Continue reading “Mick Wills @ 2 Years Phormix Anniversary, Six D.O.G.S. (Athens) 05.02.2016”
minimal synth
Jonny 5 – BAH030 [BAH030]
After taking the helm for the label’s inaugural release, Jonny 5 returns to Bahnsteig with more genre-fluid stylings for the leftfield dancefloor freaks. “Deja Vu” opens the set with a space age textures, stadium slap bass and cinematic guitar licks, firing up the wind machine for some coiffured coastal romance. With the linen suit needing the dry cleaners, Jonny 5 steps aboard the “Last Train” for some oddball NDW rock and roll. Imagine if the B52s if their cartoon was redrawn by Frank Miller – dark and deranged machine music. B-side opener “Miami Slice” continues the lunacy but with added wow and future, taking us on a tape mangled tour of post punk history. The grand finale comes in the form of “Slow Bodies”, a 100bpm cosmic bopper retrofitted with Linn percussion, hypnotic arps and the best in zero gravity delay.
Repeated Viewing – Street Force (Soundtrack) [GDLP005]
Repeated Viewing’s soundtrack to the “not totally sure if it’s real or not” film of the same name slinks out of your speakers as if Badalamenti and Goblin had made sweet regretful love one night and created a baby so dark and brooding, only the ‘Trv Synth Fr33ks’ would take it in and raise it like wolves. Following the story of one man’s revenge across 1982 New York, this is Death Wish if we lived in some kind of alternative universe where Lucio Fulci had directed it instead of Michael Winner. From Ballads to Disco to Minimal Synth, “Street Force” is a masterpiece of faux soundtrack bliss and definitely not to be missed.
Nagamatzu – Above This Noise [DE127]
Nagamatzu were the British duo of Andrew Lagowski (SETI, Legion, Terror Against Terror) on synths, guitar, and programming and Stephen Jarvis (Pure Motorised Instinct, Terraform) on synths and bass. Formed in 1982 after messing around with old tape machines and drum boxes, making numerous contributions to international compilations and erratically releasing their own cassettes. Their name comes from a character in JG Ballard‘s “Atrocity Exhibition” and their music reflects his influence. Nagamatzu self-released their debut cassette “Shatter Days” in 1983 after messing around with old tape machines, drum boxes and effects. “Above This Noise” is a compilation of 9 songs recorded in the period between the release of ‘Sacred Islands of the Mad’ in 1986 and ‘Igniting the Corpse’ in 1991. It gathers tracks which surfaced on some of the international compilation cassette releases that the band were invited to contribute to in the 1980s as well as some previously unreleased songs. The band’s working method was for Andrew to first record a backing track, usually rhythm, sequence, samples. Then both members would layer more electronics, samples, guitar and bass over the top, recording the whole piece in one take. These instrumentals combine stuttering bass, guitar bursts and funeral keyboards draped over a dragging drum machine beat, calling to mind Clock DVA, early New Order or Cocteau Twins. Their sound is full of complex rhythm patterns and dark electronics.
All the Madman – Tape Recordings 1980-1983 [VOD145B1ATM]
All the Madmen were Neale James Potts, Michael William Richardson, Christopher Paul Bailey and Richard Roger Weston-Smith from Stoke-on-Trent, UK. They called themselves minimal synthesizer-punks. ATM started in 1980 as an Anti Rock group, believing that the way that music was played and produced should change forever. One track called ”Superior Life” made it onto the LP ”Cry Havoc”.
Mick Wills – outline.27
Vinilette – Beyond The Meridian
Juanpablo – Bastardos Podcast 004
Intergalactic Gary – Sounds of Sónar
Bernardino Femminielli – Plaisirs Americains [MINDLP002]
12″ LP, vinyl record, varnished 350g premium quality paper sleeve. Limited edition of 400 copies.
Severed Heads – Stretcher (USA Stretched Version) [MR060]
Medical Records presents it’s 60th release with the much needed reissue of Australia’s Severed Heads and their 1985 release – Stretcher. The Severed Heads story continues with the expanded and Stretched 2LP reissue. After personnel changes in 1985 (Garry Bradbury and Paul Deering left the band), Sev was now down to a 2 piece (Tom Ellard and Stephen Jones). Stretcher was originally released to be a compilation to introduce the band to an American audience, but it was ultimately sold in three versions due to other countries desiring their own version (an EP in Canada and England and an LP in Australia). The name was taken from the sign on the emergency stretcher at the front of every Sydney ferry during that era. This version is based on the Volition release (Australian version) but with all the tracks from the other versions for a full collection of 17 tracks over 2 LPs. A bit more “accessible” than the previous City Slab Horror with a number of dance floor stompers filling out the collection such as the 12″ versions of Halo and Petrol. The collection mostly consists of new tracks written for the multiple releases for each country release but also contains a few older tracks remixed and even a demo version of Harold and Cindy which would be later fleshed out on The Big Bigot. The Heads toured the LP across Australia in 1985 resulting in a lot of “exciting adventures with audiences who wanted to kill us” – Tom Ellard. Two other interesting facts in regard to this collection is that it was the first time Sev used MIDI and a DX7 and every track has some radio signal mixed in there somewhere, always by accident. The original version(s) are all long out of print and becoming rare on the collector’s market. Presented in a beautiful gatefold 2LP on high quality classic black 160gm vinyl with original artwork as well as new gatefold layout by Tom Ellard with extensive liner notes detailing the back story and creation of each individual track. Get lost in it.
Zeit Echo – Mick Wills Edits [ISDR002]
The second release on Italian label Il Silenzio Del Rumore comes with two amazing Mick Will edits.. Collectors editions, this consisting of a 12′ colored vinyl plus a photo insert and a totemic object from the picture set, in transparent plastic sleeve.
Das Ding – Nerd / Intermission [TAT016]
Le Chocolat Noir – Transform EP [FRV020]
Frigio Records is on the road again with Le Chocolat Noir. The Croatian artist, known for Disco Panonia and his work as Honored Matres, is no stranger to Frigio, having featured on All Stars Vol 1 in 2014. “Transform EP” is introduced by the industrial mental sounds of “Greedy Pets” which brings a new name to the roster as June delivers his interpretation of it. A grimy wave edge is pursued by the Greek machine man for a driving take. The original staggers into being. Drums slip and bass rumbles in a tense and terse piece of gritty music. Then Le Chocolat Noir offers the dark and looming “N.E.T.”. Blackened lyrics are sampled as thick bars of synth and licks of acid make for a menacing curtain fall on side A. On the flip side, the steely claps and burbling bass are rinsed in metal for the gleaming EBM infused “Doing Dishes” with vocals ghost beneath the currents. Following up, vocals ghost beneath the currents, vocals picked up by Colombia’s Cute Heels as the electronic savant debuts on Frigio for a simmering aquatic remix.
Gavin Russom – In Disarray 022
Alessandro Adriani – The Attic Podcast 39
VA – Household Shocks LP [DE114]
Dark Entries present “Household Shocks”, a 16-track compilation of UK DIY/Synth/New Wave/Post-Punk originally released in 1980. The album showcases 9 bands from the thriving post-punk scene in Scunthorpe and the North of England. Operating on a shoestring budget, co-producers Chris Leaning and Paul Singleton (both of One Gang Logic), released “Household Shocks” on Stark Products, a label they founded in 1979. At almost 50 minutes of music, the album took four weeks to produce at the Studio Playground in Lincoln. It was supported heavily by the late Radio 1 DJ John Peel.
ZYX – Trust No Woman [DE112]
ZYX are the duo of Inge Graf and Walter Zyx. They formed in Vienna, Austria in 1977. Committing themselves to the “aestheticisation of everyday life” in all fields of art, their works with video, photography, graphic design, and music are visually influenced by Pop Art, Constructivism, Futurism, Dadaism, Beat culture, and the electronic rock of the 60s and 70s. They are considered pioneers of multimedia art worldwide, and continue to remain active to this day. ‘Trust No Woman’ is the debut album from ZYX, and was released in 1981 on the label RCA Music. It was recorded, mixed and mastered from March to August 1981 at their own Sun Moon & Stars Studio Vienna. They designed short, punchy songs around a barrage of analogue synths, rock-solid electro beats and tempered, low-key vocals. Cold and claustrophobic atmospheres collide with mechanical rhythms The songs are sung in English with a heavy German accent, and lyrics channel obscure existentialist dialogues. Despite the sombre tone, there lingers a touch of the enthusiasm that accompanied the influx of affordable technologies and new media of the era.
The KVB – Of Desire [INV150]
Having begun life as a bedroom project for then Southampton-based Nicholas Wood to experiment with ideas around minimal electronica and shoegaze, The KVB has grown with partner and collaborator Kat Day. The now Berlin-based productive pair have released four albums of woozy and immersive anthems since 2010. ‘Of Desire’ is The KVB’s most fully formed record to date, taking in influences such as Death In Vegas, Scott Walker and Roxy Music to create something that is at once familiar and yet inventive and original. Steeped in musical history, it’s an album that hums with devotion and captures a band ready to emerge from the underground and embrace an ever-growing audience. “Being able to produce from home meant we weren’t restricted.” Wood says remembering The KVB’s early days. Many of the songs on ‘Of Desire’ date back to these earliest bedroom recordings, including lead single ‘In Deep’. “It’s about longing,” he adds of a song powered by a motorik beat and distorted blasts of icy guitars.” There’s definitely a romantic undercurrent to the record.”
The Hipodrome Of Music 