alessandro adriani
Lata Ramasar – The Greatest Name That Lives [ICE009]
Hindustani singer/songwriter Lata Ramasar’s “The Greatest Name That Lives” has long been considered something of a pioneering voodoo disco/proto-house classic. In a bid to beat bootleggers, Invisible City have rushed through this official re-edit – produced with the cooperation of the Ramasar family – backing the original version with Alessandro Adriani’s infamous, previously unreleased remix on the flip. While that version, blessed as it is with additional analogue drum machine hits and dub effects, is rather fine, it’s the druggy simplicity of the chugging, synthesizer-heavy original – on which Ramasar’s vocal sounds particularly haunting – that’s the real killer.
VA – World Of Rubber 1 [RUBBER001]
Rubber is a new label from The Hague with a motley mixture of off-radar electronix for both the experimental clubber and home listener. Rubber001 is a bold three-tracker. Mannequin Records head-honcho Alessandro Adriani hits the nail on the head with his secret weapons. Secondly, reigning from Finland, 0.5W pans across the room like running with titanium scissors. The cherry on top is this piece of Dutch drum-laden ”poetry”, probably on illegal medication, about a bicycle mechanic from The Hague by legends Unit Moebius, Reverend Cor Gout and Salo Mentale.
Alessandro Adriani – PHNCST197
VA – Der Zeltweg – Italian Tapes Industrial Music 1982-84 [MNQ060]
For a brief moment Turin was Italy’s Sheffield, producing an astonishing number of DIY electronic groups. In the context of a wider Europe, Italy has never been thought of as a hotbed of minimal electronic music, but Mannequin Records compilations Danza Meccanica: Italian Synth Wave 1982-1987 have shone a light on a scene little heard, even within Italy’s borders. But the history was still incomplete.. some new horizons now must be unveiled, showing that between the years of 1982 and 1984, the city of Turin in northwest Italy was home to a quiet underground renaissance of experimental electronic music.
Ancien Régime – The Position LP [MNQ032]
The Italian band Ancien Régime with theoir first album on Mannequin Records. “The Position” evokes new wave and synth-pop memories, delivering epic vintage sounds and wrapping them all with catchy riffs and melodies. Still, despite this fascination with the past, the band’s work stands out as a distinctive, highly personal take on the genre. The album is opened by the single “Negative”, with its dark gloomy vocals and war-like drumming. “Negative” is, in fact, the quintessential Ancien Régime composition: wave, biting snare, interweaving synths and guitars, reverbs, delays.
Newclear Waves live @ The Dark Side Of The Moog (Barcelona) 12.08.2012
Newclear Waves – S/T LP [DSR028LP]
Hailing from Rome – Italy, Newclear Waves is essentially the solo project of Alessandro Adriani, mind and boss of Mannequin Records, one of the most important synth wave / cold wave labels around, with contributions from Oksana Xiu, an academic russian musician devoted to analog synths. Deeply influenced by the works of the early minimal electronics sounds on Mute Records and 4AD, Newclear Waves is exploring droned out electro pop territories with an interest for a refreshing hyperactive 80s New Wave. Having turned out releases on Mannequin Records, the duo is now presenting a full‐lenght ten tracks collection of caliginous pure analog minimal synth on the way on Desire Records, french Cold Wave and Electro Wave label, focused both in new artists and stunning reissues from 4AD like Mass, In Camera and Dance Chapter.
