Unknown Pleasures Records, Industrial Complexx and Oráculo records co-release a tribute to one of the most legendary band of the all time darkwave-goth scene. New versions running away from the obvious classics by an amazing palette of brilliant acts such as Kill Shelter, A Wedding Anniversary, Swesor Bhrater, Years Of Denial or Chris Shape among others. This is expected to be an ultra searched vinyl collectible item.
89s† is the obscure electronic music project of Berlin-based Carlos Grabstein whom has collaborated with the multi-faceted Petra Flurr to create the German industrial-album of the year. Clearly influenced majorly by the rudimentary early industrial of DAF and Suicide it includes as well more modern approaches to the genre that evokes to Nitzer Ebb because of the exploding energy of their chants and the tribalist power of their drums sections.
Pablo Bozzi returns to Jennifer Cardini’s Dischi Autunno with a follow up record to the ‘Last Moscow Mule’ EP from 2020. The six track EP ‘Ghost Of Chance’ marks a deepening from the previous forays into the Italo Disco & Synthwave influenced sound Bozzi has previously explored. With a heavy hand in the realm of nostalgia Bozzi expertly weaves melody through drum machine loops, the track comes to a climax with longing vocals reminiscent of 80s new wave and goth dance clubs. Although steeped in the nostalgia of time gone he manages to lend a modern production, a cleanness of sound that never stays too long in the past.
Kostantyn Isaev the man behind the project Volta Cab and also Rambal Cochet is now part of the Waste Editions family. The St. Petesburg’s colorful artist has just recorded 6 catchy and powerful tunes which are heavily influenced by the new wave/post punk music of the late 80’s , especially by bands like Кино (Kino) and the Soviet space disco as well.
Latvian electronic producer Dmitry Distant is expanding further his sound palette with his new 2-track ‘Cold’ single, continuing his musical journey beyond pure ‘electro’ genre. The release clearly marks a new page in Dmitry’s artistic story – in his electronic reinterpretation of The Cure’s iconic song, Dmitry is giving the classic track a darker twist, with pounding reverberated drums and piercing yet soulful vocals by Valeria Simonova, paying tribute to his goth and new wave background. ‘Zenith’ is a majestic John Carpenter-esque synth anthem – the track can easily be imagined to accompany opening titles of a dystopian sci-fi blockbuster, with stark melodic synthesizer lines and minimalistic yet inventive structure.
Collaboration between Live At Robert Johnson & Public Possession, both selecting some key label artists to remix “Gingko” a track taken from “Aksel & Aino”s debut Album “Lullabies for Insomniacs”. Including Mixes by Gerd Janson, Lauer, DJ City & Nice Girl ranging from Big Room Balearic Pop to tripped out Techno and classic house.
‘Portals’ coming by Brooklyn based Zeta Sect (AKA Heidi Sabertooth & R Gamble) which features 70 minutes of blistering vintage drum machines contrasted against a haze of synthesis. Zeta Sect invites the listener to experience a fresh perspective with the insurgency of beautifully composed synth-wave and synth pop treads into new and unique territory for your body and soul. The deadpan delivery of spoken word passages in conjunction with the intricate use of delay blends the world of synth inspired genres with a distinct tinge of 1980’s industrial flavour. Recorded 2018-2021 in Sag Harbor, Black River, & Brooklyn, NY.
Unusual Systems presents 5 cuts with New Beat/Italo/SynthPop/EarlyTechno influences in a 12″ EP compilation from early works (’90-’94) of Humphrey Robertson aka Daylight.
In 2012 Claus Fovea self released a cassette containing 10 tracks, he was at his Swedish beginnings. 9 years later Lux Rec re-discovered his tape and it still sounded so true and relevant to them that they decided to release it on vinyl. Claus then reworked some tracks, scrap some, and made few new. Florin Buchel mixed them down and Andrea Merlini mastered them. The result is a picture frozen in time, in between now and then, the struggle, and sadness, that fragile construction of hope shattered as time goes by, like nothing ever change. It is indeed, as he sings, just the same song playing all the time. Over and over.
Mick Wills is no stranger to Frigio Records, the German Dj and producer has turned his hand to edits and remixes on previous releases and now arrives with his own 12” of edits for the volumen 4th of the label’s Ecdisis series. The source material for the two pieces on offer comes from Brazil’s Simbolo, a band formed in 1988 and still active with a career spanning more than thirty years, was a central player in South America’s EBM and Synth scene. MIck Wills has selected two tracks from the Brazilian’s back catalogue, the first being “Mind.” Industrial influences come immediately to the fore, complex drum patterns give way to a juddering groove in which guttural vocals depict a scene of hurt and pain. “Synchrono” occupies the flip. Taken from the 1995 album, In the Danger Zone, the original two minute piece is extended into a seven plus minute epic. Following on from “Mind”, “Synchrono” melts stuttering bass-lines and textured percussion with indecipherable lyrics counter-balancing heady strings. Two cuts of emotive and impacting electronics.
Seminal early 80’s HI-NRG / Synth disco emanating from the gay clubs, bath houses and discotheques of San Francisco. A truly original and groundbreaking sound and style helmed by studio genius Patrick Cowley. Heavily informed by sonically charged science fiction fantasy and the darkest corners of nightlife, ‘Mind Warp’ is a cornerstone of electronic music that still astonishes today. Originally released on Cowley’s own Megatone imprint in 1982 the album marks a definitive change in direction of post-disco dance music, undoubtedly inspired by European artists such as Kraftwerk, Moroder, Yello and more. A huge influence on what was to come through in later years via house and techno music, ‘Mind Warp’ is a bonafide classic and every single self respecting music lover or DJs home should have a copy. Celebrate 40 years of the label with this unmissable reissue package beautifully presented on wondrous coloured vinyl by your friends over at Unidisc.
Originally released in 1982 on Cinofilm Produzione, Francesco Strippoli aka Armonics discovered the ‘Radio’ 7″ by pure chance last year near his home in Bari. It was in Vito Lisco’s basement, who written and produced this track together with Renzo Maria La Costa back in the 80’s. They polished up the original track and on top re-recorded the vocal parts, added some guitar riffs and remixed everything together for a modern take on this eccentric italo production by Evolution (L&L).
The year is 1981. The Kiel-based PostPunk / Wave underground outfit NO MORE releases their second ever single „Suicide Commando“ and their world changes forever. Well, not only their world – THE world. What began as an independently published 7“ single became a cult classic, a genre defining – and defying – song, an all-time dancefloor favorite of many, a timeless signature piece that escaped its original realm of PostPunk x Wave x Indie x Alternative to also become engrained in the DNA of modern electronic dancefloor culture most prominently in the beloved late 90s permutation presented by DJ Hell which became a classic in its own right. Now the year is 2021. Four decades have passed and NO MORE’s „Suicide Commando“ is back once again. And staying true to the underground blueprint this 40th anniversary re-release edition once again is put out on the circuit through a small independent label: the Intrauterin Recordings offspring El Caballo Semental.
Private Records presents „Let’s Go Into Space 6“. The collector series continues with another collection of scarce and unreleased 1980’s Italo Disco, Electro, Cosmic Disco songs.
SIRS presents a selection of edits in the memory of the East German music available for download on his bandcamp.
Playful 80s oriented Electro Pop mini-album on Bad Manners Records from Exterminador AKA Mario Resta, half of the deep techno duo Hinode.
Nuclear Device / Mahres 001 is a mini-album with 6 hot tracks produced by STIGMA the first time use alias of Steve Marie. The tracks are written during pandemic, it’s a mixture of some slow industrial influenced compositions, late night club bangers and 2021 revisited synth pop 80’s sounds.
A roundup of positive nostalgia from Fontaine SMC: two French artists and friends who share the same vision of electronic music. They have several project under other names, often axed on IDM/electro, but this time the joined the forces for a synthwave and punk flavor project. I was a soldier EP is a social criticism/journey into human fears and hard relationships, synthetized into an 80s look, dusty and raw sounding. A mix of punk dementia and the most intense dance music, the one that takes the joints and makes you move them well.
Greek electronic music legend Lena Platonos returns to Dark Entries with Balancers, an LP of previously unreleased material recorded between 1982-1985. Athens-based Platonos has worked with the label previously to reissue her three solo LPs – Gallop, Sun Masks, and Lepidoptera – as well as to release three accompanying 12” EPs featuring modern remixes of her work. She is renowned for her forays into cutting-edge electronic experimentation as well as her striking, impressionistic poetry and lyrics, always recited in Greek. The twelve tracks on Balancers reveal a murkier side of Lena, one draped in tenebrous washes and oneiric utterances. Ragged analog rhythms feature on several tracks, even breaking into a brooding electro groove on “A Cat in the Corner”, but the predominant tone is sparse and somber. Mournful instrumental “Phaethon” swells to mythological proportions, while “In September” feels small enough to fit in your pocket. Lena’s poetry sits amidst lush pads and Radiophonic Workshop-esque squiggles, her voice setting an intimate tone in the shifting electronic sea. Inspiration is drawn from Greek mythology and architecture, and lyrics evoke a soft sorrow, an ambivalence towards love, life, and the passage of time. Although the material here spans 3 years and features a range of recording fidelities and synthesis techniques, the collection possesses the heft of a singular artist’s vision.
The Hipodrome Of Music 