House News

11 lo-fi minimal wave smasher with German vocals.

Colours of Infinity is a new alias for Melbourne based producer Andy Donnelly. His debut album follows a recent sold out split 12" on Brokntoys offshoot, Discos Del Quebranto, as well as a string of releases as Kloke on labels including Styles Upon Styles and Sub Squared.

Under his latest moniker, Donnelly has axed the dense, sample-heavy hardcore continuum he is best known for and developed a more back to basics approach, using old, cheap hardware and primitive recording techniques to capture performances in the spirit of 70s bands such as Cluster, early Tangerine Dream and latter day artists like Ekoplekz and Pye Corner Audio.

The results are 11 tracks that draw on the shared anxieties and dystopian moods of 2017 to offer a narrative of a future in which civilisation has decayed at our own hand and yet, among the rubble, a growing signal of optimism can be detected from the genesis of the machines.

RIYL: Cluster, Harmonia, Tangerine Dream Ekoplekz, Pye Corner Audio, John Carpenter, Carl Craig

One time pressing, strictly limited to 300 copies.

Mastered by Simon Davey @ The Exchange Vinyl in his converted bank vault.

Berlin duo NNHMN creates moody and evocative music infected with dark synth sounds, eerie ambiances and mysterious female volcals. They are coming back to Oráculo Records with “Deception Island Part 1” where fresh cold beats meets hypnotic techno and avant-garde of a ferociously experimental nature. All tracks have been specially remastered for LONG CUT vinyl by Daniel Hallhuber at Young and Cold Studios.

As head of Italian (centric) Slow Motion label (and international artist sister imprint, Wrong Era), and through his own productions and remixes, Franz Scala has been pioneering the retro-futuristic aesthetic of club culture weaving together elements of proto-house, wave and Italo for the nuovo contemporary dancefloor long before it’s current vogue. Now alongside Bordello A Parigi, and supported by Sameheads, Slow Motion presents Scala’s Mondo Della Notte.

This is part 2 of the album, which is also available as 2LP bundle.

Jane Inc is unlike any other project Toronto-based songwriter Carlyn Bezic (Ice Cream, U.S Girls, Darlene Shrug) has been a part of. It’s an incubator for experimentation. A one-woman show where Bezic helms every role, guiding the creative process in a way that feels right for her. It’s an outlet to escape real-world bummers and forge fantasies, a sonic journey through a complex reality. Jane Inc. is an extension of Bezic, a solo persona used to explore the different facets of herself and her artistry.

Number One is Jane Inc’s debut album on Telephone Explosion, a collage of fragmented thoughts, turned into soundscapes that are flowing, dream-like reflections of the world, and how she sees herself in it. Written and produced by Bezic, the early songs for Number One were created with samples and drum breaks on Ableton. She later recruited recording engineer Steve Chahley to record drums and drum machine on the final tracks with Toronto drummer Evan J. Cartwright (Tasseomancy, U.S Girls, Eucalyptus), adding saxophone by Nick Dourado (BUDi Band, Aquakultre, Fiver) and
Wurlitzer by Scott Harwood (Scott Hardware).

Written by: Max Mohenu

A mixture of electro, techno, house and nods to the soundtrack works of John Carpenter

Miami Beach Witches, which is the name of the album, has a sound that has been inspired by the goth and emo music culture from the 90's and 2000. Sonically filled with the high and lows of the teenage angst in a mixture of electro, techno, house and nods to the soundtrack works of John Carpenter. Visually wise, the world is filled with female teenage witches practicing witchcraft while having to deal with their everyday school drama. Sort of like the world depicted in the Netflix series: The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, but in a more modern setting. It's faded, blurry and sometimes smoky like the mind of a teenager trying to deal with his life in high school.

Minimal Wave present the reissue of a rare self-released record by Plugpoint Music called ‘Last Chance’. Plugpoint Music was the minimal synth project of Reiner Ossmann, who recorded the 12 songs on this album in his home studio in Germany in 1987 and released them as an edition of 200 copies. This gem of a record was never properly distributed and so essentially disappeared until it began circulating amongst various collectors during the last 15 years. The sound has been compared to the likes of Mort Garson and Cluster. It’s a true minimal synth classic in all of its eccentricity and lack of self-consciousness. The record has been remastered and is pressed on 180-gram black vinyl as an edition of 500 copies along with a lyric insert sheet.

"Following two singles, two albums, and a bunch of compilation tracks, we are proud to present Miaux’s third LP.
Mia Prce, originally from Sarajevo and a Belgian resident since 1989, was reared on a psychedelic diet of Krautrock and similarly serpentine music by her artist parents who were part of the Antwerp-based (and over fifty years old) Ercola collective. Beautiful songs that break hearts without using a sharp object! More tears for the creatures of the night." Winner!

Dog Person is the deserved culmination of a whirlwind few years for Kean Kavanagh. His debut project, the ten-track collection prominently features his aforementioned semi-fictional, cigarette-bumming, binge-drinking, lovestruck alter-ego; a persona with just an echo of his real personality reverberating throughout the record.

Kicking off this year with the delectable “Roll Over!”, Kean returned earlier this month with his new single “EMMA”.
A developed sound, the single delved deeper into Kean’s incredible versatility as an artist - drawing a grittier sound
and formulating a high-octane single that wouldn’t sound out of place in a festival headline set. This all served to
prove that Kean Kavanagh had firmly stepped into the limelight; garnering support from the likes of i-D, DIY
Magazine, Clash, Notion and more.
Cofounder, producer and A&R of Irish Label Soft Boy Records, Kean had previously pulled the strings behind the
scenes; but is now becoming one of the most exciting names on the emerging music scene. A story-teller, word-smith
and dexterous musician with a strong imagination, Kean’s career is set to project far beyond his Irish roots. .

Founded in 2015, Soft Boy Records morphed into a cultural behemoth that gripped the Irish music scene and has
refused to let go - alongside his co-founder Kojaque, Kean found himself sharing stages with big names such as
Slow Thai and Lana Del Ray, as well as his consequential solo-slots opening for Maverick Sabre and Vampire
Weekend.
Earlier this year, Kean appeared on the Everything is Recorded project ‘FRIDAY FOREVER’, (curated by Richard
Russell of XL Recordings) alongside Aitch, Flohio, Maria Somerville, Ghostface Killah and others, and aligning
himself with a tastemaker and hot tipped selection of musical peers.
A sensational debut offering showing dexterous musicianship and lyrical magic, Dog Person places Kean as one of
the most exciting emerging talents coming through.

Reymour is a psycho-romantic adventure of a duo sharing both life, and stage, a lovely cluster that originated in Fribourg-en-Uthonie, and found a new home in Brussels, the pulsing heart of Europe.

“Sarabande à Deux” is a delicious arrangement of autumn flavor and forgotten vegetables cooked with love and understanding in a synth-wave sauce. It's the fifth release of 'CAF?', ridding on sonorities of the 80’s, running between synthetic balads, romantic dances and bucolic sceneries in an alcoolic fashion.

Repress

Identified Patient debuts on Pinkman with a brimming 12" with claustrophobia and paranoia. Acrid acid lines have been boiled down and smeared across cranking percussion. Sired in a soup of static, a blackened groove stalks the entire EP. Dusty beats are rinsed in smelting liquor, a smouldering EBM undercurrent surfacing as the noose tightens to a close.

One Synth-pop powertrack & One darker acid track....

'RIDE THE WAVE' is one of the most celebrated V.A. series of ORACULO RECORDS and is coming back.

On this new third edition darkwave substyles as synthwave, post-punk and ebm are perfectly represented again by Vore Aurora (USA), A Silent Noise (Italia), Pawns & Anatomy (USA), SM.Forma (Spain) and Werther Effekt (Brasil/Germany). All tracks have been specially remastered for LONG CUT vinyl by Eric Van Wonterghem at Prodam Berlin.

Great album. Coming in it's original sleeve. Superb !

The three man Austrian outfit ‘Leitstrahl’ debuts on "Bordello A Parigi". With more than fifteen years of band history, the trio of Stoff, Paul Raal and Boogaloo Steve are as proud as punch to announce their debut album: Chromium Dioxide, to be released this summer featuring Jon Jon Foster, Nicole Jaey, Christina Mirabilis and Jimmy Baker.

In anticipation of this release we welcome the band with an appetizer in form of this vinyl-only sampler EP, including two exclusive non-album tracks only to be found here. Get ready!

California Black Vows’ chronicles the groups’ move away from the comfort zone straight into the
dark heart of the west. Since their last album, the band relocated from the suburbs of the Midwest
to the sinister shine of Los Angeles. The cover’s icicle is the last remnant of their time in familiar
surroundings. More change was to follow. A duo for most of its existence, Clay Rendering’s core
of Mike and Tara Connelly chose to invite two allies into their closed circle. The enlisted are Sera
Timms of Black Mare on bass and Joe Potts of Sollilja on drums.
The album reveals itself slowly for the first minutes of “Blood Into Wine”, until the refrain opens
wide and dives headlong into the deep. It’s a statement of intent. Whatever happens after this, we
are in it together. From there, things rev up with uncertainty and a nervous edge. “Another Roll of
the Iron Dice”...whose number is up? Tara takes on more vocals than previous records, haunting the
nocturnal ocean with “Once in the Well,” “Black Vows” and “Take Hold.” Strangers come and go and
dance and die in “We Wait.” Questions remain unanswered in “Don’t Understand You.”
With Dylan Neal (Thief) on production duties, Clay Rendering have delivered their fullest and
most fleshed out album to date. The immediacy of the recording gives the feel that these songs
are taking shape as you hear them. Guitars melt over the keyboards and synths throughout
the proceedings. The record is filled with a noir life force that transitions back and forth from
desperate wails to moonlit hymns.
The vocals are clearer and more direct than ever, letting you know exactly where Clay Rendering
stand. The bass provides the heartbeat of the mission. The drums ensure everything lands in its
place. Insomnia, frantic flailing, body language, staring into the forced and artificial landscape,
finding solace among the chaotic foliage...all these things play a role. The comfort has been shed.
Foreboding stars in the western lands bring out the strangest parts in us all. “California Black
Vows” is the howling cry to let those parts show their teeth and the soothing voice to let you know
it will all be over in the morning.

This selection of ultra rare tracks represents the sound of the postpunk Dutch band Necronomicon and their label Fetisj from the period 1981-1982. All selections have been mastered from the original released cassettes and unreleased demo-cassettes

Berlin’s new duo 'NNHMN' is the new sensation of the european dark synthwave, not in vain NEW NOISE MAGAZINE recently described their proposal as “…a spacious drone of pulses and incantations over layers of shivering synthesizer tracks that feel like panoramic immersion in a gritty and strobed Berlin factory sound installation, while Lee’s vocals culled from the catalogue of classic 4AD…”, you will find all that and much more on their very expected vinyl debut.
All tracks have been specially remastered for LONG CUT vinyl by Eric Van Wonterghem at Prodam Berlin.

2 great downtempo tracks on another fine reissue from Melbourne's Isle Of Jura . Check out Beach for a sublime tropical winner. Tip!

Plastic Ivy, who has made a name for herself in the underground spheres of analog synth experimentation, has released her first full length for Kraftjerkz, entitled “Spots of Time.” The album is as much a lyrical treasure as it is an analog synth dream, brought to life through abundant melodies and arpeggiations, alluring vocals, and a somber emotional tone that courses through the veins of the album.

Plastic Ivy’s influences are wide ranging; sonically, the nod to cold wave, the new romantics, and early indie is clear. Lyrically, the album draws influence from William Wordsworth to historian Timothy Snyder to jazz composer Billy Strayhorn. “Spots of Time” should be listened to with an ear held close to the lyrics, which are earnest yet detached, cooly crooned, and above all else—poetic. Standout tracks like “Images,” and “New Eyes” are entirely dance-worthy. Plastic Ivy casts a range of emotions in these new pieces: from vulnerable, lonely, and contemplative to nostalgic, romantic and transcendent. Overall, “Spots of Time” is an exquisite example of experimental synth pop.

Plastic Ivy, who has made a name for herself in the underground spheres of analog synth experimentation, has released her first full length for Kraftjerkz, entitled “Spots of Time.” The album is as much a lyrical treasure as it is an analog synth dream, brought to life through abundant melodies and arpeggiations, alluring vocals, and a somber emotional tone that courses through the veins of the album.

Plastic Ivy’s influences are wide ranging; sonically, the nod to cold wave, the new romantics, and early indie is clear. Lyrically, the album draws influence from William Wordsworth to historian Timothy Snyder to jazz composer Billy Strayhorn. “Spots of Time” should be listened to with an ear held close to the lyrics, which are earnest yet detached, cooly crooned, and above all else—poetic. Standout tracks like “Images,” and “New Eyes” are entirely dance-worthy. Plastic Ivy casts a range of emotions in these new pieces: from vulnerable, lonely, and contemplative to nostalgic, romantic and transcendent. Overall, “Spots of Time” is an exquisite example of experimental synth pop.

Greek artist June makes his debut on Mannequin Records with the 'Silver Demon' LP. The album explores a futuristic dystopian world where transcendence and oppression coexist, where claustrophobia and infinite openness coincide. A world of contrasts that is the product of the artist‘s active imagination and conscious effort to confront the subconscious.

The album was recorded using original techniques from the golden era of electronic music (late 70s to mid 80s) with an arsenal of vintage analog synthesizers, drum machines and effect processors (originating) from the same time period. While the aesthetics of the classic precursors emerge through the minimal, deep, dark architecture of June's music, Silver Demon prevails with the artist's characteristic originality.

Mastered by Rude 66.
Graphic design by Lee Douglas.

2nd outing from Jonny Nash & Suzanne Kraft in their MATstudio series. These records are intended to catalogue some of the experiments, explorations, accidents and fortuitous events that regularly take place at their Amsterdam studio. Each record features two compositions created from a collage of works.

Freakish Synthetic Oddity from pervert teenagers living in the remote countryside of our beautiful France.

Having already debuted on the Pinkman main label, Identified Patient now steps up for the Pinkman "Broken Dreams" series for your stripped back content. 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.'

Moustache Records welcomes Senor Chugger to the label family! His debut EP 'One More Tune & One More Pint' (yes come on let's have it!!) aims to encompass the euphoric feeling of being on a dance floor with nothing but your mates and some good music (and pints). Honestly I'd be happy if that's what's awaiting me in the afterlife.

'Press the Flesh' is the head of our proverbial euphoric snake, making no promises other than you'll have a bloody good time listening to it. 'Midnight Scooter Cruise' is about those last few moments before the lights come on; feeling genuinely happy to have been able to live in the present for more than a few seconds throughout the night and have a laugh - followed by thoughts such as 'Goodness me I'm going to feel horrific tomorrow'. Flipping over to the B side (or the snake's ass, if you will), we have 2 tracks competing for the loudest snare award. 'Head in the Clouds of Smoke' is a nod towards the great times had in the peak of the midday sun at festivals, where otherwise non-smokers inexplicably decide to chuff their way through a 20 pack.


Last, but by no means least, 'Newton Abbot Reunion' is about going back home to see old friends - one of the more wholesome hangovers I'm sure you can relate to. Overall this EP wants you to keep on dancing - there will always be one more tune, and one more pint (unless you've had too many in which case don't do that). 'Very very good EP. Possibly the best I've heard this year.' - Count van Delicious 'Will you stop making your Italy disco or whatever it's called and take the dog for a walk please' - Senor Chugger's mum This is the unknown hit everybody is looking for played by Moustache Labelboss David Vunk at numberous parties, club and festivals!!!!

This is the 2020 HIT EP Be fast gone is gone!

hree years on from their debut collaborative album “Passive Aggressive“, Jonny Nash and Suzanne Kraft return with "Knife", the lead single from their forthcoming album, “A Heart So White”.

The single comes with an exclusive bonus digital track, "Processing The Negative", which will not appear on the full album.

“A Heart So White” represents a continuation of the working philosophy adopted during the recording of their debut; immersion in an unfamiliar recording environment with a limited set of tools and the goal of exploring the possibilities that lie within these limitations.

The album was written and recorded in the Willem Twee Concertzaal, a converted synagogue in Den Bosch, Holland. Whilst “Passive Agressive” explored virtual instruments and environments, “A Heart So White” shifts the focus to acoustic instrumentation, breath, air and physical space. Using the hall’s mechanical drawer organ and Steinway piano, the pair craft a delicately balanced suite of compositions, stripping things back to reveal the bare essence of their shared musical language.

Spanning multiple styles and genres in a seamless blend of danceable music, the album reference synthwave, italo disco, fun and blissed-out synth sounds throughout a constantly evolving record, merging modern feels with rich tapestry of old 80's melodies.

Mooring the 'Train Of Thought' at Hamburger Hafen, Latvia's R_R_ delivers aquatic ambience, buoyant electronics and tidal rhythms on the Growing Bin. Hold this shell(ac) to your ears and you’ll hear the sea…

As we hasten towards the inevitable Waterworld of the next century, Latvian composer, sound artist and lecturer Reinis Semēvics charts our safe passage to dry land with his debut album 'Train Of Thought'. Inspired by the rhythmic movement of water and how its rippled reflections bend our perception, Reinis sculpts an immersive sound collage - a precise mixture of field recordings and self-made sounds which swell and swirl as we bathe in their beauty.

Bookended by the Baltic's roar at the Bay of Rīga, 'Train Of Thought' drifts from the harbour to the open sea, conveying the restful calm and frenetic power of a body of water throughout. Misty pads and delicate piano conjure lapping waves and blue skies, bubbling sequences ripple up from the deep and cascading melodies fall around hypnotic rhythms, each distinct droplet offering a different feeling and mood. One moment flows into the next, nine rivers pouring into a single ocean of sonic bliss.
The alias R_R_ is a tribute to his grandfather, the composer Ģederts Ramans, whose influence helped set Reinis' sonic journey in motion. We're very happy he's decided to stop off in the Growing Bin, and we're sure you will be too.
Patrick Ryder

Bunker 4016: Starting off this myriad of dream worlds with 'I wanna dance with you', perhaps the real new divine Donna Summer meets lady boy Marc Almond in a superhot-mixed new wave 80's electronic dance and supersoulseventies disco freak gospel orgasm? Plus some more funky dark whipping beats, add to all this some intense tragic portuguese poetry crying out all the pain and the love of creation, then finished off by the most self-destructive occult arcane darknesse of heavy electro bass industrial nightmare noise of 'mystic derwish or Shiva Sadhu drug-overkill dance' tracks, bringing, no, submitting and delivering all way out of the modern fake reality, yes, back to the cosmic source of all!

Odd synth music project for experienced ears including Deviant Funk, Cosmic Vibes and Upset Synthwave made at home.

Dark Entries and Honey Soundsystem Records have teamed up again to release another volume of gay porn soundtracks by San Francisco-based musician and producer, Patrick Cowley. Perhaps one of the most revolutionary and influential people in the canon of disco music, Cowley created his own brand of Hi-NRG dance music, ''The San Francisco Sound.'' Born in Buffalo, NY on October 19, 1950, Patrick moved to San Francisco at the age of 21. He studied at the City College of San Francisco where he founded the Electronic Music Lab. During this time, Patrick, along with his classmates Maurice Tani and Art Adcock, would create radio jingles and electronic pieces using the school's equipment: first a Putney, then an E-MU System, and finally a Serge synthesizer. He would make experimental soundtracks by blending various types of music and adapting them to the synthesizer.

“When I was asked to put my hands on the original tracks of Blancmange I was instantly excited. They were one of my favourite Bands when I grew up as a teenager in the 80’s. Listening to their music walking around with my Walkman back then was adventurous. Mainly because I was already in love with the aesthetics of synthesisers and drum machines. But also because it was unusual pop music with an extraordinary energy that made it in the charts. Remixing a favorite Band is challenging but I’ve tried to keep the free spirits and playfulness in my mix that makes Blancmange still so special after all these years” – Roman Flügel

Roman Flügel remixes the cult 1980s classic that is ‘Living On The Ceiling’, and the result is a killer, off-kilter slice of club-focussed machine funk that contains the same wonderfully bizarre cocktail of traits, that Blancmange always boasted in spades. Eerie and schizophrenic but also both bright and triumphant. Also features the original and sought after extended mix.

The first in a new series of ‘London Records Remixed’ releases on 12” and digital. Now at its new home as part of the Because Music Group the London Records catalogue is being revisited by pioneering, contemporary electronic producers.

Music From Memory are delighted to present Fools’ debut album ‘Fools’ Harp Vol. I’ and the first
solo release of American musician Christopher Bear. Drummer and multi-instrumentalist of cult
Indie band ’Grizzly Bear’, ‘Fools’ is a pseudonym that Christopher has been using while working
on his independent music making for some time now.

Often finding the structure and form of a more traditional ‘song’ and the concept of an album too
restrictive, Christopher finally set aside a six week period in the summer of 2019 to explore the
possibilities of jamming alone and seeing where it took him: recording each instrument himself
and then responding through improvisation to his own recordings, Whilst doing most of the
recording in a digital set up, he also set out to capture some of the same mental and sonic
space from his time recording on 4-track.

The results of these Fools’ sessions, he explains, feel “almost more like a mixtape than an
‘album’ per se” to him. With a sense of the dichotomy between nostalgia and the future, ‘Fools’
Harp Vol. I’ seeks to transport the listener to a world both familiar and comforting, exploring
something undiscovered while maintaining a deep sense of openness and curiosity.
The album will be released in vinyl and digital formats with a cassette release to follow including
additional bonus tracks.

Synth-pop pioners OMD return with their dazzling 13th studio album 'The Punishment of Luxury' which sees them combine the wistful nostalgia and idealised romance of their previous work while stepping out of their comfort zone. The LP is out September 1st on 100% Records.

The follow up to the critically acclaimed 'English Electric' (released in 2013) 'The Punishment Of Luxury' is a daring collection of stylish synth pop and masterful songwriting which will certainly rank alongside their very best.

Written, recorded, produced and mixed by OMD - Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys - the album is the sound of a band in their prime. 'On this album we have managed to make beautiful things out of noises and repetitive patterns', explains Andy. 'The trouble is, we just cant help but write a catchy melody!'

The album takes its name from an 1891 painting by the Italian Giovani Segantini and contains everything from the Kraftwerkian 'Isotype' and 'Robot Man' to the blue eyed soul ballads of 'One More Time' and 'The View From Here' as well as more traditional OMD songs like 'Kiss Kiss Kiss Bang Bang Bang' and the synth heavy title track.

Described by The Quietus as not just one of the best synth bands ever - they are one of the best bands ever', OMD's influence has become ubiquitous. The xx, the Killers and LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy have cited OMD as an inspiration, and the likes of Future Islands and Chvrches show traces of OMD's DNA.

IN THIS MORBID ECSTASY A RELEASE IS NEEDED is the never commercially released 1987 album by THIS ETERNAL WAITING. A mixed bag of minimal synth, experimental, industrial and electronic body music. The project reached the vinyl test pressing status only, 50 white label copies were pressed and used for promotion amongst djs and distributors. Full artwork was prepared for the album but it remained unused and unseen as the commercial release on the band’s own ‘I Live In Hell Records’ label was cancelled.

For more than 30 years the album has slept a giant’s sleep, highly sought after by collectors looking for a copy of the white label 12” but being absolutely impossible to find. Luckily, the 1⁄4” master tapes and original photoliths for the artwork were salvaged so we were able to work with them and offer you the fully finished, carefully remastered album for the first time ever. An additional track called “Don’t Stop” has been included, a 1988 live session that Frank O’Neill did with Ronan Harris (yes the guy behind VNV Nation). An incredibly powerful EBM killer to round up this awesome album.

We are extremely excited to FINALLY bring you this highly sought after record on a limited, hand numbered

Edition of 120 copies on standard black, housed in a heavyweight matt finish sleeve with black inner sleeve, including a double sided insert with pics and credits and a download code.

(Disclaimer: release notes refer to the combined CD double-album release "Hot Flash: Best of The Voltags" on which all tracks appear together. "Electric Nightmare" and "Danger High Voltag" are released separately on vinyl format)

It does not happen that often any more that unreleased music from 40 years ago surfaces. Even more unlikely it is that the songs put on tape are such treasures. The Voltags were right at the forefront of the local Washington DC New Wave/Punk scene of the late 1970s. Influenced by Kraftwerk, Gary Numan, The Clash, and The B-52's, they have released only one 45rpm single during their existence. But during the time span of not even 18 months, they had recorded enough material for an entire album - but the songs remained in the can.

This is the story of The Voltags, a short-lived band which could have become famous and mentioned in the same breath as the aforementioned music legends of that era - if their songs had been released back in the day. Dive in and enjoy the sound of The Voltags, it is truly special. We here at Perfect Toy are thrilled to be label to finally release their work and we sincerely hope that they are finally getting the appreciation they so richly deserve.

Detailed information:
Dave Bennett and Hangnail Phillips grew up in Brookside Park, Newark, Delaware, USA, a small suburban college town nestled midway between Philadelphia and Baltimore. Their first band project evolved into Pump Productions (Pump) under which they released their only 45rpm single in 1970 (one of the two songs, "Pappy's Rug", can be heard on "Down & Wired 3", Perfect Toy Rec.). Soon after the recording of the single the two graduated from High School and disbanded Pump. Both moved on to form two new Newark bands. Dave was a founding member of "Snake Grinder & The Shredded Fieldmice" and Hangnail co-founded "Rudy Baker & The Vegetables".

In early 1979, two friends of Dave's, Nick Norris and Mike Fisher, became partners in a music production company, White Clay Productions. One of White Clay's first artists was Dave Bennett who had just written two excellent songs: "Electric Jungle" and "Son Of Sam". White Clay set up a recording session and Dave assembled a group of friends to record the songs. Before the recordings were even mixed, Dave asked Hangnail if he would join in a band to support the single and other songs he had written. When James Keesey (drums) and Rick Reid (bass) were added the line-up was complete. For a while they didn't have a name and then one day Nick Norris was looking at a photo of Dave standing next to a "Danger High Voltage" sign. Dave's head was in front of the E in Voltage and Nick laughed "Danger High Voltag" and so it was soon suggested that the band should be called "The Voltags" (pronounced Vol'-togs). After months of preparing a repertoire they were ready to play out. Their first gig was (October 20, 1979) at a gay disco in nearby Wilmington called The Backstage. On December 30, 1979, White Clay decided to put on a big show at the State Theater to celebrate the end of the Seventies ("The End Of The Decade Bash").

For the next year, with the help of White Clay, they recorded 19 songs, both studio and live recordings with White Clay's mobile unit. If not for these "off the board" recordings, many of their songs would have never been recorded. There was always talk of a second Voltags single but the strains of working so closely together were taking their toll on them and Dave decided to leave the group in December of 1980. The Voltags couldn't be The Voltags without Dave, and by the end of 1981, Hangnail, James and Rick, too, were ready to disband.


- all songs previously unreleased
- mastered from the original reel-to-reel tapes
- limited vinyl release

The fourth part of the Wave Earplug series trying to support the underground wave scene across Europe. Released on vinyl LP limited to 500 copies. This time artists come from Albania, Canada, Germany, France, Colombia, Slovakia, Sweden, Belgium and Hungary.

The "INSOC EP" contains the first official recordings from the legendary Minneapolis music collective Information Society led by founder/producer Paul Robb.
Originally released on vinyl in 1983 the EP became extremely difficult to find. Now, for the first time since 1983, Mannequin Records is giving it a new birth on wax, this time including a bonus track "Charentiesm" never appeared before in any format, which is the first track ever recorded by Information Society in 1982.

"Time To Dream But Never Seen” is the 6th album by Keith Seatman and his his first release for Castles in Space. Keith Seatman’s music is an anachronistically repurposed assemblage of sounds, melodies and technologies plundered from different time zones. 'Time To Dream But Never Seen', however, is far from being a haphazard and spontaneous
collage. Keith’s busy and dense soundworld is composed through a very deliberate and painstaking process.

Unlikely musical and sonic juxtapositions artfully evoke a sense of place and narrative. This latest excursion into bad-trip psychedelia is shot through with wistful and whimsical melodies and occasional haunted voices. On 'Last One In', for example, what could be a chirpy and exciting theme tune to a 1970's kid’s adventure series is modulated into a minor key by a sinister synth bass line and menaced by a stomping bovver-boy rhythm.

In the opening track, 'On to the Pier & Down to the Sea', the amusement arcade din is submerged in a watery digital swirl during. Likewise, on 'Tippy Toe Tippy Toe' the tiddly-om-pom-pom of the pier is heard from the point of view some approaching aquatic creature or perhaps by a drowning man.

The closing section of the album shifts focus from the seafront to it's rustic precursor, the mayday fair. Something weird comes to the village in 'Waiting by the Window', sounding as if late period Radiophonic Workshop (when they got hold of expensive synths) had popped back 15 years to work with their boffinish tape wielding forbears. It summons an atmosphere like a Nigel Kneale drama or one of those folk-horror inspired episodes of Dr.Who.

Finally, the album’s closing title track seems to offer a chance of escape to a more rustic idyll with melancholy mellotron flute and mumbled nursery rhymes. But as the album closes it feels like a relentlessly inescapable holiday-special steam train drags us back On to the Pier & Down to the Sea. Jim Jupp (Belbury Poly, Ghostbox Records) Comes with download code.

Seit einiger Zeit arbeitet die deutsch-brasilianische Künstlerin Gloria Endres de Oliveira, die auch als Filmemacherin (Musikvideos, Kurzfilme) und Schauspielerin (u.a."Babylon Berlin", "Die Pfeiler Der Macht", "Counterpart" und aktuell in Christian Petzolds "Undine" (Berlinale 2020)) aktiv ist, an der Verwirklichung ihrer musikalischen Vision. Zuerst gemeinsam mit spampoets im Duo Lovespells, seit letztem Jahr als Solo-Artist GLORIA DE OLIVEIRA. Nach Auftritten beim Further Festival und der c/o pop veröffentlichte sie in der zweiten Jahreshälfte 2019 die beiden EPs "La Rose De Fer" und "Lèvres De Sang" auf ihrem eigenen Label La Double Vie. Abgemischt im Hamburger Studio Cloud Hills Recordings, definieren sie Gloria de Oliveiras betörendes Soundspektrum zwischen Dreamwave, Ethereal und Goth Pop. Nun veröffentlicht das Kölner Label REPTILE MUSIC die Compilation der beiden EPs als "Fascination" (sprich Französich fa·si·na·syon) erstmals auf Vinyl und CD. Die LP beinhaltet die 10 original Songs der beiden EPs remastered und in neuer Reihenfolge, die 17-Track-CD-Version sowie das Digitale Album kommen mit zusätzlichen sieben Remixen von u.a.Gudrun Gut (u.a. Malaria, Monika Enterprises, Greie Gut Fraktion) Box And The Twins, Fragrance., Tellavision und The Wide Eye. Unterstützt wird die intime Atmosphäre ihrer Songs dabei durch eine entsprechende Visualisierung in bisher größtenteils selbstproduzierten Videos. Zur Vorabsingle "The Only Witness" erlaubt ab Anfang März der von der Hamburger Regisseurin Julia Ritschel aufwändig produzierte Videoclip einen weiteren faszinierenden Einblick in Gloria de Oliveiras universelles Kunst- und Klanguniversum. Parallel dazu wird GLORIA DE OLIVEIRA Ende März das US-Duo TEMPERS (DAIS/Secretly) bei fünf Konzerten ihrer anstehenden Deutschlandtour begleiten. Für Liebhaber von Cocteau Twins, Lebanon Hanover, Stina Nordenstam, Hilary Woods, introvertierter Marie Davidson Genres: Independent | Dreamwave | Synthwave | Ethereal | Electronica

for the 1st time the Official remastered reissue of the original 1985 recording with original artwork - full picture sleeve ! 350 limited copies, 2014 under license of Expanded Musuc srl Italy. Kirlian Camera are one of the pioneers of the Italian electronic scene. Active since 1979 under the name Suicide Commando, the band changed name in 1980 releasing the first demo-tape Dawn and the self-titled mini-album in late 1981. The early records contain a mix of synth pop and new wave/dance songs, while towards the end of the 1980s' Kirlian Camera's music became darker, turning into electro-gothic sound. Nearly every release since then has explored different fields, from industrial to ambient and trip-hop. Credits Engineer ñ Allan Goldberg, Dario Caglioni Producer ñ Allan Goldberg, Angelo Bergamini, Oderso Rubini Notes Simona Buja: Lead Vocals & Backing Vocals Angelo Bergamini: PPG 2.3, Yamaha DX-7, Roland Juno-60, Bechstein Coda Piano, Linn Drum Computer Programming,Voice on "Call Me",Electronics Paul Sears: Rickenbaker 12-Strings Guitar,Additional Effects. Produced by Oderso Rubini, Allan Goldberg with Angelo Bergamini. Recorded & mixed Early Spring '85 at Lark Recording Studios in the Castle of Carimate-Como-Italy Sound Engineer:Allan Goldberg/Assistant:Dario Caglioni Art Cover:Anna Persiani/Photo:Nadir/Special thanks to:You & Me-Fedi International Spa Distribution-Mr.Maguolo (Clothes) Giusy-Orea Malia (Hair & Make-Up)/Chuck Mallozzi (Celestial Systems)/Orlando Ghini (Musical Co-Inspiration)/Steffano Buzzi "Call Me" is dedicated to M.M.

for the 1st time the Official remastered reissue of the original 1981 recording with original artwork - full picture sleeve ! 150 limited copies, 1st copies on red vinyl, under license of Expanded Music srl Italy Kirlian Camera are one of the pioneers of the Italian electronic scene. Active since 1979 under the name Suicide Commando, the band changed name in 1980 releasing the first demo-tape Dawn and the self-titled mini-album in late 1981. The early records contain a mix of synth pop and new wave/dance songs, while towards the end of the 1980s' Kirlian Camera's music became darker, turning into electro-gothic sound. Nearly every release since then has explored different fields, from industrial to ambient and trip-hop. Credits Artwork By (Sleeve Design & Cover Illustration) ñ Kampa Bass ñ Giorgio Vecchi Electronics ñ Angelo Bergamini, Fabrizio Chiari Engineer ñ Stefano Barnaba Keyboards ñ Angelo Bergamini, Simona Buja Lead Vocals ñ Simona Buja Performer (Devices) ñ Giorgio Vecchi Photography (Back Cover) ñ Studio Papillon Producer ñ Kirlian Camera, Oderso* Vocals ñ Angelo Bergamini Written-By ñ Bergamini* (tracks: A1, B1, B2) Notes Recorded at Italian Records Studio, Bologna (Italy).Special thanks to Mauro Montacchini.

The artist from Utrecht, called Solotust, makes his debut on the Soil records label with a 6 song mini Lp. All of them are loaded with dark melodies that move between minimal synth, dark krautrock and synth pop. Harmonic voices linked with synth lines that will make you transport yourself to the space directly.

Minimal Wave is proud to present "The Sound of Indifference", a rare cassette released in 1981 by Aural Indifference. Aural Indifference was a post-punk studio collective from Sydney, Australia. The two principal members were Brian Spencer Hall (the M Squared in house producer) and Kevin Purdy. The cassette album, The Sound of Indifference, was released in 1981, featuring tracks such as "Theme", "Park, and "Man Am I Progressive". Their sound ranges from minimal synth, to post-punk to quirky guitar-driven electronic folk music, some of it resembling John Maus. "Theme" appeared as the closing track on The Minimal Wave Tapes: Volume Two compilation and "Park" appeared on The Bedroom Tapes compilation. Here for the first time, we are offering a reissue of the original cassette, remastered from the master tapes and complete with original artwork, limited to 300 copies.

NAO KATAFUCHI says about himself that he's a Japanese artist who makes electronic music with a guitar & a semi vintage synth box, creating his own world ofcold romantic wave.' Originally from Tokyo, Japan, he relocated to New York in the early 90's where he worked as an audio engineer for recording production companies, and where he found musically kindred spirits at the Brooklyn based Wierd Records' parties (Epée Du Bois, Led Er Est, Martial Canterel, Sleep Museum, Xeno & Oaklander, etc.). His highly acclaimed debut EP 'Yumegoto' was released on W.T. Records in 2012 and now Nadanna is proud to release NAO KATAFUCHI's debut full time album Émergence'. If features contributions from Liz Wendelbo (Xeno and Oaklander), and the shiny stars of Japanese electropop and minimal synth/wave Tomo Akikawabaya, Tona Ohama and Kevin Komoda (Rational Youth).

Second volume from the mysterious Go Music collective. Wicked evocative melodies and weird electronics.

Here is the highly anticipated sixth volume of the well received electronic compilation series from the relaunched 1980's color tapes label. As with the other volumes you can find great examples of cold wave, minimal wave and synth electronics and pro to EDM made by obscure British bands in the 1980's such as: Berserk In A Hayfield, Lives of Angels, Silicon Valley, Modern Art, Disintegrators, Echophase, The Lord and Mystery Plane

"Up there with V-O-D selections, the Color Tapes series so far has provided invaluable insight to hidden or much lesser-known currents of the ‘80s cassette subculture which gave birth to myriad artists, styles and industry conventions whose influence can still be felt over 30 years later. " - Boomkat

“Electronic work that’s way different from mainstream pop of the period - often forgedout of the same instrumentation as the hits - but in a stripped down way - with lots of dark and moody corners!” Dusty Groove

“Evil Synths and evil beats” - Norman Records

“Gary Ramon’s re-born Color Tapes imprint is every bit as essential as it’s Minimal Wave and electro-focused predecessors” - Juno

Limited edition of 500 copies comes with poster insert

SDH return with the Against Strong Thinking EP, which follows its 2018 self-titled album. Although six songs may be insufficient, their new tracks highlight the strengths of their debut. The beats are deeper, the atmospheres sadder.

The band continues to explore the musical language as a poetic form and trying to discover new questions that allow the great categories of thinking to be undone. Against Strong Thinking talks about the importance of facing all that categorical, dogmatic and conclusive thinking. There is a need for dialogue with everything that seems unquestionable. Again, the questions guide all the songs and, again, there is no single answer. Sometimes this doubt is fertile, sometimes it is painful and involves a total and profound loss.

The album begins with Suffer, a perfect song to cry in late night clubs, dancing with tears in your eyes. But SDH know how to make a crowd dance too. No Miracles is an instant banger and Your Next Story sounds cruelly sexy. Poem Against Strong Thinking and Four Arms have that melancholic trademark sound with interesting musical progressions that we discovered in their first album and there’s also a good surprise: the inclusion of a re-recorded version of You Pt. 12, the first song released by SDH in 2016, this time with a better production that makes it easily one of their best tracks.

The importance of the body, the senses, the dance and the dialectic is present in each theme as a form of struggle of a voice that dialogues with itself against the firmness of its own strong thoughts.

Bordello is back with a new compilation series: Diamonds In The Night. An homage to the hours of darkness (and the great composer who went by the name of Felli – R.I.P.).

From ecstatic peak time dance floor action to erotic euphoria and it's more edgy after hours just before dawn. For the first volume we’ve selected four fine diamonds by The Hacker and Voiron from France, Armonics from Italy and Discobeton from Bulgaria.

Through darkness diamonds spread their richest light…

Trying to build cultural bridges across the world, powering connection between dancefloor activists, Hard Fist thinks Princes Of Abzu not only as a compilation but as a tool to give space for expression to local legends like Kaan Duzarat in Istanbul or to upcoming artist such as Linja or Feller who are doing here their debut on wax. A tool to promote another vision of dance music, obviously produced to dance, but also to think, to raise curiosity, to keep a daring spirit and an open mind.

"In popular imagination, the early 80s were dreadful. Thatcher and Reagan led the world on a diet of austerity, unemployment and depression. The Berlin Wall separated East from West. The Sex Pistols had broken up. In sum, the future was unsure. Belgium was no exception. While Punk had been declared dead by some, its spirit was still roaming in country parishes and city alleyways. As the Catholic bourgeoisie provided young people with few opportunities, music was an obvious pastime. Teenage hopes of starting a band and putting out a record were everywhere. Organized Pleasure and Satin Wall were two bands living the dream. In contrast to a thousand others, they left us sounding evidence. This split 7” gathers two tracks originally recorded in 1981. It was the first and only studio excursion for both groups. After some local gigs, the people involved moved on to other projects. While their music is illustrative for the era, their story is distinct. Same but different."

Iron Sight (Isak Hansen) returns on Strange Therapy with the second chapter of his sonic story: The Broken Son. The Danish artist continues his saga with a very narrative work exploring his inner world and memories throughout a double cassette release. Expect grim atmospheres and industrial-tinged scenarios, in which noisescapes and distorted vocals deliver a sincere and powerful performance enriched by crunching rhythms. But this not all: eerie and evocative ambiances, as well as surprising elements coming from distant sonic dimensions, shows us another side of his soul and art in a work full of pathos.

A Losers Game welcomes us with sparse rhythms and noisy vortexes underlined by aggressive vocals and mysterious atmospheres. A sense of dread and tension grows around us giving aural form to inner turmoil and unspoken words. Orchestral synth-lines enrich the track with an elation doomed to be cut short by the main theme. The Loser starts as an ambient piece full of evocative sounds and soothing atmospheres, a different affair showcasing emotional takes and grandiose choirs and arches. Then, destructive kick drums and malevolent vocals perturb our peace once again without forfeiting the previous motif in a climaxing communion of opposites.

This Is Not Your House/The Family rewards us with a beautiful mantra full of elegance and orchestral undertones. A hidden crescendo reaches desperate shouts among celestial soundscapes fusing ethereal movements and sharp noises – giving once again body to a mental dimension made of contrasting feelings. I Had A Name explores droning effects in a rare atmosphere rich in majestic awe, adding horn sounds and mechanical glimpses. We reach a compulsive march made of war drums and demonic vocals in a slow but crushing manifestation of rage. The perfect balance between elements conjure a unique feeling in the listener.

So Wrong dwells in dark ambient paranoia before engaging us with broken rhythms and sulfurous passages, building a techno-gothic pastiche with organ sounds. Iron Sight’s craft shows itself by the means of corrosive bass sounds and roaring vocals, picturing a scenario made of fractured tension. A suffering mind finds here is apt description thanks to a well thought songwriting, as well as a beautiful passage during the final part of the number. Devil’s Deadly Stare surprises us with soulful choirs akin to ethereal music, upon which a clean voice sings for us a crooning piece. This is a moment of pure bliss and a demonstration of Isak’s love for music in various forms. The listener will maybe think to retro and folk elements, but the track finds strength in its own peculiarity.

Cell employs sharp noises in a hypnotizing theme with droning repetitions and sparse sound, a representation of brooding feelings reaching sudden hard and distorted beats. Hoarse vocals guide us in a hellish but crawling mantra made of restrained aggression. Something is following us in its sonic corridors, but we never find a real conclusion to the alarming chase – the episode ends abruptly with a sense of suspense and dreamlike stupor, Gods Eyes ends our journey with elegant arpeggios and the usual sparse electronic elements. But if we think this is just a peaceful outro, we have to think again: stomping distortions and ogre-like vocals have their say during the slow crescendo. There is no happy ending at the end of the album, a sorrowful desperation mixed with rage is the final statement of a work of sonic art.

Wetware are Roxy Farman and Matthew Morandi. Their debut record Salpinx, is a world of poly rhythmic, modular synth driven punk.

Ivan Smagghe & Rupert Cross collaborate again.. and it's another beauty! TIP!

"This second LP on Offen is an ajar window overlooking the phantasmagoric world of Smagghe & Cross, a remembrance of days that never were. The music is sparse, the past is forever : ghosts of industries are conjured through the English countryside, fading memories play static with an idea of romance, the sun breaks through the iron clouds. A record free of uncouth nostalgia but laced with ethereal melancholia. "

When Elena Colombi launched the Osàre! Editions label in the autumn of 2019, she explained that the label would become home to bold, daring, future-facing music rooted in experimentation and free-spirited musical abandon. These are all descriptions that could apply to the label’s latest release, a retrospective album of little-known works by Greek musician and producer Thanasis Zlatanos.

Many will not have heard of Zlatanos, or Nekropolis, the band he fronted alongside dear friend and regular collaborator Trygve Mathiesen, yet the music he made during the 1980s was otherworldly, intergalactic and undoubtedly alluring. These songs and instrumentals made extensive use of analogue synthesizers and lo-fi drum machines, as well as Zlatanos’s trusted Gibson Les Paul guitar and his own distinctive voice.

Stylistically, the musician and producer refused to settle on a specific sound, preferring instead to create inspired, often mind-altering pieces that join the dots between wave music, skewed leftfield pop, ambient, prototype electronic and Madedonian folk music. Operating for much of the period from a crumbling house earmarked for demolition, Zlatanos kept up a daily music-making vigil that resulted in a vast vault of music, most of which has remained unissued since the 1980s.

The breadth of and width of Zlatanos’s distinctive approach is laid bare on Retrospective, a compilation album prepared by Colombi and the artist himself that draws on tracks from his numerous albums, those by Nekropolis – whose sophomore set “The New Europeans” was banned in Norway – and his epic archive of previously unheard material.

The artist’s singular but wide-ranging musical vision is free for all to see across the 13 tracks stretched across the vinyl version of the album (digital buyers also get a further four superb cuts). It veers attractively from the ghostly, traditional-meets-futuristic new age electronica of “The Crystal Sight (Excerpt)” and the doom-laden coldwave throb of “Master Chameleon”, to the undulating, soft-touch creepiness of “Surreal Moment”, the Vocoder-laden operatic poignancy of “The New Barbarians” and the squally guitar solos and effects-laden electronics of “The Light”.

Words from the artist___:
"I live in the Internet. Visits from outer space make me compose. I breathe here. I am the master chameleon, the psychedelic clown. I am not here anymore, neither in the picture, nor the reflection. Our bed is a boat that takes us tomorrow without us.

Here is an album of dreams and digital emotions. Analogue recordings made with a Prophet, a Moog Rogue, a tape recorder and a Gibson Les Paul guitar.

As far as I can remember I have always been in a recording studio. I listen to, understand and live my life through songs and music. I have worked alone and with friends such as Trygve Mathiesen. Although I am a guitarist, I continue to work with synthesizers on music that blends elements of Macedonian folk music, recordings from the streets and embryonic electronic sounds.

Some of my albums have been critically acclaimed, others banned by radio stations. For years I worked on endless recording sessions in a crumbling house that should have been torn down. The music on this retrospective compilation was recorded at various points between 1982 and the present day. Some of the compositions first appeared on previous albums, while others have never been released before. They were sat on tapes waiting for a saviour. Now that saviour has arrived and they can be free.

For further proof of Zlatanos’s unique sonic approach, check the startling contrast between the bass-laden slacker pop headiness of “No Expectations” and the spacey ambience of “The Dead Don’t Remember”. Considered together, the selected pieces and those elsewhere on Retrospective forms a snapshot of a genuinely unique and visionary musician, composer and producer. It’s a celebration of someone whose work has previously been overlooked."

Cititrax presents a full length LP by a new duo called Tornische. Julio Tornero and Hanna Chamiarytskaya (aka Anneq) got together in Madrid after having met through mutual friends. Immediately, they bonded and found a musical chemistry between them. They went into the studio and began revisiting Julio's unreleased archives, incorporating what he had already recorded years ago with fresh sounds and Neu Deutsche Welle style duets. The result is a modern, chaotic, take on 80s European new wave, 90s detroit electro, and contemporary indie pop. The energy level is always high, the melodies are catchy and the vocal delivery and lyrics futuristic, subversive, italo-disco / punk, and surreal. A special album, this one is line with Medio Mutante's classic debut EP, 'Inestable' (2008) and not unlike the pioneering sound of Liaisons Dangereuses.

The vinyl will be pressed on 160 gram ultra clear and limited to 500 copies. The record is housed in a PVC printed sleeve, with a neon graphic designed by Peter Miles. The back features an image by Nastya Porukevich along with the track titles and album info.

Supremely hungover, red-eyed-and-can't-quite-be-arsed but utterly life-affirming bedroom/loner-pop masterpiece from the Itchy Bugger. Songs that somehow combine punk concision and psychedelic whimsy… lusher and more intricately arranged than on the first LP, even as they double down on the DIY, drug-scrambled weirdness, and that unmistakeably private, nocturnal, kitchen-creeping, don't-wake-the-flatmates vibe... oh yeah and still with that same sadsack fucking drum-machine beat on every song.

The careening bonehead riffage your man contributes to Heavy Metal and Diät is here repurposed into something more textured and introspective and jangling and DAZED, making us think of The Moles, Pip Proud, subtly out early 90s Flying Nun gems like David Kilgour’s Here Comes The Cars or John Kelcher’s Personal Disorganiser, as well as things like Razorcuts, Afflicted Man, Solid Space, Beauty Contest, Television Personalities...

p.s. comes with download code for the dogs!

The first longplayer by this Minimal Synth Wave band from Los Angeles. Image Of Life is a side project of the singer of the band PURE GROUND.

Repress

Alessandro Adriani weaves a nightmarish scenario as the Mannequin man returns to Pinkman's Broken Dreams with four hardened works. Beats are shaven into rigid points as EBM echoes are speared with contemporary contempt. Throughout the quartet are moments of exotic abstraction, psychological stresses and visceral disorders. Music for sleepless nights and addled minds

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

Katsoulis has been making avant-garde electronic pop steadily since the early '80s, but it wasn't until 2014 that he transcended cult status. That year, Into The Light issued a collection of Katsoulis' early and unreleased material, The Sleeping Beauties.

In October, Alex Bradley's Utopia Records will handle a new record from the low-key artist. The press release says of the opener, "All The Blue Skies," "Katsoulis and his accompanying musicians deliver a diverse and contemporary work with a level of sophistication that will challenge the current electronic musical landscape." The label adds that "'Grand Delusions' sounds like it could work in a Berlin techno club, from a man that has probably never been to one."

Katsoulis is becoming more active in the underground electronic music scene as of late. He performed at the inaugural Strange Sounds From Beyond festival in Amsterdam in June. A 2015 remix EP featured Young Marco, Max D and Telephones interpreting tracks off The Sleeping Beauties.

Nao Katafuchi is a Japanese artist who makes electronic music with a guitar & a semi vintage synth box, creates his own world of cold romantic wave. Stahlgrau is his 2nd longplayer.

The 'industry' of dance music can be as soul-crushing as any other. Those thrills and spills of late, loud nights come with a best-before expiry date, after which even the most seasoned selector-producer-scenemaker begins to wrinkle their nose. To have experienced it all over 15+ years and seek to see it unfold again through fresh eyes, what sort of lunatic would willingly put themselves through that V would. So it's a new character, but who was the mysterious V in a past life Make your own conclusions. A little digging will lead you toward the origin story, but sometimes the pleasure comes from the unknowing. Opt to enjoy the Silence. Silence, however, is not the focal point for V. In fact, this new form is a way to discard baggage and revitalise the process of music making. Tremors had become to show up in recent years on record labels in Glasgow and London, flickers of subterranean volcanic activity. Yet what proved to be rising was no big bang, nor even a phoenix from the ashes - but closer perhaps to a Nautilus. A relic by some standards but a pretty point of curiosity to others, slowly bobbing to the surface. Something ever-present and familiar to thousands, yet with mysteries left to be revealed. But hey - what does V stand for anyhow For Vilnius By origin and by where the heart lies, yes, although V for Vedett is also an acceptable answer given the artist's transposed second home of Belgium; so too is V for Volkswagen, given the production work put in around Frankfurt as of late. For Vendetta Too strong, although V does bear a grudge match against hobbyists and dilettantes. If you're going to be a new name in town, you may as well be a new name in town with years of hidden history, right For Vishnu Perhaps this is the one. V's tangle of arms extend forward in many directions: some clutching 303s and LinnDrums; others pushing fingers i

'SHAKTI, a three-man formation around “Praga Khan”. With this first mini-lp Praga once more proves his capability to drill into new rhythmic territories. Demonic Forces is a dance record. Western discotheque rhythmics mixed with Eastern influences. A unique creation that certainly can be called astonishing. The use of original Eastern instruments gives the whole an extra mystik dimension. With the help of some friends amongst whom a.o. Naburak Pran, Shakti succeeds in attaining an unparalleled atmosphere without losing sight of the ever so important dance beat. Demonic Forces, a revelation. '

Finally this Jugoslavian Darkwave masterpiece from 1988 is on vinyl for the first time.

Flippen Disks is a newly-founded, Amsterdam based, music outlet run by Monty named after his grandmother’s maiden name. This first release sets out to find the label‘s own space in between genres, a versatile endeavour to move dance floors, yet staying non-functional enough to be listened to at home as well. It features the first ever released of Julius van Ijperens new alias Post Traumatic Drum Disorder and a collaboration with Flippen Disks founder Monty on one, while the flip side features a track by the latter and a superb remix by Candomblé’s own DJ Ungel from Düsseldorf.

Luca Venezia, aka Curses, has with his Carcassonne-Mini LP, written and produced a cold wave dream filtered through how all the sci-fi movie soundtracks of the eighties should have sounded like; picture The Cure on a study visit in John Carpenters studio in 1983.

This six-track Mini LP is Curses first release on Hoga Nord Rekords and you can place his music beside other artist in the HNR artists stable, like Jamie Paton and Pardon Moi - eighties influenced dark and expensive sounding electronic music. Luca Venezia also solves the task of putting vocal elements in the tracks with sharpness and precision; the heavy processed reverberating overdubs float in and out on a tastefully low level in the mix.

Outside the safe studio walls the discourse is polarised and dumbed down to headlines and introductions, to guttural noises and simplification. Curses music is part of your antidote to this regression and is nor black or white nor simple or safe.

The Belgian duo San Soda and Red D entered the world of recorded music some 12 years ago with the inception of Red D’s label We Play House Recordings. A few years later their collaboration continued in the studio with the start of the FCL project, leading to original and remixed club hits.

In the meantime both have gained considerable mileage and reputation as adventurous DJ’s who are not afraid to take risks and with a ‘no boundaries’-approach to playing music. Being Belgian they continue to find inspiration in Belgium’s rich music and clubbing history, which led to the ‘Our Beat Is Still New’ compilation in 2013 on We Play House Recordings. Both San Soda and Red D contributed some tracks and thus the aliases Nick Berlin and Max Erotic were born.

Fast forward to today and Club Belgique, a concept Red D has been brooding on for quite some time. A true tribute to Belgium’s club (music) heritage which consists of club nights and also a new label for fresh material by himself and San Soda in his Nick Berlin guise. This release brings you that new material in the form of two tracks situated between new beat, synth pop and italo disco. Long live Belgium!

Kris Baha is back on Pinkman Records following up his 'Can't Keep The Fact' EP last year with another great release rich in energy, rhythm and under the influence of his Master. In 'My Master' Kris expertly fuses the past and present amidst sonic aesthetics of 80s new-wave, minimal synth and post-punk - all this in amongst fierce percussion, wired sequenced baselines and his vocals up front, revealed and out of the dubby shadows. The result is 6 tracks dribbling with nostalgia in a 2019 context and in classic Kris fashion, can be played on the dance floors of your mind right through to dance floors of reality. In this release Kris submits himself, wholly to his master, which is himself. Who is your master?'

ORACULO RECORDS is proud to welcome the enfant terrible of Moscow dark techno scene OBER DADA and his partner in crime LERA FOER whom present themselves to the world with an outstanding EP full of dark energy to get in flames any dance floor. Electro and ebm fans will consider this one a truly holy grail. All tracks have been specially remastered for LONG CUT vinyl by Eric Van Wonterghem at Prodam Berlin.

Elisabeta. Just hearing her name puts a grin on her face.

Originally released on Polychrome Sounds, "Elisabeta, the remixes" features a remaster of the original by Karpov not Kasparov and three truly unique and magnificent remixes.

The first one is Carrot Green, who gave the original the Brazilian Ritmo-treatment, with extra acid on top for a spicy touch. On the second remix, Belgian mastermind Strapontin created a smooth grooving tension-builder, slow rolling to a deep and beautiful introverted climax. Lastly, Pletnev took the atmosphere of the original and gave it a trippy ethnic-break beat twist, as only the Vilnius producer can do so well.

As with most DE we will have stock early and will ship as soon as it arrives. SECOND LAYER was a side project of ADRIAN BORLAND and GRAHAM BAILEY, members of post punk band THE SOUND. The project was born from early punk band THE OUTSIDERS, which had both Graham and Adrian as members. Second Layer featured the voice and guitars of Adrian mixed with the bass and pioneering electronics of Graham. The music was bleak, detached, and desolate, but very beautiful. Honest songwriting and a harsh sonic backdrop set them apart from their peers. The band's first two singles were released by Tortch label. The first was Flesh As Property EP in 1979 and the second State Of Emergency EP in 1980. By 1981 Second Layer had found a home on London-based label Cherry Red and released their debut album World of Rubber in November of that year. Full of hard mechanical sounds produced by Adrian's guitars and Graham's homemade drum machines, the album actively engages the listener. Songs are manic and twisted, pervaded with haunting subterranean atmospheres. Adrian's anguished voice tackles lyrics that are politically charged and morbidly fixated. Metallic guitar riffs, moody basslines, and Wasp synthesizer beeps are set to the band's cache of processed tape loops. They are a homegrown electronic garage band that sit alongside their contemporaries Joy Division, Cabaret Voltaire and Public Image Limited. This deluxe 2xLP edition features the complete recorded output of Second Layer plus 5 unreleased demos from 1978-80. All songs have been remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios. Each LP comes in an exact replica of the original metallic sliver and black jacket from the 1981 issue with a never seen before fold out poster made by the band in 1980 with liner notes, photos and press clippings. Though Adrian passed away in 1999, his genius lives on in these recordings. 'Clap the headphones on, squeeze the volume up.' Tracks : Definition of Honour, In Bits, Fixation, Save Our Souls, Distortion, Underneath The Gloss, Zero, Japanese Headset, Black Flowers, Courts Or Wars, Metal Sheet, Germany, State Of Emergency, I Need Noise, The Cutting Motion, 1. Intro, Split Screen, Death Process, The Telephone Call, Deadly Norwegian Attack.

REPRESSED !!
The first reissue release on Ecstatic comes from Italian 'mail-artist' Daniele Ciullini.

Hailing from Florence, Ciullini was part of the forward-thinking TRAX collective, whose pan european art/music collaboration network acted as a proto-social network decades in advance of the internet.

This compilation collects Ciullini's self released 'Domestic Exile' cassette (1983) as well as selections from a series of other compilations(1982 to 1986)

When asked about the title 'Domestic Exile' Ciullini explains: The music in this cassette was born in a very difficult period of my life. A period marked by a rift with the world. 'Domestic Exile' reflects a time of recession, entrenchment within the walls of a tired soul. Most of the songs are improvised on the spot. Listening to the music today I think this aspect was perhaps naive. But I enjoyed realising something very close to my inner state at that moment.

Ciullini's music is as sharp and controlled as his elegant photographic images of decadent marble statues, mannequins and deserted Art-Nouveau architecture.He describes these songs as rapid "sonic polaroids" in which synthetic sketches and "Oriental" keyboard "voices" sit side by side with vigorous electro-industrial rhythm and metronomic modified drum machine pulses.

His music presciently fuses ambient and industrial, as well as echoing the synthetic alienation of 8 bit micromusic, the melodic wave sounds of Young Marble Giants, and even a proto-shoegaze guitar (see Soft Marble, with reciting voice) as well as hints of drone music (the magmatic loops of Bloody Machine

Reissue of the debut album by Detroit electro-outfit Cybotron, 'Enter', released in 1983, it is a foundational record in the evolution of electronic dance music.

Often cited as one of the forbearers of modern techno, the record is commonly cited as the only old-school electro album with major staying power, largely due to the strength of the writing ('Alleys Of Your Mind,' 'Cosmic Cars,'

'Clear') and the harmonious collision of Juan Atkins' penchant for cosmic funk production techniques and Rick Davis' arena rock sensibilities.Most recently, the Wire cited 'Clear' as a 'groundbreaking...first-generation

piece of pure machine music,' while newer listeners may recognize it as the hook from Missy Elliott's 'Lose Control' among other major hip-hop hits.

Born in the forest, living on the edge. Utrecht based Endfest delivered solid serving of the fat beef. Very fair four tracker full of freaked out melodies underlaid by juicy 808 drums.

pure analogue bliss.

REPRESS ALERT: Etwas stirs in die Ostlich. Edits and verks of twist sounds. Synth pop, cold wave, neu wave, minimal wave, industrial, neu beat, soundtracks and a selbst Balearen. Freiheit! Als erstes is hero of old Cybernetic Broadcast (CBS) and (Intergalatic FM) radio. Jonny 5 and his verstorbenen Blindsign blog and mixes were a steigen'n'steigen to rescue us from boring neu disco. Schieben his search and discovery for harder, but musical soundscapes. 4 edits is a geschmack. Start brave on the floor feel with the Neu Beut Euro Pop thumper Kaka Kaka. Geschleift, verdreht thoughts. Black Hole is hours spent in Eastern Bloc basements graben in the search for drahts. Stoned indeed, immaculate synth electronic battle cruiser, hart percussion, cut gesang and break. Ready for the percussive finale in Horizon's Change. Was Auch Immer. Bahnsteig!

Minimal multi-instrumentalist weirdo zone brilliance on another obscure uncovering from the excellent Growing Bin...big tip!
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"If you've kept a keen ear to the underground, you may have noticed a trance revival creeping into the dance floors and darkrooms of late, a post ironic return to the 64 bar breakdowns and peak time key changes of your serotonin drenched youth.....

So what's this then Has Growing Bin gone from groundbreaker to copycat Dig a little deeper folks, for the Trance is question is Jürgen Petersen, a forgotten cosmic kingpin in tune with true electronic excellence. When Danielle Baldelli wanted to show off his eclectic tastes, which record did he reach for Petersen's 1980 LP, 'Here And Now' of course. And when John Schaefer put together his essential exploration of New Sounds, who did he describe as Germany's answer to Eno Trance, damn right! After blessing the world with a trio of essential electronic LPs between 1979 and 1983, Petersen moved out of the limelight and lived off the grid, collecting his mind expanding music on a series of self-recorded, self-released cassettes, known only to the inner circle of elite European diggers. The sounds found within were unusual, experimental and ecstatic.

Fusing the organic tones of piano, 12 string guitar and sitar with soothing sine waves and hypnotic synthesis, Petersen harnessed the healing frequencies out there in the cosmos and transfixed the
listener with pure otherworldly beauty - ambient music for a new age... Unravelling these rare cassettes for music lovers everywhere, Growing Bin treats us to 'Tapes', a five track vision quest for the
horizontal travellers and fourth world nomads. Sven can keep his cocoon, we're off in search of the butterflies..."

Driving the tractor from the very south of Sweden to the more juicy lands of watermelon. Its going to make you sweat and it's going to make you smell. Get ready for this muddy trance dance!

Repress

Bionda E Lupo are like little you'll have heard before, a boy/girl band like no other. Synth wave is fed a line of modern alienation, delusory disco to a disdainful drum beat, house emptied and ridiculed. Rhythms are stark, melodies are as mechanical as the lyrics. "Zug Der Vogel" is sparse, vocals intertwine in an empty embrace whilst bars sparkle. "Twoi Glasza" is more playful. Bright words shimmer against sweeping strings. The past is parodied across the EP but nowhere more so than in "Die Kinder Aus Dem Park." A former classic dug out before being peppered by machine gun percussion. The stilted rhyme of "Eckstein" closes, a ballad of bittersweet images and lost hopes.

Repress

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.

Maxi 12" of danceable tracks by NSRD, best known as a Latvian avant-garde, postmodern, experimental and underground music group active in the 80s.

Limited to 150 copies - 180 gram ultra clear vinyl

Identified Patient & Sophie Du Palais / Randstad / Mitchell Goor / Stevie Whisper.
Amsterdam / London / Rotterdam / Beograd
A untitled tale of feminism, broken hearts and futurism.

The legendary DJ unleashes the first single from his forthcoming fifth studio album 'ZUKUNFTSMUSIK'. It's arguably one of his deepest marriages of music and art to date...
Collaborating with Tom Of Finland Foundation, the LA-based celebrants of queer culture's most iconic illustrators, Hell's gritty, grainy, sweaty single pays homage to electronic music's deepest,
longest standing roots. The era where Paradise Garage and The Warehouse and DJs such as Hardy and Levan threw down then-unclassifiable fusions to the most multicultural, multisexual dancefloors in history. Hell's first single in well over a year, 'I Want U' throbs and thrusts with in-the-moment physical tension. Unhurried and extensive in its 11+ minute arrangement, it's every bit as deep and as long as you'd want such a session to be with its rush-riddled breakdown that dips deep under the skin with lavish emotional chord changes and peaked atmospherics.
A celebration of gay culture, an homage to purist analog-driven proto techno, a statement for what's shaping up to be yet another exceptional album from the hugely influential International Deejay
Gigolos founder, 'I Want U' comes complete with two startling remixes: the legend that is The Hacker accentuates the grit and crunchy EBM charm of the original with an all-out exercise in sonic horsepower while Hell's selector kindred spirit and all-round robot-rustling icon Martin Matiske provides a whirlwind trip back to another foundation era for electronic music with b-boy-busting
electro boogie spectacular.

Trust us, you're going to want all three. And thankfully you'll get all three right here. Let us know what you think!

Late night miami am radio haze ..300 copies..

Reno. 2017. Steeples stab silhouettes into a blood stained night sky. Alessandro Parisi and Adamennon don their ceremonial cloaks for a mini album of Appennino's forests tinted terror. Eight tracks make up Real Italian Occult Terrorism, eight tracks that will transport you to a world of disappearances, ritualistic murders and only one possible culprit: Sacrestia Del Santissimo Sangue. From sheathed divinity to opulent baseness, this LP is a deep and chilling work of movie score dark arts.

Optimo Music is delighted to continue its fruitful relationship with The Golden Filter with the release of this fantastic 4-track 12' EP.
We always prefer our artists to speak for themselves and avoid bullshit PR hype so here is what they have to say about this EP -
We're quite agnostic, and unreligious, but if there is any vibes associated with the EP (and maybe all of our music) it is very Buddhist in its ideas. Mindful. Aware of impermanence.
The whole EP is about being with the one(s) you love when everything else around you breaks down. Looking inward, with pure love, in the hope to radiate outward, rather than pushing for a fight, or running away. Recorded, written, and produced in isolation by Stephen and Penelope on our own in East London Studio space.
The EP starts with the song 'End Of Times' which is a dramatic, Shangri-Las influenced take on feeling powerless in a chaotic world, but still high on love. Happiness can be found in analog reverb. This is followed by 'Serenity', a hard and tranquil meditation of past + future.
Side 2 leads with 'Heart Control', with a slight nod to Pink Floyd. A nine minute plea to ourselves to keep it all focused and under control... The EP closes with 'Darkness Falls'. The lyrics for this came from an apocalyptic dream that Penelope had, and wrote down in the morning. the music is 100% purely modular, er, except for the tiny bits of guitar at the end.

Medical Records proudly presents Volume II of a collection of "Forgotten Tracks, Sketches and Unfinished Work 2002-2004" by Martial Canterel. This release coincides as a standalone with Medical's other releases of Volume III as well as a special 3LP compiling Volumes I-III. Sean McBride has been producing work under the Martial Canterel moniker dating back to 2002 as well as working as half of Xeno And Oaklander. These tracks capture the allure and depth of Sean's early work exploring rhythms and perfectly crafted pop songs using a very early incarnation of limited instrumentation. Fans of Martial Canterel's early work (think "Austerton" and "Sister Age") will be instantly elated. This is the first time these tracks have been released on vinyl and have been remastered for this release by Martin Bowes at the Cage, UK. Contains special bonus insert with lyrics. Fans of early Martial Canterel as well as other cold wave icons such as A Blaze Color, Snowy Red, and the like will need this collection. Presented on high-quality 180gram classic vinyl.

Continuing on from Vol 1's theme of established artists working in disguise, 'Music First Vol 2' delivers another sonic assault with this absolute rollercoaster ride of a record. The mysterious Scorpio T opens the EP with 'Neptune Rising', a squelching acid-bass boomer that can simultaneously spiritually elevate and physically devastate any dancefloor. Rounding off Side A it's followed by Scandalous Arthur's 'Acid In My Mind', a lo-fi tape-hissed jacking beast of a banger that sounds like it's genuinely been brewing in a vat of highly toxic acid for at least 25 years and guaranteed to melt your mind. On the flipside comes JaX DaX returning from Vol 1 with the low-frequency moody slo-mo electro workout 'Fucking Computer' that oozes bad attitude and booty-shaking basslines in equal abundance. Bringing the trip to a close is Kyrenic Azalee with the self-titled 'Kyrenic Azalee', an x-rated new beat tour-de-force of epic proportions that will fry minds and bodies with its relentless energy. Limited edition so don't sleep on it, not that it would let you.

The band Gruppenbild was named after Heindrich Böll's famous novel and was the first musical output by the versatile Stijn Meuris (Noordkaap, Monza). Drummer Frank Coonen would later go on to be a member of 90ties indie powerpop trio 'The Romans'. Also joining in here are Luc Vrancken (Bass), Marc Guffens (Guitar) and Stijn's brother Koen Meuris on the Keyboards. As legend has it Meuris got the idea of starting his own band through his history teacher in the small provincial town of Overpelt. Said teacher was the bass player of 'De Brassers', a by then already notorious new wave punk band who had made it to the finals of Humo's Rock Rally in 1980. Blown away by the sheer simplicity and power of De Brassers music, the teenage 5 piece Gruppenbild was formed that same year. Taking inspiration from both British postpunk cornerstones as well as Belgian bands like 'Siglo XX', 'TC Matic' and the Dutch band 'De DIV' 2 years later they too found themselves in the finals of the Rock Rally. Noordkaap (Stijn's future band) would win the contest in 1990. Onbereikbaar On the Gruppenbild 7' one can already hear Meuris' melancholic singing style and his ability to write excellent lyrics in Dutch that would define the future of his musical career. The Tranquillity EP was originally released on Blitz Records in 1982, this was the band's first & only release & has become quite the rare collectable that is fetching hundreds on the second hand market. Now finally back available as a limited 7' EP (500 copies), released exclusively for Record Store Day Belgium 2018.

did he ever really leave berlin yes: sascha funke was regularly in cologne. but then nowhere else. sure, as a dj and live artist he travelled around the world. but as a producer he always remained true to his peer labels bpitch control and kompakt with some minor exceptions.
so far, so good. but now, just after the german that started his early attempts as a producer to-gether with paul kalkbrenner dropped some new feverish spaced out solo eps on imprints like multi culti and tiga's turbo recordings label, the berlin born producer, dj and football fever victim re-leases his new, third solo album 'lotos land' on tokyo's finest platform for diverse musical adven-tures endless flight.
a step out of the usual environment, not only in terms of the address. funke embraces fresh sound territories without forgetting his past. with already two solo albums on ellen allien's bpitch control label under his wings and the longplayer 'unknown', that he tuned in with julienne dessagne (aka fantastic twins) under the alias saschienne in 2012 for kompakt, on the shelf, he knows what it means to write and dramatize an album.
all tracks on 'lotos land' are well selected. together they built a bewitching story arc. with some singing help from the scottish crooner david wilson, voice of the glasgow based melancholic dance sensation junto club and the tel aviv born musician autarkic, exotic but yet perfect to sing along melodies partly enthral the listeners, too.
and even if sascha funke is part of the club culture since the nineties: his musical memory and sensibility goes way back before the early techno and house eruptions. for his new works, that all had been produced in berlin during the year 2016, he removed the dogma of functionality and shifted into a riskier, more open terrain, that does not offer club sensations mainly.
'i think i would not have made such a diverse album without the time with saschienne. before saschienne i mainly worked sample-based and produced exclusively at the computer. by working with julienne as saschienne i discovered my love for the instrument.
"playing" with the different synths is for me the greatest progress and ultimately also the best pos-sible form of expression for my music.' he confesses.
for his new tracks he used several kind of gear - from a korg arp odyssey to a dave smith prophet 8, moog voyager, solina string keyboard or a yamaha pacifica guitar. stylistically his new orchestra lead him to a mesmerizing meltdown of trance, techno, synth-wave, post-punk and ambient parti-cles.
'the use of all the synths allows you to work more emotional' funke explains and points his finger to the emotional landscape of 'lotos land' that delivers enchanted atmospheres, sensible stomping grounds, funky twisted spheres and tragically hip psychedelic zones.
at large there is an unmistakable strong uk influence. be it new wave, pop or early dance and techno stuff. sometimes the bass rolls like in a the cure song, then dreamy synth sceneries arise to stick in the mind.
the cover artwork comes from mule musiq and endless flight hamburg based home illustrator stefan marx. it features a marx styled interpretation of 1901 illustration by the british painter wil-liam edward frank britten, that was made to the poem 'the lotos-eaters', written by the poet alfred tennyson.
the picture as well as the poem, after which funke also named his album, tells much about the record. where the drawing, the words and the music come together, everyone has to find for themselves. only one thing can be said: sascha funke traveled far for his new music to reach an altered state. and nothing else should happen to those, who surrender to his latest music.

Since composer Sean McBride unveiled his first utterance as Martial Canterel almost 2 decades ago, he has produced a body of work both substantial and alluring within the field of live analogue electronic music. Effortlessly fusing a variety of styles and influences, Martial Canterel is one of the premiere outfits utilizing analogue electronics and modular synthesizers. In particular FM synthesis is employed to produce clustered polyphonies and organic atmospheres - a staple of his signature style.Three years have passed since Martial Canterel's last full length album Gyors, Lassù was released on Dais Records. During this down time, McBride found himself in a state of flux, ebbing back and forth between material displacement and musical aestheticism. His expert pedigree in electronic sound and arrangement bridges the gap created by an undecidability between life at home and abroad - his new album, Lost At Sea, is an attempt for the artist to locate common ground, mutating fable with reality, exteriority and interiority.

The album's introductory track, Giving Up, has all of the hallmarks that Martial Canterel has utilized in the past...melodic chorus, upbeat rhythm and classic sequential dynamism. Where the song diverges is in its core theme of nature: nature's return to a period of restoration after the failures and recklessness of humankind. Although this first glance refamiliarizes one with the tight, upbeat appeal typically found within the genre, Lost at Sea quickly takes a more serious and sobering tone.The slower pace of songs like Scampia and Puszta yearn for McBride's complex love affair with far flung destinations. Re-evaluating the political strife and social unrest in these historical locations, McBride delves deeper into political and geological reference points creating symbolic representations using mechanized percussion, white noise and various sine waves.The conceptual nature of Lost at Sea reaches even deeper depths within the waveforms of Astralize, a track based upon academic Donna Haraway's pre-civilized theories of human neglect after the 'azstralization'.