dark wave

Kirlian Camera – Eclipse [NTNO7871]

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Norton North presents a collection of deluxe re-releases by Kirlian Camera: after 26 years the best-seller album Eclipse is again available on vinyl with the original tracklist and artwork. This record is one of the most representative albums of the 80’s, with his icy and pop style at the same time, a monumental classic for the synthpop and electronic scene, but also darkwave and experimental (the title-track “Eclipse” is a real classic for each underground club worldwide). Original released by Rose Rosse Records.

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Kirlian Camera – Eclipse [NTNO7871]

Las’s Crime – Mesmerique [DOM025]

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Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime, or simply known as L.A.S.’s Crime around the digging circles, were an Italian cold wave duo who formed at the tail-end of 1984 and produced a timeless bunch of EP’s and LP’s which have become heavily sought after in the last few years. Luckily, Spain’s excellent Domestica label have herein compiled the very best from the duo, an eleven track showcase of the band’s top productions from the years between 1985 and 1989. As you’d expect, the bulk of the compilation is made up of fast-paced drum machines patters glazed in the era’s melancholic sound, where winding, lonesome vocals glide and wash over the Kraftwerk-style beats. There are even bursts of early electro within, such as the gnarly “Five Lies”, and more experimental moments like “Dark Orris” or the EBM-charged “Flax Girl Room”.

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Las’s Crime – Mesmerique [DOM025]

INIT – Two Pole Resonance [HVNLP001]

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Having first joined forces last year to lend a hand of Massimo Pagliara’s collaborative With One Another full-length, Benedikt Frey and Nadia D’Alo present their debut full-length under the Init alias. It’s a thoroughly atmospheric, clandestine affair, with the duo delivering a dark-wave opus that tips a hat to early Depeche Mode, minimal wave, Detroit techno and the ambient soundscapes of Brian Eno. D’Alo provides the vocals, though for much of the time they’re utilized as textures, rather than the central focus of the duo’s shuffling, slowly evolving synth-scapes. As an album, Two Pole Resonance is initially attractive – albeit in a stylized, late night kind of way – but really comes into its’ own after repeat listens. It is, though, definitely worth the effort.

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INIT – Two Pole Resonance [HVNLP001]

The KVB – Mirror Being [INV147]

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Now Berlin-based duo The KVB land on Geoff Barrow’s Invada label for the first in a series of releases. Mirror Being differs from most releases from The KVB as the pair’s deep set vocals, a key component of their sound, are largely absent from the 10 tracks but their reverb soaked mastery of guitars and analogue gear is still very much evident throughout.

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The KVB – Mirror Being [INV147]

Ssleeping Desiress – Ssleeping Desiress LP [OS026]

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Coldwave / darkwave debut album by San Francisco based producer Gabriel Ramos. While the band has gone through some lineup changes Ssleeping Desiress has essentially remained the sole recorded output of Gabriel Ramos, who has been the only constant member. The album runs the boundaries between minimal synth, coldwave, and electro with lyrical themes spanning gentrification to coping with loss.

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Ssleeping Desiress – Ssleeping Desiress LP [OS026]

Nite Fields – Depersonalisation [FLT020LP]

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Nite Fields will release their debut album ‘Depersonalisation’ on vinyl, CD and digital through Los Angles label Felte, and in Australia on cassette and digital through Lost Race.

‘Depersonalisation’ was conceived and completed over a four-year period in all three distinct capitals. Recordings were completed almost entirely by the band members in over twenty locations including garages, bedrooms, borrowed studios, stairwells and a restaurant dining room after hours. Lead singer and songwriter Danny Venzin is opinionated, passionate, and uncompromising, whether releasing works on his own label Lost Race or maintaining his diligent focus on a unified (though not narrow-minded) Nite Fields aesthetic, regardless of what music is currently in fashion. His band mates Chris Campion, Liza Harvey and Michael Whitney consist of deeply immersed players in a tight-nit local D.I.Y. scene.

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Nite Fields – Depersonalisation [FLT020LP]

Neon – Tapes Of Darkness [DISORDINE003]

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Neon is not a common name for italian post punk lovers. Born in Florence, the cradle of peninsula’s wave, they were probably the first important post punk gothic band in our country and they are still nowadays one of the most active band in 80’s Italian new wave time, still marking Italian rock history. In 1980, the band got off to an electronic start with the single Information of death, and later, through several line up changes, it achieves to synthetize a mix of obsessive electro sounds, obscure athmospheres and quite original pop melodies which take shapes in later works like Tapes of darkness (1981), Obsession (1982), My blues is you (1983), Dark age (1984); in 1985 Rituals sanctioned Neon as the best Italian new wave band of that year.

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Neon – Tapes Of Darkness [DISORDINE003]

S.M. Nurse – Hometape Recordings 1981-1983 [DOM020]

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Around 1980 Menko Konings (eM.) started the Dutch underground formation S.M. Nurse, first together with Jos Jak and later also with Anneke Stempher. S.M. Nurse experimented with collage-like music and were inspired by N.Y.-ultra, disco e.g. The band mainly performed in the Amsterdam ultra-circuit (Oktopus, Paradiso), clubs and discotheques. They were played regularly on the famous radio programmes RadioNome and Spleen and performed live on radio in the villa of the VPRO in Hilversum. They also contributed to the theme cassette Turkish Delight of the label Ding Dong and there was a cassette release on the label Top Tape. At the end of 1983, S.M. Nurse split up.

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S.M. Nurse – Hometape Recordings 1981-1983 [DOM020]

Bourbonese Qualk – Lies [MNQ059]

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“Lies,” a track from the now-defunct UK experimental group Bourbonese Qualk, get new life by way of a vinyl release on Mannequin Records with Ancient Methods on edit and remix duties. “Lies”, a terse, TR 808 driven electro-tinged cut just under two minutes long, originally came out in 1986 on the Preparing For Power LP by way of the group’s own label Recloose Organization.

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Bourbonese Qualk – Lies [MNQ059]

Void Vision – Sub Rosa [MNQ054]

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Void Vision is a Philadelphia-based electronic project helmed by Shari Wallin. It began around 2009 at a time when a wave of synth-revivalists were materializing, but the quality of the songwriting and intense vocals set the band apart from the pack. In a rare instance, Void Vision has managed to combine vintage dance elements with melodic structures, haunting melancholy, and lyrics that have a palpable soul. The songs themselves are dynamic, referencing a cross-section of the last 30 years of electronic music, while simultaneously retaining a uniqueness all their own.

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Void Vision – Sub Rosa [MNQ054]

Xymox – Subsequent Pleasures [DE072]

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Xymox was founded in Nijmegen, a city in the east of the Netherlands in 1983 by Ronny Moorings (Vocals, Guitars, Synthesizers) and Anka Wolbert (Vocals, Bass). In April of that year Moorings bought a TEAC 144 four-track tape recorder and the duo moved to Amsterdam. They began to record songs utilizing a Yamaha CS-15, Korg MS-10 and MS-20, a BOSS Dr. Rhythm DR-550, guitar and effects pedals. They layered the drone-like tones of monophonic synthesizers alongside tape loops and rhythm tracks, then played guitar and bass, without the use of computers. The 5-song EP Subsequent Pleasures was released in 1984 and limited to 500 vinyl copies, and served as a precursor to the dark wave sounds they would champion on their self-titled debut on 4AD the following year. Also of note, the track Muscoviet Musquito, was later re-recorded for the compilation album Lonely Is An Eyesore released by 4AD in 1987.

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Xymox – Subsequent Pleasures [DE072]

Nine Circles – Number Not Available [EV009]

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EE Tapes are more than honoured to welcome Nine Circles aboard of their 7″ vinyl series.  A new line-up with new challenges, starring Lidia “The Rose” Fiala and keyboard  wizz Per-Anders Kurenbach.

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Nine Circles – Number Not Available [EV009]

The KVB – Run Away [AMPLA075DD]

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The latest release for The KVB comes via Ample Play, a London label that’s best known for releasing the music of indie rockers Cornershop. The two-track Run Away EP sees the duo on form once again, with more curtailing synths, straitlaced drums and vocals clear as mud. Both tracks on the EP are somewhat contrasting, the title track being dancey and melodic, while “436” is a grungier version of sounds you could expect from Tropic Of Cancer or HTRK.

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The KVB – Run Away [AMPLA075DD]

The KVB – Minus One [AUK109]

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London-based “dark wave” duo The KVB are a productive lot. Somewhat remarkably, this is their sixth album since 2011. It further explores there trademark distant, discordant, murky sound, blending barely-audible vocals and shoegaze guitars with fuzzy tones, clandestine moods and atmospheric grooves. While they can do full-throttle noise – see the growling “Dominance/Submission” and “Something Inside”, which push reverb and multi-layered guitars to their limits – they’re actually at their best when exploring less intense pastures. There’s much of this on Minus One, with the wide-eyed “Passing By”, dreamy “Endless” and clandestine “Kill The Lights” standing out.

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The KVB – Minus One [AUK109]

Lè Travo – Erring And Errant [DE056]

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Lè Travo is the brainchild of Patrick Bollen from Tienen, Belgium. As a teenager in the early 1980s, Patrick would visit ”DeAtelier”, the infamous coldwave/gothic club in Leuven. He would be inspired by Joy Division and other Factory releases, The Danse Society and Cocteau Twins. He gathered a some session musicians and a female backup vocalist. Eventually Patrick bought a Greengate DE-3 sampler, using the brains of an Apple 2E with a keyboard bolted onto it. He crafted loops made from a deconstructed upright piano, hitting the strings directly with a drum stick. Lè Travo made their first appearance on a split LP with Fred A in 1984. ”Erring and Errant” is their debut 7 song LP originally released in 1985. For the reissue 3 bonus songs from the split LP have been added. The songs are coldwave in the vein of Weimar Gesang, Opera Multi Steel, and Clan of Xymox. Guitar, bass and sample interplay with piano and synthesizers with dark and forbidding crescendos in the fast numbers, and elegaic melancholy in the slow tracks. The vocals are delivered with a sense of urgency, while the lyrics are inspired by avant-garde movements such as futurism and constructivism, as well as science fiction and existentialism.

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Lè Travo – Erring And Errant [DE056]

Xiu / Spatial Relation – Split! [PM002]

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This release will be the second one from Peripheral Minimal, which is a split in between Oksana Rodinova (Xiu) and Spatial Relation (Lisette Schoenly and Jacob Schoenly). It demonstrates two vividly different, but equal tracks from the minimal synth uprising.

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Xiu / Spatial Relation – Split! [PM002]