Casino Shanghai – Film [MEC009]

July 21, 2017August 2, 2021 hipodromealbum, carlos robledo, casino shanghai, mecanica records, new wave, synth pop, synth wave, ulalume, walter schmidtLeave a comment

CASINO SHANGHAI - Film

Casino Shanghai was a “techno-pop” band started in the mid-80s in Mexico City. They released their debut and only album “Film” in December of 1985. An album considered today as cult status. Casino Shanghai were part of a great cultural change in Mexico and its music scene. The band made various controversial appearances on TV when a band without a drummer or guitarist was unheard of. All members had been in different notorious bands in the local scene. Ulalume was the lead singer of The Casuals (Punk-New Wave) and DenseUndergrowth (Avant-garde). Carlos Robledo and Walter Schmidt were part of Size (Post-punk) and have been playing together for many years in Decibel (Experimental). Humberto Alvarez played with MCC (Prog Rock) and is currently a well-known musician and multi-instrumentist. Before the band split-up they recorded two last songs in 1986, “Le Tombeau d’ Edgar Poe” and “L’Action Minimal”, as part of an unreleased solo EP for Ulalume. “Film” has been restored and remastered for this new edition including all original tracks plus two bonus: “Le Tombeau d’ Edgar Poe (Haunted Version)” and “Cuerpos Huecos” (Spanish version of “Hollow Bodies” available only on a promotional 7?).

Negative Response – Oblique Angles [MR073]

July 21, 2017July 21, 2017 hipodromealbum, cold wave, electro, medical records llc, minimal synth, negative response, synth waveLeave a comment

Hand-picked selection of tracks by UK’s Negative Response in this initial limited run of 300 discs. Negative Response is a DIY minimal synth project that formed in 1980. They self-released 3 cassettes from 1981-1983 as well as playing a number of gigs from 82-85. The tracks embody a very melancholy atmosphere reinforced by their arsenal of early electronic analogue equipment. This collection will certainly appeal to fans of early bedroom synth artists such as John Bender and other DIY home recording moguls of the era.

VA – Distant Waves II [DWR015]

July 13, 2017May 24, 2023 hipodromealmost alone, boris dzaneck, broken tables, compilation, dead wax records, grey Parade, la valse, minimal synth, new wave, nightmoves, post punk, seeing red, standing ovation, störung, synth pop, synth wave, the sixth senseLeave a comment

Dead Wax Records presents “Distant Waves II”, a follow up of the well received 2014 compilation. This was compiled in three whole years (and a lot of research work) and is a collection of songs that share some common factors: they all were made in the 80s, they all feature synths and they all are extremely sought after, rare as hell or just previously unreleased. There are obvious style variations as each band here is unique but “Distant Waves II” is quite more homogeneous than its predecessor. We have the upbeat, danceable minimalism of Standing Ovation, Boris Dzaneck, Störung, Doppler Effect and Factoría Ribbentrop. The cold, moody melancholy of Broken Tables and La Valse. Virtually unknown acts like The Sixth Sense, Seeing Red and Almost Anyone, heavily underrated new wave giants like Grey Parade and Puppets Of Mankind. An unreleased synth pop masterpiece from Almost Alone here, an unheard 7” rendition of a worldwide dancefloor smasher by Nightmoves there. A total of 14 amazing tracks, all ‘instant classics’

Shoc Corridor – A Blind Sign [DE164]

July 13, 2017January 4, 2022 hipodromechris davis, dark entries records, minimal synth, nogi prass, post punk, re-release, reissue, shoc corridor, shout records, synth pop, synth waveLeave a comment

SHOC CORRIDOR - A Blind Sign (reissue)

Shoc Corridor was the London post-punk quartet of Paul O’Carroll (Voice, Synth), Andy Garnham (Synth, Drum), Chris Davis (Guitar, Bass, E-Bow) and Nogi Prass (Synth) named after the Sam Fuller film from 1963. The group recorded a 4-song demo during 1981 in a tiny flat Chris shared with Nogi in Notting Hill. As their collection of instruments grew they set up studio a few blocks away in Andy’s flat at 20 All Saints Road. There they re-recorded Sargasso Sea’ along with On Reflexion’ on a TEAC reel-to-reel 4-track machine. In the summer of ’82, the band was booked into Decibel Studios in Stoke Newington for two and a half days with Mark Easton of Shout Records, where they reworked the two songs. The group usually worked through studio experimentation rather than constructing their songs in a conventional way. Their equipment list included a Korg MS-20, Wasp, Pro-One, Roland TR-808, WEM Copicat, guitars, bass, e-bow and an assortment of effects pedals. On Reflexion’ began as a Blancmange backing track, since Stephen Luscombe would sometimes use Andy’s 4-track, Korg MS-20 and drum machine. Chris has memories of Paul disappearing from time to time to the neighboring graveyard for inspiration, where they had to procure him from to lay down vocals. Their debut 3-song 12′ single, A Blind Sign’, was released in October 1982 on Shout Records. For this re-issue we’ve included the original skeletal Sargasso Sea’ 4-track demo from 1981. Evocative and dreamy, the music escorts you on a tour of icy landscapes, with Paul’s rich vocals guiding the way.

Interstellar Funk @ Strange Sounds From Beyond (Amsterdam) 25.06.2017

July 5, 2017July 3, 2017 hipodromeelectro, industrial, interstellar funk, minimal synth, olf van elden, strange sounds from beyond, synth wave, technoLeave a comment

Máma Bubo – Planeta Haj [JUP002]

June 24, 2017May 18, 2018 hipodromealbum, cold wave, endless illusion, karel babuljak, máma bubo, synth pop, synth waveLeave a comment

Czechoslovakian band Máma Bubo was founded by Karel Babuljak in 1982; he put together five friends that he trusted. Having been more or less groping in the dark of music until then, Babuljak suddenly expressed a clear musical and human opinion to which the other members of Máma Bubo added theirs. A new band was born and although it had a clear face, it did not fit in anywhere, was hard to be connected with anything, and was isolated despite its openness. Máma Bubo always guaranteed an extraordinary and shocking experience which surpassed the level of entertainment. 1985: Babuljak’s disenchantment with the social situation as well as with artistic futility compelled him to a more profound attitude which resulted in a totally different concept, Planeta Haj, for Máma Bubo; yet, the concept was short-lived as if having been born in a place it did not fit in. In 2017, 2 LP of Planeta Haj, a record from 1985, was released on vinyl for the first time.

VA – Five Years Of Loving Notes [ATN5YEARS]

June 2, 2017October 17, 2023 hipodromeantinote recordings, compilation, domenique dumont, electro, experimental, geena, iueke, leonardo martelli, nico motte, synth wave, tolouse low traxLeave a comment

5th Birthday comp featuring a host of artistst who’ve graced the label over the perioid.. Exclusives from Tolouse Lowtrax, Geena, Iueke, Domenique Dumont, . Inoue Shirabe, Raphael Top-Secret and more… Gatefold Sleeve. The music on this compilation covers a wide spectrum of moods and atmospheres, from the dark and raw excursions from Tolouse Low Trax or Iueke to the lush instrumental crafted by Nico Motte and Syracuses Antoine Kogut; however as the listener gets deeper into the compilation, the whole of the tunes, sitting side by side on the records, start to make sense as they all seem to point towards the same direction. If one should try isolating a common trait from all these songs, one might come to the conclusion that it lies in the way they all speak directly to the listeners emotional receptors, unvarnished and without abusing of producers tricks.

Led Er Est – Dust On Common [MNQ099]

May 4, 2017June 21, 2024 hipodromealbum, electro, led er est, mannequin records, owen hutchinson, post punk, sam de la rosa, shawn o'sullivan, synth pop, synth wave, wierd recordsLeave a comment

Dust On Common’ from Led Er Est (Sam De La osa, Shawn O’Sullivan and Owen Hutchinson) was originally released in 2009 by the seminal Brooklyn based record label Wierd Records. The band’s first full-length release showed the three piece clearly breaking out of the minimal synth underground they have been a vitally integral part of since its inception in Brooklyn to create an undeniably contemporary set of highly crafted and restrained, icily psychedelic pop songs.

Synths Versus Me – Sex/Body/Touch [OR026SE]

May 4, 2017August 31, 2021 hipodromealbum, electro, nico cabañas, oraculo records, synth pop, synth wave, synths versus me, vanessa asbertLeave a comment

SYNTHS VERSUS ME - Sex/Body/Touch

Synths Versus Me is back with their new album ‘Sex/Body/Touch’. This new album is the longest and more ambitious work they had produced to date, including up to 14 new tracks where find their usual eclectic amalgam of dance oriented darky styles; from EBM to synth pop, passing by electro beats, pure coldwave, italo disco or classical synthwave. All tracks has been recorded using only analog synthesizers captured on a external recorder without make use of daw digital conversions, excepting on the final process of digital mastering.

Èlan Vital ‎– Shadow Self [FISH018]

April 26, 2017April 26, 2017 hipodromealbum, danny brady, dark wave, elan vital, fishrider records, occultation recordings, synth pop, synth waveLeave a comment

Èlan Vital formed in 2015 in Dunedin’s None Gallery, an artist-run creative community in a former pharmaceutical factory near the city centre. Their sound takes contemporary European cold-wave synth-pop dance music layered on analogue drum machines, then blends in the warm psychedelic organ sounds of 1960s garage rock. Distorted, overdriven bass guitar adds a further element of chaos into the mix. The expression Èlan Vital describes the vital force or impulse of life. The music on “Shadow Self” represents that life impulse in an ambiguous zone between machine and human worlds. A dense claustrophobic swirl of dark dance-tempo synth-pop blooms from gloomy cold industrial dance music with vocoder vocals into uplifting melodic dream-pop catharsis about memory, longing, and obsession.

BLΔCKMOON77 – Origins of Black

April 14, 2017April 14, 2017 hipodromeblackmoon77, brokntoys, industrial, minimal synth, synth waveLeave a comment

Ironing Music – Ironing Music [MR070]

April 14, 2017February 18, 2019 hipodromealbum, crispy nuggets, ironing music, medical records llc, synth pop, synth waveLeave a comment

Medical Records in collaboration with our friends at Crispy Nuggets blog are happy to reissue a very obscure Australian gem from the 1980s. Ironing Music were a three piece band from Brisbane. They originally formed in 1984 as a result of their collective love for New Order, Human League and eventually Jean Michel Jarre and Cabaret Voltaire. Comprised of bass and electic guitar, Yamaha DX-7, melodica and an 808, they recorded a 12″ single as their sole outpt in 1985 in a limited run of 250 copies (obviously excruciatingly rare now!). It was recorded in their bedroom studio with at Teac 4 track. The video clip for the “hit” Shopping Bag Women was played on several national and local television music shows. They also recorded demos in hopes of landing a LP deal which unfortunately didn’t attract any takers at the time. They actually only played 3 gigs and were forced to disband after one of their members fell ill in 1986. The LP presented here included the original 4 track single as well as hand picked demos which nicely congeal to form a well rounded LP documenting the band’s brief existence. They can best be described as lo-fi synth pop with an emphasis on excellent pop songs and interesting synth/instrument arrangements.

Solitary Dancer – Dualism [DE154]

April 13, 2017November 1, 2019 hipodromedark entries records, electro, marie davidson, minimal synth, solitary dancer, synth waveLeave a comment

Dark Entries releases ‘Dualism’, the sophomore E.P. from contemporary Montreal-based duo, Solitary Dancer. They are known for their elegant, richly-sculpted sound design and knack for propulsive club rhythms that eschew rigid 4/4 drum patterns. ‘Dualism’ opens with “Anything”, equal parts Drexciya and Dopplereffekt — full of low-end bass stabs, blipping synths; swelling and washing to a cinematic close. For the first time on a Solitary Dancer record, vocals make an appearance in the guise of a male companion who’s lamenting a lost lover. “Losing Touch” takes a classic electro beat, and through the use of elegiac pad washes, distorted bass and menacing vocals, morphs into persistently engaging shapes. The B-side’s ”Emails 2 Myself” is a suspenseful corralling of intriguing sonic elements. Its fractured 707 beats combine with melancholic strings and features vocals by Marie Davidson. Also included is the instrumental version of “Emails”, accentuating the bass drum, snare, hi-hat and melodic synth tones, sailing into the subdued evening sun of the future.

Interviews – Christine / Opera [XXL001]

April 13, 2017October 9, 2020 hipodromeelectro, interviews, markus gebauer, minimal synth, ortloff records, synth waveLeave a comment

New release on Ortloff Records. Pure analogue bliss.

From Nursery To Misery – Pixies In The Woods [DE153]

April 5, 2017July 17, 2024 hipodromealbum, dark entries records, from nursery to misery, gina fear, lee stevens, minimal synth, re-release, reissue, synth pop, synth wave, tina fearLeave a comment

From Nursery to Misery were three teenagers who grew up together on the same street in Basildon, Essex. Formed in 1987, the band was comprised of vocalists (and identical twins) Gina and Tina Fear, along with keyboard player and producer Lee Stevens. Lee invited the twins to over to record some music with him, suggesting they try singing over some instrumentals he had written and recorded on a newly purchased 4-track. They played a sum total of four gigs before splitting in 1991. Their recorded output, however, was relatively prodigious, with the band appearing on over 22 compilations, as well as self-releasing two album-length tapes ‘The Oak Tree’ (1989), and ‘Equilibrium’ (1990), and a split EP with Germany’s Nostalgie Eternelle, ‘Art is the Tool’ (1990). All these releases were home-produced, hand-made cassettes distributed and swapped via the Mail Art scene. ‘Pixies In The Woods’ is a 13-track career spanning compilation including three previously unreleased tracks. Tracks range from no-fi synth pop overlaid with ethereal, child-like vocals, to audio collages of animal noises and harrowing, double-speed monologues. Lee’s expansive synth productions, informed by the Blade Runner soundtrack, early electro records, and 4AD acts like Dead Can Dance, provided a rich, spacious platform for Gina and Tina’s sung-spoken introspective lyrics. Their songs are disarmingly direct and unfiltered, the product of three self-confessed misfits exploring difficult, often intensely personal issues.

As Longitude – Blauer Part EP [KH007]

March 27, 2017October 9, 2023 hipodromeas longitude, eva geist, experimental, knekelhuis, laura odl, synth wave, technoLeave a comment

As Longitude is the illuminated brainchild of Eva Geist and Laura ODL. Together they explore sonic waves in an exiting world full of spatial drum machine rhythms and sequenced riffs. Some of those trips feel like earth bound rituals, while others seem to be nothing less than ceremonies of stratospheric magnitude.

Dollkraut – Dekmantel Podcast 110

March 1, 2017November 22, 2017 hipodromedekmantel festival, dekmantel records, disco, dollkraut, pascal pinkert, podcast, synth waveLeave a comment

VA – La Festa Del Metallo [SLK000]

February 24, 2017October 17, 2023 hipodromebakunin commando, diana berti, electro, industrial, retina.it, she lost kontrol records, synth wave, the-ne21, violet poisonLeave a comment

She Lost Kontrol records is an independent label focused on Electronic Body Music, New Wave, Dark Wave, Neo Folk, Industrial, Noise, Avantgarde. Melanchony and Romantic synth wave mixed with a clear post-punk roots and dynamics insistent EBM loops. On the A side 3 tracks from The-Ne21 known as Retina.it are the duo project from Lino Monaco & Nicola Buono who wants to come back to their new wave background. The duo, placed near the Vesuvio, explored all the capabilities of analogic synths since the beginnings,developing an its own idea of sound. On the B side we have 3 tracks from Bakunin Commando, Violet Poison and Diana Berti.

Daniel Kyo – Evanescence [BAP089]

February 24, 2017March 30, 2023 hipodromebordello a parigi, daniel kyo, electro, minimal synth, synth waveLeave a comment

Valencia’s Daniel Kyo arrives at the Bordello with a 12″ brimming with his hometown’s synthesizer traditions. Evanescence spills brooding bars across clean percussion. Stripped down rhythms buttress shimmering synthwork, cold bars coarsened by acidic undercurrents. And within this pared back style there lies a groove, a subtle development that grow into full bodied floor jams. An EP of electronic elegance and robust proportions.

The Neon Judgement – Cockerill-Sombre EP [DE148]

February 24, 2017October 17, 2023 hipodromedark entries records, dirk da davo, minimal synth, synth pop, synth wave, tb frank, the neon judgementLeave a comment

The Neon Judgement hail from the small town of Leuven near Brussels, Belgium and gave birth to the New Beat and EBM scenes worldwide with the release of their first two cassettes ‘Suffering’ (1981) and ‘TV Treated’ (1982). Always a consistent duo of Dirk Da Davo (synthesizers, vocals) and TB Frank (guitar, drum machine, vocals) The Neon Judgment worked in a parallel world alongside Suicide, Cabaret Voltaire, and the Deutsche Neue Welle. In 1983 they released the infamous 4-song ‘Cockerill-Sombre’ EP containing the dance-floor smash “The Fashion Party” on Anything But Records. Dirk Da Davo says, “First we recorded and mixed the drum parts and effects on 4-track, then we bounced this mix to 2 tracks again what left us with 2 more channels to use for vocals and additional instruments.” Veering between minimalistic industrial drones, odd new wave-ish synth pop and dance music, underlain by cold, mechanical rhythms. The band combine brash and seedy lyrics, with raw synthesizer stabs and repetitive drum machine beats both aggressive and danceable. ‘Cockerill-Sombre’ was recorded in a small basement room under the watchful eyes of Ludo Camerberlin from A Blaze Colour.