Greek poetry and electronic music are tied together with darkwave: kama muta present their debut album “The voices burned” on Dystatik Records. Based on a book that will be published at a later time, the songs talk about grief, love, suicide, isolation, equality and many more. The album is fluctuating from Synth Pop to Darkwave and from Minimal Synth to Synth Punk sounds, counting 8 times that the voices burned in an echo chamber full of buzz.
Eighteen years ago, Oppenheimer Analysis made its indelible mark with the iconic track ‘The Devil’s Dancers,’ heralding the birth of the Minimal Wave label. Founded with a singular mission, the label set out to share this musical gem with the world. This historic release graced the world on December 6th, 2005. Remarkably, this EP has been elusive for a decade now. In an exciting development, the fifth edition of the Oppenheimer Analysis self-titled EP, is presented as a loving tribute to Martin Lloyd (1950-2013 R.I.P.), one half of Oppenheimer Analysis. The EP showcases select tracks from the 1982 Oppenheimer Analysis cassette titled “New Mexico,” the original remastered version of ‘The Devil’s Dancers’, along with two previously unreleased gems.
Dunkeltier is back on wax, this time on the German label Reach Another System aka RAS Records. It comes as no surprise that it’s a surprise box drawing from the bottomless pit that is the 80s. And again, these edits are closer stylistically to his dark side project boldly named GOTT than to his more gleeful mainstay alias Sneaker. The sources of these four obscurities are only revealed to the third ear of the knowledgeable digger, but let us give you a hint – gathered are Teutonic Titans, a Bauhaus offshoot and a digital symphony orchestra.
A hard one to put in a box when it comes to genre, floating somewhere between italo and synth pop, originally released in Switzerland in 1985. “Underboard” is very cool paced downtempo number that builds up with layers of subtle percussion lusciously adorned by some heavy saxy reedsmanship and mysterious vocal accents with no real message – 100% chill o’clock served on ice. “Cedar Of Lebanon” picks up the tempo a notch, once again setting the scene for the reeds to shine as the catchy melody is presented, beautiful 80’s instrumentalism from a golden age, clearly not made in Ableton. B side features a respectful DJ tool style remix by Anatolian Weapons.
Miss D. used to work as a model in New York. That she ended up in Vienna was sheer coincidence. That she became a recording artist was never planned, either. She moved to the Austrian capital with a well-known commercial producer in the mid-1980s, and soon she found herself recording TV ads for ice cream manufacturers. One day in the recording studio, someone had the brilliant idea of producing a proper record with her. The outcome was the highly sought-after disco oddity “Moving”, which was originally released in 1986, but most copies were destroyed due to a lack of commercial success. Now getting a second chance, “Moving” is as strong as Austrian disco productions from that era come: slow, bouncy, full of personality and consistently surprising.
Ferry Lane Records welcomes Teatre AKA Viktoras Urbaitis for its fourth release. ‘2 Songs’ presents the Lithuanian producer at his most introspective. On the A-side, ‘Alone’ offers a languid, bittersweet melody evoking the golden era of synth-pop. The B-side, ‘Low’ intensifies the mood while still embracing melancholy.
Next Wave Acid Punx DEUX is the second compilation for Eskimo Recordings compiled and curated by Berlin-based Musician and DJ Luca Venezia, aka Curses, to explore the darker side of club music. Spread across 3CDs and three 2LPs Next Wave Acid Punx DEUX features a mammoth 49 tracks that join the dots between early industrial pioneers Throbbing Gristle, EBM legends like Nitzer Ebb and the post-punk experiments of people like Malcolm McLaren and Big Audio Dynamite with some of the most exciting artists around today, such as Boy Harsher, Nuovo Testamento and Years of Denial. Where the first Next Wave Acid Punx compilation was a personal journey for Luca, a lockdown inspired exploration of his record collection to find the thread that ran through the music that had soundtracked much of his life, DEUX is a celebration of that music let loose on the world, the thrill of music performed live, the smoke and strobe filled clubs you’ll hear it in and the artists you’ll find on those stages.
Poetical License was a brief project uniting Scottish born and Aotearoan (New Zealand) musician Mark Airlie and keyboardist and vocalist Keri Ansley after the duo met in New Plymouth. The solitary 7” came together in 1986, recorded at the infamous Auckland studio, The Lab. The A side’s fragile Footprints is as utterly charming as it is drenched in melancholia with a delicate glockenspiel lick and Ansley’s ethereal delivery of the vocals. On the B Side, Room 101 pivots to wonky rock and a more post-punk approach to composition. The two tracks shine brightly among an abundance of outsider gems made in Aotearoa during the 1980s
Since 2014, Silas Schletterer has been part of the Bordello A Parigi family. Under his Machinegewehr guise, the Rotterdam artist released three show-stopping synth centred records. 2023 sees him put out his fourth, Life. Burbling arpeggios, a signature of his sound, are present for “Sans.” Clever inviting melodies, another feature of Schletterer’s style, mix beautifully with clean percussion and samples for a definite dancefloor favourite. The title work follows. Measured and meditative, “Life” employs a familiar sound palette with very different outcomes. The pulsations, the throb, of Machinegewehr is there, but there is a considered melancholy that brins a bittersweet balance to the piece. Steady kicks and vocal snippets introduce “Pills.” Shifting melodies, piano stabs, driving rhythms and spoken word come together to create a heady brew of sheer pleasure. Vocals are central in the closer. “Neurons” narrates a fantastical story of subdued sci-fi sorrows and wistful yearning, all to a silken synth-pop soundtrack. A welcome return from a multifaceted musician.
Back in 2017 Tear Apart Tapes released “Run”, a song by Shakkatam. John Talabot immediately connected with it and played it as the closing in many of his dj sets. Hivern Discs now presents “Run” in a new context, with three covers from artists we admire: Cucina Povera, Céline Gillain and Dania.
Laurène Exposito releases her 3rd album on Knekelhuis. Honolulu / Saigon is a collage of unreleased material, and previously on cassette released work. Some songs go even back to the era of Sabine and ties in wonderfully with Laurène’s previous work. She’s been performing some of these tracks back in the days.
kama muta or otherwise “thrill of love” is a a duo from Thessaloniki consisting of tristixia and sofia spyridonidou. With a combination of poetry and music, kama muta creates post-punk and darkwave compositions. In dance rhythms of darkwave music dressed in a raw realism, they released a new single titled “they don’t ask anyone”, portraying their concerns about forest fires. “the voices burned” is a concept album which is expected to be released in the fall of 2023. An allegorical story in a dystopian environment.
MEGABREAKZ is the brainchild of the collaboration between Oráculo Records, M.U.S.A. and Ombra Festival. It’s born to be a tribute to the iconic Valencia sound of the late 80s, when the city was a global epicenter of dance music, avant-garde exploration and cutting-edge creativity. The second part is “War” a five tracks EP from Ortrotasce.
Unknown Artist, unknown label, unknown everything, the only thing we know is that unknown weapons always releases killer tunes.
Minimal Wave presents the first vinyl reissue of French legends Martin Dupont’s seminal album from 1987, ‘Hot Paradox’. Martin Dupont was originally founded by Alain Seghir in Marseille in 1980. He enlisted numerous collaborators throughout the years, including Beverley Jane Crew, Brigitte Balian, and Catherine Loy. Martin Dupont was immensely talented with a rare dynamic between its varying members that was likely inspired by a combination of their magnetic personalities, creative vision, and the home studio where they recorded. Their music was colorful, enthusiastic, delicate, melancholy, and mysterious. A mixture of hot and cold, light and dark. They created electronic music that incorporated guitars, clarinets, and saxophones and is described by many as New Wave yet truly transcended genres. The ‘Hot Paradox’ album hasn’t been available on vinyl since 1987. It is one of Martin Dupont’s most exquisite albums, illustrating the band’s mastery of synthesizer work, drum programming, and vocal duets. The album is vibrant and emotive, simultaneously somber and bright, theatrical and danceable. It is an essential album in the French cold wave, new wave, and minimal synth scenes, and in recent years, has finally received the recognition it deserves beyond any musical categorization.
Cititrax present a new album by Cosmetics, a Vancouver-based synth wave duo formed by Nic Emm and Aja Emma in 2008. Cosmetics reappeared in 2022 after having been relatively quiet since its very memorable releases on Captured Tracks in 2010. In 2023, the band returns with a phenomenal full-length LP entitled ‘Baby’. Their music is sultry, minimalist, and atmospheric, backed by lush analog synths and sparse drum machines. Aja’s seductive vocals cut through the perfectly crafted dark synthpop forming a filmlike narrative that draws us in. The ‘Baby’ LP will have you listening on repeat and the single featuring alternate versions of two songs from the album will bring you from your bedroom listening to the dance floor. Cosmetics continue the lineage of Minimal Wave into the present day.
Plague Pits is a collective from Bern, Switzerland. Inspired by the DIY electronic tape underground of yore, they play disco dirges for the Anthropocene – cold wave for a heating planet. After a string of DIY releases on their bandcamp page, on Transnecropolitan and Young And Cold Records, the band released their first full length album “Creatures“ on DIY label Transnecropolitan, from Bern. “Creatures” was conceived and recorded over a span of six months in early 2022 and contains eight songs that are just as inspired by the clattering electro-industrial rhythms of the mid-eighties as by early electronic post-punk and its krautrock forbears. The record lyrically centers around all manners of exploitation – of human beings, other living creatures, and our planets resources.
Max & Intro was a short-lived duo formed by Vincent Max and Intro Johnnie in Belgrade. In 1984 they composed “Ostavi Sve” (in English: “Leave Everything”), probably the greatest ex-Yugoslavian minimal synth song of all times with heavy rotation on radio and even TV appearances. It was a tribute to Fairlight synthesizers, in that time non affordable for these young musicians and became an obsession, especially for Max. In 1985 was published their first and only release “We Design The Future” including “Ostavi Sve” and the B-side “Beogradska Devojka”, another synth gem.
Blotter Trax was a collaboration between two storied artists, techno titan Magda and serial underground aggravator (and man of many aliases) Jay Ahern. Now they are back in updated and expanded form, a trio thanks to the addition of bassist Hannes Strobl. The band will release their far-sighted, funk-fuelled debut album, “Superconductor”. A pulsating, thrill-in-minute ride includes contributions from a swathe of notable guests (Nina Hynes, Ilhem Khodja and David Moss provided vocals, Shigeru Tanabu played guitar, Matthew Styles mixed the set and John Tejada mastered it). While rooted in electro and acid, the album is impressively low-slung, stylish and funky, with nods towards Blotter Trax’s mutual love of Arthur Russell, early ‘80s NYC downtown disco, leftfield new-wave pop and flash-fried punk-funk.
Mathis Kolkoz (Blind Delon’s alma mater) joins forces with Pablo Bozzi and with Abu Nein’s voice Erica Li Lundqvist to release one of the most amazing synth-pop works listened in recent time. In between low beat electro, soft ebm and even modern new beat, Lost Highway sounds harsh but romantic with great rhythm patterns that make it impossible to stop dancing.
The Hipodrome Of Music 