minimal synth
Mick Wills @ Club Eden (Bucharest) 06.12.2013
Os Ovni – Let’s Leave Reality [SC002]
“‘Let’s Leave Reality,” the debut LP from Florida’s intergalactic synth duo, Os Ovni. Let’s Leave Reality features eight tracks of experimental electronic pop lost in time and space. The psychedelic harmonies and colliding layers of synths paint a vision of a future that isn’t so much bleak as it is paranoid. Hyper-paced drum machines buzz under the shimmering structure of the synths. Logan and Omebi’s vocals stir in perfect harmony glazed with lost celluloid inspired visions.
VA – Electroconvulsive Therapy Volume 2 – Fuzz Dance [MR033]
Medical Records presents two exclusive releases. Compilation of very rare and sought after A + B sides of 3 Italo Disco iconic 12″ singles that were originally released on the legendary Fuzz Dance label (a sublabel of Materiali Sonori). The first single needs no introduction to lovers of disco. Trophy “Slow Flight” (vocal + instrumental versions) was released in 1982. A very hard-hitting percussive track with very interesting production that is quite gritty yet smooth with it’s vocoded vocals and synth melodies. The second single which is probably the most rare is Zed “Plastic Love” vocal + instrumental versions that were released in 1983. Sultry female vocals and pulsing electro sequences make these two versions absolutely essential. Clocking in at the third position on both sides are the vocal and instrumental versions of “Hesitation” by Mya & The Mirror which is a production by Alexander Robotnick (Maurizio Dami) with female vocals. Also included as bonus tracks at the end of side A and B are Mon Bijou’s “Just a Lover” and Naif Orchestra’s “Check Out Five”.
Traxx @ Rewire Festival (The Hague) 09.11.2013
Helena Hauff – Groove Podcast 26
Optimo – Dark Was The Night [EFCD011]
While JD Twitch & JG Wilkes aka Optimo are undoubtedly men-for-all-seasons musically, as anyone who’s seen them in action behind the decks will attest, they’re often at their best when creating a mood, delving deep into their bulging record collections to showcase sludgy curiosities, dark electronics and intoxicating oddities. Pleasingly, it’s this side of their multiple personalities that’s explored on Dark Was The Night, their sixth commercially available mix CD. Predictably, it’s a doozy, effortlessly joining the dots between the moody deep acid house of QX-1’s “I Won’t Hurt You”, the pulsating industrial rhythms of Carter Tutti, the icy melodies and snowy rhythms of Recondite’s “Cleric”, and the paranoid dubstep of Kode 9 and Space Ape.
Silent Servant – Holiday Mix December 2013
Deathday – No Future [MNQ046]
Deathday (formerly Deathday Party) is a Los Angeles based Experimental Post-punk band, formed in Santa Ana, California in 2008 by brothers Alex Guilln and Giovanni Guilln. While the title-track is an unreleased one, instead ”Dropped Into Obscurity” was already included in the Downwards compilation ”Click Heels” alongside with Tropic Of Cancer, Silent Servant, The KVB. On the B side Mannequin asked to the synth-master Legowelt to remix “After Dark”. Seldom has the post-punk revival seemed as urgent as with Deathday, who match their guitar driven dirges with esoteric industrial soundscapes and tape manipulation. Their music is often as bleak as it is violent, with low end cacophony bludgeoning the listener into submission. Lyrically, Deathday often invoke the violent culture hidden beneath the media, as well as explore the crippling aftershocks of isolation and the mysticism of the occult.
Sixth June – Pleasure [MNQ045]
Serbian duo Sixth June – Laszlo Antal and Lidija Andonov – come with a fresh new 5 tracks 12inch EP ”Pleasure”. They play minimal, industrial synthesized music digging into the colder corners of the synthetic 80’s. Sixth June started their musical adventure back in 2007 and they are considered one of the purest talents in the minimal synth new scene. Rising from the obscure music scene in Belgrade, they re-based some years ago in the analog synthesizers paradise called Berlin. Their debut album, Everytime, released back in March 2010 by the German label Genetic Music and the previous EP on Mannequin, ”Back For A Day”, was bringing the band to play to most of Europe. The duo represents perfectly the two sides of the same coin, in fact while Laszlo is producing obscure but expressive, powerful and danceable textures, on the back side the voice of Lidija is living the shape to a wobbling atmosphere you wont escape from. Lidija, apart singing in Sixth June, is a professional actress. Laszlo, composer of all the tracks, instead is an illustrator and music video director.
Visiona et Dopplereffekt – Die Reizen [TRAJECTORY1017]
Collaboration between the fresh and immensely talented Visiona and the mighty Dopplereffekt. ‘Die Reisen’, encapsulating what you will soon recognize to be the distinctly warm and engulfing sound that is Visonia, here morphing with Dopplereffekt’s unmistakable, deadly bass arpeggio and subterranean stratospheres utterly amazing. Flip over to the AA side and witness Visonia with two markedly different styles. ‘Antarctic Love’ is an emotive piece of electronic music and ‘Impossible Romance’ a fresh, new-wave inspired.
Neud Photo – OmnicroM [KJ013]
Neud Photo returns with another cool ep with soma abstract minimal wave, electronix rooted in the 80’s.
VA – I Am Enfant Terrible [ETX]
This new compilation is created to celebrate the 10 years of activity of Enfant Terrible. ”I Am Enfant Terrible” makes clear the traditions ET has been working in but at the same time is an album with the broad spectrum of sounds they are interested in. From indie pop to new wave to minimal synth and from noise to elektro and IDM and ambient, from poppy to experimental to dance music. This is what Enfant Terrible is…
Mick Wills @ Batofar (Paris) 16.11.2013
L.A.S.’s Crime – Mutatio (Modified) [JAMTRAXSPECIAL002]
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.
VA – Light Sounds Dark [LSD012]
Light Sounds Dark continue their impeccably curated endeavours this year, with a self titled compilation put together by their ‘International Communication Network’ adding a sense of accomplishment to previous 2013 transmissions such as that collection of archival Mutant Beat Dance material and the superb Dark Matters Too compilation. Those whose pants were charmed off by that latter release will find much to enjoy and investigate on this double vinyl selection. An undisclosed international cast of record diggers from San Francisco, Chicago, London and Manerbio (that’s in Italian province Brescia in case you were wondering) have selected 16 tracks that feature Dutch tape experiments in sound, murky industrial punk, proto techno, abstract synth pop and more. Not quite sure about the fluorescent pink cover art though…..
Xiu / Spatial Relation – Split! [PM002]
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.
VA – Electroconvulsive Therapy Volume 1 [MR028]
Medical Records is proud to release it’s first compilation LP. Medical has carefully curated a collection of extremely rare and sought after singles and rare tracks. This compilation includes 5 complete A + B sides as well as 2 other tracks that only appeared on obscure compilations in the early 80s. The first 2 tracks are by UK’s The Electronic Circus. Featuring Chris Payne (who also performed synth work on the iconic “Pleasure Principle” by none other than Gary Numan), the track “Direct Lines” is pure synthpop perfection. The second featured artist is Boston’s Psychic Youth who released one lone 7″ in 1982. One of the members, Perry Geyer, was also a founding member of the industrial outfit Manufacture. “Step in Time” and “The Future Is Now” are both dense minimal synth hits. Another excruciatingly rare 7″ is the self-titled single by UK’s Aaah…! “Slip Away” and “Duty Calls” further fit the bill for moody minimal synthpop greatness. Possibly even more rare is the Shazam single released in 1983 in the UK. The 2 “wild card” tracks if you will on the record are “Panic In Your Mind” by N.A. Pop 2000 (UK) and “Maske” by Berliner Strasse (Yugoslavia). Both tracks were plucked from rare wave compilations from the early 80s. The final single featured is the solo outing by Claude Arto from Mathematiques Modernes. Released in 1981 on Celluloid (France), the 2 tracks drip synthetic bloops and blips while being propelled by rhythmic electro sequences.
Max & Mara – Less Ness [DE054]
Dark Entires is excited to introduce the debut album “Less Ness” from contemporary Bay Area duo, Max and Mara. Their collaboration began in 2012. Max is based in Oakland and has been a part of various projects most notably Brotman and Short and his current solo work as Business Etiquette. Mara is based in San Francisco and is known for her solo work as Group Rhoda. On “Less Ness” they worked with a hardware set up: 808 and Elektron drum machine, Moog, MAM, and Sequential Circuits synth with splashes of Mono/Poly and collage elements, vocoder lines and dubbed out vocals. They step away from the the computer as much as possible and prefer that their ideas can be traced back to the tools so that a sense of physicality remains. They find inspiration from all kinds of far out sounds, most notably dub, industrial, and various drug culture tangents. Lyrically the songs revolve around topics such as escapism, looking though cultural windows, and character role development. Some songs are a bit more surrealist in content with elements of hard realism and critical commentary.
Figure Study – Figure Study [DE053]
Dark Entries is proud to present the debut album by Figure Study, a contemporary band from New York. Figure Study is the Manhattan-based duo of Nathan Antolik and April Chalpara. For their debut self-titled album, Figure Study utilizes a carefully tailored set up of vintage analog synthesizers and drum machines. Figure Study creates a lush sound where haunting vocals echo over dark melodies that reflect an isolated and disintegrating world. Songs flux between dissonant dance numbers and more sparse, somber compositions, each carrying a sense of urgency and modernism. Figure Study’s sound includes influences from such early underground artists as Kirlian Camera, Nine Circles, and The Actor.
The Hipodrome Of Music 