The Italian Fuzz Dance! Just said almost everything about the global dance music scene. One of the most prominent labels to connect the old Continent to the new Continent. For many top players it is considered the blueprint of Italo-disco, for many others the beginning of the House sound. Some of the records on its catalogue are merely timeless and in the history forever. And ”Plastic Love” is definitely one of those.
Minimal Wave is releasing a newly mastered compilation of 6 tracks made by Scene de la Bohème (aka Anthony Waites), entitled ‘Standing in the Rain’. Scenes de la Bohème was formed by Anthony Waites in London, in 1981 with an innate desire to create poetic, subversive pop music. Without any intention of ever signing to a record label, he self-released one untitled 7” single in 1982, an edition of 150 copies, with money funded to him by his parents for his 21st birthday. He often used borrowed synthesizers to record his music in various bedroom studios and friends’ houses supplemented by his beloved cherry red Hagstrom guitar. This release includes 2 tracks that come off his sought-after untitled 7″ from 1982 and 4 are previously unreleased.
The Misz formed in Gent in 1983 by Jan Van den Broeke and Dries Dekocker at a time when they had both just relocated from the country. They lived on the same street and collaborated freely with the limited equipment they had, which always centered around the Fostex 250 4-track tape recorder. They used an unknown monophonic synthesizer, casio synths, roland drum machines, hand drums and guitars through effects pedals, improvising with their voices and often and included friends for additional voices and sounds. They captured these sonic experiments and sometimes released them on cassette in editions of 100-200. They described themselves as young, immature and bit strange yet totally bold and fearless. They sang about what surrounded them from world politics and environmental catastrophes to love and lust.
”Venetian Blinds, bound to be partly closed for eternity, Offer a glimpse into a miniature of trompe-l’oeil and deceitful appearances. Time sometimes lets truth leak. Due to some obscure little schemes your name was never mentioned: Belinda de Bruyn, you sung with a glacial voice, shaping fantasies with surgical mastery.You were young, inexperienced, and very angry and deceived – and Kyoto’s song became a lone pop hit that never reached the charts. In the paranoid era that bred it, it should have. It has to. Give this ode to consenting voyeurism a second chance. Get the one you love a bouquet of black painted roses, this record and a venomous kiss.”
Lhasa is the brainchild of Alain Raes from Siegen, Germany. As a teenager he was inspired by Tubeway Army’s ‘Are Friends Electric’ and Art Of Noise’s ‘Beatbox’. In 1985 he began collecting analog equipment (Prophet-5; Oberheim OB-X; Linn LM-1) as digital synthesizers had started to become more popular. In 1986, New Beat was born in Belgium. Dancers tapped into the darker side of synth pop, and DJs would play 45 rpm records at 33 with the pitch control set to +8. Alain was playing in New Wave bands and had started production work and synth programming for other acts. In 1988 he self-released the debut Lhasa single ‘Acetabularia’ / ‘Acetatechno’, with help from Kris Tremmery on vocals and concept. The record combined the icy melodies of Gary Numan and John Foxx with with the mechanical rhythms of Detroit techno and EBM. Thematically, both tracks revolve around the end of life on Earth, and include samples from ‘Dr. Strangelove’. For this first time reissue, we’ve added 4 bonus tracks rescued from a 1990 recording session DAT tape. These demos show further development of the Lhasa sound with updated instruments (Roland D-20, Yamaha TX16W, Korg 707), faster tempos, and menacing proto-rave energy.
Gregorio Gomez aka Gladkazuka is a mythical figure from Medellin’s underground nightlife, contributing since pre-smartphone ages with energetic live sets to the celebration of life in the convulsive surrounding of the Colombian city. He is back on Cómeme with a full EP in which highly emotive and sensual electro dance fantasies culminate to ‘The Drop’. Gomez’ creations are nocturnal and lush, utopian and melancholic – underground dance pop that would be mainstream in a better world.
Emotional Rescue announces an EP with two (un)classic songs from Thomas Leer, remastered, reappraised and reinterpreted with new versions by Bullion. The release starts with ‘Saving Grace’, a long famous cosmic classic, it’s mid-tempo, spacey, lifting repetition is the perfect soundtrack for trips straight to the stars. This is backed with ‘Tight As A Drum’, a quintessential Leer production, where Teutonic drums is overlaid with sequencers and synth tones to elevate the song to some kind of disorientating outer-dimensional dub, while his lucid, spoken word vocals instill degradation and reinvention. Bullion is offering his own take on these two songs. A revered artist in his own time, the warmth and depth of his versions takes the originals to his own inner world.
Sao Paulo’s “Vermelho Wonder” (AKA DJ Vermelho and vocalist Ivana Wonder) debut on Mister Mistery, loaded with Italo-disco, New-wave, Synth-pop and House influences, the duo already made a name for themselves locally with a huge and very present fanbase. The EP comes with two dance-floor remixes by Italian Massimiliano Pagliara and Mister Mistery’s ROTCIV.
Mannequin Records presents a new press of Decadance “On And On (Fears Keep On)”, one of the most iconic underground Italo-wave track ever. Produced by Franco Rago & Gigi Farina, the masterminds behind cult italo disco projects ‘Lectric Workers, Wanexa, Expansives, Atelier Folie, Peter Richard and many more, the single was originally released in 1983 by Proto Records.
A new addition to our ever-growing discoid dance club is Curses. The Italo American brings something a little darker to the party – four cuts of EBM influenced madness. Bone crunching snares and B-Movie samples sit atop shimmering synth licks that will be right at home on a wide variety of modern and retro dance-floors.
First opus of the new series is La Batterie, by the UK’s Richard Podolor and Sandy Nelson in 1983 in the hypnotic shimmering disco of ‘Let There Be Drums.’ The music of Polodor and Nelson is being given new life by Kalahari Oyster Cult. Alongside the entrancing original are two remixes. First up is Australia via Amsterdam’s very own Max Abysmal with his ‘Spooky Remix.’ Adopting and adapting the raw energy of the ’83 version, Abysmal layers ghostly notes and spectral snares into his mechanical remake. The flip takes on a different slant with ‘Shotgun’ taken from the EP of twenty fives years ago. A super slick work of understated funk shot through with bold keys and powerful chants to show another side of the UK pair. The fiercely talented Benedikt Frey closes, turning his daringly able hand to ‘Let There Be Drums.’ He keeps the vocal line, the rest of his rework is dipped in a thick heart of darkness threat. Pulsing thumps, menacing notes and danger lurk in this jungle of Frey’s own making.
For their sixth release London based record label and clubnight Snap, Crackle & Pop return with another slice of the post punk and kraut influenced electro/techno sounds that are coming to define the label. The latest release comes from Niv Ast and it serves as a follow up to his appearance on this summers Relish compilation. The EP leads with an ice cold slab of post punk swagger in the form of Quebec / Makolet which gets the remix treatment from previous collaborators Khidja, the Romanian duo strip the percussion back for the dancefloor and tease out the track’s darker side with more than a hint of acidic malevolence. For the B-Side Disco Monroe offers a nostalgic slice of pitched down French Electro undoubtedly influence by the Djs recent residencies in Paris. Optimo Music’s Mr TC rounds off the EP with his unmistakably left field vision to give the track a dark tropical re-imagining.
Victrola is the duo of Antonio ”Eze” Cuscinà and Carlo Smeriglio from Messina, Italy. The band formed in 1979 but shortly thereafter relocated to Florence take part in a rich musical scene alongside Neon, Pankow, Alexander Robotnick, and Diaframma. Beginning as a 4-piece (two guitarists, bassist, drummer) they slimmed down to a synthesizer and guitar-based duo by 1982. Their sole release was the now classic ”Maritime Tatami”/”A Game Of Despair” EP from 1983, which we reissued in 2012. ‘Born From The Water’ is a 12 song collection of unreleased demos recorded between 1983 and 1985. The band sent us over 100 cassettes, through which we dug to compile the first volume of their archival darkwave ballads. They used an array of Roland synthesizers (TR-606, TB-303, TR-909, Juno 6) plus a Korg Polysix, Yamaha DX7, Casio VL-Tone VL-1, DR-55 Dr. Rhythm, and Fender Stratocaster and Jazz Bass. Some of the songs would later appear on various compilations, but the versions presented here are unique. Victrola engulfs the listener with trance-inducing synth lines, oblique minor-key bass lines, angular guitar riffs, and melancholic vocals. The songs tell tales of youth, love, karma, and the decline of civilization in modern times.
Boston duo Dead Husband are responsible for the new and captivating release “Luxe Kondo”. Six varied and punchy tracks made up the long-awaited debut 12″ which as usual go hand in hand with a well prepared design and a white colored vinyl. Doubtless, this uplifting work is abounding with old and up-to-date influences and make clear that these tasteful guys share their love for Minimal wave, Electropop and Techno.
Afrobot cuts up four wavy 80’s tracks for darker times! A1 is a sleazy minimal wave banger of Ensemble Pittoresque, recorded in The Hague in ’84, now tripled in duration! After that we continue our trip from France to New York ending in the UK on the B-side. First track is a mix of a 7” b-side and a wrong speeder and a slowly pounding track with a twist is the one to finish with.
A new work produced by Zurich Dada, a duo from Porto, who play a kind of calm and melancholic Synth Pop. The release comes with two original tracks from them. On side A with ‘Peta Bytes’, which includes Antoni Maiovvi and Franck Kartell remixes, who are back on Aspecto Humano. On side B is included ‘Kites’ with a banger remix from the house by Anbau.
Well renowned bass player extraordinaire, Osynlige Mann from Gothenburg releases long awaited new solo material on Hoga Nord Rekords. This 7inch contains high voltage material; ‘Airports’ and ‘Exodus’ brings tense seventies synth and early eighties electro to the table. The A-side ‘Airports’ is a Kraftwerk inspired elegy over the lumpenproletariat of the machines – aeroplanes. ‘No sleep for the big machines, no rest for the sad machines’. The B-side, ‘Exodus’ carries more obvious characteristics from Osynlige Mann’s other electronic projects.
The Hipodrome Of Music 