Las’s Crime – Mesmerique [DOM025]

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]

Popsimonova & Zarkoff – Die Brucke [JAMTRAXXSP003]

Ideally in transit between yesterday and today, between adolescence and maturity, between an arcadian dimension and a more actual reality made of mirrors and metal, here it is the sonic trip for these two singular characters, Zarkoff and Popsimonova, a taste of sci-fi retro comics, as the bridge of hyena plisskinn in Carpenter ‘1997 escape from ny’ or the characters of the bridge of William Gibson, the master of cyberpunk american literature. The minimal futurstic attitude is deformed, exagerated, distorted, in some case it becomes just a cold expressionism, violent sintetic colors as the sky of Munch, but the scream this time is purely electronic… The bridge, this eternal symbol of passage, the union of opposite realities, in this case reflected itself in the music, with deep roots that lie in the past (for the analog instrumentation) and then leap into the future, materialized from essential and modernist musical structures. Each human being builds its own bridge, a piece at a time, and so it happens the magic of communication, it takes place. In Die Brucke it happens in the ideal musical dialog between this two singular characters, with their composite way to write songs. Including two L.A.S.’s Crime Remixes.

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Popsimonova & Zarkoff – Die Brucke [JAMTRAXXSP003]

L.A.S.’s Crime – Mutatio (Modified) [JAMTRAXSPECIAL002]

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This is not your ‘usual’ L.A.S.’s Crime album, as if something had gone wrong in cloning, and what came out is magically different and at the same time deeply consistent with the productions of the 80s … with the participation of bands, artists and DJs from all over the world, the result is a beautiful mutant vinyl…7 songs remade as extended versions, a ‘size’ of song so diffused in ’80s, half way pop and dance.

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L.A.S.’s Crime – Mutatio (Modified) [JAMTRAXSPECIAL002]

L​.​A​.​S​.​’s Crime – Disphoria 1985​-​1989 LP [MNQ025]

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L.A.S.’s Crime (the initials stand for “Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime”, a famous short novel by Oscar Wilde) is an electronic band from Siena founded in 1984 by Sandro Marchetti (vocals, synthesizer, programming) and Maria Elena Brogi (vocals, synthesizers). With a music sometimes soft, sometimes melancholic, but always fully electronic the duo from 85 to 89 L.A.S.’s Crime produced 5 demo tapes (Five Lies ’85, Anomaly ’87, Inanitas ’87, Electa ’88, Korobi ’89) and a studio album (Abyss 43) registered at Sound City studio of Florence, but remained unreleased for label close. Today, thank to the italian label “Mannequin”, 13 selected songs can have finally a new life on vinyl, giving to the listener a small piece of 80’s remained intact.

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L​.​A​.​S​.​’s Crime – Disphoria 1985​-​1989 LP [MNQ025]