June – Horizons [AD012]

JUNE - Horizons

Half of Manie Sans Délire, June, turns up on Artificial Dance with his anticipated new mini-album, ‘Horizons’ – following on from his studio companion Trenton Chase’s ‘Planar Array’ released earlier in 2020. True to the signature synth-splattered sound of his and his duo, June’s newest wave-imbued manifesto has us swimming amidst an organized chaos of roughly extruded keyboard wizardry, punk-minded drum programming and a retro-futuristic headspace. Scanning out the gap between Italo, new wave, EBM and new beat, ‘Horizons’ shifts seamlessly from forward-moving, arpeggio-laden circuitry (‘JW’, ‘Infinity Room’) to hi-intensity body music (’New Horizons’), through ambientoid spaced-out sonic explorations (‘Uncharted Territories’) and quirky downtempo chuggers (‘Reverie’, ‘Psychic Process’). A kaleidoscope of rhythmic tricks and shape-shifting mirages, June’s scope-expanding six-track voyage vows to play mind games with its listener till all lights have gone off.

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June – Horizons [AD012]

Karel – The Work [MAG153]

KAREL - The Work

Magnetron Music presents Karel’s second EP “The Work”. Karel is known for climbing up things, swinging in on a rope and other signature moves. He has a John Maus like, synth-pop/ wave/ 80s sound and creates a warm vibe wherever he is playing.

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Karel – The Work [MAG153]

MINIGOD – De Bus [RUBBER008]

MINIGOD - De Bus

Rubber brings it back to home ground by diving deeper into Jan Duivenvoorden’s shoeboxes. Back in 1987, at a local youth centre in the ever-dull Zoetermeer, a group of seven non-musical friends started what could be considered a freeform band performing ‘”electronic ‘beuk’ music with noise guitar and lyrical texts”. This band was called MINIGOD and rose from the ashes of the performative act Aars/rugklachten. Their change not only meant an upgrade in instruments – from jerrycans, barrels and worn-out bass guitar to keyboard and synthesizers – but also from simply screaming into the void towards songs with something of a structure. The release portrays MINIGOD quintessentially – energy above professionalism. From a large number of tracks Rubber made a precise selection allowing punk and satire to dance cheek-to-cheek. MINIGOD is Jan Duivenvoorden (Unit Moebius), Richard van den Bogaert (Leuk & Ko), and Rob de Bakker played keyboard and synthesizer, Edwin Zuidwijk played guitar, and Siuli Ko and Bart Barendregt did the vocals.

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MINIGOD – De Bus [RUBBER008]

Kindest Cuts – Keeping Distance [OR82SE]

KINDEST CUTS - Keeping Distance

Montreal’s based Kindest Cuts is without any kind of doubt one of the actual world’s leading synthwave/synthpop acts. Perfect pop structures and outstandingly captive musical progressions in perfect combination with classical genre male deep lead voice, following the trace of early Depeche Mode or Camouflage.

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Kindest Cuts – Keeping Distance [OR82SE]

NNHMN – Deception Island [OR79/OR85]

NNHMN - Deception Island Part 2

Berlin duo NNHMN – Lee and Michal Laudarg  – creates moody and evocative music infected with dark synth sounds, eerie ambiances and mysterious female volcals. They return to Oráculo Records with “Deception Island” where fresh cold beats meets hypnotic techno and avant-garde of a ferociously experimental nature. We find Lee’s sultry vocals over synthwave classical bass and rhythm structures, from dark Italo Disco with touches of light EBM to classic post punk.

part1 / part2

NNHMN – Deception Island [OR79/OR85]

VA – BOY Records: Timeless Technology 1988-1991 [MEC036]

VARIOUS - Boy Records: Timeless Technology 1988-1991

BOY Records was founded by Michael Zosel back in 1987 but it was after a few releases that he started to work with producer Arno Müller. “Brian” by Absurd was the first techno release on the label and a great success in the German techno scene. The cooperation continued with singles by Hypnopedia and New Scene that worked very well and put the name of BOY Records in the charts and clubs all around Germany and abroad. In 1990 another massive success came with the single “Kennedy” by Deep Thought and since there the label did not stop to release hit after hit by lot of names like Time Modem, “O”, Cybex Factor, Sonic System, Moskwa TV, MCL and lot more. “Timeless Technology 1988-1991” compiles a selection of classic tekkno traxx released on label’s most fruitful years.

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VA – BOY Records: Timeless Technology 1988-1991 [MEC036]

Ian Martin – Heartbeats [OR005]

MARTIN, Ian - Heartbeats

Onrijn Records invites Ian Martin for a 6 track mini-album. This record releases a rich palette of hybrid electronic music. From new wave, house and electro to neo cocadisco. And is most of all a search for melody, suspense and melancholy. The track “GOD Theme” was the soundtrack of the film GOD by director Edwin Brienen (2016). Ian Martin’s “Heartbeats” is a true emotional rollercoaster!

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Ian Martin – Heartbeats [OR005]

VA – Modernation Vol​.​1 [IMxxx]

Italo Moderni brings Modernation Vol.1 it’s the first compilation on cassette and digital from 4. Another dimension of obscurities and eighties weird sounds, all focused on a new club era of madness and sad situations. Best moment to get some inspiration with the best wizards from our modern music life.

VA – Modernation Vol​.​1 [IMxxx]

Leroy Se Meurt – Makine Kültürü [LXRC43]

LEROY SE MEURT - Makine Kulturu

COVID-19 pandemic infectiousness and the relative necessity to put hard distance between people has brought up a wide range of means to cope with it. For some it went by as nothing happened, some struggled with not being able to be social, some were overly social on social medias, some spent it in a total drugged-out haze. Some, like Leroy se Meurt, used it to actually create something. The 5 tracks presented in this EP are the result of that forced stay in, the push towards the outside and the realization that, in the end, there’s nowhere to go.

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Leroy Se Meurt – Makine Kültürü [LXRC43]

Gegen Mann – Hypnotic Connection 013 [HC013]

Moscow musician Alexander Lomakin performs his debut on Hypnotic Connection under his pseudonym Gegen Mann. Alexander presented in this release a dark and somewhat melancholic synthesizer sound, balancing between electro and EBM, smoothly plunging into a hypnotic trance and unpretentiously obliging to dance. The remixes were performed by the head of the label Muzikalist and a mindfriend from Moscow Unit-83 aka Sergey Timoshov.

Gegen Mann – Hypnotic Connection 013 [HC013]

Diana Berti – The Hand That Seeds Death Part 1 [VVLP002]

BERTI, Diana - The Hand That Seeds Death Part 1

Diana Berti is the moniker used by Francesco Baudazzi (Violet Poison) for distinctly nostalgic productions that revisit the 80s of the obscure bands on cassette in a fairly modern way. The lean melodies and essential rhythms of “The Hand That Seeds Death” are the setting for a visionary and hypothetical 80s b-movie that looks like the plot of “Phenomena” by Dario Argento. Solidly anchored to certainties such as Muslimgauze, Goblin and Doxa Sinistra, turn on the VCR and enjoy this dream journey on VHS.

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Diana Berti – The Hand That Seeds Death Part 1 [VVLP002]

Sam De La Rosa – Slick People EP [MNQ135]

DE LA ROSA, Sam - Slick People EP

Sam de la Rosa of the band Led Er Est, and with Karen Sharkey of The Coombe, is back on Mannequin Records with his third release with 4 stunning tracks blending the finest TR-606 driven electro cold wave with expressive spoken wordy minimal synth instrumentals.

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Sam De La Rosa – Slick People EP [MNQ135]

Randstad – These Serpents [VEYL020]

RANDSTAD - These Serpents

Randstad is the production and DJ moniker of dutch multimedia artist Thomas van Linge, co-founder of the record labels BAKK and Rubber and freshly relocated to Berlin. Now he presents his second EP ‘These Serpents’ for Veyl. Randstad is pushing his idea across the spectrum of industrialized beat music for this outright roaring 6-tracker ideal to tear down clubs when they finally re-open in 2036.

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Randstad – These Serpents [VEYL020]

Stephen Huss – Galaxy [AD011]

HUSS, Stephen - Galaxy

To honor Stephen Huss and his impressive career as musician with Psyche (together with brother Darrin Huss) and as a solo artist, Artificial Dance decided to release his solo work on vinyl for the very first time. The Galaxy LP is a collection of 6 tracks recorded between 1983 – 2005 and selected by Artificial Dance, together with Darrin Huss, to give a complete overview of Stephen as a solo musician. These wide-ranging synth instrumentals were recorded between 1983 and 2005 and you can clearly hear the range of talent through the early Psyche influences to his further experiments in the electronic genre. Let Galaxy be your guide into this unique musical experience created solely by Stephen Huss.

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Stephen Huss – Galaxy [AD011]