minimal synth
Traxx @ We Are Monsters, Monarch (San Francisco) 05.06.2015
Shoc Corridor – Experiments in Incest [DE100]
Dark Entries Records reissuesthe LP ‘Experiments in Incest’ from the 80s UK-based Minimal Synth band Shoc Corridor. The founders of this project, Chris Davis and Israel-born Nogi Prass, who eventually had to leave the band because there were problems with her Visa, started making music in 1979, influenced by German electronic bands Kraftwerk, Neu! and recent developments in UK Post Punk like Public Image Ltd., and formed a band, adding by Paul O’Carroll, Paul Humphries and Andy Garnham to the line-up. The departure of Nogi and Chris, who left with her, from the UK in late 1982 made it virtually impossible to continue with Shoc Corridor, but despite that, they released two LPs in 1983 and 1984 (Experiments in Incest and Train of Events). The band eventually disbanded after the suicide of bass player Paul Humphries following the release of Train of Events.
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”.
Helena Hauff – XLR8R Podcast 404
5X0D – 5X0D [DOM008M]
5X0D has always been Mark Phillips and Rob Lawrence since it began in 1981 in Bristol UK. Early influences were many going back to pop, prog and krautrock bands of the early 70s, through punk and new wave to industrial, then later Japanese technopop like YMO.
Mick Wills @ In The Radiator, Studio 80 (Amsterdam) 17.07.2015
Interstellar Funk for NTS & RLR @ Dekmantel Festival 02.08.2015
Veronica Vasicka & Silent Servant for NTS & RLR @ Dekmantel Festival 02.08.2015
Parrish Smith for NTS & RLR @ Dekmantel Festival 02.08.2015
Solar for NTS & RLR @ Dekmantel Festival 02.08.2015
June – Phormix Podcast #18
Traxx for NTS & RLR @ Dekmantel Festival 01.08.2015
Bézier – Telomeres [DE097]
Analogue synthesizer enthusiast Bezier first surfaced on Dark Entries in 2012, delivering the hard-wired retro-futurist fantasy Ensconced. Two years on, he’s finally ready to release the follow-up, the similarly sharp and sci-fi themed Telemores. As with his previous output, the influences are obvious – think Radiophonic Workshop, electro, minimal, new wave and Italo-disco – but he smartly steers clear of pastiche and empty revivalism. Instead, we’re treated to a range of dancefloor-friendly instrumental cuts, cyborg jams, and intoxicating robot rinse-outs. Closer “Fukushima”, in which he doffs a cap to the synthesized horror-disco of John Carpenter, is particularly potent.
Traxx presents: Possibilities of Dance(balance n Unbalanced)
Veronica Vasicka – XLR8R Podcast 396
June – Renate Podcast 016
Max Vincent – The Future Has Designed Us [DCM001]
A lifework compilation of 10 never released songs from 1984-2002 by one of the most innovative synth pioneers in Eastern Europe, Max Vincent, mainly known as Max & Intro. His music will take you deep through the horizonts of unexplored analog synth sounds, human voice and sound effects, providing you with liring recapitulation of various electronic styles. Those who love early Yello, wave, EBM or 80’s synth pop will find this material very seductive, wondering how it happened that they haven’t heard for this music before! A bleak, prophetic and very convincing synthetic dream of future that has designed us.
The Hipodrome Of Music 