped vision of Detroit techno’s first wave. An ambitious album, yes – but one that more than succeeds.
Mental Model – Emotional State EP [MNTLTRX105]
Mental Models Emotional State EP comes with 4 powerful tools straight from our machines. Rushed minutes, fevered vibes, minded moments and weakened feelings are all emotions we all have experienced in our club adventures. Simple and straight, no compromises.
Kirk Degiorgio – Unreleased 1991-1992 [AERA009]
Indigo Aera is very honored to release these precious gems from Kirk Degiorgio’s personal archive. Kirk found the tracks by accident going through his DAT tapes from 1991-1992. Time captured in music which deserves to be on black gold.
Population One – Random Variables [REDUCTIONTHREE]
Terrence Dixon turns it up even higher with the third release on his own Reduction label. Chiming, melodic and magnificent abstractions from the depths.
