VA – Casting Shadows: Maja Pa [CSMP]

After releases curated by the masters Mick Wills and Intergalactic Gary, brokntoys presents the third and final installment in the Casting Shadows series with five tracks showcasing Maja Pa’s unique style. The EP opens with ‘A Perfect Day’ by Art Teachers, an excellent example of their distinct synth punk sound, providing the perfect introduction to the Veveo-verse. Next up is Vastechoses associate Brique Corps, who delivers the jagged body music of ‘Has Yo For All4,’. On the B-side, Czech duo Kontrajas contribute ‘Lunt,’ a circuit-breaker from their self-released Laguna EP. Label regular Rory McPike returns to his post-punk persona 2200 for the goth-infused Outlaw. The record concludes with Geoid Color Circle’s mournful ‘Adieu Trois Mort En Juin’, taken from their Six Sad World tape.

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VA – Casting Shadows: Maja Pa [CSMP]

Plague Pits – Punishment & Extinction [YCR-161]

Plague Pits is a collective from Bern and Zurich, Switzerland. Inspired by the D.I.Y. electronic tape underground of yore, they play disco dirges for the Anthropocene – cold wave for a heating planet. “Punishment & Extinction” compiles some of the stand-out tracks from an array of self-released, cassette-only EPs Plague Pits have put out since late 2021. 

Plague Pits – Punishment & Extinction [YCR-161]

VA – TechnoAcrazia [FRV043-2LP2]

The 1980s saw Spain become a new country. The former stranglehold on the arts loosened and experimentation flourished. This was plain to hear in the music of the time but history can be cruel and many of the artists and groups that were catalysts of change have faded with time. “Technoacrazia” rights this wrong with 16 unreleased tracks and 4 bonus tracks by Muzak, TodoTodo, Megadeath Extreme and V Generación as a compilation that brings the sounds of a pioneering outfit back to vinyl. Raw and young musical machinations, elegant and refined electronics, new and exciting sounds that cross the lines of electro, house, synth and wave to create something truly unique.

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VA – TechnoAcrazia [FRV043-2LP2]

The Actor – Exploded View + Demos 1981-1984 [MNQ156]

Mannequin presents an expanded double-LP of ‘Exploded View’ from minimal synth Dutch pioneers The Actor. Originally released in 1982 by Trumpett Tapes, the album was repressed for the first time by Mannequin Records in 2014, and now is coming back to life again in 2022, enriched by an extra full-lenght of demos from a 1981-1984 period. Singing both in English and German, The Actor songs are often related to modernism, fashion and dancing, like a sort of early incarnation of Depeche Mode but totally devoted to home taping and diy recordings.

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The Actor – Exploded View + Demos 1981-1984 [MNQ156]

Varsovia – Diseñar y Destruir [BR135]

Diseñar y destruir [Design and Destroy] is the second album by Varsovia, an electronic punk project created in Lima at the beginning of 2012 by Dante Gonzales (synthesizers), Fernando Pinzás (synthesizers) and Sheri Corleone (guitar, vocals). Unlike their celebrated debut album Recursos inhumanos [Inhuman Resources] (2014), this new production reflects a greater influence of styles such as industrial music and EBM, but maintaining the sound of analog synthesizers as a principle. The lyrics follow a concept based on the period of violence that Peru experienced in the 1980s, with samples of General Juan Velasco Alvarado and songs that refer to situations such as blackouts, bombings of terrorist groups, and the uncertainty of living in the midst of the armed conflict in a city lost in chaos.

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Varsovia – Diseñar y Destruir [BR135]

Bourbonese Qualk – Bourbonese Qualk LP [MNQ115]

The self named LP marked the fifth album and end of the first incarnation of Bourbonese Qualk. Julian Gilbert left the group after ‘The Spike'(1986) to concentrate on writing and theatre, leaving Steven Tanza and Simon Crab who parted ways after touring in Europe in early 1986 and recording this album. Steven Tanza went on to found the group ‘The State’ and while Crab continued as Bourbonese Qualk (with the new line-up of Miles Miles,Crab and Owen If), dissolved the Recloose Organisation label and founded ‘New International’ as the outlet for future Bourbonese Qualk and Recloose Org releases.

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Bourbonese Qualk – Bourbonese Qualk LP [MNQ115]

Bourbonese Qualk – The Spike LP [MNQ114]

Bourbonese Qualk’s third album “The Spike” was recorded during the period 1984-1985 and published by the Berlin based Dossier/Atonal label while Bourbonese Qualk were involved in organizing the Berlin Atonal festival. Parts of Side 2 of the album is a recording of pieces made for a dance and film performance at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London in 1985.

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Bourbonese Qualk – The Spike LP [MNQ114]

VA – Couler Sur Le Visage Vol. I

Comme Des Larmes introduces their first various artists compilation, called “Couler Sur Le Visage Vol. I”, featuring producers making Industrial Techno, Experimental Electronics, Minimal Synth, Leftfield and Post-Punk worldwide today

VA – Couler Sur Le Visage Vol. I

Euroshima – Gala LP [DE292]

Cult Argentinian darkwave act Euroshima’s Gala sees a vinyl reissue courtesy of Dark Entries. Euroshima was formed in 1986 by Fabián Iribarne, José Wyszogrod, Ricardo Parrabere, and vocalist Wanda. Originally released in 1987 on Polygram, Gala was a success throughout South America. But to the band’s dismay, they received minimal support from the record label, which meant the album would linger in obscurity outside of the region. This reissue is co-presented with Twilight Records.

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Euroshima – Gala LP [DE292]

Le Brouf – ProAntiAnti Going Nowhere EP [PHY122]

The Romanian duo Le Brouf presents “ProAntiAnti Going Nowhere” a six songs EP that will be released by Diffuse Reality’s sublabel Periphylla Records. The band goes through several musical genres and styles, from post punk to alternative rock with electro and industrial influences. The entire release can be listened on youtube and is available for pre-order on Diffuse Reality’s official Bandcamp page.

Composed of Edward Nicoara and Mircea Florut, Le Brouf was founded in 2017 in Oradea, Romania. After almost 2 years of experimentation, Le Brouf took its final form towards the end of 2019 when they started working on their first album titled ‘Charade’, self-released in April 2020, followed by ‘Counter Measures LP’ which came out on January 24th, also self-released.

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Le Brouf – ProAntiAnti Going Nowhere EP [PHY122]

Fiasko Leitmotiv – Humblekids LP [CBR017]

“Humblekids” is the first studio album by Fiasko Leitmotiv. This work is a journey in multiple dimensions of music and narrative, and even if its deep roots are certainly electronic, the listener will land in different atmospheres, different genres mixed together in new keys, with new meanings, all in a post punk environment. from a narrative point of view, “Humblekids” presents two main styles, one metaphisical and one surrealistic, and somehow the second seems to carry the first one in a mix of tragedy and irony. “Hanako” and “Balls” , the two singles from the album, underline the presence of theese two different but coexisting approaches, tied together in a necessarily sense, like darkness and light , day and night.

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Fiasko Leitmotiv – Humblekids LP [CBR017]

Genetic Factor – In Deadly Wet Dreams [AD016]

Artificial Dance announces the full archival compilation of work by Richard Zeilstra A.K.A. Genetic Factor. Recorded in different parts of the world, at different times – we hope this will give the world a glimmer of the mind of Genetic Factor. A mind that has been behind a variety of very influential operations during the years; including a string of radio programmes (Radionome & Spleen a.o.), working at Boudisque and running Barcelona’s first compact disc store. The songs featured are not an attempt of making a coherent ‘album’ but much more trials of interpretation of his world into ‘music’. His strong believe in non-musicianship makes it more thrilling than conventional musics, yet these recordings are not result of amateurism – they form a consistent reality of what excites him. Take a dive in the realm of the Genetic Factor…

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Genetic Factor – In Deadly Wet Dreams [AD016]