Betonkust and Palmbomen II are back with their second collaborative effort. This time on the Dutch Pinkman label. Six brand new tracks that seem a lot darker than their previous work. Somewhere between Belgian new beat from 1988 and the West Coast Sound Of Holland. A lo-fi nightmare that turns out to be reality. Pounding drums, paranoid acid patterns and angsty out of control synth choirs.
Berlin’s Nat Fowler renders his meticulous Novoline project to Not Waving’s Ecstatic with an inimitable marriage of automated electronic process and live improvisation on his 2nd album, Movements, continuing a lifelong quest for esoteric knowledge and a love of archaic computer hardware. Modelled with mis-used software, run on two separate Atari ST’s using only era-consistent hardware Yamaha FM synthesis via MIDI, pitch tuned to a pure 3:2 ratio Pythagorean scale centred on 432hz, Movements is the compelling, awkward result of obtuse production techniques and painstaking trial and error; basically experimentation at the service of discovering a sound he is genuinely warranted to call his own.
This mix is a portion of a live DJ set Trevor Jackson did at the New Dance Fantasy Festival at Griessmühle in Berlin earlier this year in July.
Electro maestro Luke Eargoggle collaborates with some of his favorite producers creating an EP that delves into the many sides of Eargoggle. Eargoggle & The Hacker open the EP with a sleazy take on New Beat with Body. Eargoggle & Marco Bernardi are up next with trademark nagging basslines complete with fragmented weirdo speech and demented melodies for Rat Wire Chomp. On the flip Eargoggle joins forces with long term collaborator Rutherford for the driving emo Stalkers Behave. Closing the EP Das Muster goes in the for the kill with the metallic Starke.
Introducing Broken Dreams, a new series of white label releases on Rotterdam based Pinkman label. First up is Metropolis, who returns with four Wave, Electro and Body Music hybrids. A quartet of tracks that draw on Lapien’s diverse catalogue, this is undoubtedly some of his darkest music to date. Acid, New Beat and Post-Punk influences bubble and churn throughout. Crisp beats crash, strings lament, vocals sigh and synth stabs squirm for an EP that refuses to conform to norms. A hoarse and harsh cry to open a new Pinkman chapter.
For the fifth installment in the Common Thread series we are launching our series of Various Artists EPs called *Knives Replace Air*. For the first effort in this series we have the likes of Chinaski, MangulicaFM, 33.10.3402 and Gitchell Moore cooking up stuff. Expect an odd mixture of genres all sharing a common thread in terms of feel. Maybe not the most dancefloor friendly record but definitely some kind of miniature soundtrack in its own right.
None of the Above aka N/O/T/A is an escape from reality plan. Made in between London and Toronto, it joins Dinamo Azari (AZARI & III) and Mixhell’s Laima Leyton and Iggor Cavalera (SEPULTURA). Eager to collaborate and make music in a non compromised way, the trio brought together live and electronic drum beats, strong bass lines, unexpected samples and dark synths to an unknown place. It is none of the genres we are listening to nowadays but it still brings together a live feeling of techno, industrial and acid.
Re-issue of A Thunder Orchestra’s ‘Shall I Do It?’, a haunting yet beautiful slice of hypnotic proto techno from the vaults of the rich eighties Belgian new beat / synth wave / EBM noir scene, originally recorded in 1985 and released on a handful of cassette tapes only. Re-discovered by Walhalla records and included on their ‘Underground Wave Volume 4’ compilation in 2014, and now re-mastered and available on 12” format for the first time ever. Next to the original version we have two different reconstructed versions, one that starts with the intro just like the original and a special beat version for even more convenient dj use. Things started to move when label boss Paul du Lac heard this gem being played by Germany’s finest, Mick Wills, in one of his trademark epic dj-sets, and fell in love at the spot, with the pounding drums and the eerie kid’s voice haunting him for days. How beautiful darkness can be! It turned out Mick didn’t play the original, but, like so often, his own re-edited version: slightly pitched, extended and re-constructed in an utterly brilliant way, making this an ultimate dj-weapon for the darkest hours of the night. Eventually, intrueged as the label was with the song and being a big fan of mr. Will’s dj-ing and editing craftsmanship, one thing led to the other and Bio Rhythm is now proud to officially present A Thunder Orchestra’s ‘Shall I Do It?’ in the full glory it deserves.
We Play House’s Our Beat Is Still New series has been something of a soar-away success, introducing a new generation of DJs to the distinctive, heavily electronic midtempo pulse of Belgian new beat via a constant stream of tribute tracks from contemporary producers. Predictably, there’s more to admire on this fourth and final 12″, not least the bass-heavy throb and rubbery electronics of Locked Groove’s tribute to Belgian new beat/techno legend Frank De Wulf, “El Rio Negro”. Elsewhere, young rave revivalist Innershades drops the moody and intoxicating “Massive Overdose”, while Lauer impresses with the winding synths, juddering drums and saucer-eyed pads of “Planet Barty”. FCL’s stomping “It Began in Belgium” – all cheap electronics and proto-acid tweakery – is also pretty darn good.
Its been a long time cooking and coming… WPH brings you a tribute to the biggest Belgian electronic music heritage, new beat! But this is no ordinary compilation that is just more recycling of things past. Just like in our regular releases WPH brings it fresh with respect to the past. And so it goes that Red D decided to ask a bunch of his favourite producers of new and old to make a new track inspired by Belgian new beat from the 80ies.
The new release from Don’t imprint features two sublime 1988 Belgian New Beat classics from Zsa Zsa Laboum and HN03. Laboum’s “Something Scary” is perhaps the archetypal New Beat track, commencing with a sample lifted from the dodgy 80s B Movie “The Entity” and displaying some excellent percussion and a powerful and obscure acid line – it still sounds excellent some twenty four years later. On the flip is the R&S classic “Doughnut Dollies” from New Beat icon Eric Beysens under his HN03 moniker features. It’s grubby industrial arpeggio sounding equally vibrant today – especially pitched way down to -8 like the New Beat guys used to do!
The Hipodrome Of Music 