Blind Delon debuted back in 2016 with Edouard EP. After a sold out and a lot of love and great acceptance of specialized press the french duo presents 4 new remixes of the main track Edouard signed by Kareem, Synths Versus Me, I Hate Models and Violet Poison.
Helena Hauff’s label is back, this time presenting a various artists 12″ that heralds the start of the No Return series. The release starts on a mystical bent with the Eastern-tinged death electro of “El Carmel”, sounding ripe for a Hague-friendly warm-up session. Neud Photo then take over with a dystopian trip through rich synth tones coloured in dark hues for the bleakest of robotic fantasies. Antoni Maiovvi fills the B-side with the slow grinding bombast of “The Dig”, bleeding out a noirish take on coldwave for the darkest hearts to swoon to.
Sam de la Rosa, best known under the alias Samuel Kklovenhoof of the band Led Er Est and with Karen Sharkey of The Coombe, is back on Mannequin Records for a stunning 4-tracks electro-wave-experimental release. Texas born but strongly connected with the New York cold wave and disco scene from mid 2000, and the Wierd Records family, Sam’s music is a clever mix of post punk, electronic hybrids, experimental pop and catchy melodies.
Closing the Vivod map series is Alessandro Parisi with this stunning EP, ‘Belmont’s Revenge’. 3 tracks in his slo-mo horror jak trade mark style. ‘Crossfire’ kicks things off nicely with it’s pulsing groove followed by ‘Ravens’, a slower, brooding type of soundtrack. Flip over for a remix of ‘Sages’ by the mighty Mick Wills who has done some nice work here. It builds and builds, perfect for getting lost in the fog and strobe. B2 is the original version from Parisi, a much slower, majestic cathedral horror affair.
Tranceonic is the duo of Carlos Perón and Boris Blank of Yello who met in 1971 in their hometown of Zürich. From 1973 to 1976 they played in the New Wave group Urland. After the split of the group Perón founded the Tranceonic studio with his equipment in his private flat. Carlos invited Boris over to his studio and a concentrated work began. The idea was to make experimental new music with the hopes of having a hit in the United States. Everybody at this time was into punk, but Tranceonic loved industrial and electronic sounds. Their foresight and innovation created new ideas. Perón and Blank made electronic avant-garde music informed by the Berlin and Cologne schools. By 1978 the two had enough material to record an album and made a trip to San Francisco to visit Ralph Records. The Residents promised to release the music if the duo removed all the tape hiss, which never materialized. ‘New Crime’ is the first ever vinyl compilation of material produced, recorded, performed and mixed at Tranceonic Studio between 1976-1979.
Nico Nightingale, aka Neud Photo, is no stranger to collaborations. The New Yorker’s latest sees him teaming up with Cristiano F. Grimaldi to form INTRZN, a partnership meshing a free style approach to melodies with cold rhythms. Their “Zone” quartet is a twilight of fluctuating moods. Percussion is bare, allowing bright bars to shine and darker moments to fester. Music which in one breath is elated and uplifting and, the next, dejected and downtrodden.
Lauréne Exposito is back with a follow up to her well received debut album from last year on Knekelhuis. This new record turned out to be very personal. Life changes and love’s stranges are central themes in all its shapes, sizes and colors. Still, hope takes centerstage. All tracks have been recorded at Lauréne’s home in the French Alps, using analog gear. Take a Cocktail Mexico and immerse yourself into her liberating new trip.
Having already debuted on the Pinkman main label, Identified Patient now steps up for the Pinkman “Broken Dreams” series. The whole EP is furnished with the sinister and commanding vocals of Sophie du Palais, also known as ‘Vrouwe Fataal,’ creating an infectious vortex of panic and scare to abort your dreams. Throughout the release, hazy percussion is carefully seasoned with the bitter synth lines and guitar riffs from Lasznkioff. The first track, ‘Peaceful Panic’ is in full seduction and fetish mode, setting the scene for the better corners. ‘Sleep Without Rest’ violently tightens up the leather and gives you your kicks for thrills. The EP ends with frenzy: messed up intermezzos with Lasznikoff, mixing up an 808 with his destructive guitar rig and, as he states, ‘everything is done.’ Throughout the release, hazy percussion is carefully seasoned with the bitter synth lines and guitar riffs from Lasznkioff. The first track, “Peaceful Panic” is in full seduction and fetish mode, setting the scene for the better corners. “Sleep Without Rest” violently tightens up the leather and gives you your kicks for thrills. The EP ends with frenzy: messed up intermezzos with Lasznikoff, mixing up an 808 with his destructive guitar rig and, as he states, ‘everything is done.’
Group Rhoda is the solo electronic music project of Mara Barenbaum, based out of Oakland, California, one half of Max and Mara. The project started around 2009 with a debut album ‘Out of Time, Out of Touch’ in 2012 on Night School Records. ‘Wilderless’ is Group Rhoda’s third full length and first for Dark Entries Records. Each of the these 7 songs draw forth tones of tropical darkwave and soft industrial, while negating the sound of conformity and control. The album explore themes of societal and spiritual displacement, contemporary serfdom, the depths of empathy, regeneration through destruction, and the tyranny of claiming recognition and power. Lyrics are poetically expressed through allegory and explore archetypes rooted more in abstract observation rather than hard line experience. Through transgression and imagination, Group Rhoda explores the arc of songwriting interwoven into stark electronic environments, and creates a bridge between the corporeal and the dream worlds.
Studio 89’s second release is ready to spread into a clubhouse near you. A sizzling charge of hot and heady lust. Sexy beats for you fancy freaks. We are your ship master, cruise with us into the depths of your dreams.
“Q/R” it’s about weird electro, new wave, industrial, synth pop and dark psychedelic musik. It includes a remastered version of Chen Yi’s 1982 work “Rug” , but also unreleased track from Beta Evers & Dora Gerl as “Severe Sisters”, Denis Frajerman & William Bope project, The Blizzard Sow. An industrial/rock track recorded by a new band from Berlin, called Automatenfall. A new track from USA based artist Neud Photo, a cosmic electro track from mysterious BB & SS and an exclusive latvian piece from 1988 (19 Gadi Pirms Sakuma).
Peripheral Minimal announce a imminent release of, ‘Beta Evers / Spatial Relation’, a six-track 12” E.P., that also features, Heinrich Mueller of Dopplereffekt. The six tracks contain the coldest of minimal synth and technoid darkness, underpinned by a melancholic sentiment. This is the third release by Spatial Relation on Peripheral Minimal, and the first by Beta Evers.
Arma Records returns with a rare treat from legendary DJ, Mick Wills. Mick has been active in the seedier corners of electronic music for more than 30 years. A life spent digging in the undergrowth for deviant dance music has given him the edge that makes a truly gifted spinner, without riding on hype. For this release on Arma, Mick has given us two edits that speak to his distinctive style as a DJ – the original tracks are cult choices re-moulded into deadly, subversive club weapons. The brooding darkwave of ‘Himmelfahrt 89’ is enough to turn the most indifferent bar crowd into swaying, baying denizens of the night, while ‘Stay Silent’ pummels out a relentless electro motif that teeters on the edge of destruction for 11 thrilling minutes. These aren’t crowd-pleasing DJ tools, and neither are they slick and easy edits of obvious classics. This is a peek into the inner workings of a man with decades of experience working masses of flesh into a sweaty fever pitch using sounds you’ve never heard before.
MST032 Cute Heels. This 4 tracker EP comes Strait from the White Mountains of Bogota after Transmissed to the dark streets of Berlin. After a mindblowing 12inch on darkentries Cute Heels delivers a new one for Moustache Records. This 12inch listen to the name Bella EP a renaissance new wave techno electro banger. dark strings and live feel with enough fist pumping energy for your unisex body machine tekno party.
Trenton Chase returns on June Records with a bold solo LP marking his departure from the sound of his previous releases on the imprint. For his first album attempt, Trenton embarks on the search for everything and manages to encapsulate the whole essence of the June Records ethos within 43 minutes of music. Although initially not planned as an album, Deadlock was conceived organically as it only took a few months for its completion during the artist’s most abundant 2017 studio spring sessions. This body of work transcends formulaic attempts to showcase a very refreshing and uncompromising take on synth music. Chase followed a crude approach to songwriting, rehearsing and improvising live until the best take would eventually become the final track.
Keine Ahnung was a quartet from Wörth am Rhein, Germany formed in 1980. The original line up was Rolf Schmuck, Franz H. Rodenkirchen, Elke Fuchs and Olaf Schumacher. Hermann Kopp from Stuttgart, a friend of the band, contributed a composition on their first LP and became a full member in 1985. The band members shared a common interest in industrial, pop, avant garde literature and cinema. They recorded three LPs in 6 years, two of which remain unreleased. In March 1983, Keine Ahnung recorded their self-produced and financed debut LP in two days in a small studio in Stuttgart (12 hours total). The mixing was done in one day in a studio in Karlsruhe, April 1983. The self-titled LP was released later that summer on their own PASSIV label in an edition of 1000 copies. This record obtained recognition far beyond the German borders. Keine Ahnung in the studio and live were completely different. Studio time was expensive in these days, so the music was minimal electronic pop, expertly crafted and razor sharp man machine music. The live sound utilized more complex synthesizers, tapes, guitars, metal percussion and custom built electronics. The beats and bass lines came from the Roland 606/303 duo triggering a KORG MS-20 for the bass drum. The track “Funkbild DPA” is a spontaneous “live in the studio” recording, that gives a hint of what the live sound was like. All four members would take turns singing and playing the instruments.
Senora are Dani & Diego from Barcelona. Their debut release features two ayahuasca journeys into sound plus a remix from island god Black Merlin.
Dark Entries presents the latest offering from Bézier, a 3-track EP titled ‘Primes’. Bézier is the moniker of San Francisco based musician Robert Yang, who is also part of the Honey Soundsystem crew. ‘Primes’ represents the theme of primordial origins and creation with three tracks that explore disparate, sonic environments in each song. The title track flows and ebbs like currents in an oil slick. Out of something messy (like primordial ooze) arises organized chaos. ‘Stranger’ is a moody dark electro/wave track for a sweaty night cruising on the west coast of Holland. Set against an underwater sound canvas the song features seductive guest vocals and lyrics by Nicole Ginelli. Doc Sleep of Jacktone Records provides additional production duties. The final track, ‘Imperial Tranz Am’, is an airy, ethereal slow burner clocking in at over 13 minutes.
