Victrola – Born From The Water (Demos 1983-85) [DE235]

January 22, 2019March 4, 2025 hipodromealbum, antonio cuscin, carlo smeriglio, dark entries records, minimal synth, synth pop, synth wave, victrolaLeave a comment

Victrola is the duo of Antonio ”Eze” Cuscinà and Carlo Smeriglio from Messina, Italy. The band formed in 1979 but shortly thereafter relocated to Florence take part in a rich musical scene alongside Neon, Pankow, Alexander Robotnick, and Diaframma. Beginning as a 4-piece (two guitarists, bassist, drummer) they slimmed down to a synthesizer and guitar-based duo by 1982. Their sole release was the now classic ”Maritime Tatami”/”A Game Of Despair” EP from 1983, which we reissued in 2012. ‘Born From The Water’ is a 12 song collection of unreleased demos recorded between 1983 and 1985. The band sent us over 100 cassettes, through which we dug to compile the first volume of their archival darkwave ballads. They used an array of Roland synthesizers (TR-606, TB-303, TR-909, Juno 6) plus a Korg Polysix, Yamaha DX7, Casio VL-Tone VL-1, DR-55 Dr. Rhythm, and Fender Stratocaster and Jazz Bass. Some of the songs would later appear on various compilations, but the versions presented here are unique. Victrola engulfs the listener with trance-inducing synth lines, oblique minor-key bass lines, angular guitar riffs, and melancholic vocals. The songs tell tales of youth, love, karma, and the decline of civilization in modern times.

Jacky Giordano – Timing Archives [FR02LP]

January 20, 2019January 19, 2019 hipodromealbum, farfalla records, funk, jacky giordano, jazzLeave a comment

‘Timing’ is a collection of sixteen records intended for audiovisual and media professionals which came out between 1975 and 1977, and initiated by Jacky Giordano who took care of the first six albums. The ten others were developed by Pierre Arvay and nearly all published in partnership with Music De Wolfe. 14-tracks LP with plenty of funky breaks and hard grooves, including afro-cuban rhythms, wild jazzy sounds, fuzz guitar, strings, sax, clavinet, flute…

Nubya Garcia – Nubya’s 5ive [JRF0012LP]

January 20, 2019January 19, 2019 hipodromealbum, jazz, jazz re:freshed, nubya garcia, re-release, reissueLeave a comment

Nubya fearlessly threw herself head first into this 5ive project, her debut recording, with a clear vision of what she wanted and was meticulous in her pursuit of her sound. Enlisting the help of fellow musical comrades from an exciting new wave of London based talent, Nubya tapped into well-seasoned, harmonious relationships with players that know and understand her – and this joyful union radiates through her compositions. Beautiful music, thoughtful and passionate playing.

Anthony Naples – Take Me With You [ANS2000]

January 19, 2019January 18, 2019 hipodromealbum, ambient, ans, anthony naples, deep house, deep techno, experimentalLeave a comment

Anthony Naples returns with his second full length album, “Take Me With You”. Originally conceived as a D.J. mixtape dedicated to friends and the time spent with them in the morning hours after the parties over (or beginning) – it quickly morphed into a soft focused meditation on all things warm and intangible. “Take Me With You”‘s message is undoubtedly about escapism, given away by its happy-abductee cover art done by the legend Biscuit— but first and foremost it reflects on that lingering feeling one gets when walking away from the ones they love.

Nocturnal Emissions – Spiritflesh [MNQ103]

January 19, 2019June 28, 2021 hipodromealbum, ambient, caroline k, caroline kaye walters, drone, experimental, mannequin records, nigel ayers, nocturnal emissions, re-release, reissueLeave a comment

NOCTURNAL EMISSIONS - Spiritflesh

Mannequin Records starts a series of re-presses dedicated to the legendary Nocturnal Emissions, one of the best kept secrets of the industrial genre since the 1970s. Led by Nigel Ayers and Caroline K, the band was one of the first to use tape cutting, avant-garde art, and underground video works to create a stage experience that was being cultivated by like-minded artists like Throbbing Gristle, SPK and Cabaret Voltaire. Originally self released in 1988 on Earthly Delights, ‘Spiritflesh’ is a masterpiece and a major reference for the early drone/dark ambient minds.

Dead Husband – Luxe Kondo LP [W06]

January 14, 2019December 13, 2023 hipodromealbum, dead husband, disco, electro, synth pop, waste editionsLeave a comment

Boston duo Dead Husband are responsible for the new and captivating release “Luxe Kondo”. Six varied and punchy tracks made up the long-awaited debut 12″ which as usual go hand in hand with a well prepared design and a white colored vinyl. Doubtless, this uplifting work is abounding with old and up-to-date influences and make clear that these tasteful guys share their love for Minimal wave, Electropop and Techno.

Octavian Nemescu – Gradeatia / Natural (1973-83) [SR467]

January 13, 2019January 10, 2019 hipodromealbum, drone, electrecord, experimental, octavian nemescu, re-release, reissue, romanian, sub rosaLeave a comment

Originally issued in 1984 by Electrecord, the only record label in communist-era Romania. Sub Rosa brings these two fantastic avant-garde electronic compositions back on vinyl in their Early Electronic Series. Octavian Nemescu was born in Pascani (Romania) in 1940. He studied composition with Mihail Jora at University of Music in Bucharest. As he was still a student, he imposed himself as part of avant-garde movement in Romanian compositional music. After 1965 he achieves works of the “open creation” type, of conceptual and environmental music. He involves himself after 1967 into the Romanian spectral trend. Starting with the work Concentric (1969), his creation has got archetypal vocation by cultivating an aesthetic of the essentializing. Gradeatia was composed in 1982. This piece was commissioned by the Electroacoustic Music Studio in Gent (Belgium) where it was elaborated. It was conceived as ambient music for Voronet Monastery (Moldavia), as an electronic-audio fresco paralleling the existing one, of mural-visual consistency. It happened in a historic moment when the communist regime in Romania demolished many churches. And this piece was conceived as a protest to these actions. Natural was composed in 1973 but finalzied in 1983. This music has a spectral aesthetic orientation and at the same time, processual and archetypal orientations.

Oceanic – Live At De School [DNW01]

December 30, 2018December 28, 2018 hipodromealbum, ambient techno, de nieuw, de school, experimental, j.m. oberman, oceanicLeave a comment

Almost three years after opening its doors, De School will launch their new label De Nieuw at the end of this year. For their first release, De Nieuw presents the first ever recording to surface from between the walls of the venue. On this LP is one of the first live concerts by Oceanic, recorded at the auditorium of De School on October 21st 2017. This was in the middle of a 64-hour event that lasted from Friday evening until Monday lunch. This LP contains a 40-minute recording of Oceanic’s concert, performed on his custom-made string instrument connected to a modular synth. The concert was performed for 200 people laying on pillows, surrounding Oceanic and Warping Halos, a light installation by Children of the Light.

E.R.P. – Afterimage [FFLP001]

December 24, 2018April 25, 2024 hipodromealbum, convextion, detroit, e.r.p, electro, forgotten future, gerard hansonLeave a comment

Convextion man Gerard Hanson may have been releasing spacey and atmospheric electro E.Ps as E.R.P. since 1996, but “Afterimage” is still the project’s first full-length outing. It is, of course, superb. Few can make this kind of deep, emotive and melodious electro quite as well as Hanson, and “Afterimage” arguably includes some of his finest material in this style. Highlights include the bustling rhythms, lilting chords and bubbly electronics of “Overcast”, the deep, slow and poignant bliss of “Wishing Still”, the deep space dancefloor shuffle of “Remembrance”, the crystalline melodies and hard-hitting drums of “Noetic” and the ultra-dreamy rhythmic ambient closing cut “Forlorn”. It is, though, all utterly beguiling.

Elecktroids – Elektroworld [C#CC035LP]

December 18, 2018April 19, 2023 hipodromealbum, clone classic cuts, clone records, detroit, drexciya, elecktroids, electro, gerald donald, james stinson, re-release, reissue, warp recordsLeave a comment

Clone Classic Cuts reissue of the illustrious ‘Elecktroids’ one and only album from 1995. “Based in Flint, Michigan, USA the four young sons of an electrician welded together their debut album. This album, titled Elektroworld, is a personal tribute to the well known pioneers of the electro-disco-beat; Kraftwerk.”

VEF 317 – VEF Radio [YUY-PT-RM]

December 18, 2018January 4, 2022 hipodromealbum, cassette, detroit, electro, kirill junolainen, possblthings records, r.a.n.d. muzik recordings, yuyay recordsLeave a comment

VEF 317 - VEF Radio

This is the story about a love affair with once modern technologies. It’s told by Soviet drummachines and Sci-Fi synthlines arranged in playful minimalism and mixed with Detroit futuristics. A Leipzig label collaboration between YUYAY, PossblThings and R.A.N.D. presents this multifaceted music by Kirill Junolainen.

The 7th Plain – Chronicles I-III Box [A-TONLP08]

December 17, 2018December 17, 2018 hipodromea-ton, album, ambient techno, deep techno, detroit techno, luke slater, re-release, reissue, the 7th plainLeave a comment

Essential re-issue project of Luke Slater’s alias The 7th Plain. Cosmic, analogue, orchestrated, they still represent some of the most emotionally intense music ever to come out of the techno realm. Aside from the special vinyl boxset (6×12“ LP), which includes Chronicles I – III, limited edition stickers, an essay by Joe Muggs and a complete download code. All releases are available individually on CD, 2xLP and for the first time in digital formats.

the box / part I / part II / part II

Mitsuaki Katayama Trio – First Flight [STUDIOMM11LP]

December 16, 2018May 26, 2023 hipodromealbum, disk record, jazz, mitsuaki katayama, mule musiq, studio muleLeave a comment

Johnny’s Disk Record is an independent jazz label run by the owner of Jazz Cafe Kaiunbashi No Johnny located in Rikuzentakata City in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. The legendary label released a string of albums of high quality but down-to-earth music, spanning from modern jazz, avant-garde jazz to left-field pop. Albums such as “farewell my johnny / left alone” and “Aya’s Samba” has reached cult status among fans as some of the best works to come out of the Japanese jazz scene. This debut album by drummer and actor Mitsuaki Katayama is a Japanese jazz masterpiece, put out by Johnny’s Disk Record. Consisting of 5 original compositions, the no-filler album includes the tracks “Unknown Point,” a danceable jazz samba with tight and powerful drumming; the melancholic “Arizona High Way,” a tune that perfectly epitomizes what Japanese jazz is about; “It’s Over,” which features beautiful piano work by Kichiro Sugino—a promising pianist who tragically succumbed to a chronic illness and couldn’t fully realize his potential; “Louis” and “First Flight,” a jazzy dance cut with a funky bassline.

Jazz Community – Revisited [SONOL109]

December 16, 2018December 14, 2018 hipodromealbum, jazz, jazz community, sonoramaLeave a comment

A compilation of lost tracks by the Zurich based ”Jazz Community”. One of the most important Post-Bop and Modal Jazz bands from Europe. The Sextet featured the exceptional brass section of Hans Kennel (tp, flh), Paul Haag (tb) and Heiner Althaus (ts). The three were members of ”Magog” and here they are working with various rhythm sections, using original compositions. For the first time, their most celebrated tracks from the rare LP’s ”Jazz Community” and ”Il Topo” are on one album. The tracks were produced in 1979 at the studio of Bruno Spoerri and in 1983 in concert at The Club in Rubigen, Bern.

Vercetti Technicolor – Black September Tape [GDLP001TAPE]

December 15, 2018October 18, 2019 hipodromealbum, cassette, disco, electro, francesco clemente, giallo disco records, gianni vercetti, horror disco, playtonto, synth wave, vercetti technicolorLeave a comment

Vercetti Technicolor’s fictitious soundtrack to the 1972 Munich Massacre, is a bleak, cold and somber work. Partly inspired by the 1999 Documentary by Kevin Macdonald, Vercetti creates a tense and brooding approach to this, the most darkest of subject matter. This is far from dancefloor material, this is doom-electronics at it’s most frightening. Giallo Disco is proud to present our first LP, Vercetti Technicolor’s Black September, closer to minimal wave than Moroder and all the better for it. Remixes come from Mexico’s PLAYTONTO and Creme Organization signing’s Francesco Clemente. Limited to 100 copies, first time on cassette for our very first LP by Vercetti Technicolor. Pro duplicated with re-edited artwork by Eric Adrian Lee.

Bourbonese Qualk – Laughing Afternoon [PLA030/MNQ111]

December 13, 2018October 13, 2022 hipodromealbum, bourbonese qualk, electro, experimental, industrial, mannequin records, minimal synth, platform 23, post punk, re-release, reissueLeave a comment

Mannequin Records and Platform 23 come together to start a series of stand-alone reissues of the music of post-punk / industrialists Bourbonese Qualk, starting with their 1983 album Laughing Afternoon. Formed in Southport during the late-70s, the band came to prominence out of South London’s squat scene via their own Recloose Organisation. Early releases including the band’s first experiments put to tape and the now highly sought after Sudden Departure compilation featuring luminaries Colin Potter, Eg Oblique Graph (Bryan Jones) and Lol Coxhill, laid the foundations of their burgeoning sound. Recorded and produced at the Recloose Studios in Camberwell in 1983, Simon Crab, Julian Gilbert and Steven Tanza infused their music with politically charged atmospherics, instrumental exploration, heavily laden reverb and dub, all projected by drum machine rhythms to assemble a musical collage which encapsulated strands beyond contemporary music. Track titles decipher little, as with the music, a discourse not belonging to a set style or movement, but crossing boundaries of supposition, pushing distortion and outernational leanings towards something else, a primordial discant. While tape loops warp the ears and spoken vocals propel songs like Blood Orange Bargain Day and To Hell With The Consequences and contrasting guitar acoustics pierce the mood on Qualk Street and Spanner In The Works, the overall embrace is claustrophobic, embedding a foreboding for the times. This unique, indulgent, cross genre melting pot where pounding rhythms, wailing trumpets, mournful melodica and electronic pulses all spiral in a contagious dissonance that heralded Bourbonese Qualk to the wider world.

Silent Servant – Shadows Of Death & Desire [HOS613]

December 12, 2018March 1, 2022 hipodromealbum, hospital productions, industrial, juan mendez, silent servant, technoLeave a comment

Now-legendary producer, DJ, and art director Juan Mendez arguably reset techno at least twice. Once with his surreal and Europe-by-way-of-LA ’80s surrealist apocalypse culture aesthetics for Sandwell District, and again–as Silent Servant–with his “Jealous God” imprint that captured the youth-driven mutation of crossover electronics and dark parties churning in the American underground, which followed directly in the wake of his game-changing modern classic, Negative Fascination. Mendez has evolved to more aggressive and stripped-down acid punk electro dance attacks on Silent Servant’s equally vital follow-up, Shadows of Death and Desire. While many would stall after the success of a now contemporary cult classic, Mendez took his time to deliver a more raw–yet refined–brutalism in his second album.

FRAK – Project Digitalis [DP20]

December 11, 2018October 24, 2024 hipodromeacid, album, börft records, bjorn isgren, electro, frak, jan svensson, johan sturesson, technoLeave a comment

FRAK are back on track with this dreamy album with deep dark hypnotic slow rhythmic tracks. This is experimental analog and haunting dancemusic at slow BPMs which gives you a glimpse of Swedish smalltown dystopia in all its glory. The A1 track might give the impression that this is a romantic record and the A side in general will make big city people feel the urge to move to small towns again, but on the B-side it just gets darker and weirder (the smalltown kinda reveals its ugly underbelly) and it all ends with a track that would make the taped nipples fake fetishists in techno city shiver. I could say you need a mask to play this out, but lets not take it that far.

Heinrich Dressel – Lost in the Woodland LP [BAP127]

December 9, 2018October 18, 2023 hipodromealbum, ambient, bordello a parigi, electro, heinrich dressel, valerio lombardozziLeave a comment

DRESSEL, Heinrich - Lost In The Woodland

From the whimsical resonance of the title piece, a sonic pathway through a verdant soundscape is laid. Gentle melodies caress and embrace before the road bends into shadows filled with dramatic twists and unseen dangers. Romantic moments are juxtaposed by triumphal chords and daring drums signalling immediate panic or outright victory. This is a woodland of divergent emotions, one where sounds give way to feelings and where Heinrich Dressel is the piper leading his followers through what can only be described as an unforgettable journey.

Ligovskoï – Esam [FIELD028]

December 9, 2018May 26, 2023 hipodromealbum, ambient, field records, ligovskoi, nikolai azonov, valerio seligLeave a comment

French duo Ligovskoï are to release Esam, their second artist album and first on Field Records. It features eight expertly crafted tracks that take the listener on a spacey and hypnotic journey towards inner bliss. Formed by Nikolaï Azonov and Valerio Selig in 2010, Ligovskoï once again draw on a sound palette that includes samples, synths, vocals, feedback, guitar and field recordings that merge in a painterly and romantic form of music. It recalls vast landscapes, abstract patterns and poetic movement. The title ‘Esam’ refers to a small, isolated mountain located on the moon, and the album is a journey to a similarly otherworldly landscape absent of human life. It features free improvisations, repetitive patterns and experimental materials that convey a wide range of emotions and styles from weightless shiny atmospheres to dark, heavy and swarming textures, leading the listener to deep contemplation. Esam is a transportive, thoughtful album that takes you deep into a unique musical world.